Leaders of the R2D2K coalition -- activist groups representing the homeless, unions and other social causes, and veterans of the recent World Bank/World Trade Organization protests -- promise to swarm Los Angeles and Philadelphia with thousands of nonviolent demonstrators during the Democratic and Republican national conventions in an effort to launch "radical participatory democracy," the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reports.

"They're our street, our cities, our country," John Hogan -- an organizer of the R2K Network coordinating the Philadelphia protests -- said during a Thursday news conference. One organization, the Philadelphia Direct Action Group (P-DAG) has set up a Web site to provide information and allow like-minded groups and individuals to participate.

The Republican national convention takes place July 31 through Aug. 4. Local groups plan at least two events, one centering on health-care issues, the other on "economic human rights," the newspaper reports. Philadelphia city officials have said demonstrators will be restricted to designated areas away from the convention site.

The D2K Network in Los Angeles is facing similar restrictions during the Aug. 14-17 Democratic national convention.

On the advice of their fire and police departments, the Los Angeles City Council withdrew an order that would have allowed protesters to demonstrate in a downtown square during the Democratic convention, the newspaper reports.

The Los Angeles coalition is planning protests that focus on a specific theme each day. The first day will feature a "Human Need Not Corporate Greed" theme and organizers hope to lead a march to the convention site, the newspaper reports.

The two groups are part of the Direct Action Network, which helped organize the Seattle WTO protests.

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