IMC NEWS BLAST | Wednesday, August 16, 2000

A compilation of breaking stories, photos, video, and audio from the Independent Media Center on Wednesday, August 16, 2000.
http://la.indymedia.org

SPECIAL EDITION:The IMC Reports from the streets outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles

OVERVIEW

As of this morning, all but a handful of the 420+ jailed activists have been released from Philadelphia jails, while in Los Angeles the police are responding to protests with chemical weapons, horses, rounds of rubber bullets, and mass arrests. While confrontations erupt in the streets, inside the Convention Center our teary-eyed President takes credit for these "best of times." Outside, the IMCis in the streets recording, reporting, and posting information that the well-guarded Conventioners are protected from hearing and admitting into official debate.

  On Wednesday 16, 2000, this is what democracy looks like:

CURRENT ISSUE OF *Why?* | The IMC's NEW PROTEST E-ZINE
Activists did not come to L.A. to fight the police, but to demand that the issues which effect our everyday lives enter into national debate. This issue of *Why?* looks beyond police clashes to the real issues that inspire protestors to put their bodies on the line: economic apartheid in the U.S.A., racial injustice, les/gay/bi/trans rights, the worldwide fight against AIDS, the prison-industrial complex and more.
http://la.indymedia.org/why.php3

UNRESTRAINED STORIES: FALSE CLAIMS OF PROTESTOR VIOLENCE
by Tim Ream
In numerous situations since the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, police have routinely spread unsubstantiated, misinformation of violent plans by protestors. This excellent report examines the state's emerging strategy of preemptive response to mass protest.
http:// la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=543

PROTEST CONCERT SHUT DOWN WITH RUBBER BULLETS
by Michael Fernandez
A free concert by the bands Ozomatli and Rage Against The Machine was interrupted by tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets Monday evening as delegates watched from the Staples Center balcony. People who were there report what they experienced. www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=3155

BICYCLE RIDERS BUSTED AT FLOWER & 18th
Brendan McGuigan
Approximately 250 bicycling activists took to the streets Tuesday afternoon for a nonviolent demonstration. The LAPD responded with mass arrests. Read the eyewitness account. la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1591 Photo:http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1458

IMC AUDIO NEWS HEADLINES
by IMC Audio Team
The IMC audio team's half-hour news on August 16th, 2000. It includes coverage of arrests at the Critical Mass bike ride, the anti-fur protest and arrests, Monday's Rage Against the Machine Concert, police brutality, legal and medical reports, the youth and women's marches, education, environmental racism, and an interview with a Young Democrat.
la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1658

IMC 24 HOUR WEB RADIO
http://la.indymedia.org/radio/index.php3

HELP 420 UNJUSTLY ARRESTED at RNC
In the wake of the Philadelphia protests, activists, puppeteers, legal observers, medics and bystanders now face a serious legal battle. 37 face felony charges. To win, they need help. Here's an update about what can be done: http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=3254

VALUE WOMEN's WORK! VALUE WOMEN'S LIVES!
Photo by Geoff Oliver-Bugbee 12:02am
600 women marched through the streets of Los Angeles Tuesday morning to speak out for women's work and well being.
http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1543

WHAT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION LOOKS LIKE
Photo by Joe King The armed atmosphere around the Staples Center speaks for itself. http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1532

PRISON DIARY OF A PUPPETISTA FLEA
Personal diary of a puppetista practicing jail solidarity in ther Philadelphia jail system.
http://www.phillyimc.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/15/2324245&mode=thread"

THE CORPORATE MEDIA INTERFERE WITH DEMOCRACY
by Andrea Buffa and Ben Clarke Media giants lobby and pay off politicians to maintain control of the airwaves. To break the grip, activists are mobilizing against the National Association of Broadcasters September in San Francisco. http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=3187

FOREIGN MEDIA OFFERS BETTER COVERAGE OF U.S. EVENTS
By Mark Marbles
"There are tremendous needs in this country to address: childcare, 44 million people without health insurance, helping poor and low-income people afford homes. Those priorities don't make it to the agenda"
http://www.phillyimc.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/04/124236

DEMOCRACY NOW! / CRASHING THE PARTY
During convention week two, live video programs originating from the L.A. IMC will satellite-cast to millions of homes across the country. Covering the issues being ignored by establishment media, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Laura Flanders and Free Speech TV take to the airwaves, satellite and web in a historic, three-pronged broadcast of movement-oriented analysis and resistance news. http:// satellite.indymedia.org/
Archived footage from the week in Philly. http://www.freespeech.org

NUEVO PAVOREAL: THE REAL STORY
by "Enlace Civil, A.C."
Tension and violence continue to flare in Chiapas where attacks against Zapatista support communities are being reported. On August 11th, the community of Nuevo Pavoreal was attacked by men affiliated with the right-wing PRI party. Here's the report from the Mexico IMC. http:// mexico.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=312

UPCOMING DIRECT ACTIONS

Support Microradio: Slam the NAB! Protest The "WTO of Media"
Sept. 20-23, San Francisco
http://www.mediademocracynow.org
Protest in Prague Sept. 26 2000
http://go.to/s26
Action Against the First Presidential Debate, October 3
http://www.bostoncan.net/o3a.html
Summit of the Americas, April 2001, Quebec City
http://wtoaction.org/ftaa.phtml

INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER

The IMC is a decentralized network of independent media makers, organizers, and activists working to increase democracy and social justice by reporting events and producing information as acts of autonomy, resistance, and liberation from corporate control. The IMC was established to cover the WTO protests in Seattle last November. Hundreds of media activists have since setup independent media centers in London, Canada, Mexico City, Prague, Belgium, France, and Italy, with more to come.

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