Thursday, April 28, 2011

2011-04-28 "Tea Party: Obama Has Multiple Social Security Numbers Tied To Bill Ayers" by David Badash
[http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/tea-party-obama-has-multiple-social-security-numbers-tied-to-bill-ayers/politics/2011/04/28/19404]
Tea Party leaders are now suggesting that President Obama, who released his long-form birth certificate Wednesday, has “multiple social security numbers,” and claims Obama is friends with William Ayers, who is “very proficient in the use of false identifications and said the best IDs incorporated a social security number.” They also are suggesting Obama committed fraud in relation to his social security number(s) and his selective service registration.
Tea Party Nation founder and birther Judson Phillips, about whom The New Civil Rights Movement wrote Wednesday, and who appeared on “The Chris Matthews Show” just hours later to support his birtherism, today continued his attempts to discredit the President, Hillary Clinton, and the Left.
"Obama has a social security number that was issued in Connecticut. You can tell where a social security number is issued by the first three digits of the number. His was issued in Connecticut. Why is this interesting? Obama never lived in Connecticut and up until the time the number had been issued, had never even visited there. So how does he end up with this social security number?"
Phillips — who advocates for voting rights only for property owners — continues, with, “The Western Journalism Center did a story on Obama tying him to potentially multiple social security numbers. These are all tied together by addresses Obama is known to have lived at. This is incredible fodder. Why would this man have multiple social security numbers? The only people who do that are those engaged in some type of fraud or identity theft.”
Note that “The Western Journalism Center” is another front from World Net Daily founder and birther extraordinaire, Joseph Farrah, whose WND is backing (and refusing to back away from) a soon-to-be-published book about Obama not being an American, even after Obama has proven he is, time and time again.
Judson Phillips, who actually had the guts to blame “gun control Nazis” for the hate crime beating of Chrissy Lee Polis, the transgender woman whose brutal assault at a Baltimore McDonald’s was filmed in a video that has gone viral, also suggests Hillary Clinton was the original birther.
Who started raising questions about Obama’s birth certificate?
Hillary Clinton. She raised those issues when Obama started taking off in the Democratic primaries.
Wrong.
First, the first case of Obama not being born in America can be traced back to this Kenyan-based 2004 Sunday Standard article with a false headline [http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm]. You can thank Snopes.com for the info.
Second, Hillary Clinton didn’t start birtherism. Many reports claim an anonymous ardent Clinton supporter circulated an email that said Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. That may be true, but it’s not the Left that has promulgated the idea.
Oh, and that bit about Obama, and his supposedly-fraudulent selective service registration? Two words: Orly Taitz [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/lawrence-odonnell-orly-taitz-birther_n_854769.html].
Today in the Northbay Uprising, Dr.G. interviews Gizzell St Vincent, the organizer of "Women in the Mirror", a Women's-only event at Napa Valley College:

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Rally at Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting
When: May 3, 2011 @ 11:30 a.m.
Where: Justin Herman Plaza (Embarcadero & Market Streets, San Francisco)
Nearest BART: Embarcadero
For more info go to www.ccisco.org or www.homedefendersleague.org
RSVP: Jean Cohen 510-632-4242 x222Foreclosures have cost Californians over $650 billion. Wells Fargo has NOT paid their fair share and has profited from taking away our homes and destroying our communities!
Join us as we march to the Wells Fargo Annual Shareholder Meeting to demand action on our proposals to keep families in their homes; rebuild our neighborhoods, pay their fair share; stop predatory lending and stop profiting from detaining immigrant communities!
Event sponsors include: ACCE, SEIU 1021, PICO, AFL-CIO, Alameda Labor Council, Causa Justa: Just Cause, and the Oakland Education Association

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

2011-04-26 "UC Berkeley to test outreach science center in South Vallejo" by Jessica A. York from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_17929311]
A new center focused on science education, outreach and resources will take up residence in South Vallejo, with an opening scheduled for next week.
University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science has chosen Vallejo as the beneficiary of a two-year study on expanding the museum's youth and family science programming to small satellite sites.
Working to create an early buy-in from the community, Lawrence Hall outreach coordinators have made presentations with various groups, including the Vallejo school district and, on Monday night, the Vallejo Youth Commission.
Youth commissioners quizzed Veronica Urdaneta, Lawrence Hall's external affairs coordinator, on jobs available at the center and how long the center expects to stay in Vallejo. They were told that those under 21 may have internship and volunteering opportunities available to them.
Though grant funding from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will last only two years, fundraising efforts to sustain the center will begin immediately, an organization representative said before the meeting.
The science center will be housed as a tenant at South Vallejo's Norman C. King Community Center at Sonoma Boulevard and Magazine Street.
It initially will be open Thursdays through Saturdays. A grand full opening is scheduled for June 18.
"This is very exciting for Vallejo," Youth Commission Chairman Ruscal Cayangyang said after a presentation at City Hall.
Cayangyan noted that the new venture would simultaneously fulfill two commission goals -- economic development and youth activities.
Vallejo was chosen as one of two Bay Area locations, including a site in Sonoma County, under-served by the existing Lawrence Hall of Science outreach, the organization's director of community and visitor programs Gretchen Walker said by phone Monday.
Hazel Wilson, member of the Vallejo City Unified School District board, said outside Monday's Commission meeting that the center will serve not only youth, but school district staff, parents and the community as a whole.
"We think this will be a wonderful opportunity," Wilson said.
The proposed "mini center" will focus on making science education accessible and engaging for the community, according to a report by Lawrence Hall staff.
Some services the center expects to provide include:
* Formal after school programs and workshops and informal drop-in hours for children ages 5-14 and their families
* Science- and engineering-themed birthday parties
* School and community group workshops, at the center and schools, for grades kindergarten through eighth
* Professional development workshops for educators
* Instructional resource and material loans to educators
Lawrence Hall of Science is hiring staff members for the Vallejo site, as advertised on its website, [www.lawrencehallofscience.org].
Board directors of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, which manages the community center to house the satellite program, approved the site use in recent weeks. A lease agreement is pending, Walker said.
2011-04-26 "Napa Valley College prepares for higher fees, course shifting in wake of millions in cuts" by Victoria Rossi from "Napa Valley Register" newspaper
[http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_d77e169c-7068-11e0-bdef-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story]
Facing another year of budget uncertainty and up to $4.3 million in state cutbacks, Napa Valley College has begun looking for ways to make money.
“A cultural shift has to occur,” college President Edna Baehre-Kolovani said in an interview last week with the Register’s editorial board.
In the last three years, Napa Valley College has lost $1.4 million in state funds. Some years, the cuts haven’t been as severe as expected — “It’s always the budget guy crying wolf,” said John Nahlen, the school’s vice president of business and finance. Last year, the school waited until October — three months after the start of its fiscal year — to see a final state budget.
Unpredictable state funding “is making us much more entrepreneurial,” Baehre-Kolovani said. “It’s painful for people who aren’t used to it, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
The college will shift about 70 art, musical theater, and physical education sections to fee-based community classes — a move that, in addition to preserving student access to certain courses, could also bring in more revenue for the school.
The shift is partly a response to projected budget cuts. It also preempts legislative proposals that could limit state funding for students who repeat for-credit classes for recreational purposes, or restrict their ability to re-enroll in such classes.
Baehre-Kolovani has also planned to group community classes that offer business skills training under the umbrella “Institute for Business Excellence.” The Institute would be made up of six centers geared toward some of Napa’s main industries: The Center for Health Care Training, Centers for Trade & Technologies, Green & Alternative Technologies, Entrepreneurship, Public Safety, and Hospitality.
Many of these certification classes already exist at Napa Valley College, but Baehre-Kolovani hopes the new organizational structure will “make it more recognizable to the community.”
The funds gained from the new community classes would help cover operations costs for the college’s academic programs, she said.
Some remain uneasy, however, about the source of that money. “My fear is that long-term it's going to take us in the wrong direction, that we'll cease to be a public institution,” said Alex Shantz, president of the Associated Students of Napa Valley College. “If we're getting money from private sources, that’s more incentive for the college to adhere to what those entities want.”
Baehre-Kolovani said the changes were “not a shift in our mission. We are just going about it differently.”
The state’s 112 community college campuses may see an $805 million reduction for the coming school year, officials said. In that worst-case scenario, the Community College League estimated that Napa Valley College could lose up to one-third of its course sections.
Napa Valley College will move many of those cut course sections to community classes. Napa Valley College will not eliminate entire course offerings this year — just some of the class sections, officials said.
Transitioning some sections to community courses would allow some instructors to “continue to make a wage,” said Kevin Luckey, the dean of Physical Education and Athletics. “So it becomes a win-win situation.”
The community classes would differ slightly from the for-credit offerings. “They wouldn’t have the same academic rigor,” he said. They also wouldn’t last as long as for-credit courses. And they would cost more.
How much those new courses would cost, and exactly which ones would shift over, is still under review by the Office of Instruction. In determining which sections to cut, Luckey said the instruction office will look for classes with low enrollment or a high number of repeat students.
Earlier this year, the state legislative analyst proposed restricting repeat students’ access to for-credit classes that students are taking for personal enrichment.
According to its report, 52,000 students repeated the same physical education course last year that they’d already taken in an earlier semester. Another 20,000 students did the same with fine arts classes.
“I don’t think taxpayers should be paying for personal enrichment classes for the residents of California,” Baehre-Kolovani said. “If I’m one who likes to take art and I want to take an art class, I should pay for it. It shouldn’t be on the taxpayer’s back.”
But the college wants to ensure that such students can still enroll in some form of those courses, said trustee JoAnn Busenbark.
“We have the seventh largest population of seniors in the state,” she said. “These are our life-long learners. What we offer is a critical part of their lives.”
All students, repeat or not, will be seeing some measure of tuition increase next year. The state budget plan will raise community college fees from $26 to $36 per unit, or a $300 increase for a full year’s course load. They could be raised even more if the Legislature and the governor don’t reach a budget compromise.
“The community college system as we have known it is going to go through drastic changes,” Busenbark said.
Baehre-Kolovani, who has worked at community colleges in New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, has seen these changes before: When economies in those states declined, state support for education decreased and community colleges were forced to look elsewhere for funds. California’s community college system, which still charges the lowest fees in the country, is following in their footsteps, she said.

Monday, April 25, 2011

"Drop The Suit Now" ILWU Local 10 Defense Committee Rallies On April 25, 2011
[http://blip.tv/file/5097978]
Hundreds of trade unionists protested at the Pacific Maritime Association headquarters on April 25, 2011 in San Francisco to demand that the PMA drop the lawsuits against ILWU Local 10.
The union is being sued after rank and file members refused to go to work on April 4, 2011 in solidarity with Wisconsin public workers who are under attack. Speakers from the SEIU, ATU,
TWU, OEA, AFSCME, the San Francisco Labor Council as well as community activists took the mike.
Production of Labor Video Project [www.laborvideo.org] [laborvideo.blip.tv]


UTU President Diane Brown Speaks At ILWU Local 10 Support Rally
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQNVsiuuh6Y]
On April 25, 2011 United Teachers of Richmond president Diane Brown reports on the attacks on public education held in San Francisco at the offices of the Pacific Maritime Association. She discussed the massive attack on public education with the continued mass layoffs of public school teachers.
Production of Labor Video Project [www.laborvideo.org] [laborvideo.blip.tv]


2011-04-25 "A statement of solidarity from the Peace and Freedom Party Labor Committee"
Approved by the Peace and Freedom Party State Executive Committee
The Peace and Freedom Party wishes to go on record as standing with the Bay Area's Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) whose rank and file membership decided to take a work action by not reporting for work on April 4, 2011.
April 4th was declared a day of national solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin by the “We are One” campaign called for, nationally, by the AFL-CIO. The rank and file members of Local 10 take solidarity seriously: they chose not wait for the end of the work day to take action. As a result, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) is retaliating by suing the union on the spurious grounds of violating the Labor–Management Relations Act (Taft Hartley) of 1947. Taft Hartley is a notorious piece of legislation passed to “fix” what were viewed as short-comings in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
The Peace and Freedom Party wishes to point out that 64 years ago it took a majority of the Democrats in Congress - joining with the Republicans - to override Truman's veto of Taft Hartley. In 1947 - as now - bi-partisanship carried the day when it came to attacking workers' rights.
The Peace and Freedom Party understands and defends the right of workers to withhold their labor in support of other workers. The brave actions of Local 10, who are private sector workers, took this action in a spirit of solidarity with public sector workers. The attempts by legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere, to attack collective bargaining rights created a context for workers to fight back . Today, public sector workers, right here in the Bay Area, are also under attack: The San Francisco Muni TWA, Local 250-A operators have been pushed so far to the wall that a strike authorization vote passed overwhelmingly, and on July 1st, the contracts are up for city workers in Oakland represented by SEIU, Local 1021.
By taking this action PMA is clearly siding with the right-wing attacks on worker's rights and views the actions of the Local 10 membership as a threat which must be “nipped in the bud.”
In the view of the Peace and Freedom Party, the work stoppage of the ILWU, Local 10 membership does indeed pose a threat: The threat of a good example of true workers' solidarity. True solidarity unites private and public sector workers, unites workers across borders, unites all workers into a powerful force for the economic betterment of all.
In the words of the ILWU slogan: “An Injury to One is an Injury to All”
We call on all workers to defend the ILWU, Local 10, who have stood with with us against illegal wars, in defense of political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal,and on countless other occasions. Now is time for us to stand with them and lend our voices in the demand that the Pacific Maritime Association Drop All Charges!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

STUDENT POWER!

2011-03-23 "Massive budget protest at Humboldt State University" by Jason Robo
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/04/23/18677916.php]
Get this story and more in the monthly chronicle of news on our TV show Unstacking the Deck at [www.Unstackingthedeck.com] or on our YouTube channel [www.youtube.com/unstackingthedeck]
[unstackingthedeck [at] gmail.com]
---
On April 13th students and faculty walked out of their classes to rally in front of the Humboldt State University’s underfunded Library. The gathering was not in accordance with campus policies such as the Orwellian named designated “free speech zone” and ended in a disruptive march through campus buildings. Complete with amplified sound and short speeches, each speaker gave their two cents on the newest round of budget cuts. As the bankster engineered depression pushes California towards bankruptcy hopefully the people can connect the dots of the interwoven oppressive matrix of policies in America today.
Education is a source of economic prosperity and cutting this part of the budget is like shooting yourself in the foot while trying to escape a burning building. Not to mention endless dollars dumped on the fire via bailouts for criminal banks or the prison and military industrial complexes. If one takes an objective view of the state budget then the crisis is not so much a shortage of funds but a misallocation of state revenues. One group of young ladies had a sign that said "Cut from Prisons not from HSU!"
The crowd cheered Christopher Grumbine when he stated "I'm a disabled veteran and I served in Iraq." With the blood money he receives from the U.S government for taking part in an illegal war Grumbine said it is hard even on him to survive. "I have difficulty now being able to feed myself, being able to afford my books, being able to afford my tuition and even being able to afford a place to live here," he explained, "and I am sure you deal with the same issues." The group yelled in agreement. The gatherers shouted in disapproval as he said "They are trying to make students and education sacrifice so that they can reap the rewards." Grumbine mentioned across the country in Maine, Wisconsin and Ohio where the public sector is being privatized.
Grumbine then accused CSU Chancellor Charles Reed of making steps to privatize the state university and making students "pawns in an economic system." He's been appeasing the financial system and the business world." Grumbine cited a speech by Reed discussing the transition students must make into the workforce. Reed is "working closely with business to find out what their needs are," as the remainder of his statement is drowned out by a chorus of boos. He continued to note that poor state of public education and the narrow curriculum offered. Higher education is a rare opportunity to expand on our interest not become a "string of vocational schools."
Chancellor Reed, it is important to note, a 24 year member of the Council of Foreign Relations, a nefarious globalist think tank that takes pride in being a nonpartisan foreign policy base. The current president Richard Haass says CFR "has promoted understanding of foreign policy and America's role in the world since its founding in 1921." CFR insider and Professor Carroll Quigley wrote that the group is the American branch of the British round table groups chronicled in his epic 1348-page "Tragedy and Hope." These groups are the legacy of Cecil Rhodes who "left his fortune to form a secret society, which was to devote itself to the preservation and expansion of the British Empire." The group believes "national boundaries should be obliterated and one-world rule established." One of these members in charge of a state public higher education system is certainly in a position to further CFR's objectives.
"Richmond's a sell-out, get the hell out," read one protesters sign, referring to HSU President Rollin Richmond. Richmond was unmentioned by those who spoke on the microphone but has been under constant scrutiny from faculty, students and other HSU employees. His pay has been steadily increased while administering unimaginative across the board cuts to academics and canceling entire programs like German and Nursing. Richmond is good friends with Chancellor Reed who has rewarded Richmond in numerous reviews despite widespread disdain towards him on campus. Richmond has been censured in 2007 by the HSU Associated Students, the student government. The Academic Senate has consistently voiced no confidence in Richmond but fallen short of any concrete action repeatedly.
Back to the protest, one student who spoke roused boos from the crowd when he spoke of 2,500 faculty fired from the CSU in the last two years and over ten thousand classes have been cut. "Their not gonna stop," he said going on to discuss a 242% rise in tuition from 2002 to 2011. The energetic speaker said it all makes sense when you realize the system is all about profits. "They wanna train us to go out and be consumers," he continued, "we don't want that, we want an education." He called on those gathered to come out everyday if they have to and not to forget the momentum they have next fall semester, especially if tuition is raised over summer. "Don't forget this" he concluded "this is the student revolution and it starts today!"
Hopefully these words do not ring hollow in the future, amounting to a type of venting tea-pot effect, only when the pressure mounts the people make noise but little action results. It is rumored that the legislature jokes about how the people can't vote on how the budget is spent. This smug attitude towards citizens clearly undermines any genuine efforts to call legislators and write letters. There was a table set up for a letter writing campaign but it is unlikely to undermine the decisions already made behind closed doors to continue gutting the public.
Quigley said the following of the political system as a means of control, not democracy, "the two parties should be almost identical so that the American people can 'throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy." This certainly seems true of the recent change and hope themed election of Barack Obama who has furthered policies of the despised Bush administration. A recent report by Judicial Watch on the ten most corrupt politicians includes Obama.
If there is any hope to salvage a legitimate education at HSU, this reporter believes that it starts with detaching from the CSU system and no longer being beholden to distant masters and federal funds which control campus policies, class sizes and tuition prices. Having a campus with gardening integrated with groundskeeping would provide food for campus community. HSU could provide services for local governments as students learn by doing. Scholarships can be used to staff offices on campus and displace overpaid administrative bureaucrats. Some solution needs to be presented and enacted since the state will not allocate necessary funding.
Debt is slavery and the rat race to get a paper certificate for running on higher class hamster wheels requires becoming a slave for student loan companies like the scandalous Sallie Mae. One speaker said a Masters degree once cost $200 in 1979, the cost is now many thousand times more. Adjusted for inflation in today's dollars the cost would be $592.72. Today education is a motivation to further more of the elite agenda, not only is the curriculum largely written by the elite but the debt component is crucial "to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole ... the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences (Tragedy and Hope page 324). One speaker noted the ominous Federal Reserve as being a part of the banking slavery construct.
The rally culminated in a march through campus class and administrative building while participants chanted and rhythmically beat on the walls and handrails. In lieu of my previous activities on campus and despite clear violations of campus policies inhibiting free speech University Police targeted me and I was arrested despite operating as press at the event. More on my arrest in a separate story here on the website, unstackingthedeck.com. If people can rise up above the false left-right paradigm by the politricksters then we have a fighting chance at escaping the yoke of the elite slave drivers.
---
Here is the video of the protest.
Unstacking the Deck - HSU Budget Protest [April 13, 2011] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtjXZs7dGcg]
[http://unstackingthedeck.com/?p=308]

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Enhance your mind and our lives!

It's the...
Uprising Calender

Almost all events listed here happen in the San Pablo Bay Area, others are in the San Francisco bay area, and a few are out in the hills, the northern forests, the southern wastelands, on Sovereign Indigenous nations or in other States.
Other events calenders -
- Indybay newswire [http://www.indybay.org/calendar/]


April

2011-04-23, Saturday

2nd Annual Bluntworld Music Festival

Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 4pm to 1am
Price: $10
[www.myspace.com/BluntWorld]
[http://bluntworld3.com/]




People's Park 42nd Anniversary Celebration
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location: People's Park, 2556 Haste Street, Berkeley
Between Telegraph, Haste & Dwight
Concert/Show
Contact: Dana Merryday [dana_merryday [at] yahoo.com] [510-464-4615]
The 42nd anniversary celebration of the founding of People's Park. Live Music & dancing featuring All Nations Singers, Phoenix, Antioquia, Mama Crow & More. Speakers, workshops, Food not Bombs, yoga, drum circle, kids zone. History display, DYI user development.
[http://www.peoplespark.org]



THE UNCOMFORTABLE ZONES OF FUN
experiments innexperience/participation performance
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Location: TEMESCAL ARTS CENTER [511 48th Street, Oakland, CA 94609-2058] [http://www.temescalartscenter.org]
Contact: Frank Moore [fmoore [at] eroplay.com] [510-526-7858] [http://www.eroplay.com/events.html]
Frank Moore, world-known shaman performance artist, will conduct improvised passions of musicians, actors, dancers, and audience members in a laboratory setting to create altered realities of fusion beyond taboos. Bring your passions and musical instruments and your senses of adventure and humor. Other than that, ADMISSION IS FREE! (But donations will be accepted.)
[http://www.eroplay.com/UZOF_APR_2011.pdf]


Urban Beekeeping: How to Set Up and Manage a Hive
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: 7th Ave. at Lawton St. San Francisco, CA
Contact: Garden For The Environment [http://gardenfortheenvironment.org] [info [at] gardenfortheenvironment.org] [415-731-5627] [451 Hayes St].
Event type: Instructional class
Instructor: Paul Koski, SF Beekeepers Association
Cost: $15
Join guest instructor Paul Koski from the San Francisco Beekeepers Association for this four part Urban Beekeeping series! Come learn all that you need to know to manage your own urban bee hive in San Francisco. In this second class participants will learn where to get bees and how to install them into a hive. The class will also cover basic hive management principles: how to open and inspect a hive and what the beekeeper should expect to see and do for the first few months of a new hive. Swarming, stings and bee temperament will also be covered. As part of the workshop we will set up a new hive in the garden as well as look into GFE's already active hive. For phone or email registration: Please call (415) 731-5627, or email info [at] gardenfortheenvironment.org. Or register in the garden the day of the workshop.


BREAKING THE SILENCE with Dakota Draconi
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Big Red Church 2131 N. Van Ness Blvd. Fresno, Ca.
This is a Community Awareness Event on Child Abuse in America...an epidemic you should know about


Solidarity Meeting For Japanese Workers/Unions/Farmers
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location: ATU Local 192 [8460 Enterprise Way, Oakland]
Event type: Oakland Labor Fundraiser
Contact:
- [415-282-1908] [lvpsf(at)igc.org]
- [510)919-6995] [everydaypeople(at)mac.com]
$10.00 Donation
Stand With The Japanese Working People and Farmers Music, Video, Solidarity Statements -
There will be solidarity benefit meeting for Japanese workers and farmers who have been displaced or are unemployed as a result of the massive earthquake and radioactive leak. Twenty three postal workers are still missing in Sendai, Japan and the government and electric utility TEPCO continue to cover up the dangers and also fail to protect the health and safety of the workers and the communities. Temporary workers have also been brought in to the nuclear plants and were contaminated even before the present disaster. There will be a screening of the video of the Japanese Motoyama Struggle, The Record of 34 Years of Fierce Struggle For Labor Rights. These workers were based in Sendai Japan and were forced into a 34 year strike which they won and went back to work. This is the longest strike of workers in the world.
Initial Endorsers -
- Labor Video Project [lvpsf(at)igc.org]
- Transport Workers Solidarity Committee TWSC
- United Public Workers For Action [http://www.upwa.info]
Funds will be sent to -
People’s Earthquake Relief Center c/o National Coordinating Center of Labor Unions
Gohodo- Ito bldg. 5th Floor, 2-4-10 Moto-Asakusa, Daito-ku, Tokyo, Zip Code 111-0041, Japan
Tel.: +81-03-3845-7461
Fax: +81-03-3845-7463
Send your relief goods and donations to the following address:
c/o National Coordinating Center of Labor Unions Gohodo- Ito bldg. 5th Floor, 2-4-10 Moto-Asakusa, Daito-ku, Tokyo, Zip Code 111-0041, Japan
Tel.: +81-03-3845-7461
Fax: +81-03-3845-7463
Bank Account to Receive Donation in Japan Some or all of the following data 1 to 9 are required to send a remittance to Japan.
And if the purpose of remittance is questioned, please reply that remittance is made for relief to the earthquake in Japan through the National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba (for short, Doro-Chiba).
1. Bank name: The Chiba Bank, Ltd
2. Bank code# in Japan: 0134
3. Branch name: Chuo Branch
4. Branch code# in Japan: 001
5. Branch address: 2-5-1 Chuo, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-0013, Japan
6. Type of address: Ordinary deposit
7. Account number: 4177605 Address of Account: 2-8 Kaname-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-0017, Japan Phone No. of Account: +81-43-222-7207
8. Account name: Kokutetsu Chiba Doryokusha Rodokumiai Note: “Account name has to be written in the Japanese full name of Doro-Chiba.
9. SWIFT address: CHBAJPJT 001 4177605 Note: One space is needed between Branch Code# (001) and Account number 4177605).


Clothing Drive-Recycling Day
Earth Day Weekend: THIS Friday (4/ 22) to THIS Sunday (4/24) between 10:30am-4:30pm at the UC Davis Intramural Field on A Street. See flyer for map.
QUESTIONS/INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING?
Contact: fsalman@ucdavis.edu
DONATE your unwanted materials THIS WEEKEND!
Every year, over 11 million tons of used clothing and footwear are dumped into landfills across the United States. Help reduce that number; don't trash your old clothes, rather, bring them in for recycling. We will be holding a collection for used clothes and shoes so that we can send them to the people living in developing countries who are very much in need. This will reduce waste, provide affordable clothing, and create jobs for people in need. So, donate your unwanted, gently used clothes, shoes, and linens to the Used Clothing Recycling program. EVERY PIECE HELPS!
WE WILL BE ACCEPTING: Clothes, Shoes, Purses, Bags, Belts, Hats, Scarves, Gloves, Blankets, Bed Sheets, Quilts, Curtains, Table Cloths, and Towels
WHEN and WHERE?
Collections bins are currently located at the MU (outside the Games Area and outside the Post Office entrance), Silo, and the Islamic Center of Davis.



Timebank Earth Day Swap Party
Date & Time: 2011-04-23, Saturday, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Hayes Valley Farm [450 Laguna st., San Francisco]
Party/Street Party
Contact: Rick Simon [900lbadvertising [at] gmail.com] [510-292-9722]
[http://timebank.sfbace.org]
Raising an Earth-Friendly Economy Takes a Village!
Timebank's 2nd POSSE Party (Potluck Orientation Swapmeet Skillshare Event) at Hayes Valley Farm's Earth Day Celebration
Help Build a New Economy - Here is a list of ways you can plug in:
* Share a skill: We will set up stations where folks can come by and check out your skill or you can just meet Timebank people who are interested in your skill. Provide a service or teach others your skill.
* Goods: Spring cleaning! Bring goods like clothes, books, art, cookware, jam, and your handmade items. If you have never offered goods on the Timebank come by and learn how it's done. Leftovers can be donated to our new Time Dollar Store for time credits, if desired.
* Crafts: Set up your own crafts station.
* Food: We are having a BIG Potluck to feed everyone at the Party. Feel the abundance!
* Volunteer: Hayes Valley Farm and the Timebank will be working on the farm this week in order to set up everything for the party. We need people to help with light construction. Come by the farm any day this week from noon to five to help.




2011-04-24, Sunday

Earth Day Nature & Spirit Hike: Grandmother Tree
Date & Time: 2011-04-24, Sunday, 11:00 PM - 1:30 AM
Location: Samuel P Taylor (Just 30 mins from Golden Gate Bridge)
Contact [RSVP & MEET UP & Car Pool INFO]: Catriona MacGregor [catriona.macgregor [at] comcast.net]
Join Award Winning Author, Catriona MacGregor, of “Partnering with Nature” “Best Social Change Book 2010”, for an inspiring and wondrous day in nature. Part Natural History Tour, Part Mystical Journey, this hike will fill you with wonder and appreciation for nature and yourself. To Learn More Go To http://www.naturalpathfinder.com
ABOUT: Catriona MacGregor, is a Vision Quest Leader, nature guide and author. Catriona is the coauthor of Healing the Heart of the World: Harnessing the Power of Intention to Change Your Life and the Planet, along with Carolyn Myss, Thich Nhat Hanh, et al..
She weaves together her knowledge of natural history and sacred traditions. Her tours and nature outings combine visits to sacred sites and critical habitat areas. Catriona has been a voice for animals and wild places all of her life. Her work has been covered in Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, NPR Radio, and the Today Show.




2011-04-25, Monday

Copwatch: Community Based Police Accountability
Date & Time: 2011-04-25, Monday, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: 2022 Blake Street (near Shattuck) Berkeley
Event type: Instructional class, part of the UCB Democratic Education (DeCal) Classes of Spring 2011
Contact:
- Berkeley Copwatch [berkeleycopwatch [at] yahoo.com] [510-548-0425]
- Pil Christensen at email: [Pilchristensen [at] berkeley.edu]
- UCB Democratic Education (DeCal) [http://www.decal.org]
Meet with others to discuss holding cops accountable! Learn about your rights, how to directly document and monitor police activity and what to do if you witness police brutality. Topics include: Oscar Grant case, gang injunctions, prison industrial complex, history of police and much more!
UCB STUDENTS AND MEMBERS Of PUBLIC ARE WELCOME. Community organizers and guest speakers visit regularly to connect readings and discussion with ongoing struggles in police accountability.


Hands off ILWU Local 10!
Protest at Pacific Maritime Assn-PMA
555 Market St, SF (Between 1st & 2nd St, near Montgomery BART)
Monday, April 25th - 11:00 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.
To contact the Committee to Defend ILWU Local 10, email [defendlocal10@sonic.net]
We need you to rise to the defense of these dock workers when they're under attack. They are the one union that has always practiced solidarity with others.
San Francisco Labor Council Resolution - adopted April 11, 2011
(excerpts)
Whereas, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 and its President Richard Mead are being sued in court by maritime employers of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) for a 24-hour shutdown of the Port of Oakland on April 4, for responding to the AFL-CIO call for a National Day of Action and in line with ILWU International President McEllrath's March 8th call for mobilizing in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin; and
Whereas, each rank and file member of Local 10 made this selfless choice to stand up for public workers in Wisconsin and for all workers in the best tradition of the longshore union, as they have done since the Big Strike of 1934 and the historic San Francisco General Strike, which built the foundation for the trade union movement in this city and on the West Coast; and
Whereas, these same maritime employers were unsuccessful in their attempt to use the slave labor Taft-Hartley Act to stop the ILWU from carrying out a Local 10-initiated coastwide shutdown of all ports on May Day 2008 to demand an end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a first-ever in U.S. labor history; and
Whereas, Local 10, the heart and soul of the San Francisco labor movement, is now under attack for implementing the principled labor slogan, "An injury to one is an injury to all."
Therefore be it resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council Å  initiate a defense of ILWU Local 10 by setting up a broad-based defense committee in close collaboration with Local 10, and by mobilizing the AFL-CIO labor councils and unions of the Bay Area and California; and
Be it further resolved, that the first step in this campaign will be to call for a mass mobilization of all Bay Area Labor Councils and the California AFL-CIO to rally in front of PMA headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, April 25, to demand that the court suit be dropped and that the vindictive Å  procedures against the union in the arbitration be halted immediately; and
Be it finally resolved that ILWU Local 10 be commended for its solidarity action and that we request that the state and national AFL-CIO do likewise.




2011-04-26, Tuesday

STATE OF THE SCENE FORUM [Napa Valley]
Tuesday, April 26th, 7:30pm
@ Bloom (1146 Main St., Napa)
Panelists Include:
* Serf Barnabei (Deluna, singer)
* Whitney Davis (visual artist, recipient of the HeART Scholarship fundraiser)
* Jordan Williams (visual artist, art school student)
* Paul Slack (Planets, Slack Ranch, Bloom, Slack Collective, man about town)
* Tim Guigni (Dark Room Productions, performer)
* Daniel Pendergrass (Maere, musician and visual artist)
* Kristina Young (Arts Council Napa Valley, Executive Director)
Come voice your opinion, make connections, and find out what's going on.
What do you like? What don't you like? What would you like to see?
We're all ears.
(Brought to you by Wandering Rose)


Freedom Party in Defense of Civil Rights!
Date & Time: 2011-04-26, Tuesday, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location: Live Oak Grange [1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz]
Event Type: Party/Street Party
Price: FREE and in defense of your FREEdom!
Contact: Resource Center for Nonviolence [831.423.1626]
Join us for a conversation on civil rights and liberties in a post-9/11era.
Fill out your own Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request!
Featuring Zahra Billoo, Esq., Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, and Summer K. Hararah, National Security & Civil Rights Program, Asian Law Caucus
We all have a right to know if the government is investigating us, and we have a right to see the contents of our FBI files. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Cesar Chavez -- the list of targets of domestic FBI surveillance is long and distinguished. Our right to inspect our own FBI file is guaranteed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA is a law ensuring public access to US government records. This evening will include brief presentations, discussion, and an opportunity to fill out a FOIA to seek information on government surveillance of you. Co-sponsored by the Defending Dissent Foundation, the Council on American-Islamic Relations SF Bay Area, the Asian Law Caucus and the Resource Center for Nonviolence.




2011-04-27, Wednesday

Poems Under the Dome
Date & Time: 2011-04-27, Wednesday, 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: San Francisco City Hall [Van Ness & Golden Gate Ave]
Event Type: Concert/Show
Contact: Diamond Dave Whitaker [EKKEITH [at] HOTMAIL.COM] or [DMNDV [at] HOTMAIL.COM]
This is the Sixth Annual Poem Dome - Poetry under the SF City Hall Dome. Arrive early to get on the list to perform your poems, songs & spoken word pieces.
Current Poet Laureate of San Francisco Diane di Prima will perform the opening poem.

Benefit Dinner for Afrikanation Artists Organization
Date & Time: 2011-04-27, Wednesday, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Bissap Baobab [2323 Mission St, SF]
Event Type: Fundraiser
Please come and enjoy fine Senegalese cuisine at Bissap Baobab while helping to deliver much needed art supplies to Hargeysa, Somaliland/Somalia.
On Wednesday, April 27th, 2011, Bissap Baobab has offered to donate 20% of profits made at the restaurant that night to Afrikanation Artists Organization as a part of their Teranga Program. It takes an entire village to create lasting change, so we are truly grateful to Bissap Baobab for their generous donation and desire to help.
We are also celebrating our 1st Birthday! We want to thank everyone who has participated in our past events and Art Supply Donation Drives. Because of you, we have collected 200 lbs. in supplies. Your donation, in the form of a fine meal, will now help us to deliver them. Please join us!
Afrikanation Artists Organization is a non-profit, NGO based in Hargeysa, Somaliland/Somalia. Our mission is to create a cross-generational artist network in order to restore and support past, present and future Somali art culture through education, a professional artist network and community outreach.
[http://www.eidart.com]


Workers Memorial Day - Fight For The Living - Remember The Dead
4/27 Wednesday
7801 Auburn Blvd., Citrus Heights, CA, 95610
4:30 PM Rusch Park-Speak-out Videos
3:00 PM Discussion on points for national network for injured workers
Contact: [916-342-6608] [dinajpadilla@gmail.com]
California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day [www.workersmemorialday.org]
April 28 is an international commemoration day for injured workers and workers killed on the job. Join the California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day in Sacramento where workers and worker advocates will speak out to remember workers who have died on the job and workers who are fighting for their healthcare.
Today in California, 192 Ca-OSHA inspectors continue to be furloughed and the medical unit for California's 17 million workers has been eliminated. There is only 1 doctor at 50% time. Additionally, the American College for Occupational and Environmental Medicine ACOEM, which is and insurance and employer industry medical group supported by the US Chamber of Commerce has illegally inserted their medical guidelines into California workers compensation law.
Injured workers are being denied treatment as a result of the deregulation of workers comp in SB 899 and the permanent disability was cut by 50% with no vocational training for new jobs. In addition under insurance/employer/drug industry controlled ACOEM guidelines workers are being denied treatment for mold in the workplace and other serious workplace injuries.We need to speak out to protect our health and safety and fight for healthcare for all and also remember the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Party.
[http://www.laborfest.net/TriangleFire/schedule.htm]
Initial Speakers:
* Dina Padilla, Injured Worker Advocate
* Sandi Trend, Mother of injured Agraquest biotech worker David Bell
* Dr. Jack Thrasher, Toxicologist, Mold Expert and Injured Worker Advocate
* Seth Sandronksy, Journalist
* Mike Monasky, The General Welfare TV program
Rusch Park located in Citrus Heights in the Sacramento area-It is called the RUSCH covered area.
Rusch Park is on the corner of Antelope & Auburn Blvd. 7801 Auburn Blvd. Citrus Heights, Ca, 95610
Folks can come off of 1-80 GO to the Antelope & Auburn light (CITRUS HEIGHTS ANTELOPE EXIT) GO TO THE 3RD LIGHT) make AN INNER RIGHT & then A SHORT distance is the right TO the entrance to the park & its parking lot




2011-04-28, Thursday

Home Away from Homelessness
17th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit

Date & Time: 2011-04-28, Thursday, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Terra [511 Harrison Street, San Francisco]
Event Type: Fundraiser
Home Away from Homelessness is a non-profit organization that offers programs to specifically address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children living in dire circumstances. Home Away from Homelessness is hosting an Anniversary Celebration and fundraiser, “Reaching for the Stars” scheduled for 6pm on April 28, 2011 at Terra in San Francisco. This event features a silent and live auction with products and services from local Bay Area companies. It is built around an Oscar-style presentation designed to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing accomplishments of the children in the program and will feature stories of their accomplishments and the children themselves. Attend or donate [http://homeawayreachingforthestars2011.eventbrite.com]
[http://www.homeaway.org]


Workers Memorial Day in San Francisco
Thursday April 28, 2011 7:00 PM
At: ILWU Local 34 [801 2nd St./Embarcadero St., San Francisco]
[www.workersmemorialday.org]
Defend Health & Safety, And Healthcare For Injured Workers And All Working People
April 28, 2011 is an international commemoration day for injured workers and workers killed on the job. Join us in San Francisco, where workers and worker advocates will speak out to remember workers who have died on the job and workers who are fighting for their healthcare. This is also the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire in New York city where 146 workers perished.
Today in California, 192 Ca-OSHA inspectors continue to be furloughed, and the medical unit for California’s 17 million workers has been eliminated. There is only 1 part time doctor at 50% time. Additionally, the American College for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and insurance and employer industry medical group supported by the US Chamber of Commerce has illegally inserted their medical guidelines into California workers compensation law.
Workers including TWU 250 A Muni operators, hospital workers and others will speak out on their health and safety conditions, and the fight for justice on the job. Injured workers are being denied treatment as a result of the deregulation of workers comp in SB 899, and the permanent disability was cut by 50% with no vocational training for new jobs. In addition, under insurance/employer/drug industry controlled ACOEM guidelines, workers are being denied treatment for mold in the workplace and other serious workplace injuries.
We need to speak out to protect our health and safety and fight for healthcare for all.
Initial List of Speakers:
* Dorian Maxwell, TWU 250, SF Muni operator
* Daniel Berman, Author “Death On The Job”
* Trent Willis, ILWU Local 10 & ILWU Coast Safety Committee Member
* Ken Nishiyama Atha, Regional Director OSHA Regional Administrator Region 9
* Charles Rachlis, Asso. Industrial Hygienist Health & Safety Officer, California Department of Public Health, CAPS member
* Chris Coghlan, TWU 250 A SF Muni Operator
* Patrick Wilkes, Injured worker from Old Republic Title Company
* Mike Daly, Ironworkers Local 377, Delegate to San Francisco Labor Council
Sponsored by California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day
Endorsed by San Francisco Labor Council AFL-CIO




2011-04-30, Saturday

OPERATION: Shut the City Down

Organizing Black & Brown Against Police Brutality and State Repression
Performing live:
- Equipto
- L’Roneous
- Gas Mask Colony
- Knobody [of Hiero Imperium]
- with DJ True Justice & TD Camp spinning
- Also, The Truth and Liberation Poet
2011-04-30, Saturday, 9pm – 2am
The Stork Club [2330 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley]
21 & over


C.L.I.T. Fest benefit show
Saturday April 30th, 7pm to 10pm
Location: Thrillhouse Records [3422 Mission St San Francisco CA 94110] [www.thrillhouserecords.com] [thrillhouserecords@gmail.com]
All Ages / $5
Bands:
* Livid
* No Statik
* Human Baggage
* one more TBA
C.L.I.T. Fest (Combating Latent Inequality Together) is a three day event combining music and education to both challenge patriarchal oppression and promote women’s involvement in DIY. This year’s ClitFest is a benefit for H.I.P.S. (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive).
The fest began in Minneapolis in 2004, but since 2007 has been held in a different city each year, including Richmond, Chicago, LA, and Portland. The 2011 fest will take place in DC from July 8th-10th, but benefits are happening in various other cities as well.
For more info on this year's fest, check out clitfestdc.tumblr.com


Northbay Youth Assembly

Date & Time: 2011-04-30, Saturday, 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Arlene Francis Theater. 99 W. Sixth Street. Santa Rosa, CA
From here to the Middle East, young people are rising up, taking action, and transforming the world. Join us on April 30th for a Youth Assembly to discuss the issues that affect our lives, come up with demands and visions for a better world, and build a movement to bring us closer to our goals.
There will be free food, free information, free admission, and hella fun!
Get Angry: Over the last three years, 50 % of the funds for K-12 schools in California have been cut (that’s $3,000 per student!). At the same time, community colleges (like SRJC) have lost $1.2 billion, while fees have gone from less than $11 per unit, to $36 per unit by next fall. In the last ten years, state schools (like Sonoma State) have seen a 290 percent increase in student fees.
Get Organized: It’s time for us to get organized, stand up and fight back for the control of our education! Everyone is impacted by these budget cuts, and only together do we have the power and possibility to stop these attacks against young people. Join us on April 30thand spread the word!
Get Involved! The Youth Assembly is planned BY youth, FOR youth, so we need your help.
-forward this announcement to all your friends on Facebook
-help pass out flyers! We’ve got lots of copies.
-come to our planning meetings! Every Friday until the assembly at the Peace and Justice Center, 467 Sebastopol Ave, Santa Rosa (April 9th, 15th, 22nd, 29th)
Get Informed! Check out these awesome resources to learn more about how young people (and everyone else) are being screwed out of our future:
- Against Cuts: [http://www.againstcuts.org]
- Cost of War: [http://www.costofwar.com]
- California Budget Project: [http://www.cbp.org]
- California Federation of Teachers: [http://www.cft.org]
- California Faculty Association: [http://www.calfac.org]
In Solidarity, Strike! Hella Youth Organizing for Power
We are a feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist youth organization. Through strategic direct action and critical reflection, we are building broad youth-led movements to take back control of the institutions that dominate our life. At the same time, we seek to create new local spaces and cultures that actually support youth community and liberation. We'd love to work with anyone who supports these goals. (Hella) Solidarity.


Canning for the Urban Homesteader and City Dweller
Date & Time: 2011-04-30, Saturday, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: 7th Ave. at Lawton St., San Francisco, CA
Event Type: Class/Workshop
Contact: Garden For The Environment [info [at] gardenfortheenvironment.org] [415-731-5627] [451 Hayes St., San Francisco]
Instructor: Karen Solomon, Author of 'Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It'
Cost: $15 Workshop + $5 Materials
Do you relish the joys of hot toast spread with your own homemade butter and jam? Love to dazzle your friends with jars and tins of choice goodies–all created by you? Karen Solomon, author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, and the forthcoming Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It, will teach both novice and experienced cooks basic hot water bath canning techniques. Participants will learn canning equipment, processes, and safety, and pack a jar of simple pickles ready for shelf storage. Participation will be both demonstration and hands-on. (Note: pressure canning will not be covered).
For phone or email registration: Please call (415) 731-5627, or email info [at] gardenfortheenvironment.org. Or register in the garden the day of the workshop.
[http://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/pages/calendar.html]




May


Bike Riders Needed - Join the STRIKE, MARCH and OCCUPATION of Sacramento beginning MAY DAY! ...
¡BASTA! CodePINK, Cindy Sheehan, and all Vulnerable Folks are calling on us to STRIKE, MARCH and OCCUPY Sacramento beginning MAY DAY!
On May 1st, May Day, Beltane, International Workers Day, we will gather 11:30am at 24th & Mission, SF, march with the Coalition of Immigrants & all Workers to the 1pm rally in Civic Center, from where we will launch our STRIKE MAY 2011 march to Sacramento!
At 3pm, we will march from the Civic Center to the Ferry Building and take the 6pm ferry to Vallejo.
For the next 8 days we will march to Sacramento thru American Canyon, Napa, Suisun, Fairfield, Vacaville, Winters, Woodland and Davis doing actions - marches, rallies, press conferences, flyering, bannering – along the way. (for the exact route and issues, go to http://codepinkjournals.blogspot.com/2011/04/strike-may-2011-route-focus-issues.html)
We are calling on YOU to STRIKE – NO BUSINESS AS USUAL – and come walk, bike, skateboard, carpool, train with all of us vulnerable folks, to get to Sacramento.
We will arrive in Sacramento on the 9th, the same day the 5 day teachers’ occupation of the Capitol begins. We will set up a TENT CITY and OCCUPY the capitol until the legislature votes OUR budget!
Our general theme is: 1) NO MORE TAXES for WARS & OCCUPATIONS; and 2) NO MORE TAX BREAKS for the RICH & their CORPORATIONS!
We are deeply urging everyone to join us in the STRIKE, MARCH & TENT CITY for however long, however many day(s), hour(s) you choose. (http://codepinkjournals.blogspot.com/2011_04_02_archive.html)
At the TENT CITY, we are hoping everyone will do teach-ins to share their information, strategize, and build a strong diverse coalition.
If you are willing to endorse and/or STRIKE, please email info AT bayareacodepink.org or call 510-540-7007 and leave your name, number, email, and a brief sketch of your plans. Sign up on facebook and twitter (links below).
If you are willing to be active and work on this STRIKE MAY 2011 for however long, in any capacity, before, after, during, please also email or call ASAP!
And come to the next Monday eve organizing meeting 6pm Mudrakers Café (back room), 2801 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley.
TOGETHER we WILL direct our STATE BUDGET to become OUR BUDGET!
End war on women!
End war on workers, immigrants, people of color, unions!
End wars of occupation!
End wars of corporate greed!
End wars on our Mother Earth!
End all wars!
Bring our tax dollars home! Take our tax dollars back from the rich!

info@bayareacodepink.org
www.STRIKEmay2011ca.org
510-540-7007
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#%21/home.php?sk=group_204973202856133

March/Strike Against Gov Brown’s Austerity Measures in California
twitter.com/strikemay2011

Xan (Zanne) Sam Joi
DISARM DISARM DISARM
work for peace; hold all life sacred; eliminate violence
www.codepinkjournals.blogspot.com


Day Of Action To Defend Public Education And All Public Workers
Date & Time: May 3, 2011, 6:00 AM-6:00 PM
Location: Cutting and San Pablo Ave. Richmond/El Cerrito
WE ARE ONE
Stand Together with the United Teachers of Richmond, Wednesday, May 3, 2010 “Day of the Teacher.” Support working people, education, our students, higher education, protect ALL of our rights and fairness.
CALL TO ACTION: Join the All Day Demonstration, public and private sector employees line the streets of the community to show the pivotal role these employees play in the community.
California is in a State of Emergency! Working people are in a State of Emergency!
· California schools have been cut by $18 Billion in the last three years and we now face another $4 Billion!
· We may lose 20,000 teachers this year, on top of the 30,000 we’ve lost in the past three years!
· Our class sizes are outrageous!
· Students’ instruction days are being eliminated!
· Our counselors are disappearing!
· Our arts, our music, our PE, our athletic programs are gone or going!
· Our library books are deteriorating!
We’ve given everything, and can’t give anymore! It’s not fair to our students or to our communities! Save our Schools – Raise Revenue – Students are our Future!
This is an ALL day action not just another demonstration. It is about the right of our children to have a public education in Richmond and Contra Costa County. What are we working for if our kids can’t get an education in this country? At the same time that we have bailed out the bankers with government money and are spending trillions of our tax dollars on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Libya? Make sure your union, banners and your members are at this action to protest and fight back for public workers, and public education!!
Planning Meeting: United Teachers of Richmond office, 700 Crestview Drive, Pinole, CA 94565
Tuesday April 26, 6:30 PM. Please call Diane Brown @ 510-672-3526
For more information: www.unitedteachersofrichmond.com Phone: 510-222-5112 Fax: 510 222-5114 - 700 Crestview Drive, Pinole, CA 94565 United Teachers of Richmond, CTA/NEA


"Symposium on the Food Crisis: Corporate driven GMO Technology changing the proteins in our food supply"
Friday May 6th, 6:30-10:30 pm
Panel starts at 7:30
San Rafael Community Center, 618 'B' Street, in San Rafael
Refreshments and interactive tables with local community groups and an opportunity to interact directly with the speakers. Wheelchair accessible.
For more info, call 707-454-9898.
Despite polls that indicate Americans overwhelmingly want GMO foods labeled, the USDA continues to allow their production and sale without labeling or adequate testing. Come find out what is happening with GMOs and why we should be concerned. An outstanding panel of experts on GMO technologies will discuss how they are affecting our health and the environment, including
* Claire Cummings, environmental lawyer and author of Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds
* Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette and founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology, a spokesperson from The Center for Food Safety
* Mark Squire of the Good Earth Natural Foods and the Non-GMO Project, will fill us in on the political, legal and health implications of recombinant DNA in our foods.
* Moderated by Norman Solomon.


Meet the author and get your autographed copy of “Block Reportin’,” Minister of Information JR’s new book –
Saturday, May 7, 7 p.m., at Laurel Books, 4100 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
Monday, May 9, 6:30 p.m., Sonoma State University
see "Block Reportin: Storytelling the African way" by Terez McCall [http://sfbayview.com/2011/block-reportin-storytelling-the-african-way/]


JUSTICE FOR JEREMY MARKS!! DEFEND COPWATCHERS!!!
An Injury to One is an Injury to All
The Jeremy Marks case is one of the worst cases of state repression and deserving of everyone’s support across the state of California and the country.
In May 2010 Jeremy videotaped a school police woman brutalizing one of his fellow students at a school bus stop. The police officer assault was witnessed by many at Marks’ high school that day. Unbelievably Jeremy was arrested for “lynching,” an outdated charge of inciting a riot. 18 year old Jeremy was put in jail with a $150,000 bail. He stayed in jail until December when a Google engineer put up the bail money and he got out of jail in time to spend Christmas at home.
Our collective reality has been drastically changed since New Year’s 2009 when witnesses captured BART police on video murdering Oscar Grant and since the outbreak of rebellions in Oakland of ’09 and 2010. For the first time in our lifetimes a white policeman is doing time for murdering an unarmed black man. The powers that be certainly do not want the people to photograph police when they brutalize, terrorize and murder our people. But we will continue to film the brutal actions of the police and share those videos for all to see. There is no stopping the people’s demand to be free from police terror.
Since Oscar’s murder, laws are pending in 13 states making it illegal to record on‑duty police. Prior to Oscar’s assassination, only 3 states had such anti-copwatching laws.
The Oscar Grant Committee stands in solidarity with Jeremy Marks and in defense of all copwatchers. We support his struggle for justice and demand that the DA drop all the charges against him now.
---
A Black Mother’s Fight to Save Her Son
Please join Ms. Rochelle Pittman, Jeremy’s mother, on Mother’s Day for a very special afternoon in Solidarity with Jeremy Marks
Sunday, May 8th at 3 p.m.
Eastside Arts Alliance Center
2277 International Boulevard, Oakland
---
Hear Ms. Pittman speak on:
Monday, May 9th at 7:00 pm
Humanist Hall [390-27th Street, Oakland] between Broadway st. & Telegraph st.
---
Also on:
Wednesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m.
HOMIES EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
1612 – 45th Avenue – Eastlake YMCA
2 blocks from Fremont High School
---
Sign the on-line petition at: [http://www.answercoalition.org/la/news/sign-the-petition-to-support.html]
Sponsored by: Jeremy Marks Defense Committee, ANSWER Coalition, Berkeley CopWatch, Center for Progressive Action, Homies Empowerment Program & OSCAR GRANT COMMITTEE Against Police Brutality & State Repression
For more info: call [510-225-9212] or email [oscargrantcommittee@gmail.com]


Symposium on the GMO Crisis
Friday, May 6, 2011, 6:30pm-10:30pm
San Rafael Community Center, 618 'B' Street, San Rafael, CA
Despite polls that indicate Americans overwhelmingly want GMO foods labeled,
the USDA continues to allow their production and sale without labeling or
adequate testing. Come find out what is happening with GMOs and why we should
be concerned! An outstanding panel of experts on GMO technologies will discuss
how they are affecting our health and the environment (from 7:30 to 9:30 pm):
Claire Cummings, author of Uncertain Peril, Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of
Deception and Genetic Roulette, Andrew Kimbrell from The Center for Food
Safety, and Mark Squire of the Good Earth Natural Foods and The Non-GMO
Project, will fill us in on the political, legal and health implications of
recombinant DNA in our foods. For more information, contact (415) 454-9898.
Wheelchair accessible. Donations gratefully accepted at the door.
Brought together by the Institute for Responsible Technology


GMO Speaker and Activism Training with Jeffrey Smith
Saturday, May 7, 2011 - 9:30am - 5:00pm
Marin Recycling and Resource Recovery, Environmental Classroom
535 Jacobi Street, San Rafael, CA
Spend a day with international bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey M.
Smith and learn how to speak about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and to
organize effective activism around the issue. Help achieve the tipping point of
consumer rejection to force GMOs out of our food supply! Whether you want to be
a leading anti-GMO campaigner, help out when you can, or just gain an in-depth
understanding of the issue, don't miss this unique opportunity to learn from
the leading spokesperson on GMO health dangers. Jeffrey has presented in 32
countries, counseled world leaders on every continent, and he wrote the world's
bestselling book on the topic - Seeds of Deception.
Cost: $80 Individual / $140 Couple Early Discount Before April 15th $70/$120
More Details and REGISTER ONLINE
Some full and partial scholarships are available please contact
margherita@responsibletechnology.org


GMO Speaker and Activism Training in Lake County with Jeffrey Smith
Sunday, May 8, 2011 -
9:30am - 5:00pm Ancient Lake Garden, 8993 Soda Bay Rd., Kelseyville, Lake
County
Sponsored by the Committee for a GE free Lake County
Spend a day with the international bestselling author of "Seeds of Deception"
and "Genetic Roulette". Learn how to speak about genetic engineering in
agriculture and genetically engineered (GMO) foods. Learn how to organize
effective activism around the issue. Help achieve the tipping point of consumer
rejection to force GMOs out of our food supply!
Cost: $80 Individual / $140 Couple Early Discount Before April 15th $70/$120
More Details and REGISTER ONLINE
Some full and partial scholarships are available please contact
margherita@responsibletechnology.org
***
What our alumni say about the training:
"The Speaker Training has given me a level of authority in any discussion
regarding genetically modified organisms. I would rate my preparedness a 6
before the training and a 9 afterwards." L.B., Los Angeles
"Jeffrey's Training was chock full of compelling information and great visuals
of the Power Point presentation. I appreciated his down to earth style, sense
of humor and emphasis on the positive." B.U., New Paltz, NY
"Jeffrey Smith's GMO Speaker Training is fantastic. Jeffrey's training really
helped me pull together everything I've learned and focus on the most important
aspects of the GMO issue. He taught us how to speak about the GMO issue, simply
and succinctly. It's an invaluable training and highly recommended for
everyone." S. F., Moms for Safe Food


Occupy The California State Capitol
Monday, May 9 at 10:30am - May 13 at 5:00pm
10th Street and L Street Sacramento, California
Stop the budget disaster that is coming to California. There are plenty of rich Californian's who don't pay their fair share. According to the California Budget Project the rich pay 7.5% of their income while the poorest pay 11%. We don't need budget cuts; we need to tax the rich.
Wisconsin and Egypt have shown the way. Come occupy the state building to demand a just budget that serves everyone. The California Teachers Association is planning on bringing 300, which is good start. But we need thousands.
Bring:
1. Sleeping bag
2. Dried food
3. Musical Instruments (I am bringing my trombone!)
4. Extra Clothes
5. Signs
6. And most important: Your Spirit!
(7. bring a friend!)
See you there!


NVC Underground United Spring Showcase
Date & Time: Friday, May 13 · 3:00pm - 5:30pm
Location: NAPA Valley College
UU President, Kevin Rebultan [bamb113r@gmail.com]
This event is to present our newly made club at NVC and to show some of the local talent of Napa, Vallejo, Benicia, and AC. We will have performers of all kinds and artwork by students and citizens. If you'd like to contribute either in art or performance please contact me asap at least a week beforehand and I will find space. In any case tell your friends, family members, neighbors and such. Help support usl just by showing up. It's free so there's not much to lose. I hope to see you there.


Date & Time: 2011-05-19, Thursday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance Meeting
[http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]


Date & Time: 2011-05-21 , Saturday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance Blue Rock Springs Creek Cleanup [http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]


First Annual One Of A Kind Barbie
Saturday, May 21 from 04:00 PM to 9:00 PM
O.O.A.K. Barbies Gallery [310 Georgia St., Vallejo, CA 94590]
Host: LaVonne Sallee
Phone: 707-644-6625




June

Date & Time: 2011-06-16, Thursday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance Meeting
[http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]


Date & Time: 2011-06-18, Saturday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance Hanns Park Workday
[http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]




July

Date & Time: 2011-07-21, Thursday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance Meeting
[http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]


Date & Time: 2011-07-23, Saturday
Vallejo Watershed Alliance BBQ & Cleanup at Blue Rock Springs Park
[http://www.vallejowatershedalliance.org/]

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

2011-04-19 "Napa Valley College students hold 'teach in' for ethnic studies" by Sarah Rohrs from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
NAPA -- Julio Soriano rarely found much about his native Mexican culture in school textbooks after he came to the United States from Mexico a decade ago.
"I couldn't see a reflection of myself in textbooks or studies," said Soriano, a Napa Valley College student pursuing Chicano or Latin American studies.
To call attention to the importance of ethnic studies, Soriano joined students and teachers who held "teach-ins" in the morning and afternoon to defend such courses in the face of impending budget cuts.
"We want them to know the importance of diverse education and the need to learn about each other and our own roots," he said.
With Napa College still waiting for state lawmakers to pass a budget, it's unclear what cuts will be made, college Director of Community Relations Betty Malmgren said. The class schedule for the fall semester is not yet finalized, she added.
Monday's activities at Napa College coincided with a national "Day of Action to Defend Ethnic Studies" held throughout the country.
Student event organizer Alex Shantz said ethnic studies are often viewed as "expendable" and easy to cut when money is tight. "We want to let the college know we feel they are crucial," he said.
In an open area before McCarthy Library, students gathered in a circle around teachers holding discussions or conducting lesson plans.
Filipino American Studies teacher Janet Stickmon drew about 40 students around her as she spoke about subtle and overt forms of oppression, stereotyping and cultural assimilation.
Later in the morning, she spoke on "Loving our Hair, our Skin and our Intellect -- Ways to Combat Internalized Racism and Main Ancestral Connection," according to the day's schedule.
Student Brian Molina said ethnic studies allows students to step outside bigotry and challenge stereotypes with knowledge about other cultures.
"We see multiculturalism alive in many of our neighborhoods. However, we do not see multiculturalism alive in many of our textbooks," Molina said.
2011-04-14 "Swastika Graffiti Contains 4/20 Threat, Porter College exclusively informed" by Ryan Mark-Griffin, Sarah Naugle & Mikaela Todd from "City on a Hill Press"
[http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2011/04/14/swastika-graffiti-contains-420-threat/]
Campus officials discovered graffiti on March 15 in a men’s restroom in Porter College that included swastikas and the message, “Blood will be shed at UCSC 4/20/11.”
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal released a campus-wide email on March 17 that condemned the swastikas but did not mention the explicit threat. In his email, Blumenthal also mentioned anti-Semitic graffiti which had been discovered at McHenry Library March 14.
An email was released exclusively to the Porter College community March 18 that mentioned both the threat of violence on April 20 and the swastikas. UCSC director of public information Jim Burns addressed the reasoning behind the distribution of the email to only a portion of the campus community.
“Whenever we discover graffiti of a threatening nature … we consider an appropriate security and communications response,” Burns said. “That doesn’t mean that we decide that communicating broadly about the specifics of each threat is always the best course of action.”
The university has not released details on what precautions it will be taking in light of the threat. Steve Clark, deputy chief of the Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD), said that though it is typical for the SCPD to be privy to threats, it was not informed of this particular threat.
Courtney Burt, a third-year Porter College community assistant (CA), was surprised that Porter College was the only college on campus to receive the information about the violent threat.
“Porter is the only one privy to the knowledge?” she asked. “The whole school knew about the other [threat], so why doesn’t the whole school know about this one too? That’s not fair. Idle or not, it’s a threat.”
Burt also expressed concern with the possible implications of alerting the entire campus community to such threats.
“Then again, we also lose a lot of resources with the school taking it seriously,” she said. “I mean, there’s money that does go into covering this.”
Though the graffiti found in Porter comprises two distinct parts — the threat and the swastikas — Ali Rawson, a third-year Porter student, asserted that the two are related because Adolf Hitler’s birthday also falls on April 20.
“Yeah, I think [the threat] could be a hate crime too, against Jews in particular,” Rawson said. “Having swastikas on Hitler’s birthday, it’s really insulting.”
The Santa Cruz Sentinel mentioned the graffiti in a March 16 article on the current investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). UCSC Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, who filed the complaint, said that the Sentinel article may have provided the necessary motivation for the university to send out the email addressing the swastika graffiti.
“Three days went by before the chancellor said anything,” she said. “Had it not been for the Sentinel article, he might not have mentioned it at all. Chancellor Blumenthal’s response was too little too late.”
OCR is investigating an allegation that UCSC permitted anti-Semitism and created a hostile environment for Jewish students. Jim Bradshaw of the U.S. Department of Education Press Office confirmed the nature of the investigation, though he could not comment on specifics.
Rossman-Benjamin spoke of her concerns with how the university handles incidents of anti-Semitism, and cited the delayed response to this particular incident as an example of the university’s questionable priorities in dealing with hate crimes.
“I’m very sensitive to the double standard the UCSC administration takes in response to anti-Semitic acts in comparison to say, anti-African acts,” she said. “The chancellor sent out an email condemning the graffiti on Thursday, but the first graffiti was found on Monday. Why wait three days?”

2011-04-19 "Swastika Graffiti Contains 4/20 Threat at UCSC" by Finch M. from "Indybay" newswire
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/04/19/18677556.php]
UCSC bathroom graffiti was found with fascist symbols and violent threats for 4/20. What's worse, the Chancellor didn't warn the entire campus about this threat - only one college, where the graffiti was found. This college happens to be the location a large percentage of the students will be gathering to celebrate the cannabis holiday.