Northbay MDS: September 2014

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sept. 25th, 2014, Northbay Uprising radio news

Bruce Shand is a disabled tenant at the Tioga Apartments in Merced. He has lived in his home for over a decade and always pays his rent on time. He went to bat for his neighbors several months ago when management at the Tioga issued 3-day eviction notices to all tenants in the building. Thanks to Bruce and other tenant leaders, the notices were rescinded and the building has formed the Tioga Resident Association.
Now Bruce Needs Your Help! On July 30, 2014, the management served a 60-day notice on Bruce and did not specify a reason for his eviction. Unfortunately, under current state law tenants have little protection against this kind of notice, so we must stand together to pressure management to rescind Bruce's eviction.
Under California State Law, landlords are not required to give tenants a reason for eviction (if they are not currently in a lease). Why are Merced tenants subject to eviction FOR NO REASON? Arbitrary evictions like this should be illegal. Merced passed the Central Valley’s only just cause for eviction law, but Mayor Thurston and Councilmembers Murphy and Pedroza teamed up to repeal it shortly after taking office. This has left all Merced residents in danger of no-fault, arbitrary evictions.

Tenants Together Releases Guide for Tenants Victimized by Napa Earthquake, press release posted to [IndyBay.org link] [archive.today]. Tenants can visit [TenantsTogether.org/EarthquakeAnswers], for more information and to request a copy of the Guide for tenants impacted by the Napa earthquake. Renters in Napa are discovering the hard way that they don’t know their rights following last month’s earthquake. Hundreds of homes have been red-tagged and many tenants have been unable to return because of earthquake damage. In Napa’s tight and expensive real estate market, this has meant major hardship for tenants who are displaced. Local nonprofits have been struggling to keep up with the inquiries, but lacking to date is any tenant-focused fact sheet to answer the recurring questions that have come up. In response, Tenants Together has compiled the key information into a Guide for Napa tenants impacted by the earthquake.

"My dream for Benicia" by Sue Kibbe [archive.today/EPEaD]

"Isleton community divided on cannabis dispensary" (2014-08-27) [RiverNewsHerald.org link] [archive.today]

"Angst rising over Youth Center; lack of youth opportunity in Rio Vista" (2014-08-27) [RiverNewsHerald.org] [archive.today]

"Fifty Years Later: Who Really Won the Battle of Berkeley?" (2014-09-24) [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today]

** "Denver students stage mass walk-out over US history ‘censorship’" (2014-09-25 ) [RT.com link] [archive.org]
** "Told They Cannot Learn About Social Movements, Colorado Students Take To the Streets; Rightwing tries to ban history of "social strife" in the United States, so students teach them a lesson" (2014-09-24) [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today]

** "Secret GOP Documents Show MASSIVE CORPORATE SUPPORT" (2014-09-24) [DailyKos.com link] [archive.org]
** "RNC files lawsuit seeking to raise unlimited sums" (2014-05-23) [WashingtonPost.com link] [archive.today]

"Some 400,000 climate marchers paint New York green" (2014-09-22) [PeoplesWorld.org link] [archive.today]

Message from the United farm Workers:
Injured cows, injured workers. This has to stop. Kroger sells Darigold milk. Send your message NOW!
[action.ufw.org/injuredworkers]

We've shared workers' stories with you about the injured and sick cows at Darigold dairies. Sadly, these injuries also go for workers. Working with dairy cows is not easy. A dairy cow typically weighs 1,400 pounds-- almost 3/4 of a ton. As a live animal, it has a mind of its own and does what it wants. Working with these animals takes skills and knowledge. If you're not careful, you get injured. According to the Department of Labor, in 2012 at least 5.6% of dairy workers were injured, almost twice the average of 3.2% for private industry.
"Pedro," not his real name, received no training before being put to work with cows. He had to learn the work on the fly. The work is grueling: no breaks, no holidays, and lots of pressure. One day, while working outside where the cows are corralled, a cow fell on top of him and smashed his left knee. He wonders how he is going to pay his bills, and if he is ever going to do the kind of work he used to do before the injury. He's currently on temporary disability for 60% of his salary, but is concerned about being fired when he returns to his job.
Another worker, we'll call him "Juan" (we are unable to reveal his name as he is afraid of retaliation) tells us about getting injured on the job. "A cow crushed me in the alley concrete walls and it fractured three of my ribs. I reported this to my boss ...The boss was blaming me. I told her I was going to the hospital because I couldn't breathe and I was feeling dizzy. When I coughed phlegm with blood, I got really fearful and I thought I had hurt or damaged my lung. I asked her to take me to the doctor and she told me that she couldn't, to call someone to pick me up, because she was not going to leave her job." It was seven hours until Juan's brother was able to come and take him to the doctor.
"Efren" had worked for 8 years at Darigold dairy. He had 3 accidents, his last one on May 12th of this year. He didn't even have the time to tell his supervisor that he had hurt his back before he was fired. Getting injured is about more than just the physical pain. Efren's family is also feeling the impact. "I felt really bad when my daughter asked me for money for the college tuition and I couldn't help her with any money."
The Kroger Co. operates also under the following banners: Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Payless, Baker's, Gerbers, Scott's Food and Pharmacy, Harris Teeter, Food 4 Less, and Food Co. It is a major seller of Darigold milk. As a large retailer and someone who sells Darigold products, you'd think they'd do something about what's going on. But they remain silent.
Take action and support Pedro, Juan, Efren and the hundreds of other dairy workers injured every year. All workers should receive adequate training, injured workers should receive prompt medical attention and should not have to be afraid of being fired for getting injured. These are basic rights, but rights not respected at every Darigold dairy.

Northbay Copwatch [link]
"Cytel, LLC / Urban Shield" scandal (2014) [link].
** Reply From Sheriff's Office Regarding Cytel Group, LLC / Urban Shield [link]
** "Threat of lawsuit from James Baker of Cytel Group / Urban Shield" (2014-09-22) [IndyBay.org link] [archive.org]

** "Police Officers Association Declares War on 'Beggars' and 'Gypsies' " (2014-09-22) [TheAntiMedia.org link] [archive.today]

** "Police-Backed Cyberterrorists Fail to Shut Down Cop Block" (2014-09-22) [TheAntiMedia.org link] [archive.today]
** "Planned Attack to Stop Police Accountability Backfires: A Win For Free Speech" (2014-09-22) [TheFreeThoughtProject.com link] [archive.today]

** Solidarity message from Jb of "Police the Police (A Community Project)"[facebook.com/PoliceThePoliceACP]: Just a heads up to our fans. We are under attack. If you feel so obliged to have a word or two with the two pages "National Police Wives Association" & "Police Blotter", feel free. The last thing they want to hear is the truth obviously. [facebook.com/CopBlock].
** UPDATE from Copblock.org (2014-09-23):
We had a close call yesterday. You all should like these pages just in case Cop Block ever gets unpublished by fb. They can never stop us.
'Like' these pages:
* Police the Police (A Community Project) [https://www.facebook.com/policethepoliceACP]
* The Anti-Media [https://www.facebook.com/TheAntiMedia]
* Cop Logic [https://www.facebook.com/coplogic]
* Virginia Cop Block [https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaCopBlock]
* The Free Thought Project.com [https://www.facebook.com/thefreethoughtprojectcom]
* We Copwatch [https://www.facebook.com/WeCopwatch]
* Emancipated Human [https://www.facebook.com/emancipatedhuman]
* Policing the Police [https://www.facebook.com/PolicingThePolice]
* CopBlockRadioShow [https://www.facebook.com/Copblockradioshow]
* Filming Cops [https://www.facebook.com/FilmingCops]
* Nevada Cop Block (NVCopBlock.org) [https://www.facebook.com/NVCopBlock.org]
* Massachusetts Cop Block [https://www.facebook.com/MassCopBlock]
* Police State USA: Land of the Checkpoints [https://www.facebook.com/PoliceStateUSA]
* Cop Spike Project [https://www.facebook.com/CopSpike]
* Florida Cop Watch [https://www.facebook.com/FloridaCopWatch]
* Photography Is Not A Crime! [https://www.facebook.com/photographyisnotacrime]
* Another Isolated Incident [https://www.facebook.com/rarebadapples]
* Cop Watch Canada [https://www.facebook.com/copwatchcanada]
* Cop Block San Diego [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cop-Block-San-Diego/316327548417340]
* Greater Cleveland Cop Block [https://www.facebook.com/GreaterClevelandCopBlock]
* Eapen Thampy [https://www.facebook.com/EapenGThampy]
* Stop Police Brutality [https://www.facebook.com/policebrutality]
* Skeptic Society [https://www.facebook.com/SkepticSociety]
* Cop Block Los Angeles [https://www.facebook.com/copblockla]
* Montana Cop Block [https://www.facebook.com/MontanaCopWatch]
* Emporia COP BLOCK [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emporia-COP-BLOCK/1454843861431908]
* Cop Block Europe [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cop-Block-Europe/1473897692853281]
* Brave New Films: Justice [https://www.facebook.com/BNFJustice]
* Rob Hustle [http://therundownlive.com/call-cops-rob-hustle/] [http://justiceforbabyboubou.com]
* North Texas Cop Block [https://www.facebook.com/NorthTexasCBlock]
* The Police Are Welfare Whores [https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Police-Are-Welfare-Whores/164848263552589]
* Drug Policy Alliance [https://www.facebook.com/drugpolicy]

UPDATE, 2014-09-23: The following was posted by the shutdown organizer

FERGUSON: CHRONICLE OF AN INSURRECTION
from "SubMedia.tv" [http://www.submedia.tv/stimulator/2014/09/21/ferguson-chronicle-insurrection/]:
An in depth look at the events that unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri following the police murder of Michael Brown, a black teenager. Also features an interview with former Black Panther, Ashanti Alston, about the state of black "America" [http://www.anarchistpanther.net/].

"3 White Ferguson Police Officers Watch As The Mike Brown Memorial Burns to The Ground", 2014-09-23 from "We Copwatch": The Neighborhood Of Canfield Have Ideas of Who's Behind This... And for the White Supremacist deniers, Police Relations with the Ferguson Community Has Everything To Do With Race.White Officers Hunt African Americans in Ferguson. The Proof is in Their Own Stats. How Many of Those White Officers Had Fire Extinguishers in their Car? Why Was it The Only African American Officer Present Was The Sole Officer Attempting to Put The Fire Out?

"Bathrobespierre's Broadsides: Civil Rights for the Poor" is an FM radio show broadcast on Free Radio Santa Cruz [RadioLibre.org/brb], with host Robert Norse. Guest for Sept. 21st is Christopher Snowdon, author, to talk about Outdoor smoking bans in California vs. London, UK, and the use of smoking bans as tools to remove homeless people from public places!

EASTWEST: An Anarchist Newspaper [IndyBay.org link] [archive.today]
Download a copy [.pdf link]

Free Radical Radio! an anti-civilization anarchist podcast and radio show. Every week for almost two hours, broadcasting as part of the Berkeley Liberation Radio (BLR) Collective in West Oakland, Free Radical Radio has brought thousands of listeners thoroughgoing anti-civilization analysis and direct action news. Support their work with a donation towards new equipment [indiegogo.com/projects/free-radical-radio-a-pirate-radio-podcast--2]

Free Radical Radio is celebrating its one-year anniversary. As we get ready to release a series of in-depth interviews with friends of the show as well as new voices, we also look to the future with a desire to get new equipment that would help us continue and better our project. We hope that the hundreds of people who download and listen to our show every week can help us meet this goal. We are suggesting a donation of ten to fifty dollars, depending on what individuals believe is practical given their resources and desirable given their interest.
Decidedly anti-journalistic, FRR makes no pretense of adhering to the mythical and undesirable nonsense of "journalistic objectivity". Instead, the hosts - Rydra, Bellamy, and Doug, along with occasional guest hosts - make clear their views and thus speak passionately and unequivocally on all topics, pushing past any ill-conceived notions of impartiality and instead pursuing sincere and subjective critique and analysis.
Topics are diverse, especially in light of the show's intentionally improvised nature (another intentional revolt against the excessive formality and stifling rigidity of traditional journalism), but include: anti-civilization critique informed by anarcho-primitivist and egoist theory; unapologetic vitriol toward Leftist currents of "anarchism" and other civilization reformism thinly veiled as "revolutionary movements"; digest and editorial on world news and events; commentary on radical activity in the Bay Area; resistance worldwide and our frank take on what is being done and what might be done differently, with a special focus on current eruptions (such as the recent events in Ferguson, MO: https://archive.org/details/RevoltInFerguson); horticulture, forest gardening, intentional communities, rewilding, primitive reskilling, and other activity on the "constructive" end of anarchy; and interviews (released regularly in addition to the weekly show) with authors, organizers, resisters, rewilders, and others.
We hope that contributors, as with all listeners, will contact us at freeradicalradio [at] riseup.net to give us feedback (positive or negative), suggestions on how to improve the show, and information on potential interviewees (including themselves). We look forward to continuing to work hard to produce content that makes an impact.

Ukraine, victim of a fascist coup [link]:
** German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers (NBC News, 2014-09-09)
[NBCNews.com link] [archive.today]
** "Wolfsangel in E. Ukraine: Foreign Policy talks to deputy leader of ‘pro-govt’ Azov Battalion" (2014-09-07) [RT.com link] [archive.org]
** "Neo-Nazis Travelling to Ukraine to Fight Against 'Separatists' and Establish a 'Fascist Dictatorship'; 'My goal is a white Ukraine' - Swedish neo-Nazi Mikael Skillt" (2014-07-31) [GlobalResearch.ca link] [archive.org]
** "British neo-Nazis volunteer for the Azov Battalion in Ukraine" (2014-07-15) [TheDailyAgenda.wordpress.com link] [archive.org]
** "In Ukraine, Joe Biden’s son mixes business with pleasure" (2014-05-15) [VoltaireNet.org] [archive.org]
** "Ukraine’s Neo-Nazis. Stepan Bandera and the Legacy of World War II" (2014-03-17) [GlobalResearch.ca link] [archive.org]
** "Seven Decades of Nazi Collaboration: America’s Dirty Little Ukraine Secret" (2014-03-28) [TheNation.com link] [archive.org]
** "Corporate Interests Behind Ukraine Putsch" (2014-03-16) [ConsortiumNews.com link] [archive.org]
** "BBC Now Admits: Armed Nazis Led “Revolution” in Kiev, Ukraine" (2014-03-07) [Journal-Neo.org link/] [archive.org]
** "Israelis in Odessa: We're attacked by neo-Nazis" (2013-11-11) [YNetNews.com link] [archive.org]

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?" review of the current war in Syria, from US Labor Against the War, read more, and see the extensive links list, at [httpsarchive.today/dSel3]:
The U.S. is at war once again in Iraq and now in Syria, although President Obama previously said "Why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we've just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs? And what is it exactly that these critics think would have been accomplished?" (Huffington Post, August 11, 2014)
Why is the president ignoring his own advice? The choice is not between war and doing nothing.
The choice is between doing what's smart and doing what's stupid! "There Is No Military Solution" – But Obama Launches a New U.S. War in Syria!

Green Charter Committee & the New African Peace Movement [link]
** "Uprising against Islamists begins in the capital of Libya" (2014-09-24) [Itar-TASS.com link] [archive.org]
** "Behind the Sound Bites Lies the Hideous Truth" (2014-07-24) [FinalCall.com] [archive.org]

ACTION CALENDER!

Need a job? Thinking about a career transition in this difficult economy? Join Media Alliance! Professional members get 52 weeks of media-related job listings in print, broadcast, digital, film, video, communications and advocacy e-mailed to them weekly. Let us do the hunting for you. Just $1 a week. Sign up now at [Media-Alliance.org/article.php?id=1023]. Media Alliance is a member of a national coalition working for a better communications system and a more just world.

Activists Lounge presents...
100 Thousand Poets for Change
Friday, Sept. 26, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Poetry and music (to be announced) celebrating four years of 100 Thousand Poets for Change.
$5.00 minimum purchase; vegetarian buffet dinner available
Sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County, 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa
Gaia's Garden Restaurant, 1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa

Vigil Against the Bombing of Iraq and Syria!
Friday, Sept. 26th, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
They say that doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of stupidity. Well, all of these presidents have bombed Iraq and each enemy they have created is more violent than the last. Every rebel group we arm turns those arms against us. Maybe killing people to avenge the killing of people doesn't work in the long run. Maybe the U.S. is doing it all wrong.
Here's a letter we and Vets for Peace have sent to the newspapers. Join us if you agree!
[begin letter]
Veterans For Peace and the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County absolutely oppose U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, no matter what the rationalization. We call on all our members to speak out against any U.S. attacks on Iraq and Syria.
Our Peace & Justice Center and Veterans For Peace communities have witnessed the brutality and the futility of war, including the war in Iraq. Some of us are veterans of a war based on lies and we became part of the killing of a nation, along with as many as one million of its people. We watched as U.S. policy makers consciously stirred up ethnic and religious divisions, creating the conditions for civil war today.
The fruits of more than a century of U.S./European meddling and exploitation in the Middle East cannot be eradicated with more bombing. It is time for a change.
We wish to see a U.S. foreign policy based on true humanitarianism and real diplomacy based on mutual respect, guided by international law, and dedicated to human rights and equality for all.

September 26, join the first ever...
International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons!
[www.unfoldzero.org/index.php?p=action_sep26]
Vigils and Resistance to Militerization at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Schedule for September [livermore.catholicworker.biz/NEWSaWHAT/R18.html].
It's the "Don't Bank On The Bomb" International Day For Total Nuclear Disarmament, connected with Pax Christi International's campaign, on the 26th of Sept. and the 31st of October. And we have the civil resistance action coming on Epiphany, Monday January 6th 2015. (And of course, a vigil in November and the Quaker vigil in December too.)

Monthly Gathering of West County Community Seed Exchange
Saturday, Sept. 27, 9:00 a.m. to noon
St. Stephen's Church, 500 Robinson Rd, Sebastopol
Join us to work in our seed garden from 9 to 10:30 am. Seed Library open to check out seed for growing in your garden- 9 to 11am. Round table discussion on gardening, harvesting, fall garden discussion 11am to 12 pm.

100 Thousand Poets for Change presents
2nd Annual March for Peace & Sustainability
Saturday, Sept. 27, Noon to 4:00 p.m.
A march celebrating peace and sustainability with local poets, activists, musicians, artists, and concerned citizens of Sonoma County! This is part of the 100TPC global day with over 700 events around the world!
Freedom Fest, with performances by participating groups, begins at 3:00 in Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa.
Route to be announced

Monthly Gathering of West County Community Seed Exchange
Saturday, Sept. 27, 9:00 a.m. to noon
Join us to work in our seed garden from 9 to 10:30 am. Seed Library open to check out seed for growing in your garden- 9 to 11am. Round table discussion on gardening, harvesting, fall garden discussion 11am to 12 pm.
St. Stephen's Church, 500 Robinson Rd, Sebastopol

2nd Annual 100 Thousand Poets for Change March for Peace & Sustainability
Saturday, Sept. 27, Noon to 4:00 p.m.
Poets, activists, musicians, community leaders, DJ’s, mimes, performance artists and concerned citizens from throughout Sonoma County will march, dance, demonstrate, sing, recite poetry, and speak out through the streets of Santa Rosa in a freedom of speech march calling for peace & sustainability. This local event is part of the 100 Thousand Poets Global Event, which includes over 700 events happening all over the world! Local issues are key to this massive global event as communities around the world raise their voices on issues such as homelessness, global warming, education, gender equality, police brutality, racism and censorship, through concerts, readings, lectures, workshops, performances and other actions. The Santa Rosa march starts at noon and will travel through downtown Santa Rosa ending at Old Court-house Square for a After Fest with musical performances, arts exhibits, and more! Local organiza-tions and groups will also be tabling to share information about their work in the community.
Freedom Fest, with performances by participating groups, begins at 3:00 in Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa.
Starting point at Julliard Park, Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa

Radical Women Public Meeting:

An Ecosocialist Response to Environmental Racism
Saturday, September 27, 3pm.
Light Snacks at 2:15pm for a $5 donation.
New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St., San Francisco
(7 blocks from Civic Center Bart & on #19, 31, 38, 47 & 49 Muni bus lines.)
Radical Women discusses the leadership of women of color in the environmental justice movement around the world. Join the discussion, get involved and learn about other activities. Everyone welcome. The meeting is free.
For more information or childcare, call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net or visit www.radicalwomen.org.

The 17th Annual Progressive Festival
Sunday, Sept. 28, Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Free
Walnut Park, Petaluma Blvd. S. & D St., Petaluma
Network! Learn! Dance! Food! Drinks! Enjoy!
Featuring Jim Hightower, author, activist, rabble-rouser and Maria Muldaur & Red-Hot Bluesiana Band
More music and speakers as well as social justice, environmental, labor and community organizations

Calling for an end to War, Poverty, and Climate Change
Campaign Nonviolence Action at Beale AFB
Monday, September 29 (3 to 5 p.m.) to Tuesday, September 30 (6 to 8 a.m.)
** Occupy Beale! website [occupybealeafb.org]
** Facebook: Occupy Beale Air Force Base
** Find out more about Campaign Nonviolence at [paceebene.org/programs/campaign-nonviolence].
Join anti-drone activists at Beale Air Force Base in a coordinated action with Campaign Nonviolence, a nationally-coordinated campaign calling for an end to war, poverty, and climate change. Come and participate in or support participation in nonviolent direct action on Tuesday morning. This demonstration will also be a celebration of the dismissal of charges of 16 demonstrators who were arrested at Beale last April, and of our hope for and commitment to helping to bring about a peaceful, just, and environmentally sustainable world.
** Monday, September 29, 2014: We will arrive at the Wheatland Gate on South Beale Road early on Monday afternoon to put up signs & banners before the air force personnel begin their afternoon commute home. We will have a peace vigil between 3:00 and 5:00 am, then take down the banners and flags. We will then go to the Main gate on N. Beale Road, where there is a nice grove of trees, for a potluck dinner, nonviolence training (if requested), conference to discuss our direct action, and overnight encampment. (For directions and other accommodations, see below.)
** Tuesday, September 30, 2014: 6:00am vigil at the Main Gate, N. Beale Rd., for the morning commute of air force personnel into the base. After reviewing plans and nonviolent guidelines, there will be a nonviolent direct action around 7 am. Direct action at other gates may also take place, depending on participation. Some will stand in support as others participate in the action. We will wait for anyone who was arrested to be processed and released—it usually takes between 1½ to 2 hours. After people are released, those who are able will meet at the Brick House coffee house at 316 D Street in Marysville for breakfast and to discuss what happened and make plans for future demonstrations.
** More about Campaign Nonviolence:
This action at Beale is one of over 160 nonviolent actions taking place around the country, coordinated with Campaign Nonviolence, calling for an end to war, poverty and the climate crisis. Campaign Nonviolence is a long-term movement to build a culture of peace by mainstreaming active nonviolence and by joining the enduring, nonviolent struggle to abolish war, end poverty, reverse climate change, and challenge all violence. Campaign Nonviolence invites you to practice nonviolence toward yourself, toward all others, and toward the world!

Support Richmond Battle Against Corporate Domination

WHERE'S THE MONEY?
Tuesday, September 30, 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Lafayette Library Community Room, 3491 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette
Please join us! Light refreshments served.
$5 donation requested to cover room expense
Co-sponsored by: Lamorinda Great Decisions Discussion Group, League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley.
Are you concerned about the inequality of wealth? Increasing evidence documents the rapidly widening gap. Do you wonder how this affects political and social tensions?
Join us as we review Thomas Piketty's research included in his New York Times best selling book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
Presenter Ramsay Thomas, a retired AP History and AP Comparative Government and Economics teacher from the Acalanes High School District, will summarize Piketty's core explanations, views, and insights.
- Why does the value of capital almost always grow faster than the economy?
- What have been wealth trends during the last two centuries?
- Why did the wealth gap drop so dramatically from 1914 to the 1970s?
- Why is the growing wealth gap a problem?
- What policies would reduce the widening wealth gap?

"State of the Sonoma County Latino Community" Forum
Thursday, Oct. 2, 8:00 a.m. to Noon
Los Cien (Sonoma County Latino Leaders Building Bridges) invites you to this forum, united with the desire to transform Sonoma County into the healthiest and strongest county in the state of California for all of us.
losciensonomacounty@gmail.com to register
Flamingo Conference Resort, 2777 4th St., Santa Rosa

Friday, September 19, 2014

Workers Rebel against privatized government and industry in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Interview with Emina BUSULADZIC, of Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
conducted by Dimitar Anakiev and Dominique Ferré, for the International News Bulletin (INB), published 2014-09-19 by the "ILC International Newsletter", New Series N. 192 (561):
Notes are numbered in parentheses and are elaborated at the end of the article
---
The 13th and 14th of September 2014, in Ljubljana (Slovenia), the Association of Wiped out Workers (ZID) organised a first Balkan workers meeting, where political activists and trade unionists from Slovenia, from Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina took part (messages being sent from Greece and Romania). More than twenty years after the wars that decomposed and ravaged ex-Yugoslavia, the labour activists present, engaged in the battle against privatisation, talked of the search for common political action among workers of the former Yugoslav Republics. The meeting opened with a homage to comrade Pavlusko Imsirovic (1948-2014), recently deceased, Yugoslav Trotskyst activist for the last fifty years, fighting the wars and military intervention (1991-1999).
---

INB: Can you present yourself ?
EB: I am called Emina Busuladzic, I am the worker who has been here the longest in the detergent factory DITA in the town of Tuzla (1) in Bosnia Herzegovina. I was president of the Strike Committee and executive member of the factory union. I took part in the uprising of the workers of Tuzla that began in the DITA factory. I refused to leave on early retirement which I was proposed; I am to-day member of the Executive Commission of the union “Solidarnost”.
Our readers remember that in February 2014, the workers of several factories in Tuzla rebelled and rose up against privatisation and the institutions inherited from the Dayton Agreement (1995) (2).

INB: Can you explain to us what led up to this uprising ?
EB: The Bosnian and international media covered the events in February, then there was no more.. Nobody knows that still to-day the sacked workers assemble every Wednesday in front of the authorities' seat. And that began well before February 2014, even if I think this uprising came too late. But most of the workers were not in a state to understand what was happening to them with privatisation. The pillaging of Tuzla factories did not begin yesterday. For me, it began under the Ante Markovic government (3) when he changed the law on ownership and when workers were pushed into buying shares in their company. In fact, workers were being forced to buy something that belonged to them already ! The part not sold to workers in the form of shares remained “social property”. Then this part was renamed “State property”. It was at that time what's more, on the one hand they were stealing from the workers their companies, their machines and on the other giving them war machines to kill each other with. Workers were transformed into soldiers. To cover up all this policy of destruction from 1989 to 1994, they had to develop all these so called “nationalist” movements.

INB: Were you ready to affront privatisation,
EB: My generation grew up under Tito. For our generation it is the State that should guarantee and ensure workers rights and it is not for us to fight for our rights. And so it was easy to cheat the working class which was not used to fighting to defend its rights. In 1997 and 1998 there was a second wave of privatisation. The public service the SDK, that ensured State control on companies was liquidated. At that time, the manager of our factory was qualified by the media “as the best manager in the whole of Bosnia”. But the following year difficulties started in the factory: debts rose, wages started not being paid. At that time they began to offer workers to buy back the shares they had been forced to buy nearly ten years before. The workers did not understand what they were talking about. What is the saddest for me, is that we had always considered the factory directors as people close to us, people that we knew personally for years, and who from one day to the next started working for the interests of people nobody knew.

INB: Can you describe the privatisation process at that moment ?
EB: The SDK and the Workers' Council having disappeared, the factory management and its new masters began to do as they liked with no control existing any more. To sell off our companies cheaply to certain people their price had to be the lowest possible. At the time, State institutions were already in the hands of criminal Mafiosi groups who did all they could to sell off the factories as cheaply as possible. At that time, workers were once again offered the possibility of buying the shares of the part of the company that had remained “State property”. 270 workers and six members of management took out loans to buy these shares. I remember, each month half my wages disappeared to pay off my loan. ..
In 6 months, the situation got brutally worse. The company began to work with ghost companies, lorries filled with goods disappeared, while whole bags full of cash went nobody knows where...
At that time I was working in the research and innovation division, and all the projects of new products were blocked by the management that no longer wanted to invest. However, we have since learnt that enormous loans were contracted at the time and nobody knows what has become of them. The situation of 1994 has been repeated, with months of unpaid wages. It is at this moment that the union began to take action. The head of the union began to say to workers “DITA, is finished, sell your shares as quickly as possible”.
The head of the union told us: the only possibility of our saving ourselves is “strategic partnership”, that they presented as the “third transition way” . That is how in 2005 an agreement was signed with the private company LORA from Sarajevo, that took possession of the capital of DITA. This agreement was kept secret until 2010 … having said this, someone left anonymously a copy at my work post, obviously hoping I would do something with it! My battle had begun some time before, when I joined the union and with other colleagues, had observed that the then head of the union was not defending our interests. We managed to get rid of the former head and elect a new one, in spite of great pressure from the management directed against us. For instance, while I was the worker who had been in the factory for the longest time I was sent to an unqualified position in a 3x8 team in order to try and “break” me. But we did not give up. In 2009, it was clear that our factory was on its way to liquidation, with important wage arrears. Management was campaigning against me, explaining that all that was the union's fault and that it was especially responsible for refusing to sign the cheap collective agreement that management proposed us. Pressure was such that I was forced to sign the agreement, but I immediately put in a complaint accusing management of having forced me to sign. At the time we had had to face the attitude of the Central Union Council at municipal level that called on workers to accept the new contract.
But many workers refused the blackmail. It was at this moment that one can say that worker mobilisation in the factory really began, to save the factory, jobs and wages. And in 2011, the first strike for our demands broke out in response to the union's call.

INB: That year there were legislative elections in Bosnia...
EB: Yes, and personally I had voted for the Social Democrat Party that won the elections and formed a government. Since I had voted for them I then went to Sarajevo to question the government: “come and see what is happening with us at DITA ! Come and see what our “manager”', in fact a real liquidator, is doing”, I said to them. They gave me this answer: “but DITA is now a private company! The government cannot interfere in the the internal problems of a private company, that are not now our responsibility !” But I retorted that neither my colleagues nor I were the “private property” of anybody and that it was therefore the responsibility of this government to follow what was happening to us. And I then brought out the copy of the 2005 secret agreement between DITA and LORA to show the conditions in which our factory had been privatised.
The Minister for Industry was then obliged to come to Tuzla to speak to the workers . He tried to reassure us: "we have a new strategic partnership with a Serb company from Zrenjanin, BEOHEMIJA” ...a company that belonged to the Serb oligarch, Zelko Zunic (4). Gripped by the throat and informed of this future take over by BEOHEMIJA, the workers decided to go back to work. But little by little the production of detergents at Tuzla was brought to a stop and all we had to do was the packaging of products made in Zrenjanin in Serbia. Management started again laying us off for long periods where we had no wages. One day in October 2012, we arrived at the factory to start work, to find a big poster on which was written “Go home, we'll call you”, the factory was guarded by the police who forbade the workers to enter the factory. But the workers then decided to return home. They stayed there and said: “they don't want to let us go into the factory? Very well, then we will not let them come out”.
And that is how the workers stayed in front of the factory, for weeks (with no possibility of coming out on strike because the production was stopped). We had no wages for almost a year, with no social security, the colleagues were hungry, but they remained outside, in front of their factory even when winter temperatures went down to minus 17 degrees. The media in Bosnia began to speak of DITA. In Tuzla, the population supported us and came to bring food to the workers.
It was not only individual solidarity. Workers from other factories began to come in mass to support us: from the chemical industry and mines. The only factories that took no action were those that remained controlled by the Central Union Council, the “yellow “unions. As union leader in the factory, I solemnly addressed the Central Council, but it did not lend an ear. At that time, we were right in the election campaign and for electoral reasons, the parties campaigning were competing to see who would defend us best. Only the Social Democrat Party in power (and to whom, the Mayor of Tuzla Jasmin Imamovic belonged) did not support us. In the local media, in the name of the workers, I questioned the Mayor: “Jasmin, come and defend the workers and you can be sure that we will elect you Mayor again !”... but that call was not listened to.

INB: How did this mobilisation end?
EB: Finally, the Minister for Industry ended up coming to see us. He proposed to take the workers on a trip to Zrenjanin in Serbia to show them how well everything worked in our new “company headquarters” BEOHEMIJA. The workers refused this provocation, but exhausted by weeks of battle, they asked us to sign the protocol proposed by our new bosses. Personally I had demonstrated that this protocol would leave us on our knees, but I did not have the majority and the union had to sign. The employers took advantage of this to promote, in June a new more docile team at the head of the union. So I returned to the factory. The production of detergents had ceased and again we were just doing the packaging. Temporary lay offs had begun again and that's when a new strike broke out. The first of the workers' demands was that production start again immediately. But this time, the workers were in the factory and management and the police outside. They cut off the heating, hot water and electricity . Because of the strike and occupation, the rent paid by the firms renting part of the factory buildings was no longer paid in and the owner accused me of having frightened away the companies that rented and of being responsible -as leader of the strike committee – for the loss of 4.5 million Bosnian Marks (5)! “Let's talk of the millions of our unpaid wages and then we'll discuss your 4 millions” we answered him when he dragged us to court. We went and demonstrated every week in front of the seat of county government. The authorities were willing to discuss but did not want to hear talk about “starting up production again”. Winter was coming. Some workers started a hunger strike. I considered that an individual initiative, I did not agree with that.

INB: How did the strike at the DITA factory spread to the other companies in the town?
EB: When for reasons having nothing to do with our mobilisation, the Minister for Industry resigned and was replaced by someone else, a brutal person who knew nothing about our case, we changed our strategy and called on other factories in the town to come out and join the strike. The strike not only spread to other companies, but for the first time, we called on pensioners, the unemployed and students to join us. And that is how the first demonstration of February 2014 broke out when the masses came out on the streets in thousands.
There were not only all the factories in Tuzla, but also villagers from the area that turned up. Panic stricken by this mobilisation, county government got in touch with me and said: “let's come to an agreement!” I replied: “no problem, let's go to meet the demonstrators to discuss the terms in public”. But they were horrified. The next day, furious because of the absence of a reply, the demonstrators burnt down the headquarters of the county authorities. To-day we continue to ask for the factory to be re opened. The new Federal Government has promised that production will start again, that it will “revitalise” the factory. We have defended physically our factory an now we are at the stage of negotiation for re starting production;

INB: You said the demonstrators attacked the seat of “county” government, i.e. the institutions set up in the framework of the Dayton Agreement (1995) that followed the war. During the uprising of the workers of Tuzla, on top of the refusal of privatisation, another slogan emerged “Smrt Nacionalizmu !” (“death to nationalism”). A slogan that is in opposition with this “ethnic county” Dayton treatment of the Bosnian issue, but it is also a direct reference to the slogan of Yugoslav Partisans during the war “smrt fasizmu” (“death to fascism !”). A few years ago, in another republic originating from Yugoslavia, Slovenia, at the end of huge union demonstrations, the workers spontaneously sang the Partisans song. What does that inspire for you ?
EB: As I have explained, they had to develop these so called “nationalisms” to cover up the privatisation process. Recently there were questionnaires in Bosnia on the way people consider the nationality question and all these questionnaires have concluded that there was no “ethnic” or national rivalry between the inhabitants of Bosnia. Even during the war in 1993, in Tuzla (taking into account the weight of the working class) it was impossible to impose the division of municipal districts into “ethnic” zones ! The problem is social justice. Recently I spoke in a conference in Vienna and I said I did not represent Bosnia, but Yugoslavia. In the whole of Yugoslavia, it is “from the top” that the people were divided into national entities as a global strategy in order to atomise us. I have never been a member of a political party and I can tell you that many political parties have asked me to joint them. ! But I have never wanted to join any of the political parties called “democratic” because we have never seen so little democracy since they have governed us ! Two months ago with several comrades we founded a Communist Party and it is not by chance that we have called it “Communist”, precisely in order to pass a message on to youth. Don't forget that when the Yugoslav Communist Party began to fight in 1941, they were only a few dozen and that it ended the war with three million members. Workers who reflect will make up their own minds.

NOTES, collected by Dominique Ferré:
(1) The industrial town of Tuzla (third town of Bosnia-Herzogovine) has a population of more than 100 000 inhabitants.

(2) Agreement signed on the American base of Dayton (Ohio, United States) under American auspices, by the Presidents, Serb, Slobodan Milosevic, Croat, Franjo Tudjman and Bosn ian Alija Izetbegovic, that cut Bosnia up into “Ethnic counties”, Serb, Croat and Bosnian.

(3) Ante Markovic (Croat) became Prime Minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in March 1989. In agreement with the other leaders of the Yugoslav Communist Party – among which Slobodan Mislosevic – he implemented a brutal programme of “economic reforms” (Markovic laws) that launched the privatisation of companies. He became a business man and economic consultant after Yugoslavia was dismantled.

(4) Zelko Zuni: business man, in charge of executing “the dirty work” of the Serb ex President Boris Tadic.

(5) The “convertible Mark” became, at the beginning of the years 1990, the official currency of Bosnia Herzegovina. A convertible Mark is equivalent to about 0,50 Euro.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Sept. 18th, 2014, Northbay Uprising radio news

Tune in Thursdays 4 to 5pm (PST), at 89.5FM in the northeast San Pablo Bay Area, or on a Smart Phone [link], Desktop U-stream [link], w. chat box [link], Live Mp3 (.pls) stream [link], Netbook [link]. Hosted by Dr.G., Minister of Information of the Northbay MDS, breaking the blockade of censorship, with research archives and verified sources! Be a Community Journalist with our Community Journalist's Notebook [link], send news & info to [NorthbayMDS@) gmail.com]!
[Links] are in-house, offsite links are noted . Backed-up links are to (archive.org) and (archive.today).

Youth Rise Up, There Is No Future in War (a Manifesto)
[CommonDreams.org link]

American Empire in the Year 2014: The Great Concentration or the Great Fragmentation?
[archive.org] [archive.today]

In commemoration of the fascist coup of 1944...
Seventy years of perpetual war for perpetual profits has followed since this day, Sept. 1944, at a time when the absolute majority of the American People expected full employment, equal rights, public healthcare, an end to segregation, and more, with the "Century of the Common Man" promised by the guarantee that "After Total War, comes Total Peace", backed up by executive offices under the President of the United States in coordination labor unions, democracy organizers (against Jim Crow), and community organizations. See more about the plan at [link]. The promise was that war-time factories would convert to consumer and agricultural products, without massive lay-offs, and that this guarantee would be "exported" across Latin America, with an international peace industry subsidized by the Federal government to facilitate trade and human rights, preventing persistant poverty and economic "ghettos" seen today across the USA and Latin America!
See "The Fascist Plot to Seize Washington" [archive.today], a comprehensive article about the monopolist plan for a coup against Pres. Roosevelt during the 1930s. Not one of the architects for this plan were arrested, and they continued to accumulate power.
A vicious ideological struggle dominated the Presidential election of 1944, and against this Vision for Progress were the "conservative" forces dominated by certain financial interests, representing a conservative attitude concerning integration and unionization of the workforce, and competition with not-for-profit government services. "They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective ... using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously (is to) keep the common man in eternal subjugation." - 1944, Vice-President Henry Wallace interview with the New York Times, (and what happened afterwards [link]).
Today, 70 years ago, the vision of unity and progress was brought down when "conservative" monopolists chose to financially prop-up Harry Truman as their choice to replace Henry Wallace as Vice-President, a choice which ensured the monopolist holdings across the world which funded fascist governments would remain untouched. After the death of President Roosevelt, 1945, his replacement, Truman immediately began opening relations with fascist governments in Latin America and Asia, and launched a crusade against "leftists" that saw the murder of 3 million people in Korea, hundreds of thousands in Guatemala and El Salvador, and financial support for dictatorships in Arabia, etc.

On February 25, 1946, Russell Nixon, Director of the Division of Investigation of Cartels and External Assets in the US Military Government in Germany, testified before the Kilgore Committee of the US Congress that the United States and Britain were protecting Nazi-collected assets stashed in "neutral countries", and that an international investigation would "lay bare the Fascist or reactionary regimes in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden and Argentina and would reveal all the elements of collaboration of certain interests in the Allied countries with those regimes", referring to private cartels operating in many fascist nations out of corporate headquarters in the USA and UKGB.
Also see "How Nazis Escaped Justice in South America" [archive.today]

Since the removal of Henry Wallace's plan for "Total Peace", the USA Federal agencies has protected, aided, and expanded with monopolist cartel operations with the fascist regimes that had survived World War 2, incorporating an empire that controlled 50% of the wealth of the world, as documented in "Document PPS23, 24th February 1948", written by George Kennan, Former Head of the US State Department Policy Planning Staff, with the complete text of PPS/23 published 1976 in "Foreign Relations of the United States 1948", Vol. 1, No. 2, and is archived online at [archive.org]:
[ … ] Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction. [ … ] We should dispense with the aspiration to "be liked" or to be regarded as the repository of a high-minded international altruism. We should stop putting ourselves in the position of being our brothers' keeper and refrain from offering moral and ideological advice. We should cease to talk about vague and—for the Far East—unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. [ ... ]
George Kennen is recognized as a primary architect of the "Cold War", or World War Three, against governments outside the "50%" of the world controlled by the USA, and this man promoted an ideology hostile against democracy throughout his career as a statesman, and after his retirement, as seen in this example from 1977 about George Kennen's anti-democracy views [link].

ACTION HEADLINES!
Stories are reviewed and provided by Northbay MDS Committees.

POPULAR RESISTANCE newsletter [offsite link] backed up at (archive.org)

People's Park update-The 9/13 Fight Back event got attention to issues like the stayaway orders given to keep people out of the park and increasingly off of Telegraph, undercover pot busts(watch out for pretty young female collegiate(s) wanting to buy pot), deliberate efforts to keep street musicians off the streets during Sunday Streets, the efforts to stop the arming of the Berkeley police with tasers... We will be getting more "Tasers Kill" stickers. We are continuing the Sunday meetings at 1pm in the park to focus on setting up on an unemployment council to deal with those on the streets who want a paycheck not govt assistance and fixing the stage. Tomorrow Tuesday after Food not Bombs at 4:30pm after Food not Bombs in advance of the World Music event this Saturday we will do a thorough cleaning of the stage and a patching of a certain areas so performers won't trip. More work will have to be done following that event but we want done by the People not UC or professional artists not willing to work collaboratively. -Michael Diehl

Northbay Copwatch [link], special archive about the "Cytel, LLC / Urban Shield" scandal (2014) [link].

Sept. 17 extra-judicial execution in Humboldt [LostCoastOutpost link] [archive.today].
Message from the RedwoodCurtainCopwatch.net:
Don't believe the story from the cops. There is NO BASIS to believe them.
Please don't go around claiming the victim was "armed" or "combative" or any of those phrases the cops use to justify their murderous actions (this time and every time).
Remember Chris Burgess, Martin Cotton, Cheri Moore... Mike Brown?
* Demand a coroner's inquest!
* No paid vacation for the killer cop(s)!
* No Terry Liles (psycho cop who murdered Chris Burgess, Zack Cook, and 'assisted' in murdering Cheri Moore) to be the detective/investigator for this shooting!
Peace and comfort for the family of the slain man.
---
Justice For Tommy McClain!
Please come to the candlelight vigil, Friday, Sept 19th at 6:00pm. 1620 Allard Street Eureka. News crews will be there also to help get this story out there.
Tommy, 22 years old, was murdered by a Eureka Police Officer (13 years at EPD) in front of his relatives' home on Allard Street, September 16, 2014. Tommy brandished no weapon, just a cell phone. Cops claiming they were threatened by a gun after they shoot someone who merely had a cell phone is all-too-common and unacceptable!
And WHO is the cop who killed Tommy? The EPD won't tell!! We have a right to know.
Call for a CORONER'S INQUEST, a public forum for the cops to testify in front of anyone who wants to listen and watch. Inquests are not the most probing hearings, but they are PUBLIC and require the cops to show their faces and tell their "story" to the public. Also, other witnesses are seen and heard.
Let's get a PEOPLE'S INVESTIGATION together. There will be NO meaningful investigation by the police themselves or their buddies in the DA's office or Sheriff's Department.

In Eureka, CA, the Fair Wage Folks [FairWages.org] [EurekaFairWageAct.wordpress.co m] are gearing up for the elections to pass Measure R, guaranteeing a $12.00 an hour Minimum Wage for Large Employers
[http://youtu.be/eSSmzHtGEpo]

Fast food workers on West Coast were part of national strikes [PeoplesWorld.org link] [archive.today]

How a small town council routed the union busters [PeoplesWorld.org link] (archive.today) (archive.org)

Darigold workers report not being provided with clean drinking water
Take Action! [action.ufw.org/kroger_water] (archive.today):

Can you imagine not providing your dog or cat with clean drinking water? That would be abusive, right? Well, for too many Darigold dairy workers, this is the daily reality they face, working an 8-12 hour a day milking cows, often exposed to the elements without being provided trusted clean drinking water.
Milking cows is a difficult job. It's not a nice environment. Dairy employees often have to stand hours and hours, risk being stepped on by a cow, toil in hazardous conditions and work with injured animals. But it gets worse. At too many Darigold dairies, workers feel they have to bring their own water to drink.
Darigold has refused to address worker concerns so we've asked the stores that sell the products to step in. Since we last wrote to you, we've asked Kroger’s subsidiary in the Northwest, Fred Meyer, to take responsibility for what's happening at Darigold. The Kroger Co. operates also under the following banners: Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Payless, Baker's, Gerbers, Scott's Food and Pharmacy, Harris Teeter, Food 4 Less, and Food Co.
As a major seller of Darigold products, Kroger has a responsibility to tell Darigold to resolve the many reported abuses at Darigold member dairies. To date, Kroger has been non-responsive.

The following sets of links detail important battles for worker's rights in the Bay Area throughout the 2013. Originally from the Labor Notes Bay Area newsletter (2014-07-31) -
BART workers struggle of 2013, a one-year analysis:
** "What's Behind the BART Strike?" (2013-07) [MotherJones.com link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "Demanding Better Pay and Workplace Safety, BART Workers Go On Strike" (2013-07)[InTheseTimes.com link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "BART Strike: Another Instance of Media Portraying Workers as Greedy" (2013-07) [TheNation.com blog link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "Bay Area Transit Workers Beat Back the Worst, End Strike" (2013-10) [LaborNotes.org link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "One More Crash for the Working Class" (2013-10) [Solidarity-US.org link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "THE BART STRIKE, AND BEYOND" (2013-10) [CJJC.org link] (archive.today) (archive.org)
** "Some lessons from the Bay Area BART strike" (2013-11) [StansburyForum.com link] (archive.today)

San Francisco Muni worker struggles and issues:
** "Bay Area Transit Workers Beat Back the Worst, End Strike" (2013-10-23) [LaborNotes.org link] [archive.today] [archive.org]
** "Hundreds of San Francisco Transit Workers Stage ‘Sickout’ to Protest Pension Cuts" (2014-06-03)[InTheseTimes.com link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "Why Muni workers are feeling sick" (2014-06-05) [48HillsOnline.org link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "Muni sickout: Q&A with transit union president" (2014-06-05) [SFBG.com link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "San Francisco Riders and Workers Unite for M.O.R.E. Public Transit" (2010-09) [ReimagineRPE.org link] [archive.today]

California teachers' pension issues:
** "California's Prop 30 Gains Could Be Eaten Up By Crisis In Teacher Pension System" (2013-04-03)[HuffingtonPost.com link] [archive.today] [archive.org]
** "California Teacher Pensions Need $4.5 Billion More Each Year: Legislative Analyst's Office Report" (2013-03-20) [HuffingtonPost.com link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "CalSTRS estimates $22.7 billion savings from pension reform" (2012-09-06) [EdSource.org link] [archive.today] [archive.org]
** "Summary of AB 340, the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 and its Impact on CalSTRS Members" fact-sheet (2012-09-04) [.pdf EdSource.org link] [archive.org]
** CBP Conference 2014 presentation on California's Debt [.pdf CBP.org link] [archive.org]
Official responses to teachers' pension issues:
** California Teachers Association (CTA): WHERE WE STAND ON TEACHERS' RETIREMENT [CTA.org link] [archive.org]
** California Federation of Teachers (CFT): "Legislature passes changes in contributions to CalSTRS" (2014-06-21): [CFT.org link] [archive.org]
Vergara Lawsuit - An attack on tenure/job security: [VergaraTrial.com]

Organizing: Art college adjuncts head toward union vote -

(Photo: Grace Chen) Students are standing up for their teachers and against college administration as adjunct faculty prepare for a union vote at California College of the Arts.
Adjunct faculty at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Oakland will vote this month on whether to form their union with SEIU Local 1021, as their counterparts at Mills College and San Francisco Art Institute did this spring. Now administrators and students alike are taking sides — opposite sides — as the vote approaches.
CCA administration has decided to fight the union organizing drive in a variety of ways. Their tactics range from subtly negative official communications from the president intended to sow seeds of doubt about SEIU; to department meetings where department chairs, at the administration's request, have spouted the usual anti-union rhetoric; to follow-up emails after those meetings to vocal supporters, questioning their motives for wanting to organize.
At the same time, CCA students are taking a stand of their own. Last Tuesday was the first day of the fall semester, and students were ready with banners and flyers to both show their support and inform their fellow students about what is happening at CCA.
Union support among the adjunct faculty remains strong. About 78 percent of CCA's faculty is part-time, and three-quarters of all courses are taught by non-tenure track faculty. This means the overwhelming majority of professors are working under precarious conditions: low pay, no job security from semester to semester or year to year, few to no benefits, and poor working conditions.
By contrast, CCA President Stephen Beal brought home $413,000 last year in base pay plus an $85,000 bonus — a $53,000 increase over fiscal year 2012. Most adjunct faculty at CCA earn less than $30,000 a year, even teaching a full course load.
Meanwhile, tuition continues to climb; undergrads at CCA pay $41,592 in tuition alone. As students learn more about where their tuition and fees are going — or not going — they are ready to stand alongside their teachers in fighting for social, economic and education justice.
At Mills College, where adjunct faculty joined SEIU 1021 in May, students and alumni are banding together and holding actions in support of the adjunct union as they head into their first contract negotiations.

Walmart's Gerawan / Prima brand engaged in militant anti-Labor union activity [link], according to a new update from the "United Farm Workers (UFW)" [UFW.org] campaign at Gerawan (producers of Prima brand peaches, nectarines and plums), with a new 28-page complaint (download the .pdf file at [archive.org]) from ALRB chief prosecutor detailing Gerawan’s anti-Labor union campaign. The bosses hired a militant decertification "leader" Sylvia Lopez as an embedded agent, starting work at Gerawan in June 2013; her work ethic, according to company complaints, show details like how she missed 75 percent of work over the next four months without penalty, as part of her guaranteed employment contract with the company, corrupt as it was already in their bid to get rid of the union.

"Big Brother 3.0: FBI Launches Facial Recognition Program, Bureau calls system "fully operational" despite one-fifth false positive rate" [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today]

'They're Right': Citing Climate, Prosecutor Drops Charges Against Coal Blockaders: 'Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced,' said Bristol County DA Sam Sutter. 'In my humble opinion, the political leadership on this issue has been gravely lacking.' [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.org] [archive.today]

STUDENT NATION: "To Start the Semester, Students Walk Out, Shut Down Traffic and ‘Carry That Weight’" [TheNation.com blog link] [archive.today] [archive.org]

For-Profit College Chain Sued by Feds for Predatory Lending Scheme, "We want to put an end to these predatory practices and get relief for the students who are bearing the weight of more than half a billion dollars in Corinthian’s private student loans." [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today]

As the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement (1964) nears, Chancellor Dirks of UC Berkeley issues edict restricting political speech by faculty and students, laying the groundwork for further disciplinary action. Read the edict at [archive.org].
** The Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) Statement on "Civility" and Academic Freedom [CUCFA.org link] [archive.today]
The language of civility has also been used this year so far by -
** University of Illinois, Urbana, Chancellor Statement at [archive.today], and the statement of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois [.pdf archive.org]. More about restrictions of political speech at University of Illinois [ChicagoTribune.com link] [archive.today].
** Kansas Board of Regents, in retaliation for a University of Kansas professor’s anti-NRA tweet [LAReviewOfBooks.org link] [archive.today]. Isn't a public political statement protected, even if posted by a University faculty? Read more at [InsideHigherEd.com link] [archive.today]. The University of Kansas Rules pertaining to the case [KansasRegents.org link] [archive.today].
** "Penn State administration's new statement on civility" [psu.edu link] [archive.today]
In so far as it is a matter of the State acting as a sovereign (e.g., as a ruler seeking to curtail the speech of citizens), the courts have not directly challenged the Warren court’s ringing affirmation of academic freedom in Sweezy v. State of New Hampshire (1957): "The essentiality of freedom in the community of American universities is almost self-evident. No one should underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth. To impose any strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our Nation. No field of education is so thoroughly comprehended by man that new discoveries cannot yet be made. Particularly is that true in the social sciences, where few, if any, principles are accepted as absolutes. Scholarship cannot flourish in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust. Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die."
The Court presumes that scholarship — in both its teaching and writing — addresses matters of public concern and therefore deserves First Amendment protection from the State. Although it is unclear what legal force such paeans to academic freedom possess in the context of concrete cases, the Court has recognized that academic freedom is a “special concern of the First Amendment” as the Court later put it in Keyishian v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York (1967).
When the courts have considered the State as an employer, however, matters have been different. In Pickering v. Board of Education (1968), the Supreme Court imposed a balancing test (as in the Kansas rules above) to determine whether the First Amendment extends to public employees, including faculty. There are two parts of the test: first, whether the public employee is addressing an issue of public concern and, second, whether s/he is speaking as a private citizen. If the employee’s speech met these thresholds then the employee could raise First Amendment claims against an effort by a public employer to punish them for their speech. The Court acknowledged the interest of public employers to run an efficient workplace, but they also insisted being a public employee did not mean losing one’s First Amendment rights as a citizen.
In recent years, the courts have moved to curtail public employee rights and to strengthen the power of the state as employer — most importantly in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006) and the cases that have followed in its wake. Garcetti concerned the actions of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office in allegedly punishing one of its deputies for protesting the way that the office handled evidence in one case, communicating his disagreements with the defense, and then testifying to those doubts in a hearing. Crucially for our purposes, the Supreme Court ruled that although Richard Ceballos’s concerns that justice be done did implicate the sort of issue of public concern that might fall under First Amendment protection, he had done so as a responsibility of his job, and therefore was not acting as a private citizen. Since the District Attorney responded to actions Ceballos took as an employee rather than a private citizen, no First Amendment claim could be made.
Given the increasingly statist and corporate inclinations of the federal courts, it is not surprising that they have followed Garcetti by moving to restrict and undermine the reach of academic freedom — especially when it concerns faculty participation in the affairs of the university.
These court decisions, then, are a first context for understanding the significance of the Kansas regents’s policy. Unlike the Universities of California or Minnesota, the Kansas Board of Regents has embraced rather than resisted the tendencies of our increasingly conservative judiciary. Through their concern with the anarchistic nature of social media, they have claimed greater authority to surveil and discipline their faculty and staff. And through the vagueness of their language, they may have assumed the power to police scholarship and teaching whenever it is done electronically. Recent court decisions have provided them with authority to reduce faculty to simple employees if they wish.

An attempt to "white-wash" (censor) history books in Texas has been unmasked. They neglected to mention Jim Crow in the history books in a state which allowed for the Jim Crow regime through the 1960s! What's more, Education Watchdog calls out religious 'Attempted Indoctrination' in Texas Text Books that they find run deep with inaccuracies and distortions of history, read more here [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today] [archive.org]

"Stop Feeding The Hand that Bites Us" [LaborNotes.org link] [archive.org] [archive.today].
When elected governments on the state or local-level sell out your area for "jobs", they usually do it by giving up tax revenue from the factory's revenue stream, and sacrificing social programs which hurt the wallet of the potentialy employed. What's more, without social programs, low-income workers and the unemployed have waaay less money to live on, and the quality of life gets worse, generally, according to what has been seen this year in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the economic effects against the external colony of New Africans within the city limits. The current regime made an economic sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of people... Life has gotten worse in the so-called Ghetto, for the sake of new jobs.

Profits Soar As Pentagon Leans on Private Corporations for Special Ops; New research shows how US Special Operations Command is outsourcing many of its most sensitive information activities, including interrogation, drone and psychological operations [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today].

Sources:
** "Denver crime stats since marijuana legalization buck fears of Louisiana lawmakers over lowering penalties" (2014-07-02) [NOLA.com link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "Since Denver legalized pot sales, revenue is up and crime is down" (2014-05-13) [Vox.com link] [archive.org] [archive.today]
** "Colorado One Year Later: Thousands Not Arrested for Marijuana, Millions of Dollars Saved" (2013-12-10) [DrugPolicy.org link] [archive.today] [archive.org]
** "If Legalizing Marijuana Was Supposed To Cause More Crime, It's Not Doing A Very Good Job" (2014-07-17) [HuffingtonPost.com link] [archive.today] [archive.org]
** "Colorado’s Marijuana Legalization Creates 10,000 New Jobs" (2014-05-23) [archive.org]

Committee for the Study of History and the Current Context [link] presents an advancement of your studies as fearless researchers. Examine with a clear mind...

the "Dark Enlightenment" and neo-Reactionary Studies [link], providing the intellectual foundation for the resurgent fascist parties of Europe and movements in North America, with increasing popularity among certain segments in the Bay Area (especially Silicon Valley) and in SoCal.

The Northbay Uprising media collective brings your attention to:

The Rebel Press is an independent media network formed by people of diverse backgrounds who seek to provide information and share the stories that come from our under-represented communities.
[TheRebelPress.com] [facebook.com/pages/The-Rebel-Press]
A "Rebel Press" is one who attempts to be an alternative to the large media conglomerates' monopoly on mass communications which give a false illusion of diversity in a market dominated by few companies that dictate the content on everything from music, tv shows, news, advertisements, and even "education". While their purpose is standardizing "culture" and shaping public opinion - in their interest, our goal is precisely the opposite; challenging the status quo and swaying public opinion against them.

"In League Press" -
Adj. 1. in league - (usually followed by `with') united in effort as if in a league; "they found out that some press were in league with the people"
united - characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity; "presented a united front".
* [InLeaguePress.com]
* [facebook.com/InLeagueThePeoplesPress]
* [youtube.com/sweet1eaf]
* [ustream.tv/channel/sweet1eaf]
* [bambuser.com/channel/inLeague%2BPress]
We began filming during the Kelly Thomas protests July 2011. Since then we have been growing in this strange new world of social media and citizen journalism. We attempt to get involved with all forms of Multi-Media in order to bring forth awareness. We cover events that peek the interest of our online & on-location communities. Some times the police are involved, that's when our primary job is to protect the rights of the PEOPLE, by Filming The Police. As my friend Joe once said "We don't hate the police, We hate bad cops." We believe in transparent government and civil servants, whether that's politicians or police. Expect Us
We are a Independent News Group that follows stories from the Peoples perspective. We pitch tents, make cardboard beds on the sidewalk, travel to cover political and historical events. We'll move to volunteer in national emergencies. Anything for the real story, a new era in modern news.

from the Committee to Free 'em All! [link]:

brought to us from Aisha and friends, a call-out to the Bay Area

Solidarity for Jalil Muntaqim

MISSSION: An ongoing solidarity event to establish a group of friends and supporters for Jalil. We will review and discuss Jalil's historic case as well as engage in reading, films, discussing his books, writings and Poetry. We meet bimonthly, at 7:00 pm; locations TBD a few days prior to meeting.

*** A Special Thank you to The National Jericho Movement, The Freedom Archives, the B.R.L.P., & The Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party, for Endorsing and Supporting this Ongoing Event *** PLEASE SEE OUR FB PAGE: [facebook.com/pages/Support-for-Jalil/583001495072004]

As supporters of justice, end of oppression and advocates for freedom for political prisoners such as Jalil, we hope you will join us in solidarity at our meetings. Every voice makes a difference, as the unification of a committed community helps contribute to the cause for his ultimate release.

For more information about Jalil Muntaqim, please review these sites & blogs:

* [jalilmuntaqim-behindthewalls.blogspot.com/]

* [freedomarchives.org/3PP.html]

* [freejalil.com/life.html]

* [freejalil.com/]

* [freejalil.com/writings.html]

* [thejerichomovement.com/index.html]

PLEASE WRITE JALIL AT:

Anthony Jalil Bottom #77A4283

Attica Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 149, Attica NY 14011-0149

ABOUT: "Jalil Abdul Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom) and Albert Nub Washington were arrested in San Francisco during an armed confrontation with police. Their arrests came only one week after the assassination of ....." [http://www.freejalil.com/history.html]

Over forty years later and more than seven denials at the parole board, Jalil remains strong in hope and missive.

SOME OF JALIL’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE:

“In 1986, Mr. Bottom drafted a legislative bill for New York State prisoners to obtain good time off their sentence. The bill was submitted and introduced into the New York State Assembly – Committee on Corrections by former Assemblyman Arthur O. Eve.

In 1994, while incarcerated at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, Mr. Bottom established the first Men's Council in the United States prison. His efforts were featured on television in Japan and written about in the NY Times. During this period, he also graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Sociology.

Instead of resting on his success, he taught African Studies to a group of prisoners. On two occasions, he received commendations from prison officials for quelling potential prison riots, one in the mess hall at Great Meadow Correctional Facility and another time in the auditorium at Greenhaven, Correctional Facility.

From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Bottom was the office manager of the prison computer lab at Eastern Correctional Facility. His duties consisted of teaching prisoners keyboarding skills and how to use computer software programs. Despite his busy schedule, he found the time to raise money from inmate accounts to support the charitable Children's Funds.

In 1999, in Auburn Correctional Facility, Mr. Bottom established sociology, poetry, and legal research and discussion classes under the auspices of the Lifer's Committee that he chaired.

Mr. Bottom co-sponsored the Victory Gardens Project, a program in which farmers in Maine grew tons of fresh produce for distribution to poor urban communities in New York, New Jersey and Boston, Massachusetts. In the four years of its existence, the Project distributed nearly 10,000 pounds of fresh produce in urban centers.

In response to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, while in Auburn Correctional Facility, Mr. Bottom proposed raising funds from inmates to donate to the American Red Cross. Former Deputy Superintendent of Programs R. Nelson acknowledged Anthony's efforts in a memorandum.

While in Auburn Correctional Facility he worked as a Pre-GED Teacher's Assistant and earned a vocational certificate for Architectural Drafting. Mr. Bottom has proposed and gained the approval for a Life Skills Program for inmates.

Mr. Bottom is a published poet and essayist; his writings are found in several University sponsored books of compilations of prison writers. He has also written an unpublished novel and teleplay."

- from [freejalil.com/parole01.html]

LETTER FROM JALIL:

“First, I want to thank all of you who wrote letters and signed the petition in support of my release on parole. We did everything right!

However, the problem is that the New York State parole system is overwhelmingly comprised of law enforcement advocates and sympathizers prejudicial to community growth and development. Obviously, if the community needs were supported by policy makers, crime would decrease, job security in the overall Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) would be threatened, and the profit-based prison system would be less profitable. Therefore any prisoner, who advocates, as I do, community control of the institutions, is deemed a threat to the PIC’s; future, and we are continuously denied release on parole.

We presented an excellent parole plan, with over fifty support letters, 750 names on a signature petition, two independent psychological risk assessment reports favoring release on parole, the DOCCS own computer Risk Assessment analysis and report that indicated low risk to be a recidivist, two housing and work assurance letters, no prison disciplinary reports, every recognized certificate for rehabilitation programs, copies of High School diploma and two college degrees (BA in Sociology and BS in Psychology) and, just as importantly, two letters from the victim’s & family expressing forgiveness and urging my release on parole.

Nonetheless, as you can see, the parole board issued a boilerplate denial in abject disregard of the factual record of community support for my release and return to the community, disrespecting the victim & family and their own risk assessment analysis and report.

It has become ever more apparent that the New York State Division of Parole is a political institution with a right-wing agenda, which Governor Andrew Cuomo supports. He recently failed to appoint a single Black person as a commissioner to the parole board, despite the fact that 48% of all New York State prisoners are Black.

The parole denial will be appealed, so the fight for freedom continues. We need a community review board of the parole system, community direct involvement in the decision-making process on who will be returned to the community. Again, thank you for your support.

Jalil Muntaqim, August 27, 2012

[freejalil.com/2012parole.html]

SOME OF JALIL’S BOOKS AND WRITINGS:

>A Political Prisoner’s Journey in the U.S. Prison System by A. Jalil Bottom

>Exiting the Prism….Fade to Black- A book of poems by Jalil Muntaqim

>We Are Our Own Liberator’s- by Jalil Muntaqim

L.I.F.E.", a poem by Jalil Muntaqim, September 8, 2012, at Attica, NY State

[freejalil.com/poems/life.html]:

I am not a dream killer

I am a people healer —

some say I am a heart stealer

but like a peeler my spirit

is a revealer, shedding layers

leaving bare for you to stare

at that which cannot be compared,

can not be shared, no despair, just

declare that I truly care.

My live has evolved into a chemistry

of tears and fears, life experience borne

of jeers, absent cheers — the haters, betrayers,

the spirit emasculators have sought to break

me down, have me running around as would

a honey bee from flower to flower — searching …

searching … as the nectar of life eludes me

like an escaped convict daring to be recaptured

as freedom is found hostile to a life of

regimen, procedures and unwarranted discipline —

are you listening?

True love is lost as prison bars like

scarred tattoos X across the heart — tic-tac-toe,

only the pain knows the sorrow etched across my

chest like cardiac arrest, hiding under cloth green,

and numbered with no expiration date, only

labeled — L.I.F.E.!

ACTION CALENDER!

Resolution in Support of the Northern California People’s Climate Rally [link]

** "Why I am going to the People's Climate March" by Sydnee Odei-Ntiri [PeoplesWorld.org link] [archive.today]

** Aiming at Roots of Climate Chaos, 'Flood Wall Street' Targets Capitalism Itself: Ahead of UN summit, organizers of direct action say the planetary crisis of global warming 'is a result of an economic system that is based on endless extraction, endless growth, and ceaseless exploitation of the earth and people.' [CommonDreams.org link] [archive.today]

Cesar Chavez - FREE Outdoor Movie Night
Friday, Sept. 19, 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Make Your Neighborhood Count! We'll be hosting a FREE outdoor movie night, and will show Cesar Chavez. This event is about creating community and we'll be having a potluck from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, followed by a brief program until 7pm, which will then be followed by the showing of the film. So bring your lawn chair and/or blankets along with a dish to share! Let's create community and make our neighborhoods count! There will also be onsite voter registration.
Bayer Farm Neighborhood Park & Gardens, 1550 West Ave., Santa Rosa

Justice For Our Desert
September 20th to 22nd
At the Nevada National Security Site & Creech Air Force Base
* The USA's 2015 budget for nuclearism is $1,560,000,000
* The USA's 2015 budget for new militarism is $786,000,000,000
* The USA's 2015 budget for education is $ 130,700,000,000
What's wrong with the US Government's fiscal priorities? Why so much for violence? Are we learning and teaching self-care? The fiscal indicators above reflect a value-system that violates all mainline religions (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist) and therefore represent anti-human practices such as nuclearism, racism, consumerism, militarism, and terrorism. The billions spent on making more military violence is theft from the masses needing a healthy environment and a healthy society. If those who are spending communal resources (e.g. tax dollars) unjustly, without conscientious approval of the masses, are continuing the injustices, then people of conscience must sing out, take action, make peace in the desert where much of this trouble begins at Creech and the NNSS! The first step is to stop the current works of war at these sites, as together we can begin the work of spiritual cleansing at these institutions of death and mega-death.
Join NDE for three days in September to stop the drone assassinations, to banish the violence-mongering, to protect our precious desert region from the spiritual sickness of the NNSS and Creech. Sing, Pray, Love Enemies, and bring about long-awaited environmental justice to our desert!
* Nonviolence Training: SATURDAY 20 Sept.
* Workshops + Eileen & The In-Betweens: SUNDAY 21 Sept.
* Direct Action at Creech & the NNSS: MONDAY 22 Sept.
Call NDE or email NDE for more info: 702.646.4814 or info@NevadaDesertExperience.org
Updates on this event: [NevadaDesertExperience.org/programs/2014/JusticeDesert2014.htm]

Sept. 21st International Day of Peace
[http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/]

NorCal People's Climate Change Rally

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Lake Merritt Park Amphitheater, Lake Merritt near 12th St., a few blocks from the Lake Merritt Bart station, Oakland
[http://peoplesclimatemarch.org]
This is a solidarity action with the New York City protest just days before the UN Climate Summit of world leaders. Tragically, more inaction or inadequate action can be expected. While people all over the country are mobilizing in New York, many of us will gather in support in Oakland. Join us to stand for the world we want: A world with an economy that works for people and the planet; A world safe from the ravages of climate change; A world with good jobs, clean air and water, peace and justice and healthy communities.
Organized by 350.org and hundreds of local and national environmental, trade union and social justice organizations across the country, including the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County.
Carpools are being organized - call 707-575-8902
---
** Nuclear-Free, Carbon-Free Contingent to March at People's Climate March in New York City, September 21, 2014 [CommonDreams.org link]
** About the Global Climate Convergence in NYC [http://globalclimateconvergence.org/about/]

Monday, Sept. 22, 6:00pm - 10:00pm
At Sundiata, 5329 Fairfax Ave, Oakland, California 94601
(510) 842-1009
[https://www.facebook.com/events/551437841628218/]
The Poetic/Hip-Hop Day of Action follows and builds on the very successful May 2nd Haikus for Sundiata, a social media event that resulted in hundreds of haikus inspired by Sundiata (you can read them here: http://haikus4sundiata.tumblr.com/).
On Monday, September 22 in Oakland at Sundiata bookstore and cafe, a number of poets and hip hop performers will dedicate their expressions to Sundiata Acoli, and reach out to the community to step up their efforts in pursuit of freedom for Sundiata. Performers will be announced the first week of September. If you would like to participate in the Oakland event, please contact sundiata5329@gmail.com
Sundiata Acoli is a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. On May 2, 1973, former Black Panthers Sundiata Acoli, Assata Shakur and Zayd Shakur were ambushed and attacked by state troopers on the New Jersey Turnpike. Assata was wounded and Zayd was killed. During the gun battle a state trooper was shot and killed in the crossfire. Sundiata was tried in an environment of mass hysteria and convicted.
Sundiata is 77 years-old and has completed his sentence serving almost 40 years in prison. Despite having a clean disciplinary record and the fact that the recidivism rate for senior citizens is almost nonexistent, Sundiata has been denied parole numerous times. Currently we are waiting to hear back from the New Jersey courts on an appeal on the last parole hearing.He has been denied parole three times in violation of his constitutional and human right to freedom.
If you are not able to make an event, you can still participate! Write a piece responding to Sundiata's writing prompt:
Sense(s) of Freedom: What would Freedom feel, look, taste, smell and sound like to you after the Revolution?
Then mail it to Sundiata on Sept. 22:
Sundiata Acoli
#39794-066 (Squire)
FCI Cumberland
PO Box 1000
Cumberland, MD 21501
Please also send your poems via email to thesafc@gmail.com, if you would like it shared publicly.

Occupy Sonoma County!
Join the anti-GMO campaign.
Monday, Sept. 22, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Unitarian/Universalist Congregation, 547 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa

Picketing for Andy Lopez at the Hall of Justice
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 9:00 a.m. to noon
Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez's on-going weekly picket to demand Justice for Andy Lopez.
600 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa
Justice for Andy Lopez Cruz! (d. 2013-10-22; Santa Rosa) [link]