Calendar
Join EFF on Saturday, April 9 for a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing campaign to hold California law enforcement agencies accountable for their use of surveillance technologies. Please pre-register here.
Volunteers like you will help us track down the privacy and useage policies of law enforcement agencies across California and add them to our database. We’ll show you how to do it, and you can be anywhere with an Internet connection to participate.
Last year, the California legislature passed two key transparency bills. S.B. 34 requires anyone uses automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems, as well as end users of license plate reader data, to develop privacy and usage policies and post them on their websites. S.B. 741 creates identical requirements for law enforcement agencies that use cell-site simulators (i.e. IMSI catchers, Stringrays, and Dirt Boxes).
ALPR refers to systems of high-speed cameras that capture photos of license plates, convert the plates into machine readable text, and store them in databases that can be searched. Police can also set up “hot lists” so that they get pinged every time a camera spots a particular vehicle. In aggregate, this data can reveal all kinds of personal information, such as where you sleep at night, where you take your kids to school, where you worship, and what doctors you visit.
Cell-site simulators are devices that masquerade as a legitimate cell phone tower, tricking phones nearby into connecting to the device in order to log the IMSI numbers of mobile phones in the area or capture the content of communications.
We are asking supporters to join us in combing through the websites of more than 130 California local government and law enforcement agencies to collect these policies. We also want to identify which agencies are not yet complying with these laws, which went into effect on January 1.
The event will kick off at 12 pm PT on Saturday, April 9, and last until 4 pm PT. You can join in at anytime and take on as many agencies as you can. You can join us virtually online or come join us in person at EFF’s offices in San Francisco.
Due to the sensitive nature of the project, we are asking that participants pre-register for the event.
We will have our first vote on candidate endorsements and on our final document outlining our expectations for our endorsed candidates.
We’ll also do a training on how to gather signatures for our three endorsed ballot measures and connect with our neighbors district by district to create canvassing teams.
Please remember that if you would like to vote at this and future Oakland Justice Coalition membership meetings, you must join as a voting member. Contact info@oaklandjustice.org to join.
Check out the new OJC information flyer.
The Oakland Justice Coalition is a coalition of organizations and individuals that came together around common goals for the 2016 Oakland elections. Our aim is to build people power and advance radical change through the arena of electoral politics. It is time for us to unite around the causes we all believe in stronger protections for workers and renters, an end to displacement and police violence, a public education system that serves all its students well and act in solidarity together to advance a political agenda that serves the people of Oakland.
We’re building a people’s movement driven by the power of organizations with different goals coming together as one to support each other and build collective strength. We have anchored our 2016 work in three demands, all captured in ballot initiatives proposed by community-led grassroots organizations.
IF YOU CAN’T FIND US IN MUDRAKER’S, LOOK FOR US AT WILLARD PARK, ONE BLOCK EAST ON STUART AND A HALF BLOCK NORTH ON REGENT. WE WILL GO THERE IF MUDRAKER’S IS TOO CROWDED OR TOO NOISY. BRING A BLANKET OR SOMESUCH TO SIT ON THE GRASS.
- student debt resistance
- organizing for public banking
- advocating for Postal banking
- fighting modern day debtors’ prisons and exploitive ticketing and fining schemes
- helping out America’s only non-profit check-cashing organization and fighting against usurious for-profit pay-day lenders and their ilk
- our famous Strike Debt radio program
- Working on debarring US Banks that have been convicted of felonies from municipal contracts
- Working on ways to kickstart the drive for basic income
- Presenting debt-related topics at forums and workshops
- and much more! Bring your own debt-related project!
If you are new to Strike Debt and want to come early and meet one or two of us before the formal meeting starts, email us at strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com .
Strike Debt – Principles of Solidarity
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.
Strike Debt is committed to the principles and tactics of political autonomy, direct democracy, direct action, creative openness, a culture of solidarity, and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.
Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.
Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.
Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally . Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome & Introductions
- Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
- Announcements
- (Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.
Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly
held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.
Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.
The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.
Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!
Liberated Lens is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, and organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually meet in our editing suite (2nd floor in the ballroom, to the left of the stage) and then work on projects. It’s open to all!
The Rev. Ken Chambers, pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church, will host a Community Meeting on Coal at the church one half block from Main Post Office off of 7th Street near the West Oakland BART station.
OTU’s Mission
The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.
Monthly Meetings
The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.
If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.
Calling all conscientious humans of San Francisco!
George and Amal Clooney, coupled with Hillary Clinton will be hosting a fundraising dinner in San Francisco on April 15th. “The fundraiser is for The Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee for Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic committees of 32 states and Puerto Rico” (http://fortune.com/2016/
Let the people of San Francisco gather and march through the main streets of Nob Hill to protest this event and to show Hillary Clinton that we don’t accept this kind of corruption. Rich people should not be allowed to buy politicians. Imagine, for example, how far $30,000 could go to help the homelessness problem in San Francisco. This corruption-fest is not just undemocratic, it is immoral and obscene!
http://www.politico.com/
The very least we can do is to remind Hillary’s rich donors of the corruption they are a part of. We will protest outside the event so that none of the attendants can chose to close their eyes to criticism and insulate themselves from the people in a fancy dinner. We are the people! We refuse to be excluded! We demand to be heard! They don’t want us there. We will be there! Bring your own posters and banners!
HELLO PEASANTS OF THE 99%
We have set a schedule for the protest, as well as a meeting location. We will meet at 5pm, hold a potluck, then march to Pishevar’s mansion with chants and cacerolazo (pots and pans to make some noise).
We are securing a safe and spacious location for the potluck. It will be within a couple blocks of 1266 Washington St., and we’ll send it out soon!
The plan is to meet at 5pm for a #dinewiththe99 potluck. If everybody brings a dish, this will be a huge success. Finger foods are preferred because they’re less messy, and we highly encourage everyone to bring their own utensil and plates to reduce waste. At the same time, we encourage everyone to bring extras for those who aren’t fortunate enough to have silverware. We’ll also need water, paper towels, and garbage bags, as well as people willing to help clean up. We have six tables, and we’ll be bringing dishes as well.
Homes Not Jails is a consensus-based collective of squatters and squat supporters who believe housing is a human right. Our goal is to open as much vacant housing as possible and to keep it open as long as possible. HNJ is a place to organize mutual aid among squatters and squat supporters and housing rights advocates in the bay. We actively fight to make our space inclusive and safe for everybody and combat oppression in all forms.
Come to the monthly meeting of the East Bay Clean Power Alliance to hear updates on Alameda County’s Community Choice Energy program and on the campaign for strong community choice programs that promote local renewable energy generation and create good, union jobs and community benefits.
In a last minute switch, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) President Michael Picker exempted one of the non-bypassable fees from the proposal, the transmission access charge (TAC). The TAC pays for upkeep of transmission lines, which are the high voltage, long-distance lines that carry power from distant power plants to the local distribution grid. As rooftop solar energy is only transmitted through local distribution lines, solar advocates argue that solar customers should not have to contribute to costly transmission lines. This late change was contentious, costing the votes of the two dissenters on the decision, who claimed that this exemption unfairly subsidized rooftop solar customers.
Clean energy advocates take offense at the notion that rooftop solar customers are being subsidized by non-solar customers, an opinion propagated by the IOUs since the inception of NEM. By contributing decentralized renewable energy, rooftop solar customers are reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change as well as reducing the need to build new power plants and very costly transmission lines, which are paid for by all ratepayers. If those benefits are taken into account, rooftop solar arguably saves Californians money.
Net Energy Metering (NEM) is critical to making rooftop solar financially attractive. It allows customers who have their own solar panels to benefit from their investment and be compensated for any excess electricity they export to the grid. Rooftop solar customers’ meters track both the amount of electricity they draw from the grid when their solar system is not producing enough to cover their needs and the electricity that is exported onto the grid when the system produces more than they need. Each month, rooftop solar customers’ utility bills track the cost of electricity consumed from the grid and assigns credits for the electricity exported to the grid, with both costs and credits currently calculated at the retail rate. At the end of the year or “true-up period”, if customers have exported more electricity than consumed from the grid, the IOU compensates them at a below market, wholesale rate.The CPUC’s new plan, mandated by AB 327 last year and approved by the Commission in a 3-2 vote, ensures that NEM will be upheld for new rooftop solar customers. One key change is that all such new customers will be on a time-of-use rate schedule. This means that the retail rate for electricity—applicable to both purchasing from grid and crediting electricity exported to the grid—increases during times of peak electricity use and decreases during off-peak times. For example, one kWh of electricity costs more and draws a higher credit at 5pm when demand for electricity is high, than at 1am when demand is low.
While time-of-use rates make it difficult for rooftop solar customers to estimate their long-term savings, some solar advocates note the potential for well-designed time-of-use rates to incentivize shifting energy consumption from peak-use hours to off-peak hours when solar actually produces the most energy. Education about the implications of time-of-use rate structures is key to ensure customers are not hit with much higher energy bills. This is an area to watch as PG&E recently shifted its higher rate peak times to later afternoon and evening, which effectively reduces the benefits of rooftop solar.
Though the IOUs’ request for a monthly flat fee for rooftop solar customers was rejected, some new fees were approved, including a one-time interconnection fee when panels are installed. In addition, rooftop solar customers must now pay some non-bypassable fees (such as public goods charges, access charges, and certain taxes) on all electricity consumed from the grid rather than on net electricity consumed, as in the current NEM system.
On Thursday, January 28th, rooftop solar advocates chalked up a major victory as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to adopt new rules that preserve net energy metering (NEM) in the state.
The decision was a notable defeat for the state’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs), which had lobbied hard to increase energy bills for rooftop solar customers by instituting monthly flat fees and reducing the rate of compensation for solar-generated electricity.
#OAKLAND! Join workers in their #Fightfor15 at our #DayofAction! APRIL 14TH AT 2PM! https://t.co/teoxkpOuPE pic.twitter.com/i5fpMJFVQL
— Fight For 15 Nor Cal (@NorCalFF15) March 30, 2016
Starting in April, Berkeley Copwatch is kicking off our ongoing *weekly* copwatching shifts! We’ll be out in the streets most Fridays and Saturdays witnessing and documenting police activity and doing outreach. Please join us!
No experience required — any experience welcome. We’ll train you in the essentials for documenting police activity and staying safe in the process.
If you are able to bring a car and be a shift driver, that would be GREAT! Please let us know in the “discussion” section or by sending Berkeley Copwatch a message.
APRIL COPWATCH DATES AND TIMES
(Check this page for updates)
Friday 4/1 – 8pm
Saturday 4/2 – 8pm
Friday 4/8 – 8pm
Sat 4/9 – 8pm
Friday 4/15 – 8pm
Saturday 4/16 – 8pm
Friday 4/22 – 8pm
Saturday 4/23 – 8pm
Friday 4/29 – 8pm
Saturday 4/30 – 8pm
ABOUT OUR MASS COPWATCH SHIFTS
Since October 2015, Berkeley Copwatch has been holding “mass copwatch” events. It’s been fun and very empowering to have up to five cars full of copwatchers patrolling our city and on the scene when police stop people.
In the wake of the eviction of First They Came for the Homeless, the information booth, et al, Berkeley Post Office Defenders will gather to discuss the event and possible responses.
Should be illegally run off the Post Office steps we will (re)convene in MLK park (Allston & MLK).
Agenda:
1 Recap/debrief/analysis of the April 5th City Council decision: Moratorium
2. Actionable next steps during 90 days
a Review of 12 points
b. What efforts are underway now?
c. What needs to happen?
d How do we support each other?
3. Immediate housing issues on the table
a Impact Fees
b. Renters’ Upgrade ballot initiative, now called the “Protect Oakland Renters” Initiative
c Others?
4 Next steps
The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.
OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally . Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.
At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.
General Assembly Standard Agenda
- Welcome & Introductions
- Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
- Announcements
- (Optional) Discussion Topic
Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.
Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area
San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv
The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.
Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly
held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.
Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.
The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.
Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!
Liberated Lens is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, and organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!
We usually meet in our editing suite (2nd floor in the ballroom, to the left of the stage) and then work on projects. It’s open to all!