Calendar

9896
Jan
18
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: Making Sense of Chaos @ Online
Jan 18 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.  All are welcome.

For our January, 2025 meeting we will be reading the first seven chapters Making Sense of Chaos by by J. Doyne Farmer (Yale University Press, Amazon). For our February meeting, we will be finishing the book.

We live in an age of increasing complexity—an era of accelerating technology and global interconnection that holds more promise, and more peril, than any other time in human history. The fossil fuels that have powered global wealth creation now threaten to destroy the world they helped build. Automation and digitization promise prosperity for some, unemployment for others. Financial crises fuel growing inequality, polarization, and the retreat of democracy. At heart, all these problems are rooted in the economy, yet the guidance provided by economic models has often failed.
 
Many books have been written about J. Doyne Farmer and his work, but this is the first in his own words. It presents a manifesto for how to do economics better. In this tale of science and ideas, Farmer fuses his profound knowledge and expertise with stories from his life to explain how we can bring a scientific revolution to bear on the economic conundrums facing society.
 
Using big data and ever more powerful computers, we are now able for the first time to apply complex systems science to economic activity, building realistic models of the global economy. The resulting simulations and the emergent behavior we observe form the cornerstone of the science of complexity economics, allowing us to test ideas and make significantly better economic predictions—to better address the hard problems facing the world.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) Doughnut EconomicsLimitsBanking on the PeopleCapital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s TelescopeMission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything  A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More,  Cannibal Capitalism,  Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders,  The Path to a Livable FutureSolidarity,  Mutual Aid and Breaking Together.

78082
Jan
19
Sun
Sunday Morning Marxist Forum: Compatible Left in Service of Imperialism @ Online
Jan 19 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Speaker: Stansfield Smith

To Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89531900427?pwd=mXg1rSZe3ONl4pfWlALW4ornc32Eez.1

The CIA helped to build and subsidize a “compatible left” in the 1940-1960s to help counter the Communist bloc and associated organizations. This anti-communist compatible left still exists today, giving backhanded defense of US imperialism’s endless wars. They harshly criticize the same nations the US seeks to overthrow and cover up US covert operations and economic warfare against these countries; e.g., Qaddafi’s Libya, Assad’s Syria, Iran, Chavistas in Venezuela, Sandinistas in Nicaragua. They condemn Russia or China (or both) as imperialistic, while painting Trump as a fascist and the Democrats as preferable. In short, their politics aligns with the national security police state propaganda against its perceived enemies.

The compatible left is also closely involved in pushing the issue of “identity” as equal to or even more important than class. But we can work with the compatible left. Some compatible leftists take progressive positions in opposing the blockade on Cuba, gender issues, condemning Israeli mass murder and the Democratic Party hierarchy, and in defending the increasing labor union struggles.

Our speaker, Stansfield Smith, is a member of Chicago ALBA Solidarity. He is a long time anti-war activist and has opposed US interference over the years in Latin America. He produces AFGJ’s Venezuela & ALBA Weekly News and the online newsletter for the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition. His website is ChicagoALBASolidarity.org.

Stansfield Smith has written:

Also see this YouTube by Ben Norton, “How the CIA supports a ‘compatible left’ to aid US imperialism,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1sJ2uZ4aaQ&t=474s

78108
Jan
20
Mon
March to Reclaim MLK’s Radical Legacy @ Oscar Grant Plaza
Jan 20 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

A great way to spend Inauguration Day — in community with other progressives at the 11th annual March to Reclaim Martin Luther King’s Radical Legacy, demanding “freedom from white supremacy, war, genocide, colonialism, extractivism, and imperialism.”

The event is hosted by Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project , which writes:

“Are you enraged because of the deepening facism and police state in this country? Disgusted and heart sick by the ongoing genocide in Palestine? Appalled at the attacks against our unhoused neighbors?

“Oakland will not concede to fascism. We knew no matter the outcome of this election, this system was never meant to serve the people: WE take care of US.”

 

78095
Jan
23
Thu
Learn about the CA Office of Health Care Affordability @ Online
Jan 23 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

The Office of Health Care Affordability, (OHCA), is a relatively new office tucked inside one department of California’s Health and Human Services Agency. Its three stated aims are to “slow spending growth, promote high value, and assess market consolidation”.

Doctors James G. Kahn, moderator, and Ana Malinow, presenter, are both single-payer advocates. Along with participating panelists, they will share information about the office and the actions it has taken so far and share their views about how it might impact healthcare in the state.

Until we shift to a single payer system, it looks like this office will be a focal point for proposing reductions in healthcare spending and changes in provider payment models. It will also study the effects that market consolidation is having on our healthcare.

Here is the event flyer. Click register to attend.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NIBlnPaATMeaVeCa3D8DEg

To get some background and more out of the forum, you can acquaint yourself with the part of the bill SB 184 – Health that created OHCA in 2022. Scroll down to Section 19, and begin with part 127500.5. This section describes existing healthcare problems and needs along with the intentions and structure of the office.

This forum is hosted by The Movement to End the Privatization of Medicare.

78112
Jan
25
Sat
Peace Gathering with Presentations by 14 Activist Groups @ Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Jan 25 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Join us for a Peace Gathering.
This event, sponsored by the Humanist Mutual Aid Network (Hank Pellissier), will feature networking tables and presentations by 14 activist groups, an honor ceremony, Chilean & Aymara music, live texting actions, and a CodePink bake sale benefiting Prosthetics for Palestine.

Participating groups include CodePink, Veterans for Peace, Mount Diablo Peace & Justice Center, Berkeley Banner Drop, Nor Cal Sabeel, Prosthetics for Palestine, Taxpayers Against Genocide, Berkeley Network for Palestine, RACCOON, People’s Arms Embargo, Women in Black, Albany El Cerrito for Palestine, Divest Bay Area, and Doctors Against Genocide.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5. Tickets are available at the door or through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/peace-gathering-tickets-1129756826079?aff=oddtdtcreator. Proceeds will support Myanmar refugees.

78113
Jan
26
Sun
Film Screening: “The Zone of Interest” @ It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies
Jan 26 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, co-produced among the United Kingdom, the United States, and Poland. Loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, the film focuses on the life of German Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig, who live with their family in a home in the “Zone of Interest” next to the German concentration camp.

Join the Oakland Greens for this free community event: dinner starts at 6:30 PM PST and movie promptly at 7 PM PST.

The Oakland Greens Free Dinner & a Movie Discussion Series is a community event that runs January—October. Get in-persxn tickets and information thru:  https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-oakland-greens-30818034656  or:   https://www.facebook.com/oaklandgreens  or just show up, walk-ins welcome. These community engagement events are held the last Sunday of the month January thru October.  All Oakland Greens events are held in community partnership with It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies 4920 TELEGRAPH AVE, SUITE B OAKLAND.

Express your green ideas and “like” us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenpartyofalamedacounty/

Participation and/or donations appreciated!  https://acgreens.wordpress.com/donate/
FLIER to print, post, distribute please:
https://acgreens.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/gpcaac_gs.png

78114
Jan
29
Wed
CLASS STRUGGLE UNIONISM IN THE ILWU AND BEYOND – PANEL DISCUSSION @ East Bay DSA Offices
Jan 29 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm


Panelists:

Bob Mandel, founding member of the ILWU Militant Caucus; OEA Executive
Board (ret.) co-founder, Adult School Teachers United

Tom Riley, co-founder, with Howard Keylor, of the External Tendency of the
iSt / Bolshevik Tendency

Mary Jane Galviso, lifelong Marxist, Communist and comrade of Howard
Keylor; founding member, Filipino Farmers Cooperative and its parent
organization, the Rural Communities Resource Center

Howard Keylor was a long-time communist militant in International
Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10. A veteran of the Battle of Okinawa, he
made the motion in Local 10 for the 11 day strike of the Nedlloyd Kimberley in 1984
against South African apartheid. For twelve years, Howard was elected to the
Executive Board of Local 10 on an open class struggle program which described
the government as the “executive committee of the capitalists” and the class
collaborationist labor leadership as its tool.

The Howard Keylor Conference Room at the DSA offices is named in his
memory. To dedicate the conference room, Howard’s comrades present a panel on
his work, beginning with Howard quitting college to support Filipino agricultural
workers in the Stockton asparagus strike in 1948, the bi-coastal ILA/ILWU boycott
of Chilean cargo against Pinochet in 1974, to the three community pickets against
Zim ships for Palestine in 2014, and more.

Link to event:
bit.ly/3Chw5zC

To learn more about Howard’s life:
http://bit.ly/42953VH

Audio and video about Howard:
https://linktr.ee/howardkeylor

78117
Feb
1
Sat
The War on Immigrants, and How We Fight Back @ Starry Plough
Feb 1 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Suds, Snacks, and Socialism
at the Starry Plough

The War on Immigrants,
and How We Fight Back

Please register in advance at
https://bit.ly/SSS_WarOnImmigrants
to receive your personal link to participate in this event online

Most immigrants come to this country to escape violence and persecution and to work to support their families. While Trump is virulent in his threats against them, politicians of both capitalist parties spew the rhetoric and advocate various policies including detention and deportation to ban immigrants, even while they and their allies benefit from their labor.

Join our speakers who will present a picture of what may be coming from the Trump administration and how we can resist.

David Bacon � photojournalist, author of Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants

Marisa Almor � community organizer, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

Jesus Moctezuma � educator, organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation

*Organizations listed for identification purposes only.

Please help us celebrate our return to the Starry Plough by ordering food and/or drinks.
Please arrive early to place your order so that you do not miss any of the presentations.
An open discussion will follow the presentations.
We will be accepting donations which will be divided among the sponsoring organizations.

This event is sponsored by the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party,
the Alameda County Green Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change.

For more information email <info@sudssnackssocialism.org>

78120
Feb
2
Sun
Maduro Assumes a Third Term – Prospects and Problematics for Venezuela @ Online
Feb 2 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Speaker: Roger D. Harris

To Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85175860127?pwd=bfZRQOSMuhX9Pfm4qhPMOZMrmE9Ohm.1

Forecasts are favorable for Venezuela’s quarter-century-old Bolivarian Revolution. Initiated by Hugo Chávez and seamlessly carried forward by Nicolás Maduro, it is threatened by an increasingly aggressive Yankee hegemon. Venezuela’s regional role will be pivotal with key left-leaning presidents in Brazil and Colombia up for reelection in the next two years.

Our speaker, Roger D. Harris, accompanied the January 10 presidential election in Venezuela and the concurrent antifascist conference. He will report back on what happened there as well as on Washington’s campaign to delegitimize the country’s Bolivarian Revolution with the ultimate aim of regime change.

Roger is on the executive committee of the US Peace Council. He is active with the anti-imperialist human rights group Task Force on the Americas, the SanctionsKill Campaign against unilateral coercive measures, is a founding member of the Venezuela Solidarity Network, and is on the secretariat of the US Peace Council. He is also on the ICSS program committee.

Some of the recent articles by or co-authored by Roger on Venezuela and Latin America:

****************************

 

 

 

 

 

78118
Feb
4
Tue
ACLU Town Hall: Fighting Trump’s First Attacks @ Online
Feb 4 @ 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Join us in this critical fight and secure your spot at our upcoming town hall by RSVPing now.

ACLU Town Hall:

Fighting Trump’s First Attacks

RSVP

The town hall will focus on the ACLU’s response to the Trump administration’s very first actions in office, including attempts to end birthright citizenship, shut down the southern border to asylum seekers, ban health care for transgender youth, and dismantle the core principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

AJ Hikes, ACLU Deputy Executive Director for Strategy & Culture, will be the moderator, joined by a panel of the ACLU’s leadership team:

  • Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director
  • Cecillia Wang, ACLU National Legal Director
  • John Gilbert, ACLU National Organizing Director
  • Naureen Shah, ACLU Deputy Director of Government Affairs, Equality Division
  • Chase Strangio, ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project Co-Director


They will provide key insights into the ACLU’s response to the Trump administration, from litigation to advocacy and grassroots organizing, as well as the crucial role states and cities have to play in protecting our freedoms. Importantly, more than just a briefing, the town hall will be a space for community and solidarity as we work to defend our democracy and advance the fight for justice and equality.

RSVP right now to receive a link to the virtual event and to submit your questions in advance.

78121
Feb
9
Sun
U.S. Middle East Policy Under Trump: How it Will Differ (and How it Won’t) from Biden  @ Online
Feb 9 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88083342274

A second Trump administration will push U.S. policy in the Middle East in a very dangerous direction. Already, Trump has thrown his weight behind the most extremist elements in Israel while effectively renouncing international legal precedence, embracing Arab dictatorships, and making the U.S. very much of an outlier even among our pro-Western allies. However, the Biden administration pursued many of these dangerous policies as well. As a result, supporters of Palestinian rights–and proponents of human rights and international law in general–must be willing to challenge the leadership of both political parties in the coming months and years.

Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he served as founding director of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Zunes has served as a senior policy analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun.

He is also the principal editor of “Nonviolent Social Movements” (1999), author of the highly acclaimed “Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism” (2003) and co-author (with Jacob Mundy) of “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution” (second revised expanded edition, 2022.)

Zunes was the recipient of the 2015 Dean’s Scholar Award from USF’s College of Arts and Sciences and, in 2002, he won recognition from the Peace and Justice Studies Association as their first Peace Scholar of the Year. He is also a frequent contributor to periodicals and major daily newspapers on four continents and has also served as a consultant and board member for a number of peace and human rights organizations in both the United States and overseas.

Green Sundays are a series of free public programs & discussions on topics “du jour” sponsored by the Green Party of Alameda County and held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. The monthly business meeting of the County Council of the Green Party follows at 7:00 pm, after a 30-minute break. Council meetings are open to anyone who is interested.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88083342274

Meeting ID: 880 8334 2274
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k39IUnw59

78122
Feb
12
Wed
100 Days: Debtors’ Assembly @ Online
Feb 12 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Debtors of the world, unite!

Alone, our debts are a burden. Together they give us power. When we share our experiences of debt and economic pressure with each other, we begin to see our collective power to change the systems that exploit us. Everyone is welcome to participate in this debtors assembly, whether or not you are currently debt-burdened.

This is a 100 Days to Build Debtor Power event. Over the first 100 days of the new presidential administration, we’re embarking – together – on an intensive campaign of organizing trainings, political education, and debtors assemblies to build our solidarity AND prepare us with the skills we’ll need in the months & years ahead.

Register

78125
Feb
15
Sat
Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: Making Sense of Chaos @ Online
Feb 15 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the online invite.  All are welcome.

For our January, 2025 meeting we will be reading the first seven chapters Making Sense of Chaos by by J. Doyne Farmer (Yale University Press, Amazon). For our February meeting, we will be finishing the book.

We live in an age of increasing complexity—an era of accelerating technology and global interconnection that holds more promise, and more peril, than any other time in human history. The fossil fuels that have powered global wealth creation now threaten to destroy the world they helped build. Automation and digitization promise prosperity for some, unemployment for others. Financial crises fuel growing inequality, polarization, and the retreat of democracy. At heart, all these problems are rooted in the economy, yet the guidance provided by economic models has often failed.
 
Many books have been written about J. Doyne Farmer and his work, but this is the first in his own words. It presents a manifesto for how to do economics better. In this tale of science and ideas, Farmer fuses his profound knowledge and expertise with stories from his life to explain how we can bring a scientific revolution to bear on the economic conundrums facing society.
 
Using big data and ever more powerful computers, we are now able for the first time to apply complex systems science to economic activity, building realistic models of the global economy. The resulting simulations and the emergent behavior we observe form the cornerstone of the science of complexity economics, allowing us to test ideas and make significantly better economic predictions—to better address the hard problems facing the world.

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included (in chronological order) Doughnut EconomicsLimitsBanking on the PeopleCapital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s TelescopeMission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, Exploring Degrowth, The Origin of Wealth, Mine!, The Dawn of Everything  A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Beyond Money, Less is More,  Cannibal Capitalism,  Debt, the First 5000 Years , Poverty, By America, End Times, Jackson Rising Redux , The Feminist Subversion of the Economy, How Infrastructure Works, Inside the Systems that Shape our World, Wealth Supremacy, The Persuaders,  The Path to a Livable FutureSolidarity,  Mutual Aid and Breaking Together.

78082
Report-back from Syria @ Online
Feb 15 @ 5:51 pm – 6:51 pm

Speaker: Dan Kovalik

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85175860127?pwd=bfZRQOSMuhX9Pfm4qhPMOZMrmE9Ohm.1

Our speaker, international human rights advocate and lawyer Dan Kovalik just returned from Syria, once a beautiful country and the cradle of civilization. He visited so that we could speak out for people there who can’t speak out because they fear violent repression. Dan will report back on the current situation in light of historical developments. The new de facto government was in large part brought to power by the US and other foreign entities and does not have a mandate or right to rule. Multiculturalism has been destroyed by the new government, putting many minorities at risk.

Dan Kovalik has written extensively on international human rights and US foreign policy. He has lectured throughout the world on these subjects and frequently appears on RT. He is the author of books exposing the machinations of US imperialism in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Iran, and Russia, and most recently Palestine/Israel. Other books include a progressive case against cancel culture and how the US violates international law. He teaches international human rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.  He graduated from Columbia University School of Law. He then served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW) until 2019.

78137
Feb
16
Sun
Spy for No Country: The Story of Ted Hall, the Teenage Atomic Spy Who May Have Saved the World @ Online
Feb 16 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Invite Link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86411768499?pwd=UitCdlJuWFR2QkZZTDVOQ2w0anVZUT09

At 18 years of age, Theodore Hall was the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, hired as a junior at Harvard and put to work at Los Alamos in 1944. Assigned the job of testing and refining the complex implosion system for the plutonium bomb, Hall was described as “amazingly brilliant” by his superiors on the project, many of whom were Nobel Prize winners. But what Hall’s colleagues didn’t know was that the teenaged Hall was also the youngest spy taken on by the Soviet Union in search of secrets to the atomic bomb. Spy With No Country tells the gripping story of a brilliant scientist whose information about the plutonium bomb, including detailed drawings and measurements, proved to be integral to the Soviet’s development of nuclear capabilities.

In the dying days of World War II, defeat of the Third Reich became a matter of when, not if. Tensions between wartime allies America and the Soviet Union began to rise, and things only got hotter when the United States refused to share information on its nuclear program. This groundbreaking book paints a nuanced picture of a young man acting on what he thought was best for the world.

Neither a Communist nor a Soviet sympathizer, Hall worked to ensure that America did not monopolize the science behind the atomic bomb, which he felt may have apocalyptic consequences. Instead, by providing the Soviets with the secrets of the bomb, and thereby initiating “mutual assured destruction,” Hall may have actually saved the world as we know it. But his contributions to the Soviets certainly did not go unnoticed. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover opened an investigation into Hall, which was escalated when it was discovered that Hall’s brother Edward was a rising star of the Air Force, leading the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Featuring in-depth research from recently declassified FBI documents, first-hand journals, and personal interviews, investigative journalist Dave Lindorff uncovers the story of the atomic spy who gave secrets away, and got away with it, too.

Dave Lindorff is an American investigative reporter, filmmaker, a columnist for CounterPunch and a contributor to Tarbell.org, The Nation, FAIR and Salon.com.

Lindorff graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 with a BA in Chinese language. He then received an MS in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1975. A two-time Fulbright Scholar (Shanghai, 1991–92 and Taiwan, 2004), he was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University in 1978–79.

In 2019, he was a winner of an “Izzy” for “Outstanding Independent Journalism” awarded by the Park Center for Independent Media.

He is also founding editor of the collectively run journalism news site ThisCantBeHappening!, along with six other journalists: John Grant, Jess Guh, Alfredo Lopez, Ron Ridenour, and Linn Washington, Jr., political cartoonist Dave Kiphuft and resident poet Gary Lindorff. The news site, since its founding in June 2010, has won seven Project Censored awards for its coverage and was labeled a “threat” in a memo TCBH! obtained through a FOIA filing with the Department of Homeland Security,

A former bureau chief covering Los Angeles County government for the Los Angeles Daily News, and a reporter-producer for PBS station KCET in Los Angeles and its Emmy-winning investigative news program “28-Tonight,” Lindorff was also a founder and editor of the weekly Los Angeles Vanguard newspaper (as was TCBH member Ridenour), established in 1976, where he won the Grand Prize of the Los Angeles Press Club for his reporting as well as an award for Best Article in a Weekly.

Lindorff also worked at the Minneapolis Tribune, the Santa Monica Evening Outlook and The Middletown Press in Connecticut, which was his first professional journalism job.

He is the author of five books, the most recent being Spy for No Country: The Story of Ted Hall, the Teenage Atomic Spy Who May Have Saved the World. His previous books include: The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office, written with attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights, as well as Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

He is co-producer along with Mark Mitten of A Compassionate Spy,[a feature-length documentary film directed by two-time Academy Award-nominee Steve James, about the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, 18-year-old Theodore (Ted) Hall, hired at Los Alamos to work on the implosion system for the plutonium bomb used in the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945, and a month later on Nagasaki. This movie is available from AMAZON.

78136
Feb
17
Mon
Covert Action and Endless War: How the U.S. Exports Violence @ Online
Feb 17 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

The bellicose foreign policy of the U.S. continues to fuel instability and war worldwide in misguided efforts to attain global hegemony. In Europe, the Mideast, and the Pacific, U.S. covert and overt actions are undermining political stability and endangering peace. The webinar will explain how this process works, review the historic record, and address the dangers posed by continuation of covert and overt U.S. actions that harm other nations and threaten our own national security.

You must pre-register for the webinar HERE or click on the link below
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nG2cJo_3SG2ODCL4ojfFMQ

Panelists:

Matthew Hoh has been a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy since 2010. In 2009, Matthew resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan with the State Department over the American escalation of the war. He advocates a foreign policy centered on diplomacy, human rights, and international cooperation, rather than militarism. He is a disabled veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq.

Dr. Jill Stein was the Green Party candidate for President in 2024, 2016, and 2012. Jill advocates for cutting military spending, ending U.S. interventionist wars, and closing overseas military bases. She supports replacing militarism with diplomacy, promoting international cooperation, and respecting international law. Her approach prioritizes addressing the root causes of conflict, such as poverty, climate change, and inequality, and redirecting resources toward global humanitarian aid and development.

Daniel Kovalik, a human rights lawyer and author, is a strong critic of U.S. interventionist foreign policies. He opposes regime change operations, economic sanctions, and military interventions, arguing that these tactics often violate international law and worsen conditions in affected countries. Kovalik emphasizes the importance of respecting national sovereignty and addressing global issues like poverty and inequality through cooperation rather than coercion.

The webinar moderators will be Madelyn Hoffman, a Co-Chair of GPAX, and Noura Khouri of the Green Party of California.

Madelyn Hoffman is an environmentalist and peace activist. Madelyn served as the director of New Jersey Peace Action from 2000 to 2018 and has been a prominent figure in the Green Party, running as their candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 and 2020, and for Governor of New Jersey in 1997 and 2021.

Noura Khouri is a U.S. born Palestinian human rights activist and community organizer based in Oakland, California. Over the past two decades, Noura has dedicated herself to advocating for Palestinian rights, serving as a campaign strategist and organizer. She has lived and worked in occupied Palestine and Egypt, gaining firsthand experience in the role and impact of US foreign policy on the region.

78135
Feb
19
Wed
Student Debt Account Review: From Mutual Aid to Debtor Organizing @ Online
Feb 19 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This event is a part of the 100 Days of Debtor Organizing and in particular is for those a part of the Debt Collective’s 50 Over 50. This call is open to anyone and will serve as a training to supporting student debtors in your community with information on the current avenues to debt cancellation. We will be sharing how we hosted events in local communities to educate and support folks on these methods of debt cancellation. This is through existing programs such as Total and Permanent Disability Discharge, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and Income Driven Repayment cancellation. As well, we provide tips in how to have debtor organizing conversation.

Join us on zoom on Feb 19th at 8pm ET, you can register here.

78126
Feb
23
Sun
Oakland Greens movie:  500 Years Later (2005) @ It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies, 
Feb 23 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
The Oakland Greens’ movie this month is from our first season, the 2005 film “500 Years Later”. This Independent film by M.K. Asante and Owen Alik Shahadah examines the “Why”, 500 years later, from the onset of Slavery and subsequent Colonialism, people of the African Diaspora are still struggling for basic freedom. Join your community members on Sunday, February 23, with doors open at 6:15 PM, dinner at 6:30 PM and movie promptly at 7 PM. Discussion will happen afterwards, where your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
The Oakland Greens Free Dinner & a Movie Discussion Series is a community event that runs January—October. Get in-person tickets and information thru  https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-oakland-greens-30818034656  or  facebook.com/oakland_greens  or just show up, walk-ins welcome. However, if you’ll be there for dinner, please do register by this coming Saturday, at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oakland-greens-free-dinner-a-movie-tickets-1245531882389  so we can know how much food to bring! These community engagement events are held the last Sunday of the month, January thru October. All Oakland Greens events are held in community partnership with It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies 4920 Telegraph Ave., Suite B, Oakland.
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Mar
1
Sat
Suds, Snacks, and Socialism at the Starry Plough Climate Catastrophes: Socialist Perspectives @ Starry Plough & Online
Mar 1 @ 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Doors open at 1:30 p.m.

https://bit.ly/SSS_ClimateCatastrophes
to receive your personal link to participate in this event online

The L.A. fires are a recent instance of the many disasters related to climate change that are occurring around the world. These include more frequent and harsher droughts, increasing flooding events, and more intense and destructive storms like hurricanes and tornadoes. Capitalist players, like the monopolistic fossil fuel and utilities corporations, are exacerbating this crisis.

Our speakers are socialists who are involved in fighting this threat to humanity and the natural world. They will share their perspectives on the crisis and the movements organizing for both short-term and systemic change.

Ted Franklin – organizer/legal consultant, No Coal in Oakland campaign; member, DSA Green New Deal caucus; member, coordinating committee of the national System Change, Not Climate Change coalition

Scott Brown – electrical engineer; organizer, Party for Socialism and Liberation; organizer, Reclaim Our Power Coalition, fighting to replace PG&E with a statewide people’s utility in California

*Organizations listed for identification purposes only.

Please help us celebrate our return to the Starry Plough by ordering food and/or drinks.
Please arrive early to place your order so that you do not miss any of the presentations.
An open discussion will follow the presentations.
We will be accepting donations which will be divided among the sponsoring organizations.

This event is sponsored by the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party,
the Alameda County Green Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change.

For more information email <info@sudssnackssocialism.org>

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Mar
2
Sun
Latin America Resists Trump : Deportations, Drugs, and Economic Warfare @ Online
Mar 2 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm


Speaker: John Perry

To Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85175860127?pwd=bfZRQOSMuhX9Pfm4qhPMOZMrmE9Ohm.1

Latin America Resists Trump � Deportations, Drugs, and Economic Waarfare

The main difference between Donald Trump and his predecessors is that the current CEO of the empire better exposes naked imperialism. With an ever more aggressive and virulent projection of hegemony, the Yankees view problems such as migration and drug trafficking as simply coming from the south, ignoring some of the underlying made-in-the-USA causes.

To reverse that narrative, our speaker will provide a view from the south and how resistance is building in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Nicaragua-based John Perry is a naturalized citizen and a supporter of the Sandinista Revolution. He is a journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, Grayzone, FAIR, and many other publications.

For background, see:

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