Boycotts

The rich red hue of Myanmar's prized rubies is a reminder to many gem dealers of the military government's bloody crackdown on democracy advocates, and talk of a boycott is increasing. "There is a growing awareness that it is a fascist regime," said Brian Leber, a third-generation American gem dealer in Western Springs, Ill. "Considering what this regime has done to its own people, we're troubled to see that a precious stone is offering such a great source of cash for them."

And the winner is . . . not here? The Golden Globe Awards are a highly rated NBC event, an often irreverent ceremony brimming with A-list stars. If the Writers Guild of America strike against the TV networks and movie studios isn't resolved, the WGA could picket the Jan. 13 show, potentially resulting in a ceremony with all the celebrity clout of a charity bowling tournament.

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that shopping malls cannot stop protesters from urging a public boycott of the stores, even if the demonstrators are on mall property. The 4-3 decision upholds a 27-year precedent protecting free speech rights at shopping centers, even if the malls are privately owned. The case started in 1998, when the pressroom union was embroiled in a contract dispute with the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.

News item: Terje Haakonsen will not be present during the Winter Olympics at Turin, Italy. Reaction: Terje who? To some it seems like ages ago when the world's greatest snowboarder said those nasty things about those who run the world's greatest sports festival. Specifically, he compared then-International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch to mobster Al Capone and referred to IOC members as "ski-Nazis."

Immigrant-rights advocates on Thursday urged Costa Mesa businesses to fight the city's plan to use police to enforce immigration laws when arresting suspected felons and warned of a boycott if they didn't. They also urged residents to immediately stop cooperating with Costa Mesa police in crime investigations, and they announced plans for an April 1 protest at Costa Mesa City Hall. Organizers said businesses needed to take a stand.

Nineteen conservative groups said Monday that they would reinstate a boycott of Ford Motor Co., contending that the automaker reneged on an agreement to stop supporting gay rights organizations. The groups set up a website urging supporters not to buy Ford vehicles after the automaker said in December that it would continue running advertisements in gay publications. The American Family Assn.

Beleaguered Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Monday that his ruling party had received more than 50% of the vote in parliamentary elections, meeting the personal threshold he had set for remaining in office. But adding that his back was "against the wall," Thaksin said he still might step down if that was the recommendation of a commission of prominent Thais that he plans to appoint in the hope of bringing about national reconciliation.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System will sell its holdings in five foreign energy companies that do business in Sudan to protest human rights abuses in the African nation's Darfur region. On a 9-0 vote Thursday, the board of CalSTRS, the nation's second-largest public pension fund, directed its staff to plan for the divestment of the approximately $14 million worth of stock the fund currently holds in the companies. The holdings could be sold as early as June.

In the long history of college student activism in California, it was yet another victory: The University of California's regents had agreed to divest from companies with ties to the Sudanese government. The divestment movement started quietly less than two years ago when six feminists met in a UCLA student's Westwood living room.

U.S. immigrant rights advocates called Thursday for a nationwide boycott of work, school and commerce on May 1, seeking to capitalize on the momentum of recent mass demonstrations across the country. "I don't think we will crumble the economy of the United States on May 1, but we will make a dent," said New York City Councilman Charles Barron, among those supporting the initiative that was announced on the steps of City Hall. The coalition of immigration rights groups aims to stop a proposed U.