Neighborhood activists all over Southern California hold regular peace vigils to end the war in Iraq. Each week we announce just some of the 50 plus vigils that are taking place. Complete listings of all the vigils are available at www.neighborsforpeaceandjustice.org or www.peacevigils.com.

On Fridays in Alhambra
6:30 to 8:30pm
Main Street and Garfield Avenue
in front of Edwards Stadium 14 Theater

On Fridays in Belmont Shore
7 to 9 PM
On the corner of 2nd & Nieto
the information line is 562 866-7743

On Fridays in Granada Hills
5pm-6:30pm
On the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Devonshire Boulevard
the email contact is ceiloz@socal.rr.com
The information line is (818) 360-5206

On Fridays in Van Nuys
8:30–9:30 a.m.
On the corner of Erwin Street & Van Nuys Boulevard, at theVan Nuys Civic Center
the information line is: (818) 347-5230

On Saturdays in Anaheim
Food Not Bombs/peace vigil
Saturday afternoons, 1pm
La Palma Park
the email contact is …

“The voices of transracial adoptees have been silenced, our experiences have been overshadowed and overruled by the glossy public image created by adoption agencies and sometimes even our own families. Our overall goal has been to provide a counter-narrative to the dominant story, which has been about us but not authored by us. We are not objects but rather subjects in our own histories. Our lives are impacted by the larger forces of colonization, racism, sexism, and globalized capitalism, as well as the intimate conditions of grief, rage, lonliness, and longing. But we are survivors – not victims.” — from the Introduction to “Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial adoption”

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GUEST: Stephen Duncombe teaches history and politics of media and culture at the Gallatin School of New York University and author of “Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy”

A new book by Stephen Duncombe claims to be a 21st Century Manifesto for the left. “Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy” makes the case for a progressive political strategy that embraces a new set of tools. What practical political lessons can we learn from corporate theme parks, ad campaigns, video games like Grand Theft Auto, celebrity culture, and Las Vegas? According to my guest, Stephen Duncombe, liberals continue to depend upon sober reason to guide them and he proposes that the afore-mentioned examples of popular fantasy can help us define and …

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GUEST: Aiad Barakat, one of the “L.A. Eight”

In 1987, seven Palestinians and a Kenyan were detained by the government in Los Angeles, in a case that became known as the “L.A. Eight.” The government claimed that the LA Eight raised funds for the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” a radical offshoot of the “Palestine Liberation Organization.” All eight denied having been members and immigrant rights groups said the case was politically motivated. The government never actually filed formal charges. In 1997, two Palestinians in the group were granted legal residency after the government tried to deport all eight. Today, we speak with one of those two, a member of the LA Eight, Aiad Barakat, who finally became a US citizen earlier this month. …

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GUEST: Nikolai Lanine, former Soviet soldier who served in Afghanistan

2006 has been the worst year of violence in Afghanistan with more than 3900 people killed. This represents a four-fold increase over the 1000 deaths last year. the 2006 fatalities include about 1000 civilians and 180 NATO soldiers. There were more than 115 suicide attacks which killed 270 civilians and 17 foreign occupation troops. Before 2006, suicide attacks were a rare phenomenon in Afghanistan. Scores of school teachers were killed and 110 schools burned down by so-called insurgents, identified as Taliban. What once was a “success story” for the Bush administration’s “war on terror” is now deteriorating by the day. Meanwhile, an ex-Soviet soldier, now living in Canada, warns that the US-NATO mission in Afghanistan is …

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… on the Christmas Rebellion in Jamaica

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“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” — Albert Einstein

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 –

* Death of Another Dictator – Ahmed Rashid and Boris Kagarlitsky on Turkmenistan’s Niyazov
* Civil War in Palestine?
* New Report Urges Action on Darfur
* The USDA Stacks the Organics Board with Business Reps
* This week’s commentaries, Empire Notes and Black Agenda Report

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Death of Another Dictator

GUEST: Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani journalist and best-selling author; his books include Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia; Boris Kagarlitsky, writer and political commentator, and senior …

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GUEST: Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani journalist and best-selling author; his books include Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia; Boris Kagarlitsky, writer and political commentator, and senior research fellow at the Institute for Comparative Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Saparmurat Niyazov, the self-proclaimed lifetime president of Turkmenistan, died yesterday. Niyazov, who named himself Turkmenbashi – meaning Father of the Turkmen – died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 66. The former Soviet state had been ruled by the authoritarian leader for more than 20 years. Niyazov had developed a cult of personality, renaming the month of January to Turkmenbashi in his honor and erecting a gold statue of himself in the capital. During his dictatorial reign Niyazov replaced the educational …

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GUESTS: Laura Cambron, Olin Juarez, Pedro Lopez, Carolina Martinez, and Luis Sarmiento, members of Son del Centro

Four years ago, youth in the Orange County city of Santa Ana began to explore the Veracruz based traditional music of Son Jarocho at El Centro Cultural de Mexico. They began taking music classes at the cultural center on everything from jarana lessons to the history of Son Jarocho. This led to the formation of the music group Son Del Centro. Comprised of young community activists from the Santa Ana area, the group began performing locally and internationally at fundraisers and community events. Now the accomplished musicians of Son Del Centro teach free Saturday classes to youth and adults alike interested in Son Jarocho. Recently, Son Del …