god it just makes so much more sence to put more features on the fromt page, have a completely open publishing newswire and just compost disruptive posts.... more people would use the laindymedia site if the laindymedia site where more usefull

I moved down to orange county a few months ago and its been frustrating trying to contact the la activist comunity. alot of the reason is this sleepy la.indymedia center

Im going to post this story on portlands site and on the la indy media site just to see which site gets more comments. any one who reads this. disagrees, or knows something I dont please post your comments so that I can be educated. either tis will prove my point or the comments will change my mind, I chalange you humble reader go!

If the site is sleep as you say then please spread the word about it with your fellow activists.

With open publishing the site is only as active as the community that uses it.

Without the constant site failures and the swarm of knuckle draggers that post blatant racist garbage or are just deliberately disruptive.

ok cool this article is up with the other "selected articles" Im impresed, I posted a story like this when I first arrived here and It was composted... still Im curieous why the middle ground exists? why a selective news wire? why not just post all newsworthy storys... I know this particular article isnt super news worthy, (I hope its more of a comuity discussion) I wouldnt expect the editors to feature this story. Having this on the news wire seems appropiate. but still why not just trash troll posts and get rid of the selective newswire?

"it is what you make its" comments

if the site is sleep as you say then please spread the word about it with your fellow activists.

With open publishing the site is only as active as the community that uses it.

Why are there so few features? I mean some times portland's imc will feature whymsical articles these are totaly news worthy too if the are about the greater la comunity. I mean having local comunity groups get noticed is what encourages comunity activity. featured articles dont allways have to be about major injustices you could do regular features on things like the (A)-cafe or I dont know mabey a benifit concert thats going on or a comunity bike night or something. LA is a big place with alot of people Im shure there are some things going on you guys could feature. I mean come on! also if no one is posting storys about these tings it mightbe because they feel theres no point if they will NEVER be featured. just a note there just recently was an awsome tsunami benifit concert and the (A)-cafe is held every month. Im not complaining that these events specificly havent been featured. It's just that Im only one guy and Im shure theres tons of stuff going on. Featured storys shouldnt be posted months apart. thats just rediculous

I agree. the only way to fix this site is through an incresed comunity involvement. As for me (average joe indymedia reporter) about all I can offer are storys anouncements photos videos etc. I have submitted these things to portland imc. sometimes I was featured sometimes I wasnt but at least my storys where ALLWAYS visable on the top of the news wire for everyone to see. There is no such garantee with la's Imc.

I still have questions. LA indymedia has to have the feel that theres allways something going oon you Its your guys's responsability to keep us INTERESTED in whats going on. make this site attractive enough so that every activist will use it their homepage. so that every anarchist, socalist, green party member, feminist, democrat, etc. etc. can feel like there being mentioned from time to time.

Its also ackward to comment on articles. the comments are not displayed with the storys as though the readers comments are somehow less relevent than the authors. things like this hinder comunity involvement .

sheep dog writes

"Without the constant site failures and the swarm of knuckle draggers that post blatant racist garbage or are just deliberately disruptive."

I find that semi hard to believe true there are assholes out there but I find it interesting to compare sheepdogs comments with one persons reply to the same article on portlands imc

U. sam

"I have made these same comments at my local indy. It has to do with the editors. Locally, they are democrats, so they are part-time gatekeepers. They let in articles that are derived from mainstream right wing propaganda(even thought they can't see that-or don't want to). I have posted articles here, many people comment. The same article locally gets hidden(compost). They are opening up though, it's ok to talk about fascism and zionism now. Before, that was "hate speech"."

another comparisson to portlands site, heres the list of articles at three in the morning (when Im writing this so please excuse my spelling) from the top of the la news wire down to the story your reading now



massacre in brazil:call to action 3/4/05 F28 4:35AM

TAKE THE INDYMEDIA TEST!! F27 11:43PM

ok so I posted this on the 27th and its just showing up today? ONLY TWO STORIES FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS WTFf?

nows heres the list of articles on the portland site



Billion lost, Halliburton Looting, and Bush wants Billion more?

22:27 Feb-28

Call for Direct Action A16

21:49 Feb-28

america has gone to hell and the devils are in charge

21:47 Feb-28

Haiti Massacre and the UN

21:29 Feb-28

United States government, 2005: If it walks like a goose… (Part II)

20:33 Feb-28

PSU Green Party Endorses Devaney/Woon Slate

20:30 Feb-28

6th Global Women's Strike

20:22 Feb-28

Progressive Student Union Endorses Devaney/Woon Slate

20:20 Feb-28

Dairy co-op rejects Monsanto hormone proposal

20:01 Feb-28

there is even more stupid cop's than the PoPigs in Oregon

19:45 Feb-28

Students for Unity Endorses Devaney/Woon Slate

19:23 Feb-28

Jewish Student Union Endorses Devaney/Woon Slate

19:16 Feb-28

Greased Pig Contest *TUESDAY*-PHONE CALLS & EMAILS NEEDED ASAP!!!!!!!!!

18:54 Feb-28

Attny Gen. Spitzer Pulls the Pants Down on Mega Corps

18:06 Feb-28 (3 comments)

Call for comments: Hearing on important bill re. liquor license apps in Salem, 3/1

18:03 Feb-28

New Oregon prescription drug purchasing program starts March 1

16:59 Feb-28

A call from Southern Oregon Forest Defenders

16:55 Feb-28 (1 comment)

Hunter S.Thompson Silenced with Silencer????

16:39 Feb-28 (2 comments)

Who Were The Latest Tel Aviv Bombing Victims? -- Ha'aretz

14:37 Feb-28 (3 comments)

Chris Rock on Fahrenheit 9/11 and “W”

14:30 Feb-28 (9 comments)

Stop! Pay Troll!

14:23 Feb-28 (5 comments)

February Critical Mass: Tom Potter fails

13:58 Feb-28 (2 comments)

The American Soldiers Must Know

13:35 Feb-28

Huntingdon Life Science, GLBT community, pharma & cancer/AIDS $$$

13:08 Feb-28 (1 comment)

What is an Anti-Zionist Jew?

11:49 Feb-28 (8 comments)

Fight the Franken Food Tonight!

11:30 Feb-28

Cellucci Slips Up: Flight 93 "Shot Down"

10:15 Feb-28 (5 comments)

"The US is Stuck in Quicksand": Arundhati Roy

10:12 Feb-28

Forget Compromising on Social Security; First Let's End Employer Theft of Worker Pensions

09:45 Feb-28

Compassionate Living Fair

08:28 Feb-28

Sign Petition- Save Social Security From Bush!

02:59 Feb-28

11,000 US Soldiers Dead

01:07 Feb-28 (2 comments)

take the indymedia test!



thirty two! there are thirty two stories that have shown up in portland sence I posted the exact same story up there. those are thirty to groups that felt like there voices got herd and forty two stories that the average reader could brouse through and read

now lets look at the list of stories weve missed out on in la because they havent been put on the "selected newswire"

Bush vs Putin - Adults only... M01 1:34AM

Guatemalan ex-dictator Rios Montts' Gospel Outreach church based in Eureka Ca. F28 11:21PM

Billion lost, Halliburton Looting, and Bush wants Billion more? F28 10:28PM

Urgent Haiti Action F28 10:26PM

Call for Direct Actions A16 F28 9:10PM

United States government, 2005: If it walks like a goose… (Part II) F28 8:30PM

Attny Gen. Spitzer Pulls the Pants Down on Mega-Corps F28 5:49PM

WHO WERE THE LATEST TEL AVIV BOMBING VICTIMS? -- Ha'aretz F28 2:13PM

LONG BEACH PROGRESSIVE FILM FESTIVAL - Feb 28th - March 31st F28 1:14PM

What is an Anti-Zionist Jew? F28 11:57AM

"The US is Stuck in Quicksand": Arundhati Roy F28 10:19AM

Forget Compromising on Social Security; First Let's End Employer Theft of Worker Pensions F28 9:35AM

"The US is Stuck in Quicksand": Arundhati Roy Arundhati Roy 2005-02-28 10:19 AM

This interview was given at the 2004 World Social Forum in Mumbia, India. (text/plain)

Forget Compromising on Social Security; First Let's End Employer Theft of Worker Pensions Dave Lindorff 2005-02-28 9:35 AM

Compromise approaches to “saving” Social Security that involve voluntary private accounts on top of the current program are not going to help low-income workers. If Congress and the President really wanted to help protect low-income retirees, they’d end the legal theft of pension “vesting” so workers got pension contributions for every working day of their lives. (text/html)

11,000 US Soldiers Dead (repost) Sheepdog 2005-02-28 9:15 AM

11,000 US Soldiers Now Dead From DU Poisoning Heads roll at Veterans Administration Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed (text/plain)

Anti-Syrian Protesters Fill Beirut Streets Mark Dameli 2005-02-28 7:01 AM

Thousands of Anti-Syrian Protesters Fill Beirut's Streets Ahead of Key Debate in Parliament Feb. 28, 2005 - Defying a ban on protests, about 10,000 people demonstrated against Syrian interference in Lebanon on Monday, shortly before parliament was to debate a motion of confidence in the pro-Syrian government. (text/plain + 1 comment)

Sign Petition- Save Social Security From Bush! Lynda Carson 2005-02-28 2:54 AM

Feel Free To Sign Petition To Save Social Security From Bush! (text/plain)

Canada Knows Best - (No Ticky No Washy) R.A. Hawkins 2005-02-27 3:33 PM

No Summary (text/plain + 1 comment)

Maria Full of Cultural Colonialism at the Oscars Mario Lamo Jiménez 2005-02-27 3:09 PM

"Maria" would make a poor soap opera, a mediocre documentary, and as a movie, a superior treatment for insomnia. (text/plain + 2 comments)

Reviving the Debate about Human Rights: Book Review Urs Knoblauch 2005-02-27 1:49 PM

The author describes the development of human rights: the first generation-civil andpolitical rights, the second generation-economic, social and cultural rights and the third generation-collective rights. (text/plain)

Petition: Defend Ward Churchill and Protect Academic Freedom Leslie Radford 2005-02-27 9:43 AM

The American Indian Movement of Colorado supports Ward Churchill with a public petition to the Colorado University Regents. Sign on at www.coloradoaim.org/wardpetition.htm. (text/html + 5 comments)

BTL:Opponents of US Ratification of Central American Free Trade Agreement Say.. Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus 2005-02-27 6:38 AM

...Victory is Within Reach~ Interview with Shane Stevens, of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus (text/plain)

the cat is out of the bag! wane wong 2005-02-27 3:43 AM

COINTELPRO (text/plain)

"Abstinence and sexual fidelity have played virtually no role" Vivian Stamp 2005-02-27 12:51 AM

Abstinence and sexual fidelity have played virtually no role in the much-heralded decline of AIDS rates in the most closely studied region of Uganda, two researchers told a gathering of AIDS scientists here. (text/plain +

ok lets count theres about twenty two stories here true a cople are reposts, but most of them are news worthy! some of them anounce local comunity events! you get the picture. dont you think that people might repost articles sometimes because they know that one time through the iddy bitty news wire in the bottom left corner wont get them noticed? La indymedia's problem isn't its lack of comunity contrubution like "It is what you make It" suggests. alot of those people's storys may not have gotten read because they where shoved down in the corner.

If your problem is you guys dont have enough indymedia worker bees to tend to your website. one thing Ive noticed is there are alot of non-indymedia topic based activisty sites for the southern california. Mabey the reason you cant find volinteers is because youve alienated possible help. this worries me because I love the indymedia network, It gives a clear map for finding progressive news around the world. If indy media starts losing volenteers to other orginizations It'll be hard to get them back. Personaly I doubt the power of single sites. united indymedias network of sites has alot more potential than. single topic based sites, we need a united front to take on the corporate media machine. I think what la's site is doing is fraturing that solidarrity by making people feel excluded.

I understand if you folks are over welmed with trolls trying to jam up the news wire with disruptive posts but why the hell don't you just discretely compost them?

The seperate news wires make no sence to me. All they do Is make potental indymedia reporters feel like they are left out, not in control. Isnt that totaly against the spirit of indy media? shouldnt we feel impowered by postng articles? potential indymedia reporters shouldnt feel unshure whether or not there story will "make it" or be "chosen by the editorial athority" Isnt this type of cencorsip media relationship were trying to get away from? Just Do the deed of composting troll posts, it protects the indymedia comunity.

One of the cultural things Ive noticed sence moving down here is the spirit of hopelessness that seems to strangle everyone. the sort of feeling that radical change CAN'T happen, this is disticntly diffrent than the comunity I come from in portland where the attitude was that radical revolutionary things can and do happen every day. portland's indymedia site inspires its readers. several new features are posted every day and the open news wire ALLWAYS has something to read. I Know La is distinctly more conservitive than portland, but Its sad to think that LA.indymedia's editors are also conservitive.

LA is BIG and there have to be plenty of eager activists just wishing they had a good comunication tool to use. Like perhaps a (non dormant) indymedia center.

Im not trying to be too negative with la.indymedia, I just cant make it up to meetings and such. I'm just trying to encourage healthy conversation in our comunity.

oh yeah serieousely check out the portland indy media site Hopefully it might inspire you

If Im missing something please correct me but I am legitimatly confused by this site and If Im confused and distraut then some other folks must be too

peace ~Felix

Your comments are well taken. You sound like some one who could help LA-IMC grow. You are welcome to come to the next meeting.

The next meeting as not been scheduled as of this date.

Please look for an announcement to be posted.

I am currently south of la and I dont have transportaton. I have had a hard time daisychaining buses and trains together to make it up to la for anyt meetings. this is why im so frustrated Its so hard to contact people La indymedia is one of the only comunication tools I really have.

oh well heres another two posts from portland indymedia

uhmmmm..

conpheuzed & daised

"Hey since you are in LA join the secession movement there and become the liaison between California and Cascadia?"

Id like to. . . to bad this site is about all ive got to work with

and another post from this story in portland... I think this one is kinda ironic because the next post that was featured after my comment was a story about police brutality this guy nailed the southern california description right on the head

LA?

01.Mar.2005 18:00

Felix the Rat

Hey Dudes- This is LA you're talking about. This is where "Democrats" support guys like Darryl Gates. It's the most thoroughly corrupted government apparatus outside of the city of Chicago. What's on the 'progressive' TV station? Huell Hauser! What's on 'progressive' radio? KCRW has endless techno/dance/trance souless crap 24/7. Indy Media is obviously run by a bunch of control freaks who see it as no more than a bulletin board for whatever PC 'stories' the gatekeepers deem worthy. It seems the only lead story is always another tale of wrongful police use of force. This has always been L.A.'s sore spot, but the constant bombardment sets a somewhat extremist tone for the site as a whole. It just feels non-democratic with a small 'd'. The type of people who succeed in politics in LA, whether on the left or right, are the same types that succeed in show biz. Driven, Controlling,self-absorbed. Remember that LA was where they got away with murdering RFK and with covering up. Things that can influence local LA politics are not left to chance. A truly free Indy center is too wild a card for the Rulers of Wilshire Blvd. and environs. Money talks in LA more than anywhere on earth. It can, through subtle and blatant political manipulations, keep certain dialogues from being explored publicly. Many powerful forces are still awed and thrown off-center by the power of the web. They're still reacting with fear, unsure how far the definitions of freedom should expand. The internet's inherent element of anarchy scares the jeepers out of control advocates like Political Party Operatives. The more one studies modern political movements, the more you realize that there is a very thin wall between Democrats, Republicans, Communists, and Fascists when it comes to true freedom of expression. Hey, there's NO PLACE like Portland Indy, anywhere, because it's Portland, not LA LA land.



more replies means more comunication more comucation means more change

peace

~ Felix

well dude, it's likethis: you ever hear of the union of soviet socialist republics?

it's....not a coincidence that socialist and republic are right next to each other.

imagine indymedia run by like fifty thousand double agents, all pretending to be against Bush;s new world order while they actually objectively suppopport thegoals of engels and stalin. that's teh sleepyness -- they wanto government to be powerful.

they are not anarchists. i am a true anarchist and i' mnot rpud of it but it's obvious that slandrous geeks aresoviet. they don't understand punk or anarchy -- look how borng nd repressed the whole front is.

so it is not you. this is almost a proiopaganda cell for international socialism -- and you know how bad national socialism is.

welcome to the media -- they became the same weakshit that wasn;'t telling the truth before. i have been involved with ENG since the eighties. this shit is weak.

on the flip =-- if you aren;'t a fiucking socialist you can say anything. they have tunnel vision and are afflicted geeks, profoundly lame. they...don;t get anarchy or want to.

its sad, back up north in cascadia they had decent anti-capitalist solidarity

doctor jones you confuse me. Im not attacking you I just think you may have typed fast or something. becauseIm having a hard time understanding what you ment. (I do it all the time and I cant spell to boot!)

In russian the word soviet means council, so the soiet union was (in the beginning) a council of unions. early on there where many anarchistic unions of workers with there own councils that went to the union of soviets in puertoguard as representives (thats where the republic part comes in). The initial revolutionary spirit in russia was one of true liberation. early on it was pretty nice for the anarchists, they where treated with respect for a while there. The soviets became corupt and the world learned that a utopia cannot be reached through violent goverment force yadda yadda yadda

but thats just my take on it I could be wrong

also I read you wrote :

"they are not anarchists. i am a true anarchist and i' mnot rpud of it but it's obvious that slandrous geeks aresoviet. they don't understand punk or anarchy"

well soviet means council. so I guess the indy-media meetings are run with an open council but arent most anarchist meetings generly run that way too, you know democraticly based or consensis based?

I dont understand If your an anarchist why arent you proud of your beliefs? or did you mis-type? and yes national socalisim is bad but not because its socalist, because its NATIONALIST I have this same argument allmost every day with a libertarian capitalist co-worker of mine. either Im missing something here or southern california is missing something.

I guess you could call me a socalist .... a libertarian socalist.. an anarcho comunist, a syndacalist, whatever. I do not Identify myself as an authoritarian capitalist, or totalitarian. I dont believe in private property but I respect other indiviguals personal property. Being a socalist isnt bad... It just depends on where you go from there Nationalisim, libertarianisum, facisim, anarchisim etc. socalisim can mean anything from dictatorship to a democraticly run workplace. Socalists arent inheritly bad... but like all of us they can be.

also another thing I dont get about the culture down here is that anarchy Is ALLWAYS paired with PUNK and PUNK MUSIC. I understand the signifigance of punk phylosophy. independence etc. but up in cascadia when people talked about anarchy they where usualy refering to things like food not bombs, radical book stores, comunity cyclery centers, or Gardens... shure there wher a few trendy kids that listened to crass read crimethinc and thought that anarchy was all about the music scene but fthere wherent many of these kids and it was pretty obvious that they where posers.

I was made to understand that anarchy is just the situation that we wind up spending most of our lives in where we make discisions for our selves. Anarchy is an absence of violence, a state of peacefull coexistance with the earth and its creatures. litarly anarchy means the opposite of hierarchy. Every time you act with ount asking permission or dont try to impose your views on others or donate cloaths or money to a charity thats all anarchy because your not being forced to do it. and every time one person hurts someone else who dosent want to be hurt thats NOT anarchy because it creates a situation of terror and hierarchy for the victem. anarchy is not chaos, It is order. anarchy dosent mean fucking shit up it means fixing shit up.

Im not saying punk isnt cool. I remember in cascadia there was less of a scene and more of a comunity. Down here it seems to be the other way around. I remember going to a tsunami hardcore benifit show and being discusted by the blatent patriarchy and homophobia. I mean I could write an entire article about that alone. ALL the women where sitting off to the side and the men where in the middle randomly punching and kicking as though to say "Im afraid of the touch of another man". then a band member went on about animal rights which was cool, but there was a more pressing problem LITIRLY RIGHT IN FROMT OF HIS FACE that he could have definantly of effected. I was confused why he didnt encourage the ladys to join in. or at least encourage the men to make the situation to be more inclusive.

The homophobia and patriarchy that exists down here is apalling. If that same show where held in portland there would have been many ladys in there kicking ass too. like I said I could go on and on about that stuff but I wont.

one thing I must say though, cascadian folks that base there entire phylosophy off of crimethinc books where laghed at... know why? crimethinc books target trendy white male scenester anarchists. and look, who gets the attention in the punk comunity?.... white men!

dont get me wrong I like crimethinc books, Its just that there is so much more out there. why can't southern california residents put out there own zines on politics. Im shure there are a few but I havent found many. Its wierd that a book from olympia washington would be more popular in southern california than a book from the comunity in southern california itself.

basicly I got involved with radical anti-capitalist anti-authoritarian politics because corporate intrests threatened to distroy my comunity. I started doing activisim and read books about radical politics. I based my beliefs on my personal experiences as an activist. I think to many people base there experiences off of being trendy scenester crimethinc kids, or privliged leninist college kids. but thats just my opinion and I couldd be wrong. probaly thats just my bitter frustration talking.

Anyway Im loving the coments on this, keep it up Its really encourging to hear people in the la.indymedia comunity comment on this article. It shows that some people down here are willing to face problems within there own comunity.

Peace~Felix

I get home from work at like 2am and thats when I can write

I agree. The people in the LA Indymedia 'collective' don't practice what they preach, decisions based on consensus. They need fresh blood in the mix. Too many control freaks without the time and direction to update the site. The site has become static...My suggestion is to open the door and let us in...the people...and we will breath new life into this dying community of has beens.

POLICE *BRUTALITY/ATROCITIES* SHOULD BE REGARDED AS "EXTREMIST" -- *NOT* THE LA-IMC COVERAGE OF IT!!

"It seems the only lead story is always another tale of wrongful police use of force. This has always been L.A.'s sore spot, but the constant bombardment sets a somewhat extremist tone for the site as a whole."

So, *why* is it "somewhat extremist" for LA-IMC to post lead stories about police brutality? A lot of white people hardly believe that it happens, or constantly downplay, diminish or excuse it.

More white people should take police brutality/atrocities more seriously. Whites should realize that the resentment of the Black/Brown community from the police always getting off (in more ways than one) eventually comes back to haunt the white community in terms of Black/Brown anger and how that might be excercised against whites on the streets or in the public schools. (Let's face it: most whites *know* that Black/Brown resentment over such social injustices is why they fear Blacks/Browns on the streets.) Then perhaps enough political pressure would be put upon the city to stop police brutality/atrocities.

Other than that point, as far as LA-IMC, the main page "Other News" column should be longer. And, if LA-IMC has enough volunteers to keep/delete the racist, misogynist, homophobic, fascist, etc, trolls off the site, the comments page/threads should be resurrected. After all, the progressive activist community -- and others -- are more likely to read and come back to read LA-IMC again as a community resource if they can actually, ongoingly, and interactively *participate* in the communications (and discussion) tool that LA-IMC is supposed to be.

Tired of Devin Brown. Regardless of his age, he tried to hit a polcieman with a car, and was a KNOWN gang member with a considerable rap sheet. Where is the outrage at parents that allow a 13 year old to routinely run around at 4 am in the morning ? I'm no fan of the police, but please, let's be a little more honest here.

Be honest?!?!?! Fuck off! You think it's a GOOD practice for cops to grease 13 yr. old kids, under ANY circumstances?

...oh, that's right, he's was black....you don't have to answer that questions...

...but you can give that lie about trying to run down the cop a rest...

Yes. The site is far from perfect.

The LA-IMC collective faces many difficulties:

The site is free to all and relies on the generosity of its users to stay in operation.

The administration of the site is done completely by non-paid volunteers.

The site and its server is under constant attack from hackers working to crash it and trolls who seek to ridicule, annoy and distract those who want to use the site.

Security issues and finding qualified administrators that can be trusted and will work for no pay is extremely difficult.

In order to protect the site from trolls, LA-IMC will remove postings and comments which are deemed to be; racist, sexist, anti-LGBTI, fascist, provocations, insults or threats, commercial advertisements.

Some things do get by or are on the site for awhile before they are removed. It’s an ongoing problem but that is the nature of opening publishing. Every effort is being made to keep these people from disrupting the site.

In regards to the LA-IMC Collective; Adherence to the IMC mission statement and an understanding of the consensus process for decision making are the only real requirements to join the editorial staff. There are no by-laws, no central committee, no hierarchies, no political agendas. The current membership very diverse and broad in its scope of political and social thought.

The IMC network is world wide, yet each local site is administered by local volunteers. It’s the people who use the site, publish news, upload media and come to meetings that make the site what it is. With open publishing: you are the media. The public is welcome to attend LA-IMC meetings. Please look for a posting for the next meeting.

Well folks, I guess I should beg forgiveness for all the grief I've caused you -choke-

but could you fix the donate page so I could send you a check? ( a modest one but perhaps one of many to help with stuff) How long has the 'Donate' page been broken?

2+ years?

( a tear rolls down my check as I think of all the catastrophes you have arrived to discover at your garage in the interrum that had occurred as your back was turned) I feel so unworthy to have used you so all these years...

Okay people here's what I think. You need to re initiate the 'latest comment' page and

SOMEHOW find a way to adhere to your posted guide lines. I know you arkies are 'non coordanated' and such ( not that I find a problem with that) it's just that you need better input from the masses about violations of said guidelines.

(sigh )

How about a snitch link for violations requiring specific guideline(s) violations and URLs to assist?

You could put it in the 'Tools' section.

It's your site and I'm only trying to help you folks.

We need each other.

Making meetings in LA is really difficult. The traffic is really rough, and the parking sometimes difficult. Just making a meeting takes 3 hours out of your day. If you don't have a car, it's an all-day thing. If I'm going to do a "local" thing, like go to my closest peace demos, they're 5 miles (and 30 to 40 minutes) away.

This is different from some other cities, where the cities are smaller, or more compact.

Hats off to the people who *do* go.

Im glad that Indymedia features indymedia storys about police brutality, thats a very important thing for people to be aware of. If an officer is slain he is a hero If a poor person is slain they are made out to be a deamon by the main stream media or not mentioned at all. this is the why we have indymedia, to give a voice to those looked upon less favorably by corporations and the state. I understand its difficult for the indymedia collective. being bombarded by hackers and trolls and if thats why the site hasen't been modernized (open non-selective newswire) then I understand compleately. I guess this just means those trolls are winning. they are suceeding in their attempt to silence us. I am but one man south of la trying to use indy media as a tool to organize, resist and (hopefully) do things that couldone day become indymedia feature storys of comunity triumph. I guess is sad really, I dont blame the collective, you have at least succedded in keeping the site online which is more than I can say for some sites that have sence passed away. like I said befor Im not attacking la imc just honnestly I think you should aspire to do some of the things the porland collective has done, with your layout and your features. La-imc Is a gear in the activist machine, this article of constructive critisicim is all I can offer it. I just hope you take me as an example. I am not a troll Im not trying to bitch from the sidelines I am an ally with a limited ability to help who has found it hard to offer his help. I dont know what to say. Ill keep this site as my home page because la is my home, Ill read the selected articles. Ill keep listening, keep reading,hoping things get better. hell id like to see la-imc as every la area activists homepage. Id like to see them all use it to empower them selves. but the bottom line is If there arent regular interesting features no one will keep coming back to check it. and if potential indy writers dont feel like the site is eager to recive there storys then potential indymedia reporters wont write interesting articles that are relitive to the comunity. I understand if you are overwhelmed with trolls. Im sorry if its too much to handle. I just hope that one day you can find the energy, the inspiration or the help, whatever it takes. to make some sort of changes. even if it just means posting more features. *sighs* keep your spirits up there are those out there who cheer you on . again thank you to the indymedia worker bees that have read this and to those who have responded youve turned my blind frustration into empathy.

Skiman (Thursday February 03): "I'm no fan of the police"

OH, *QUIT* YOUR **LYIN'** !! ...YOU PROBABLY *ARE* A PIG!! ...OR SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY!



OneEyedMan (Thursday February 03): "You think it's a GOOD practice for cops to grease 13 yr. old kids, under ANY circumstances?

...oh, that's right, he's was black....you don't have to answer that questions..."



Right on!!

So, if the *BLACK/LATINO* child is labelled "a 13 year-old gang member", then it's *okay* for the cops to wantonly kill him with little or no real excuse!?



I bet if it were a 13 year-old *WHITE* kid, then *PLENTY* of questions would have been asked!



First, whites would have been asking: "Wasn't there *another* way!?"

Just two or three more questions I would ask anyway: The police have plenty of "manpower" and resources to decide how they are going to safely approach a suspect. Why did a cop so easily and negligently put himself in harm's way, where he could be so easily "HIT WITH A CAR"? ... ( NEXT TO "HE ATTACKED THE COPS", "RESISTING ARREST", AND "WE THOUGHT HE HAD A GUN", THE STANDARD 'EXCUSE'! ) That speaks to poor defensive training and/or poor judgement on the cop's part. Why wasn't the 13 year-old blocked in by a few of the hundreds of other vehicles of all kinds that the police have and talked and waited out? Why weren't child services interventionists called in to help? But, the kid was Black, so there's no time for any other recourse: the cops have to get to their breaks at the donut shops or out to get serviced from some downtown hooker.

(Not that that would have done any good for the kid, as the LA cops once shot to death an Asian immigrant male who had attempted to evade the cops, but was competely blocked in -- the cops *STILL* shot him to death when he had *NO* weapon, *NO* place to go, *NO* cotrolled/contraband substances, and *NO* police record!! For some unknown reason that Asian immigrant just freaked out when pursued by the cops. Maybe he came from some military authoritarian country and just got scared. But, the cops still almost * NEVER* shoot blond, blue-eyed white guys for little or no reason at all.)

The cops have used the "trying to run down a cop" excuse so often that it's grown a long grey beard.

The cops once accused *me* of assaulting a cop. I'm Black, college educated, internationally travelled, have no record, live in a one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city, and am an occasionally published writer and guest columnist. So, I guess I should have been greased too?

Excuse # "WE THOUGHT HE HAD A GUN"!

But, then doesn't *everything* look like a gun to the cops!! -- wallets, keys, cell phones, a soda can/bottle, sunglasses, a book, ordinary tools, etc., etc. -- when it's held by nonwhites.

Yesterday in San Francisco police (CHP) shot a distraught man -- Kamal Lal -- to death after he sped off after a domestic argument with his wife and ran his vehicle into a ditch.

Now, *yesterday*, the cops claimed that he was *ARMED* and threatening and *that's* why the pigs shot him!!

*Today*, it comes out that the man (obviously nonwhite) was *NOT* armed, but was irritated and had a conrete rock or piece of concrete in his hand picked up from the ground after he ran his vehicle into a ditch. But now the *PIGS* exagerated the concrete rock into a "CONCRETE CHUNK": you're supposed to picture some 90-lb block, I guess.

Of course, the police -- with all their plastic shields, their body armor, their helmuts, their boots, their "nonlethal" weapons -- claimed that they were in *MORTAL* danger, so they *had* to *ALL* open fire, kill first and ask questions later. The man couldn't even run, because he left his crutches back home. Even his wife, with whom he had the argument, said that the *PIGS* had absolutely *NO* reason to shoot her husband. The *PIGS* didn't even face administrative suspension while the killing was being investigated.

So, we have stories of the *PIGS* shooting *UNARMED* (unless you also count sticks, rocks, nail clippers and --yes-- *brooms*!) people of color, Black, Latino, Asian, Arab, old and young, male and female (even *grandmothers*!).

I'm waiting to see the day when the *PIGS* shoot some distraught, blond, blue-eyed Amy or Amber.

Oh!! The cops *do* shoot distraught white women when they are the homeless. But, so far, no middle-class, suburban or -- needless to say -- affluent white women.

day when we have an un-armed police force or simple civilian patrolling. Im waiting for the day when they just brodcast 911 calls on the open fm radio so that any able bodied person can just go help those in need.

ja writes-

"I'm waiting to see the day when the *PIGS* shoot some distraught, blond, blue-eyed Amy or Amber."

most of all Im waitong for the day when the police STOP SHOOTING PEOPLE period.

and well trained. Just like the civilian population.

the police dont NEED to be armed but then again what do I know Im just a dirty hippy punk anarcho commie rebel scum. whos had to see his friends tortured by py police with the normal chemical sprays restraints etc. I teed to be warry of giving wepons to anyone in a position of power or dominance... but thats just me I build my feelings off of my personal experiences and those are the ones Ive had... I dont think we should go to authority to solve our problems. I think the solution should be that we organize to stop crime in our own comunity. Insted of calling 911 and hiding we should call 911 and rush in to help our fellow man or woman. I get tired of people wanting to write laws banning civilian gun use and ownership while at the same time increacing police and military armaments. I think you should concider disarming the government BEFORE you try to disarm the people. when police are armed they stop being police and start being an occupying army. in a time of peace, in a land of peace there is little or no excuse to have such a thing. that is unless the goverment is waging constant war on its people..... but Its peacefull in america right? were the freest country in the world right?......I dunnobout that, but like I said thats just me and I could be wrong.

felix: "...Im just a dirty hippy punk anarcho commie rebel scum."

c'mon now....you're not that dirty.

when one relies upon the state for personal security, it's a rainbow's chase into total enslavement. I'd rather be free than safe.