The next general meeting for PD–East Bay is Saturday, June 4 from 1:00–3:00 pm.
The PD–East Bay Anti-War Action Group is putting together a panel to present information about local anti-war activities - the law, schools, GI Hotline, and other issues. The Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors will share their expertise with our members at this meeting. The information presented here can help identify actions in which our group can be focused and effective.
PD–East Bay general meetings are held at :
Temescal Oakland Library
5205 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA
Directions
Wheelchair accessible. The Oakland Public Library does not advocate or endorse the viewpoints of meetings or meeting room users. For more information, contact Sara.
Sat, May 14 at 10:00 AM
Spasso's Coffee House
6021 College Ave. (SW corner of College and Claremont)
Oakland
Directions
Contact: Liz Flynn, eflynn8302@sbcglobal.net
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles has endorsed Antonio Villaraigosa for Mayor of Los Angeles. The mayoral run-off election is May 17. Phone-banking help is needed for Antonio. If you can help, please contact Brad Parker or Dan Tamm at the Valley Headquarters for Antonio–(818) 781-7944.
The Secretary of State's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel will be meeting May 19, 10:00 am in Sacramento to consider certifying Diebold systems in future California Elections. Diebold systems are not yet certified for purchase or use after this year!
Join Bev Harris and Jim March of Black Box Voting, and other activists at the hearing. You don't need to speak, but if you attend, you can fill out a speaker card but yield your two minutes of time to Bev Harris and others.
WHEN: Thu, May 19, at 10:00am
WHERE: Office of the Secretary of State
1500 11th Street
1st Floor – Auditorium
Sacramento
Directions
CONTACT: Jerry Berkman, jerry@berkeley.edu, 547-0985. Jerry is coordinating transportation, talking points, and can answer questions you might have.
URL for meeting agenda: http://ss.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/vsp_agenda_0519a.pdf.
The California Department of General Services is prepared to award a contract to ChoicePoint to develop a statewide criminal database. ChoicePoint is currently under state and federal investigation for security breaches involving stolen information on 145,000 American consumers. According to the Sacramento Bee ("State Looks to ChoicePoint" 4/22/05), ChoicePoint executives sold millions of dollars' worth of company stock before revealing the breach.
In addition, investigative journalist Greg Palast argues ChoicePoint helped fix the 2000 Florida Presidential election by incorrectly listing over 50,000 African Americans and Hispanics as felons barred from voting.
Tell Sacramento you don't want California to do business with ChoicePoint. Follow this link to send a personal message to the California Attorney General, the California Secretary of State, the Department of General Services, President pro Tem Don Perata, and Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez. More. . .
PDA is calling upon activists to help Representative Lynn Woolsey's (D-CA) House Resolution (H.Con.Res.35) gain support from other members of Congress.
Rep. Woolsey's bill calls for the President to:
(1) Develop and implement a plan to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq;
(2) Develop and implement a plan for reconstructing Iraq's civil and economic infrastructure;
(3) Convene an emergency meeting of Iraq's leadership, Iraq's neighbors, the United Nations, and the Arab League to create an international peacekeeping force in Iraq and to replace U.S.
Armed Forces in Iraq with Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard forces;
and (4) Provide the Iraqi people the opportunity to completely control their internal affairs.
Urge your member of Congress to support this legislation here: http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7071606
Kenneth Tomlinson, the Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) -- the government-funded organization that was designed to shield PBS from political pressure -- is aggressively pressing PBS to correct what he considers "liberal bias."
This top-down partisan meddling goes against the very nature of PBS and the local stations we trust. Let the people speak and decide the future of PBS, not secret dealings by White House operatives.
Sign this petition sponsored by Free Press to demand that Congress, the CPB and PBS station managers remove Tomlinson and support town meetings in your community on the future of PBS.
To learn more, read the recent report on "Building a Public Broadcasting System that Deserves Public Support" by Free Press, Consumers Union, Common Cause, Media Access Project and the Consumer Federation of America.
8. Democratic and Progressive Activists Challenge Howard Dean Comments Supporting Continued Occupation (Sign Petition)
The national Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) organization has released a statement challenging Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean's recent comments in favor of continuing the U.S. occupation of Iraq. On Monday, April 25, PDA launched a nationwide petition drive aimed at pressuring Dean and other Democratic leaders to support ending the occupation. Sign the petition!
An Open Letter to Howard Dean from Dennis Kucinich. More. . .
Please join us for a Briefing / Fundraiser for the Peace Alliance & Foundation, and for the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace.
When: Tuesday, May 24, 7pm - 9pm
Hosted by: Bea and Jim Herrick
888 Robb Road
Palo Alto, CA
Directions
Honored Speakers:
Dorothy Maver, Executive Director, the Peace Alliance and Peace Alliance Foundation
Mayor Jim Burch of Palo Alto
Video presentations of:
A CNN interview with Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Van Jones, Exe. Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
RSVP: Bea Herrick 650 941-2415 bea@herrick.org
Judy Kimmel 415 383-3982 jbkimmel@aol.com
The next meeting of the East Bay Social Security coalition, Social Security Action, meets:
Wednesday May 25, 7:30 pm
Niebyl Proctor library
6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
Directions
Get the new brochure, hear plans for going to RED counties to fight for social security. All invited.
Senator Sheila Kuehl's bill (Health Care for All Californians, California Bill SB 840), passed out of the Senate Health Committee. Thanks to all who wrote letters.
Next Step: The next committee is Senate Appropriations whose chair is Carol Migden. Please send letters made out to Carol Migden, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Important! Send the letters to Sheila Goldmacher who will make copies, and then send them to all members on the Appropriations Committee. Sheila's address is:
Sheila Goldmacher
2341 Parker St. #8
Berkeley, CA 94704.
Thanks so much - Let's get health care for everybody!
Our own Bonnie Borucki, with Gary Gibson and Kevin Whitley, created a flash animation for the Move-on Flash Contest to Stop Social Security. More. . .
Drag Dubya around the screen to get to the truth about Bush's plan. He eventually takes you to a link to the Move-on petition to protect Social Security.
The Social Security teams of PD–East Bay, the Wellstone Club, and other organizations have been working closely to plan a strategy for going to Rep. Pombo's District (CD 11). (Purpose Letter from the coalition of progressive organizations.)
If you would like information on speaker training, hosting a house party, helping with tabling, or otherwise working in District 11, please contact the following:
Speaker Training – Jean Tepperman – jeantepper@aol.com
House Parties – Pete Bank – petebank1@aol.com
Tabling – Jody Ginsberg – Jody@idiom.com
Work in District 11 – Matthew Hallinan – mhallinan@sbcglobal.net
The Peace Alliance is urging Barbara Boxer to sponsor a companion Senate bill to the House bill in support of Department of Peace legislation. Senator Boxer's aides stressed the importance of hearing from citizens regarding how they feel about this legislation. We are urging you to call, email and fax Senator Boxer. The Senator needs to hear from you.
Here are two sample letters (for CA residents and non-residents) you can use with a link to Senator Boxer's email. More. . .
Stop Arnold! Visit www.ContestTheVote.org and sign the petition to Stop Arnold's Special Election (an election for his Special Corporate Interests!) While there, you can send a message to your friends to sign, too. More. . .
Letter from PD-East Bay Co-chairs
To friends of Progressive Democrats of the East Bay:
We now have a thriving and growing East Bay Chapter of PDA. We have successfully held four monthly general meetings. We have Action Groups busy on many topics: saving social security, providing universal health care, ending the war in Iraq now, public financing of elections and safe balloting, reforming the mass media, and dialoguing with religious progressives. Soon we will start precinct organizing. We have a membership of over fifty and a mailing list of over one hundred forty.
Many of you have been to our meetings and are involved in the Action Groups, but many of you are not. We urge you to come to our next meeting (June 4th, from 1-3 at Temescal Library at Telegraph and 52nd St., in Oakland) to join an Action Group or form a new one. (Please see our web page at www.pdeastbay.org and become a member.)
We realize that many who support our cause and endeavors cannot make meetings and are too busy with other activities to be involved in an Action Group. Please, if you support our work become a member. Our funds make it possible to create flyers, literature and banners, rent the meeting room, and enable us to mail notices about events. These are all essential activities to our functioning as a progressive voice.
Dues are on a sliding scale: 2 hours or more of volunteer work during the year or $10-$100 per year.
Make checks to PDA-EB and send to:
Sara Shumer
1610 Kains Ave
Berkeley, CA. 94702
Include:
Name Address
E-mail Phone
Interests/Skills
Thank you,
Bill Lawler and Sara Shumer
If you have items you would like listed in this newsletter or on the PD-East Bay web site at www.pdeastbay.org, submit them to pdebListAdmin@PDEastBay.org. Events, activities, and action alerts about local progressive causes will be considered for inclusion.
The next PD–East Bay newsletter will go out on or around May 17. Please submit items for inclusion as early as you can!
Check out www.pdeastbay.org regularly for updated information on progressive politics!