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GUESTS: Mitchell Netburn, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Becky Dennison, Director of the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition

A recent Los Angeles ordinance targeting the homeless has been under fire. The ordinance subjects homeless people to arrest if they are caught “sitting, lying or sleeping on public sidewalks.” But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision last Friday ruled that it violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Noting that there was “substantial and undisputed evidence” that the homeless population in the city far outnumbers the number of beds available in homeless shelters in the city, the court said the disputed ordinance violated homeless people’s Eighth Amendment rights “by criminalizing the unavoidable act of sitting, lying or sleeping at night while being …

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GUEST: Jill Freidberg, award winning film maker

“Granito de Arena,” or Grain of Sand is the title of award-winning filmmaker Jill Freidberg’s new documentary. Freidberg is best known for her 2000 documentary, “This is What Democracy Looks Like,” about the anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle in 1999. “Grain of Sand,” portrays the struggle for public education in Mexico against the forces of privatization and globalization. Freidberg spent two years in southern Mexico documenting the grassroots, non-violent, mobilization of hundreds of thousands of teachers. Featuring notable interviews with Eduardo Galeano and Maude Barlow, “Grain of Sand” won the award for “Best Documentary” at the 2005 International Documentary Festival in Caracas, Venezuela. People’s historian, Howard Zinn called the film “Exciting, inspiring. An extraordinary account of ordinary people organizing, protesting, …

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GUEST: Daniela Ponce, co-founder of www.FreeNepal.org. She had volunteered at the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies in Nepal

Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, this morning after King Gyanendra announced a deal to end weeks of unrest. The rally was part victory celebration and part continued protest. The king announced last night that he had reinstated the parliament he dissolved 4 years ago. This was a key demand of the opposition parties that have joined in a seven-party alliance. The parties named former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, as the new head of government and said the first job would be to ensure that the Maoists, fighting a decade-long rebellion, joined the political mainstream. However, in a strong statement, the …

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GUESTS: Dadid Lloyd, Professor in Dept. of English at USC, Jaymes Sanford, a student organizer with Blacks in Action at USC

Last Sunday, black republican Ted Hayes and members of the Minuteman Project gathered at Leimert Park in South Los Angeles for an anti-immigrant rally. Those at the rally were outnumbered by a spontaneous counter-demonstration of African Americans and Latinos calling for black and brown unity. A brief scuffle ensued between Hayes and another man. Hayes later apologized saying, “I behaved out of policy.” Sunday’s rally underscored the increasing tensions, real and imagined between different racial communities. Meanwhile, this week an Immigration forum taking place at USC will address issues such as immigration and the politics of race. Panelists at the forum will discuss …

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GUEST: Adam Shapiro, activist and film maker

In October 2004, a team of three independent filmmakers – Aisha Bain, Jen Marlowe and Adam Shapiro – went to Darfur, Sudan and eastern Chad. Darfur is the focus of an on-going genocide that the world has recognised but failed to do anything about. The film makers monitored the worsening political and humanitarian crisis for months and recognized that the mainstream media was not doing a very good job of covering the crisis. So they made a film to provide a platform for the people of Darfur to express themselves – it’s called Darfur Diaries.

For more information, visit www.darfurdiaries.org.

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GUEST: Serj Tankian, System of a Down, co-host of Axis of Justice Radio Network

On April 24th, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began a planned and systematic campaign of arrest, deportation, and annihilation against the Armenian people. By 1923, the mass killings had claimed the lives of over 1.5 million Armenians in what became the first genocide of the twentieth century. To this day, the modern Turkish government continues to deny that a genocide took place. Furthermore, after ninety-one years, the United States government has yet to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. In response, the multi-platinum, Grammy award winning rock group, System of a Down, will be launching a campaign in Washington D.C. to urge Congress to pass legislation officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Uprising co-producer Gabriel San Roman recently spoke with the lead singer of …

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GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about Iraq polls.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

There was a power outage at Mount Wilson where KPFK’s transmitter sits. We apologize for the inconvenience. Uprising resumed regular programming at 8:35 am. We’ll be back on the air at 8 am PST tomorrow!

Our weekly edition is a nationally syndicated one-hour digest of the best of our daily coverage.

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This week on Uprising —

* The 20th anniversary of Chernobyl and the state of public health
* The World Bank and IMF’s annual meeting in DC draws protest
* Georgia’s Governor signs an anti-immigrant law
* America’s most endangered rivers
* Plus the Black Commentator and Empire Notes

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Chernobyl: 20 years later

GUEST: Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility

Nearly 20 years ago, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded on April 26, 1986. It has become …

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GUEST: Ann Louise Colgan, Director of Policy and Communications at Africa Action

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund will have their annual meetings in Washington DC this weekend. The meetings have traditionally drawn large crowds of critics protesting against global neo-liberal policies. This year, police and federal officials say no permits have been issued for marches or large demonstrations. But smaller events are expected today, tomorrow, and Sunday. The first protest is planned for noon today outside the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Meanwhile World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, will be disclosing his appointments to various key vacancies in the bank administration. He has come under fire for handing out key jobs to US Americans close to the Bush administration. Wolfowitz …