Getting redbaited on Venezuela

We could spend hours talking about Venezuela, so we outlined the relevant points in order of importance. We’ll talk about as many as time permits. The US is already at war with Venzuela In war, the objective is to kill as many people as possible to force the enemy to submit. Before storming an area, […]

Actually, patents discourage innovation

Readings: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/opinion/nocera-greed-and-the-wright-brothers.html?_r=0 http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/12/sewing_machine_patent_wars_of_the_1850s_what_they_tell_us_about_the_patent.single.html http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/31/local/me-hall31 https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/julyaugust-2013/estates-of-mind/ Capitalism is an economic system where the owner of capital is entitled to all profits derived from its use. We don’t often think of ideas as capital, but ideas become capital in the form of patents. Capitalists argue that patents are absolutely necessary. Without the ability to profit off of […]

Committee meeting agenda, 3/12/19

Meeting details–note the time change to 7pm. I can never arrive on time if we meet at 6:30, so to keep everyone else from waiting for me, we should just start at 7. Rochambo Coffee & Tea House, 1317 E Brady St March 12, 2019 7pm   Updates/planning Plan reading groups. There was significant interest […]

Committee Meeting Agenda, 2/19/2019

Meeting details: Rochambo Coffee & Tea House, 1317 E Brady St February 19, 2019 6:30 Time for updates/planning: Guests from Jewish Voice for Peace will be in attendance to plan out education topic for 2/23 general meeting. Finalize reading group selections. Brainstorm how to present this to engage as many people as possible. Right wing […]

Article selections for February 23, 2019

Asians and the “model minority” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/29/the-real-reason-americans-stopped-spitting-on-asian-americans-and-started-praising-them/?utm_term=.521a11e16eb4 http://mattbruenig.com/2017/04/15/asian-poverty-varies-a-lot-by-group/ Groups where immigrants are mostly low-skill, low-education have high poverty rates; groups wehre immigrants are mostly high-skill, high-education have low poverty rates Health care https://jacobinmag.com/2018/06/veterans-administration-health-care-privatization VA offers higher quality care than Steve Jobs got https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/januaryfebruary-2005/the-best-care-anywhere-3/ https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/1/25/14375776/pay-for-performance-doctors-bonuses Eugenics https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/california-targeted-latinas-forced-sterilization-180968567/ 60,000 Americans were sterilized by state eugenics programs. Latinas were […]

Notes from 01/08/2019 committee meeting

Attended: Tom, Tancrede, Chris The biggest topic was the relaunch of book club and periodical club; a proposal was created and is posted here. Tom will curate book list, taking suggestions Chris will curate articles, taking suggestions, but Tom and Tancrede will each put together one bundle so theory is represented Discussed general meeting discussion […]

New reading group proposal

Based on discussion at January 8, 2019 education committee meeting:   Launch Tentatively, at the February 23 general meeting, the Education Committee will have a list of 6-8 books and 6-8 bundles of 3-4 articles, each bundle on a specific topic. Committee members will give a brief pitch for each book/article bundle. The books and bundles […]

Deep organizing, social media, and the left

Readings: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/11/log-off-facebook-twitter-social-media-addiction https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/12/log-off-social-media-twitter-organizing-facebook https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/12/dear-lobsters-there-is-a-better-way   Today, we heard from the Mutual Aid Working Group about their efforts to build community trust by meeting people where they are at. Mutual Aid WG doesn’t just say they care about public education; they demonstrate it by organizing supply drives. By proving they earnestly care about their community, they […]

committee meeting agenda, January 8 2018

Meeting details: Rochambo Coffee & Tea House, 1317 E Brady St January 8, 2019 6:30 Time for updates/planning: Various reading groups Last meeting, we considered having one group organize both approachable book club and periodical club; and a second group organize both theory book club and periodical club. However organized, there is a lot of […]