Left: The table for the Open Source Voting Consortium at the L.A. Linux Expo '09.

In the spring of 2008, after years of getting p.o.'d at Microsoft on almost a daily basis, I switched over to Linux (free, non-proprietary software). I had just gotten a new computer, and a friend who was setting it up for me, offered Linux as an option. This seemed a bit risky since Linux sounded less user-friendly than Microsoft, and I am not a technically-savvy person. Yet I loved the idea of being free of Microsoft and proprietary software. I took a chance and went with Linux. In the ensuing year, my computer sessions became markedly less stressful--it was usually at zero.

. . . On February 19th of this year, I attended the 2009 Linux Expo in L.A. Below are conversations I had with a few of the vendors. Story and photos: Transitioning to Linux and a (Late) Report on the 2009 Linux Expo L.A. by RP | RELATED: LA IMC 10th Anniversary - Technology Workshop by Mallory Knodel

Like the original Transformers movie of 2007, Transformers 2 is unapologetic about its role as a recruiting tool (as discussed in this commentary from CAMS (Coalition for Alternatives to Militarism in Our Schools) and in this critique from the Newswire:

“This weekend I saw the new Michael Bay film. The only thing that deserves prominence in TRANSFORMERS 2 is the careful valorization of military disobedience. . . . [M]ilitarism is a terrible phenomenon which is reinforced in all of the social institutions. Media and culture can turn create slaves faithful of the military values. Is that not what happened in Nazi Germany?” Full story: TRANSFORMERS 2 by Fabio de Oliveira Ribeiro

The film is set sometime in the future and concerns Memo Cruz (Luis Fernando Pena), whose Oaxacan village is strangled by water privatization and U.S. military intervention vis-a-vis drone airplanes. Memo must find work in the north, but physically entering the U.S. is no longer possible: the border has finally become impenetrable. Instead, he is hooked up to a virtual reality system in Tijuana, where he controls a robot at an American construction site. (Mexican workers manipulate robots at other distant locations, too, including slaughterhouses.)

At a recent preview, director Alex Rivera remarked: "It's amazing to me how things that five years ago would seem surreal, or would seem like it should be in a movie and be bizarre or disgusting, or things that were in a movie called Terminator--this idea of robot warfare--that used to be science fiction, and now there it is in the news, not even on the front page anymore," Rivera said. "We become so accustomed to it, but I'm hoping this movie makes some of those things ugly and bizarre again and that we can talk about it." Full story: Alex Rivera Discusses His Film Sleep Dealer by RP

I thought Fuel was very well-made, important, and informative--there's a lot to absorb. I don't agree with every point of view expressed in the film, but I realize the movie has to communicate to diverse people. . . . Still, the movie features a lot of provocative ideas like vertical farms (skyscraper-like farms that would exist in the middle of cities and other places where space is scarce), and there is some great historical information. For example, details of Rudolf Diesel's sudden and very suspicious death is discussed as well as the long and insidious history of Standard Oil (which was broken up 100 years ago but is now reunited as Exxon-Mobil). Also, a compelling case is made that Prohibition was really about stopping a car that Ford put out that ran on ethanol. As soon as Ford gave up on this car, Prohibition was lifted.

. . . I was glad to see depictions of monorails in the film (though they're never discussed). I think they could be a solution to some of our problems (at least until our population crisis is dealt with--if it is ever dealt with), as they have been in other countries for a century. . . .

Article: "Fuel" (review) by RP

Humble Beauty is an hour documentary that tells the story of talented homeless and formerly homeless men and women who, despite a daily struggle for survival, paint and create art in the worst area of Los Angeles known as Skid Row. People will make art, no matter how humble the circumstances.

The film includes spontaneous moments plus intimate interviews with oil, acrylic and watercolor painters, charcoal, pen & crayon sketchers, collage makers and paper mache sculptors. Some artists find their art supplies in garbage cans and dumpsters. They draw on old paper bags.

Article: HUMBLE BEAUTY: Skid Row Artists Documentary by Letitia Schwartz & Judith Vogelsang Photos:HUMBLE BEAUTY photos by Letitia Schwartz & Judith Vogelsang DVD Cover: HUMBLE BEAUTY DVD cover

Australia seems to be far ahead of the U.S. in terms of producing science fiction movies with content. Alien Visitor (originally released as Epsilon in 1997) makes blunt statements about our civilization's disregard for nature and the environment. One reason why such a film is possible in Australia may be because that country has already begun to feel the impact of our pollution (the same reason why permaculture caught on there much sooner).
Review: I Wish More Science Fiction Films Were Like This by RP

The Los Angeles Independent Media Center is proud to present the film, Bastards of the Party. The film explores the creation of two of Los Angeles’s most notorious gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, from the perspective of the Los Angeles community. The documentary features interviews with gang members; historian Mike Davis, whose book "City of Quartz" inspired the film’s title; former FBI agent Wes Swearingen; and Black Panther, Geronimo Pratt. The 2006 documentary film was produced by Antoine Fuqua and directed by former Bloods gang-member Cle Sloan.

The film screens this Friday, May 16th at 7:30 pm at Cafe Mariposa located in Echo Park at 1547 Sunset Blvd. See Calendar for details.

Update: LA Indymedia Film Night Report Back

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

Since the late 1990s, activist Reverend Billy has been using his “surreal inventiveness” to raise awareness about the consequences of modern consumerism—including, among other things, the destruction of communities and products made with sweatshop labor.

The Reverend was created shortly after actor Billy witnessed his home, Time Square, being “turned into a mall." As he recalls: "Disney was signing this amazing Manifest Destiny deal to evict small vendors, and police were picking up anybody who didn’t look as if they were in possession of a credit card. And that was happening before my eyes. . . . I had to ask myself: 'Who’s shouting here? Who’s really getting out there raising their voice a little bit?’ It was the sidewalk preachers."

From the newswire: "What Would Jesus Buy?" (review) by R. Plesset

July 20, 2007: On Friday night, Neighbors for Peace & Justice presented Red Hill, a student project from the Echo Park Film Center about the history of activism in Echo Park. (The film is described here on page 10: Epian Ways. ) In all, at least 70 people were present. Many veteran activists attended as well as newer activists.

Echo Park became known as Red Hill (as well as Red Gulch, Mt. Moscow, and Lenin’s Hill) in the 1940s because of the large concentration of activists, including communists. Jean Torre of Neighbors for Peace & Justice introduced the movie and facilitated a discussion afterwards. Full story: High Turnout for "Red Hill" Screening by RP

In December 2001, faced with a collapsing economy and a government that failed to respond to the people’s needs, Argentina exploded into massive protests. What we saw were the four successive presidents thrown out of power, dramatic roadblocks called piquetes, and the masked protesters who organized them. But behind some of the piquetes lay an intricate network of neighborhood organizations that had as their ultimate goal autonomy and self-sufficiency for their community.

This video is a compilation of interviews and visits with four Unemployed Workers’ Movements of Argentina. Come hear about their projects: everything from bakeries and soup kitchens to organic farms and gardens, even their own schools and neighborhood health centers. And listen to the organizers discuss their operating principles—autonomy, horizontal decision-making and direct democracy—and the day-to-day challenges they face.

LOS ANGELES, August 31, 2006 - A public hearing with two of the five commissioners of the FCC was held Thursday this past week on the USC campus. This was the first of six such hearings to be held around the country. The hearing was presented by the Latino Media Council in partnership with Media Alliance and Free Press. The focus of the hearing was diversity in the media and media ownership. After opening remarks by the two commissioners the public was able to address the commissioners. All speakers were united in their opposition to any further consolidation of media ownership.

Full report with mp3 audio: Report Back: FCC Public Hearing on Media Ownership

"This is just too good a story not to share. Obviously, the corporate media here has not been interested in telling this tale, as it could give people ...ideas. This story, from Narco News, shares the inspiring story of women who took matters into their own hands when their government oppressed them and the corporate media refused to tell the tale. Banging on pots and pans, they took over Channel 9, ousted the staff, occupied the station themselves, and began broadcasting, for the first time, the TRUTH. More...

"Mercenaries 2: World in Flames," created by Los Angeles based [Pandemic]/[Bioware Studios], simulates a mercenary invasion of Venezuela in the year 2007. Pandemic is a subcontractor for the US Army and CIA funded Institute for Creative Technologies, which uses Hollywood techniques to mount war simulations in California's high desert in order to conduct military training. "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" simulates destruction in downtown Caracas, and promises to leave no part of Venezuela untouched.

U2's Bono, well recognized for his campaigns to reduce poverty and treat AIDS in Africa is backing a videogame which promotes the invasion and destruction of Venezuela in order to check "a power hungry tyrant" who has "seized control of Venezuela and her oil supply." Bono has failed to respond to concerns raised by the Venezuelan Solidarity Network about his funding of this project.

"Mercenaries 2: World in Flames," created by Los Angeles based Pandemic/Bioware Studios, simulates a mercenary invasion of Venezuela in the year 2007. Pandemic is a subcontractor for the US Army and CIA funded Institute for Creative Technologies, which uses Hollywood techniques to mount war simulations in California's high desert in order to conduct military training. ...
Full report: LA Based Pandemic Studios Creates Videogame with Venezuela Invasion Theme by Venezuela Solidarity Network

HOLLYWOOD -- Underneath a [Disney] marquee promoting “pirates”, The Mexica Movement, an Indigenous Rights Educational Organization, called for an immediate international boycott against The Walt Disney Company and all of its holdings. The announcement was made in front of Disney’s El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard before local media (including a Fox affiliate from Hong Kong which later broadcast the story across China).

The Mexica Movement is launching this boycott because Disney employs talk show hosts PAUL HARVEY and DOUG MCINTYRE, who have spread the Minutemen/SOS white supremacist agenda against the Mexican and Central American communities in the United States. (Mexican and “Central American” descent people are in their vast majority an Indigenous people, both Full-blood and Mixed-blood). ...
Full report: MEXICA MOVEMENT LAUNCHES DISNEY BOYCOTT by John Q Public

John Earl of the OC Organizer website, a lighting rod of activist news in OC, has sent a call out for interns to work at this new venturem OC Voice. Their publication will be supported by ads, and they are looking for ad sales interns. They are also looking for reporters.