As Barrack "O-Bomber" prepared to make his announcement that he is sending 35,000 more troops to Afghanistan, protesters gathered in Lafayette park to voice their opposition to continuing this futile war of aggression. Read More & Audio | Photos

Photo from related protest in Twin Cities, MN: Barack Obama benefitted from widespread anti-war sentiment when he won the 2008 presidential election. Yet, he launched an escalation of the war in Afghanistan soon after taking office. In February 2009, Obama ordered an additional 17,000 combat troops to Afghanistan, more than doubling the size of the U.S. occupation. That deployment raised the level of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 55,000. This Tuesday, December 2, Obama is expected to announce plans to send 34,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Ironically, this announcement will come less than 2 months after Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize...

More Coverage: Minneapolis-St Paul | San Francisco | Boston | Portland (video) | Philadelphia | Rochester

On Friday November 20, 2009 many entities from the Trans community in San Francisco collaborated and held an event at the API Wellness Center in San Francisco called the 11th Annual San Francisco Transgender Day of Remembrance. Many people turned out for the event including Alexandra Byerly from El la program, Senator Mark Leno, Theresa Sparks and plus the many many speakers from the community who simply wanted to pay tribute to all the TG men or women who have been killed. Read More | | | More Coverage from 2009: Transgender Memorial Dedication in West Hollywood | Worcester Transgender Day of Remembrance | | | Past Coverage: 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

RELATED: Hundreds of Chicagoans March to Mourn Slain Gay Puerto Rican Teenager

Ten years ago, a great battle was fought in the streets of Seattle to defeat corporate power. On the tenth anniversary of this victorious fight, DC climate activists delivered "melted glaciers" to the offices of "Climate Criminals." This was DC's part of a global day of action for climate justice. || Stirring finished video || Rough video of Bank of America melted glacier delivery || Read More & Pics

Related: Indymedia.Org Coverage of Climate Action in Denmark | Indymedia.US N30 Roundup | New Study Asserts Climate Change Will Increase Conflicts in Africa

Forty years later, Hampton's assassination remains a chilling example of the lengths that officialdom will go to destroy effective political activism. COINTELPRO was ostensibly dissolved by the FBI in 1971 when the term itself became public, and the Black Panther Party effectively dissolved as an organization shortly thereafter, but official harassment against those carrying on the Panthers' legacy continues, including attempts to rename the portion of West Monroe Street which was the locale Hampton's assassination after Fred Hampton. But resistance on behalf of Chicago's African-American community continues, and on the week of the 40th anniversary, Chicagoans are holding a panoply of events, memorials, rallies, vigils, and commemorations. READ MORE

Video: Fred Hampton: Death of a Revolutionary | Death of a Black Panther: The Fred Hampton Story

Audio: Fred Hampton, Jr. Speaks About His Father's Murder | You Can Kill a Revolutionary But You Can't Kill the Revolution | Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. Speaks with Davey D

Police watched as more than 100 people blocked a busy intersection at 6th and Market yesterday, near the Federal Building, to call attention to the nation's housing crisis. Speakers questioned national priorities, with President Obama sending 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan as thousands of Americans continue to be pushed into poverty and homelessness. The group, organized by Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, demanded a moratorium on evictions, and vowed massive nationwide civil disobedience at the end of January if Obama has not taken adequate steps to address the housing issue.

Sheriff Walks Out After Interrupted by Singers, Protesters Occupy Lobby

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio walked out of an interview on Monday. Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication held a "First Amendment" forum at which Arpaio faced some hard questions. But he had an even harder time dealing with the people who started singing the "Immigration Rhapsody" and wouldn't stop...

More text, photos and videos at Why We Sang Sheriff Joe off the Stage and Anarchists, students, and pissed off people come out swinging at Arpaio's ASU appearance.

December 4 - 25 New York City human rights advocates caught the Israel Business Leaders Delegation to the United States by surprise this morning with a noisy protest outside their “breakfast reception amidst the Leviev jewelry collection” at the Leviev store on Madison Avenue. Groups worldwide have conducted a successful campaign for the boycott of Leviev’s companies due to their involvement in Israeli settlement construction in violation of international law, and human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Angola. In addition to businesspeople, among the guests present at the breakfast was TV personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer who tried unsuccessfully to avoid notice as she left.

One of the biggest drug kingpins from the 1980s, “Freeway” Rick Ross, spoke on Thursday night, Dec. 3, 2009, at the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club in Champaign. Ross appeared for the first time with a Chicago educational group called Hip Hop Detoxx, led by Enoch Muhammad and featuring MCs Phenomenon and Awthentik. The event was organized by CU Citizens for Peace and Justice in the wake of the police shooting of Kiwane Carrington. Ross was released from a federal prison just nine weeks ago. He delivered a powerful message of redemption to a gymnasium full of people from all ages.

On Tuesday night, Dec. 8, in a freezing blizzard, Leslie Parks returned from her job to find that IndyMac/One West had changed the locks to her home (3749 Park Ave. in Minneapolis).

Locking Leslie Parks out of her home is illegal. In fact it is beyond illegal, given the struggle that Leslie Parks is waging to keep her home. It is a cynical breach of what all assumed were good faith negotiations on the part of IndyMac/One West.

After the start of national call-in week to IndyMac officials, IndyMac informed Leslie, in writing, on Nov. 25 that they were rescinding both the foreclosure and the sheriffs sale. According to Ms. Parks, “I got an email from IndyMac stating, and I quote, ‘In an effort to work with you and your mother and come to a resolution, we have started the process of rescinding the Trusteed Sale which took place on May 29, 2009.’

On December 5th, women and men protested the Stupak amendment to the US Congress health care bill with a march and die-in in front of San Francisco's Ferry Building. Demonstrators wore black and rallied for full access to reproductive services, including abortion on demand.

A clear case of open-and-shut guilt is how Philadelphia police and prosecutors describe the first-degree murder conviction that sent journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal to death row over a quarter century ago. However, just a quick peek underneath the surface of this case reveals a litany of errors and wrongdoing by police, prosecutors and judges that implode all claims of Abu-Jamal’s absolute guilt. Read More & Video by Linn Washington, Jr.

RELATED: Philadelphia events for Mumia Abu-Jamal this week

Photo from December 2008 Report

The D5 event was enthusiastic and well attended, with information tables, creative signs, puppets, music and theater. I'd say about 700 people met underneath the Hawthorne bridge to get acquainted and prepare the march to PSU. Along the way there was a tug of war between the people and the wealthy at the Federal building, and at Hoffman Hall, wealthy men with cigars collected money and stuffed it into their pockets, dolling out pennies to the people.

At the Hall, various speakers addressed issues within the theme of Fair Trade. [...] All praised the victory over the World Trade Organization (WTO)and the corporate Free Trade Agenda in Seattle in late 1999. But, Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division, went further, saying that stopping the WTO, in Seattle and other places, is only the first step. The next and most important step would be "to turn it around." READ MORE | RELATED: Seattle N30 Commerative Rally at Westlake Park

With lobbyists from sHell and Exxon infesting the global climate conference in Copenhagen, DC area activists from Avaaz have started building an Ark on the Mall for the rising seas sure to come. READ MORE | RELATED: 100,000 march for System Change not climate change in Copenhagen with mass arrests | Indybay Roundup | Medics targeted at Cop15 protest

Students at UC Berkeley re-grouped Friday evening to protest an early morning raid on the Open University at occupied Wheeler Hall. A rally at Wheeler was followed by a concert and a march on the north side of campus. Police dispersed the march and arrested eight people who face multiple felony charges. Among the eight was an Indybay photographer covering the event.

Medford, Oregon, December 11, 2009 -- Medford Citizens for Responsible Development (MCRD) has not given up on the fight against powerful Walmart's legal team and the Superstore planned for South Medford. The fight continues and so do the worries about traffic congestion. Building such a monster store will bring on a super traffic nightmare, yet Medford refuses to do a traffic study which is required in their code. The area is already becoming a traffic nightmare even without building a Walmart Superstore.

MCRD has now petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court requesting a review of the earlier Court of Appeals Decision to Overturn a LUBA Ruling in the Matter of Requiring a Traffic Study for the Wal-Mart Superstore. (LUBA is Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals.) We anticipate a decision by the Court to consider our appeal within 30 to 60 days.

Attached below is the petition for review delivered by MCRD's attorney to the Oregon Supreme Court earlier this week.

Brandon Sazue’s camper sitting in the middle of the prairie presented a lonely but inspiring image as we drove up [last] Wednesday afternoon.  Despite the bitter cold and wind, the young Crow Creek tribal chairman was taking a stand against the United States theft of any more Dakota lands, telling us “Crow Creek land is not for sale, and it never will be.”

Symbolically placing his camper under a wind data tower, Sazue has committed to remain on this parcel of land as long as it takes to achieve justice.  The land is part of the 7,112 acres recently stolen by the United States government in what amounts to a 21st century land grab.  Because the land is not currently held in trust, on December 4, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service used that as an opportunity to claim it and auction it off as a means to settle what they assert is a delinquent $3,123,790 tax bill.  Read More | Portland Indymedia Coverage | Related: Who Turned Off the Lights for the Residents of Crow Creek? -- Mankato Memorial Ride Dec. 13-26

TOO MANY PEOPLE "DRINKING THE KOOL-AID BY THE GALLON, AND WE HAVEN'T PUT THE GLASS DOWN YET!" SAYS ONE SPEAKER AT RALLY

On Dec 12, hundreds of people showed up outside the White House to protest Obama's Afghanistan surge. Several hours into the rally, the mother of a US Marine vowed she would not let her son be deployed again, took off her shoe, and threw it in the direction of the White House. Read More | Broadcast Audio via WSQT, 04:58 What A Difference A Year Makes: White House "Shoe-icide Attack", December 12 2008; hear Medea Benjamin make excuses for Obama (via YouTube)

Eco-prisoner Jeff "Free" Luers released from prison

PORTLAND - Dec 16th, 2009 - Jeff "Free" Luers, political prisoner and environmental activist, was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution this morning after serving nine and half years. Luers was originally sentenced in 2001 to twenty two years and eight months for the politically motivated arson of three SUV's at a car dealership in Eugene, OR. This sentence was deemed grossly disproportionate to the damage sustained by the car dealership and was condemned by legal professionals, human rights groups and activists worldwide. At an appeal hearing in 2007 it was ruled that Luers' original sentence was illegal, and was consequently reduced to ten years. Read More

See also: Update on Imprisoned People's Lawyer Lynne Stewart

Practically unknown in the United States, International Human Rights Day commemorates the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is recognized worldwide as an important step toward respect for humanity. Here in Los Angeles, the activist community has played an important role in restoring the Declaration, and human rights in general, to the public view, making use of the occasion to highlight human rights abuses in the US, Mexico, the Philippines, and Honduras.

From the newswire: Update on Imprisoned People's Lawyer Lynne Stewart | | Vigiling in the Rain by R of the Northeast LA Radical Neighbors | | Solidaridad con Atenco: Cita en Consulado de Mexico por debbieX, Protestas en solidaridad con Atenco en Santa Ana y San Bernardino por Siete Filos | | Nationwide Protests Demanding Justice for Maguindanao Massacre Victims by Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) | | Women Leaders of the Honduran Resistance Speak in L.A. by Sidney Ross-Risden and Ross Plesset

Civil society, NGOs, island nations and nations from the Global South all demanded a "FAB" - fair, ambitious and binding - deal from this month's COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen. But as the summit concluded Friday, the only proposals on the table were none of the above. Some world leaders remained at the summit well past midnight, hashing out a document many are calling a "COPout." Others, such as President Obama, scurried to the airport to escape the climate crime scene that is Copenhagen's Bella Centre. At 2am inside the Centre, dozens of people chanting "Climate Justice Now!" held pictures of Obama with "Climate Shame" printed across his forehead.

The mass movement for climate justice on the streets of Copenhagen was, predictably, met with brutal force by the Danish Politi. Even accredited delegates were savagely beaten back with batons while attempting to walk out of the Bella Centre. In response, a call for solidarity actions prompted demonstrations worldwide. In Minneapolis (photos), a small group marched for climate justice on Nicollet Mall Friday night, just before the start of the city's popular "Holidazzle" parade.

Solidarity Reports from other US IMCs: Houston | Bay Area | Washington, DC ( 1, 2) ||| Full reports from COP15: IMC Denmark | Climate IMC | icop15.org aggregator | PDF of Copenhagen Accord - "recognized" by UN, to be adopted by national parliaments

On December 22, 2008 the largest coal fly ash disaster in the world occurred in Roane County, Tennessee along the banks of the Emory River at the Kingston Electric Coal Plant which is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). More Videos: 1 | 2

More Info: unitedmountaindefense.org | dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com | tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com

SDS and others picked the Houston Processing Center to protest the raids of Mambos restaurants and detaining 33 restaurant workers on suspected immigration violations, on Dec 2nd. The location of the Houston Processing Center is important, as the first private prison in the United States. Private companies operate dozens of detention centers for immigrants across the nation [map].

About 2 dozen protesters gathered on Greens Road and walked a picket line with chants about immigrant rights including; "What do we want? Immigrant Right! How do we get it? Melt the ICE!" "Immigrantes, Escucha, estamos en su lucha" "Immigration is not a crime, why are people doing time?" and "Ariba, Abajo, migra al carajo!" We had a powerful soundsystem that may very well have permeated the thick concrete walls of the detention center. People spoke and sang songs, we did interviews with television reporters, and we then marched to the other side of the facility. The south side of the facility is the visitor entrance, where during specified hours people can visit their loved ones locked up in the detention center. We sang and chanted more, and then called it a day and left. [Full article with photos]

RELATED: Rally to support Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The Klamath Justice Coalition organized a blockade in northern California this week, to stop a U.S. Forest Service logging contractor from damaging any sites held sacred by the Indigenous Karuk Nation.

Before daybreak on December 16, members of the indigenous-led Coalition gathered at Orleans Mountain Lookout Road within the Six Rivers National Forest and set up a large fire in the roadway. Fortunately, the logging crew took the moral and legally responsible path and turned back without involving the police.

"This morning's small but important victory marks the beginning of our campaign to defend Karuk sacred sites and protect the health of our forests," says Karuk Ceremonial Leader Leaf Hillman, in a Press Release issued after the protest.

Related: Protect Sacred Sites: STOP AZ Snowbowl! Protests

Imprisoned American citizen and Minnesota resident Ryan Olander to be deported to the US after being arrested in Sheikh Jarrah, Occupied East Jerusalem, whilst visiting Palestinian family whose house has been taken over by Israeli settlers.

Ryan was visiting the al-Kurds in the tent the Palestinian family built in their own backyard, after the recent setter take-over of a section of their house. At 1.15pm, 6 Israeli police walked into the tent, where Ryan was talking to the family members and drinking tea, and took him for questioning at the Russian Compound police station in west Jerusalem. Read More

Related: Gaza Freedom March - Minneapolis Solidarity March December 30, 2009 | Minnesotans to Join Freedom March Through Egypt and Gaza | Israel's Palestinian Prisoners - America's Other Guantanamo | From DC-IMC: Maybe the Apple corporation would want to run an ad about this....

Christmas is bittersweet for Maria Marroquin this year. Only fifteen percent of the workers who show up have been matched with jobs on any given day. Gifts from the community supplement the meager incomes earned by those who come to the Center every morning...and wait. As Executive Director of the Day Worker Center of Mountain View, she looks back at the financially bleak 2009 with high hopes for the promise 2010 holds.

Related: Amarga Navidad: Homenaje a los víctimas de la masacre de Acteal, Chiapas

On Monday, December 21st people across the city remembered the eight-seven souls that died in this last year either living on the streets or in shelters. Eight-seven people! This is a dramatic rise from the previous year and it is shameful.

Dear Diary, Sorry we’ve been too busy to write.  We’ve got three more actions to catch up on…

On the afternoon of October 31st, 2009 — a night that would go down in Bash Back! TC history as “Halloqueen”– a crew of radical queers dressed in our most fabulous costumes and convened at the Lake Street light rail station. Scary costumes abounded,  with folks dressed as clipboard-wielding HRC representatives, Hillary Clinton/Barrack Obama worshipping liberal lesbians, and camo-clad DADT military gays!

Once our posse assembled, we boarded a train bound for the most terrifying place in the Midwest -the Mall of America- the setting for a racistly named event called “Nick or Treat” put on annually by Rosie O’Donnells childrens media conglomerate Nickelodeon. Read More | First Diary Entry

Law enforcement agencies have declared they will hold 300 "DUI" checkpoints during the holiday season statewide. Furthermore, they have declared 2010 "the year of the checkpoint." Checkpoints are a military tactic that violate the Fourth Amendment and condition society to passivity toward police interference in daily activities. They disproportionately impact immigrant communities, who face deportation due to 287(g) agreements, which deputize local law agencies to enforce federal immigration law. For these reasons, resistance to "the checkpoint society" has been fierce, and has included lobbying local officials, holding vigils and marches, creating communication networks, and actually being present at checkpoints to warn passing motorists and document abuses. Follow reports from the struggle:

Op/Ed: Checkpoints Violate the Fourth Amendment and Normalize the Police State by Rockero

From the newswire: Pomona anti-checkpoint action by Direct Action Claremont | | Documentación de un caso de injusticia ejecutada en un retén policial por Rockero | | Protest LAPD Stealing Cars from Raza during Xmas Season!! by Unión del Barrio

This week's checkpoints: Retenes navideños / Christmas checkpoints (25/dec-2/ene) by Checkpoint response

Demonstrators gather in Tucson and Phoenix, demand justice for Marcia Powell

On December 17 and 18, demonstrators gathered in Tucson and Phoenix to demand human rights for prisoners and sex workers in Arizona. Participants held memorials for and focused on the case of Marcia Powell, a prisoner of the state of Arizona who was left in a cage in the desert sun last May and died. She was serving a 27-month prison term for prostitution.

On December 26, Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto, age 32, was assassinated, the second anti-mining activist killed this week in the small community of Nueva Trinidad in the department of Cabañas, El Salvador. Recinos Sorto was eight months pregnant and carrying her two-year old child when she was shot on her way back from doing laundry at a nearby river. She and her husband, José Santos Rodriguez, were outspoken opponents of the non-operational El Dorado mine which Pacific Rim, a Vancouver-based mining company is desperate to reopen despite widespread community opposition.

Additional Information: Rights Action | Mining Watch | Who Killed Marcelo Rivera?

In Oakland, California, in the early hours of January 1st of this year, while Bay Area Rapid Transit passenger Oscar Grant III lay face-down on a BART platform with another officer's knee on his shoulder, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle drew his service weapon and shot Oscar Grant in the back, execution-style. This type of killing of an unarmed, young African American man by police is all too common in America. L.A. police are reported to have killed 310 people in the last ten years. Not surprisingly, the corporate media has done a terrible job reporting on the various hearings, generally parroting defense motions and testimony of BART cops verbatim with little to no critical analysis or reporting on evidence that refutes defense claims. Police accountability and media activists are currently organizing to ensure that the community is informed of the trial's proceedings and that justice is achieved for Oscar Grant.

From the newswire: Southern California: First Cop on Trial for Murder in History of State Is Headed Your Way by dave id

From the calendar: Planning meeting for Justice for Oscar Grant 5:00 Sunday, January 3, 2010 at Chuco's Justice Center | | Johannes Mehserle murder trial begins 8:30 AM Friday, January 8, 2010 at Los Angeles County Superior Court