BOSTON/Back Bay - Video clips of the #OccupyBoston movement's march to CollegeFest at the Hynes Auditorium on Saturday "to recruit college students" to join their struggle.

BOSTON/Back Bay - Deval Patrick welcomed President Barack Obama at a rally on behalf of the Governor's reelection campaign Saturday. Recent polls suggest that incumbent Governor and Democrat Patrick and Republican challenger Charles Baker are in a tight race to win the November second election.

BOSTON/Back Bay - About 50 housing advocates from City Life Vida Urbana, Mass. Jobs with Justice, Service Employees International Union and various community organizations held a protest across the street from the Hynes Convention Center on Sunday where a meeting of the American Banking Association was taking place. The activists demanded "that banks immediately halt foreclosures in all 50 states and work to keep families in their homes through real mortgage modification, including reduction of principal. " Bank of America announced they were ending their recent moratorium on foreclosures the next day - and plan to move forward with the foreclosure of 102,000 home owners in 23 states.

BOSTON/Back Bay - After announcing his appearance on short notice, Linden Lab founder and CEO Philip Rosedale addressed over 300 attendees - all of whom are active participants in the Second Life virtual world - at the morning plenary session of the Second Life Community Convention at the Park Plaza Hotel on Saturday.

Rosedale's talk touched on a number of issues. Some technical. Most related to calming the rumors that Linden Lab - and Second Life itself - are in trouble in the wake of the layoff of 30 percent of their staff in June. Just before his return to the company's leadership.

When asked if he expected any more layoffs over the next year, Rosedale was succinct, "No. We don't. We're profitable right now and we think we're staffed right for what we're doing. So, no, we don't expect to have additional rounds of layoffs."

BOSTON/Back Bay - This weekend, over 300 people from all over the nation and world will be descending on the Park Plaza Hotel "to network, build friendships and to discuss Second Life in a common forum" according to the leaders of AvaCon, Inc. - the non-profit behind the Second Life Community Convention 2010. This year's SLCC is the sixth since 2005 and like its predecessors is entirely organized by active residents of the Second Life virtual world.

The event is open to the public, and day passes are available for those who'd like to dip their toe in the digital waters of a sometimes exotic online universe.

BOSTON/Back Bay - Hundreds of immigrant advocates and supporters held a rally in Copley Square on Saturday to protest the controversial Arizona anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and a local appearance by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association. Following speeches by several activists, the attendees marched in sometimes driving rain to the Sheraton Boston where they picketed outside the governors' meeting for a short time - surrounded by heavy security.

BOSTON/Back Bay - Five women active in local, state and national election campaigns appeared for a political roundtable on Saturday, where they urged their audience to run for office and take back the “F-word” in 2010. That’s F for Feminist, and there were dozens of them seated in Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel during a conference hosted by the National Organization for Women.

“We’ve heard Palin’s brand of feminism,” said Adrienne Kimmel, the panel’s moderator and political director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, “and felt the anti-incumbent sentiment” that she said should prompt everyone in the room to become politically active this term.

BOSTON/Back Bay - Completing a 5-day, 60-mile march, striking workers from the Shaw's Distribution Center in Methuen, Mass. and their supporters arrived at the Shaw's supermarket at the Prudential Center for a picket and rally on Thursday. Over 100 people gathered in front of 2 entrances to the store for about an hour - demanding that Shaw's management on-site come out and talk to them, and telling passers-by to boycott the chain.

According to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 791, the labor union representing workers at the Methuen distribution center, Shaw's cut off health coverage for over 300 of their members on April 1st - 3 weeks into a strike over Shaw's insistence that the workers "bear all the burden of increasing health care costs." The union states that "many of the workers have spouses or young children with serious medical conditions."

BOSTON/Back Bay - Twilight was bittersweet on Friday in front of Boston's Arlington Street Church as Renewal House, a Roxbury based shelter for victims of domestic abuse, held their Valentine's Day Vigil to raise awareness about domestic violence.

BOSTON/Back Bay – Following on the heels of the “First Night Against the Wars – Let Gaza Live!” New Year’s Eve Copley Square rally in support of the Gaza Freedom March, local members of CODEPINK: Women For Peace – one of the official March sponsors – were joined by the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights and other groups in a lunchtime demonstration on Wednesday outside the Israeli Consulate at 20 Park Plaza.