A review and commentary on "The Take," a documentary story of worker and community expropriation of factories and service industries after the 2001 economic collapse of Argentina. Shown Saturday, March 5, at Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffee House.

Indymedia doesn't meet often. Getting everyone scattered throughout the world, or even throughout a single continent, in the same place, at the same time, when you are trying to gather together a dispersed network of individuals and autonomous collectives, and with little to none in the way of money to make this happen, has proved difficult.

The usual lure is a major counter-summit or protest, when the movement converges, so does Indymedia, but amid the tear gas and the frantic recabling of the temporary radio studio, relaxed long-term discussions of vision and structure usually fail to manifest themselves.

This weekend in Austin there's a space and a time to have some of these discussions: about a 125 people have made it to Texas as part of the Indyconference, which is proving to be a mixture of a somewhat straightforward conference on alternative media with a more freewheeling parallel track of unofficial IMC network meetings and workshops. Sadly, whether due to lack of funding or communication, most of the imc's and imcsista's here are from the U.S. But while not ideal, that's ok, there's a lot to be talked about and a lot of information to share just among the dozens of imc's in this country. Even finally be able to connect a real face to an irc nick or an email address you've been working alongside for years is satisfying and strangely vertiginous.

A regular commentary on public affairs. This month--an alternative to the president's state of the union address.

The Baltimore Algebra Project held a rally on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 demanding more funding for the Baltimore City Public schools.

When new homes were torched in MD, the local TV talking heads wrongly blamed “Eco-terrorists!” The influence of the Right Wing-dominated media and draconian new laws on our culture can’t be underestimated. Just look at the unfair conviction on conspiracy charges of Lynne Stewart. British PM Tony Blair has apologized for the unjust jailing of Irish defendants back in the 70s. Years from now will an American president being doing the same thing?

For two years, the Baltimore Algebra Project (BAP), a tutoring and advocacy program, has protested the State Board of Education's refusal to make deficit appropriations to the Baltimore City Public School System. The group's latest effort was a rally at City Hall followed by a march to the State Board.

A monthly commentary on politics and more