Focuses on Regenerative “Carbon Farming” to Mitigate Climate Change

Dr. Vandana Shiva keynote speech is on Friday, Sept. 4, 7:00 pm

International conference on agriculture and climate change, Soil Not Oil, Sept. 4-5, in Richmond, CA, features speakers Vandana Shiva, Fritjof Capra, Anna Lappé, former EPA senior scientist Ray Seidler, soil scientist Rattan Lal, agro-ecologist Miguel Altieri, environmental and land use attorney Claire Hope Cummings, and others.

Richmond, CA (July 29, 2015) — Getting to the root of global climate change, the 2015 Soil Not Oil International Conference will bring together farmers, ranchers, scientists, policy makers, NGOs and community leaders on Sept. 4-5, 2015, at the Memorial Civic Center Complex in Richmond, CA, to explore how sustainable, regenerative agriculture practices can help mitigate the planet’s global warming.

Soil Not Oil speakers include, from left: Dr. Vandana Shiva, Fritjof Capra, Anna Lappé and Ronnie Cummins.

“The goal of the two-day conference is to provide practical information, research, and networking to help society create a more vibrant, healthy future via better farming practices. Along with reduced reliance on fossil fuels and increased availability of green energy, we need to shift to carbon farming to mitigate climate change,” said Miguel Robles, conference organizer and Director of the Biosafety Alliance.

Vandana Shiva Headlines Conference
Inspired by Dr. Vandana Shiva’s book, Soil Not Oil, the 2015 Soil Not Oil International Conference examines the crisis on food security while highlighting the role of oil-based agro-chemicals and fossil fuels in soil depletion and climate change. The conference will focus on practical carbon farming solutions including cover crops, planned grazing, compost application on range land, tree planting and other holistic land use practices.

The conference will feature a keynote address by Dr. Vandana Shiva on Friday, Sept. 4, 7:00 pm, along with presentations featuring noted soil scientist Rattan Lal; author Fritjof Capra; environmental and land use attorney Claire Hope Cummings; Earth Guardians director and youth leader Xiuhtezcatl Martinez; author Anna Lappé; agro-ecologist Miguel Altieri; Adelita San Vicente Tello, Ph.D., director of Seeds of Life; Regeneration International and Organic Consumers Association co-founder Ronnie Cummins; John Roulac, CEO and founder of Nutiva; and other international leaders, farmers, researchers, climate change experts, and environmental and food justice advocates.

“We are pleased to host this important gathering in the San Francisco Bay Area, the heart of the organic food industry,” said Richmond-based John Roulac, founder and CEO of organic food leader Nutiva. “To secure a livable planet we need to both de-carbonize energy and re-carbonize our soils via regenerative agriculture.“

Carbon Farming Defined
Carbon farming (also known as regenerative agriculture) is an agricultural system that improves the rate at which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and converted to plant material and/or organic matter in the soil. Today, mainstream industrial food and farming and unsustainable land use generate the majority of all greenhouse gas emissions, with carbon that is stripped from the soil ending up in our atmosphere and oceans, creating acidic conditions that threaten plant and animal species. In removing carbon from the atmosphere and oceans by implementing the practices of regenerative organic agriculture, we can sequester carbon into the soil and expand the soil’s water-holding capacity.

As a 2014 Rodale Institute report states, “Organically managed soils can convert carbon CO2 from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset.” In fact, says Rodale after conducting more than 30 years of ongoing field research, regenerative, organic farming practices and improved land management can move agriculture from one of today’s primary sources of global warming and carbon pollution to a potential carbon sink powerful enough to sequester 100% of the world’s current annual CO2 emissions.

Or, as the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2014, “Organic practices could counteract the world’s yearly carbon dioxide output while producing the same amount of food as conventional farming…”

About the Soil Not Oil Coalition
The conference organizer, Soil Not Oil Coalition, is a cross-sector, multi-ethnic alliance of over 60 organizations, scientists, farmers, businesses and individuals coordinated by the Biosafety Alliance to promote research and further understanding to optimize soil carbon sequestration and sustainability to aid in the development of adequate food production for future generations and to help reverse of the effects of global warming. We believe that restructuring land management practices is key to combating climate change, restoring water cycles, reducing global environmental pollution, stopping ocean acidification, re-establishing biodiversity, improving food production and revitalizing local economies across the planet. For more information, registration or volunteering opportunities visit www.soilnotoilcoalition.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Soil Not Oil Conference Sponsors include Nutiva, Dr. Bronner’s, RSF Social Finance, Good Earth Natural Foods, Burroughs Family Farms, International Development Exchange, Organic Consumers Association, Regeneration International and Food Democracy Now.

For REGISTRATION
CLICK HERE

1990 American documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it. The film is considered to be an invaluable documentary of the end of the “Golden Age” of New York City drag balls, and critics have praised it as a thoughtful exploration of race, class, gender, and sexuality in America.

Group discussion will follow the film. Snacks will be served.

Solidarity With John Crawford & Walmart Workers

“How can a black man walk into walmart and Not come out alive?”

It’s been a year since the police killing of John Crawford at an Ohio Walmart. Local “OW” and racial justice activists are linking walmart police brutality with walmart economic brutality. “Shopping while black is not a crime and working for walmart should not be a death sentence” We Demand Justice for John Crawford and demand a living wage for walmart workers.

Urban Shield is a county-wide war games, swat training and weapons expo, held each year involving hundreds of local, federal and international agencies including those from Apartheid Israel. The Stop Urban Shield Coalition successfully stopped the Urban Shield expo from being hosted in Oakland any longer. But activities still take place in Oakland, and the expo still happens in our backyard and still involves local agencies, local money and targets our local communities. Join us in a town hall on why we should all join forces to stop this from happening anywhere.

Featuring:
Art exhibit curated by Art Forces, art and sign making for upcoming actions, and community testimonies.

Part of Art Forces Dispossession(s) event series.

Hosted by The Stop Urban Shield Coalition

This Friday Sept 4th is First Friday in ‪#‎Oakland‬ once again, and while the vibe out on the street may not be what it used to be, what happens insideThe Alan Blueford Center For Justice is by the people & for the people, and so therefore, it is amazing every 1st Friday up in Alan‘s House where our message has been ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ since the day we opened our doors heart emoticon

When I say that 1st Fri is “by the people”, I specifically express my deep gratitude to Tatu Vision, De Anna, Alicia Marie Cornish, Mike Brown, Jada Imani, Maleik Dion, Shawn Carter, & Stoney who I am pretty sure doesn’t mess w/FB but definitely BRINGS IT every 1st Fri;)

This Friday! At Alan Blueford Center for Justice! 2434 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. We will have a showcase of artists, food, and good vibes. 7-10 p.m.

Barcelona has been a site of squatting and community building for several decades, and has been especially influential in recent years. In 2009 it was the birthplace of Spain’s PAH (Movement for People Affected by Mortgages), which pursues direct action to stop evictions and secure housing rights. Out of the 2011 “Indignados” movement came Can Batlló, an autonomous community workspace in the city’s Sants district, which was the site of an abandoned factory planned for development. Activists took over this space and have transformed it and held it for four years, building on earlier projects such as the residential community of Can Vies. This year has seen the recuperation of el Ateneo Enciclopedico Popular, a historical free cultural center in the Raval District. Iban Ek and Aina Gallego are longtime Barcelona activists who will discuss these projects and the culture of community that has created them.

*Who*: You–at ANY level of skill (newbs encouraged to attend)!
*What*: Work Party (fun, learning, labor, love)! — Also see TASKS list below!!!
*When*: *Sat 9/5 @ 12 noon* (And Every Saturday, FOREVER)!
*How*: With our bare hands, feet, noses, etc — plus tools and stuff!
*Why*: Omni Commons needs some serious elbow grease to get ship-shape, for the safety, accessibility, and delight of all!

*TASKS*
* Doors (re-hanging and installing closers)
* Carpentry in the basement
* Plumbing, tile, and other water-related activities
* Drywall ’til you drop
* Felt the feet of our ballroom furniture
* Protect our building from confused critters like pigeons!
* General cleaning / tidying / arranging / creativity / expression / explosions / excitement / activity!!!!!!!
* much much much more!

Please join your fellow volunteers, especially the zany and rambunctious
Building and Maintenance Working Group (woooohooooooooooooooooooooo)!

Join Sunnyside farmers and other Soil Not Oil attendees for some post-conference socializing, relaxation, and action plotting. The Occupy the Farm Documentary will be screened at dusk, followed by a Q+A with OTF organizers. We’ll be serving handmade falafel, but bring a dish to share if you can, and BYOB 🙂

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

Essentials of Scientific Socialism: Part of a Continuing Series

“Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest significance in our age of transition.” Einstein’s comment remains true in our Century, when the growing interest in socialism is matched by a growing confusion about socialism. This workshop, led by Gene Ruyle of the ICSS, will be part of an ongoing series seeking to overcome this confusion through study and discussion, focusing on the classics of scientific socialism. This session will continue our close reading of the Critique of the Gotha Program (1875). In preparation, participants are urged to read, or re-read, this important document and bring a copy along with them. (It’s online at the Marx Engels Archive, and I will also have in on my computer to project it on the screen.)
We will also honor the working class struggles which gave us Labor Day with a discussion of “Labor Day and May Day: Two Workers’ Holidays,” By Eugene E Ruyle. (Available online at http://www.peaceandfreedom.org)

Seating is limited, so plan to come early. We start promptly.
FREE – but hat will be passed for donations to NPML

About Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library
A weekly discussion series inspired by our respect for the work of Karl Marx and our belief that his work will remain as important for the class struggles of the future as they have been for the past.

For our full schedule, go to icssmarx.org

Join Phat Beets Produce at Dover St. Edible Park for a plant sale to benefit a paid job for William Jackson. Phat Beets Produce and Jackson have propagated numerous perennial and annual veggies including:

-Purple/Green Tree Collard
-Kosmic Perennial Kale
-Cape Goosbery
-Mint (Chocolate, Pinapple, Apple, Moroccan, Persian, Laotian n’ more)
-Thyme (lemon, lime, silver, creeping, n’ more)
-lemon grass
-Horseradish
-New Zealand Spinach
-Cuban Oregano
Plus lots of annuals…

Jackson is an elder and recycler in our community, who was helped take care of Dover St Edible Park for over 3 years as a volunteer. Support green jobs in our neighborhood! Stay for some tasty garden treats too!

Join Biosafety Alliance & the CSG (formerly known as the California State Grange), in the historic:

SOS Save Our Seeds March and Rally

Fight back the California Seeds Law AB-2470

We will meet in Sunday September 6th at 11:00 AM at the Embarcadero, to walk to Civic Center for a rally.

Speakers – Information – Music – Solidarity

FACTS About the California Seed Law AB-2470

– AB-2470 makes it illegal for a farmer to sell, trade, exchange or barter their seeds more 3 miles from their farm or garden

– AB-2470 redefines “neighbor” as not to exceed 3 miles from one another

– AB-2470 makes illegal community seed exchanges, swap meets, and seed libraries due to the 3 mile restriction

– AB-2470 makes it illegal for a farmer to share their seeds to a friend 3 miles down the road

– AB-2470 unfairly creates competition and threatens the disruption of organic, heirloom seeds, favoring genetically modified (GMO) seeds

– AB-2470 gives the Secretary of Food & Agriculture full authority to dictate what can and cannot be grown in California counties and cities

– AB-2470 provides that any ordinance adopted by a county or municipality after January 1, 2015 that would restrict the production of GMO crops is subject to a veto by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)

– AB-2470 limits the rights of local governments from making decisions for the health and safety of it’s citizens and constitutes a state preemption of local control

– AB-2470 redefines “person” to include “corporations”

BART Police Chief: Kenton Rainey:

We demand that BART publicly release the body camera footage from the West Oakland BART shooting immediately.

Phone: 510.464.7022,
E-mail: krainey@bart.gov
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bartsf?fref=ts
Twitter: @SFBART

Last week, a man was shot and critically injured at the West Oakland BART Station after a struggle with two BART police officers. BART police allege that the man shot himself in the stomach with his own gun after resisting arrest on the platform.

However, one witness who took a video of the incident says that he heard a “pop” from across the platform. He then saw a black man on the ground and a policeman on top of him and the man on the ground was yelling, “They shot me! They shot me!”

The two officers involved in the incident were wearing body cameras, and an official statement from BART claims that the footage is being reviewed. BART’s statement also declared their intention to charge the man with attempted murder.

But past incidents involving BART police, like the murder of Oscar Grant in 2009, demonstrate that we cannot trust BART police’s account of the events, or to review the footage without oversight from the public.

For the next #72hours, we are urging the public to call, e-mail, Facebook and Tweet BART, and demand that they #releasethetapes. If their version of events is accurate and true, they should have no problem sharing the body camera and BART station surveillance footage with the public.

While body cameras cannot provide a comprehensive recounting of the incident, they can shed some light and increase transparency. BART needs to know that we are watching, and that we are seeking accountability. We demand that BART publically release the body camera footage from the West Oakland BART shooting immediately.

BART Police Chief: Kenton Rainey

Phone: 510.464.7022,
E-mail: krainey@bart.gov
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bartsf?fref=ts
Twitter: @SFBART

Please use the hashtags #72hours and #releasethetapes.

Supporters:
Anti-Police Terror Project
Black Power Network
Coalition for Police Accountability
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
National Lawyers Guild

Thanks to you and other great supporters, we’ve had a terrific first step in the dismantling of LIBRARYGATE.
Last Monday, the library director resigned, opening the way for the possibility of productive re-building at Berkeley Public Library.

And, we’re not done yet!

Now, the pressure mounts to persuade the Board of Library Trustees to dialog openly with the community. WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE this coming WEDNESDAY. BOLT will meet and it’s pretty certain that the plans for how to search for the new director will be the focus.  Just like we’ve been doing, members of the library public and current and retired staff will sign up for a three-minute public comment speaking slot.  We’re looking for YOU!

And your friends.

This meeting will be a turning point.  We’re negotiating for an immediate investigation into what’s gone wrong with the library collection and treatment of staff.  We need the Board and the library administration to learn from past mistakes.  We want to insure that the search for a new library director is a national search for candidates of diverse backgrounds, who have a commitment to the Berkeley community and to the printed word in all its forms.  We need an independent interim library director who’s not beholden to the policies and practices of newly-retired Jeff Scott, and who can trustfully restore staff morale.  We need to restore a collegial collection development policy and practice, not limited to book selection and weeding by two managers.  We need to return all librarians to their work of selecting and weeding the collection.  And we want to restore the rampantly weeded collection by reinstating the last copies of titles that were massively tossed.

At 7pm the commission resumes work on the investigation of the December 2014 police response to Black Lives Matter protests. See below for more information.

Prior to the full meeting, the Mutual Aid Subcommittee will meet from 6 to 7 to discuss BPD agreements with agencies like the intelligence fusion center (NCRIC), UASI (Homeland Security anti-terrorism funding program, which pays for Urban Shield), and UCPD. I will send more information on this subcommittee meeting separately.

Public comment is welcome at the beginning of each meeting.

Here is the agenda packet for the full 7pm commission meeting: http://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Police_Review_Commission/Commissions/PRC%20Pkt.%209-9-15.pdf http://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Police_Review_Commission/Commissions/PRC%20Pkt.%209-9-15.pdf

You may wish to review the packet before coming to the meeting, as it includes:

1. A memo to the city council announcing a delay in reporting back on the investigation (council meeting of December 1)
2. Recommendations already passed by PRC as part of the investigation
3. Proposed outline of overall report to council
— And unrelated to the investigation:
4. Right to Watch: new police General Order, and a protest by CopWatch
5. Proposed commission work plan for the rest of the year
6. Letter sent by PRC to council on proposed changes to BPD General Order N-17 governing Suspicious Activity Reporting to the NCRIC fusion center.

The racism of police violence, climate change, sexism and homophobia, war, economic inequality.  The injustices of American society stang exposed for everyone to see.  Yet the many apologists for capitalism claim that whatever its defects there is no alternative to a system that puts corporate greed ahead of human need.  We disagree!  Join the International Socialist Organization and discuss what socialism is and how you can get involved today in the struggle to change the world.

Organized by the International Socialist Organization

After many months of appearances, Dante is accepting a felony plea deal. Let’s show up to send him onward to probation and moving forward with his life! The sentencing appointment was specific to the minute, so be on time! That is not, of course, a guarantee that the courts will be prompt.

Check the anti-rep website and Facebook for any change or postponement before going!

A few weeks ago you may have signed a petition demanding an investigation be conducted in the death of an inmate, Mario Martinez, at Santa Rita County Jail. We invite you to come out and support our rally at the Corizon office. Corizon is the healthcare provider at Santa Rita County Jail who is partially responsible for Mario’s death on July 15, 2015.

We will meet at 10:30AM at 1130 Ballena Blvd in the city of Alameda. We will march from this location to 1150 Ballena Blvd. where Corizon’s office is located. The event will begin at 11:30 AM promptly.

Please RSVP and let me know if we can count on you to join the rally. Thank you for signing the petition, your support and your time, Have a great day.

The event formerly known as the Mission Takes the Planning Commission, has expanded! We make history on 9/10 at 11am!

11 AM :: RALLY/ACTION
:::: Activities/Actions throughout the DAY ::::

((( THUR. 9/17 is ROUND 3 )))
Save the Date :: Details TBA soon!

Build Affordable Housing • Stop the Evictions • Preserve SF Arts and Culture • Just Cause Evictions 2.0 • YES on I • YES on F • Don’t Supersize SOMA • No Beast on Bryant • Save Yerba Buena Island Community

Organized by ACCE • Bayan NorCal • Calle 24 Latino Cultural District • Causa Justa :: Just Cause • The Cultural Action Network • Gabriela SF • Our Mission No Eviction • Plaza 16 Coalition • San Francisco Antidisplacement Coalition • SoMa Action Committee • and many more!

__________________________________________
SIGN THE PETITION http://tinyurl.com/BeastOnBryant
SIGN UP FOR MORE INFO http://goo.gl/forms/3AjSq0lMtK

FOR UPDATES throughout the day on 9/10: follow on Twitter: @CulturalActNet @PlazaSixteen or follow our Facebook pages

– Please RSVP and stay tuned on the event page.

Please turn out for this and bring 10 friends!

#NoBeastOnBryant