Calendar
The preliminary injunction request in PDGG vs. Pacifica will be heard in Alameda Superior Court in Department 15 with Judge Ioana Petrou. It will be followed at 10:00am by a hearing on the Siegel and Yee request to evict the national office.
The opposition filing on the Siegel and Yee eviction request was filed on May 5th and can be found here. The PDGG vs. Pacifica complaint can be found here in a 137-page full complaint and a 24-page Memorandum of Points and Authorities
Speak out against the madness! Come to the City Council meeting.
Berkeley Copwatch invites you to speak out against the Berkeley Police acquiring tasers.
RECOMMENDATION
Request that the City Manager research and report back to the City Council regarding
the history, potential benefits, impacts and possible unintended consequences of
allowing Berkeley police to carry and use tasers. Include in the report information
regarding other jurisdictions’ “best practices” and protocols, an analysis of changes in
technologies, and the feasibility of doing a pilot program. The City Manager should also
consult with the Police Review Commission.
Here is the PDF for the final class meeting on Michael Hudson’s The Bubble and Beyond. We will like meet upstairs.
The second meeting of the DAC Ad Hoc Privacy and Data Retention Policy Comm is
this Thur. Below are the current members and agenda. CM Schaaf and Kalb have
still not appointed anyone.
Lynda Lye (Matt Cagle alt.)
Eduardo De Loa (attended 1st meeting)
Carl Chan (no show)
Jesper Jurcenoks (attended 1st meeting)
Brian Hofer (attended 1st meeting)
Robert Gray (no show)
Robert L. Harris (no show)
Jon Wactor (attended 1st meeting)
Allan Brill (attended 1st meeting, left for Africa next day. Allan is gone about 2 months)
Aestetix (just appointed, will attend 2nd meeting)
Meeting Agenda
1) Election of Chair and Vice Chair
2) Discuss and select a date for delivery of a completed policy to the
city. (Sept/Oct 2014)
3) Discussion of intended outcomes
a) Privacy policy for DAC addressing at least (but not limited to):
i) Information Sharing Agreements
ii) Penalties for Abuse
iii) Auditing
iv) Data Retention
v) Analytics (Currently not part of the DAC – we could preempt future
policy work on this by having an opinion.)
vi) Protection of Whistleblowers
b) Recommendation on the scope of a Privacy Policy: Should the City have
a privacy policy for other city functions outside of the DAC and if so, what
guidelines should be established for drafting such a policy
c) Recommendation for a City Privacy Officer (selection, responsibilities
etc.)
4) Agree on structure for writing the DAC Privacy and Data retention
policy.
We present two films in an evening of remembering John Judge. Bonnie Faulkner recently devoted her April 21 ‘Guns & Butter’ Radio Show to John Judge and Michael Ruppert, who both recently passed. The show is now archived on KPFA.
Films: John Judge in 1994: “The Hidden History of the United States: Who Really Runs America? – Part One” (1:59:39) After a brief intermission, we will show the short (38:23) “Closing Remarks” by John Judge to the 50th Anniversary Conference on President Kennedy’s Murder , which was presented on November 24, 2013 in Dallas, Texas. The theme was “Fifty Years in Denial is Enough: Free the Files! Find the Truth!” John Judge was the Director of the Coalition on Political Assassinations.
Sponsored by the BFUU Social Justice Ctee as part of our Conscientious Projector Series for the 99%
Wheelchair accessible.
Action Alert
We have teamed up with Food Democracy Now! And others to tell Wall Street to Dump Monsanto this Friday. Read more for how you can take action too!
Did you know?
Millions of hardworking Americans, maybe even yourself, are investing their hard earned income in the stock market in an effort to save for their children’s college fund or their retirement nest egg to provide financial stability for the future. Unfortunately, unless you’re paying close attention, you might be investing in a mutual or retirement fund that profits from Monsanto’s toxic chemicals and flawed GMO seed technologies.
After a 6-month investigation into the top shareholders of Monsanto, Food Democracy Now! (FDN) learned that the largest shareholders of Monsanto stock are massive institutional investors. They are some of the world’s largest and most popular mutual funds – names like Vaanguard, Fidelity and State Street. This is where millions of Americans invest their hard earned money, and they are the top shareholders for Monsanto. Even worse, if you haven’t checked, Monsanto could be hiding in your 401K or pension fund as well.
This coming Friday, May 9th, there are flash mob protests in select cities across the U.S. at Fidelity Investment offices to let them know that we’re serious about dumping Monsanto’s toxic assets.
Fidelity alone owns more than $3.2 billion in Monsanto stock. In total, Fidelity manages more than $4.6 trillion in assets and more than 20 million customers in the U.S. – Are you one of them?
This Friday, join all of us at The Institute for Responsible Technology, Food Democracy Now!, Natural News, Organic Consumers Association, Cornucopia, Green America, GMO Inside, Millions Against Monsanto, Babes Against Biotech, Food Babe, Hawaii GMO Justice Coalition, GMO Free USA, and March Against Monsanto.
Also, consider moving your investments into stocks and mutual funds that better reflect your values. For more information about how to invest in socially responsible funds or find a financial planner that will help you choose investments that match your values, check out Green America’s Guide to Socially Responsible Investing. If you drop your investments in Fidelity, Vanguard, or other major funds and switch to socially responsible investments, make sure to tell your old fund company why you left them.
Friday (7pm – 9:30pm): The conference opens Friday evening, May 9th, with a keynote address by Professor Mark Jacobson of Stanford University on his science-based plan to get to 100% renewable energy by 2050. A panel of Bay Area activists will respond to Jacobson’s plan from legislative, regulatory, and environmental justice perspectives.
See the Speakers and Agenda page for the current program information as we fill out the lineup for the conference. Biographies for all 30+ presenters are here.
Saturday (9am – 5pm): (Oakland: Laney College) The second day of the conference features panels tackling urgent issues in the climate movement, including:
– Fracking and other extreme well stimulation in California
– Fossil fuel infrastructure expansions (crude by rail and coal exports)
– Clean energy solutions
Lunch is included on Saturday.
Sunday (10am – 3pm): (Oakland: Laney College) Workshops and trainings to strategize effective ways to stop the fossil fuel attack.
Food is being provided by the postal union at the Federal Reserve; chalking and other activities are being planned.
All are welcome!
A BIG THANK YOU to OUR POSTAL WORKERS!
This is also the day that the post office collects non-perishable food to donate to various organizations / food banks etc.
(From: SF Occupiers & Postal Employees)
From Fukshima To India-
Report On March 11 Fukushima Events In Japan
And Video On Nukes In India
Join No Nukes Action NNA on a report back on the anti-nuclear movement in Japan with a video screening as well as a film on the struggle against nuclear power in India(“High Power” by Pradeep Indulkar).
Labor Videographers Steve Zeltzer and Kazumi Torri will report on their trip to Fukushima and protests throughout Japan on the 3rd anniversary of the nuclear meltdowns. They also visited Taiwan where there is a growing anti-nuclear movement. The Japanese government and TEPCO are telling the Japanese people that they can overcome radiation and “decontaminate” Fukushima and force the residents to return. They will present a rough cut video of their visit followed by a discussion.
No details available yet.
Film screening of new Greek documentary “Fascism Inc” about the connections between the rise of fascism (both then and now) and the economic elites.
The film will be followed by a discussion about anti-fascism in the Bay Area.
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard.
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privaztization of services. We need to support them in these endeavors!
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response.
The Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices came out recently – anything could happen now since Congress’ “request” that no historic Post Offices be sold until it had come out has been honored and no further Congressional request or mandate has come down. Come help us plan our response.
We join with other activists in Berkeley to put a ballot initiative on the ballot to rezone the Berkeley Post Office and other areas in the Historic District to prevent privatization, and also to insure a better Downtown Berkeley. The last two days of signature gathering will follow this meeting – come and pick up materials to help the effort by gathering signatures.
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
Panel Discussion on anarchism — past, present, and future — with Ramsey Kanaan (AK Press & PM Press), Liz Highleyman (journalist and historian), and Joey Cain (Bound Together Bookstore, LGBT activist)
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Ramsey Kanaan has republished works of classical anarchist theory by Peter Kropotkin, Alexander Berkman, Rudolf Rocker, Emma Goldman and others, while encouraging the development of contemporary anarchist theory and analysis, such as libertarian socialist Murray Bookchin‘s Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm, which he commissioned for AK Press. He was involved in the early UK anarcho-punk musical scene as lead singer of the Scottish anarcho-punk band Political Asylum. He belongs to Folk This, which performs folk songs from the past, including from the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the Paris Commune, and hymns and anthems of the IWW. Kanaan played a key role in the five-year anti-poll tax campaign that ultimately brought down Margaret Thatcher. He is one of the founders of the San Francisco Anarchist Book Fair and is a member of Bound Together Books in San Francisco, a collectively run anarchist bookstore. He is a contributing host and producer at KPFA.
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Joey Cain has been a member of the Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore for three and a half decades and co-produced the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair for 17 years. He has served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, was instrumental in getting a statue of Harvey Milk placed in SF City Hall, and has been involved in advocating for Private Chelsea Manning. He curates exhibits on radical LGBT History at the SF Main Public Library and serves on the Board of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Association.
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Liz Highleyman considers herself a philosophical anarchist, though an eclectic one without allegiance to any particular party line. She’s written widely on the topic of anarchism and radical politics, including an Introduction to Anarchism that has been propagated over the web and translated into several languages. Since 1999 she has been involved with the global justice movement and has written several related articles, including articles on drug pricing and patents for AlterNet, AIDS drug access in developing countries for BETA, and an essay on queer activism and the global justice movement for the book From ACT UP to the WTO .
details indy bay org and share the bulb .org and share the bulb face book
The Laney College Black Student Union in association with the Campaign To End The Death Penalty will be hosting an event commemorating Malcolm X, his Legacy and Life work. We will be celebrating the 60th birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal. And standing in solidarity with Kevin Cooper a innocent man on death row in San Quentin state penitently since 1985.
Our goal is to bring attention to the in humane treatment of prisoners and the true function of the prison industrial complex ( slavery by another name). We will show a short film on Mumia Abu- Jamal followed by a statement from Kevin Cooper ( note that there will be a question and answer segment with Kevin Cooper) and a call to action to support hunger strikers protesting in prisons across California.
For tabling info contact : Jabari Shaw (510) 328-0309 or musicismyweapon223@gmail.c
The Laney College Black Student Union in association with the Campaign To End The Death Penalty will be hosting an event commemorating Malcolm X, his Legacy and Life work. We will be celebrating the 60th birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal. And standing in solidarity with Kevin Cooper a innocent man on death row in San Quentin state penitently since 1985.
Our goal is to bring attention to the in humane treatment of prisoners and the true function of the prison industrial complex ( slavery by another name). We will show a short film on Mumia Abu- Jamal followed by a statement from Kevin Cooper ( note that there will be a question and answer segment with Kevin Cooper) and a call to action to support hunger strikers protesting in prisons across California.
Did you know Governor Brown will release his revised 2014-15 budget proposal tomorrow?
In recent years we’ve seen $15 billion dollars of cuts to social safety net programs, and we know to build a stronger healthier California for everyone we need invest in programs not prisons.
Folks across California are furious that the the Governor has proposed more prison spending including $500 million to build new jails.
On Wednesday, we’ll be joining up with the California Partnership organizing rallies and press conferences across the state.
Can you can join us and help get the word out?
Statewide Day of Action – Wednesday May 14th
San Francisco
Time: 1:30pm
Location: State Building 350 McAllister Street
Join the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, ONYX, and Davey D in a reading and discussion of “No No Doubt: The Murder’s’ of Oscar Grant with award winning journalist and author, Thandisizwe Chimurenga.
“Chimurenga uses her writing as political activism. In ‘No Doubt,’ she connects the systematic state-sanctioned violence against young Black males through the case of Oscar Grant’s murder by transit police on January 1, 2009 in California’s Bay Area.”
Watch the book trailer here: http://www.triplemurder.com./
Food will be provided and books will be available for purchase.
This video of the theatrical production of the 60th Anniversary of the execution of Ethel & Julius Rosenberg features Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, Cotter Smith, radical hip hop artists Rebel Diaz, poet Martin Espada, members of the Rosenberg/Meeropol family, and more! (This production was staged in June 2013).
The 90-minute production uses dramatic readings, acted vignettes, poetry, music, and historical photos to dramatize the last four days of the Rosenbergs’ lives through their prison letters and their sons’ firsthand accounts.
The film also tells the stories of present-day activist families the Rosenberg Fund for Children assists, and celebrates current movements for peace, environmental preservation, immigrants’ rights, civil liberties and other progressive struggles –from Idle No More and Stop, Stop and Frisk, to the fight to free political prisoners.
A Benefit for the Middle East Children’s Alliance & the Rosenberg Fund for Children.