Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

LOS ANGELES, June 5, 2009 - On Friday in Hollywood Santa Monica Blvd was blocked by a group of protesters demonstrating against the possibly fatal budget cuts being proposed by the Schwarzenegger Administration. The cuts are sweeping. The plan is to eliminate more than $160 million in HIV services which will also would jeopardize another $150 million in federal matching funds the state receives for HIV care.

The golden state faces a massive $24 billion state budget deficit -- with cash expected to run out by July -- California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is cutting funds draconically and that includes programs that keep HIV-positive people alive. "This is the worst possible time to take support away from the most vulnerable Californians," said Judith Auerbach, Ph.D., vice president for science and public policy at the The San Francisco AIDS Foundation. "Balancing the budget on the backs of those at greatest risk threatens to reverse all progress made against the HIV epidemic over the past two decades." From the Newswire: HIV Protesters Take The Streets in Hollywood by Robert Stuart Lowden

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 by SCHA-LA - - Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 by SCHA-LA | | Statement from Los Angeles HIV positive MOM by Robert Stuart Lowden

LOS ANGELES, June 4, 2009 - A combination hunger strike and protest campout has been occurring in downtown Los Angeles for the last nine days. The action is a continuance of the demonstrations that rose up in response to draconian budget cuts and layoffs issued by the Los Angeles Board of Education last month. The cuts are a result of a state and city wide deficit avalanche that is threatening to wipe away the traditional Californian "safety net " which for generations has been there for the poorest and least able amongst us.

The hunger strikers are protesting against the effect that these cuts will have on their pupils and consequently on the communities that these kids live in. Considerations such as class size and scholarly attention are chief amongst the teachers concerns. The Los Angeles Board of Education voted to lay off as many as 5,400 teachers and staff due to a 596 million dollar budget shortfall for 2010. For the last nine days the protest has been set up outside of the Liechty Middle School near downtown L.A. where forty-seven of the 65 teachers working there have received layoff notices
From the Newswire: L.A.Hunger Strikers on Ninth Day of Fast by Robert Stuart Lowden | | Hunger Strike Blog by Sean Leys

6/12/09 UPDATE: Hunger strike, Day 16, latest news: Los Angeles Teacher-Hunger Striker Kait Leonard Video Statement & Teacher on 16th day of Hunger Strike-Video Statement by Robert Stuart Lowden

6/14/09 UPDATE: School District Rescinds 505 Cuts But 2500 Jobs Still in Jeopardy. Hunger strike continues. Latest report and photos: Part one | Part two by Robert Stuart Lowden

6/16/09 UPDATE: Hunger Strike now at Day 22 - Reflections after 22 days on hunger strike by Martin

[Political analysis by Chris Burnett. host of "Indymedia On Air” - Mondays, 3pm, KPFK 90.7 FM] - Shepard's choice to become an instrumental part in creating brand Obama, given his street level marketing style, often illegal, provided a legitimacy that was certainly needed by the Obama campaign. Seeing Obama on every street corner in soviet-style branding (read "pro worker, average guy, savior") was shocking precisely because of what Hedges describes as spectacle on the one hand, and the illusion of street cred provided by Shepard's style on the other.

I thought I was seeing Mao and Che everywhere, as though this was some populist uprising against the ruling class, against a cynically corrupt political class. Far from it. It *was* the ruling class inverting and misdirecting our anger in order to advance a corporatist political party and agenda. Genius. Horrendous. No doubt, it had a profound affect on all of our psyches. But "HOPE" should have read "HYPE" and "PROGRESS" should have read "REGRESS". It was the epitome of bumper sticker politics: immediate gratification, feel good symbolism; very consistent with our hyperactive, but shallow corporate culture. Full article: Shepard Fairey’s Obama by Chris Burnett

This Tuesday CineBang presents an evening of underground film and discussion with Franklin "The Stimulator" López of subMedia.tv. Join the subMedia posse – survival of the smartest starts now! Producer, videographer and creative genius Franklin Lopez exposes crucial current trends with video montages that mix culture jamming, news, satire, music and action to scratch the social justice itch.

Hopium is a crash course on the countercultures, protest movements, and underground forces set to collide in the post-Bush world. Hopium delivers 90 minutes of short films, mashups, and clips from Frank's series It's the End of the World and We Know It and I Feel Fine, the world's most subversive news show. The evening culminates with highlights from the forthcoming END:CIV, and the documentary hit GROUND NOISE & STATIC, a video report from the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 2008.
From the Calendar: Hopium: Confronting Fascism in the Obama Era a film by Franklin López