NOlympics LA

Folks in LA and beyond should be checking in on their neighbors with ties to Iran & other countries impacted by American war crimes.

This is when community matters.

The Athleticide continues

The question is why the corrupt FIFA leadership decided to kowtow to Trump by giving him a made-up prize to begin with

We were founded as Iraq Veterans Against the War over the devastation we saw with our own eyes when Bush claimed we were going to liberate the people of Iraq and protect Americans. That war is now referred to as a blunder but it was a crime just like this War on Iran is now. /1

If you are in the military and are being asked to violate the law, @vetsaboutface.bsky.social is here for you.

Iran selects Tucson for 2026 World Cup training Iran’s men’s national soccer team will train at Tucson’s Kino Sports Complex ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beginning preparations in early June.

Iran has two FIFA World Cup matches in LA and one in Seattle. The first is 107 days from now.

Here is a drawing I did some years ago, it is a drawing of a raccoon holding a wrench and saying “Anything you can do to undermine the US war machine is justified and morally right”. Pen and ink on paper.

Here is a drawing I did some years ago. I might as well share it here now. Anything you can do to undermine the US war machine is justified and morally right. pen and ink on paper.

Flavor Flav is unique in the Olympics space because he actually cares about the athletes beyond the money they bring in

to save LA from a typographical nightmare, we must cancel the Olympics

I am once again honored to be even loosely associated with this brilliant conversation. This is so thorough and smart and you will absolutely learn something (that will probably make you want to punch a pillow).

YouTube video by Burn It All Down Interview: Dr. Jules Boykoff on the ’26 #WinterOlympics

What a treat it was to break down the politics of the 2026 Winter Olympics with Dr. @amirarose.bsky.social on @burnitalldownpod.com! We also talked about anti-Olympics activism as we pivot toward the LA28 Games & the work of @nolympicsla.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di9D...

We need to take a stand against increasing surveillance of our communities. Mega-events like the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Olympics are used as vehicles to usher in greater policing and surveillance. Check out @stoplapdspying.org.web.brid.gy now

Yeah so Trump getting to be king of the 2028 Olympics while also wanting to purge Los Angeles of anyone he doesn’t like is gonna go grreeaatt

Broken the Olympic records in lack of transparency, maybe?

Why, indeed…

LA Podcast LA Podcast is a news podcast for people who live in Los Angeles. We’re excited to announce that LA Podcast is now part of the LA Forward family of organizations! Expect to hear new episodes more frequ...

Listen here for the excellent conversation in the latest episode of LA Podcast on #LA28, covering Casey Wasserman, Mayor Bass, and the Accountability Black Hole of the Olympics. (starts @ 17:30)

With all eyes on Los Angeles — although the games aren't over yet; the Paralympics begin March 6 — I'm compiling the ultimate guide to what's about to happen to the city over the next two years (and beyond).

What are your questions about LA's megaevent era? Torched is at your service 🫡

It's me in a hot pink vest, green and pink polka dotted shirt, and green sunglasses sitting in a leafy and green Grand Park downtown between LA City Hall and the LA County Hall of Administration where the Board of Supervisors meet

A sticker for Torched that reads So LA doesn't get burned and the URL torched.la plastered on a pillar with other stickers

Hello there Olympics watchers and watchdogs 👋🏼 LA's up next and I write Torched, *the* essential newsletter about LA's megaevent era. Sign up here: torched.la

Become a paid subscriber to support my work and you'll get invites to events and early access to my weekly news roundup. Plus stickers! 🔥

Logos of these organizations: 7th Street Collective ACAB Library Aetna Street Solidarity All People's Health Collective All Power Free Clinic Casa de Las Mariposas Chinatown Community for Equitable Development Color The Water Community Loving Community Solidarity Project Food For Comrades Free Medical Cannabis Collective Health Care For US - HC4US.org Hope Street Distro J-Town Action & Solidarity LA Food Not Bombs LA Street Care & Mutual Aid RVTV The Rent Brigade Save Our Seniors Network SFV Homeless Union SFV Mutual Aid South Bay Mutual Aid & Care Club Students For Justice In Palestine USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation LA Tenants Union Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Outreach Little Tokyo Against Gentrification Long Beach Assembly Mar Vista Voice Midnight Books Mutual Aid LA Network NOlympics Oat Boat Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid Pasadena For All People's Care Collective People's City Council People's Struggle San Fernando Valley Polo's Pantry POOR Magazine Reform LA Health System Tempest Trans Defense Fund Venice Justice Committee Water Drop LA We The Unhoused Westwood Mutual Aid White People 4 Black Lives Wolfpack Mutual

People who have been directly criminalized because of 41.18 in @cd13.lacity.gov and other parts of the city are members of our organizations and joined in delivering the letter to Hugo.

To Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez: You have been outspoken about federal agents invading our city and kidnapping our neighbors. Forced to choose between going to work to afford rent or staying safe at home, a growing portion of LA's undocumented population has become housing insecure and unhoused. We are urgently calling on you to protect your most vulnerable constituents: repeal the 41.18 criminalization zones that were put in place by your disgraced predecessor, Mitch O'Farrell. Every day that you refuse to take this action, you are aiding ICE. During your inaugural campaign, you vocally criticized Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, a city ordinance that criminalizes people for sitting, lying, or possessing personal belongings in public. Enforcement of LAMC 41.18 exposes vulnerable immigrant populations to targeted policing and displacement, forcing them to live in increasingly precarious situations that put them at greater risk of deportation. LAPD regularly uses 41.18 to destroy people's shelter, phones, and paperwork, turning documented people into undocumented people. You have spoken out about ICE targeting people solely based on the color of their skin, and you know that ICE has kidnapped people from encampments in your district. You must take immediate action to protect them. At a recent sweep in your district, your Homelessness Deputy, Carlos Castro, defended 41.18 enforcement, arguing that children shouldn't be exposed to visible poverty—a sentiment routinely espoused by Mitch O'Farrell. It's also what disgraced former LA City Council President Nury Martinez was caught saying on the tape that publicly outed her as a racist. When we understand white supremacy as a system that can also benefit brown people who use it to exclude others, we can understand 41.18 as a tool that can be used to erase immigrant and houseless populations-including their children—from Los Angeles.

We envision a Los Angeles where no person is criminalized based on their immigration or housing status. A Los Angeles where the city doesn't destroy vulnerable people's documents, life-saving medicines, and survival supplies on a daily basis. A Los Angeles where seven unhoused people don't die every day. A Los Angeles where people can't be violently displaced on a whim. That Los Angeles requires you and the other councilmembers who campaigned against 41.18 to stop cowering and lead by example. You wield immense political power. Use it to protect your most vulnerable constituents against ICE and LAPD. Stand on the right side of history. Stand with the people. We demand your written commitment to repeal all of Mitch O'Farrell's 41.18 special enforcement zones in Council District 13 within three working days. If you do not respond, we will take further action.

LA Municipal Code 41.18 criminalizes poor people for existing in countless public “zones.”

Graphic of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez and an LAMC 41.18 sign with the caption Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez: Repeal Mitch O'Farrell's 41.18 Criminalization Zones!

Yesterday, organizers representing 50 community groups, including several Community Self Defense Coalition member groups, presented an urgent and simple demand to Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez:

Repeal Mitch O’Farrell’s 41.18 criminalization zones.

Now show what the neighborhoods around the venue are gonna look like with TSA-style security

As U.S. Olympians Take on the Trump Administration, Trump Attacks Them While Kash Patel Parties As the winter Olympics come to a close, a number of athletes have drawn controversy for their political statements. U.S. athletes, in particular, have expressed conflicting feelings about representing...

It was a treat to recap the 2026 Winter Olympics with @democracynow.org's Amy Goodman today. We covered a lot of ground! From the Trump admin's politicization of the Games to the extraordinary outburst of athlete-activism to the LA28 Olympics train wreck www.democracynow.org/2026/2/23/ju...

Karen, 65 with a UK passport and a valid tourist visa, was handcuffed, shackled, driven 12 hours to an ICE detention center, then incarcerated for a 6 weeks.

Why? ICE officers are paid a bonus every time they detain someone. And she’s not alone. #DemsAbroad
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

When a brand takes over your park What does our megaevent era mean for public space?

New Balance staged an activation in an LA city park as one of many brand takeovers for the NBA All-Star Game. Is this our new reality?

Plus the latest on LA28 chair Casey Wasserman, who has not stepped down yet, and more megaevent news for you, the people of Los Angeles, in this week's Hot Links 🔥

On the one hand, the double standard of banning Russia while not doing the same to Israel is gone.

On the other, we are letting literal war criminals compete in events meant to promote "peace" while DQing those that do so.

Yeah, I ain't entertaining LA28.

I'm guessing you have a lot more questions about LA28 and its relationship to LA than you did two weeks ago. Today at noon on Zoom I'm talking to @saje-la.bsky.social's Chris Tyler and @neildemause.bsky.social about their well-timed report on the risks the city faces — and what we can do about them

Golly, who could have seen that coming?

Wasserman Retains Investment Bank as Sale Process Kicks Into Gear Moelis & Co. recently advised Excel Sports Management on its sale to Goldman Sachs, valued at $1 billion.

Casey Wasserman has hired the investment bank Moelis & Company to advise on the sale of his company.

Moelis.... Moelis... where have I heard that name before?

Oh... Ken Moelis, founder and executive chairman of Moelis & Company, is on the board of LA28 🙃

Opinion: At the Olympics, politics has always come before sports Vladyslav Heraskevych sacrificed his dream, punctured the myth that the Olympics are not political and exposed the IOC’s selective morality

When tyrants see wishy-washy pusillanimity masquerading as neutrality, they lick their lips. The IOC’s actions at Milano Cortina weaken them for dealing with the overseer of the LA28 Olympics: a fuzzy-brained orange-tinged, norm-shredding megalomaniac. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...