On Oct. 7th, the FBI took the hard drives of Global IMC servers in UK. A court order was issued to Rackspace (Indymedia's service provider with offices in the US and in London) to physically remove the hard drives from Global Indymedia. No time was given to defend against the order. At this time it is unclear the reason for this order. The servers hosted many Indymedia collectives, including: Ambazonia ~ Uruguay ~ Andorra ~ Poland ~ Western Massachusetts ~ Nice ~ Nantes ~ Lilles ~ Marseille (all France) ~ Euskal Herria (Basque Country) Liege ~ Italy ~ Belgrade ~ Antwerpen (all Belgium) ~ East & West Vlaanderen ~ Portugal ~ Prague ~ Galiza ~ Brazil ~ UK ~ part of the Germany site and the global Indymedia Radio site.

Over 60 people attended a demonstration on Friday, Sept. 10th against the U.S. Army's "Spirit of America" performance at the Worcester Centrum. Community members were there to voice their objection to the Worcester Public Schools decision to send students to the recruitment and propaganda event. School Committee member Joe O'Brien was in attendance and has been extremely critical of the school's decision. Committee member O'Brien will be bringing his objections to the School Committee's floor on Thursday, Sept. 16th. and Worcester residents are organizing to bring their concerns to committee members as well. In an open letter to school committee members published earlier at Worcester Indymedia (http://worcester.indymedia.org/news/2004/09/284.php) Joe O'Brien wrote, " So, let’s get this straight. If you want to go on a trip to learn about peaceful alternatives to war run by academics, or if you want to take part in activities centered around a historic day in the gay community’s struggle for Civil Rights you can’t go. But if you want to go to a pro-military rally run by the Department of Defense, take the whole school day. This is simply wrong. "

Worcester parents and community residents are calling for Superintendent James Caradonio and all Worcester schools to reverse a decision allowing Worcester elementary, middle and high school students to attend the U.S. Army's touring recruitment extravaganza scheduled for the Worcester Centrum Sept 10th and 11th. "Spirit of America", a large scale, multi-media arena production, is comprised of a 'cast' of over 400 active duty military personnel which teaches lies and misrepresentations of the U.S. military's history in the U.S. and abroad. For example, one scene portrays "an attack by natives" with the U.S. Calvary to the rescue, while additional scenes present glorified and false portraits of bloodless battles, armored vehicles and the victory of freedom. This mega-$$ traveling recruitment production is framed by the story of how a young man "decides to follow his grandfather in the path of military service." Area residents are upset by the school's decision to support this event and are calling for other parents to contact the local school department.

Members of WoGan and the DNC2RNC march demonstrated outside Seaboard Corporation in Brookline on July 3oth to bring attention to Seaboard's global abuses and make the connection between big party politics and powerful corporate interests. Seboard Corporation is primarily owned by one man, Newton resident H. Harry Bresky. The 'escrache' (demonstration) was organized in support of the Ava Guarani and Kolla indigenous communities from N. Argentina, who have been struggling to regain their ancestral land, which was stolen from them and is now possessed by Seaboard.

     An economy should fulfill three basic human necessities of a sustainable community:

1) food,
2) a healthy environment, and
3) a genuine sense of security and safety.

YouthGROW, an urban agriculture and environmental justice youth program, along with several other affiliated and partnering community based organizations is working to tackle the first two of these needs for their inner-city neighborhood in Worcester. Through YouthGROW’s agricultural and community organizing initiatives, they significantly contribute to community centers, grassroots activist organizations, food pantries, a local restaurant, a natural food cooperative, and four community gardens, all in a ten block radius of the farm. This re-localized emphasis on organic food production, cooperative business, and community-based health efforts provides a concrete alternative to the current economic system.

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Worcester activists will move forward with plans to host a screening of the Australian documentary "Green With a Vengeance" in support of environmental activist Jeff 'Free' Luers despite intimidation by the FBI and Worcester Police Department.

6pm, Friday, June 18th
Jonas Clark Hall (The Clock Tower), Room 001
Clark University, Worcester

Organizers are asking for strong community turnout for this event to show the community will not succumb to intimidation and fear tactics. The original open-mic event has been changed and moved to a more public location after Worcester was listed in an FBI 'Eco-Terror' Bulletin as one of 9 cities nationally that could see acts of environmental 'terrorism' because of their participation in the the Jeff Luers International Solidarity Day.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Independent Media Center of Worcester, Massachusetts! This is your independent news outlet, meaning, the newswire and success of this project depends on YOUR participation. It is also an important way of getting local, regional, and international stories out, for free, without the mainstream media's filters and corporate agendas.

So, try out the newswire with your news article, make us your homepage, tell your friends, and if you agree with our mission, come and join the collective at our next meeting or training:

7-9 pm, June 30th
Jefferson 133
Clark University

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"We are a grassroots, community-based collective striving to provide universal access to news media without corporate filtering. This is a progressive outlet commited to amplifying the voices of everyday people and especially those working for justice and equality in Central Mass and around the world"