BOSTON - Congressional gridlock and federal budget cuts all too often come across as a maddening string of abstract numbers, amid repeated news of failure to reach an agreement.

But for the people who rely on the affected programs—the disabled, seniors, the unemployed, the working poor—the across-the-board cuts implemented by the so-called sequester has been anything but abstract. It’s lost work, fewer days of childcare, even the threat of homelessness.

On Thursday, organizations and people directly affected by recent federal budget cuts rallied in Boston, both to put a face on the impact of the cutbacks, and to protest the sequester and deeper reductions to social services that loom in current talks in D.C.

BOSTON - Prof. George Katsiaficas of Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston has launched a federal lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency over documents he seeks relating to the assassination of a former Korean premier.

The complaint comes after Katsiaficas made two requests of the agency under the federal Freedom of Information Act in March 2010 for documents surrounding the rise and fall of Park Chung-hee.
The agency has released some documents to Katsiaficas since his requests over three years ago, but he is not satisfied, calling them “paltry,” and alleges that the CIA has more information to which he is legally entitled.

Somerville, Mass. - Somerville officials are considering adopting a new ordinance that would see employers guilty of wage theft lose or fail to gain licenses and permits issued by the city.

The ordinance drafted by the city’s Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone came after Somerville residents and activists signed a petition in April seeking a public hearing by the Board of Aldermen on the issue of wage theft in the city.

The board heard testimony at the hearing at Somerville City Hall Tuesday night from members of a labor rights group Centro Presente, as well as local residents.

Cambridge, Mass. - In the less than two weeks since a devastating collapse at a Bangladeshi garment factory on April 24, over 650 workers have been confirmed dead with many more still missing and the death toll is still expected to rise.

Following the loss of life that allegedly resulted from a management decision to ignore structural faults in the building, picketers targeted the Gap outlet at 15 Brattle St. in Harvard Square on Saturday to call on the company – a major purchaser of garments from Bangladesh – to sign a safety agreement in the country.

BOSTON/East Boston - Deportations, ongoing labor disputes, raising the minimum wage, health care, student loans, workplace safety, social security, housing foreclosures, bank debt, drivers’ licenses, and community investment were just some of the issues raised on May Day in East Boston.

The traditional workers’ holiday was part protest and part community celebration with many families with young children gathered at Liberty Plaza listening to music and watching an acrobatic performance, but also bearing placards saying “Immigration Reform Now” and “Stop the Attacks on Working Families.”

BOSTON/State House – There were 32 fatal on-the-job accidents in Massachusetts last year and an estimated 300 plus deaths due to occupational diseases - over 90 due to asbestos-related illness - according to a report released this week.

Launched on the steps of the State House Thursday, Dying for Work in Massachusetts: Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces is an annual joint effort by Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and Massachusetts AFL-CIO.

BOSTON/Boston Common - Several hundred people gathered on the Boston Common last night to mourn the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings under a banner asking for peace. There was no program for the event. People wrapped their arms around each other, spontaneously breaking into song, singing "Amazing Grace," "Dona Nobis Pacem," and "America the Beautiful." The air was heavy with grief as students, children, and community members knelt to sign a banner inscribed with, "Boston, You're Our Home." A child crawled over the writing, and decided to doodle on the side as he peered up at adults, confused. A little girl grabbed a pink piece of chalk and began drawing a heart along the ring of cement surrounding the Rotunda. Strangers held hands and looked on as another banner was rolled out for signing.

BOSTON/Dewey Square - The Boston rally to honor programmer and activist Aaron Swartz had tearful moments, but it went beyond remembrance. Supporters of Swartz’s work called for a move from sadness and outrage to sustained political action that will reform computer regulations and the criminal justice system.

More than 100 people—academics, parents, children and 20-somethings—gathered at Dewey Square Saturday to mark what would have been the end of Swartz’s trial for downloading millions of academic papers over an MIT network. Swartz never made it to trial; he took his own life in January at age 26.

Cambridge, Mass. - Harvard student activists, frustrated by recent talks with university trustees, are escalating their campaign to get the school to ditch its fossil fuel company investments.

About 100 students, alums and faculty held a rally outside the Harvard president’s office Thursday, delivering 1,300 petition signatures and pouncing on a comment one trustee made that activists found particularly distressing.

Divest Harvard is part of a national movement that seeks to attack fossil fuel companies by stigmatizing their stock, similar to previous campaigns against apartheid and the tobacco industry.

BOSTON/State House - Demanding a more equitable transit system Wednesday, demonstrators targeted the State House where the Senate is expected to vote on a transportation bill next week. The bill proposed by the Senate gives more funding to infrastructure than the $500m called for by the House bill, but still falls short of Governor Deval Patrick’s requested $1.9 billion for transportation and education.