Rozzana Verder-Aliga, destroyer of Vallejo Public schools, finds acceptance with Vallejo's Christian Dominionists

"Rozzana Verder-Aliga: a Proven Failure"
2013-10-23 by Margaret Malone, posted at the "Vallejo Independent Bulliten's Primal Scream" column
[https://www.facebook.com/ibvallejo/posts/10152326621549128]:
 Note: All opinions expressed in the "Primal Scream" column are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Vallejo Independent Bulletin.
---
 Rozzana Verder-Aliga was on the Board of the Vallejo City Unified School District, (VCUSD), indeed was President in 2004, leading up to and during a fiscal collapse of epic proportions. In 2004, the VCUSD Board was forced to request a $60 million bailout from the State -- the second largest bailout in California's history.
This was no gradual or unavoidable slide into insolvency, a lost labor dispute or a failed public works project. This bankruptcy was caused by blatant mismanagement and complete abdication of responsibility by Verder-Aliga and the VCUSD Board.
It was revealed in a Grand Jury investigation in 2004-2005 that Verder-Aliga and her Board colleagues had allowed gross overestimating of enrollment and underestimating of salary expenses to hide budget shortfalls, and had approved union contracts they couldn't afford.
Just as an example, Verder-Aliga was told by District staff in a Board meeting that enrollment would increase by 200 to 250 students in the next year. Her budget packet, however, noted a budget line item that projected growth of 1,757 additional students with a corresponding revenue increase from the state of $8 million (State funding is tied to the number of students enrolled).
An additional 200, 250, or 1,757 students -- does it really matter? Because it was all fake. If Verder-Aliga had been doing her due diligence, she would have questioned ALL of those numbers in light of the fact that enrollment had been steadily declining for the past three years at least -- the VCUSD had already lost 500 students and a corresponding $1.6 million in State funds.
Verder-Aliga and her colleagues must have been asleep at the wheel to miss that big of an overestimate in the face of declining enrollment. Did Verder-Aliga not read her budget packets? I'm sure they can be large and difficult to get through, but isn't that why she was elected?
The VCUSD Chief Financial Officer stated in the October 1, 2003, VCUSD board meeting that the VCUSD budget had been revised and that the District was in the black. Board members stated they were "excited about the news" and "praised the Chief Financial Officer for a job well done". When in actuality, VCUSD administrators had been told by the Solano County Board of Education that the VCUSD budget was in deficit.
Verder-Aliga's response in a news article: "The whole board was in shock. It was unbelievable."
 Here are some pretty damning findings by the Grand Jury about Verder Aliga and her Board colleagues:

 Finding # 1 – The Vallejo City Unified School District Board failed in its responsibilities as the governing board by not asking the proper questions that would give them enough credible information to make competent budget decisions.

 Finding # 4 – The VCUSD School Board did not keep the public informed of the district’s budgetary problems...The board kept the budget information from the public by discussing all budget problems behind closed doors. It appears that the re-election campaigns of two board members may have had an impact on the board’s decision in keeping the budget problem from the public.

In the Grand Jury interviews, when asked why it took so long for the Board to speak publicly about the budget problems, the response was, "2003 was an election year for two board members and a former board member was also running [against them] . . . To keep things in the proper prospective, no one wants bad news to get out, especially the board members who were up for re-election...politics does play a part in decision making.”
Verder-Aliga's failure on the School Board, wasn't just her personal failure. She inflicted damage on a generation of school children. She damaged the reputation and economic viability of the City of Vallejo and cost us taxpayers millions of dollars. Her ineptitude, her inability to read a budget document and ask pertinent questions, her ability to be fooled and her willingness to "go with the flow" because it was easy -- that would make for a TERRIBLE council member.
The Vallejo City Council and Vallejo taxpayers do not need the likes of Verder-Aliga. Quite the opposite. If you have independent candidates not beholden to special interests, and who aren't always thinking about their own position or their re-election -- politics would never play a part in decision making.
Verder-Aliga epically failed Vallejo once. Let's not give her a second chance. Vallejo deserves better.
Interesting: Verder-Aliga, on her bio on the Fighting Back Partnership Board website, fails to list her years as a VCUSD Board Member. Embarrassed? Indeed. (http://fight-back.org/about_board.php)


Meanwhile, at Topix.com [http://www.topix.com/forum/city/vallejo-ca/TE1B66G39OH6EKKS6], a re-post of this article attracted the attention of a certain supporter of corruption in Vallejo, Sam Kurshan, who writes:
 Is this another example of the unity Gomes and VIB have called for? Ha!
A VIB supporter whined: "You really are a piece of work,aren't you. You have nothing that can support you Jumpstart machine candidates so you fling mud, fling mud, fling mud. Not much for the electorate to chew on, but thats ok because they are just stupid manipulated sheeple. Right?"
Let's stop the bull shit and lies and get something straight for the record once and for all:
VIB was started based upon a personal hate filled vendetta aimed at Vallejo's public safety unions after they stopped backing Joanne Schivley, who was backed by them and took their money for years.. For years it went on, especially around election time when it became vicious. The last few elections the unions sat out, or at least did not play a highly vocal and visible role like they are now and basically took this vile attack against them lying down. Now that they are defending themselves by using the exact same mud flinging tactics they are being called out by the original haters, VIB. And why, because the unions have bitten back hard through the large war chest they have amassed. Now if VIB had that kind of money and aggression, they wouldn't be whining about the crap being flung back at them, right in the direction it originally came from. The call for unity from one side of Gomes mouth while continuing to bash the unions, especially VPOA is hypocrisy and is seen as a phony attempt at peace. Actions speak louder than words and the consistent actions of Gomes, Brown, Schivley, Garman and the VIB crowd spell only one short thing: Hatred and division and that is why they are finished on November 5th.
Don't start the fire if you can't stand the heat!


Rozzana Verder-Aliga

Senior Mental Health Manager, Solano County Health & Social Services
Board Member since 2006
Dr. Verder-Aliga has been a community volunteer for over 30 years. As a Community Organizer she spearheaded the grassroots participation of the Filipino American community in addressing alcohol, drugs, teen pregnancy, gangs, family/parenting issues through the Filipino Task Force of Fighting Back Partnership in the early 90's. A Licensed Marriage Family Therapist by profession, she currently works as Senior Mental Health Manager for Solano County Health & Social Services. Her work focuses on serving the social and mental health needs of children, seniors, veterans and families in Solano County.
Dr. Verder-Aliga was also re-elected to a second term on the Solano County Board of Education last November 2011. She has been on Fighting Back Partnership's Board of Directors since 2006. She is also a board member of several other local non-profit organizations. A resident of Vallejo for 32 years, she is married to US Army Retired Colonel Nestor Aliga and they have three sons.

Scott Peterson

 Senior Pastor, Church on the Hill
 Board Member since 2008
Scott Peterson is the Pastor at “the Hill” in Vallejo. He and his wife, Betsy moved to Vallejo in 1986. They have 7 children and 10 grandchildren. Prior to Pastoring, Scott had an 11 year career in radio and television broadcasting. He is also involved in the Rotary Club of Vallejo and serves on the Board of several non-profit organizations. The Hill is very active in serving the city of Vallejo, planning and participating in various community outreach programs.

Terrye Davis

 Private Attorney
 Board Member since 2003
 Terrye Davis is an attorney specializing in Wills, Trusts, Probate, Landlord/ Tenant and Real Estate law. In addition to being a Fighting Back Partnership Board member since 2003, she serves on the Sutter Solano Advisory Board. Terrye volunteers with the Willie B. Adkins Project and at the Continentals of Omega Boys and Girls Club where she coordinates the Keystone Leadership Group. She is a Sunday School teacher at Lighthouse Covenant Fellowship. She also works with girls, ages 13 to 18, who are members of the Delta Gems Leadership program, a program administered by her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

"The Grain Silo/Canal Bank Homeless Encampment is Destroyed"

Defend those without homes! [link]
Human Rights abuse in the City of Fresno [link]

2013-10-23 photographs and text by Mike Rhodes ( editor [at] fresnoalliance.com ) [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/10/23/18745312.php]:
The City of Fresno continued their attacks on the homeless today by destroying the last encampment in the downtown area. The photo below shows one protester stopping a bulldozer as it tried to enter the encampment.

The City of Fresno destroyed the last remaining homeless encampment in the downtown area today. The assault on the Grain Silo/Canal Bank homeless encampment started at dawn and continued throughout the day. By 7:30 a.m. homeless advocates had blocked the two main roads into the encampment, preventing bulldozers and other city vehicles from entering.
 The city work crews shifted their strategy to focus on a handful of tents and other structures in a field on the other side of the railroad tracks. Bulldozers, garbage trucks, police and other support vehicles came down a dirt road on a canal bank to start the demolition. The handful of homeless people at that location were told to remove their property or it would be stored. The destruction of the structures at that location took several hours, while the homeless advocates maintained their vigil at the main encampment.
 Eventually the city focused their attention on the much larger encampment and tried to bring in their bulldozers on a road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks on the south side of the camp. They were met by 10 - 15 homeless advocates who refused to allow the city vehicles to pass. After negotiations with Jim Betts, an attorney working for the City of Fresno, an agreement was reached to allow a U-Haul truck in to move some of the property.
 As the homeless and their allies were loading the U-Haul a second bulldozer came down a road at the north end of the camp. One of the protesters jumped on the bulldozers claw and the city soon withdrew that vehicle.
 The protesters, having gained time to help move the homeless, stepped back and two bulldozers and a garbage truck entered the encampment and started destroying what was left on the south end. It appeared that all of the homeless had moved out of that area and the property remaining had been stored.
 I had to leave by mid afternoon, but it appeared that the city would have the entire encampment leveled by the end of the day. Several City of Fresno representatives told me that a fence would be put up on Thursday to keep anyone from re-establishing an encampment at that location.
 Meanwhile, in other parts of town, homeless people are having their property confiscated if it is left unattended. I was also shown a citation one homeless person received yesterday that charged them with an infraction for leaving “debris in the road” which was, they say, their property. To see an earlier story about this new police tactic in Fresno, see: [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/10/09/18744608.php]
 To see what groups working in support of the homeless will do next, see: [http://www.helpfresnoshomeless.org/]

Protesters Arrived at Dawn

The City Started the Attack in an Unexpected Location

Bulldozer stopped by the Protesters

Negotiations take place with Jim Betts (Center), the attorney representing the City of Fresno

A U-Haul Truck was used to help people move. You can see the protesters stopping the city equipment, to the left of the U-Haul

Loading property onto the U-Haul

Protesters Hold Their Ground

Destruction of the encampment

Some people moved their property across the RR tracks

One of the Signs Posted by the Homeless - to save their property

Cinnamon, one of the homeless residents, Called out for Help

What is left: This photo shows what remains of the Grain Silo/Canal Bank homeless encampment the day after the City of Fresno came in with their bulldozers and garbage trucks.


"Two days after 61st birthday…"
2013-10-26 by Mike Rhodes ( editor [at] fresnoalliance.com ):
I received this today (Saturday, October 26) from one of the former residents of the Grain Silo/Canal Bank homeless encampment:
Two days after 61st birthday…
Hello, I’m Nancy. I’m someone’s mother, a grandmother, a good friend and a homeless senior citizen. Ten months of day to day at times five-ten minutes of uncertainty. Safety is first in mind, from weather to strangers. Pushing a cart on the street, through a park or just in a dark area, the fear overwhelms.
I was left homeless, without a clue to my immediate survival last January. Nightfall brought freezing cold. Two nights in Roeding Park, seems that every kind of Fresno’s criminal are in and out of the shadows. I have never been so frightened.
I was rescued and invited to just rest or stay at the Clinton and Marks encampment. It was destroyed by the city in early March. Moving around again… A second time, I was rescued, invited to the canal encampment by Sinamon, and welcomed by Shanti (a really large and friendly dog).
We are all respectful of anothers space/area. Any emergency big or small, every resident gives their help in earnest. Our gathering at this camp has few problems of any magnitude.
It’s been eight months at the Canal encampment. Neighbors help others if they are able. Some need and are allowed their solitude.
We are just people, all with events, situations, decisions and issues that brought us here. Each of us with a story and a history. Some are more at ease with life as it is. Some want to get back to a structured comfortable life. Not all are criminals, lost on drugs or “infidels” as described by some prominent citizen of Fresno.
We are real people in jeopardy of losing our dignity once again, sleeping in dark corners, pushing a few belongings in a grocery cart aimlessly, all thought and energy, spent finding food and safety for a night, maybe eight-ten hours.
The Canal Encampment has twenty residents. Nine are fifty-five or older. When the city of Fresno destroys the shelters we’ve constructed. They have put the weakest members of the homeless community in direct danger of freezing to death this winter.
The Canal Encampment has friends and support from the community. Their gift of portable toilets gave the residents a personal dignity and the Thursday Group provides precious water, clothes, pet food, hygiene products and bagels. They bring their concern and great conversation. Church organizations feed, clothe and pray for us. Veterinarians have given their time, knowledge and love for animals to our precious pets. For some of us, our pet is all the love and affection we have in our lives.

2013-10-24 NBU News

Northbay Uprising radio news
Thursdays, between 4 to 5pm, with headlines and interviews with people behind the news! Journalist's Notebook  [link], George Seldes had it right: "Tell the Truth, Then Run Like Hell!"

Join our Community Journalist program! Covering "707 to 818, the Bay Valley". Send us news & info to [northbayuprising@gmail.com]

Headlines!
October is New Afrika Peace month! with weekly reports on New Afrikan issues, Pan-African liberation and 5th World news. Last week, Dr.G. spoke about the history of the captive nation of New Africa and how this nation exists today in permanent economic captivity, a continuation of the historical relationship between the dominant settler society and the dominated nationalities (including indigenous American nations). Today's episode will discuss a plan set in motion in the Kush District to enact a communitarian solution to the conditions of captivity. Chokwe Lumumba, a New African scholar and politician, who during the 1970s acted as Vice-President of the Republic of New Afrika (a model government), has been elected as mayor of  Jackson, Mississippi, with the majority mandate to enact the principles of "Solidarity Economics", towards establishing a localized economy, free and independent from economic captivity... or as free as it can be.
"Other Economies Are Possible!": Building a Solidarity Economy [link]
More info about the Republic of New Afrika at [link].



Solano County invites public to support medicinal cannabis clinics [link]

Port of Oakland Truckers Association (POTA) shut down multiple terminals during morning shift; Diesel and the economics of ecological preservation [link]

You never saw this coming: BART management put workers in extreme danger as part of their policy! Solidarity the BART workers! [link]

"Valero to pay fine for air quality violations" (2013-10-22 by Peter Fimrite from "San Francisco Chronicle") [link]

"City of Fresno Finds New Ways to Harass the Homeless" (2013-10-09 by Mike Rhodes, editor of The Fresno Alliance newspaper) [link]

Call for Christian Acts of Courage by Rev. Floyd Harris Jr.:
I am tired of playing around with the Mayor Ashley and the Fresno City council. This government is destroying lives and now I have people walking the streets of Fresno tonight like zombies. I have waited for city leaders, in Fresno (City Hall & Board of Supervisor) to come up with a solution to this homeless problem but I have not seen anything work. The City of Fresno will pay #1 man 10,000 of our tax dollars to destroy God's people. I have a Mayor who claims to be a Christian (Christ Like) but has zero compassion for poor people. Community activist and homeless organizers gave the mayor and city council a plan on how to create a legalize homeless encampment and they have refuse. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! Once again the government have destroyed there encampments. Mayor Ashley has the sprite of Bull Corner in the 1960's. I'm looking for people in the Fresno Community who is ready to STAND FOR JUSTICE. I will let everyone know about the first Recall Meeting... Your Servant Rev. Dr. Floyd D. Harris, Jr.

The City of Fresno, CA demolished a homeless encampment this morning, right in time for winter. Churches were told not to allow the homeless to erect tents on their property, according to Rev. Floyd Harris Jr. Hear a report tonight at 11pm Eastern at Blogtalkradio. Call 619.393.2837, or join us by computer http://www.blogtalkradio.com/realtalk1dr

Police snipers positioned to shoot at anti-brutality gathering [link]


ACTION CALENDER
More Action Calenders: IndyBay [link]; Ecology Center [link]; Nuclear Resister [link].

The Facing Tear Gas campaign
October 25-28
Join us in an action against Urban Shield & militarized policing in Oakland, CA
Information from the Northbay MDS [link]


Occupy Oakland vs. Urban Shield.
Be there this Friday the 25th!
[https://www.facebook.com/events/1462209360670844/?fref=ts]



Occupy Beale AFB: "The HORROR of Drone Strikes!"
at the Monthly NO DRONES ENCAMPMENT
Oct. 28, Monday, 3pm, to Oct. 29, Tuesday, 8am
This "Halloween season" we will create the Horror of Drone Strikes!
US Drone warfare is not letting up, but neither is our vigilance to speak out against it.
This month during our early morning Tues. vigil, Oct. 29, 6am to 8am, we will dramatize the horrors of drone warfare, as military personnel are arriving on the base.  There will be a "DRONE REAPER" holding a miniature drone and creating the "carnage", with dead bodies lying about.  (Mon. afternoon will be the typical bannering and leafletting.)  All are invited to support one or both days.

We need your help for Tuesday:
Please bring:
1.  Life sized stuffed dummy bodies, adult and children sizes, to scatter along the highway.
2.  Some volunteers (of all sizes) to be the "victims".....running (and screaming?) scared from the approaching Drone Reaper!  As we recreate, live, the scene of a pending drone strike.....
3.  Carved pumpkins cut out with peace messages to glow in the early am dark:  "NO DRONES", PEACE SIGNS, ETC.
      Scarry pumpkin faces welcome too!
4.  Dress in your best Halloween black or other suitable costume (skeletons encouraged), white death masks, etc.  (some extra masks available.)
5.  Drums, and any ghoulish noise makers.
6.  Don't forget food contribution to our potluck Mon. night!     
Sign Up to Facebook here:
[https://www.facebook.com/events/219180551590617/]
Contact Toby [510-215-5974] [ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net]
        Mon., 3-5pm vigil:  Wheatland Gate, Intersection of So. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.
         5:30pm, Encampment at Main Gate, N. Beale Rd.,                                
               Potluck, camping and planning for future actions.
         Tues., 6-8am vigil:  Wheatland Gate, N. Beale Rd. 
    Join us afterwards for debriefing in Marysville  at the Brick Coffee House, if you have time.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR:            
                   Update:   "Wheatland 4" Trial  (Barry Binks charges were dismissed this month due to his veteran status, and thus his right to enter base property, 4 more face trial)
New date:  January 13, Sacramento.  More info in coming months.
Next Occupy Beale Encampment:  Mon. Nov. 25, 3pm to Tues. Nov. 26, 8am.                           
Check Out:  www.occupybealeafb.org
THE RESISTANCE:   We need more folk to step forward and participate in nonviolent civil resistance/direct action to say no to US militarization and destabilization of the planet.
The Beale 5 activists were sentenced with community service only this month for blocking the road into Beale last October to oppose drone killings.  The 2nd wave of 5 No Drones resisters will face trial on Oct. 28.  We are looking for more volunteers to come forward for the next wave.....only good is gained from this very low risk and very meaningful activity to break the silence and say NO to U.S. military aggression and illegal drone killings.
OCCUPY MILITARISM…..STOP KILLER DRONES….CREATE THE WORLD WE WANT TO SEE!  


Sunday, October 27, 7:30 PM
Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America: An Evening with John Nichols and Robert McChesney
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way @ Durant Street, Berkeley
 Hosted by Kris Welch
In their new book, Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America, Nichols and McChesney - two leading media experts - examine the forces that have sapped elections of their meaning and stolen America's democratic potential. The 2012 election was a quantum leap: it was America's first $10 billion election campaign. While U.S. elections have never been perfect, the country is now hurtling toward a point where the electoral process itself ceases to function as a means for citizens to effectively control leaders and to guide government policies.
Nichols and McChesney make a powerful case for amending the constitution to address the wildly undue influence corporate money is having on our elections. They describe pay-to-play billionaires and the crass politicians who do their bidding, corporations that have been free to buy elections and activist judges who merely advance their agenda, and the media conglomerates that blow off journalism while raking in billions airing intellectually repugnant, morally reprehensible political advertising. This poses a terrifying challenge to the DNA of American democracy itself.
$12 advance tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/461977 :: 800-838-3006 or Pegasus Books
(3 locations), Marcus Books, Mrs. Dalloway's, Moe's, Walden Pond, DIESEL a Bookstore, and Modern Times ($15 door)


Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - 7:30pm
 Public Enemy: Confessions of a American Dissident:
An Evening with Bill Ayers
 The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley
Hosted by Max Pringle, a veteran KPFA Public Affairs Producer
 In this sequel to Fugitive Days, Ayers charts his life after the Weather Underground, when he becomes the GOP's favorite "domestic terrorist" and "public enemy".
Labeled a "domestic terrorist" by the McCain campaign in 2008 and used by the Radical Right to castigate Barack Obama for "pallin' around with terrorists," Bill Ayers is in fact a dedicated teacher, father, and social justice advocate with a sharp memory and even sharper wit. Public Enemy tells his story from the moment he and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, emerged from years on the run and rebuilt their lives as public figures, often celebrated for their community work and much hated by the Radical Right. In the face of defamation by conservative media, including a multimillion-dollar campaign aimed solely at demonizing Ayers, and in spite of frequent death threats,
Bill and Bernardine stay true to their core beliefs in the power of protest, demonstration, and deep commitment. Ayers reveals how he has navigated the challenges and triumphs of this public life with commitment and good humor- from the red carpet at the Oscars to prison vigils and airports (where he is often detained and where he finally "confesses" that he actually did write Dreams from My Father.
 Bill Ayers is the author of the acclaimed and controversial memoir Fugitive Days and many books on education, including To Teach, Teaching Toward Freedom, and A Kind and Just Parent. He is the founder of the Small Schools Workshop and was, until his retirement, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Hyde Park, Chicago.
$12 advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com :: 800-838-3006 or Pegasus (3 locations), Marcus Books, Mrs. Dalloway's Books, Moe's, Walden Pond, DIESEL a Bookstore, and Modern Times ($15 door)
                                                  

State Capitol Police Brutality Rally Features Former Supreme Court Justice, Families of Victims; Part of Nationwide Protests

"Hundreds Take Over Capitol, City Streets Tuesday to Protest Police Brutality; Former CA Supreme Court Justice, Families of Victims of Police Killings Call for Drug Testing, 'Body Cams' for Police"
2013-10-22:
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: POLICE BRUTALITY MARCH TODAY IN SACRAMENTO -
About 200 marchers take over J Street near the Convention Center in Sacramento shortly after Noon on 10-22-13 following rally opposing police brutality. Marchers had no permit, but police did not threaten arrests. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI1h3MTgy4A]
SACRAMENTO--
Hundreds of protesters took the streets of Sacramento here -- literally taking over all lanes during busy noontime traffic -- to participate in a "National Day Against Police Brutality" which was scheduled in more than two dozen cities nationwide.
There were no arrests. CHP and Sacramento Police bike cops, horseback officers and vehicles flanked and monitored the street march -- even though no permit had been granted for it.
Thousands of Californians -- including a former CA Supreme Court Justice here at the State Capitol - joined more than 50 families of those murdered by law enforcement to demand accountability for police terror. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted through 3 p.m.
Other rallies and protests are scheduled in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Chicago, Cleveland, Fresno, Greensboro, North Carolina, Hayward, Houston, Oakland, Redding, San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis, Lynn (MA) and cities in Canada.
Keynote speaker was Cruz Reynoso, civil rights lawyer, professor emeritus of law at UC Davis, and the first Chicano Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Other notable speakers included Alex Salazar, a former LAPD officer speaking on the code of silence; Elaine Brown, prison activist, writer, singer, & former Black Panther Party chairman; Cephus Johnson "Uncle Bobby" -- Uncle of Oscar Grant murdered by BART police.
Event organizer Christina Arechiga said that innocent lives are being taken at the hands of law enforcement all over U.S. and California is leading that trend. California police in the span of a few years killed more human beings than have ever executed in the history of death row. Arechiga's cousin, Ernest Duenez Jr. was murdered by John Moody in Manteca. A civil trial starts next year.
"We are looking for common sense solutions to curbing the violence we see coming out of our police depts. We want to see police officers drug tested on a random basis and whenever there is an incident, I think most Californians would be surprised that is not happening," said Arechiga. "Accompanying these deaths is a culture of the code of silence and police investigating themselves."
Families are calling for cameras on all police officers/"body cams" civilian oversight committees elected and autonomous of law enforcement, protection for whistleblowers and accountability from the officer committing the crime to the person at the top letting it happen, to the city councils and the district attorney. All of these people must be able to do their job without pressure or influence from law enforcement or they too must be held responsible.
Families & communities across this state are calling for dismantling of the POBOR (police officers bill of rights) which was created for police by police and signed by a Governor Brown, who's track record and campaign finance history as proven works largely for Police & Prison Guards Unions.


"State Capitol and Nationwide Police Brutality Rallies Set Tuesday; Former CA Supreme Court Justice, Families of Victims of Police Killings and Former Police to Speak, Call for Drug Testing, 'Body Cams' for Police"
2013-10-22:
SACRAMENTO-
Thousands of Californians -- including a former CA Supreme Court Justice here at the State Capitol -- will join more than 50 families of those murdered by law enforcement to demand accountability for police terror on the 18th "National Day Against Police Brutality" is scheduled in more than two dozen cities nationwide.
Rally/March at the Capitol (West Steps) begins at 10 a.m. TUESDAY/OCTOBER 22 and is expected to last much of the day.
A vigil Monday night at the Federal Courthouse at 7 p.m. will be in the memory of Michael Nida, shotgunned to death by Downey Police when they "mistook" him for their on October 22, 2011.
Other rallies and protests are scheduled in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Chicago, Cleveland, Fresno, Greensboro, North Carolina, Hayward, Houston, Oakland, Redding, San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis, Lynn (MA) and cities in Canada.
CA Attorney General Kamala Harris was invited to speak. Keynote speaker is Cruz Reynoso, civil rights lawyer, professor emeritus of law at UC Davis, and the first Chicano Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Other notable Speaker include Alex Salazar, a former LAPD officer speaking on the code of silence; Elaine Brown, prison activist, writer, singer, & former Black Panther Party chairman; Cephus Johnson "Uncle Bobby" -- Uncle of Oscar Grant murdered by BART police; Ron Thomas -- father of Kelly Thomas a Fullerton homeless man beaten to death by police.
Event organizer Christina Arechiga said that innocent lives are being taken at the hands of law enforcement all over U.S. and California is leading that trend. California police in the span of a few years killed more human beings than have ever executed in the history of death row. Arechiga's cousin, Ernest Duenez Jr. was murdered by John Moody in Manteca. A civil trial starts next year.
"We are looking for common sense solutions to curbing the violence we
see coming out of our police depts. We want to see police officers drug tested on a random basis and whenever there is an incident, I think most Californians would be surprised that is not happening," said Arechiga. "Accompanying these deaths is a culture of the code of silence and police investigating themselves."
Families are calling for cameras on all police officers/"body cams" civilian oversight committees elected and autonomous of law enforcement, protection for whistleblowers and accountability from the officer committing the crime to the person at the top letting it happen, to the city councils and the district attorney. All of these people must be able to do their job without pressure or influence from law enforcement or they too must be held responsible. Finally, families & communities across this state are calling for dismantling of the POBOR (police officers bill of rights) which was created for police by police and signed by a Governor Brown, who's track record and campaign finance history as proven works largely for Police & Prison Guards Unions.

Fast Food Industry and the working poor

"Fast-Food Chains Costing Taxpayers the Most Money"
2013-10-22 by Mike Sauter, Thomas C. Frohlich and Alexander E.M. Hess [http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fast-food-chains-costing-taxpayers-173510741.html]:
The fast-food industry is one of the nation’s largest employers of low and minimum wage workers. According to one group, often the industry workers' pay is not enough and many turn to government programs for assistance.
According to the National Employment Law Project's (NELP) newest report, because the fast-food industry pays its workers less than a living wage, U.S. taxpayers must foot the bill in the form of the public assistance programs these workers must use to get by. McDonald’s alone, according to the group, cost taxpayers $1.2 billion last year. Based on NELP’s estimates, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the annual costs of providing public assistance to low wage employees working at the seven largest publicly traded fast-food companies.
“What this report shows,” explained NELP policy analyst Jack Temple, “is that whether or not you work in the fast-food industry or eat fast-food, the industry is costing you. The low wage business model that this industry is based on drains resources from the economy by forcing low-pay workers to rely on public assistance in order to make ends meet.”
These public assistance programs include the earned income tax credit, SNAP benefits (also known as food stamps), Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The largest of these is Medicaid. “Almost 90% of workers in the fast-food industry do not get health insurance," Temple said. "In addition to being a low-wage business model, it is also a virtually no-benefit business.”
Temple added that while these companies are attempting to save money by paying their employees less, they may in fact be saving much less than they think. One such cost may come in the form of the industry’s high turnover rate. “Companies are just churning workers, and that’s due to low wages. When you invest in higher wages, you actually get significant savings in the form of reduced employee turnover.”
At least one group has taken issue with NELP’s argument. Employment Policies Institute research director Michael Saltsman explained that the current system of lower wages and government benefits is much more ideal than raising the minimum wage substantially. “The earned income tax credit has lifted thousands of people out of poverty, and it has done it without the consequences of increasing the minimum wage,” Saltsman said.
Saltsman added that companies simply are not going to hire as many people if wages increase substantially. “You can have a $15 minimum wage, or have the same number of opportunities that currently exist in the fast-food restaurant industry -- but you can’t have both.”
NELP argues, on the other hand, that these companies are in fact in the position to pay their workers more without hurting their bottom line. The two largest companies, McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, had a combined net income of $7 billion. These companies are profitable and growing, the group argues, and they owe it to the employees who help make them successful to pay them closer to a living wage.
In addition, while these companies pay many of their low-level workers a minimum wage, CEO compensation for these seven companies was a combined $52.7 million in fiscal 2012. Yum! Brands CEO David Novak alone earned $14.1 million last year.
Based on a recent report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), "Super-Sizing Public Costs," 24/7 Wall St. determined the seven publicly-traded companies that cost the government the most money. Figures on CEO compensation, and the money the companies' spent on dividends and share buybacks for stockholders in fiscal 2012, were also provided by NELP. Income and revenue figures are from Morningstar and also for fiscal 2012. Salary figures for individual occupations are from Glassdoor.com. Changes in share prices are from Google Finance.

7. Domino’s
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $126 million
> CEO Compensation: $9.1 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 73,920
> Revenue: $1.68 billion
> Net income: $112 million

Domino’s has more than doubled its net income since 2008, when the company posted $54 million in earnings. Many of Domino's employees are likely enrolled in government programs. According to NELP, the company could have raised employee wages rather than spend that money expanding aggressively overseas and investing heavily in technology aimed at easing the ordering and delivery process. The stock has surged over the last five years with the share price up more than 900%. Meanwhile, the compensation of J. Patrick Doyle, Domino’s CEO since 2010, amounted to more than $6 million in 2011 and more than $9 million in 2012.

6. Sonic
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $164 million
> CEO Compensation: $1.7 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 96,012
> Revenue: $544 million
> Net income: $36 million

Unlike the other major fast-food restaurants, Sonic operates exclusively as a drive-in restaurant, with skating carhops who serve customers in their cars. The company notes that carhops are a “brand treasure," and because many are tipped, some do actually earn better than minimum wage. Sonic generated $36 million in profits in fiscal 2012. The company also returned about $30 million to shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends, while paying its CEO a total compensation of $1.7 million. Sonic’s CEO stated in February that a hike in the minimum wage “would put pressure on profit margins," although he also noted the company would adapt to a change. As of the last fiscal year, the company's net profit margin was less than 7%.

5. Dunkin’ Donuts
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $274 million
> CEO Compensation: $1.9 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 160,732
> Revenue: $658 million
> Net income: $108 million

When Dunkin' Brands went public in 2011, its debt level was relatively high, according to The Wall Street Journal. In spite of the high debt load, Dunkin’ owners borrowed more money and paid themselves $500 million in dividends. Much of the company’s workforce is paid a low wage, with crew members and cashiers earning slightly above minimum wage on average, according to Glassdoor.com. The company’s ability to raise wages may be constrained by its debt load. Last year, Dunkin’ Brands had over five times its equity in debt and paid out more than 11% of its sales in interest expenses. Still, the donut and coffee company recently revealed plans to expand to the U.K. over the next five years.

4. Wendy’s
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $278 million
> CEO Compensation: $5.8 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 162,876
> Revenue: $2.51 billion
> Net income: $7 million

Wendy’s returned $39 million to shareholders in fiscal 2012 and paid CEO Emil Brolick $5.8 million in total compensation. Most of the company’s workers earn low wages, and according to NELP, they cost U.S. taxpayers more than a quarter of a billion dollars. While labor advocates have pushed the company to pay its workers more, Wendy’s may not be well positioned to pay its employees a higher salary. As of last year, the company's net income was just $7 million. Over the last 12 months, that number rose only slightly, to $15 million.

3. Burger King
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $356 million
> CEO Compensation: $6.4 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 208,307
> Revenue: $1.97 billion
> Net income: $118 million

Burger King has struggled to compete with Wendy’s and McDonalds in recent years. Poor pricing, a limited menu, and a “target market of men in their early 20s -- a demographic that has been hit hard by unemployment,” contributed to the company's troubles, according to a 2012 report by The Wall Street Journal. Last year, Wendy’s overtook Burger King in total sales at its restaurants. Despite the recent slide in sales, the company has been able to increase its profitability, and net income rose from $88 million in 2011 to $118 million in 2012. This is likely due in large part to Burger King’s shift towards franchising all of its stores. Critics of the chain, including New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, have argued Burger King has a responsibility to improve its workers' pay.

2. Yum! Brands (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC)
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $648 million
> CEO Compensation: $14.1 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 379,449
> Revenue: $13.63 billion
> Net income: $1.60 billion

Yum! Brands has had enormous success in China due to rising incomes, as well as the popularity of KFC and Pizza Hut in the country. However, concerns over food safety in the wake of avian bird flu outbreaks, as well as inappropriate antibiotics use on the part of its suppliers, have recently resulted in lower sales. Still, Yum! Brands' net income has been steadily rising since 2008. Compared with CEOs of other low paying fast-food chains, David Novak received the highest compensation, at more than $14 million in 2012. There has been much criticism that the company’s workers are underpaid and assertions this costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $650 million per year. Despite this, Yum! professes a strong relationship with its employees, and claims “to recognize and compensate employees based on their performance.”

1. McDonald’s
> Cost to U.S. taxpayers: $1.2 billion
> CEO Compensation: $13.7 million
> U.S. restaurant workforce: 707,850
> Revenue: $27.57 billion
> Net income: $5.47 billion

McDonalds remains extremely profitable. The burger chain's net income was nearly $5.5 billion last year. The company also effectively returned all of its profits to shareholders, paying out a total of $5.5 billion in dividends and stock buybacks. While arguments have persisted on both sides as to whether McDonald’s should or should not increase its workers' pay, the company itself recently demonstrated just how difficult living on less than $8 an hour can be. In July, a sample budget from the company’s financial planning website for employees was leaked. The planners made several questionable assumptions, including that an employee could work two nearly-full time jobs and spend $20 a month on health insurance.

October 22nd, a day to Stop Police terrorism against the People

The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation has been mobilizing every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest on October 22nd, bringing together those under the gun and those not under the gun as a powerful voice to expose the epidemic of police brutality.
The Coalition also works on the Stolen Lives Project, which documents cases of killings by law enforcement agents nationwide. The second edition of the Stolen Lives book documents over 2000 cases in the 1990s alone. Research and collection of data in preparation for a second volume continues, and volunteers for researching or editing are welcomed. 
Contact the National Office of October 22nd at: "October 22nd Coalition" [P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009] [oct22national@gmail.com]     


O22 Schedule:

Oakland/Bay Area, California
2:30 PM: 73rd & International, Oakland - Assemble & March
4:30 PM: Fruitvale BART Station, Oakland - Rally & Speak-out
 
Sacramento, California
10:00 AM: Assemble at California State Capitol (1315 10th Street) for rally, workshops, edutainment, and march. E-mail for Sacramento action only: castatewidecoalition@gmail.com
 
 For more information overall, including up-to-date transportation info, contact: [stopmassincarcerationbayarea@gmail.com] [510-926-5207] or go to the Stop Mass Incarceration Bay Area Facebook Even Page.
 
COMING FROM SAN FRANCISCO WITH NO BART RUNNING?  It’s a 45 minute direct bus ride, on AC Transit “O” bus from the SF Temporary Transbay Terminal (the block bounded by Main, Howard, Beale and Folsom) to Fruitvale BART.  Bus departs 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM.  Fare $4.20. 

October 22 at 1:00pm until October 23 at 7:00pm in PDT
    Cesar Chavez Park, 14th and E St. in Eureka
    Redwood Curtain CopWatch, along with communities all over the country invites, urges you, to stand up to the police state, reject the school-to-prison pipeline and show your solidarity or rage regarding oppression and violence against any and all people for who they are, where they live, what they believe, or what they have or don't have.
 Come out on Oct. 22nd and 23rd, Tuesday and Wednesday, united for Days of Action Against Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. Oct. 22nd is the 18th National Day of Protest and the 23rd is the Memorial Day of Chris Burgess who, at age 16, was shot to death by Eureka Police Officer, Terry Liles, who is still an EPD cop and continues to terrorize kids and adults.
 We stand in solidarity with courageous prisoners who went on hunger strike this July for an end to torture in CA prisons, in solidarity with kids who, now, if they get in trouble in school, don't get sent to the principal's office but to the criminal in-justice system, put on probation, setting them up for a life of targeting and lock up- as what happened to young Chris Burgess, pursued and murdered for not reporting to probation. We stand in solidarity with people being targeted for living outside, without shelter, with little resources, while affordable housing and living wage jobs are a joke here; we stand in solidarity with all oppressed people, those being beat down, hunted, stolen from, killed, entombed in concrete cells, separated from their loved ones --for migrating to the U.S., for having little to no resources, for being a person of color, for speaking up against imperialism and human right violations, for being young or trans or gay or simply different.
 Call 707.633.4493 for more details or check out redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net.
 Days of Action Against Police Brutality Oct 22-23
 See you there.

Here is the schedule for the 2013 Days of Action Against Police Brutality, Oct 22-23!
No school. No Work.
Bring warm clothes and any other warm stuff for folks who need it.  Local call to action is below schedule.
Tuesday, Oct 22  18th NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST
1:00pm Cesar Chavez Park (formerly 'Hammond Park' 14 & E, Eureka), CONVERGE AND PREPARE FOR MARCH - with lunch
2:30pm starting from Cesar Chavez Park (14th & E, Eureka), MARCH OF RESISTANCE TO POLICE BRUTALITY
6:00pm Carson Park (Carson & H, Eureka -on the Carson end), MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE- Live Concert, Dinner, Speak Out!
CANDLELIGHT WALK Honor The Victims And Survivors Of State Violence
10:00pm Cesar Chavez Park (14th & E, Eureka), ALL NIGHT VIGIL To Protest the Criminalization of Sleep, with FILM SCREENING
---
Wednesday, Oct 23  MEMORIAL DAY FOR CHRISTOPHER BURGESS
midnite-3:00am at the Humboldt Courthouse/Jail: “WELCOME OUT!” Support People Released From Jail At Cold, Unfriendly Hours.  Help distribute warm clothes, warm beverage, and a welcoming smile!
9:00am at the Clarke Plaza (3rd & E St., Eureka): BREAKFAST
11:00am starting from Clarke Plaza (3rd & E St., Eureka): MARCH through neighborhoods & to police stations. March for Chris Burgess, murdered by Eureka Police Officer Oct 23, 2006.
4:00-7:00pm at the corner of Wabash & Broadway, Eureka: PROTEST & DINNER Stop the criminalization of youth! Being young is NOT A  CRIME! Stop the school-to-prison pipeline!


SACRAMENTO STATE CAPITAL
OCTOBER 22ND NATIONAL DAY AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY
On Tuesday October 22nd 10 AM-5 PM , thousands of Californians will join 50+ families of those murdered by law enforcement to demand accountability for police terror on the 18th National Day Against Police Brutality.  Innocent lives are being taken at the hands of law enforcement all over our country and California is leading that trend.  California police in the span of a few years killed more human beings than we have ever executed in the history of death row. Accompanying these deaths is a culture of the code of silence and police investigating themselves and next to never holding these officers accountable. 
“We are looking for common sense solutions to curbing the violence we see coming out of our police depts. We want to see police officers drug tested on a random basis and whenever there is an incident, I think most Californians would be surprised that is not happening” said Christina Arechiga organizer of the event who’s cousin Ernest Duenez Jr. was murdered by John Moody of the Manteca, CA PD and who’s families civil trial starts in 2014
Beyond drug testing the families are calling for: cameras on all police officers “body cams” should be worn at all times, civilian oversight committees that are elected and autonomous of police, protection for whistle blowers and accountability from the officer committing the crime to the person at the top letting it happen, to the city councils and the district attorney, all of these people must be able to do their job without pressure or influence from the PD’s or they too must be held responsible.  And most importantly the families &communities across this state are calling for dismantling of the POBOR (police officers bill of rights) which was created for police by police and signed by a Governor Brown who’s track record and campaign finance history has proven works largely for Police & Prison Guards Unions.
Kamala Harris was invited to speak and listen to the concerns of the people but she did not respond.
Keynote speaker: Cruz Reynoso, civil rights lawyer, professor emeritus of law, and the first Chicano Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
Notable Speakers: 
* Alex Salazar, ex-LAPD officer speaking on the code of silence
* Elaine Brown, prison activist, writer, singer, & former Black Panther Party chairman
* Cephus Johnson “Uncle Bobby” – Uncle of Oscar Grant murdered by BART police
* Ron Thomas – father of Kelly Thomas a Fullerton, CA homeless man beaten to death by police in July 2011.  Three officers are currently starting a murder trial as a result. 
Film crews from Director Costa Mantis will be on scene at the capital recording a documentary about the case.
In attendance will be the family of Michael Nida II murdered by Downey, CA Police when they “mistook” him for their suspect and shot him with a machine gun.  He was killed on October 22, 2011.  A vigil in his memory will be held today, Monday October 21st  at the Federal Courthouse 7 pm.
https://www.facebook.com/events/206231896215621/
For additional information please contact:Christina Arechiga 916-370-0846 castatewidecoalition@gmail.com


"Uncle Bobby" Cephus Johnson


Nicholas Heyward Sr on October 22nd National Day of Protest


The Message of O-22


O-22 Public Announcement

"The Call for the 18th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation"
October 22, 2013 -
“The Call for the 18th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation is to bring forward the united, powerful, visual coalition of families victimized by police terrorism and to reach into all parts of our community. May our unity bring the change that our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren so rightfully deserve – freedom, justice, equality, humanity, respect, and a right to take BART [Bay Area Rapid Transit] and a right to walk to 7-11 for Skittles and ice tea without being executed.”  - Cephus “Uncle Bobby” Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant
This year has seen a sharp escalation in a full spectrum of attacks on the people. Yet even through some of the most repressive attacks that the government has made, there are signs of hope in the nationwide eruptions of outraged people and communities who are fighting back. We have a heavy responsibility going into the 2013 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, to stoke these sparks of resistance into a movement that can not only stop but reverse these escalating attacks.   
In Bakersfield, CA, 33-year old David Silva was hogtied and savagely beaten to death by law enforcement officers, who had found him passed out on a street. The vicious killing of 30-year old Melissa Williams and 40-year old Timothy Russell, shot down in a hail of 137 bullets by Cleveland police, has been described as a modern-day lynching. As of yet, the thirteen officers are still on the job. In an assisted living home in Chicago, 95-year old John Wrana was killed by police after being tasered and shot with a bean bag round. Witnesses say that Miami Beach police high-fived each other after tasering to death 18-year old graffiti artist Israel Hernandez-Llach. Police around the country continue to kill young Black men with impunity, such as 25-year old Cary Ball, Jr., killed in a hail of 25 bullets by St. Louis, MO police, and 16-year old Kimani Gray, shot seven times by NYPD, three times in the back. In Dallas, TX, the last time a killer cop was indicted was in 1973. Dallas police have killed 250 since, with 68 Black men killed since 2001. Over and over, we hear the justifications for police brutality and killing. The reason Miami-Dade police gave for restraining and choking 14-year old Tremaine McMillian, that he gave “dehumanizing stares,” shows just how much law enforcement expects impunity.
This system also criminalizes certain communities by protecting from prosecution those who kill people of color. From the Bronx judge's overturning of indictments against the cop who killed the unarmed Black teenager Ramarley Graham, to the mistrial declared in the killing of seven-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones by Detroit police, the system's prosecutors always seem to forget how to prosecute when one of their own is on trial. The soft touch that Florida police gave to Trayvon Martin's killer and the acquittal of racist vigilante George Zimmerman epitomizes the racism inherent in the justice system, as the trial was conducted and covered in the media as though Martin was the one on trial. As a Guardian columnist has written, the verdict of the Zimmerman trial declares “open season on black boys.”
The rise in reports of sexual harassment of and assaults against women and transgender people by police in recent years is staggering, unfortunately nothing new for long-time female activists who have had close encounters with police. There are reports from all across the country of groping and verbal sexual harassment during arrests, especially prominent at recent protests for women's reproductive rights in Texas. Also in Texas, state troopers have subjected women to cavity searches during traffic stops. In addition, a recent U.S. Department of Justice report revealed that hundreds of teens have been sexually assaulted or raped in juvenile detention institutions across the nation.
  Scores of political prisoners continue to languish in state and federal prisons, many aged and infirmed. At least four are terminally ill: Maumin Khabir, Mondo we Langa, [Herman Wallace - R.I.P.], and people’s attorney Lynne Stewart. Their conditions demand our immediate concern, as the federal and state prison systems refuse to grant any of them compassionate releases. We cannot allow the denial of their immediate release nor the continued incarceration of any of our freedom fighters.
Meanwhile, as the culture of cop watching becomes more pervasive and more people document the violent acts of law enforcement, the criminalization of recording police intensifies. Among many incidents across the country, a West Palm Beach man was arrested and charged with eavesdropping after trying to film police detaining someone, three NYC cop watchers were arrested during the unrest after Kimani Gray’s killing, a Hawthorne, CA man’s dog was shot and killed by police after the man was arrested for filming a police barricade, and Detroit police roughed up and arrested a newspaper reporter for filming an arrest even after she identified herself as press.
The intrusion of the national security state has reached mind-boggling, unprecedented levels. This year, whistleblower Edward Snowden, a contract employee of the National Security Agency, revealed that the U.S. government has been conducting the largest, most coordinated, and most intrusive surveillance of citizens in human history. Instead of these revelations being treated as evidence of massive governmental wrongdoing, Snowden has been treated like other whistleblowers, such as Chelsea (née Bradley) Manning, who uncovered widespread U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now facing 35 years in prison as a traitor. With evidence that law enforcement has singled out for surveillance and harassment groups and mosques simply for being Muslim, and individual and groups of activists for being progressive and leftist, we must not accept these intrusions and these attacks on the people who expose them as the "new normal."
In the face of escalating brutality and repression, people’s determined resistance must grow not just to fight for justice and against repression, but also to change people’s understanding of what is needed and possible today. The critically acclaimed film about the 2009 police killing of Oscar Grant, “Fruitvale Station,” has burned into the minds of many the utter devastation and outrage of Stolen Lives cases. Advocacy and public debate to decriminalize marijuana/cannabis has clarified the epidemic of criminalization and demonization of whole groups of people through unconstitutional raids and mass incarceration, and how the “War on Drugs” is really a war on the poor and people of color. Other efforts seek institutional changes through legal and legislative means, such as the Community Safety Act reform bills and "Floyd" lawsuit victories against the NYPD and the Committee for Professional Policing political action committee in Minneapolis. Efforts by activists and civil rights organizations have also resulted in calls from the UN Human Rights Committee that challenge police violence and impunity. These efforts contribute to the needed societal discourse about the racist reality of “Stop-and-Frisk” policies, police brutality, repression, and the criminalization of Black and Latino peoples, breaking the silence and strengthening the resolve of many to take independent political action to end these daily horrors for so many people. The National Day of Protest welcomes and must give voice to the greatest concentration of diverse and disparate voices and forces in order to beat back the genocidal trend of vicious police brutality and repression, and change the current equation.
Most importantly, people have been rising from the ground up, the most oppressed of our communities grabbing the reins and fighting forward, unafraid! Prisoners have organized with inspiring unity around demands for basic human rights, under conditions internationally condemned as torture, such as confining prisoners for decades in solitary confinement, a deadly lack of concern for their health that kills on average one prisoner per week, and illegal, coerced sterilization of incarcerated women. Most notably, a hunger strike that spread throughout California had up to 30,000 prisoners participating. Families of people killed by police are standing strong and building together for a national movement for their Stolen Lives. Undocumented youth are heroically outing themselves, often getting arrested and deported, in order to fight for their entire community. Tens of thousands rose and continue to rise up in powerful ways for Trayvon Martin, and against racist killings by wannabe cops, cover-ups by real cops, and injustice by the justice system. Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities are speaking out against unwarranted governmental surveillance and criminalization. People in even the most conservative areas are finding strength in organizing together, such as the growing movement in Dallas, TX and the uprisings in Anaheim, CA. Videos exposing police brutality and misconduct appear every day from all over the nation, made by organized cop watchers as well as everyday people who are fearlessly recording even as police try to intimidate them. All over the world, people have had enough and are rising up in exciting and visionary ways, and this October 22nd is where we bring all our struggles and victories together!
October 22nd is a day that people around the nation have mobilized every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. It is crucial that we bring forward a powerful National Day of Protest in cities and towns across the U.S. to challenge the ongoing violence against the people. This October 22nd, stand with thousands across the country to express our collective outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. On October 22nd, WEAR BLACK, FIGHT BACK!
Join us if there is already an October 22nd event in your area. Create one if you are in an area where there is currently no group organizing. For listings of activities in your area, check the Assembly Points page.To start building for an event in your area, email oct22national@gmail.com

TO ENDORSE THIS CALL, EMAIL THE ABOVE ADDRESS OR SIGN BELOW AND MAIL TO: October 22, P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009, along with your tax-deductible donation to the national organizing effort. Suggested donation $15.00 (paid to "IFCO/October 22")

Name: ___________________________________________

Email: ___________________________________________

Organization: ____________________________________________________________________
                                                              * (note if for identification purposes only)
Signature: __________________________________________________________

Protest against animal abuse at UC Davis

Learn more about abuse against primates and other animals at UC Davis here, "Inside the Laboratories of UC Davis: The Truth About Primate Experimentation" [http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/articles-rep-insideucd.html]. Please tell the USDA to levy a fine against the University of California, Davis, for the negligence which killed at least two young monkeys. Contact Dr. Robert Gibbens, Director, Western Region USDA/APHIS/AC, at (970) 494-7478, [Robert.M.Gibbens@usda.gov].

"THE GREAT ESCAPE: Research Watchdog Monday Reveals 'Lost' Documents Disclosing Dramatic Escape of 50 Monkeys, Negligent Deaths of Young Primates at UC Davis Primate Center"
2013-10-21 from "Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN)" [www.all-creatures.org/saen]:
DAVIS, Ca. --
A federal research laboratory watchdog from Ohio will hold a short PRESS BRIEFING in front of the University of California, Davis Primate Center -- Monday/October 21 at 10:30 a.m. -- and disclose previously "lost" documents that reveal the negligent deaths of two young primates, and the dramatic escape of 50 rhesus monkeys from UC Davis' facility.
SAEN -- a national research watchdog group that has dogged UC Davis about negligent killings at its primate colony for more than a decade -- said it has federal documents where UC Davis admits the escape and deaths.
"We've also learned that other documents are being withheld from public view because they might 'interfere with a pending law enforcement proceeding,'" said Michael Budkie, executive director of SAEN.
Budkie, whose nonprofit group is based in Ohio, will be appearing at person at the news conference. He will be calling on UC Davis to be more transparent, and provide more details of how animals in its care are being systematically killed through negligence.
UC Davis was cited by the USDA in March of 2013 after SAEN called for the government agency to investigate and university for at least 19 primate deaths.


"Activist group riled over escape of 50 rhesus monkeys, and death of two, at UC Davis"
2013-10-19 by Edward Ortiz for "ModBee.com" [http://www.modbee.com/2013/10/19/2983347/activist-group-riled-over-escape.html]:
The recent deaths of two rhesus monkeys and the revelation that 50 rhesus monkeys escaped from an enclosure at the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis in 2011, have prompted an animal rights group to claim that the university is not properly safeguarding the monkeys, or the public.
The university says it has followed strict guidelines set down by the National Institutes of Health for the care of laboratory animals in each incident.
In one case cited by the animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a 6-month-old monkey was found dead with a stuffed animal wrapped around its neck. A letter reporting the incident to the NIH said the death may have been brought on by a cage mate who was found holding an end of the stuffed animal. The other death involved a 7-month-old juvenile that was trapped in a squeeze door mechanism.
Some of SAEN’s harshest criticism of the primate center involves the escape of 50 rhesus monkeys from an enclosure on Dec. 17, 2011. That incident was never made public.
“We will file complaints with the USDA as these are serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act,” said Michael Budkie, director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now. “We believe UC Davis should pay a price for this. It’s a major issue because the primates we’re talking about could pose a public safety risk and the public should know when there has been a risk like the escape of 50 primates.”
The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture annual inventory of animals used for research and experiments at UC Davis shows 2,760 primates. There are 3,045 being bred or conditioned for experiments and research. The monkeys that escaped in 2011 were used for breeding purposes and not the study of diseases.
The 50 monkeys got out of their housing area when they manipulated gate latches and escaped into another corral area, according to a letter that the university sent to the NIH three days after the incident. None of the monkeys got off the research center grounds, but many of them had to be tranquilized before they could be returned to their enclosure.
“The escape is a situation where the rhesus monkeys clearly had improper enclosures. Animals were able to make their own way out, it is not like someone let them out,” Budkie said.
UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell said that there was never a risk of the monkeys leaving the grounds of the primate center, which is on a 300-acre tract of land 3 miles from the main campus. He did not say whether the same gate latches are still being used.
Escapes are not rare in research facilities, including the one at UC Davis. In 2003, a 4-pound rhesus monkey escaped during a cage cleaning. The escaped monkey was being used for breeding purposes and did not carry any infectious diseases, but it was never found. The incident was cited as a reason when the university lost a bid to host a $150 million biosafety research facility for the study of highly infectious diseases.
As regards the recent deaths, Fell said that all such facilities have mortality rates.
“Many of these animals live in large family groups in half-acre corrals. All animals are checked twice daily and our staff strives to provide the best care possible to animals in their charge,” said Fell. “The center is taking the extra step of investing in research that aims to further reduce mortality, especially among monkeys living in large groups outdoors.”
This is not the first time that SAEN, which is based in Ohio, has lobbied for the USDA to fine UC Davis over primate deaths. Earlier this year, SAEN called for the agency to investigate and cite UC Davis for 19 primate deaths. In those deaths it was established that 14 of the monkeys were infants 2 months old or younger whose deaths were blamed on lack of nutrition likely due to nursing problems. The others were older monkeys that died from gastrointestinal problems. The university was not fined in those deaths.
Researchers often use rhesus monkeys for research because of their anatomical and physiological closeness to humans. Moreover, the monkeys are easy to maintain and breed.


"Primate Center Protest 1st, then Arden Park Presents: Michael Budkie of S.A.E.N, October 20, 12PM UCDavis Primate Center" 
[http://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-Animal-Rights-Meetup-Group/events/141061562/]:
First we will do our Organized Protest with red splattered shirts at the Primate Center at UCDAvis Primate Lab.

AFTER PROTEST AT UCDAVIS, We will go to optional lunch at Plum, then over to Arden Park Community Center, 1000 La Sierra Drive. Sac. at 4 PM, to hear Michael Budkie from Stop Animal Experimentation NOW! (S.A.E.N.) He will talk about Life in the Lab -- The truth about Animal Experimentation!

Please join us and learn the truth and help these wonderful animals who are in pain everyday of their lives!!


"Animal Rights Group Schedules Second UC Press Conference in Sacramento "
2006-10-10 posted to PRWEB [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb448724.htm]:
Davis, CA; Sacramento, CA -
Animal rights activists have requested a meeting with the Chancellor of the University of California, Larry N. Vanderhoef, in hopes of negotiating substantial changes for the UC Davis laboratories. Spokesman Michael Budkie of Stop Animal experimentation Now (S.A.E.N.) says “The health and well-being of the approximately 4500 primates who are confined at the University of California, Davis are a serious concern.” A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11 at 10:00 a.m.
In September, a coalition of animal rights groups, led by S.A.E.N. and the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), scheduled a press conference which criticized UCLA research protocols.
S.A.E.N. recently completed an assessment of the overall condition of animals at UC Davis by examining the post mortem records for primates who died at the facility from August 2003 through February 2006. This examination involved records for a total of 590 primates, both infants and adults. Among the concerns cited by S.A.E.N. are dehydration, gastrointestinal problems brought on by stress, infant abuse, self-mutilation, and malnourishment. Budkie says that animals kept in stressful research conditions do not provide meaningful research data and are “a waste of federal funding for these facilities.”
Budkie blames lack of proper caging as one factor which contributes to stress in the laboratory animals.
“Their space is severely limited, such that a 33 – 55 pound primate lives in a space of 8 square feet. This is like a 165 pound human spending their entire life in a space that is 3 feet by 8 feet. These cages are made of stainless steel, containing at most a perch and a stuffed toy,” Budkie said.
Wednesday’s press conference will introduce a former UC Davis employee/animal caretaker who is coming forward to explain the conditions at the UC Davis labs. S.A.E.N. will present Chancellor Vanderhoef with a request for mitigation which will include:
1. Unannounced tours of UC Davis laboratories with news media present.
2. A schedule for the gradual reduction of the number of animals in UC Davis laboratories, so that funding can be directed into clinical and epidemiological research.
3. Immediate free access to all records relevant to animal research at UC Davis including: animal health care records, research protocols, and internal UC Davis inspection reports.
4. Immediate elimination of the use of primate restraint chairs, paralytic drugs, and water deprivation as a part of all UC Davis experimental protocols.

Members of the media are welcome to arrive at 10:00 a.m. in the Renaissance Room at the Howard Johnson’s located at I-80 and Mace Road (4100 Chiles Road) in Davis, CA. Any questions may be directed to Michael Budkie at 513-703-9865.
S.A.E.N. (http://www.saenonline.org) was founded in 1996 to force an end to the abuse of animals in laboratories. Its first major event was a news conference that revealed the suffering endured by dogs, rabbits, and primates in 9 laboratories across the United States. Since then, S.A.E.N. has investigated abuses of animals and violations of federal law inside dozens of American laboratories including: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Stanford, and the Universities of California, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama, Connecticut, Nevada, Iowa and Washington.