Calendar

South Berkeley Medicare for All Social and Political Discussion

Join a youth-led and youth -organized rally to show Phil Tagami and the City of Oakland that the youth will not stand for coal in their city. Youth will be there to make some noise and oppose coal in the Oakland Bulk and Over-sized Terminal.

Tagami, developer of the Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal, is suing the city of Oakland for blocking his plan to export coal. The City Council unanimously voted to block the coal terminal to protect the health and safety of Oakland residents, especially the residents of West Oakland, where coal trains would have spewed toxic coal dust on their way to the port.

A three-day trial over the lawsuit ended January 19 without a clear signal from Judge Vince Chhabria as to how he will rule. Chhabria’s ruling is not expected until after he has had a chance to review post-trial briefs and other papers to be filed by the parties in the coming weeks and holds a final hearing tentatively set for March 28.

In the meantime, the fight against coal in Oakland continue

WHERE

Start at Street Academy 417 29th St, Oakland
March on Broadway to Oakland City Hall

Hosted by New Voices are Rising

On January 31, we’re sharing a bold vision for climate justice at an event we’re calling Fossil Free Fast. Tune in and figure out what your role in this fight can be — RSVP for a watch party in the Bay Area below.

350 Bay Area’s Live Event Watch Party: RSVP here

January 31st is Ahed Tamimi’s 17th Birthday.

She is sitting in an Israeli military prison for slapping Israeli soldiers. Her cousin had been shot in the head by a rubber coated steel bullet!

Release her now! Drop all charges!

For too long, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (the police union) has taken hardline stances and used inflammatory tactics that destroy trust between residents and police. It has blocked or delayed common-sense reforms—like the city’s improved use-of-force policy—and has publicly attacked police accountability champions—including elected officials, prominent athletes like Colin Kaepernick, and its own police members. Unlike other unions focused on wages and benefits and reasonable working conditions for their employees, the SFPOA has used labor law to exert an enormous influence on public policy and public safety.

Right now, the SFPOA is negotiating a new labor agreement with the city. The city must not approve a new contract increasing police officer pay and benefits unless the SFPOA agrees to respect our values and increase public safety. The SFPOA shouldn’t be allowed to use its bargaining power to make San Francisco less safe.

We are a growing and diverse coalition of San Franciscans who care deeply about police accountability and community safety. We want to ensure the present negotiations of the SFPOA’s new labor contract reflects our values and our community’s need for safety. To influence these negotiations, we must act now before the contract is finalized by June 2018.

#NoJusticeNoDeal

Join us for a community town hall. We’ll share information about the campaign and get feedback on community demands.

When: Wednesday, January 31, 6pm
Where: St. John’s (corner of Julian and 15th Streets, two blocks from 16th Street BART)

Whether an Observer Corps volunteer or regular LWVO member, you’ll enjoy an evening presentation on the nuts and bolts of how the City works.

Guest speaker Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance, will provide an overview of the city structure––from elected officials to city manager to committees and commissions––as well as the legislation flow. Who can introduce legislation and how does a member of public use the “bully pulpit” to get the assistance from a Council member to do so? Also covered will be a review of good governance regulations such as the Brown Act, how procedural committees such as the Rules Committee operate, and what tools are available to make public meetings transparent and more productive. Did you know that Staff Reports provide context for understanding seemingly obtuse committee meetings?

This is a must-attend meeting if you want to roll up your sleeves and get more involved in local government!

To RSVP and get more information contact Gen Katz at gen@metron.com

The Budget Legislative Analyst and the Treasurer will be making presentations on a report about public banking and the status of the municipal banking task force.

We need people to pack the hearing and make public comment on how SF needs a public bank that actually serves the people of San Francisco, not Wall Street.

Meeting Agenda

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2. 5:05pm: Review and approval of November and January meeting minutes
3. 5:10pm: Open Forum
4. 5:15pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Annual Report on Cellular Site Simulator Use
5. 5:35pm: Presentation by Oakland Police Department – Private Video Camera Registry
6. 5:55pm: Annual election of Chair, Vice-Chair

CALL of the FOREST

6:30 pm Potluck Dinner

7:15 pm: Film

Transition Berkeley invites you a potluck dinner and film marking our seventh anniversary! Come help us celebrate and bring your visions for Transition Berkeley’s future.  How can we best inspire our community to action?

The beautiful film CALL of the FOREST – The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, features scientist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger a renowned world visionary.  She takes us on a journey from the sacred sugi and cedar forests of Japan to the great boreal forest of Canada explaining the legacy of old growth forests and their role in protecting and feeding the planet. She shows us that when we improve our profound connection to woodlands we can restore our spirit, our health and our planet.

Please bring a vegetarian plastic free dish to share for the potluck dinner at 6:30.
This event is sponsored by Transition Berkeley, and the Social Justice Committee (Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists). The film is provided courtesy of Alisa Rose Seidlitz and Stephanie Thomas.

KPFA Radio 94.1FM presents

Advance tickets: $12 : brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006
Books Inc/Berkeley,  Pegasus (3 sites), Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s. East Bay Books

From the legendary whistle-blower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, an eyewitness exposé  of the dangers of America’s Top Secret, seventy-year-long nuclear policy that lingers to this day.
Shortlisted for the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Here, for the first time, former high level defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg reveals his shocking firsthand account of America’s nuclear program in the 1960s. From the most remote air bases in the Pacific Command – where he discovered that the authority to initiate use of nuclear weapons was widely delegated – to the secret plans for general nuclear war under Eisenhower (which, if executed, would cause the near-extinction of humanity) – Ellsberg shows that the legacy of this most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization – and its proposed renewal under the Trump administration – threatens our very survival. No other insider with high level access has written so candidly of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, and nothing has fundamentally changed since that era.

The Doomsday Machine is a real-life Dr. Strangelove story and an ultimately hopeful, powerfully important book about not simply our country, but the future of our world. It is being published at an alarmingly relevant moment, as North Korea is seeking the capability to target the United States with nuclear missiles, and an unpredictable president, Donald Trump, has countered with threats of “fire and fury.” Experts on North Korea say that the risk of a nuclear exchange is higher than it has been in recent memory. Ellsberg, as one of the few living members of the generation of theorists who devised our nuclear strike doctrines, has been grappling with such possibilities for much of his life. “It is kind of astonishing,” he says, “that people will put up with a non-zero chance of this happening. Even after many disarmament treaties, Russia and the United States still possess enough weaponry to destroy the world many times over. “There is no essential difference between having 1,500 weapons, each side, on a hair trigger, pointed at each other, and having five or ten thousand,” he says.  For this reason, Ellsberg is happy that Trump has shown a deferential stance toward Russia. On the other hand, facing North Korea, Trump has been willing to make explicit nuclear threats. But even if their missiles can’t reach us quite yet, Ellsberg the game theorist believes that Kim Jong-un has probably devised some sort of strategy to assure that he isn’t destroyed alone.  He says that the world’s survival, so far, has been “something like a miracle.”

LARRY BENSKY is the former National Affairs Correspondent for Pacifica Radio (KPFA). He teaches Political Science at California State University East Bay. In 1987 he received a George Polk Award for his coverage of the Iran-Contra Hearings in Washington, D.C.

KPFA benefit

Gather your Books, Clothing and Crops for the next monthly Swap! You can also bring plants, seeds or something homemade to share. Clothing and books should be in good condition. Meet old friends and new, help create a strong sustainable community. Heavy rain will cancel.
Cost: FREE

Questions or to volunteer: click here

The Peace and Freedom Party presents

 BLACK LIBERATION: Is There an Electoral Path?

From Frederick Douglass to Barack Obama, an old question. Our speakers: Gerald Smith, Oscar Grant Committee; Phil Hutchings, Last Chair of SNCC; and brando king, Cooperation Jackson, will address an old question needing fresh answers, is there a path toward Black Liberation in the 2018 Elections?

As Malcolm X asked, “Ballots or Bullets?”

This is part of our on-going Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every month from 2-4:30 pm. The featured panel starts promptly at 2:30 pm and the forum ends by 4:30 pm, but folks can stay and talk as long as they like.   Speaker’s affiliations are listed for identification only. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of the organizations listed nor official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.

DJs (New Parish): Ships resident DJ DURT, DJ Mommy Issues, DJ Jiggles and DJ Lady Ryan!!!

DJs (TEENAGE DREAMS takeover @ The Rock Steady): 8ulentina, Piano Rain. The Rock Steady is right next door to the New Parish, which means even more music and space for queers to party. More details about the takeover coming soon xoxo

Performer: CHHOTI MAA, a hip-hop artist with bruja swag, hits the stage at midnite! can’t wait? preview her music here

Go go dancers: Cinnamon, OG, and em jay mercury. bring that tip money $$$ and please use your words to ask for consent to take video/photo of go go dancers. You need to pay go gos AT LEAST $25 for videos. *** work is REAL WORK. Pay what you owe.

Benefit for: Feed The People – Oakland

“We are an group of unhoused & housed residents of Oakland. We provide services, advocacy & temporary housing to Oakland’s unsheltered population during this housing & homelessness crisis. We center the voices, experiences, wisdom, needs & ideas of those who are currently homeless to get homes and services for unhoused residents. We build our power by bringing together the people, pooling our skills & resources, & being a unified force. We provide Hot meals. provisions, advocacy, and support to Oakland’s unhoused. We are actively working towards building villages of homes & services for unhoused folks. We advocate for land & resources from the city and work with private property owners to utilize their lands. We collect & distribute provisions unhoused residents may be in need of. We advocate for policies that are humane, and effective for the homeless. We urge the city to seek effective & humane solutions. We encourage the city to allow the community to create & implement autonomous, neighborhood led solutions to this crisis.”

Vendors in the courtyard:
delicious waffles by our friends at QTVietCafe
& sassy handmade jewelry and accessories for flagging and beyond, brought to you by Voula O’Clock & Lex Non Scripta of Wild Fancy Design
&& Glam Jam, an all-natural glitter lotion stick hand-made by RedBone.

Vendors out front:
Scotch Bonnet will be outside selling oxtails, patties, and other Jamaican delicacies you can’t help but drool over

Photographer TBA!!

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instagram: @ships_in_the_night_oakland
Ships In The Night is a RADICAL ***** dance party – always a benefit. We prioritize and strive to make the space accessible to queers, women, trans* people, and people of color and highlight their talent as DJ’s and performers. Since 2006, Ships has served as a community fundraiser and place for activist and social justice minded queers of all genders to sweat out the worries of the day