LA IMC

PFP Gubernatorial Candidate Alexander Condemns UC Tuition Hikes

Stewart A. Alexander — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

California UC Students Receive Education in Capitalism 101 Stewart A. Alexander For California Governor Peace and Freedom Party 2010 http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/ November 21, 2009 When the University of California’s Board of Regents made the decision this past Wednesday to increase college tuitions by a whopping 32 percent, tens of thousands of college students received a wake-up call in capitalism 101. In capitalism, receiving a higher education has less to do with having the ability to compete as a nation or advancing in industry, technologies and science, or preparing our kids for the future; today, receiving a higher education is only a source of revenue for the state and to protect the interest of the wealthy few. Stewart Alexander, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for California Governor, has condemned the UC tuition hikes as an assault on our kids and working families. Alexander says, “The leaders of the two corporate parties have chosen to protect the interest of big capital over our children’s future.” Students have been outraged on all the UC campuses; and for the past few days there have been mass demonstrations on several of the campuses including UCLA and UC Berkeley. The student outrage has intensified to the point where there have been arrests and students have camped on and near campuses to protest the tuition hikes. Since 1999, tuitions at the 10 California UC campuses have tripled. The 32 percent tuition hike will drive the cost for one year of tuition up to $10,300; not to include text books, housing, food and other expenses. Many students believe the tuition hikes will force them to drop out or attend community colleges; and due to the recession, many students are unable to rely on family members to help with expenses. The candidates for California governor, representing the two corporate parties, to include California Attorney General Jerry Brown –D, and Billionaire Meg Whitman -R, believe the tuition hikes are necessary due to California’s budget crisis which has already ballooned to a $21 billion deficit. Alexander says the tuition hikes and the California deficit are a result of our state leaders having the wrong priorities. Alexander has supported revising Prop 13 which would require big businesses to pay more of a fair share in taxes; this has been opposed by Sacramento Democrats and Republicans. Alexander continues to oppose the Three-Strikes law which has proven to be very costly (in the billions) to the state, and during a time of deficits and tuition fee hikes, many Democrats and Republicans still support state funding to building more prisons. Alexander has also supported scrapping the two-thirds rule for passing a state budget; he believes the two-thirds rule has more than often put spending for education on the chopping block as oppose to spending for special interest. Alexander says he is also concerned, that during a time when education has become unaffordable for working families, it is reprehensible that there are more than 3,000 staff members and star administrators in the UC system that are making over $200,000 and many of them making $400,000 to over a million dollars annually. Stewart Alexander says, “It is time for students to revolt, not by laying in the streets and not by organizing student demonstrations chanting ‘Shame on you!’ It must be a revolt using voter registration cards and making a change in the voting booth; this will be the only student action that the Democrats and Republicans will understand.” For more information search the Web for: Stewart A. Alexander http://www.stewartalexandercares.com/ UC Students Fight Tuition Hike http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/11/232522.php UC Berkeley Strike http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/11/20/18629617.php Peace and Freedom Party Home Page http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/ SPUSA- California http://www.stewartalexandercares.com/

UC Strike - UCLA Nov.19th

Tae — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

On Nov.18, UC Regents approved fee increase of 32% on top of already planned 8%, in total of 40% fee increase within 18 months! Students from UCLA and other campuses, such as UC Berkeley, Riverside, San Diego, gathered in front of Covel Commons, UCLA to show their solidarity. Students chanted "Whose university? Our university!" and "This is what democracy looks like!" throughout the day.

Anti-war protests expected next week

FYI — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Obama is expected to announce an escalation of the US war against the people of the Middle East next week. The only possible good that might come from this would be renewed anti-war actions in the US. Please consider organizing to take direct action to stop the war by any means necessary!

Campbell Hall de-occupied last night at 6pm

FYI — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Students by their own decision peacefully left the building to comply with fire and life safety issues raised by the fire marshal. It was never the students intent to compromise or endanger the public safety in any way. Fire marshal’s concerns deemed valid by student’s consensus and students released control of the building peacefully with no arrests or conflicts with police. Full students’ statement expected at some point.

UC Police break up UCLA protest

Richard Bamattre — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Some video I shot at the UCLA protest on November 18th. Although I don't have footage of it, a few students were tasered and others were pepper sprayed.

Students and Workers Resist Privatization at UCLA Regents Meeting

1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was under this Board of Regents that the funds marked to secure the future of higher education were placed under the management of Wall Street brokers who gambled it away on sub-prime loans and other criminal schemes. The State and Federal governments, which wasted no time to ball out the bankers, are now mandating cuts to education. Regents voted to raise students fees 32% today. The yearly cost for a UC student is now over $10,000 a year, three times what it was ten years ago. Without financial aid or student loans many students now in the UC System will simply not be able to afford to finish their degree. UC staff have already been hit with pay cuts, work furlough days and layoffs. More cuts and layoffs could come next year. Students in coordination with campus workers are now mobilizing for a second round of mass actions early next year in March.

VIDEO: Students Pepper Sprayed at UCLA protest

1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Uploaded is a short video showing use of pepper spray by UCPD and another plain clothed unidentified person. This incident took place as students were trying to address one of the regents as he left the meeting. Please note that the water bottles thrown by some students were thrown after they were sprayed directly in the face and that the water bottles did not strike anyone. No objects were observed thrown beforehand.

UC Students Fight Tuition Hike, Occupy Campus

schock — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Hundreds of students throughout the UC system are occupying buildings and taking direct action this week to block a massive proposed tuition hike. Breaking coverage on LA Indymedia! 1:56pm: (eyewitness report) At least 2000 students at rally and march. Enough to lock arms and completely surround the building. Regents had to retreat under police escort, students pepper sprayed. Unconfirmed reports of tasers used on students. more:

STOP STUPAK Rally

Rachel Fetrow — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

We Need YOU to Help STOP STUPAK When: Friday, November 20th, 12:30pm-1:30pm Where: 312 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (cross streets Temple and Spring) On Saturday, November 7th the U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic health reform bill. Unfortunately, the members for the House also adopted an amendment that would effectively ban private abortion coverage for millions of women in the United States- also known as the Stupak ban. JOIN US TO RALLY & PHONE BANK FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH THIS FRIDAY: Rally outside the Federal Courthouse in Downtown LA We’ll have signs and chants for you, but feel free to make your own and bring friends! RSVP to grassroots@pp-la.org so that we have enough materials for everyone! Thanks so much for standing with us to protect women’s access to reproductive health care.

Eye-witness report back of UCLA protests

imc — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Over a thousand people, mostly students, are currently marching around the campus Campbell Hall is Occupied 100's of students are storming Powell Library

Students occupy Campbell Hall at UCLA

Carter Huggins — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

At around 11pm, students took over Campbell Hall on the UCLA campus. As of 3am, the building is still secured with 35 students inside. The building was renamed Carter-Huggins Hall, after Black Panthers Bunchy Carter and John Huggins who were murdered in the building. The occupation is in response to the proposed 32% tuition hike, administrative malfeasance, and the tasing of 4 students and beating and abuse of many more. We want everything! Occupy everything! (Communique forthcoming)

SIgnage from UCLA Protest

1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Just a few images of signs at today's UCLA protest.

MP3 AUDIO Interview with UCLA Student on Protesting the Regents

1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Close to 400 students and campus workers protested outside the hall. In one incident student protesters charged the police barricades outside the hall.

There are also reports of police violence at the hands of UCPD against students. Witnesses tell of beatings with batons and there are unconfirmed reports of the use of tasers on students outside the meeting hall.

UCLA PD have a disturbing history of over zealous use of tasers on UCLA students (See: 2006: UCPD taser student in Powel Library).

Uploaded is an interview with a UCLA student about today protests. More protests are expected tomorrow on the last day of the regents meeting.

KPFK's LSB meeting to attend and be part of the vocal community too

akpfker — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

1970-01-01T00:00:00Z akpfker text/plain en

BREAKING: Protests on UCLA Campus at Regent Meeting, Reports of arrests

LA-IMC Newsroom — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Unconfirmed reports of actions inside the meeting that have halted the meeting. Perhaps six arrests believed from this action, exact count uncertain at this time. Situation still unfolding, this is a developing story. More campus wide actions rumored to be planned throughout the day.

LA Eastside: Street Food Vendor Situation

alienation — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Dentrimental Downer of the Digital Camera by bhhapa On my way home up an undisclosed street in Boyle Heights at 11pm on a Monday night, I saw a news van parked in front of a food stand.* The food stand were run by a familiar Breed Street family. Since I had my digital point-and-shoot handy, I stopped and took a few photos (without the flash). I was immediately approached by one of the individuals with the food team and her male sidekick. They asked me in Spanish what I was taking the photos for. I responded in my poor Spanish that the photos were just for me, that I lived in the neighborhood and that I was also a regular customer. They proceeded to explain that they’ve been getting harassed by the cops and that all the Breed Street vendors were kicked out because of all the media hype. Then the news reporter for the [undisclosed] news station approached me and explained that they were there doing the story to publicize the negative repercussions the Councilman’s office has had on the livelihoods of the Breed Street family businesses. For a moment, I felt like a criminal for carrying a handheld camera. Granted, from where I was standing and my lack of professionalism not having approached anyone for their consent, I did look like a suspicious onlooker with a possible ulterior motive. But I’m just an ordinary girl living in an ordinary world with an affordable digital camera made for the consumer. Why was I looked at as a threat? Continued at: http://laeastside.com/2009/11/the-dentrimental-downer-of-the-digital-camera/ Day and Night Once the sun starts to set food vendors set up shop and transform this little spot into a bustling corner of commerce and taco consumption. In just a few short weeks, they have built up a steady clientele and even some lines. This might be an example of Latino Urbanism but it’s also a very rational way to make ends meet, though I imagine this kind of impromptu street kitchen might not go over very well in non-Latino neighborhoods. I’ve been noticing many more of these sidewalk and frontyard food stalls around the neighborhood, maybe they’re a hint that La Crisis is going to be a much more significant storm than we were expecting. Continued at: http://laeastside.com/2008/10/day-and-night/

Transgender Memorial Dedication - Nov. 20

Carolina — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

The 11th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, themed “One Love,” will be commemorated at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, in West Hollywood, Calif. The event begins at Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle (Santa Monica Blvd. at Crescent Heights), where the West Hollywood City Council and honored guests – including Chaz Bono – will unveil the first Transgender Memorial Plaque, commemorating those who have been murdered due to anti-transgender violence and hatred. Following the dedication, a candlelight march will proceed east on Santa Monica Blvd. to Plummer Park for a community reception. Food and refreshments will be served. The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in 1999 as a candlelight vigil in San Francisco to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in 1998. The memorial continues to be staged in hundreds of cities and more than a dozen countries around the world. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is supported by the City of West Hollywood’s Transgender Task Force. For more information, please contact Karina Samala at 213-999-0456.

Southern California: First Cop on Trial for Murder in History of State Is Headed Your Way

dave id — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

In Oakland, California, in the early hours of January 1st of this year, while Bay Area Rapid Transit passenger Oscar Grant III lay face-down on a BART platform with another officer's knee on his shoulder, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle drew his service weapon and shot Oscar Grant in the back, execution-style. This type of killing of an unarmed, young African American man by police is all too common in America. L.A. police are reported to have killed 310 people in the last ten years. San Diego police have killed ninety-one people in the same time. It goes without saying that the overwhelming majority of those killed by police are people of color. For instance, the Oakland police department has shot nearly fifty citizens in the last six years, killing a third of them, and not a single one of the victims of these "officer-involved shootings" was of European descent. Cops cited the usual excuses of fearing for their lives, thinking they'd seen weapons on unarmed people, and every last one of the shootings was determined by the OPD and the Alameda County District Attorney's office to have been justified. Similarly, the BART police department started lying as soon as the news was out on New Year's Day. At first they denied that Oscar Grant was restrained on the platform when he was shot. They denied that they had video of the incident. The police chief blindly defended his officers by claiming they had acted professionally on the platform. Giving Johannes Mehserle far more leniency than even the California Police Bill of Rights calls for, he was not even questioned by superiors at BART. [BART has continued to officially blame Oscar Grant for having been shot in the back.] The District Attorney of Alameda County showed little interest in pursuing the case after the shooting. The murder of Oscar Grant looked very much like it would be swept under the rug just as the other 1000 police killings have been in California since 1999. But, this time it was different -- he was killed in front of hundreds of witnesses on a crowded train returning home after New Year's Eve celebrations. While BART police were brutalizing Oscar Grant and his friends on the BART platform -- punching them, pulling their hair, pointing tasers in their faces -- a fair number of the witnesses on the train had the foresight, like good copwatchers, to record video of the incident on their cell phones and cameras. Sure enough, they also captured the shooting on video. A few days after the shooting, several of these videos of the shooting began to appear on the internet. It became immediately clear to anyone who watched the available video that BART had been lying and that it was completely inexcusable for Mehserle to have not even been questioned about the matter. Imagine, if you will, what would happen to any one of us if we had been caught shooting a police officer or anyone else on camera. On January 7th, the same day funeral services were held for Oscar Grant, Johannes Mehserle resigned from BART, still not having been held to account in any way. In the afternoon, about 1,500 people attended a rally at the Fruitvale BART station where Oscar Grant had been killed exactly one week before. Dozens of people young and old took to the mic to express their sadness, their outrage, and their commitment to stopping the wanton killing of people of color by police. As dark approached that day, a group of about 300 people marched up International Boulevard heading towards downtown Oakland. It was downtown that the rally and march turned into a rebellion lasting several hours. A police car was attacked, two other cars were burned. Windows were broken throughout downtown. By the time it was over police had arrested more than 100 people, over half of them in a mass arrest late in the evening. Most of the charges have been dropped but three people are still facing bogus felony charges, one being prominent African American Bay Area media activist JR Valrey. The corporate media railed against the property destruction resulting from the rebellion, all the while attempting to rationalize the murder of Oscar Grant as some sort of accident. It was the corporate media that invented one of the defenses that Mehserle himself is now using in court to avoid culpability, that is that Mehserle intended to draw his taser when he pulled his gun instead. The same ad hoc coalition of community activists that had organized the rally on the 7th continued to demand accountability and declared that they would hold a rally every Thursday on the weekly anniversary of the shooting until Mehserle was charged with murder. The next rally was scheduled for January 14th, to happen in front of Oakland City Hall, and it promised to be significantly larger than the first. Indeed, the second rally was up to 5,000 people strong, all committed to seeking justice for Oscar Grant. Prior to that day, however, after having broken up smaller protests downtown throughout the week, authorities clearly feared an even larger rebellion with the second rally approaching, and on January 13th, Johannes Mehserle was arrested and charged with murder. Common wisdom amongst community activists in the Bay Area since then is that riots work. As a result of community pressure when authorities were all too ready to look the other way as they almost always to when it comes to police violence, Johannes Mehserle is the now first police officer in the history of California to face a murder trial for an on-duty shooting. Mehserle walks free now because he was granted bail and his defense is being funded by police unions. They have successfully delayed the case and have attempted to derail it at every turn. Not surprisingly, the corporate media has done a terrible job reporting on the various hearings, generally parroting defense motions and testimony of BART cops verbatim with little to no critical analysis or reporting on evidence that refutes defense claims. To cite just one particularly egregious example, a local TV station reposted an AP piece built solely on a regurgitation of the lies told by BART officer Marysol Domenici -- only at the very end of the article did it include a sentence that read: "Deputy District Attorney David Stein, however, tried to point out inconsistencies in their testimony." The Deputy DA "tried" to point out inconsistencies?!? What actually happened that day in the Mehserle's preliminary hearing was that Domenici showed herself to be a complete liar and was blatantly exposed as such by the prosecutor. Even the judge himself repeatedly called out the obvious lies of the various BART officers who testified over the course of the preliminary hearing. But you didn't hear about that in the corporate media. The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay), on the other hand, reported with great detail the actual happenings inside the preliminary hearing and other court dates. In fact, you can find actual court filings and transcripts from hearings at the site. It is not hyperbole to say that the related reports by numerous individuals at Indybay have proven invaluable for community activists to stay informed about the case. It was not unexpected when Mehserle's defense team cited the abundance of Bay Area coverage of the case and the January Oscar Grant Rebellions as reasons to move the trial out of the county in which Mehserle murdered Oscar Grant. Community activists were taken aback, though, when blatantly racist arguments were made about how African Americans could not be fair jurors and how the defense intended to grill prospective African American jurors in extraordinary ways. Additionally, in an affront to free speech, Mehserle and his defense claimed that the many reports on Indybay and the public outreach actions of community activists were cause for a venue change. Unfortunately, Judge Jacobson agreed, and so Mehserle's trial is now set to be held in either Los Angeles or San Diego County. On the afternoon of November 19th, Judge Jacobson is set to hear defense and prosecution arguments regarding venue selection. The defense will argue for the much more conservative and police-friendly San Diego. Prosecutors will make a case for holding the trial in Los Angeles which, while not an exact match for Alameda County, represents a similarly diverse populace in terms of ethnicity and political persuasions. It is not known if the judge will make a ruling at the conclusion of the hearing, but a final decision is expected at any time afterward. Regardless of where the trial is held, the venue change offers an opportunity for activists up and down the state to forge new alliances dedicated to securing justice for Oscar Grant and all victims of police abuses, a new solidarity that could push the movement against racist state violence to new levels. Let me take the time to repeat this for the record -- Johannes Mehserle is the first police officer in the history of California to face a murder trial for an on-duty shooting. This is a hugely important case, far too important to simply trust that the corporate media and prosecutors will do the right thing on their own. They have shown repeatedly that they will not. We cannot assume that justice will be done without our direct involvement. The time is now for Southern California activists of all stripes concerned about justice to join in solidarity with their brothers and sisters from Oakland and the Bay Area. Together let's get the truth out there. Let's hold authorities accountable for any action they take that is not in the interest of justice. - We need media activists, experienced or not, who can attend court hearings which are held during business hours so that truthful reports can be made available to the general public and to activists everywhere concerned with justice for Oscar Grant and all victims of police violence. - We need social justice demonstrators outside and around the courthouse to remind prosecutors that we are watching and will tolerate nothing less than their full effort towards securing a conviction for Johannes Mehserle. - We need trusted allies to offer space in their homes for Bay Area activists who will likely want to come south to participate in related activities intermittently. - We need to fundraise to assist the family of Oscar Grant who must soon leave their jobs and relocate to the venue county in order to attend the entire trial. At this point the trial is expected to last several months from jury selection to the final verdict and hopefully sentencing. A good place to start now is by informing yourself and others. Remember that you can't trust the corporate media when your local television stations and newspapers begin to pick up on the story. A thorough independent media repository of information on the various fronts of the movement for justice for Oscar Grant has been compiled at http://www.indybay.org/oscargrant. * Harvey Milk fought for gay rights and against police brutality, and, in the end, was assassinated by a former police officer turned politician. ~~~ Please, forward this widely to everyone you can -- through blogs, email, print it out, whatever -- especially if you have friends and allies in Southern California.

The war on public-sector unions

Socialist Worker — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

THE LONG war on unions is escalating in the public sector as the recession wipes out tax revenue and triggers deep budget cuts in states, large and small. http://socialistworker.org/2009/11/06/war-on-public-sector-unions

Horowitz's hate speech at USC

Claire Douglas — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Horowitz is the author of the book 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America, in which he denounces left-wing, liberal and Arab professors for, in his view, sympathizing with terrorism and hating democracy.... http://socialistworker.org/2009/11/09/horowitz-hate-speech

UCLA CRISIS FEST: Protest for education

Student Union — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

CRISIS FEST: A Space for Music, Workshops, Dance, Joy and Protest! On November 18th, hundreds of union members and students from all over California will converge on UCLA in the leadup to the system-wide protest of the Regents meeting. With the support of union and student groups, there will be a day and night Tent City outside of Pauley Pavillion to house our convergence! Therfore, the students of UCLA have created the CRISIS FEST: A radical space at Tent City to respond to the crisis with new ideas, experiences, anger and joy. We recognize the broader issues shaping the crisis: privatization, and the economic downturn, the resegregation of the university and the ongoing wars abroad. But we don't want boring colloquiums or lectures: for one night we run our education as self-education; we protest with fun and festivity! There will be music, food, workshops and communal spirits in store for everyone. And we want your help! From 5pm until (at least) Midnight, we want to fill UCLA with your music, poetry & spoken word, discussions, dance, visuals, videos, d.i.y. workshops, and literature, in addition to what we've already set up (and the list will only get longer). We have discussions of the international student movement, dodgeball & frisbee matches, mass camping on campus (bring your own tent!), screen printing workshops, banner & art making, rock & traditional Mexican music and a General Assembly to discuss the future of the movement. DON'T ASK FOR PERMISSION! LET'S TAKE BACK THE UNIVERSITY AND MAKE IT OUR OWN! Full schedule: crisisfestucla.blogspot.com Determine your own participation. Create your own event! Email: crisisfest@gmail.com Sign up for the Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205509788311 If you need a bus ride to UCLA on Nov 18th, sign up here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=riU_2fY_2fwxry5LldJgrCRWaw_3d_3d

Checkpoints this weekend / Retenes este fin de semana (12-14/Nov)

Checkpoint response — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Thursday/Jueves

UPLAND - Checkpoint on Central Ave just south of Foothill beginning at 6:PM (report from the network.)

Friday/Viernes

CHINO HILLS - "Officers of the Chino Police Department will conduct a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, November 13, from approximately 8:00 pm to 4:00 am." (http://www.chinohills.com/news-articles-details/Officers_To_Target_Impaired_Drivers_with_Checkpoint-1059)

SANTA BÁRBARA - "The Santa Barbara Police Department will be conducting DUI Checkpoints in the City of Santa Barbara on [...] Friday November 13th 6 pm to 2 am" (http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=1400&nid=24170)

Sunday/Domingo

SANTA BÁRBARA - "The Santa Barbara Police Department will be conducting DUI Checkpoints in the City of Santa Barbara on [...] Sunday November 15th 6 pm to 2 am" (http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=1400&nid=24170)

Campaign Demands NBA Discipline Clippers Owner and Condemn Racist Housing Discrimination

Andy Blue — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Join the "NBA Show You Care" Facebook group.

Sign the petition.

Tenants Together, California's statewide organization for renters rights, launched a new online petition and video today as part of campaign urging the National Basketball Association to discipline Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling.

The campaign follows the announcement last week by the U.S. Department of Justice of the largest settlement ever obtained in a rental housing discrimination case. Referencing the NBA’s own “NBA Cares” slogan, we are demanding, “NBA: Show you care” and have launched the website www.NBAshowyoucare.org.

The website includes a short video and a petition to NBA Commissioner David Stern. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Sterling “Engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating on the basis of race, national origin, and family status.” The DOJ stated that Sterling “refused to rent to African Americans” and that his conduct was willful. This is not the first time that Sterling has paid out millions to make housing discrimination claims go away.

In 2006, the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles sued Sterling for discrimination, a case that Sterling settled for an undisclosed amount that included over $5 million in fees. Sterling has also been sued for harassment and employment discrimination based on race by NBA legend and former Clippers General Manager Elgin Baylor, a case that is pending.

According to the “NBA Cares" mission statement, “the NBA is dedicated to demonstrating leadership in social responsibility.” However, when sportswriters responded to the DOJ announcement by asking the NBA what it plans to do in response, the NBA has said it has no plans to comment or investigate Sterling. As noted by Jemele Hill of ESPN, “The Commissioner has offered only disappointing silence.” Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports asks, “Where is the outrage?”

Tenants Together launched the online video and petition to put pressure on the NBA to discipline Sterling. “The DOJ busts this NBA team owner for denying housing to people based on the color of their skin, and the NBA has nothing to say?” commented Tenants Together Executive Director, Dean Preston, “The NBA must take swift decisive action to condemn racist housing discrimination and discipline this team owner.”

The NBA’s inaction contrasts with how the National Football League and Major League Baseball have handled allegations of racism by team owners. In 1996, MLB suspended Marge Schott, owner and GM of the Cincinnati Reds, for over a year for racially insensitive remarks. More recently, the NFL excluded talk show host Rush Limbaugh from becoming a team owner after a firestorm of controversy over past racist remarks. Clippers’ owner Sterling was accused not only of making racist remarks like Schott and Limbaugh, but also of engaging in a pattern of illegal racist housing discrimination against minority tenants, yet the NBA has no plans to discipline Sterling.

The video and petition, along with more information, is available at NBAshowyoucare.org.

Open Letter to KPFK Management and Local Station Board on New Programming Schedule

KPFK — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

>>> Open Letter to KPFK Management and Local Station Board on New Programming Schedule Carta Abierta a la Gerencia y Mesa Directiva de la radio KPFK sobre su nueva programacion. >>> We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the new programming schedule ("grid") adopted by management without listener input. We urge that it be swiftly replaced by a grid adopted after broad consultation with listeners about how air-time on KPFK can best be used to fulfill the Pacifica mission and meet the communities' needs. Nosotros los firmantes de este documento nos oponemos categoricamente a la nueva programacion adoptada por la gerencia sin consultar a los radio oyentes. Y pedimos que sea reemplazada de inmediato por una derivada de una consulta con la radio audiencia sobre la mejor forma de usar las ondas herzianas para cumplir con la Mision de Pacifica y satisfacer las necesidades de la comunidad. >>> The new grid reflects an ongoing effort to sanitize the airwaves, silence voices of dissent outside the Democratic Party, and marginalize or eliminate grassroots community voices. It could only be imposed in the undemocratic way that it was, without engaging listeners, staff and stakeholders in an informed discussion about the station’s future. La nueva programacion refleja un esfuerzo por esterilizar las ondas radio electricas, silenciar las voces disidentes fuera del partido Democrata, y marginalizar o eliminar las voces de las comunidades de base. Esa programacion solo pudo imponerse en la forma anti democratica que se hizo, excluyendo de la discusion sobre el futuro de la emisora, a los radio oyentes-patrocinadores y a los empleados. >>> The grid is expressly based on financial considerations and driven by Arbitron ratings, even though Arbitron is widely understood to misrepresent audiences, especially by under-counting young people and poor people, particularly people of color. The grid favors so-called "strip programming," in which a single gate-keeping host controls a block of air-time throughout the week. La nueva programacion esta basada estrictamente en el aspecto financiero y los resultados de encuestas de “Arbitron,” entidad que es bien sabido, deja fuera de sus analisis a segmentos de la poblacion especialmente los jovenes, los pobres y la gente de color. La nueva formula favorece la llamada “programacion de franjas” en la cual una sola persona controla un bloque de tiempo en el aire durante la semana. >>> To carve out that time, management has dropped shows and cut others to 30 minutes, rescheduling them and others at hours unfamiliar to their audiences, and when talk-radio audiences are small. Intentional or not, the effect of this kind of rescheduling will reduce the listeners of these shows, increasing the likelihood of their ultimate elimination. Para diseniar la nueva configuracion, la gerencia ha eliminado algunos programas y reducido otros por mitad, cambiandoles el horario de transmision a tiempos que su audiencia regular ignora, o a horas en que hay poca audiencia. Intencional o no, los cambios reduciran el numero de oyentes de esos programas, haciendolos vulnerables a su posterior eliminacion. >>> These changes in programming correspond to other undemocratic changes in management and governance, including illegal "suspensions" of elected board members and efforts to pre-ordain the outcome of searches for new management. Esos cambios anti democraticos en la programacion son similares a otros como “la suspension” de miembros electos de la Mesa Directiva y acciones tomadas con el fin de predeterminar la conclusion de la contratacion de miembros de la gerencia. >>> These changes cannot be allowed to stand, because they will doom KPFK to irrelevance at best, exactly at the moment when economic, political, social and environmental crises cry out for a medium of communication open to the struggles and resistance of popular movements. No se puede permitir que esos cambios se hagan permanentes pues eso condenaria a KPFK en el mejor de los casos, a convertirse en una emisora irelevante, en momentos en que la crisis economica, politica, social y ambiental, piden a gritos un medio de comunicacion abierto a las luchas de resistencia de los movimientos sociales. >>> The forces seeking to neuter KPFK as a voice of community activism, cultural and ethnic diversity, and incisive dissent have already driven away more than 10,000 listeners in the past 4 years. The new grid and other purges could destroy the station entirely. Las fuerzas que tratan de prevenir que la radio KPFK sea la voz del activismo comuntario, cultural, diversidad etnica y disencion aguda, ya han alejado mas de 10,000 radio oyentes en los ultimos cuatro anios. La nueva programacion podria destruir la radio completamente. >>> Please sign and circulate this petition and send in signatures to: grassrootskpfk@yahoo.com. Thanks! Favor de firmar y circular esta peticion y enviar las firmas a la siguiente grassrootskpfk@yahoo.com. Gracias. >>> Anyone who wants to can sign their own name and make a comment here: http://www.ipetitions.com/peti... Las personas que quieran firmar y escribir un comentario pueden hacerlo en el siguiente lugar: http://www.ipetitions.com/peti...://www.ipetitions.com/petition/KPFK_Programming_Changes/ >>> NAME/NOMBRE – Please print/Favor de escribir con letra de molde. >>> Email/direccion de correo electronico:

Anti-Immigrant Event in Big Bear November 14

Jim Angleton — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Though the organizers are not identified, they are requesting that anti-amnesty activists meet at the corner of Stanfield Cutoff and Big Bear Boulevard (Hwy 18) with "red, white and blue clothing and carry an American, military or Don’t Tread on Me flag, or carry homemade signs." This type of hateful activity has not been a part of Big Bear's small-town life in the past, but Big Bear is now represented by County Supervisor Neil Derry, who has hired Joseph Turner to his staff. Turner's Save Our State group is well known to the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. Please join us to assure our immigrant families, friends, neighbors and co-workers what our community truly feels in the face of this shame and blight. The location mentioned is just east of the Vons and Stater Brothers markets on Highway 18 (Big Bear Boulevard).

Paid Lying: What Passes for Major Media Journalism

Stephen Lendman — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Paid Lying: What Passes for Major Media Journalism - by Stephen Lendman Today's major media journalism is biased, irresponsible, sensationalist reporting that distorts, exaggerates or misstates the truth. It's misinformation or agitprop disinformation masquerading as fact to boost circulation, readership, viewers, or listeners, and on vital issues lie about or suppress uncomfortable truths to provide unqualified support for state and/or corporate interests - to the detriment of the greater good that's always sacrificed for profits and imperial aims. As a result, major media sources produce a daily propaganda diet and what Project Censored calls "junk food news," and get most people to believe it. In their landmark book, Manufacturing Consent, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky explained the "propaganda model" that controls the public message by "filter(ing)" disturbing truths, "leaving (behind) only the cleansed residue fit to print" or air. Today the media is in crisis and a free and open society at risk at a time fiction substitutes for fact, news is carefully controlled, dissent marginalized, and on-air and print journalists support powerful interests as paid liars, or what famed journalist George Seldes (1890 - 1995) called "prostitutes of the press." As a result, imperial wars are called liberating ones. Civil liberties are suppressed for our own good. Major topics go unaddressed or are misrepresented. Government and business interests are endorsed wholeheartedly. America is always called "beautiful." Beneficial social change is considered heresy. The market works best, we're told, so let it, and patriotism means supporting lawlessness and corporate outlaws by shopping till we drop. The New York Times - Its Lead Role in Distorting and Suppressing Truth For many decades, The Times has been the closest thing in America to an official ministry of information and propaganda masquerading as real news, commentary and analysis. Its unmatched clout once got media critic Norman Solomon to call its front page "the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA;" most everywhere, in fact, because its reports are widely circulated and followed globally. The Paper of Record has a long history of: -- supporting the powerful; -- backing corporate interests; -- endorsing imperial wars; -- supporting CIA efforts to topple elected governments, assassinate independent leaders, prop up friendly dictators, secretly fund and train paramilitary death squads, practice sophisticated forms of torture, and menace democratic freedoms at home and abroad. For decades, in fact, some Times' foreign correspondents were covert Agency assets. Others today likely are as well as other prominent fourth estate members. The Times management is also comfortable with: -- Washington and corporate lawlessness; -- an unprecedented and growing wealth gap; -- Wall Street banksters looting the federal treasury; -- a private banking cartel controlling the nation's money; -- unmet human needs and increasing poverty, hunger, homelessness, and despair for growing millions in a nation run by rogue politicians who don't give a damn as long as they're re-elected; -- a de facto one-party state; -- deep corruption at the highest government and corporate levels; -- democracy for the select few alone; -- sham elections; and -- a deepening social decay symptomatic of a declining state, yet The Times management won't use its clout to expose and help reverse it. Of course, the same applies throughout the corporate media, the only variance being audience size, the ability to influence it, and the special impact of TV news and talk radio to arouse their faithful. Plus their power of round-the-clock persuasive repetition. Examples of Journalism, New York Times Style After a Washington staged February 29, 2004 middle-of-the-night coup ousted democratically elected Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, The Times March 1 editorial lied by: -- stating he resigned; -- saying sending in Marines to abduct him "was the right thing to do;" -- claiming they only came after "Mr. Aristide yielded power;" -- blaming him for "contribut(ing) significantly to his own downfall (because of his) increasingly autocratic and lawless rule....;" and -- accusing him of manipulating the 2000 legislative elections and not "deliver(ing) the democracy he promised." In fact, he's a beloved democrat first elected in 1990 with 67% of the vote, ousted by a US-supported coup months later, returned to Haiti in 1994, then, because he couldn't succeed himself in 1996, ran in 2000 and was overwhelmingly re-elected with 92% of the vote. Today in exile, the great majority of Haitians want him back but paramilitary occupiers, under orders from Washington, won't let him. Following Hugo Chavez's December 1998 election, The Times Latin American reporter, Larry Roher, wrote: Regional "presidents and party leaders are looking over their shoulders (concerned about the) specter (they) thought they had safely interred: that of the populist demagogue, the authoritarian man on horseback known as the caudillo (strongman)" taking power. Ever since, Times writers consistently: -- turned a blind eye to Venezuelan democracy; -- bashed Chavez as "divisive, a ruinous demagogue, provocative (and) the next Fidel Castro;" -- said he "militarized the government, emasculated the country's courts, intimidated the media, eroded confidence in the economy, and hollowed out Venezuela's once-democratic institutions:" common conditions during decades of pre-Chavez rule that columnist Roger Lowenstein falsely said exist now in: -- calling him anti-capitalist for sharing his nation's oil wealth with the people by providing essential social services, and for lifting the most needy out of poverty; and -- denouncing his making foreign investors pay their fair share. Lowenstein backed the aborted April 2002 coup by calling Chavez's ouster a "resignation," then saying Venezuela "no longer (would be) threatened by a would-be dictator." Post-/911, the Times played the lead role in taking the nation to war by highlighting the "day of terror" and saying the "President Vows to Exact Punishment for 'Evil.' " In the run-up to the Iraq war, Judith Miller was a weapon of mass deception with her daily front page Pentagon press release columns masquerading as real news, later exposed as manipulative lies, but they worked. Following the September 15, 2009 Goldstone Commission report, a same day Neil MacFarquhar column suggested that Israel's "disproportionate attack" followed Hamas provocations, so perhaps it was justified. While The Times gave Judge Goldstone op-ed space, it: -- published scathing letters denouncing his "one-sidedness" and a September 18 piece saying "the Obama administration said (today) that a United Nations report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza was unfair to Israel and did not take adequate account of 'deplorable' actions by the militant group Hamas in the conflict last winter." The paper then imposed a near-blackout on its news and editorial pages to bury the story and kill it through silence - never mind its importance in documenting clear evidence of Israeli war crimes against a civilian population. National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting (PBS) Founded in 1970 as an independent, private, non-profit member organization of US public radio stations, NPR promised to be an alternative to commercial broadcasters by "promot(ing) personal growth rather than corporate gain (and) speak with many voices, many dialects." Having long ago abandoned its promise, and given its substantial corporate and government funding, NPR is indistinguishable from the rest of the corporate media, just as corrupted, and consider its former head, Kevin Klose. He was president from December 1998 - September 2008 and CEO from 1998 - January 2009. Earlier he was US propaganda director as head of the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Worldnet Television, and the anti-Castro Radio/TV Marti, so he fit easily into his new role. On January 5, 2009, Vivian Schiller succeeded him as president and CEO. Her official bio says she was previously with "The New York Times Company where she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of NYTimes.com." She'll oversea "all NPR operations and initiatives, including the organization's critical partnerships with our 800+ member stations, and their service to the more than 26 million people who listen to NPR programming every week." Most don't know they're getting the same corporate propaganda and "junk food news" or that NPR calls itself "public" to conceal its real agenda, and why critics call it "National Pentagon or Petroleum Radio" with good reason. Created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) calls itself "a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress...and is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,100 locally-owned and-operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services." Like NPR, it's heavily corporate and government funded and provides similar services for them. Under George Bush, former Voice of America director Kenneth Tomlinson was chairman of CPB's Board of Governors until an internal 2005 investigation forced him out for repeatedly braking the law. On September 16, 2009, a CPB press release announced that "The board of directors (of the CPB) today elected Dr. Ernest Wilson III (as) chairman and re-elected....CEO Beth Courtney (as) vice-chair." Wilson previously held senior policy positions as Director of International Programs and Resources on the National Security Council. He was also Policy and Planning Unit Director for the US Information Agency and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Beth Courtney is a George Bush appointee, a past chairman of the board of America's Public Television Stations and present CPB vice chairman. Currently she also serves on the boards of Satellite Educational Resources Consortium, the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives, the National Forum for Public Television Executives, and the National Educational Telecommunications Association along with other appropriate credentials for her re-appointment. In its May/June 2004 "Extra" report, FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) asked "How Public Is Public Radio? Writers Steve Rendall and Daniel Butterworth quoted past head Kevin Klose saying: "All of us believe our goal is to serve the entire democracy, the entire country." Not according to FAIR on "every on-air source quoted in June 2003 on four of (NPR's) news shows: All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition Saturday and Weekend Edition Sunday." Each guest was classified "by occupation, gender, nationality, and partisan affiliation." Combined, 2,334 sources from 804 stories were quoted. FAIR found that NPR relies on the same dominant sources as the major media that include government officials, professional experts, and corporate representatives nearly two-thirds of the time. Spokespeople for public interest groups accounted for 7% of total sources, and ordinary people appeared mostly in "one-sentence soundbites." Male guests outnumbered women about 4 - 1, and those quoted most often came from the same elite categories as men. Overall, NPR represents the same dominant interests as the major commercial media - conservative, pro-business, pro-war, pro-Israel, and very much against the public interest while pretending to support it. FAIR analyzed PBS's flagship NewsHour guest list and drew similar conclusions. Like NPR, it's ideologically right and usually censors progressive content and public interest programming. In a 1990 NewsHour evaluation, FAIR compared its content to ABC's Nightline and found that it presented "an even narrower segment of the political spectrum." It then conducted an October 2005 - March 2006 analysis of all of its programs, got similar results, and determined that NewHour is even more ideologically right than NPR that tilts far in that direction itself. FAIR concluded that NPR and NewsHour content "overwhelmingly represent those in power rather than the public" they're obliged to serve. While masquerading as public programming, they betray their listeners and viewers by offering the same propaganda and "junk food news" as the dominant corporate media. Considering their funding sources, what else would they do. An October 6 NPR story is typical of most others. It charged Hugo Chavez with "Targeting Opponents For Arrest." Reporter Juan Forero claimed "dozens of university students" went on hunger strike outside OAS headquarters in Caracas on September 28 along with others "across the country....in support of Julio Cesar Rivas, a student who was arrested during an anti-government demonstration in August...." Rivas is the coordinator and founder of Juventud Activa de Venezuela Unida (United Active Youth of Venezuela - JAVU). Earlier, he was part of a staged, violent street protest against Venezuela's new Education Law. The government says JAVU acts as "shock troops" in opposition protests and is liberally funded by the National Endowment of Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), and US Agency or International Development (USAID) to disrupt internal Venezuelan affairs. It's a familiar scheme, repeated numerous times in the past, to discredit and disrupt the Chavez government in hopes of eventually ousting it. JAVU has about 80,000 members in most Venezuelan states, and its blog site calls for bringing down the government and supporting the Honduran military coup. Rivas was released on September 29, but must appear for trial. He's a Washington-funded provocateur, charged with resisting arrest, instigating crime, conspiracy, inciting rebellion, damaging public property, and using "generic" weapons. While in custody, Venezuela Public Defender Gabriela Ramirez assured him in person that his full constitutional rights will be protected. Street protests still continue and have been countered by pro-Chavez ones calling for "peace and tolerance." According to the Federation of Bolivarian students' Carlos Sierra: Opposition "students are being used and manipulated by the top leadership of the irrational opposition, which, via the (dominant) media, send them to generate violence and terrorism in the country" much like on previous occasions. But according to NPR's Forero, Rivas was "sent to one of Venezuela's most infamous prisons" where other government opponents are held as political prisoners. Chavez "has been jailing dozens of key opponents - some of them students, some of them veteran politicians" in citing unnamed "human rights groups and constitutional experts (claiming) Venezuela is increasingly singling out and imprisoning its foes in politically motivated witch hunts." Forero didn't mention that Rivas fomented violence. Others arrested also broke the law. No one is a political prisoner, and all Venezuelans get fair and equitable trials, unlike in America where real political arrests, prosecutions and convictions happen regularly against innocent targeted victims - a topic NPR and PBS won't touch except to vilify them publicly on-air. Nor do they report truthfully on Occupied Palestine. On October 12, 2009, on NPR's Morning Edition, reporter Renee Montagne practically extolled Israeli racism in stating: "There is a new enemy for some Israelis: romance between Jewish women and Arab men, (so) vigilantes have banded together to fight it." She means from "Jewish settlements" that "have sprung up (in) traditionally Arab" East Jerusalem, but won't admit they're on stolen Palestinian land. NPR's Sheera Frankel joined a patrol, implied Arabs are inferior to Jews, and suggested they pose a danger to Jewish women and girls. She described vigilantes on the lookout for "Arab-Jewish couples (to) break up their dates," suggesting it's the right thing to do, but never questioning the legitimacy of settlements, vigilante violence in East Jerusalem, its lawless disregard for the law, or great harm to innocent people. Instead she called "mixed couples a growing epidemic" of miscegenation - typical of NPR's racism and one-sided support for Israel. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) The WSJ is Dow Jones & Company's flagship publication, now a News Corp. one since Rupert Murdoch bought it in August 2007. Stating its ideology up front, it says it supports "free markets and free people" as well as "free trade and sound money; against confiscatory taxation and the ukases (edicts) of kings and other collectivists; and for individual autonomy against dictators, bullies and even the tempers of momentary majorities." In October 2007, FAIR bemoaned the Murdock takeover because of his "penchant for using his holdings as vehicles for his personal (views) and business interests." Earlier FAIR and the Columbia Journalism Review criticized its editorial page for inaccuracy, extreme bias, and dishonesty. The Journal is unapologetic in saying its philosophy "make(s) no pretense of walking down the middle of the road. Our comments and interpretations are made from a definite point of view....We oppose all infringements on individual rights, whether (from) private monopoly, labor union monopoly or from an overgrowing government.(We're) not much interested in labels but if we were to choose one, we would say we are radical." Radical can be revolutionary and beneficial when it backs fundamental progressive change and reform. Webster defines it as: "marked by a considerable departure from the usual and traditional: extreme; tending or disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions; of, relating to, or constituting a political (or perhaps business) group associated with views, practices, and policies of extreme change; (or) advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs" such the radical right represented by the WSJ's management and editorial writers. Critics agree that they're on the far right extremist fringe, a supporter of voodoo economics, tax cuts for the rich, a staunch defender of executive privilege, and disdainful of anything to the left of their views as witnessed daily by some of the most outlandish, one-sided, pro-business commentaries countenancing no alternatives, with the rarest of rare exceptions showing up to make the paper look fair, which it's not. Consider editorial board member Mary O'Grady in her weekly Americas column on "politics, economics and business in Latin America and Canada." Her extremism is unmatched. Her style is agitprop; her space a truth-free zone; her language hateful and vindictive; her tone malicious and slanderous; her style bare-knuckled thuggishness; and her material calculating, mendacious, and shameless. Yet she's a WSJ regular and an award-winning op-ed writer, but surely no journalist according to Webster's definition: "writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation." O'Grady fails on both counts. She's a kind of print version of Fox News' Glenn Beck, who promotes himself on glennbeck.com looking arrogant in a uniform reminiscent of the Nazi SS. Consider O'Grady's support for the Washington-backed June 28 Honduran coup ousting a democratically elected president. It was followed by months of mass arrests, disappearances, killings, targeting the independent media, suspending the Constitution, declaring martial law, and threatening the Brazilian embassy's sovereignty where President Manuel Zelaya took refuge after returning. In one of her many pro-coup articles, O'Grady (on July 13) headlined "Why Honduras Sent Zelaya Away." In a "perfect world," according to her, he "would be in jail in his own country right now, awaiting trial. The Honduran attorney general (part of the coup regime) has charged him with deliberately violating Honduran law and the Supreme Court (stacked with pro-coup justices) ordered his arrest in Tegucigalpa on June 28," the day of the coup. "But the Honduran military whisked him out of the country, to Costa Rica," to save itself the embarrassment of jailing a democratically elected leader whose lawful actions were endorsed by the majority of Hondurans wanting progressive constitutional change and a president willing to give it to them. Yet according to O'Grady, "Mr. Zelaya's detention was legal, as was his official removal from office by Congress....Besides eagerly trampling the constitution, Mr. Zelaya had demonstrated that he was ready to employ the violent tactics of 'chavismo' to hang onto power. The decision to pack him off immediately was taken in the interest of protecting both constitutional order and human life." In fact, Zelaya neither espoused or practiced violence, and his call for a public June 28 vote on whether to hold a referendum for a new Constitutional Convention at the same time as the November elections lawfully asked for a "yes" or "no" on one question: "Do you think that the November 2009 general elections should include a fourth ballot box (the other three were for candidates) in order to make a decision about the creation of a National Constitutional Assembly that would approve a new Constitution?" According to Article 5 of the 2006 Honduran "Civil Participation Act," government officials may hold non-binding inquiries (referenda) to determine popular support for proposed measures. Gauging sentiment for a National Constituent Assembly for a new Constitution is legal. Yet in her June 28 article titled, "Honduras Defends Its Democracy," O'Grady falsely claimed Zelaya planned "a constitutional rewrite (following) a national referendum" only the Congress can approve. In fact, Zelaya called for a vote to assess public sentiment, pro or con, on whether Hondurans want a Constitutional Convention, an act no different from a public opinion poll that's perfectly legal or should be anywhere. But according to O'Grady, Zelaya "decided he would run the referendum himself." It's typical O'Grady truth reversal that earns her weekly space on the WSJ's op-ed page. The BBC's Long Tradition As An Imperial Tool State-owned and funded, it's tradition is long, unbroken, and disturbing as the world's largest and most influential broadcaster reaching global audiences in 32 languages. From inception in 1925, it's been reliably pro-government and pro-business, or as its founder Lord Reith wrote the establishment: "They know they can trust us not to be really impartial." Neither he or his successors disappointed on topics mattering most, including war and peace, corporate crimes, US-UK duplicity, labor rights, democratic freedoms, human and civil rights, social justice, and Western imperialism. They're consistently distorted, suppressed, marginalized or ignored throughout decades of misreporting despite claiming "honesty (and) integrity (is) what the BBC stands for (because it's) free from political influence and commercial pressure." As a propaganda service, its record is uncompromisingly anti-union, pro-business, and dependably safe for Whitehall and its allies. It moralizes Western aggression, bashes independent democratic leaders, and cheerleads for the powerful at the expense of providing real news and information for millions believing BBC is credible. For over eight decades, it's record is solid and predictable - betraying the public trust to reliably serve the powerful. The tradition continues. Prominent TV Demagogues Among the many, consider a select few. For example, CNN's Lou Dobbs, "Mr. Independent" he calls himself. Critics use more descriptive terms, yet according to his loudobbs.tv.cnn.com bio: He's "anchor and managing editor of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight (and also anchor of) a nationally syndicated financial news radio report, The Lou Dobbs Financial Report...." In addition, he writes a weekly CNN.com commentary, is an author and award-winning "journalist," most recently in 2005 when "the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded (him) the Emmy for Lifetime Achievement" for serving the usual special interests nightly on prime time TV. In June 2004, he also won "the Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration from the Center for Immigration Studies for his ongoing series 'Broken Borders,' which examines US policy towards illegal immigration." Little wonder in an August 2006 article, this writer called him CNN's Vice President of Racism. He's also a paid liar and in America wins awards. In May 2008, a Media Matters Action Network report titled, "Fear & Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News" highlighted undocumented Latino hatemongering by Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck, each claiming: -- an alleged connection between undocumented Latinos and crime; in fact, clear evidence shows they're no more likely to break laws than American citizens; -- how they exploit social services and don't pay taxes; in fact, undocumented immigrants are ineligible, without proof of legal status, for Medicaid, food stamps, State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) and welfare; they do pay income, payroll, property, sales and other taxes and are entitled to public education; according to the National Academy of Sciences, immigrants provide a net annual gain of up to $10 billion to US GDP; according to Rand Corp. economist James P. Smith, the "net present value of the gains from those immigrants who arrived since 1980 would be $333 billion." -- the "reconquista" myth about a supposed Mexican plot to take over the US Southwest; and -- an epidemic of Latino voter fraud that, according to Dobbs' incessant drumbeat, puts America's "democracy absolutely in jeopardy." He also propagates the myth that undocumented Latinos caused an increase in US leprosy (or Hansen's disease). In an on-air April 2005 report (among others), correspondent Christine Romans quoted "medical lawyer" Dr. Madeleine Cosman saying: "We have some enormous problems with horrendous diseases that are being brought into America by illegal aliens (including) leprosy...." Romans added that, according to Cosman, "there were about 900 (US) cases of leprosy for 40 years. There have been 7,000 in the past three years." According to a May 2007 "60 Minutes" report, the National Hansen's Disease Program (NHDP) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported that "7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three, and nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants." NHDP added that from 2002 - 2005 (the timeline of Cosman's claim), only 398 cases occurred. To that, Dobbs responded: "If we reported it, it's a fact." Founded in 1971, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is internationally known for its activism against hate groups and scoring legal victories against white supremacists. It says Dobbs regularly features inaccurate racist reports and features anti-immigrant hatemongers like: -- Glenn Spencer, head of the anti-immigration American Patrol, whose web site highlights anti-Mexican vitriol and the idea that Mexico plans a secret takeover of the Southwest; -- Joe McCutchen, head of the anti-immigration Protect Arkansas Now group, that Dobbs calls "a terrific group of concerned, caring Americans;" -- Paul Streitz, co-founder of Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, who once denounced Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. for "turning New Haven into a banana republic;" -- Barbara Coe, leader of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform who routinely calls Mexicans "savages;" and -- Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Project and a leading anti-immigration figure. SPLC explains that Dobbs "doggedly explores and supports the anti-immigration movement (and) won't report salient negative facts about anti-immigration leaders he approves of...." Instead, he falsely claims that: -- "just about a third of the prison population in this country is estimated to be illegal aliens;" -- states have been "overwhelmed by criminal illegal aliens;" and -- US borders are "unprotected" allowing "criminal illegal aliens (to) murder police officers." In 2007 alone, the connection between illegal immigration and crime was discussed on 94 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight, and dozens more focused on an "army of invaders," immigrants not paying taxes, draining social services, and threatening our white Anglo-Saxon culture. CNN reporters Casey Wian, Bill Tucker, Kitty Pilgrim and others present a steady diet of subtle and overt racism to incite viewers to believe it. Through constant repetition, it propagates the myth, and according to the Media Matters Action Network report: Dobbs "is hailed by the entire spectrum of immigration opponents, from the reasonable to the unreasonable. And the degree to which extremist elements see (him) as an ally indicates at the very least that they believe he is helping their cause" because they feel he's a populist crusader. Yet according to a July 30 New York Observer report, recent Nielsen data showed that after Dobbs began reporting (on July 15) that Barack Obama's birth certificate was fraudulent (an apparent stunt to increase ratings), his viewership dropped significantly - 15% overall and 27% in the valued 25 - 54 age category. Fox News Channel (FNC) When it debuted in 1996, one of its on-air hosts said: The "Channel was launched (because) something was wrong with news media....somewhere bias found its way into reporting....Fox....is committed to being fair and balanced (covering) stories everybody is reporting - and....stories....you will see only on Fox." Later the Columbia Journalism Review said several former Fox employees "complained of 'management sticking their fingers' in the writing and editing stories to cook the facts to make a story more palatable to right-of-center tastes." But it hasn't hurt ratings. As of Q 1 2009, FNC was the second highest rated cable channel in prime time total viewers. CNN ranked 17th and MSNBC 24th. The O'Reilly Factor has been #1 rated on cable news for 100 consecutive months and gained 27% more viewers year-over-year. Glenn Beck increased 90% over the previous year. Overall, FNC topped CNN and MSNBC combined in prime time total audience. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) said "Fox's signature political news show, Special Report with Brit Hume (now with Bret Baier) was originally created as a daily one-hour update devoted to the 1998 Clinton sex scandal." In the past year, it gained 39% more viewers. As for accuracy and being "fair and balanced," FAIR (in summer 2001) called FNC "The Most Biased Name in News," yet according to Murdoch in March 2001: "I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in Fox News Channel." In FAIR's Seth Ackerman article and later ones, FNC's blatant manipulation of the news is exposed. For example, Bret Baier's "Political Grapevine" is a right-wing "hot sheet" featuring a "series of gossipy items culled from other right-wing" sources. It and other reports are blatantly partisan propaganda against "liberal media bias," progressives, environmentalists, anti-war activists, civil rights groups, and others to the left of their views. According to FAIR, the commentary on political punditry programs like The O'Reilly Factor, the Sean Hannity Show, and The Beltway Boys is so slanted that it's like watching "a Harlem Globetrotters game (knowing) which side is supposed to win." FNC's Bill O'Reilly His official bio calls The O'Reilly Factor "a unique blend of news analysis and hard hitting investigative reporting dropped each weeknight into 'The No Spin Zone." He also hosts a syndicated radio show, writes a weekly column carried in over 300 newspapers, and authored several books that according to New York Times writer Janet Maslin were "either (done) with a collaborator or (O'Reilly) was born with a ghostwriter's gift for filling space with platitudes...." With good reason, Maslin called him "one of the most controversial human beings in the world...." In an October 2008 report titled "Smearcasting," FAIR called him an "Islamophobe" for spreading "fear, bigotry and misinformation" along with 11 other popular figures, including Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin (another FNC regular), David Horowitz, and Pat Robertson. After 9/11, FAIR said O'Reilly proposed attacking a list of Muslim countries "if they did not submit to the US - starting with Afghanistan." On air he said: "The US should bomb the Afghan infrastructure to rubble - the airport, the power plants, their water facilities and the roads....If they don't rise up against this primitive country, they starve, period." Iraq must also be destroyed he said, and "the population made to endure yet another round of intense pain." As for Libya, "Nothing goes in, nothing goes out....Let them eat sand." FAIR called his penchant for attacking Muslim countries "an O'Reilly trademark", and "his disregard for Muslim civilians is matched by the anti-Muslim sentiments he frequently expresses on both his nationally syndicated radio show, the Radio Factor," reaching 3.5 million listeners, and his top-rated FNC show. Some of his hateful comments include saying: -- areas of London are "just packed with just dense Muslim neighborhoods, which breed this kind of contempt for Western society. Why do they let them in;" -- "We're at war with Muslim fanatics. So all young Muslims should be subject to (special) scrutiny, (saying it's not racial, just) "criminal profiling;" -- "the most unattractive women in the world are probably in Muslim countries;" and -- in Iraq, he blamed killing on Islam: "They're all Muslims, and they're doing what they do. They're killing each other. And they're killing Americans." O'Reilly is equally racist about Latino immigrants with frequent comments like: "The extreme elements in this country want open borders, blanket amnesty, and entitlement for foreign nationals who have come here illegally, and generally want to change the demographics in the USA so political power can be assumed by the left. That is the end game." He also argues that "Low-skilled immigrant labor costs the taxpayers today $19,000 to (subsidize) people who are using the hospitals (and) the education system....These are rock-solid stats," but O'Reilly won't say from where. They're blatantly false and may be from a May 2007 Robert Rector/Christine Kim (right-wing think tank) Heritage Foundation paper titled, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Immigrants to State and Local Taxpayers." O'Reilly spreads daily misinformation, innuendo, and hateful demagoguery to millions of his daily faithful. Like the others above, they're paid liars delivering what passes for today's major media journalism. It's why so much of the public is misinformed and the reason more hate groups than ever proliferate. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), they numbered 926 in 2008, up from 602 in 2000 and are "animated by the national immigration debate." Since Obama took office, they're also driven by their hatred of a black president, exacerbated by a growing economic crisis that's easy to blame on the undocumented and a non-white head of state. These groups are ideologically vicious and extremely dangerous when motivated by racist right-wing media commentators reaching far larger audiences than more saner voices drowned out. It's more evidence of social decay and the urgent need for change. The Right-Wing Media Attack ACORN Founded in 1970, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) "is the nation's largest grassroots community organization of low and moderate income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in about 75 cities across the country." As the nation's preeminent community organizing group, it backs a living wage, opposes predatory lending and foreclosures, supports affordable housing, better public schools, welfare reform, voting rights, rebuilding New Orleans, and other social and economic justice issues. For many months as a result, right-wing extremists have tried to discredit its successes online and through the media. Led by Fox News, Lou Dobbs, and others, it's accused of financial corruption, massive voter fraud, and other indiscretions, mostly fabricated to destroy the group's credibility, cut off its funding, and harm other community organizing efforts. However, compared to corporate fraud and abuse scandals, ACORN's occasional missteps are minor, insignificant, and undeserving of inflammatory media headlines. Nonetheless recent news stories featured false accusations that ACORN engages in prostitution nationwide. The supposed evidence came from two right-wing filmmakers (Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe) posing as prostitute and pimp, conveniently videotaped for airing. In prime time especially, Fox News, Lou Dobbs and others featured it nightly. On September 14, Dobbs reported "another pimp and prostitute scandal at the left-wing activist organization ACORN. For the third time, ACORN workers for the left-wing advocacy group (got) caught on hidden camera breaking the law. Now calls from Congress to investigate and cut off public funding are growing." According to Fox News Bill O'Reilly, "With more than 30 criminal 'convictions' on its resume, the organization cannot be trusted." Based on no credible evidence, other FNC reports accuse ACORN of "operat(ing) as a criminal enterprise," including prostitution, running a prostitution ring, filing false documents with taxing and other government authorities, bank fraud, violating immigration laws, transporting women and children to America for immoral purposes, and impairing the welfare of minors. More evidence of reprehensible innuendo, distortion, deceit, and misinformation from major media paid liars. It's why web sites like this one gain followers. Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen.blogspot.com. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://republicbroadcasting.org/Global%20Research/index.php?cmd=archives.year&ProgramID=33&year=9

Transgender Day of Remembrance/Día Conmemorativo Transgenero

SCHA-LA — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

video about Los Angeles' DOR

11 anual Día Conmemorativo Transgenero se llevara al cabo el viernes, 20 de noviembre.
11th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance to Be Held Friday, Nov. 20

El 11 anual Día Conmemorativo Transgenero, lema “Un Amor” se conmemorará a las 6 p.m. el viernes, 20 de noviembre, en West Hollywood, California.
The 11th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, themed “One Love,” will be commemorated at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, in West Hollywood, Calif.

El evento comenzara en el Triangulo Derechos Humanos Matthew Shepard (Santa Monica Boulevard, en Crescent Heights), donde el Council de West Hollywood honorar a invitados incluyendo Chaz Bono – quien desvelara la primera Placa Memorial Transgenero, conmemorando aquellos quienes han sido asesinandos debido a violencia ante-transgenero y odio.
The event begins at Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle (Santa Monica Blvd. at Crescent Heights), where the West Hollywood City Council and honored guests – including Chaz Bono – will unveil the first Transgender Memorial Plaque, commemorating those who have been murdered due to anti-transgender violence and hatred.

Después de la dedicación, una marcha de vigilia procederá oeste en Santa Monica Boulevard a Plummer Park para una recepción comunitaria. Comida y refrescos será servida.
Following the dedication, a candlelight march will proceed east on Santa Monica Blvd. to Plummer Park for a community reception. Food and refreshments will be served.

El Día Conmemorativo Transgenero comenzó en 1999 como una vigilia en San Francisco para honorar a Rita Hester, una mujer Transgenero asesinada en 1998. El conmemorativo continúa de estar en sienes de ciudades y más de una docena de países alrededor del mundo. En la última década, casi una persona al mes es asesinda por motivo de violencia ante-transgenero, que demuestra ningún signo de alarga. Para saber más, visite http://www.transgenderdor.org
The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in 1999 as a candlelight vigil in San Francisco to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in 1998. The memorial continues to be staged in hundreds of cities and more than a dozen countries around the world. For the past decade, at least one person a month has been murdered due to anti-transgender violence, which shows no sign of abating. To learn more, visit http://www.transgenderdor.org

El Día Conmemorativo Transgenero es apoyado por el Transgender Task Force de la Cuidad de West Hollywood. Para más información en español, por favor de contactar a Vivianna Hernandez al 818-255-8033.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is supported by the City of West Hollywood’s Transgender Task Force. For more information, please contact Karina Samala at 213-999-0456.

Murder by Police Car on Venice Blvd. - Corrected version

Jim Smith — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Murder on Venice Boulevard By Jim Smith Devin Petelski had just finished her shift at a detox center near Costco. At 11:45 pm on Oct. 15, she pulled up to a stop sign at Glyndon and Venice Blvd and began a right turn onto Venice. She never saw the angel of death barreling toward her in the form of an LAPD police cruiser. The car, with two officers, Eldridge and Vasquez inside, was hurtling east on Venice Blvd. at about 60 miles per hour, according to witnesses, with no headlights, flashing lights or siren. There have been different explanations of the officers’ behavior from police. The day after the accident Lt. Paula Kreefft, a watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division said the officers were not on a pursuit or responding to a call for service. However, when contacted by the Beachhead, LAPD Detective Jesus Ravega said Eldridge (the driver) and Vasquez were responding to a backup call. However, he didn’t know if they had time to radio in their intention to respond. Driving without lights is called “silent running,” a military term for stealthy cruising. Many Venice residents are familiar with this tactic of LAPD cars roaming on the streets of Oakwood and elsewhere. While silent running can be dangerous at any speed, it is foolhardy to drive at highway speeds on our streets without any lights. This time, it resulted in the death of an innocent. The Los Angeles Police Department patrol car was headed east on Venice Blvd. According to a family friend, Christopher Medak, two witnesses saw the car turn off its lights and accelerate when it turned onto Venice. They and two more witnesses saw the cruiser ram the side of Petelski’s BMW. Her car was spun completely around. She didn’t die until the next day, but was unconscious from this point. The impact also threw the police car into a tree by the side of the road. Both officers were taken to the hospital where they were treated for minor injuries and released. An Emergency Medical Technician, who happened to be driving east on Venice behind the police car, rushed to give first aid to Petelski, who was beyond saving. He was one of the witnesses who saw the police car speeding without lights. It took paramedics 15 minutes to respond to the 911 call, even though they were only blocks away. However, within moments, says Medak, between eight and 14 patrol cars arrived on the scene. Residents had heard a loud crash and began pouring out of the apartment buildings that line this part of Venice Blvd. Police declared the crash to be a crime scene and told residents to go back inside. Some protested and continued their photographing and observation. Detective Ravega said it was standard practice for police to converge on the scene if an officer has an accident. Devin Petelski was in the prime of life. She had lived in Mandeville Canyon and in Brentwood most of her life. She went to good schools including Crossroads, Northwestern University and UC Santa Barbara. In her 25 years of life, her middle class upbringing had enabled her to travel the world and develop friendships with hundreds of people. She was not the typical person who runs afoul of the LAPD. It will be impossible for the LAPD to claim she was a gang member or a homeless person as they often do without evidence. Already, anonymous comments have appeared on the internet alleging that she was drunk or ran a stop sign, or both. Neither charge will stand up. She had just moments earlier finished working at the Clearview Treatment Center, a detox facility down the street. She had been an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous for the past two years. As to running the stop sign at Glyndon, her family and friends have been active in lining up witnesses, including some who noticed that she had stopped before pulling out onto Venice. There is a police investigation examining the incident. It will take two or three more weeks to conclude, said Ravega. He did not know whether there will be a separate Internal Affairs or Pacific Division investigation into the conduct of the officers. Ravega told the Beachhead he didn’t think there was any wrongdoing. He believes the officers are continuing to perform their usual duties. One wonders what would have been the police response if someone else had been speeding without lights and hit and severely injured or killed someone? Would not he or she have been arrested on the spot? Obviously, there seems to be a double standard. This is not a death that the LAPD can brush aside. Petelski’s family has hired Mark Geragos, a celebrity lawyer, who has represented Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, politician Gary Condit, Susan McDougal, who was involved in the Whitewater scandal, and Scott Peterson. He has also been a frequent guest on the Today show, Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, and on the Larry King show. Interestingly, he is a criminal attorney, who likely will be after more than civil damages. No matter what the outcome of the lawsuit, the policy that allows silent running must be stopped. Even if silent running helps nab drug dealers and petty criminals, it is not worth a single life. A better way to enforce the law must be found that does not endanger the public. At the very least, contact L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl at Councilmember.Rosendahl@lacity.org or 213-473-7011 to urge that the LAPD policy that allows silent running be ended. It would be nice to be able to love the police for all the good things they do. But the constant misuse or overuse of the powers that have been granted them by the public they are sworn to protect, call for other emotions: anger and sadness for their victims. On Oct. 23, hundreds of friends of Devin Petelski turned out for a memorial service at Brentwood Presbyterian Church. Many more have written condolences to the family including on Facebook. There has been no expression of sympathy from the LAPD, says Medak. On Oct. 24, the LAPD dedicated the most expensive police headquarters in history, in spite of record budget deficits in Los Angeles. It cost $400 million and is already filled to capacity. The building, with two small exceptions, will be off limits to the public. If there were any justice in this city, it would be named the Devin Petelski Center, or after any of the other countless victims of police malfeasance. This article previously appeared in the November issue of the Free Venice Beachhead

Murder by Police Car on Venice Blvd.

Jim Smith — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Activists Outraged by Event Sponsored by Last Chance for Animals (LCA)

Anonymous — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Activists Outraged by Event Sponsored by Last Chance for Animals (LCA) Posted by Anonymous on Los Angeles IndyMedia In the past week, Last Chance for Animals (LCA) has traveled down the path of trouble. LCA is promoting and sponsoring an event titled “D Cups Saving Tea Cups” taking place at a local Los Angeles “humane pet store”, Bark N’ Bitches. This controversial event has many radicals, including anarchists, ecofeminists and animal rights activists calling this “more distasteful than campaigns and advertisements pushed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA)”. The advertisement bears the image of a Chihuahua sitting with a lacy blue bra on top of white fur. Such an image has raised many questions about LCA’s commitments to the animals. “I’m confused why a group would choose to destroy their reputation by sponsoring something that would contradict their standing against fur,” stated Alice McKenna, an activist and women’s therapy counselor. “It’s pathetic to see them using women as objects in order to extort money from others.” Activists claim Bark’s event degrades and represses women and contradicts the message of liberation. In addition, they state the event reduces women to body parts rather than individuals, comparable to the dissociation of animals’ body parts by the meat industry, fur trade, and other examples of exploitation. “It’s extremely inconsistent,” Michelle Gonzales, long time vegan and women’s studies major, asserted over a phone interview, “LCA should be embarrassed to sponsor such an offensive event.” Bark N’ Bitches will be celebrating their one-thousandth dog re-homed on Wednesday November 11, 2009 with a silent and live auction and raffle, including cocktails and appetizers. Activists are calling for “people who really care about animals and women” to boycott this event. Rumors of disruption or a protest against “D cups Saving Tea Cups” has spread on Internet forums, but cannot confirmed at this time. Chris DeRose, President of LCA, was unavailable to comment on the event or advertisement. The event in question can be found here: http://www.barknbitches.com/event_dcups.htm

Queremos justicia: Pueblo rechazó presencia del alguacil Arpaio en Condado de Orange

Rockero — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

La protesta fue convocada por los miembros del Colectivo Tonantzín, el cual que tiene sede en el condado de Orange, y recibió el apoyo del Mexica Movement, miembros del cual trajeron sus pancartotas con imágenes de Arpaio vestido de Ku Klux Klan. Pero el contingente principal fue el de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros, cuyo grupo musical Los Jornaleros del Norte sirvió de maestro de ceremonias a la vez que proporcionó entretenimiento. También presente estuvieron activistas que llegaron desde Arizona, incluyendo a Puente, un grupo de derechos humanos, al igual que soneros del Centro Cultural de México, jornaleros de Costa Mesa, Pomona, Lake Forest, e IDEPSCA, integrantes de la campaña de los "carwasheros," miembros de CHIRLA, y estudiantes del OC DREAM Team, UCLA y su centro laboral, y los colegios de Claremont. Los manifestantes cantaron, bailaron, y gritaron consignas de "¡Sí se puede! " "¡Sacaremos ese buey de California!" y "¡Lucha, lucha, lucha, no dejes de luchar! Por un trabajo digno, justicia y dignidad!" entre otras. Recalcó Pablo Alvarado de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros, "Ahorita por todo el país hay un clima de tensión y de hostilidad hacia las familias inmigrantes. Por todo el país, no nada más en Arizona: en Georgia, en Missouri, ahorita nos dimos cuenta de un caso en la mañana en Nebraska, por todo el país hay un ambiente muy, pero muy hostil. Entonces todos hemos de saber que esta lucha va ser un poco más larga. Las personas de Washington, D.C. nos están diciendo que posiblemente vaya a haber un espacio de tiempo entre enero y abril para empujar por una reforma migratoria. Eso ellos nos están diciendo. Nosotros debemos de prepararnos. Esperar lo mejor pero prepararnos para lo peor. Y prepararnos para lo peor significa estar listos para enfrentar una política como la que Arpaio está implementando en Arizona. Enfrentarla aquí en Orange County, en Riverside, y en San Bernardino. Y yo creo que estamos listos, ¿verdad?" Después de unos agradecimientos, continuó: "La lucha que sigue va estar un poco dura, pero la lucha no es nada más pelear--muchas veces ganar batallas y otras veces perder batallas. La lucha es también celebración. Por eso, nuestro evento acá ha estado lleno de alegría. Porque es algo que nuestro pueblo trae al país, es alegría. Y los músicos ocupan un lugar especial en el moviemiento, entonces quiero darles gracias a los compañeros de Son del Centro y a los Jornaleros del Norte. Cuando los artistas dedican su talento para la lucha, la cultura se convierte en resistencia, de lucha, y en una herramienta de liberación. Y eso es lo que los compañeros y compañeras están haciendo con la música hoy." Arpaio acudió el evento para endorsar el candidato Bill Hunt y ayudarle a recaudar fondos para su campaña. Hunt está prometiendo implentar las mismas políticas de perfil racial y violación de derechos humanos que Arpaio, quien ahora se encuentra bajo la investigación del FBI. Hunt también es miembro del grupo Oathkeepers, una organización de la extrema derecha de agentes de departamentos de policía y otras agencias de orden público, que ha recibido la atención de monitores de terrorismo interno. Hunt también contó con el apoyo de tales infames como Jim Gilchrist, fundador del Proyecto Minuteman y la racista Barbara Coe, autora de la vil Proposición 187. Dice Pablo Alvarado, "Arpaio adentro promueve odio, racismo, explotación, terrorismo. Y aquí, ¿qué promovemos acá? La paz, el amor, la justicia, la libertad, la familia."

Sit-in at Chancellor Yang's office to protest closure of Ventura Campus

Jeb — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Today at the sit-in about 20 undergraduates and a group of lower-income students (all women, from the UCSB Ventura Student Center) took part. Only one grad and no faculty showed up. After gathering at the steps of Campbell Hall, we marched around campus chanting against budget cuts and the planned closing of the UCSB Ventura Center. We then did a sit-in inside the lobby of the main library. A number of students spoke about fee hikes, the difficulties of getting classes, and the Ventura students spoke on the closing and privatization of schools in poor communities. Half a dozen plain clothed police officers and administration officials came in at that point to tell us we had to leave. So, next, we walked down into the food court and across some other parts of campus continuing our chants. "They say cut backs, we say fight back". A handful of uniformed police tagged behind. Lots of students came up in support and it was clear that many undergrads and members of the campus community want to organize, escalate the student-worker struggle and build a social movement. In the final stage of the demo, we walked back toward Campbell Hall to do a sit-in on Chancellor Yang's office. At this point the group of around 30 was refused entrance into Cheadle Hall. Administration officials offered to meet with us in smaller groups, individually or at a future date. They clearly wanted to move us away from protest and toward forms of communication they see as more palatable and less disruptive. They offered to send a E-mail message to the entire student body about the closing of the UCSB Ventura Center, but this message would obviously be from the administration's perspective. One key point the Ventura student's pointed out was that the administration always keeps them out-of-the-loop; they have no role in deciding what happens to the school they attend. Chancellor Yang was not on campus today. But we asked the Vice Chancellor and other officials: Why has Chancellor Yang not done a sit-in (with the other UC Chancellor's) on Governor Schwarzenegger's office? If Chancellor Yang and others would do a sit-in on the Governor's office, students and workers would not be forced to sit-in on the office's of our chancellors. We are all busy with work and classes so its difficult to find the time to come together (this is something those in positions of power can rely on to keep us unorganized and silent). We need to find time. This is call for everyone here to set aside a few hours a week to come and build a social movement on campus. We demanded that the school not shutdown the Ventura Student Center, a site that primarily serves working class and lower income students. The administration is not budging on this, although admin officials say maybe some private-donation run program could work (a joke?!?). The protest came together last night, when Ventura Center student activists contacted student activists at UCSB. We will be meeting on Wednesday night to talk more, at 7pm at the Co-op in IV and then later that same night at 9pm at El Centro, behind the Library. All are invited.

Settlement Puts an End to Controversial Elephant Hill Development in Los Angeles

Elva Yanez — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Los Angeles (Nov. 3, 2009) -- The Los Angeles City Council approved a legal settlement that puts an end to the controversial development of 24 luxury homes in El Sereno’s Elephant Hill. As a result of the settlement, the City will acquire approximately 20 acres of hillside open space in this low-income community located in Northeast LA. The agreement resulted from a lawsuit filed against the City by developer Monterey Hills Investors after the Council required additional environmental review of the project before it would issue building permits. Elephant Hill is the largest undeveloped hillside remaining in Northeast LA. Located on the border with South Pasadena, the110-acre area commonly known as Elephant Hill is geographically part of the Repetto Hills, a low but steep range that extends from the LA River to the Montebello Hills. “After a long and hard fought struggle, the residents of this community have been afforded the environmental protections that are rightfully theirs,” said Elva Yañez, the El Sereno resident who organized the coalition that waged the campaign to secure additional environmental review of the project. “We are pleased that this poorly planned project is not moving forward and environmental justice has prevailed.” “The community of El Sereno is grateful that Councilmember José Huizar championed residents’ public safety and environmental concerns related to this development,” said Hugo Garcia, president of the LA-32 Neighborhood Council, referring to a sinkhole that enveloped workers in a backhoe on the site in April 2006. In 2007, under Huizar’s leadership, the City Council engaged in a 10-month examination of this complex land use matter and then required the developer to undertake additional environmental review. The settlement is the latest development in a saga that began in 1984 when this development was first proposed by the previous owner. Over the intervening years, resident opposition grew; concerns included unstable geology, an underground stream and other environmental impacts that were not addressed in the original environmental impact report (EIR). More recently, environmental agencies, community-based organizations and environmental justice organizations extended their support to the residents. “This settlement vindicates the residents and organizations that called for equal environmental protections under the law when it became known that this project had unlawfully expanded from 15 to 26 acres—post-final approval, without further review” said Doug Carstens of Chatten Brown & Carstens. “I look forward to the day when kids from everywhere can play together in the open space that is created through this settlement and what has been a battleground up to now turns into a natural playground for all time.” Carstens’ law firm and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) represent four El Sereno residents and the Latino Urban Forum as third party intervenors in the lawsuit filed by Monterey Hills Investors against the City of Los Angeles after the Council required the supplemental EIR. Had it not been for the determination of these residents, the leadership of Councilmember Huizar and the courage of the City Council, a vastly expanded development would have wrecked extensive environmental havoc on this hillside and the surrounding neighborhoods. NRDC attorney Dave Pettit said, “Collective efforts of residents, community-based organizations and elected officials to protect public safety and require developer accountability succeeded in preserving one of LA’s few remaining open spaces benefiting public health and the environment for years to come.”

BREAKING: Wednesday, Nov 4, 7:45pm - Hundreds Marching in Silverlake for right to marry

LA-IMC — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

In response to the repeal of the right to marry in Maine, right to marry demonstrators are marching in Silverlake tonight. At this time (7:45 pm) the march is North bound on Vermont at Lexington. The rally point is Sunset Junction.

Calling Long Beach Area Anarchists!

Eric! — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

Calling all anarchists! The time for another Long Beach anarchist collective is upon us. I'm in the idea-and-basic-formation stage, and I don't want to rush into anything (that never works out). We need to arrange an informal preliminary meeting and see where we go from there. Flier help urgently needed, I couldn't graphic-design my way out of a wet paper bag. Contact me at the email provided, or on AIM at POSTempSN

JFAV ACTION WEEK, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2009

Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) — 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z

JFAV CALENDAR of Events November 8-14, 2009 Sunday,November 8, 2009 at 8:00 AM -Memorial mass for Veterans at St. Columban Church, 125 Loma Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90026 Historic Filipinotown Wednesday November 11, 2009. JFAV Protest Mass in lieu of the annual parade CLAIMS DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED! 7-9;00 AM Assembly and Program FACLA 1740 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, Ca 90026 10;00-12;00 AM March and Rally Long Angeles.Temple St. downtowm LA Thursday,November 12, 2009, Samahang Pilipino Veterans Appreciation Dinner at FACLA 6;00 PM to 9:00 PM Saturday, November 14, 2009 HISTORIC FILIPINOT0WN FREE HEALTH FAIR at SIPA 7;00 Am to 5;00 PM at SIPA 32oo W. Temple St. Los Angeles. Ca 90026 Everbody is invited for free health screenings and food distribution

LA IMC

PFP Gubernatorial Candidate Alexander Condemns UC Tuition Hikes

UC Strike - UCLA Nov.19th

Anti-war protests expected next week

Campbell Hall de-occupied last night at 6pm

UC Police break up UCLA protest

Students and Workers Resist Privatization at UCLA Regents Meeting

VIDEO: Students Pepper Sprayed at UCLA protest

UC Students Fight Tuition Hike, Occupy Campus

STOP STUPAK Rally

Eye-witness report back of UCLA protests

Students occupy Campbell Hall at UCLA

SIgnage from UCLA Protest

MP3 AUDIO  Interview with UCLA Student on Protesting the Regents

KPFK's LSB meeting to attend and be part of the vocal community too

BREAKING: Protests on UCLA Campus at Regent Meeting, Reports of arrests

LA Eastside: Street Food Vendor Situation

Transgender Memorial Dedication - Nov. 20

Southern California: First Cop on Trial for Murder in History of State Is Headed Your Way

The war on public-sector unions

Horowitz's hate speech at USC

UCLA CRISIS FEST: Protest for education

Checkpoints this weekend / Retenes este fin de semana (12-14/Nov)

Campaign Demands NBA Discipline Clippers Owner and Condemn Racist Housing Discrimination

Open Letter to KPFK Management and Local Station Board on New Programming Schedule

Anti-Immigrant Event in Big Bear November 14

Paid Lying: What Passes for Major Media Journalism

Transgender Day of Remembrance/Día Conmemorativo Transgenero

Murder by Police Car on Venice Blvd. - Corrected version

Murder by Police Car on Venice Blvd.

Activists Outraged by Event Sponsored by Last Chance for Animals (LCA)

Queremos justicia: Pueblo rechazó presencia del alguacil Arpaio en Condado de Orange

Sit-in at Chancellor Yang's office to protest closure of Ventura Campus

Settlement Puts an End to Controversial Elephant Hill Development in Los Angeles

BREAKING: Wednesday, Nov 4, 7:45pm - Hundreds Marching in Silverlake for right to marry

Calling Long Beach Area Anarchists!

JFAV ACTION WEEK, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2009

MP3 AUDIO Interview with UCLA Student on Protesting the Regents