Open Media Boston - progressive news, views and arts from the "Hub of the Universe"

Raising the Flag at City Hall

suren — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:22:06 -0400

BOSTON/Government Center - The Venezuelan Consulate marked Venezuelan Independence Day at Boston's City Hall by hoisting the flag on July 5th, 2009. Several community groups were in attendance to hear first Omar Sierra, the Consul General, and then Proyecto Hondureño's Tito Meza, celebrate the sovereignty and freedom movements in Latin America. Meza's rousing speech underscored the continental unity in opposition to the recent Honduran coup d'etat. Several well known local figures including former city councilor Felix Arroyo joined the ceremony. Community organizations like Chelsea Uniting Against the War joined the event as did supporters of El Salvador's Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).

Journey of Self Discovery Brings Conscientious Objector to Greater Boston

RadioView — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:44:51 -0400

Cambridge, MA - It was September 2001 and Josh Steiber was in middle school in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The TV footage of airplanes flying into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon made an indelible impression on the young man. Years later, he would carry thoughts of revenge with him as he fought those he was taught to think of as the enemy.

Is Virtual Presence Viable for Collaboration? A Look at IBM's "Virtual Collaboration for Lotus Sametime"

Jesse K-S — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:24:36 -0400

IBM announced last week that it was adding a virtual world collaboration service it's calling Virtual Collaboration to its Lotus Sametime communications and collaboration software, which is aimed primarily at enterprises. Virtual Collaboration allows users to collectively view and create documents in a virtual environment similar to Second Life, in essence creating virtual work and meeting spaces. It's pretty cool, but does this kind of immersive technology actually make collaboration via virtual presence a realistic option?

Local Hondurans and Supporters Demand Return of Democracy in Honduras at City Hall Rally

superuser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:45:50 -0400

BOSTON/Government Center - Over 25 immigrant, labor, and religious advocates - some of them Honduran - held a brief protest between rain storms at City Hall against the military coup in Honduras this week and demanded that deposed President Manuel Zaleya be returned to power immediately.

Zeleya was flown to Costa Rica at gunpoint on Sunday and left there. The military coup was swiftly condemned by the Organization of American States and the United Nations - and by many expatriate Hondurans.

"We condemn what happened in Honduras and we demand the restoration of institutional order in the country," said Angel "Tito" Meza, coordinator of the Honduran Project. "The Honduran people were getting ready to exercise their sacred duty to vote in a referendum that called for an assembly that would reform the constitution."

Steve Early Reads from "Embedded with Organized Labor" at Porter Square Books

superuser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:06:48 -0400

Cambridge, MA - Noted labor organizer and author Steve Early read from his new book "Embedded with Organized Labor, Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home" to a standing room only crowd of over 100 people at Porter Square Books on Monday. A lively discussion followed. The 50 minute audio recording of the event can be played below or downloaded from the open source Internet Archive.

Activist Watches Speakers at State House CORI Rally

superuser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:05:40 -0400

Community Activists Demonstrate Support for the MBTA

RadioView — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:52:20 -0400

BOSTON/Theater District – Calling on the MBTA Board of Directors to reject fare hikes and service cuts, members of the T Riders Union demonstrated in front of the State Transportation Building on Thursday. The Board, which met later that afternoon, is considering how to make up an annual deficit, currently estimated at $160 Million.

Blue Collar Recession, Construction Workers are Hit Hardest

superuser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:01:06 -0400

Job losses related to the current recession continue to increase in Massachusetts. The state unemployment rate in April was 8 percent, up from 4.8 percent just a year ago. Over 12,000 Massachusetts jobs were lost in April alone.

The workers facing the heaviest job losses are in the traditional blue collar industries. Between the beginning of 2008 and March of this year, over 60 percent of job losses across New England have been from these workplaces. Suzanne Bump, the state’s secretary of labor and workforce development, recently told the Boston Herald that “This is definitely a blue collar recession. Only 3.5 percent of folks who are unemployed came from business and finance.” The domination of big business and their banks created this mess, and blue collar workers are forced to pay for it.

Some Thoughts on Patriotism for July 4th

superuser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:32:06 -0400

As I get older, it has become my general custom as each July 4th rolls around to spend some time reflecting on the nature of patriotism in America. Sometimes my reverie on the topic is rather technical and academic, but more typically it is commonsensical. Like most people here, I do consider myself a patriot in a broad sense. I mean I like it here, right? I could have moved elsewhere - with some great difficulty - but chose not to. Regular viewers of this publication are quite well aware that I have a great many criticisms of American public policy at the federal, state and local levels. But, for my part, I am also quite well aware that there is no country on Earth that doesn't have big problems. And since I have long thought it important that at a certain point in one's life one must "fight where one stands," I have decided to do my part to help make my hometown of Boston, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States of America as good as they can be - with the various limitations of human beings and the constraints of this earthy plane taken as given. And since I believe it is patriotic to try to make the place one lives better, then I'd have to say I'm a patriot.

Dorkbot Meeting at Axiom Gallery Welcomes Artists Both Creative and Geeky

lizdewolf — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:01:06 -0400

BOSTON/Jamaica Plain - On Tuesday June 30 from 7-9 pm, the Axiom Gallery in Jamaica Plain was practically overflowing with curious, creative “dorks” of the Boston community. It was the first time the experimental media venue had hosted a meeting for Dorkbot, an organization with the tagline “people doing strange things with electricity.” The evening’s proceedings included presentations by local artists Gideon Weisz, Brian Knep, and Leah Buechley, each willing to display and explain the products of his or her creative and scientific genius. The speakers were followed by an “open dork” session, a period during which anyone was free to exhibit their own technological projects.