Benefit TONIGHT for Rhizome Info-Shop in Eureka

 

shortlink here:  http://wp.me/p38Pt0-aW

Grassroots Getdown: May 10 benefit for Rhizome features circus, bluegrass, folk, + DJs

By Editor on May 3, 2013 in Blog, Events, The Rhizome Info-Shop

Come on Friday May 10th for a fun-filled night of circus performance, Humboldt bluegrass, local folk music, beers, DJs and dancing till late with friends old and new.

Featuring:

Sunshine and Yellabird (raucous folk)

Mad River Rounders (Humboldt bluegrass jams)

DJ Derail (Liberation Soundclash)

and circus performances by Circus of the Elements.

+ $2 Mad River Brews! (with ID)

$5 at the door gets you in to the party and helps support your local grassroots community!

All proceeds will benefit the Rhizome Infoshop, a radical lending library and community resource center in Eureka. We offer anarchist books and zines, free Internet, and low-cost copying.

The Rhizome Infoshop is inside the Ink Annex (47B W 3rd St in Eureka), 1 block south of the Eureka Co-op in the 3rd Street alley.

Bring your friends and come party for the cause on Friday, May 10th at 7:00 pm @ the Ink Annex in Eureka. See you there!

Contact: rhizomeinfoshop@gmail.com

Phone: 707-440-9310

http://humboldtgrassroots.com/hg/2013/05/483/

Donations Needed for PARC please

shortlink here: http://wp.me/p38Pt0-ao
mnemonic here: http://urlet.com/properties.engine

Greetings!

Please donate $20 or whatever you can for PARC’s May rent and bills. We haven’t asked for money donations for a month or so because we were blessed with enough to cover expenses. Now, we need more help.

Also, WEPAY, which is the online donation transfer service we are/were using appears to be pulling a paypal trip on us. Meaning, they are asking for “more information”- don’t know whether that means they will require a government tax ID number or something official like that. We don’t have one of those and we don’t operate as part of the non-profit industrial complex (not saying that non-profits are bad, but the whole non-profit system and the culture around it are problematic for grassroots struggles and projects). The WEPAY thing might be no problem, but we don’t want to risk a frozen account (where you can put money in, but they don’t us access it!)

So, if possible, for the time being, please send or drop off a money order, cash, or check.

To donate to PARC, please:
Address Money Orders to Kimberly Starr
Address Checks to James Decker
and Cash or any of the above can be mailed to:

PARC
P.O. Box 5692
Eureka, CA 95502

or dropped off at PARC between 9:30am and 9:30pm every day (directions below). Please call first!
(707) 442-7465

All donations go to the operation of PARC: rent, bills, printing paper, copies (through the Rhizome Infoshop in Eureka), laundry (towels, donated clothes and blankets), toilet paper, dish soap, hygiene supplies for people who need ‘em- the necessities. We are quite resourceful, and all PARC’s work, organizing and resources are volunteer and donation-based.

Directions:
PARC is in the Q Street alley between 3rd and 2nd Streets, Eureka
From the south, go past the Eureka library on 3rd Street, go down 3rd Street toward the Samoa bridge, take a left on Q and a right into the alley (There’s a green house at the head of the alley where you turn right) Once in the alley, you will see (on the right) the PARC sign, yard, carport, Mumia banner, and front door.
From north of Eureka, take a left onto Q Street from the 101 South (also called 4th Street). Continue on Q Street for a quick moment after the 3rd and Q Stop sign, take a right in the alley. (There’s a green house at the head of the alley where you turn right) Once in the alley, you will see (on the right) the PARC sign, yard, carport, Mumia banner, and front door.

Thank You- for supporting, working toward and dreaming of a just, caring and healthy world- where no one need fear a system that operates to hurt and destroy. Stay strong and aware.

~Verbena

A Sensible Proposal – Run Off Elections for Eureka City Council in June & November

shortlink here: http://wp.me/p38Pt0-ad

mnemonic here: http://urlet.com/recent.physical

from Bill Holmes humboldt.organizer@gmail.com

I think we should consider changing the city council election system before the next election cycle.

We should implement a primary election for City Council in Eureka in June with a run off in November between the top two vote getters.

This is the way democracies operate in the modern world.

I know that this is not quite the ranked choice voting that the Greens support, but it is simple and it works even if its not so elegant a solution. With a top two run off (two round system) there will be no more spoilers in the Eureka Council elections, and I would think that both Democrats and Greens and independents would favor that.

I ask if possible for Linda Atkins to bring this simple proposal forward for the council to act upon now. If they fail to act I would be interested in anyone willing to circulate an initiative to implement this simple but much needed change to bring basic democracy to the Lost Coast. This could be a big tent effort for any lovers of small “d” democracy.

I think as an initiative it will be a very easy sell to the voters. It will be no problem getting signatures for it to qualify, given a crew of a dozen volunteers or so.

And just think, no more spoilers.

have a peaceful day,

Bill

– A People’s Initiative for a $12.00 An Hour Minimum Wage for Large Employers http://fairwages.org info@fairwages.org

Stroll the Eureka Boardwalk for Herbal Freedom, April 20, 2013

shortlink here:  http://wp.me/pbr9G-3FA    mnemonic here:  http://urlet.com/costs.especially

I WOULD LIKE FOUR AND TWENTY FRIENDS TO JOIN ME WITH SIGNS ON THE BOARDWALK @ 330 PM ON APRIL 20.  MY ISSUES ARE FULL LEGALIZATION AND SAFE ACCESS (DISPENSARIES) FOR EUREKANS.

Bring your sign (Safe Access? Norml? DIY?)  or I will provide one of several designs.  I will not be smoking please do not offer me any, I am not asking for civil disobedience, just peaceful exercise of 1st Amendment Rights.  There is a municipal ordinance in effect against smoking on the boardwalk, but its legality may be in question since it is possible that the city council never got the approval of the Coastal Commission to enact that change.  This is not the time to challenge that ordinance.   There are vacant lots adjacent to the boardwalk that are relics of the city’s failed and fraudulent redevelopment agency.  Maybe people who need to smoke tobacco can smoke there but I am not a lawyer.  I myself was blessed with the strength to quit my tobacco addiction in April of 2008, five years ago.    I struggled with nicotine addiction for most of my adult life.  I started nicotine at age 18, before marijuana and long before alcohol, which I started at age 21.  I never would have considered smoking marijuana if I hadn’t smoked tobacco first.

And in retrospect, I think that I was relatively blessed that my experience with these things came relatively late in my teens rather than earlier.

Yes I feel better and I sing better since I quit tobacco.  Let me say one more thing.  Cannabis helped me quit tobacco.  It is harm reduction if nothing else.  If you really care about the peoples health it is time to legalize.

At 420 we will stroll for freedom together, back and forth up and down the boardwalk for an hour or so with our signs, making new friends and organizing for victory.

The people lead, the politicians follow.

I understand that there are people here who grow for a living and fear that legalization may reduce the return on their labor.  I do not want to trivialize that fear and I don’t.  I want to hear from people in that situation maybe we can reach some understanding.  Maybe there is some route to prosperity after legalization, no doubt it won’t be perfect, there will be change.

have a peaceful day,

Bill

After 42 Years of Failure, California Lt. Governor Newsom Calls for Legalizing Marijuana

By Phillip Smith on April 15, 2013

SACRAMENTO, CA — At the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento Saturday, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom called for marijuana legalization and described the war on drugs as “an abject failure.”

“After 42 years of failure, I think it’s time we concede that if we continue to do what we’ve done, we’ll continue to get what we’ve got. I think you and we deserve better. It’s about standing up on principle, having the courage of our convictions, about saying publicly all too often what we say privately.”

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/17129/california-lt-governor-newsom-calls-for-legalizing-marijuana/

~!!~  please forward  ~!!~

UPDATE:  When I attended the Eureka City Council “Visioning” session last friday I engaged Mayor Frank Jager in conversation during a break.  It may interest you to know that our Mayor is a proponent of full legalization of marijuana.   In fact he is welcome to grab a legalize it sign and come stand next to me on 420 on the boardwalk.   Mostly the Mayor and I disagree on mostly everythng but on this we see eye to eye.

have a peaceful day, Bill

mnemonic here:  http://urlet.com/costs.especially

I’m going to make 10 or 15  full color posters of this nice Don’t Tread On Me flag above and I will give them away free to the first people who show up and want one.

I have about 20 of these nice black and white “Freedom” posters too, for the signless.  They will be free to anyone who is pro-cannabis.

If Safe Access is your issue I have a few signs for you too!  Just meet me after 330 at the foot of F St.  First come first serve!  Come down and represent!

The Respect Our Rights poster is most likely the one I will carry.  But then I am a radical, I actually believe that cannabis users have civil rights, constitutional rights and human rights that extend back in time before any government.  I have a few of these to share as well.

Some of us will want to remember our sisters and brothers who have been cruelly and wrongfully imprisoned over the Herb in neoslavery in for profit corporate prisons.  Yes we can share a couple of these too.

SET OUR PEOPLE FREE!

Want to Grow the Economy?  So do we, and we have  a few signs.

On Saturday April 20 I am going to go to the Eureka Boardwalk with a sign at about 3:30 in the afternoon and I hope that five or six of you nice people join me to demonstrate for herbal rights and herbal freedom.   Commencing @4:20 pm we will stroll the boardwalk between F and B sts, with our signs.   I am only asking for a few people to come out and represent, I am not trying to compete with or harsh anyones buzz.   I am not asking for civil disobedience.   This will be for Eureka residents who want to represent for Medical Marijuana Rights, general herbal rights, Full Legalization of Cannabis, those who represent for the spiritual use of cannabis, or those who want to legalize industrial hemp, for anyone who is pro-cannabis but whose civil rights are not being respected.    Lets be a big tent.  This will be for Eureka residents who want to represent but have trouble getting to other venues, but of course it is open to anyone who lives outside Eureka who is pro-cannabis.

We will meet around 3:30 at the foot of F St.  At 420 we will start strolling peacefully up and down the boardwalk with our signs, for about an hour.   Let’s have fun, lets meet new friends, let’s organize.  I welcome other diverse community organizations to come to the boardwalk and table!  I want to meet people who want to get some dispensaries in Eureka, lets get it done.

Would be nice to have a drum circle or two, just saying.

This does not have to be a big thing, but it is an important thing.

I am just thinking about this and it is evolving.  I welcome your input.

Is there anyone who can design a flier for me?  Something readable quarter page (4.24 in x 5.5 in)

I will play a few songs too between 3:30 and 4:20, including of course “Free the Weed.”

How about a few poetry slammers and a few more street musicians?  It’s a Big Boardwalk.

email me humboldt.organizer@gmail.com

I will be there.  I just need five or six people.

Thank you everyone!

have a peaceful day,

Bill

Free 420 Flags and Posters – Share!

Free Colorado:

Free Washington:

Freedom Leaf:

Grow the Economy:

Safe Access:

Free All Pot Prisoners NOW

RESPECT OUR RIGHTS:

Historic Humboldt Free Speech Case Goes to Jury

On March 30th,three participants in a “Candlelight Vigil for the FirstAmendment” were arrested on the Humboldt County courthouse steps, asserting Constitutional rights in the face of a recently passed“urgency ordinance” that seeks to criminalize every day activity such as sharing food, setting down a bag, or holding a protest between 9:30 pm and 6:00 am.

The courthouse has historically  been the county’sforum for free speech activity in Humboldt County for over 50 years.  The trial of the 3 candlelight vigilers, Peter Camacho, Kimberly Starr, and Amanda Tierney,is the first test of the courthouse curfew, and the jury has been in half-day deliberations since Tuesday.

There have been patient supporters in the courtroom and hallway, and we are super grateful for their presence! 

We will inform you as to the decision(s) coming from the jury when we hear them!

Candlelight vigils every night on the courthouse steps since March 27, 2012 continue.  9:30pm to about 11:30pm.

rights- “Use ‘em or lose ‘em”

~Verbena

Death of Democracy in Eureka, Day 84

this letter to the editor from Robin Donald of Fortuna was published in the Eureka Times-Standard on June 19, 2012:

https://www.box.com/s/4058c918719c9e7ebd85

On June 7 of this year I was arrested forchallenging the Curfew provision of the Humboldt Urgency Ordinance. Why did Ido this? I could tell you that I did it because of moral and ethical concernsto protect the California and United States Constitutions guarantees of FreeSpeech and Assembly. Which would be true. Instead I will tell you somethingelse.

 At the February 4, 2012 “Take Back the Courthouse Rally” in opposition to Occupy Eureka, I had this conversation with one of its supporters, Eureka City Council Member Mike Newman. I told Mike that, regarding the “mess”which some people found to be so upsetting, I had been in many houses whichwere far messier. In regard to the behavior of mentally ill street people, Itold him that my father, a successful businessman, was an alcoholic who beat my mother. She died from health complications after one of his beatings. Mike’sresponse was that “at least these things were done privately, inside.”

 I didn’t find his comment to be particularly callous.  He was quite right.   The defining distinction between the culture of houseless people and the rest of us is that houseless people do their drinking, drugging and fighting in the plain view of all,   in the street;   the rest of us, so-called “upstanding citizens” conduct our dysfunctional behavior within the confines of our houses,  in private,  in secret.

 Now I ask you to consider the case of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.   Neither the Office of the President, theCongress, nor the Military is denying that any of the horrific murders, the tortures,  the official coverups,  nor the diplomatic blackmail revealed in the released documents are false.   Behind the stated concerns that publicizing these documents has or will endanger National Security is one fear. I believe it is the same fear that motivated Mike Newman to say what he did.

 It is the fear that when the façade of what passes for normal – whether in the domestic realm or the public and international realm – is stripped away and the dysfunctional element of our culture is put out on the street with no walls for it to hide behind, then the moral and ethical claim about the superior way of life known as the American Dream with the U.S. as the Land of the Free and the Bulwark of Democracy will be seen forwhat it is:  self-serving hypocrisy.

 Many people will not like the words I have just written. I did not write them to curry favor with anybody.   I wrote them because I could.   Because existing alongside the criminal and murderous hypocrisy and greed of some of our Government bodies and Business institutions,   there also lives a community of people and a historical tradition which values human and civil rights.   Some of these rights are codified in the U.S. Constitution andits Bill of Rights.

 Predominant amongst these Rights is the 1stAmendment which says in its entirety: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;   or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;   or the right of the people to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

 The same night I was arrested challenging the Urgency Ordinance, two U.S. Veterans were also arrested.   One was a Veteran ofthe Korean War, the other a Veteran of the Vietnam War.   Their participation in the Military earns them the right to be called Veterans. But also arrested that night were three women.   Given the lengthy and ongoing second class status of women in the United States; given the current attack on women’s rights emanating from the Republican Party;   and given the horrific reality of domestic violence against women,  of which my mother was a victim, I consider these womento also be Veterans.

 Yes, I wrote these words because my freedom of expression is guaranteed, not only in the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution,  but also by the State of California Constitution.  These documents also guarantee my standing on the Humboldt County Courthouse at any time, day or night.   The unconstitutional Urgency Ordinance must be rescinded.

United Airlines Computer Glitch Is Sending Ghost Flights from Arcata to Crescent City

via the Triplicate:

 

Glitch affects flights from Sacramento

 

Passengers were unable to book tickets

 

 

Last week the usual morning flight from Sacramento to Crescent City vanished without a trace from United Airlines’ reservation system.

 

Yet the aircraft formerly known as flight 5338 has continued to land at Jack McNamara Field every morning just before nine, without any passengers.

 

 

When Sacramento resident Jim Aboytes tried to book this flight for Thursday, it just wasn’t there.

 

He was puzzled. It’s the very same reservation he’s made twice a month for over two years while working on the Del Norte County airport terminal project.

 

Aboytes bought a ticket to Arcata instead. From there he watched the plane take off for Crescent City without any passengers. Then he got a ride north in a car.

 

“The plane left empty. That can’t be good,” Aboytes said.

http://www.triplicate.com/News/Local-News/Glitch-affects-flights-from-Sacramento

Death of Democracy Day 11: Six Arrested for Candlelight Vigil

Six arrested last night at the Humboldt County Courthouse during an historic protest involving approximately 100 patriots, occupiers, vets for peace and others protesting the NAZI style “urgency ordinance” passed by the fascists Jimmy Smith, Clif Clendenon, Virginia Bass and Ryan Sundberg.

Who Will Stand With the People and the Bill of Rights?

Tomorrow night, Saturday April 7, will be a historic moment at the Humboldt County Courthouse.

On that night at 9 pm a group of patriots will stand up for the People and the Bill of Rights.

Who will stand with them?

Will Norman Solomon, Democratic Party candidate for Congress, stand with the people? Or Susan Adams, another Democratic candidate, will she stand with the people? Or Jared Huffman? Does Huffman support the Bill of Rights? How about our local Supervisor candidates? Will Cheryl Seidner stand with the people? Will Annette De Modena stand up for the Bill of Rights and against fascist overreach? Will the local Tea Party show up in solidarity with Occupy and non-violently stand up for the Bill of Rights?

How about Paul Gallegos, our District Attorney? Is he on the side of liberty or fascism? Will he stand with the people?

The whole world is watching.

have a peaceful day,

Bill

~please forward~

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Occupy Civil Liberties Working Group

Nothing is more needed now than tocontinue the work initiated by this past Mar. 24th Forum -To Protect and Restore Our first Amendment rights. It turned outto be precisely the kind of happening in preparing for public responseat the following Tuesdays Board Of Supervisors meeting when theBoard hastily passed their ill conceived ordinance rejecting ourprotest and First Amendment rights.

Actions immediately followed and arecontinuing:  Invitation To Defend theFirst Amendment

Arts Alive After-party and Vigil Tomorrow Sat. April .7th 12′

Candlelight Vigil on Humboldt County Courthouse- 9:00to 10:00 PM

We are the ones who must defend free speech, in response to the new “Urgency Ordinance.”

Candles with safe, wax catching bases will be provided.  Bring your own “Self Stabilized Sign” or a flag.

Risk arrest (or not)

But Be ThereTo Defend Your Rights

The most primal message now:

How “We The People” must be constantly alert to governments rapidly growing incursions into our lives in further overriding our freedoms. We must be prepared to face this precarious position in rising up together as a Community in speaking out.

Latest incoming Reports:

+ WA Apr. 2, 12′ NYTNat

Supreme Court On Monday RuledBy a 5-to-4 Vote that allows officials to strip-search people arrestedfor any offense, however minor.

+ NY Times Mar. 31,12′

Police Are Using Phone Tracking AsA Routine Tool: Cellphones, once the province mainly of federal agents, it has become apowerful and widely used surveillance tool for local policeofficials.

+ 4/6/12 http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_cispa/?vl

Rightnow, over 100 Members of the US Congress are trying to sneak through abill under (CISP) Known asthe ‘Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act’, which would givegovernment the right to censor, basically, anything and everything onthe internet that it deems “disruptive or offensive” togovernment or business, spying onevery Internet user without a warrant, a total attack onglobal Internet freedom.

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

Our working groupcontinues with weekly meetings:  to organize for ongoing and effective measures to: 1) Resist this rapidly growing government disenfranchisement of our rights and their invasiveness into our lives. 2) Fulfilling the original efforts of the ‘Occupy movement in exposing this governments fatally flawed policies bent on utterly undermining humanity and despoiling our very abilities to sustain on planet Earth!

Occupy Civil Liberties Working Group

occupy-civil-liberties-wg@humboldtfreeuniversity.org

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

From:
Urgency Ordinance vs. The First Amendment

Defend the First Amendment at a candlelight vigil, from 9 to 10pm, on Saturday, April 7, after Arts Alive, at the Humboldt County Courthouse.

The ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors last week that restricts protest activities in front of the Courthouse is unconstitutional and wrong-headed.

Restricting freedom of speech and assembly at the seat of our local government is a threat to groups of all political persuasions that use the public forum to freely express their views. These groups include social justice activists, Native Americans, peaceniks, Tea Partiers, Veterans for Peace, anti-abortion activists, pro-choice advocates, Occupiers, Humboldt CPR, Women in Black, gay, LGBT people, supporters of victims of domestic violence, unions, Take Back the Night, health workers, conservation groups, and many others. Over the years, demonstrators have hung signs on railings or the flagpole base, set up tables, canopies, bulletin boards, stages with PA systems, free-standing displays, signs and flags on bases.

Now, in an over-reaction to the Occupiers, these First Amendment protected activities have been outlawed, and a 9:30pm to 6:00am curfew has been imposed on the courthouse grounds.

Since the Occupy Movement began, there have certainly been some serious problems, mostly caused by non-politically motivated victims of a broken system, who have joined the occupation but do not necessarily participate in Occupy’s decision-making process or rules. In the Legislative Findings section of the new ordinance these problems are enumerated: “…These incidents include numerous complaints of public urination and defecation, threatening and abusive language, sexual harassment, and smoking of marijuana… calls for service involving assaults and public drunkenness.” Also mentioned are littering and improper disposal of waste and damaging public property.

Hmm…going down this list of incidents, aren’t all of these activities already illegal? And how will restricting signs and banners and tables and hours of legal protest prevent the listed crimes?

Also mentioned in the Findings is that the Occupiers are somehow preventing other groups from using the public space at the Courthouse. Occupiers have never opposed the right of other groups to demonstrate. The only constraint on additional protests has been the chain link fence that severely limits the amount of available public space and creates a bottleneck at the courthouse steps.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors have become unwitting participants in “Reactionary Lawmaking.” In reaction to the local Occupy Movement, they have enacted a law that restricts the First Amendment rights of everyone who might want to take up a cause in the public commons. This is how our right to free speech is whittled away by well-intentioned officials.

Further, the Board has passed this as a so-called “Urgency Ordinance,” thereby limiting public discussion and comment on a very serious infringement of our rights.

The real solutions to the problems at the Courthouse do not involve further restriction of rights:
Take the fence down.
Allow demonstrators to place and pay for a porta-potty, near the courthouse, as they have offered to do.
Arrest and prosecute anyone who verbally or physically assaults anyone else.
Enforce all other existing laws that guarantee the safety of the public.
Provide an emergency camping facility somewhere near the downtown, for anyone who needs a place to sleep and cannot afford it.

Reactionary laws, responding to the challenges posed by the Occupy Movement, are being passed in cities across the country. They are “abridging the freedom of speech… the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” While reasonable restrictions on time, place, and manner of First Amendment activities are legally permitted, laws like the Humboldt Urgency Ordinance go way too far in restricting public protest. Vibrant, unfettered public expression is essential to a working democracy. We must actively defend our freedoms, or they will be eroded by a myriad of new laws and regulations.

We are inviting you to defend the First Amendment, at an Arts Alive After-party and Candlelight Vigil, on Saturday, April 7, 2012, at the Humboldt County Courthouse, from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Whatever your feelings about Occupy Eureka, please understand the importance of defending our right to assemble and speak freely at our local seat of political power. We the people of Humboldt are the ones who must defend free speech from the oppressive new “Urgency Ordinance.”

Candles with safe, wax-catching bases will be provided. Bring your own “Self-Stabilized Sign,” or a flag, or a lawn chair if you wish to challenge the law.

Risk arrest (or not), but please be there to defend your rights.

–Dave Meserve

–

To subscribe to this list, go to:
http://www.ourhumboldt.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/progressive/