Calendar
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Through the end of January we will have General Assembly at the sudoroom on 2141 Broadway, Oakland, CA.
Here are instructions to access the room, the entrance is on 22nd Street:
https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Getting_there
This Sunday will be a Cryptoparty at the sudoroom, along with the third Sunday in January, these will be opportunities to update your digital profile so the government can’t easily track your every move. More blather on this to follow this afternoon when I have a moment.
Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally and has equal decision-making power. Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly uses a participatory decision-making process appropriately called, “Occupy Oakland’s Collective Decision-Making Process.” Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
Autonomous Action & the General Assembly
The bulk of the work of Occupy Oakland does NOT happen in the General Assembly. It happens in various committees, caucuses, and associated groups that report back to the general assembly. Everyone participating in Occupy Oakland should be part of at least one associated group. Occupy Oakland encourages autonomous actions that do not require consensus from the General Assembly. This encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome
- Welcome Announcements
- Agenda Overview
- Forum
- Reports from Committees, Subcommittees, Caucuses, & Working Groups
- Action Announcements
- General Announcements
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly will convene over food and libation this week at Mike’s house in El Cerrito. We normally meet at 2:00 PM, but our holiday GA, hike and social will begin later than our usual time: 3:00 PM for a hike on the Albany Hill, 4:30 PM for a short meeting, 5:30 PM for a holiday meal.
If you would like to attend either:
– send email to Mike (electionamend@gmail.com) for directions
– call Mike at 510-299-0493 for directions
– show up at the Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheatre by 2:30 for a ride to Mike’s house. Or call Ed at 510-763-0591 for a ride
All are welcome! Please bring something to share if you can.
This will be the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Reserve.
Monday evening from 6 – 9, OccupyForum will hold its meeting at the FED (101 Market) and have a panel of speakers.
There are some Scheduled events.
5:30 – anti-corporate caroling
6-6:30 – Illuminator will project a message onto the Fed, also the Petaluminator, possibly Light Brigade
Please bring flashlights and other ways to “shed light” on the FED
6:30 – 7:00 – Occupy Forum, topic the Federal Reserve and alternatives (see below)
And other ideas:
– Chalkupy: Ideas for a giant monopoly board are forming, also everyone can write messaging, answer the question “Why are you FED UP with the monetary system?” (or other messaging)
– Blankets: We’re asking everyone who can to drop by a Goodwill or Salvation Army or thrift store and get a blanket (they’re cheap! a few bucks)… The idea is to keep warm while we’re there and then leave them in the free pile for folks who need them.
– Caroling (with words to describe the FED provided)
The FEDERAL RESERVE BANK (commonly called the Fed) and Wall Street banks create just about all the money we use every day. Most people think that the Fed is an agency of the Federal Government. But it’s not. It’s 100% owned by the largest private banks in the US. The Fed uses its incredible power to decide how much new money to create and, more importantly, where to spend it, to benefit the Wall Street banks.
Since most of us think new money is generated by government, we would also expect that money to be directed toward things that benefit all of us such as highways and other infrastructure, education, health care and social security.
However, all money the government spends has to be borrowed at interest from the banks and the Fed. The banks and the Fed create this money, instead, by investing in areas that will provide them with maximum profits – usually wars, the coal and oil industries and real estate. This results in crashes like the current one which started in 2008, and depressions, and no consideration is given to the moral or environmental costs of these investments. Profits over people as usual.
The Fed operates largely in secret, and is not required to be accountable to anyone. There has never been a proper audit of the Federal Reserve Bank. The power to create money is arguably the most important single power in the US economy and yet the people have no control over it!
It’s time to shine a light on the workings of the Fed. We need to start discussing solutions like making the Fed accountable and handing over the power of money creation to the Federal Government! This could be the single most powerful way to create a more democratic economy that serves the interests of all of us – not just a few who profit immensely off of our labor.
Join us this Monday, Dec. 23 at 5pm on the Federal Reserve’s 100th Birthday when we will Illuminate the Fed!
Speakers will include Occupy activist Jane Smith, who will provide us with details on how the Fed works (or doesn’t work), and how we can take control of money creation away from big banks. The Illuminators will be there to project images and messages onto the FED building and there will be other events as well, listed below. Bring flashlights! Bring blankets! Bring ideas for chalking: “Why are you FED UP?”
This meeting we will be discussing the Shock Doctrine Documentary, video-lectures from Michael Hudson, and a debate between the Monodern Monetary Theorists vs. the Austrian School of Economics. Additionally, an edition of the Real World Exonomics Review headed by Steve Keen is attached and can be discussed as well. Come join the raucus assembly of amateur economic theorists!
Michael Hudson on Money, Debt, and History video
Modern Monetary Theory vs. the Austrian School of Economics video
64th Real World Economics Review
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the weeks tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Our weekly open meeting for members and supporters to discuss the week’s tasks and projects. Come get plugged into ongoing housing defense work! We have abundant and varied work for all folks in any number of meaningful projects.
Rain location: SF Pizza, 1500 Broadway, Oakland
Through the end of January we will have General Assembly at the sudoroom on 2141 Broadway, Oakland, CA.
Here are instructions to access the room, the entrance is on 22nd Street:
https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Getting_there
This Sunday will be a Cryptoparty at the sudoroom, along with the third Sunday in January, these will be opportunities to update your digital profile so the government can’t easily track your every move. More blather on this to follow this afternoon when I have a moment.
Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally and has equal decision-making power. Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly uses a participatory decision-making process appropriately called, “Occupy Oakland’s Collective Decision-Making Process.” Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
Autonomous Action & the General Assembly
The bulk of the work of Occupy Oakland does NOT happen in the General Assembly. It happens in various committees, caucuses, and associated groups that report back to the general assembly. Everyone participating in Occupy Oakland should be part of at least one associated group. Occupy Oakland encourages autonomous actions that do not require consensus from the General Assembly. This encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome
- Welcome Announcements
- Agenda Overview
- Forum
- Reports from Committees, Subcommittees, Caucuses, & Working Groups
- Action Announcements
- General Announcements
Join us as we start a new year and plan a rally for early February demanding that Kamala Harris prosecute Miguel Masso for the murder of Alan Blueford. The subcommittee meeting for this campaign will take place immediately following the main coalition meeting.
Get up-to-date on the civil lawsuit that is proceeding against OPD and the City of Oakland.
We will also be planning other events in conjunction with other groups, including an action in Sacramento in late January.
Join Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide mass surveillance center.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to: oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Through the end of January we will have General Assembly at the sudoroom on 2141 Broadway, Oakland, CA.
Here are instructions to access the room, the entrance is on 22nd Street:
https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Getting_there
This Sunday will be a Cryptoparty at the sudoroom, along with the third Sunday in January, these will be opportunities to update your digital profile so the government can’t easily track your every move. More blather on this to follow this afternoon when I have a moment.
Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally and has equal decision-making power. Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly uses a participatory decision-making process appropriately called, “Occupy Oakland’s Collective Decision-Making Process.” Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
Autonomous Action & the General Assembly
The bulk of the work of Occupy Oakland does NOT happen in the General Assembly. It happens in various committees, caucuses, and associated groups that report back to the general assembly. Everyone participating in Occupy Oakland should be part of at least one associated group. Occupy Oakland encourages autonomous actions that do not require consensus from the General Assembly. This encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome
- Welcome Announcements
- Agenda Overview
- Forum
- Reports from Committees, Subcommittees, Caucuses, & Working Groups
- Action Announcements
- General Announcements
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.
In November the Planning Commission passed on to the Berkeley City a proposed Zoning Ordinance that would make the Post Office property less desirable to potential purchasers of the capitalist variety. We are still waiting for action on this from the City Council and are organizing to put pressure on City Council members to make sure this measure is brought up and passed.
The Postal Service has announced that they are contracting with Staples to provide Post Office window services inside Staples stores, using Staples employees instead of Post Office employees. There is already a pseudo Post Office operating inside the Berkeley Staples store (Shattuck & Durant). We conducted our first action against this privatization of postal services on December 21st.
Come and help plan our next actions in defense of our Post Office and against privatization and non living-wage jobs. We want to send a message to CBRE, the Post Office, Staples and Berkeley politicians that the sale will not be tolerated!
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Despite powerful attacks, Richmond became the first municipality in the nation to beat back Wall Street threats, litigation, and a campaign dedicated to end the city’s program using eminent domain to help underwater homeowners. How was the community, led by Mayor McLaughlin, able to hold off the banks, asset managers and securities units of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, the very same firms that caused the foreclosure crisis in the first place?
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For decades, environmental justice groups including Richmond Progressive Alliance, West County Toxics Coalition, and Communities for a better environment have fought Chevron, one of the world’s top polluters and a major tax evader whose refinery has long dominated the city. Chevron’s toxic, explosive, and corrosive chemicals and toxic releases cause devastating harm. To add insult to injury, Chevron vehemently opposes paying its fair share of taxes. Last fall, the oil giant pumped $1.2 million into city elections “They have been polluting our democracy along with polluting our environment,” said McLaughlin. The City of Richmond is currently suing Chevron for damages from the massive 2012 fire and Mayor McLaughlin has called on Chevron to pay its taxes and create a new corporate culture by putting the health and safety needs of Richmond residents before its profits. At the press conference announcing the city’s lawsuit against Chevron, McLaughlin was clear: “This isn’t just about money, it’s also about a culture of abuse. This suit is a situation requiring Chevron to be accountable to our community.”
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Richmond is on the rise. Mayor McLaughlin’s focus on working side by side with a community that has suffered decades of injustice is helping to showcase how an urban community is transforming itself in the 21st Century.
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More info at:
http://www.saverichmondhomes.org/
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Time will be allotted for Q&A, discussion and announcements. Donations
to OccupyForum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
Politics of Debt will be primarily discussing the Modern Monetary Theory vs. Austrian School proponents’ video debate. We will elaborate on what Modern Monetary Theory is and stands for.
A link to the public school webpage with the class info and reading/video links.
On January 11th we will be holding a public forum to organize actions for March 15th, international day against police brutality. This forum will take place at the Alan Blueford Center for Justice, which is located near 25th on Telegraph Ave in Oakland.
Everyone is invited! We encourage approaching this forum as individuals rather than as an organization.
Hope to see you there!
Through the end of January we will have General Assembly at the sudoroom on 2141 Broadway, Oakland, CA.
Here are instructions to access the room, the entrance is on 22nd Street:
https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Getting_there
This Sunday will be a Cryptoparty at the sudoroom, along with the third Sunday in January, these will be opportunities to update your digital profile so the government can’t easily track your every move. More blather on this to follow this afternoon when I have a moment.
Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally and has equal decision-making power. Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly uses a participatory decision-making process appropriately called, “Occupy Oakland’s Collective Decision-Making Process.” Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
Autonomous Action & the General Assembly
The bulk of the work of Occupy Oakland does NOT happen in the General Assembly. It happens in various committees, caucuses, and associated groups that report back to the general assembly. Everyone participating in Occupy Oakland should be part of at least one associated group. Occupy Oakland encourages autonomous actions that do not require consensus from the General Assembly. This encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome
- Welcome Announcements
- Agenda Overview
- Forum
- Reports from Committees, Subcommittees, Caucuses, & Working Groups
- Action Announcements
- General Announcements
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.
24 Hours to Save the Post Office! A Festival of Celebration and Resistance.
It’s happening Saturday starting at 11:00 AM at the Post Office and going for 24 hours.
In November the Planning Commission passed on to the Berkeley City a proposed Zoning Ordinance that would make the Post Office property less desirable to potential purchasers of the capitalist variety. We are still waiting for action on this from the City Council and are organizing to put pressure on City Council members and the Mayor to make sure this measure is brought up and passed. We collected 600 petition signatures so far as part of that pressure and are aiming for a lot more!
The Postal Service has announced that they are contracting with Staples to provide Post Office window services inside Staples stores, using Staples employees instead of Post Office employees. There is already a pseudo Post Office operating inside the Berkeley Staples store (Shattuck & Durant). We conducted our first action against this privatization of postal services on December 21st.
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has chosen Richmond as the location for voting on its final report on the August 6, 2012, Chevron Richmond Toxic Explosion and Fire. The hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Richmond City Council Chambers at 440 Civic Center Plaza.
Please join Communities for a Better Environment, APEN, RPA, ACCE, 350.org Chevron Watch and Bay Area, the Richmond Environmental Justice Coalitionand community representatives from Pittsburg, Rodeo/Crockett and Benicia at 5:30 p.m. for a rally in the Civic Center Plaza.
This is a MAJOR event for our communities, because the CSB is recommending a new standard for regulating Big Oil’s refineries in the US – the Safety Case regime. We demand Safety First! No new Permits w/o the Safety Case!!
Please come out and support the CSB, the people of Richmond and the Bay Area refinery towns!
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Meeting. The Living Wage Coalition is building a grassroots movement of low-wage workers and their allies to win economic justice. Anyone who works full time should be able to survive on what they earn and support themselves and their children. Come to be a part of discussing next steps in pursuing an economic justice agenda.
The Oakland Privacy Working Group will meet at the Sudoroom Wednesday Jan. 15th at 6:30 to organize to stop the planned building of an Oakland-wide surveillance grid to monitor the citizens of the East Bay.
Approval for a contractor to take over Phase II of the DAC contract from SAIC – summarily dismissed months ago for violations of Oakland’s Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance – is supposed to take place at the January 21st City Council meeting.
For more information on the insidiousness of the DAC and how it came to b in Oakland check out the DAC FAQ, the Oakland Wiki Domain Awareness Page and the Oakland Privacy WordPress.
OPG hopes to have a large presence and a big rally on February 4th in front of City Hall at Oscar Grant Plaza, and YOU ARE INVITED. We are planning to have potluck food & drink at the plaza at 6:15 before going in to the council chambers to voice our opinions on this spy-network. So far the City has always scheduled this skulduggery as the last item on the agenda, well after midnight, to try to discourage public comment, so we are planning to show movies in the Plaza to keep folks entertained while waiting for the item to come up. Let’s stop this fucking thing, privacy is an essential element of freedom.
Join Oakland Privacy Working Group to organize against the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Oakland’s citywide mass surveillance center.
If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy Working Group email listserv, send an email to: oaklandprivacyworkinggroup-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
On line petition to stop the DAC
On line petition to stop the DAC