On Tuesday, January 13, around 300 members of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities gathered in the Boston Commons for a silent vigil calling for an end to the violence in Gaza. Boston-area religious leaders from all Abrahamic religions have jointly written a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement is posted in full below.

On Jan 9th Supporters of the besieged and embattled people of Gaza held Friday prayers in Lafayette Park, followed by a march to Upper Senate Pk. This was while Congress considered AIPAC's anti-Palestinian resolution (House Res 34) -- and drew harassment from the US Park Police at the beginning. Audio:Police harassment | Audio:Interview with a Palestinian Refugee | Audio:sample of chants | Khutba(sermon)given at Friday prayers(about 15 min) |

The first night of Kwanzaa was organized by the Sankofa Pan-Afrikan Student organization and took place in the Ensemble Theater in Midtown. Around 200 people came together to celebrate the first night of Kwanzaa, check out the stalls and wach the musical and cultural presentations. I arrived an hour an a half late, but got to catch almost all of M1 from Dead Prez's Presentation, and some of the music and spoken word afterwards. A really amazing event, check out this link for information on the events being put together this week all over town as part of the Kwanzaa program.

CODE PINK swarmed Ashland's KSKQ studio on Christmas Eve and sang Christmas carols "live" on the Brain Labor Report... Seven Code Pinksters shared their tunes which have a special political twist and were a hit for early morning listeners this December 24, 2008...

The show is archived and can be listened to online here: http://www.kskq.org/brainlabor/?p=434

The Gathering Days are taking place Saturday, December 20th - Thursday, December 25th at Bellview Grange in Ashland (1050 Tolman Creek Rd). The Bellview Grange - in cooperation with other local organizations* – presents 6 days of potlucks and activities from Winter Solstice to Christmas. It is a place and time for the Community to come together over the holidays to celebrate.

All parts of the Gathering Days are free of charge and open to the whole community.

Between the middle 1800s and the early 1900s, the desire to sell magazines merged with two historical tales, one from the pagan Germanic past and the other from Christan lore, to form the Santa Claus memeplex. The memeplex quickly morphed into a capitalist dream that, once saddled upon the working class, turned a nation into insatiable consumers and gave reason to the production of frivolous goods. A new religion was born and children everywhere began to pray to Santa - a super-hero-like being, an über-elf, the Führer of naughty and nice.

Thirty human rights carolers braved the cold and ice today to serenade Manhattan’s holiday shoppers with a call, for the second year, to boycott the jewelry store and companies of Israeli settlement-builder and diamond mogul Lev Leviev. Leviev’s Madison Avenue store has been the site of 12 protests since it opened in mid-November, 2007, and protests against his businesses have spread to London, Dubai and the West Bank villages where he is building settlements. Additionally, during the past year UNICEF and Oxfam have renounced Leviev, major Hollywood stars have distanced themselves from him, and the governments of United Kingdom and Dubai are under pressure to boycott Leviev’s businesses.

From 7-10 PM on Friday, December 19, roughly ten people gathered at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue NW to protest consumerism in a season of rampant consumerism.

Barack Obama has chosen Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Presidential inauguration. Warren and his Saddleback church are well known for their strong anti-gay and anti-abortion views. LGBT activists demonstrated at Saddleback following the passage of Prop 8.

First let me say that the Salvation Army has done some good work in the past in providing assistance to the poor, the addicted, and the marginalized. But their methods are not ones that I approve of. The Salvation Army has a long and disturbing history of religious coercion, abuse, and intolerance.

...The Salvation Army is also homophobic -- so much so that they would stop helping the poor if it meant they had to respect equal rights for gays and lesbians. In 2004, they threatened to close their soup kitchens in New York City rather than comply with the city's legislation requiring firms to offer domestic partnership benefits to gay employees.

Councilman Eric Gioia and other religious and community leaders gathered outside a Rent-A-Center on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens to denounce the destabilizing influence of rent-to-own businesses in low-income communities. Activist Taharka Robinson urged the passage of Assembly Bill 66, which would provide more consumer protection in the rent-to-own industry. Robinson and activist Kirsten Foy were arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

Community leaders in Bed-Stuy protested in front of two different Rent-a-Centers on Friday. Rent-a-Center's rent-to-own business model results in customers paying two or three times the retail price for an item.

Last weekend, at least 12,000 people gathered at Ft. Benning, GA for the 19th annual protest to demand the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas. Since 1946, the taxpayer-funded US Army school has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers in combat techniques and psychological warfare, leading directly to murders, rapes, disappearances, and massacres that have affected hundreds of thousands of people throughout Latin America.

On Sunday, a massive funeral procession made its way to the gates of the army stronghold, carrying crosses to commemorate the countless lives lost. Police estimated attendance at 8,700, but organizers put the number at close to 20,000. Six individuals attempted to enter the base, and were stopped by military personnel and arrested. They will face federal trial on January 26, 2009.

The annual November vigil, coordinated by the School of the Americas Watch, draws participation from social movements for justice across the Americas. In 2007, following years of grassroots organizing, Congress came within 6 votes of cutting funding to the institution. SOA Watch was founded by Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois, who is currently being threatened with excommunication due to his support of the ordination of women.

More Coverage: Rochesterians were Among Thousands Demanding an End to the School of the Americas | Journey for Justice drops knowledge about the School of the Americas at Houston’s Sedition Books | Annual Ft. Benning SOA Watch Protest Brings Out Scattered, Ineffective Pro-State Opposition | Why Barack Obama should close the School of the Americas by Mary Shaw | Subjectively Speaking: Crossing Police Barricades on Stilts from thepeopleunited.org | | | More Info: VIDEO: War on democracy - School of Americas | Textbook Repression: US Training Manuals Declassified | An Evaluation (ZNet)

Silverton, OR elected the first ever openly transgender Mayor, Stu Rasmussen! Well, Westboro Baptist Church (started by Fred Phelps, extreme homophobic preacher, www. godhatesfags. com) is coming to Oregon to protest this.

Queers and allies of Oregon, let's rally together to support Stu, the city of Silverton and our queer community. For those of you who don't know, Portland is observing Transgender Remembrance Day this week. What better time to rally around support of our first openly elected transgendered official. Westboro Baptist Church, is going to be protesting through Portland and then Silverton on Monday, Nov. 24th. We are calling a meeting to pull together to find a way to show our support of the queer community and raise funds for a queer organization (to be determined at the planning meeting, hopefully with input from Stu) in Oregon.

also... The Rev. Fred Phelps' people from the Westboro Bapstist Church (the "God Hate's Fags" people) are planning a protest on Monday morning (7:30am), November 24, at the corner of 13th and SW Market. They will be protesting PSU's Queer Resource Center and, specifically, the concept of gender neutral bathrooms. They refer to PSU on their web site: www.godhatesfags.com. If you scroll down to 11/24, you'll see it on there.

The Queer Resource Center is mobilizing folks to get together for a counter-protest.

Join us for the Indigenous Corn Festival and Welcome Back Pow-Wow November 22, 2008

Runners from the Northern and Southern routes of the Peace and Dignity Journey, a sacred journey starting in Tierra del Fuego and Alaska and traveling on foot thousands of kilometers through hundreds of indigenous communities, met Friday on a bridge crossing the Panama Canal in the Kuna Nation.

The goals of the journey, which has taken place every four years (starting in 1992), include strengthening and sharing indigenous culture, bringing peace to all Nations, and uniting indigenous peoples -- thereby fulfilling the Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. This year's run honored indigenous Sacred Sites, many of which are threatened by resource extraction or development.

San Diego contributed five runners, Gaby and Oscar (Southern route) and Ymoat, Arturo and Abel (Northern route), who used blog posts, video, audio and photos to document the traditions and struggles of the communities through which they passed, as well as their own experiences on the journey, from an indigenous perspective. Peace and Dignity Journeys Links: Media and Runners' Blog || Abel's Blog || Main Website || Myspace | | read more | en español

Malik Rahim, the Green Party candidate challenging Rep. Bill Jefferson for the 2nd district's seat in the U.S. Congress on December 6th, has been named the 2008 Thomas Merton Award recipient. He received the award last week in Pittsburgh, PA. You can hear his speech at the award dinner on this week's Rustbelt Radio and get more on his campaign at votemalik.com.

Roughly 10,000 people marched from the Mormon Temple at 125 Columbus Ave. to Columbus Circle on Wednesday to protest the passing of Prop 8. This protest followed other major protests in California and Utah. There will be a national day of action this Saturday, November 15 at City Hall at 1:30 pm. www.jointheimpact.com

On Tuesday, Californians approved a proposition to amend the state constitution to ban same sex marriage. by 52.5 per cent. Similar bills also passed in Arizona and Florida. Since then, protests against the measure have surged.
» In Los Angeles, outrage over Prop 8 spilled into the streets on Wednesday night and continued all day Thursday and well into the night. The main focus of Thursday’s protests was the Mormon Church in Westwood, which is believed to have funded up 40% of the Yes on 8 campaign. Several women were reportedly assaulted by counter-protesters yelling anti-gay slurs. Photos, Audio & Video
» In San Francisco, thousands gathered on Friday at the UN Plaza for a No On 8 rally. Crowds filled Market St. for blocks as the march moved up into the Castro and then down 18th to end in Dolores Park. Photos: 1, 2, 3 | Video

Lambda Legal Defense, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) have filed the writ petition on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples to block the implementation of the measure. Read More

Pre-Election Protests: Los Angeles Area | Fresno | | | Protest 8

11/9 UPDATE: Gay-rights protests continue all over California

November 6, 2008 – The Outrage over the Prop 8 election results that spilled into the streets of Los Angeles on Wednesday night continued all day Thursday and well into the night. The main focus of Thursday’s protests was the Mormon Church in Westwood. The church is believed to have funded up 40% of the Yes on 8 campaign.

Protesters had the numbers to take the street and spontaneous marches snaked their way through the Westside all day. Police were uncharacteristically restrained and even facilitated the marches by rerouting motor traffic. From the Newswire: Right to Marry Protests Rock West LA by A | | Photos: Prop 8 Demo in Westwood & part 2 by SCHA-LA | | Video: No on 8 demo by SCH-LA | | No 8 protest going on Now at Mormon temple West LA by FYI