LOS ANGELES, March 4, 2008 - Members of the BlackRiders Liberation Party and their supporters held a press conference today in Leimert Park. Only three media outlets attended: KPFK, LA Indymedia and a reporter for the Final Call. No other media was present.

The BlackRiders are calling for the immediate release of three of their members who are currently being held on charges of conspiring to acquire automatic weapons, a charge they claim has been fabricated by the police. The court has set bail at one million dollars.

The BlackRiders are asking that supporters come to the hearing this Thursday, March 6th at the downtown courthouse located at Temple & Broadway, 15th floor, Division 131 to show support. From the Newswire: Report back from the BlackRiders press conference | | Audio: BlackRiders’ Demands | | Interview with Attorney for the BlackRiders

- Past feature: Black Riders held on million dollars bail each

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CA: On the 25th anniversary of the ICBM program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, activists gathered to march and rally in support of nuclear disarmament in outer space. Organizer Bruce Gagnon, who was himself in the Air Force until protests outside of his base changed his mind towards peace activism, said, “America is addicted to war and militarism.”

Gagnon, who is the coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, warned that the testing and other operations at Vandenberg are “moving the arms race into space.” In 1983 the first nuclear-capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was tested at Vandenberg and since then the base’s mission has expanded to launching and monitoring orbiting satellites, and managing space surveillance operations, in addition to its work with missiles. The protests also began in 1983.
Full story: STAR WARS PROTEST: Vandenberg Air Force Base by df | | Vandenberg AFB Protest by Mike Wisniewski

A narrative film challenging the official story of 9/11 premiered in Los Angeles in January and continues to show on weekends, including President's Day. This film is a damning look at the media's coverage of 9/11, propaganda, and a piercing look at the complex search for truth. The Reflecting Pool--a narrative film that recently premiered in Los Angeles-- opens with a television interview of a journalist who has just written a book on Communist propaganda in the Soviet Union.

The journalist, Alex Prokop, is asked by his editor to review a video about September 11th and write an article comparing the official narrative--as expressed in the 9/11 Commission Report--to the facts about the event. Guided in his task by Paul Cooper, the father of one of the victims who has become an ardent researcher on the topic, Prokop spends two weeks in New York and Washington D.C., interviewing people and discovering damning information never mentioned in the 9/11 Report. The FBI becomes involved, and Prokop is attacked by a lawsuit and the media in an effort to discredit his story. From the newswire: The Reflecting Pool by Carol Brouillet

ISLA VISTA / SANTA BARBARA, Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - About 350 anti-war activists met to rally at Pardall Tunnel, where they were addressed by speakers at an open microphone, including a man from Iraq and a former Marine-turned-organizer. Emotions ran high and alternated between intense anger against the war, sadness over the loss of life, and hope, joy, and optimism for the future. At times, feelings were tense, and the police helicopter circling overhead made an ominous presence. The demonstrators shortly proceeded to converge on UCSB's Corwin Pavilion with the goal of shutting down the 2008 ICB (Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies) Army-Industry Collaboration Conference.

Police attempted to barricade the event against the approaching students, but the crowd forced itself through police lines and dismantled blockades. Police appeared helpless to stop the flow of demonstrators, who proceeded to occupy the courtyard in front of the pavilion, where collaborators, some in business suits and others, more honestly, in military fatigues, had been in the midst of a lunch break. From the Newswire: 350 War Resistors Blockade and Disrupt UCSB Army/Industrial Conference - 3 Arrests | | Army Biotech Conference Disrupted by UCSB Antiwar Activists | | Follow-Up: UCSB Army Conference Totally Shut Down!

Enrique Morones launches new caravan movement to raise awareness of humanitarian tragedies along the US-Mexico border.

On Saturday, February 2, Enrique Morones launched "Marcha Migrante III" from the US-Mexico Border in San Diego. Morones -- founder of the humanitarian group Border Angels -- brought together a coalition of groups supporting a caravan trip that heads from the southern border wall in San Diego to the Canadian Border. The caravan will take place from Feb. 2 through 17 and will make stops along the way to protest the horrific immigration policies that have led to deaths and terror among the Mexican and "Central American" community. Read full report with photos by Mexica Movement

Shouting : "CLINTON ,OBAMA YOU WILL SEE, THE IRAQI PEOPLE WILL BE FREE!” Hundreds of activists ralled outside the Kodak Theatre 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles last January 31,2008. Also shouting and holding banners that said: "End the war and occupation now! All U.S. and foreign troops out of Iraq immediately! Money for jobs, housing, education, health care - not for racist war! the rallyist braved the cold weather and stayed up to 7:30 in the evening even after the debates.
Report and photos: "Democrats lie, GIs die! Democrats lie, Iraqis die!" by RP | Protesting Democrats (more pictures) | Also: Hundreds Attend Anti-War Protest & Picket in Hollywood , January 31 by AJLPP | Protesting Democrats (more pictures) by RP

On January 31st of last year, Councilperson Jose Huizar spoke strongly in favor of keeping the Southwest Museum as a full-functioning museum, not as a truncated exhibit space as envisioned by the Autry National Center (which acquired the museum in 2003 through a merger). “We know that the Autry wants to expand its Griffith [Park] site in order to possibly put more of our resources [there],” said Huizar at a public meeting. “I will be opposed to any move to expand that site until we take care of the commitments [applause] we’ve laid out today. . . . The direction I’m taking is those items that have been expressed by the Coalition.”

He described the museum as “what is arguably the heart and soul of Northeast Los Angeles.”

When Villaraigosa was running for mayor in 2005, he famously said, also in front of a large gathering, that as mayor he would “yank their chain,” to get the Autry to comply with the wishes of the community.
From the newswire: Villaraigosa and Huizar Renege on Promises to Protect the Southwest Museum by Ross Plesset

"Word began to spread as we researched the school and discovered what we had here was indeed a school of assassins, a school for dictators. These soldiers came here to learn counter insurgency. Who were the insurgency? They were the poor, the religious leaders, labor leaders, and many others. And then when the torture manuals were discovered in the curriculum, that got a lot of front-page coverage. Word began to spread, and our numbers in the movement grew." -- Father Roy Bourgeois, founder, School of the Americas Watch

The story of the School of the Americas, or School of the Assassins is a disturbing tale of such organized and planned terrorism; one would never believe it was real. Every year in Fort Benning, Georgia the people protest. This year we brought it to LA. Read Reports: by LadyMadonna | by Ross Plesset and Anna Kunkin | more pics by Anna & Ross

January 1, 2008, Pasadena: At approximately 7:15am four of us began our walk along the Rose Parade route in advance of the parade. We held banners and signs calling for impeachment and urged people to text 30644 to support the impeachment of Dick Cheney.

(A block or so behind us was a contingent of people with signs protesting China’s human rights atrocities and its hosting the upcoming Olympics. A float celebrating the Beijing Olympics would be in the parade. This group had an impressive presence with many people and signs visible.)

The members of our group agreed that there was significant positive response to our message as well as considerable negative reactions and blank stares. However, some of us were rather positive in our final analyses, while I tilted toward the negative. Full Report from the Newswire: ATTACK OF THE ARCHIE BUNKER CLONES! (activism at the 2008 Rose Parade) by Self-Hating Caucasian

More Reports: 9:00 AM - Scattered Rose Parade Demonstrations Now Under Way by LA-IMC Newsroom | TV screen grabs of Rose Parade Banners by A | "Not Roses--Peaches" SoPas and Highland Park do it again at the Parade! by Linda Krausen | A Report from the Rose Parade Starting Point by Flunky

The winter 2007 AntiMall took place in Highland Park at La Culebra community space. (Other locations have included the South Central Farm, the Southern California Library, and the El Sereno Community Garden.) . . . The items on sale came from numerous places from “Chiapas to Afghanistan to Venezuela.” Food from the South Central Farmers was available as well. Live performers included In Lak Ech, Zocalo Zue, and Quincy McCrary, with DJs including Black Shakespeare, Songo Electriko, and Vampiro Fronterizo.

La Culebra has served as a community space for many years for events such as sweat lodges, poetry readings, and women’s circles.
From the newsire: Winter AntiMall (photos/report) by RP| | Winter AntiMall (additional pix) by RP