Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

Tuesday December 10, 4-6PM, at the Mexican Consulate, 2401 W. 6th St., protest the jailing of Nestora Salgado, a naturalized U.S. citizen and leader of her indigenous community in Olinala, in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Over the last four years, Salgado, a grandmother, made numerous trips from her residence in Renton, Washington to deliver clothing and supplies to the desperately poor residents of her hometown.

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Good news! Lynne Steward has been granted compassionate release, and is headed to New York to be with her son! Democracy Now

Saturday, December 7, come by and visit us at the bookfair. IMC will be sharing a presentation slot with The Black Flag Newsletter by the Free Association of Anarchists, at 11:45 in the CeCe McDonald Room

At the tables, we'll have some info about the latest drama and gossip going on with IMC. Bring your own gossip to share. Learn how to post to the site, and learn what kinds of help we need, and share your project ideas. We don't have anything to vend.

At least one of us will also be hanging out on the 8th at Macarthur Park, but that day is really about R.A.C.

Schedule:
Friday, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM at Cielo Galleries - Cafe, Film Night, Music - Chicano Son, Money Mark
Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM at Cielo Galleries - Bookfair, Workshops, Speakers
Sunday Noon - 5:00 PM at MacArthur Park - Skill Sharing, Community Outreach with RAC

Imagine NAFTA on steroids and affecting multiple continents (North and Central America, Australia as well as parts of South America and Asia) and Pacific island nations (e.g., Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand). Although this partnership has been negotiated in secret, "leaked text reveals that the TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] would empower corporations to directly sue governments in private and non-transparent trade tribunals over laws and policies that corporations allege reduce their profits." (350 Campaigns)

TPP would affect nearly every aspect of Americans' lives. If passed, it will undermine state, local and federal laws, including those governing food safety, environmental protection, internet freedom, worker rights, democratic sovereignty, healthcare and drug prices, and banking and finance regulation.

On November 25th, Barack Obama came to Beverly Hills for a high dollar fundraiser. 250 protesters were there to greet Obama and tell him to flush the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here's how the day and night went in pictures.

Story and pictures: TPP Protesters Greet President Obama in Beverly Hills — in Pictures by Lauren Steiner, et al

Birds rescued from meat production, cock fighting rings, and the ritual of Kaporot have, in many cases, gone on to live decent/happy lives (some of them have even reproduced). Profiled here are turkeys Biggie and Autumn Tootsie of Riverside; Pooka, a goose in northeast L.A.; and several chickens. People who rescue them give advice about mistakes to avoid.

"There's nothing more impressive than looking at these turkeys every day and just counting the blessings that they've been given--and they know it," says Jen DeCarlo. "They're very grateful animals, just like we're very grateful humans to have them here. That's two less on someone's Thanksgiving platter, which is better than both of them being gone.

" . . . Our species domesticated them, so now we have to take care of the damage we've done. They can't go out and do it themselves anymore."

Full story and photos: Birds Who Survived the Holidays and Other Tragedies by R. Plesset

Just 10 years after the Ballona Wetlands were acquired and preserved (an endeavor that took decades), they are again under attack. The Annenberg Foundation, which has done impressive work elsewhere, plans to purchase the wetlands, develop part of it, and restore Area C. The latter proposal has been described as "a phony restoration" to "give crony engineering companies some business" and "way too aggressive" for the highly- sensitive habitat. Annenberg claims their plans have been misrepresented, but there was no elaboration.

On Thursday, October 17, a demonstration was held outside the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills during that facility's very extravagant grand opening. Protest signs supported Annenberg's various plans, that include a pet rescue center, but lambasted any construction on or restoration of Ballona, which is among the remaining five percent of L.A.'s wetlands that has not been destroyed.

(Photo courtesy of the Wetlands Defense Fund.)

Story and photos: Ballona Wetlands Again in Jeopardy by R. Plesset

Update: Marcia Hanscom of Wetlands Defense Fund and Ballona Institute discusses recent developments and who we can contact to express our concerns on KPFK's Connect the Dots (4-28-14). (Available for about 90 days.) The discussion begins about half-way through the show.