On December 4th, over a hundred San Francisco school bus drivers who are members of United Transportation Union (UTU) 1741 picketed and protested the illegal firings and union-busting tactics by Scottish-owned First Student. The company, which recently purchased Laidlaw, is in a war to bust the union by firing bus drivers in violation of their contract and for incidents that have nothing to do with their driving record.

Santa Cruz, CA -- Over four hundred days ago, a handful of activists climbed up into the trees on Science Hill as a symbol of resistance to the University of California's plan to destroy 120 acres of campus forest. On December 13th at approximately 8:00am, the tree sit drew to a close as police seized control of Science Hill, arresting one tree sitter. Later, a tree cutting company hired by the university cut down a grove of 100 year old redwood trees to make way for construction of a Biomedical building.

Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) latest scheme to destroy SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West was denounced by Fresno elected officials on Thursday, December 11. Henry R. Perea, chairman of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, exposed the sham election that the International is using to break up SEIU-UHW.

Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones, a Pasedena couple affected by the passage of Proposition 8, are on a march through California to demonstrate their conviction that the California Supreme Court should revoke Prop 8. They are marching from West Hollywood Park to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. In coordination with Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, they will deliver a petition to revoke Prop 8 that has been signed by over 250,000 people.

On Tuesday, December 9th, anti-apartheid and human-right activists gathered to protest an AIPAC benefit at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.

On Monday December 8th, the Berkeley City Council voted to approve the contract for an expanded, street level Bike Station with many more services and features than the existing station to the cheers of a packed council chamber. Bike activists say that this is the culmination of over ten years of work by local advocates.

"A Day Without A Gay" protest and boycott took place across the US on December 10th to show opposition to California's Proposition 8 and show the power of the LGBT community. Organizers encouraged people to "call in gay" to work and spend the day volunteering at local LGBT and/or human rights organizations. There were several rallies in the Bay Area, including a noon rally in UC Berkeley's Sproul plaza and a 4pm press conference in Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza.

On Saturday December 6th, two Greek policemen in Athens had a verbal argument with several youth. During the argument, one of the cops pulled his gun and shot 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos twice, killing him. Alexandros was active in the anarchist movement in Greece and in response to his murder, thousands of anarchists and students gathered in the centers of most of Greek cities. The evening in Athens evolved with the takeover of several buildings at the Polytechnic University, and rioting throughout the whole center of Athens. Protesters attacked and set on fire, police departments and banks, until the early hours of the next morning. Protests and riots took place again on Sunday and Monday.

On Saturday, December 6th, supporters of death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal gathered at Philadelphia City Hall for a protest march through downtown that concluded at the Federal Court Building. International solidarity actions were alsoheld in France, Switzerland, Germany, England, and Mexico, while in the US, events were held in Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Portland, and San Diego.

From Chicago IMC: The worker occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory on Chicago's Goose Island by members of UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) Local 1110 went into its third day on Sunday, and workers have vowed to continue the occupation until they are paid back pay and benefits, or until the plant is re-opened.

A rescue effort by local animal protection groups has saved 650 hens from a California egg farm. The hens were rescued on Friday and Saturday from battery cages and will soon be placed in permanent homes. Coordinating the effort was Animal Place, a farmed-animal sanctuary and education center in Vacaville, about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Barry Cooper, a former Texas police officer with eight years of specialty in drug interdiction, first made waves when he released the film "Never Get Busted Again," a how-to guide for evading police drug seizures. Austin, Texas-based Cooper's latest project, 'KopBusters,' is not nearly so benign, and sparked an immediate response after RAW STORY covered a news brief of their first sting.

On December 3rd, tree-sitters unfurled a 30 ft. wide banner on the edge of the Great Redwood Forest, east of Eureka, CA. The banner read “Hey Green Diamond, Stop Clear-cutting -Earth First!”. The Green Diamond Resource Company plans to log 60 acres of large second growth and residual old growth Redwoods in the near future. The two groves represent the oldest remaining forest and best habitat for old-growth dependent species like the northern spotted owl.

At the Santa Cruz City Council meeting on December 9th at 3:00pm, the Beach Flats Community Center, Harvey West Pool, Museum of Natural History and Surfing Museum were cut from the city budget. In light of the current fiscal crisis the city faces, closures of these facilities and reduction in the employee workforce are scheduled for February, 2009.

The U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is a pact that provides a legal basis for U.S. troops in Iraq and establishes their departure from Iraq by December 31st, 2011 pending any negotiations. On November 16th, 2008, Iraq's Cabinet approved the agreement. On November 27th, the Iraqi Parliament ratified the agreement. Followers of Moqtada al-Sadr and many others protested the passing of the accord as prolonging and legitimizing the occupation, and Grand Ayatollah Sistani expressed concerns with the ratified version. On December 4th, Iraq's presidential council approved the security pact. A referendum must be held by mid-2009 which may terminate the agreement and require Coalition forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010.

IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War) performed "Operation First Casualty" throughout downtown San Francisco on Black Friday, interrupting shoppers' routines with a graphic display of the action that they were missing by not being in Iraq. Volunteer "civilians" were detained, cuffed and hooded by the Iraq vets in a graphic reenactment of the US military's occupation of Iraq. Several volunteers were water-boarded. Volunteers pretended to be Iraq citizens suffering under the occupation of U.S. forces.

On November 27th, Darlene Wallach, a San Jose, California resident, was deported from Israel, departing Tel Aviv for New York on an El Al flight. She had been arrested, along with two other human rights observers and 15 Palestinians, by Israeli authorities while on a fishing boat in Gaza waters on November 18th.

On Thanksgiving morning, November 27th, the International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary Arts will be holding their annual sunrise gathering on Alcatraz Island.

AIM-WEST is holding events November 24th through the 28th in San Francisco for the 40 year anniversary and reunion of the American Indian Movement. The AIM reunion includes invited speakers from California indigenous nations, and congratulatory statements from governments and community organizations. The theme of the gathering is “Somos Un Solo Rio” (We Are One River), and “No One Is Illegal.”

The City Council of Santa Cruz has applied to extend city services to the currently undeveloped UCSC Upper Campus. This is a key step in preparing this unique ecosystem for destruction under UCSC environmentally irresponsible Long Range Development Plan. The City Council's attempt to aid the University in this process is in direct contradiction to the expressed will of the people of Santa Cruz and it violates the city's existing municipal code.

On November 16th, over 200 people from numerous communities throughout the Monterey Bay area came out to join the 15th annual Peace and Unity March, organized to demand an end to violence. In attendance was the family of Ray Ray Cervantez, a recent victim of violence, who shared words of their sorrow and urged peace.

On Nov. 20th, the City of Palo Alto announced that its controversial police chief will retire on Dec. 19th. Chief Lynne Johnson sparked protests and a march on the city when she stated that she had instructed officers on her force to make "consensual contact" with African American men to counter a crime spike in Palo Alto. Although the police chief made several attempts at apologizing, many residents of the city and surrounding communities were left wondering why she directed her officers to look for African Americans with do-rags when victims of a 5-month city-wide crime spree had variously described suspects as being of African American, Pacific Islander, Latino or white descent.

On November 19th, the California Supreme Court granted review in the legal challenges to Proposition 8, a ballot measure that denied equal marriage rights to those in same-sex partnerships. In a sign that the court may not be willing to take a strong stand against discrimination, the court voted 6-1 not to let marriages resume while it considers the proposition's constitutionality.

On November 13th, three Arab students, two female and one male, were attacked by members of the Zionist Freedom Alliance. The incident happened at the University of California Berkeley campus at a concert organized by ZFA. The three activists were targeted after they displayed Palestinian flags as a silent protest in response to derogatory remarks against Arabs by some of the performers at the event.

At noon on Wednesday November 12, San Francisco State University students attended a meeting with the heads of campus departments to discuss the impact of budget cuts. $31.3 million was cut over the summer, and in early November another $66.3 million in cuts was announced. The meeting spilled over into a rally, which led to actions that lasted all day and into the night, as students held an all-night sleep-in in the middle of campus.

On November 18th, US citizen and activist Darlene Wallach, along with a British citizen and an Italian, was detained with 15 Palestinian fisherman by the Israeli Navy. The group was fishing seven miles off the coast of Deir Al Balah. The US and European citizens, who are human rights observers, were kidnapped with the Palestinians by the Israeli Navy, despite the fact that they were clearly in Gaza fishing waters and well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994.

Join the Impact organized nationwide protests on November 15th against Proposition 8 and other anti-gay measures that were passed in November 4th's election. The SF protest took place on the front steps of City Hall. The Oakland protest took place in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Other local protests included Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Fresno, Modesto, Mountain View, San Rafael, Santa Rosa and Tracy.