From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Dec 4 22:56:25 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 22:56:25 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes of 11/21/04 Executive Committee meeting Message-ID: <001a01c4da7e$92ba16a0$e080f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Minutes of 11/21/04 Executive Committee meeting--office in Hartford, 2:15-4:00pm Attending: both current co-chairs (Elizabeth Brancato, Mike DeRosa), treasurer Bob Eaton, secretary Ed DuBrule Fundraising letter. We have arranged with American Mailing Services that they will bring the approximately 2,000-piece mailing (CT registered Greens) to the post office by December 6. Ed said he asked the mailing bureau to supply the "outside" envelopes and print the CT Green Party return address on it; organizations normally supply these pre-printed envelopes to the mailing bureau, so there will likely be an additional charge (beyond the quote originally given) for this. Legislative agenda task force. Mike said he wanted to start a legislative agenda task force, so the CT Green Party can influence the Connecticut legislature. We realized that the Action Plan has (in the "Policy Division") a "Legislative Committee", which might be equivalent to this task force. Healthcare issues (such as single-payer health coverage for all Connecticut's citizens) might be an issue we should focus on. Other issues to focus on could be: election reform issues (ballot access for minor parties, paper trail on voting machines) of the type VOTER worked on; environmental justice issues (such as those being worked on by the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice); and energy/alternative energy issues. The task force might consist of three or four people, with each person responsible for one of these areas. Or one person could be responsible for the progress of the healthcare issues, one person for environmental/energy issues, and a third person responsible for all other legislative initiatives. Mike said that there would be advantages for the Green Party to become associated with one major issue. We should reach out to form coalitions with groups such as Healthcare for All. This would include informing such groups that we are willing to put out press releases, inform CT Green Party members of upcoming demonstrations, etc. The work of the task force would include making appointments with legislators who might agree to co-sponsor bills we favor and bring such bills up for action. Greens who ran for office this November could point out to these legislators the number of votes they received and make the case that there is growing support for the Green Party and its issues in the Connecticut electorate. Issue of replacing Elizabeth Horton Sheff. Internal elections will be in a few months (approximately March 2005). During the Executive Committee report to the November SCC meeting, we will ask how SCC members feel about the idea of continuing with two just co-chairs until these elections. Internal elections committee. During the Executive Committee report to the November SCC meeting, we will point out the need to form/re-activate this committee. Elizabeth will contact people who have served on the internal elections committee in the past, or who might be interested. We need to plan for the cost of the internal elections mailing. Should the mailing be limited to save on costs (e.g. full packet of ballot and candidate biographies to people who voted last year, postcard only to rest of CTGP members)? The postcard could direct people to a phone number or website to receive/download a ballot; the postcards could contain a password to ensure that each person only voted once. Priorities survey. Bob raised the idea of doing a survey of chapters, asking them what the CT Green Party should be doing. De facto budget. As an alternative to the budget we recently withdrew from consideration by the SCC, should we put together a "de facto budget", that is, a budget based on what we've actually spent? Revision of bylaws: The SCC has been working on revising the bylaws. Perhaps bylaws revisions could be dealt with by yes/no vote(s) at the annual meeting in approximately March 2005. CTGP logo contest Bob proposed the idea that a contest to design a logo for the CTGP be held. Such a graphic could provide a professional-looking, recurring symbol for the CTGP on our correspondence and website. Reimbursement of Chris Reilly. The October SCC meeting passed our proposal that Chris be reimbursed for the mailing-associated expenses by monthly checks over the next year. Today we discussed the reimbursement of Chris for office rent payments he had made. Should the Executive Committee write a proposal that Chris be reimbursed for these latter expenses? In view of the poor financial situation of the party, should the rent expenses be paid back after the mailing-associated expenses had been paid off? The SCC recently passed a financial management plan which speaks of annual budgets being voted on by the SCC. Could the November 2004 SCC meeting (for example) make a decision on an expenditure which will be in a budget a year from now? Do SCC members (and chapter members) need more time to discuss the reimbursement issues? Should an SCC decision be postponed until an audit of CTGP books is completed? We decided that we will write a statement (not a proposal) that the Executive Committee believes that Chris should be reimbursed for the rent payments he made; we will present this statement to the SCC. SCC agenda. The agenda for the November 30 SCC meeting was worked out. As usual, it will be published to the News listserve one week before the meeting. Next Executive Committee meeting: tentatively 6pm Wednesday Dec. 15 at the Hartford office. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Dec 6 19:27:49 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 19:27:49 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [Al-Awda-Media] Bill Moyer on Environment, Christain Zionists Message-ID: <021401c4dbf3$954e9eb0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> From: "Hassan Fouda" To: Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 5:16 PM> Battlefield Earth By Bill Moyers, AlterNet Posted on December 4, 2004, Printed on December 6, 2004 http://www.alternet.org/story/20666/ This week the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School presented its fourth annual Global Environment Citizen Award to Bill Moyers. In presenting the award, Meryl Streep, a member of the Center board, said, "Through resourceful, intrepid reportage and perceptive voices from the forward edge of the debate, Moyers has examined an environment under siege with the aim of engaging citizens." Following is the text of Bill Moyers' response to Ms. Streep's presentation of the award. I accept this award on behalf of all the people behind the camera whom you never see. And for all those scientists, advocates, activists, and just plain citizens whose stories we have covered in reporting on how environmental change affects our daily lives. We journalists are simply beachcombers on the shores of other people's knowledge, other people's experience, and other people's wisdom. We tell their stories. The journalist who truly deserves this award is my friend, Bill McKibben. He enjoys the most conspicuous place in my own pantheon of journalistic heroes for his pioneer work in writing about the environment. His bestseller The End of Nature carried on where Rachel Carson's Silent Spring left off. Writing in Mother Jones recently, Bill described how the problems we journalists routinely cover - conventional, manageable programs like budget shortfalls and pollution - may be about to convert to chaotic, unpredictable, unmanageable situations. The most unmanageable of all, he writes, could be the accelerating deterioration of the environment, creating perils with huge momentum like the greenhouse effect that is causing the melt of the artic to release so much freshwater into the North Atlantic that even the Pentagon is growing alarmed that a weakening gulf stream could yield abrupt and overwhelming changes, the kind of changes that could radically alter civilizations. That's one challenge we journalists face - how to tell such a story without coming across as Cassandras, without turning off the people we most want to understand what's happening, who must act on what they read and hear. As difficult as it is, however, for journalists to fashion a readable narrative for complex issues without depressing our readers and viewers, there is an even harder challenge - to pierce the ideology that governs official policy today. One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the oval office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts. Remember James Watt, President Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior? My favorite online environmental journal, the ever engaging Grist, reminded us recently of how James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, "after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." Beltway elites snickered. The press corps didn't know what he was talking about. But James Watt was serious. So were his compatriots out across the country. They are the people who believe the bible is literally true - one-third of the American electorate, if a recent Gallup poll is accurate. In this past election several million good and decent citizens went to the polls believing in the rapture index. That's right - the rapture index. Google it and you will find that the best-selling books in America today are the twelve volumes of the left-behind series written by the Christian fundamentalist and religious right warrior, Timothy LaHaye. These true believers subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the 19th century by a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them into a narrative that has captivated the imagination of millions of Americans. Its outline is rather simple, if bizarre (the British writer George Monbiot recently did a brilliant dissection of it and I am indebted to him for adding to my own understanding): once Israel has occupied the rest of its "biblical lands," legions of the anti-Christ will attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. As the Jews who have not been converted are burned, the messiah will return for the rapture. True believers will be lifted out of their clothes and transported to heaven, where, seated next to the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents suffer plagues of boils, sores, locusts, and frogs during the several years of tribulation that follow. I'm not making this up. Like Monbiot, I've read the literature. I've reported on these people, following some of them from Texas to the West Bank. They are sincere, serious, and polite as they tell you they feel called to help bring the rapture on as fulfillment of biblical prophecy. That's why they have declared solidarity with Israel and the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and volunteers. It's why the invasion of Iraq for them was a warm-up act, predicted in the Book of Revelations where four angels 'which are bound in the great river Euphrates will be released to slay the third part of man.' A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed - an essential conflagration on the road to redemption. The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144 - just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of god will return, the righteous will enter heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire. So what does this mean for public policy and the environment? Go to Grist to read a remarkable work of reporting by the journalist, Glenn Scherer - 'the road to environmental apocalypse. Read it and you will see how millions of Christian fundamentalists may believe that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but actually welcomed - even hastened - as a sign of the coming apocalypse. As Grist makes clear, we're not talking about a handful of fringe lawmakers who hold or are beholden to these beliefs. Nearly half the U.S. Congress before the recent election - 231 legislators in total - more since the election - are backed by the religious right. Forty-five senators and 186 members of the 108th congress earned 80 to 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian right advocacy groups. They include Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Assistant Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Conference Chair Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Policy Chair Jon Kyl of Arizona, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Majority Whip Roy Blunt. The only Democrat to score 100 percent with the Christian coalition was Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, who recently quoted from the biblical book of Amos on the senate floor: "the days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that i will send a famine in the land." he seemed to be relishing the thought. And why not? There's a constituency for it. A 2002 TIME/CNN poll found that 59 percent of Americans believe that the prophecies found in the book of Revelations are going to come true. Nearly one-quarter think the Bible predicted the 9/11 attacks. Drive across the country with your radio tuned to the more than 1,600 Christian radio stations or in the motel turn some of the 250 Christian TV stations and you can hear some of this end-time gospel. And you will come to understand why people under the spell of such potent prophecies cannot be expected, as Grist puts it, "to worry about the environment. Why care about the earth when the droughts, floods, famine and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of the apocalypse foretold in the bible? Why care about global climate change when you and yours will be rescued in the rapture? And why care about converting from oil to solar when the same god who performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes can whip up a few billion barrels of light crude with a word?" Because these people believe that until Christ does return, the lord will provide. One of their texts is a high school history book, America's providential history. You'll find there these words: "the secular or socialist has a limited resource mentality and views the world as a pie... that needs to be cut up so everyone can get a piece." However, "[t]he Christian knows that the potential in god is unlimited and that there is no shortage of resources in god's earth... while many secularists view the world as overpopulated, Christians know that god has made the earth sufficiently large with plenty of resources to accommodate all of the people." No wonder Karl Rove goes around the White House whistling that militant hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." He turned out millions of the foot soldiers on November 2, including many who have made the apocalypse a powerful driving force in modern American politics. I can see in the look on your faces just how had it is for the journalist to report a story like this with any credibility. So let me put it on a personal level. I myself don't know how to be in this world without expecting a confident future and getting up every morning to do what I can to bring it about. So I have always been an optimist. Now, however, I think of my friend on Wall Street whom I once asked: "What do you think of the market?" "I'm optimistic," he answered. "Then why do you look so worried?" And he answered: "Because I am not sure my optimism is justified." I'm not, either. Once upon a time I agreed with the Eric Chivian and the Center for Health and the Global Environment that people will protect the natural environment when they realize its importance to their health and to the health and lives of their children. Now I am not so sure. It's not that I don't want to believe that - it's just that I read the news and connect the dots: I read that the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has declared the election a mandate for President Bush on the environment. This for an administration that wants to rewrite the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act protecting rare plant and animal species and their habitats, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act that requires the government to judge beforehand if actions might damage natural resources. That wants to relax pollution limits for ozone; eliminate vehicle tailpipe inspections; and ease pollution standards for cars, sports utility vehicles and diesel-powered big trucks and heavy equipment. That wants a new international audit law to allow corporations to keep certain information about environmental problems secret from the public. That wants to drop all its new-source review suits against polluting coal-fired power plans and weaken consent decrees reached earlier with coal companies. That wants to open the artic wildlife refuge to drilling and increase drilling in Padre Island National Seashore, the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world and the last great coastal wild land in America. I read the news just this week and learned how the Environmental Protection Agency had planned to spend nine million dollars - $2 million of it from the administration's friends at the American Chemistry Council - to pay poor families to continue to use pesticides in their homes. These pesticides have been linked to neurological damage in children, but instead of ordering an end to their use, the government and the industry were going to offer the families $970 each, as well as a camcorder and children's clothing, to serve as guinea pigs for the study. I read all this in the news. I read the news just last night and learned that the administration's friends at the international policy network, which is supported by Exxon Mobile and others of like mind, have issued a new report that climate change is "a myth, sea levels are not rising," scientists who believe catastrophe is possible are "an embarrassment." I not only read the news but the fine print of the recent appropriations bill passed by Congress, with the obscure (and obscene) riders attached to it: a clause removing all endangered species protections from pesticides; language prohibiting judicial review for a forest in Oregon; a waiver of environmental review for grazing permits on public lands; a rider pressed by developers to weaken protection for crucial habitats in California. I read all this and look up at the pictures on my desk, next to the computer - pictures of my grandchildren: Henry, age 12; of Thomas, age 10; of Nancy, 7; Jassie, 3; Sara Jane, nine months. I see the future looking back at me from those photographs and I say, "Father, forgive us, for we know now what we do." And then I am stopped short by the thought: "That's not right. We do know what we are doing. We are stealing their future. Betraying their trust. Despoiling their world." And I ask myself: Why? Is it because we don't care? Because we are greedy? Because we have lost our capacity for outrage, our ability to sustain indignation at injustice? What has happened to out moral imagination? On the heath Lear asks Gloucester: 'How do you see the world?" And Gloucester, who is blind, answers: "I see it feelingly.'" I see it feelingly. The news is not good these days. I can tell you, though, that as a journalist I know the news is never the end of the story. The news can be the truth that sets us free - not only to feel but to fight for the future we want. And the will to fight is the antidote to despair, the cure for cynicism, and the answer to those faces looking back at me from those photographs on my desk. What we need to match the science of human health is what the ancient Israelites called "hocma" - the science of the heart... the capacity to see... to feel... and then to act... as if the future depended on you. Believe me, it does. ? 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/20666/ From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Fri Dec 10 12:05:00 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 12:05:00 -0500 Subject: {news} Ralph and Calvin's ideas on planning for federal/statewide elections 2006, as presented at November SCC meeting Message-ID: <001601c4deda$976d0e40$2c95f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Below are excerpts from my minutes of the November SCC meeting. Ralph Ferrucci said they accurately represent what he and Calvin Nicholson said at the meeting. I hope we in the CTGP can give a lot of thought and discussion to these ideas, and accept them as they are or modify them as we see fit. Discussion of these ideas should not be done on this News listserve but can be done on the Forum listserve and/or the Elections listserve (for example). To join listserves go to www.ctgreens.org and click on "Listservs" on the homepage (on the left). (The rest of my minutes should be ready within a few days.) --Ed DuBrule ------------------------------------------------------- 1b. Presentation by Ralph Ferrucci and Calvin Nicholson. Ralph and Calvin distributed a handout, titled "Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut" (Appendix 4). They said that the CTGP must go on the offensive and attack Democrats' and Republicans' positions. Specifically, we could run a candidate against Lieberman. Many non-Greens oppose Lieberman; these people could be brought into the CTGP. We should start raising money for this work; we should set up the New Elections Committee and the New Fundraising Committee described in the handout. CT is a "blue" state (voted for Kerry) but has three Republican Congresspersons, plus Senator Lieberman (a Democrat whose positions appear to be those of a Republican). We could run a complete slate of candidates for statewide and federal offices (non-presidential). These candidates must present a unified message. 7,500 signatures are needed to run a candidate against Lieberman; these same signatures would qualify the whole slate (other Congresspersons and governor). The Elections Committee would find candidates. Peace groups, Muslims, African-Americans, and so on all oppose Lieberman. Lieberman is leading the charge against affirmative action. The Elections Committee would have at most 25 members (large enough to encompass diverse opinions but small enough to reach consensus). Selecting preliminary statewide candidates via an Elections Committee would be a departure from the way the CTGP has selected statewide candidates until now (via chapters). Democrats and Republicans select their statewide candidates via such a committee; they begin work on campaigns two years in advance. Our strategy has been to seek Greens who wish to run for statewide office (whichever office that be). Our strategy should, instead, be deciding which Democrats and Republicans should be opposed by a Green and seeking Greens who wish to run for those offices. For example, what Green will run against Lieberman? Our strategy should include deciding what statewide officeholders labor unions would like to see replaced; Greens would thereby gain labor support. The Elections committee would target races for party growth--for example, the Lieberman/Green race. The Elections Committee will decide on primary and campaign guidelines, which will exceed state and federal standards--the major parties will attack us if we don't select candidates strictly according to CT election laws (such as filing paperwork with the Secretary of State's office). The Elections Committee would decide on any proposed state level referendums (for example, legalizing medicinal uses of marijuana). Even if the referendum result were nonbinding, we could get the CTGP associated with an issue. Elections Committee members could not belong to any other committee--the goal is to have these people focused on elections. Similarly, Fundraising Committee members could not belong to any other committee. The Fundraising Committee will receive stipend of the funds raised, that is, a percentage of the funds raised (for motivation). The handout gives a proposed timeline. Thus in the period 1/15/05 - 11/15/05 (corrected dates) the focus would be on deciding a statewide platform and referendums for 2006. All Green candidates would emphasize the same issues (for example, better schools). In "Phase One" there would be a one-month period (May 1, 2006 - June 1,2006) in which ballot access (collecting signatures) would be the focus. Perhaps each chapter would be responsible for "x" number of signatures. The period May 1, 2006 - October 15, 2006 would be focused on voter registration. A voter registration campaign would be a way of growing the CTGP. Democrats and Republicans don't focus on voter registration. We could reach out to groups including young people and people who have left prison. The period May 1, 2006 - August 30, 2006 would be focused on community forums (in collaboration with local Greens' efforts). Note that the three time periods described in Phase One are overlapping. Phase Two includes op-ed pieces and phone banking. Hundreds of op-ed pieces could be written annually by Greens. August 1, 2006 - November 1, 2006 would be a period in which to focus on writing op-ed pieces. Our platform could be publicized through these pieces, and Lieberman and other candidates could be challenged to participate in debates. Discussion of Ralph's and Calvin's ideas began. Mike expressed support for their work. David Adams pointed out that a later agenda item for tonight's meeting is "planning/strategizing session for the state party in January". Ralph said that he'd be interested in coming to such a session. David said that many Greens may not agree with all the details of the plan, and that there should be dialogue within the CTGP. The end result might be a modified plan. Ralph said that chapters should discuss this plan, add ideas, and ultimately vote on the plan. Calvin said that he would be willing to put the plan onto listserves for comments/suggested revisions. Justine pointed out that the SCC had approved an Action Plan which contains directives or suggestions on committee functioning; Calvin/Ralph's plan may have ideas (such as "members cannot belong to any other committee", perhaps) which may be in conflict with the Action Plan. Lindsay said that we need to study how Carl Rove works (apparently meaning that we Greens need to learn how the Democrats and Republicans plan campaign strategies). John said that we need to have a unified direction for the CTGP; Rove shaped the Republicans into one cohesive, unified unit. ------------------------------------ Appendix 4. Handout "Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut". Authored by Calvin L. Nicholson and Ralph A. Ferrucci; 11/29/04 Proposed Two Year Campaign Strategy for the 2006 State and Federal Elections Introduction: To better prepare for the 2006 election and subsequent state and federal elections, the following proposal is presented to organize a two-year effort to prepare for statewide and federal elections. The following proposal consists of three main components: **An Election Committee who oversee the initial selection of candidates and propose the campaign and nomination guidelines for all candidates. **A Fundraising Committee who will be solely focused on raising capital for the State Party. **A Two-Year Guideline for preparing and executing a successful Green Party slate for the 2006 elections. [I.] New Election Committee A. Focus on Statewide and Federal Offices (non-Presidential) B. Composition and Size 1) No greater than 25 2) Chairman and Structure i. 5-7 Greens (1 chair) ii. 7-15 Greens (2 co-chairs) iii. 15+ Greens (3 co-chairs) 3) Chairpersons voted annually by committee C. Committee will decide Preliminary Slate of state and federal candidates for the nominees D. Decide on Primary and Campaign Guidelines, which will exceed state and federal standards. E. Decide on any proposed state level referendums. F. Members cannot belong to any other committee. G. Decide target races for party growth. [II.] New Fundraising Committee A. No more than five Greens, one chairperson. B. Cannot belong to any other committee within the State Party. C. Will submit monthly reports to the State Party. D. Decide Fundraising strategies beyond phone banking and street canvassing. All strategies approved by the State Party. E. Will receive stipend of the funds raised. [III.] Proposed timeline (January 2, 2005 - November 1, 2006) A. 1/15/05 - 11/15/05: Decide statewide platform and referendums for 2006. B. 1/15/05 - 3/15/06: Potential candidates selected for state and federal races. C. Last Saturday of April 2006: State Party Convention. D. 5/1/06 - 10/31/06: Main Campaign Thrust 1. Phase One: i. Ballot Access--May 1, 2006 - June 1, 2006 ii. Voter Registration--May 1, 2006 - October 15, 2006 iii. Community Forums (correlate with local Greens) -- May 1, 2006-August 30, 2006 2. Phase Two: i. Op-ed pieces (in conjunction with media committee) -- August 1, 2006-November 1, 2006 ii. Phone banking -- October 1, 2006-November 1, 2006 E. Election Day -- November 6, 2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net Sat Dec 11 09:44:37 2004 From: JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net (Jean de Smet) Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 09:44:37 -0500 Subject: {news} 51 Capital "You Stole My Vote" March - a nationwide citizens' protest this Sunday Message-ID: <008101c4df90$042f2620$90b0d942@jeansmet> Pls spread the word. As members of VOTER, perhpas we should be participating. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Meg Scata" To: Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 12:13 AM Subject: FW: Chain-Mail-News #3: 51 Capital "You Stole My Vote" March - a nationwide citizens' protest this Sunday To: Subject: Chain-Mail-News #3: 51 Capital "You Stole My Vote" March - a nationwide citizens' protest this Sunday Hello everyone, Things are moving forward rapidly. Groups are organizing all over the country. If your state doesn't yet have an organized group up and running, don't be deterred by uncertainty. There are literally millions of Americans who feel as you do. Find them. Email or IM them. Tell them how important it is to come out and demand an end to this theft of our power. It really is that simple and straight forward. The preservation of our constitutional power to vote is too important to be neglected or ignored. Make a sign and show up on Sunday. Visit our web site: http://www.51capitalmarch.com Learn how our voting systems are so vulnerable in our Blackbox Voting page. Check out what's happening in your state and locate your state capitol in Protest Logistics.. Email your elected representatives from our Email Congress page. Tell them about Sunday's protest and ask them to show up. Tell us you will show up: click on I Will Show Up. Look up our calls to action and protest updates on our News page. Visit our Protest Store and purchase some protest gear. Want to make a sign? Get our graphics Fellow citizen, In the 2004 election 80% of votes were counted on tabulator PCs that are entirely vulnerable to surreptitious, undetectable vote count manipulation. Vote manipulation exploits can easily circumvent state election oversight and go undetected. Because of this vulnerability, our voting systems and vote counts can NOT be trusted. With our votes susceptible to violation and our voting systems untrustworthy, as citizens, we have a duty to stand up and demand the return of power to our votes and safeguards to our voting systems. This Sunday, December 12th at noon local time, ALL American citizens are called to converge on their State Capitol or Federal Capitol to protest the loss of our voting power and the lost security of our voting systems in the 2004 elections. Demands put forth by the December 12th protest include: <>To state electors: Do NOT cast your ballots for president and vice-president until state election officials provide a complete, fair, accurate, and verified manual vote recount To state elected officials; Immediately act to restore integrity to our voting systems by adopting state provisions of the Voter's Bill of Rights and eliminate unsecured vote tabulation PCs and software. To federal elected representatives: Investigate vote fraud and vote count manipulation in the 2004 elections with the intent of developing and enacting federal guarantees protecting our voting power and the integrity of our voting systems. <> The December 12th nationwide protest is a citizen's uprising. With little support and no backing from organizations, citizen groups are forming across the country. They are organizing and mobilizing fellow citizens in their states to: "Make a Sign and Show Up" at their state capitols on December 12th. Millions of American citizens, upset by how our votes and voting systems have been compromised, value their voting power and will respond by showing up this Sunday if they hear of the protest. Because our press is largely ignoring the theft of our voting power, it is incumbent on we citizens to tell everyone we know to make a sign and show up. In the last election, I went to the polls with my family. We voted on e-voting machines rigged with an exploit to deny Kerry Democratic votes. When I returned home, I thought of my three young adult children, two who voted in their first election, and I wept. I realized they faced futures without the guarantees of freedom and democracy that I have enjoyed. I could not sit by and watch their votes be stripped of their power and security without doing something. I now ask you to do something: 1. Send this email to everyone you know, and ask them to do the same. 2. Make a sign and show up at your state capitol building or the Federal Capitol at noon this Sunday, December 12th <> For details and to get involved, please visit http://www.51capitalmarch.com When your children ask you, "What did you do to save our democracy?" Will you be able to tell them, "I showed up"? Thank you for your commitment to our country, <> Kip Humphrey www.51capitalmarch.com <> <> The exploit mentioned above occurred on Hart inter Civic eSlate voting machines. The exploit was as follow: if a voter selected "Vote Democratic Slate", no vote would register for John Kerry. To complete the exploit, the vote review screen opened at the very bottom of the ballot. A voter had to scroll through pages of ballot showing democratic votes registered one after another. Only those diligent voters who paged back to the top of their ballot would notice no vote registered for Kerry. Those not as vigilant, unknowingly lost the power of their votes. IMPORTANT: FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU PERSONALLY KNOW. HOW TO FORWARD CHAIN-MAIL-NEWS 1. Remove any personal message and email sign-off (signature) from the top of this email (everything above the line). Add your own personal message and signature (do not alter the Chain-Mail-News content (between the lines). 2. In [BCC:] email address fields (Blind Carbon Copy), place all of the email addresses you are sending this Chain-Mail to (this preserves the privacy of everyone's email addresses) 3. In the [To:] email address field, enter: chainmailcount at 51capitalmarch.com (we do not read these, we simply count them) For help, go to http://www.51capitalmarch.com and click on Chain-Mail-News. Chain-Mail-News? is a free service to provide the American people with important news and information they don't receive through major media outlets. Chain-Mail-News is not spam. If you received this email in error, or wish to discontinue receiving future Chain-Mail-News, simply reply with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the Subject line. If you stop receiving Chain-Mail and wish to continue receiving it, simply go to http://www.51capitalmarch.com and click on [Chain-Mail-News]. then click on [SIGN UP]. Your enrollment in Chain-Mail-News will be good through December 31st 2004. ------ End of Forwarded Message From nectgreens at hotmail.com Sat Dec 11 12:55:50 2004 From: nectgreens at hotmail.com (NECT Greens) Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 17:55:50 +0000 Subject: {news} Northeast GP meeting Message-ID: The next meeting of the Northeast CT Chapter of the Green Party will be December 14th, 7pm at Main St. Cafe in Willimantic. Agenda items will include: Peace, Justice Windham electoral politics now and future State bylaws changes (this is interesting!) State proposed electoral activity Anything else you'd like! Jean From nectgreens at hotmail.com Sat Dec 11 13:11:45 2004 From: nectgreens at hotmail.com (NECT Greens) Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 18:11:45 +0000 Subject: {news} March on the Capitol Sunday Message-ID: JOIN WITH US! "YOU STOLE MY VOTE" 51 CAPITAL MARCH http://www.51capitalmarch.com/ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12TH 2004 at Noon Everywhere! On December 12th 2004 at 12 noon, before the steps of your State Capitol and the Federal Capitol, join with us to protest the theft of our votes and our voting rights in the 2004 election. As citizens, it is our duty to protect those basic rights that insure the survival of our democracy and constitution for present and future generations of Americans. Egregious infringements of our voting rights occurred in the 2004 election: our voting systems were compromised and our votes violated. The line was crossed: we no longer trust our voting systems. As citizens, we must stand together and demand: Of our fellow citizen state electors, Do NOT cast your ballots for president and vice-president until state election officials provide a complete, fair, accurate and verified manual vote recount Of our state elected representatives, Direct state election officials to immediately undertake a full statewide supervised manual vote recount Launch an immediate public investigation into all reported incidents of voter intimidation, misinformation, and other acts by state employees intended to dissuade, interfere with, or prevent voters from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote Act to restore integrity to our voting systems by adopting state provisions of the Voter's Bill of Rights and eliminating unsecured vote tabulation PCs and software Of our federal elected representatives, Investigate vote fraud and vote count manipulation in the 2004 elections. Enact legislation incorporating federal guarantees protecting our voting power and the integrity of our voting systems, and all federal provisions of the Voter?s Bill of Rights. Join with us in a people's uprising, a citizen protest. Volunteer to help mobilize the citizens of your state to converge on your state capital in peaceful protest of our stolen rights. On December 12th, go to your state or federal capitol and make your voice heard. Make a sign and show up! Kip Humphrey The 51 Capital March THE VOTER'S BILL OF RIGHTS 1. Guarantee a Voter-Verified Paper Trail for All Voting Machines Every voting machine in the United States must be equipped to produce, and store, a voter-verified paper and electronic record of every vote cast. Electronic voting machines must incorporate "open source" coding tested by an independent agency before and during the election to guarantee a transparent and fair process. A national standard for voting machines should be implemented to insure that by 2008, every vote cast in federal elections is cast using the same voting technology. 2. Replace Partisan Oversight with Non-Partisan Election Commissions It is time to overhaul our federal, state, and local election agencies to guarantee fair elections. We must replace the current system of partisan election administration, in which partisan secretaries of state, county clerks, election commissioners, and other partisan officials are able to issue rulings that favor their own political parties and themselves, with a non-partisan, independent system of running elections. We must also insure that independent international and domestic election observers are given full access to monitor our elections. 3. Celebrate Democracy: Make Election Day a National Holiday Working people should not be forced to choose between exercising their right to vote and getting to work on time. While the laws of 30 states guarantee the right to take time off from work to vote, many workers and employers are unaware of these laws. Holding national elections on a national holiday will greatly increase the number of available poll workers and polling places and increase overall turnout, while making it much easier for working Americans to go to the polls. 4. Make it Easier to Vote Many citizens are discouraged from voting by unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions. We must simplify and rationalize voter registration so that no one is again disenfranchised for failing to check a superfluous box, as occurred this year in Florida, or for not using heavy enough paper, as nearly occurred in Ohio. To ensure that all qualified voters are able to vote, we must follow the lead of states like Minnesota and Wisconsin by replacing restrictive voter residency requirements with same-day voter registration, allowing qualified voters to register at the polls on Election Day itself. Our current system forces millions of voters to wait up to ten hours to vote. This is unacceptable, and it disenfranchises those who cannot afford to wait. To increase access to the polls, all states must provide sufficient funding for enough early voting and election-day polling places to guarantee smooth and speedy voting. To ensure equal access and minimize the wait at the polls, election authorities must allocate resources based upon the number of potential voters per precinct. We must put an end to the government-backed practice of allowing partisan activists to challenge the voting rights of individual voters at the polls. 5. Count Every Vote! Voters must know that their vote will count and make a difference. Every recent presidential election has been marred by the discounting millions of spoiled, under-vote, over-vote, provisional and absentee ballots. This discounting of votes has disproportionately impacted people of color, especially African American, and is a fundamental voting rights and racial justice problem. Election officials must ensure that every voting precinct and wards is adequately staffed with sufficiently trained personnel and professional supervision; that old and unreliable voting machines are replaced; that absentee ballots are mailed with a sufficient time for delivery; and that provisional ballots count for state and federal contests regardless of where the vote is cast. 6. Re-Enfranchise Ex-Felons The permanent disenfranchisement of former felons, a practice that falls outside of international or even U.S. norms, is an unreasonable and dangerous penalty that weakens our democracy by creating a subclass of four million excluded American citizens. Because the criminal justice system disproportionately penalizes African American males, this disenfranchisement is racist in its impact and is constitutionally suspect. Those states that permanently disenfranchise felons (Florida, Virginia, Nebraska, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, Arizona, and Alabama) must amend their laws and practices to restore full citizenship to ex-offenders. 7. Implement Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) We must replace our current ?first-past-the-post? system with Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which insures that the will of the true majority, not a mere plurality, produces the winner of each election. IRV allows voters to rank order the candidates in order of their preference (first, second, third choice). If a candidate wins a majority of first choice votes, they are the winner. If no candidate gets a majority of first choices, the lowest vote-getting candidate is eliminated, and the second-choice votes of those voters who backed the eliminated candidate are reallocated to the remaining contenders. Counting continues until one candidate has received a majority. In this way, a runoff count can be conducted without the need for runoff election. IRV gives voters the opportunity to vote for those candidates they like the most without worrying that their vote will help candidates they like least. Instant Runoff voting has long been used successfully around the world, from Ireland, to Australia, to, most recently, San Francisco. 8. Proportional Representation The right of representation belongs to all citizens. Our winner-take-all elections award representation to the largest factions and leave everyone else, often the majority, unrepresented. The winner-take-call system unnecessarily restricts choice, polarizes politics and limits political discourse. We must adopt proportional representation for legislative elections to ensure the fair representation of all voters. Millions of Democrats in Republican areas and Republicans in Democratic areas are unrepresented in our system, and the majority of Greens, Libertarians, and other independents are unrepresented at all levels of government. Our system should provide fair representation to all voters, in proportion to their numbers. 9. Replace Big Money Control With Public Financing and Equal Air-Time In a system where the amount of money a candidate spends is directly related to their likelihood of winning, it is not surprising that voters think politicians are more concerned with big campaign contributors than with individual voters. We must follow Maine?s lead by establishing a nationwide system of full public financing for all ballot-qualified candidates. We must require the broadcasting corporations that license our public airwaves to provide airtime for debates, and free time for all ballot-qualified candidates and parties. 10. Guarantee Equal Access to the Ballot and Debates In our current electoral system, independent parties such as the Greens and Libertarians face a host of barriers designed to limit voter choice and voice. Ballot access laws and debates specifically designed to exclude independent party candidates discourage voting and undermine the legitimacy of our elections. In most cases, the established parties have never themselves met the signature requirements they impose on independent parties. We must eliminate prohibitive ballot access requirements, and replace the partisan Commission on Presidential Debates with a non-partisan Citizens Debate Commission. 11. Abolish the Electoral College It is time to end the safe state/battleground state dichotomy and make all votes equal, no matter the state of the voter. We must amend the Federal Constitution to replace election of the President by the Electoral College with direct election by the voters. At the same time, for so long as the Electoral College persists, we must amend our state laws and constitutions to allocate each state?s electors proportionately to the popular vote. GET INVOLVED NOW! From eaton at spazmo.com Sun Dec 12 20:35:29 2004 From: eaton at spazmo.com (Bob Eaton) Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 20:35:29 -0500 Subject: {news} Litchfield County Times Article on Bill C. Davis Message-ID: This is an article in the Litchfield County Times on Bill C. Davis and his play "The Sex King". The article mentions - "During the interview, the conversation often veered toward politics, with the playwright announcing his intention to run for the Fifth District congressional seat in 2006 on the Green Party ticket.." Davis' 'King' Lived in County http://tinyurl.com/5pdpq -- Bob Eaton / Head Spazmo http://www.spazmo.com Patriot ? Lemming From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Mon Dec 13 18:31:18 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:31:18 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [ctgp] Callling all Greens! Regional meeting on Feb, 5th - Please sign up! Message-ID: <000101c4e16c$4b450ab0$2189f504@edgn2b574u14bi> ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim McKee To: ctgp at lists.riseup.net Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 5:38 PM Subject: [ctgp] Callling all Greens! Regional meeting on Feb, 5th - Please sign up! There was a preliminary meeting in Portland, Maine, on November 27,with members of the Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire Green Parties in attendance. All who were there were enthusiastic about getting the folks in New England together on a regional basis. The idea was not so much to have regional meetings of the GPUS (i.e., to discuss issues relating to the national party), but rather to find ways that the state parties can work together to support their state and local missions. Toward this end, I offered to try and arrange a second such "preliminary" meeting in Massachusetts, being the most central state in the region. I have informally suggested a couple of dates, but will now more formally suggest Saturday, February 5. It would be great to work toward a regional "convention" (for lack of a better term) sometime over the summer (I like the beach idea). Lastly, if you have not seen it yet, I have been taking responses to a couple of survey questions addressing the local and state interests of New England Greens, as well as their personal motivation for being involving in the Green party. If you haven't yet responded, I invite you to do so (note, I have only 1 response so far from Connecticut). The URL is: http://home.comcast.net/~jdh87 Please feel free to share this with folks in your state who are not (yet) on this list. Thanks. Jim Henderson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Mon Dec 13 19:37:11 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:37:11 -0500 Subject: {news} Executive Committee meeting Wed. 12/15/04 Message-ID: <006701c4e175$dca83190$2189f504@edgn2b574u14bi> The Connecticut Green Party Executive Committee (co-chairs, treasurer, and secretary) will meet Wednesday 12/15/04 at the Hartford office. Any Green is invited to attend Executive Committee meetings as an observer. The meeting will start at 6pm or possibly earlier. If you'd like to observe the meeting and want information on the starting time, contact secretary Ed DuBrule at 860-523-4016. ------------------------------------------------ The office is at 418-A New Britain Ave., Hartford. The office is just east of the intersection of Hillside Ave. with New Britain Ave. It's next to Roma's Bakery on the north side of New Britain Ave, across from Piolin Restaurant. The office phone is 860-524-9448. For a map, go to www.ctgreens.org; on the left of the homepage click on "Hartford" (Hartford chapter), then click where it says "click here for directions". If coming from the west on I-84: Take exit 44 (Prospect Ave.). At the end of the exit ramp are two stop signs--take a left onto a road (Caya Ave) that quickly brings you to Prospect Ave. Take a right onto Prospect Ave. **When Prospect Ave. meets New Park Ave. (you'll see a Crowley Chevrolet dealership) take a right onto New Park Ave. Take a left onto Flatbush Ave. (a Shell Gas Station and a Volkswagen dealership are on the corner of New Park and Flatbush). Travel past Hartford State Technical College (now a branch of Capital Community College) and you'll reach Hillside Ave (a small grocery store is on the corner of Flatbush Ave. and Hillside Ave). Take a right onto Hillside Ave. When Hillside Ave. intersects New Britain Ave. (see another small grocery store) take a left. The Greens office and Roma's Bakery can be seen on the left. If coming from the east on I-84: Take exit 44 (Prospect and Oakwood Avenues). At the end of the exit ramp you'll see Prospect Plaza (a shopping center that includes Home Town Buffet). Take a right onto Kane St. Take a right onto Prospect Ave. (a Shell Gas Station and a Burger King are at the corner of Prospect Ave. and Kane St.) Continue along Prospect Ave. until you reach New Park Ave (you'll see Crowley Chevrolet dealership). Then follow the directions at ** above. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Tue Dec 14 18:30:59 2004 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 18:30:59 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Spam Alert: Fighting for democracy - today Message-ID: <010301c4e234$f7ce0f70$028c0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> Morning After ----- Original Message ----- From: Kara Mullen, Green Party of the US To: capeconn at attbi.com Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 5:35 PM Subject: Spam Alert: Fighting for democracy - today December 14, 2004 Dear Friend, How far are you willing to go to stand up for your freedom? How bad will things have to be in America before we are willing to step out of our comfort zone and fight for our democracy and our lives? I am writing to you because we need your help urgently. The Green Party of the United States is not willing to risk the wait. We are fighting this imperative fight today. We have demanded a vote recount in Ohio and New Mexico because there have been too many reports of election irregularities and improprieties. We are demanding electoral reforms in communities nationwide. Greens are fighting to keep jobs here in America, fighting for living wages and access to affordable healthcare and housing, and to clean up the air and stop global warming. We are fighting for the dignity and respect for all Americans. But this fight is not free. It takes an inordinate amount of resources. And this year's presidential election diverted much-needed funds away from our courageous fight for grassroots democracy, social and economic justice and ecological sustainability. We are in a serious financial crisis due to the "Anyone but Bush" fever that nearly knocked the Green Party of the United States off the map. But we are finding our way through the storm. In spite of a practical boycott of our party, we managed to grow: We have more registered Green voters and we have more elected Greens in office than in the past. But there is no doubt we could have progressed exponentially if people were willing to take a stand for the things in which they believe. Now, when this country needs the leadership of the Green Party more than ever, we do not have the financial resources necessary to take on the fight for democracy. We are ready and willing to fight for you. But we need your support today ?so that we are able. Would you donate at least $10 to support the Green Party of the US today? If each and every person that receives this email sends a $10 contribution, we strengthen our ability to be a vital player in this field. Your support will ensure that our national headquarters stays open, that our political director can help build a stronger political organization, that our fundraising program can strengthen itself so that we can grow the party, and that we have someone to manage the day-to-day operations of the national committee. Without your personal support, we will not be able to sustain the fight. A $10 dollar gift will kickstart our (alternatively-powered) engine. A $100 gift will help us begin planning a progressive future. A $1,000 gift will allow us to support our local parties. A $5,000 donation will help elect viable, progressive Greens in communities all over the country. We really won't make it without your support. Please send a generous gift today. Thank you for your support of grassroots democracy. Sincerely, Kara Mullen Fundraising Director -------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by the Green Party of the United States PO Box 57065 Washington, DC 20037 866-41GREEN or 202 319 7191 Click to unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Tue Dec 14 18:31:12 2004 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 18:31:12 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: For all State Parties/Committees/Caucuses: Jan 20 Cal/ List Your State Party's ANTIWAR Activity/Event to the GPAX National Calendar! Message-ID: <010d01c4e234$ffbfc070$028c0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> ----- Original Message ----- From: Charles Shaw To: peace at lists.gp-us.org Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 6:27 PM Subject: For all State Parties/Committees/Caucuses: Jan 20 Cal/ List Your State Party's ANTIWAR Activity/Event to the GPAX National Calendar! THIS IS FOR ALL STATE PARTIES, NATIONAL COMMITTEES, AND CAUCUSES. PLEASE FORWARD ACCORDINGLY TO YOUR STATE PARTY LISTSERVS. Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Green Party: We on the Green Peace Action Committee (GPAX) are compiling a data base of all State Green Party antiwar activities and events. We are drafting a national outreach leaflet with a Calendar of State Green Party Antiwar activities and events to pass out at the Counter-Inaugural events here in Washington, D.C. Could you send us a brief synopsis of your main antiwar activities/events with the appropriate contact person, e-mail, and telephone number for your state/city Green Party. Please e-mail your State Party's Antiwar Calendar of activities to: cshaw at gp.org, aimee at green-rainbow.org by Thursday, January 13, 2005 so a Calendar leaflet can be made for distribution at the J20 Counter-Inaugural Activities here in Washington, D.C. We plan to make this National Calendar an ongoing event. STAY TUNED! We will also post this information on the website. Thanks very much for your time and cooperation. Best, Dean Murville DC Statehood Green Party GPAX committee member #### DAWN/DC Statehood J20 CALL TO ACTION RISE Against Bush SHINE For A Peaceful Tomorrow A Call for Anti-War Actions in Washington, DC, January 20, 2005 Every morning, the sun rises up, penetrating and overcoming the darkness of night. What once was dark becomes bright, changed by the force of the sun's rays. Our world is in darkness tonight, plagued with war, poverty, environmental destruction, and attacks on many of the liberties that so many of us hold dear. The darkness over our world has grown yet darker with the election of George W. Bush to another 4 years in office. In the dark of the night, we need only wait for the sun. However, in the dark of our world, we cannot wait. If we are to see a new dawn, we must take action now. The DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) calls on the people of the world to RISE Against Bush and SHINE For A Peaceful Tomorrow. We RISE . Against the needless slaughter in and occupation of Iraq; . Against the assault on civil liberties, as represented by such acts as the Patriot Act and the immoral detaining of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; . Against U.S. support of Israel's apartheid against the Palestinian people; . Against U.S. overthrow of Aristide in Haiti; . Against U.S. attempts to overthrow any other democratically elected leader, including Hugo Chavez in Venezuela; . Against any U.S. military action in Iran. We SHINE . For a world that embraces peaceful dialogue instead of war; . For a world where we respect the liberty of all beings; . For a world that looks out for all those who are now oppressed, including the poor, women, racial minorities, workers, the disabled, homosexuals, transgendered, as well as the earth and its creatures; . For a world that embraces social justice; . For democracy and the autonomy of all people to have a full say in how they are governed; . For each other. The Call DAWN calls for people all over the nation and world to converge on Washington, DC, on the day of George W. Bush's Inauguration, January 20, 2005, for peaceful anti-war actions. While DAWN is coordinating with many groups for a day of actions, DAWN calls additionally for these specific actions: 1. A permitted nonviolent anti-war rally followed by a march to Bush's inaugural parade route 2. A nonviolent civil disobedience die-in, following the rally, in memorial to the dead at the hands of Bush and his Administration DAWN also calls for organizations, affinity groups, and individuals to partner with us in organizing these two actions. Next Steps If you or your group or organization wants to endorse DAWN's call to action, please send an e-mail to info at dawndc.net. Write also if you wish to collaborate in the planning or offer financial donations or other material support. Find out more information about DAWN's and other groups' actions at http://www.counter-inaugural.org, by participating in the DC Cluster Spokescouncil meetings (refer to website), or by participating in DAWN's weekly meetings. Check our website, http://www.dawndc.net for more details. Housing boards, events boards, working group information, and (soon) ride boards can be found at http://www.counter-inaugural.org . We will post updates of our actions, as they become available, to that website. The new dawn begins with our rising up. It will take a lot of light to break through such darkness, but we can do it. We have no other choice. Join us on J20! ***please forward widely*** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Tue Dec 14 21:03:17 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 21:03:17 -0500 Subject: {news} Exec Committee meeting Wed 12/15 AT SIX PM at Hartford office Message-ID: <004901c4e24c$55218af0$7480f504@edgn2b574u14bi> The Connecticut Green Party Executive Committee (co-chairs, treasurer, and secretary) will meet Wednesday 12/15/04 at the Hartford office. Any Green is invited to attend Executive Committee meetings as an observer. The meeting will start at 6pm. [The News listserve posting yesterday said that the meeting would start at 6pm or possibly earlier. We are now stating that the meeting will start AT SIX PM.] ------------------------------------------------ The office is at 418-A New Britain Ave., Hartford. The office is just east of the intersection of Hillside Ave. with New Britain Ave. It's next to Roma's Bakery on the north side of New Britain Ave, across from Piolin Restaurant. The office phone is 860-524-9448. For a map, go to www.ctgreens.org; on the left of the homepage click on "Hartford" (Hartford chapter), then click where it says "click here for directions". If coming from the west on I-84: Take exit 44 (Prospect Ave.). At the end of the exit ramp are two stop signs--take a left onto a road (Caya Ave) that quickly brings you to Prospect Ave. Take a right onto Prospect Ave. **When Prospect Ave. meets New Park Ave. (you'll see a Crowley Chevrolet dealership) take a right onto New Park Ave. Take a left onto Flatbush Ave. (a Shell Gas Station and a Volkswagen dealership are on the corner of New Park and Flatbush). Travel past Hartford State Technical College (now a branch of Capital Community College) and you'll reach Hillside Ave (a small grocery store is on the corner of Flatbush Ave. and Hillside Ave). Take a right onto Hillside Ave. When Hillside Ave. intersects New Britain Ave. (see another small grocery store) take a left. The Greens office and Roma's Bakery can be seen on the left. If coming from the east on I-84: Take exit 44 (Prospect and Oakwood Avenues). At the end of the exit ramp you'll see Prospect Plaza (a shopping center that includes Home Town Buffet). Take a right onto Kane St. Take a right onto Prospect Ave. (a Shell Gas Station and a Burger King are at the corner of Prospect Ave. and Kane St.) Continue along Prospect Ave. until you reach New Park Ave (you'll see Crowley Chevrolet dealership). Then follow the directions at ** above. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Dec 15 01:05:45 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:05:45 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes November 2004 SCC meeting,part 1 of 3 Message-ID: <006401c4e26c$aed7a550$9c80f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Minutes of November 30, 2004 SCC meeting--7:10-9:10pm, Fisk Hall, Wesleyan University Attendees: 1. Central Connecticut chapter: Vic Lancia 2. Hartford chapter: Ed DuBrule (NV), Mike DeRosa, Tom Sanders 3. New Haven chapter: Ralph Ferrucci, Calvin Nicholson, Ann Pollack (NV) 4. New London chapter: Andy Derr 5. Northeast chapter: Jean deSmet 6. Northwest chapter: Elizabeth Brancato (voting for Women's Caucus only), Judy Herkimer, Kim Herkimer, John Badeen (NV), Tom Sevigny (facilitator) 7. Shoreline chapter: David Adams, Lindsay Mathews 8. Tolland chapter: Karin Norton 9. Western chapter: Justine McCabe Eli Cipher, Courtney Weber--these two attendees are interested in reactivating the Southeast chapter. NV=non-voting A. PRELIMINARIES. The groundrules were adopted by consensus. Tonight's agenda was accepted by consensus with the addition of a report on internal elections (added after report from VOTER). The September and October SCC minutes were approved by consensus. B. Treasurer's report (read by Ed). "Over the last month we had receipts of $215. $195 of that was from monthly contributions. Our total expenses were $996. - $448 of our expenses was postage for the fundraising mailing that should be going this week. - $330 was for the office in Hartford. - $104 for an insurance rider. - $74 to reimburse Chris Reilly - $35 for credit card processing - $1 for our toll free number "Currently we have a balance of $537. "We are up to 20 in the 100 for 100 program. and we will be receiving some money soon from the fundraising mailing. "As always please consider being involved in the Fundraising and Budget Committees. "For more information on the CT Green Party Finances you can call me at 860 379-0632, email me at green at spazmo.com or look at this webpage: http://www.kirajoy.com/CTGP/CTGP_Treasurer.html "Bob Eaton "CT Green Party Treasurer" Attendees wondered what event the $104 insurance rider was for. Ed said he would ask Bob about this. Andy asked if the secretary could pass out the treasurer's report to all SCC attendees at each SCC meeting. Ed said he would do this in the future. C. DATES OF NEXT TWO SCC MEETINGS: there was consensus that, because of the holidays, the next SCC meeting will not be held the last Tuesday of December, but instead will be held Tuesday January 4. The location is to be determined. The usual last-Tuesday-of-the-month January SCC meeting (January 25) will also be held. D. OLD BUSINESS AND PROPOSALS 1. Bylaws segment "4-1 Chapters" (Appendix 1). Referred to chapters by September SCC meeting (a step in the bylaws revision process). As a member of the BRPP committee, Andy fielded questions about the proposal. The language of the proposal has not been changed since it was considered at the November SCC meeting. Jean pointed out that section 4-1-A defines a "local chapter". She said that the current bylaws define two kinds of chapters (regional chapters and at-large chapters) and asked whether 4-1-A's definition was meant to replace the bylaws' regional chapters, or to define a new kind of chapter. Andy agreed that proposed bylaws changes should be presented together with a description of current bylaws language, if any, that the proposed language would replace. Karin said that the current bylaws are vague, or confusing, on the issue of where chapter members may live. If a Colchester resident wanted to attend Tolland chapter meetings, is that OK? If a person living in Manchester (which is part of Hartford County) wanted to attend Tolland chapter meetings, is that OK? Jean said that the Northeast chapter has its own definition of a "Northeast chapter member", for internal chapter purposes. David said that we should avoid making rules unless there's a good reason; there may be no reason to make rules defining chapter members; the more rules, the more problems arise. SCC DECISION: because of the need to define what language in the current bylaws is being replaced, segment 4-1 will not be considered further tonight. 2. Bylaws segment "4-2 State Central Committee" (Appendix 2). Referred to chapters by September SCC meeting (a step in the bylaws revision process). It was recognized that the language being replaced in the current bylaws by segment 4-2 will need to be defined. Nonetheless, comments were taken on section 4-2. David pointed out that section 4-2-G defines procedures by which chapters select their SCC representatives; he said that there wasn't a need to make a rule on this. Karin said that questions have arisen about who the voting representatives are, and it would be good for the bylaws to say that chapters elect them. Jean said that the Northeast chapter elects its SCC representatives quarterly, and would object to having to follow section 4-2-G, which mandates annual elections. Jean pointed out that section 4-2-E mandates use of the modified consensus process at SCC meetings, with use of a simple majority vote if consensus can't be reached. She said she doesn't like the modified consensus process and questioned whether this mandate should be in the bylaws. Jean asked how the sentence in 4-2-E "Changes to the bylaws need a 66% majority for passage" was related to the current bylaws procedures for changing the bylaws. Andy said that this sentence was not meant to replace the current bylaws' procedures; rather, this sentence was meant to point out that bylaws changes are an exception to the use of simple majority voting (if consensus cannot be reached) at SCC meetings. SCC DECISION: because of the need to define what language in the current bylaws is being replaced, segment 4-2 will not be considered further tonight. 3. Proposal on endorsing "A Cultural Evening for Palestine" (Women's Caucus) (Appendix 3). Justine presented the proposal, and said that events such as this one can increase multiculturalism in the CTGP. SCC DECISION: the proposal was passed by consensus. E. REPORTS -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Dec 15 01:06:11 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:06:11 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes November 2004 SCC meeting,part 2 of 3 Message-ID: <006501c4e26c$b4244e00$9c80f504@edgn2b574u14bi> E. REPORTS 1a. Chapter reports. **Tolland chapter--chapter's webmaster now dividing his time between Tolland chapter and another organization; discussion of forming a chapter centered around Manchester. **Shoreline--1,069 votes for Colin Bennett ("good campaign, good candidate") **Northwest--Sevigny campaign got 2400 votes (1000 more than last run); endorsed by Courant. Will be planning Bill Davis' campaign for Congress. Kim Herkimer, already on Parks and Recreation board, is interested in being appointed to an inland wetlands board. **New London--has television show; Greens from all over the state (including Ralph Ferrucci) have appeared on it. Trying to re-start Southeast chapter. Seeking candidates for city council and board of education races. **New Haven--Ferrucci, Chen, and Nicholson campaigns. Ferrucci got 3% of vote, Nicholson 8%. Ferrucci got much media coverage and was in several debates. The Ferrucci campaign is $1500 in debt. **Hartford--DeRosa campaign got 11.5% of the vote. Had event with George Michael Evica (who investigates who killed John F. Kennedy). Planning more movies. **Central Connecticut--little activity **Northeast--anti-war work; "November 3 Coalition"--how to deal with Bush administration. **Western--involvement with filing ethics complaint against town government member(s); joined homeless shelter coalition. 1b. Presentation by Ralph Ferrucci and Calvin Nicholson. Ralph and Calvin distributed a handout, titled "Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut" (Appendix 4). They said that the CTGP must go on the offensive and attack Democrats' and Republicans' positions. Specifically, we could run a candidate against Lieberman. Many non-Greens oppose Lieberman; these people could be brought into the CTGP. We should start raising money for this work; we should set up the New Elections Committee and the New Fundraising Committee described in the handout. CT is a "blue" state (voted for Kerry) but has three Republican Congresspersons, plus Senator Lieberman (a Democrat whose positions appear to be those of a Republican). We could run a complete slate of candidates for statewide and federal offices (non-presidential). These candidates must present a unified message. 7,500 signatures are needed to run a candidate against Lieberman; these same signatures would qualify the whole slate (other Congresspersons and governor). The Elections Committee would find candidates. Peace groups, Muslims, African-Americans, and so on all oppose Lieberman. Lieberman is leading the charge against affirmative action. The Elections Committee would have at most 25 members (large enough to encompass diverse opinions but small enough to reach consensus). Selecting preliminary statewide candidates via an Elections Committee would be a departure from the way the CTGP has selected statewide candidates until now (via chapters). Democrats and Republicans select their statewide candidates via such a committee; they begin work on campaigns two years in advance. Our strategy has been to seek Greens who wish to run for statewide office (whichever office that be). Our strategy should, instead, be deciding which Democrats and Republicans should be opposed by a Green and seeking Greens who wish to run for those offices. For example, what Green will run against Lieberman? Our strategy should include deciding what statewide officeholders labor unions would like to see replaced; Greens would thereby gain labor support. The Elections committee would target races for party growth--for example, the Lieberman/Green race. The Elections Committee will decide on primary and campaign guidelines, which will exceed state and federal standards--the major parties will attack us if we don't select candidates strictly according to CT election laws (such as filing paperwork with the Secretary of State's office). The Elections Committee would decide on any proposed state level referendums (for example, legalizing medicinal uses of marijuana). Even if the referendum result were nonbinding, we could get the CTGP associated with an issue. Elections Committee members could not belong to any other committee--the goal is to have these people focused on elections. Similarly, Fundraising Committee members could not belong to any other committee. The Fundraising Committee will receive stipend of the funds raised, that is, a percentage of the funds raised (for motivation). The handout gives a proposed timeline. Thus in the period 1/15/05 - 11/15/05 (corrected dates) the focus would be on deciding a statewide platform and referendums for 2006. All Green candidates would emphasize the same issues (for example, better schools). In "Phase One" there would be a one-month period (May 1, 2006 - June 1,2006) in which ballot access (collecting signatures) would be the focus. Perhaps each chapter would be responsible for "x" number of signatures. The period May 1, 2006 - October 15, 2006 would be focused on voter registration. A voter registration campaign would be a way of growing the CTGP. Democrats and Republicans don't focus on voter registration. We could reach out to groups including young people and people who have left prison. The period May 1, 2006 - August 30, 2006 would be focused on community forums (in collaboration with local Greens' efforts). Note that the three time periods described in Phase One are overlapping. Phase Two includes op-ed pieces and phone banking. Hundreds of op-ed pieces could be written annually by Greens. August 1, 2006 - November 1, 2006 would be a period in which to focus on writing op-ed pieces. Our platform could be publicized through these pieces, and Lieberman and other candidates could be challenged to participate in debates. Discussion of Ralph's and Calvin's ideas began. Mike expressed support for their work. David Adams pointed out that a later agenda item for tonight's meeting is "planning/strategizing session for the state party in January". Ralph said that he'd be interested in coming to such a session. David said that many Greens may not agree with all the details of the plan, and that there should be dialogue within the CTGP. The end result might be a modified plan. Ralph said that chapters should discuss this plan, add ideas, and ultimately vote on the plan. Calvin said that he would be willing to put the plan onto listserves for comments/suggested revisions. Justine pointed out that the SCC had approved an Action Plan which contains directives or suggestions on committee functioning; Calvin/Ralph's plan may have ideas (such as "members cannot belong to any other committee", perhaps) which may be in conflict with the Action Plan. Lindsay said that we need to study how Carl Rove works (apparently meaning that we Greens need to learn how the Democrats and Republicans plan campaign strategies). John said that we need to have a unified direction for the CTGP; Rove shaped the Republicans into one cohesive, unified unit. 2. Executive Committee. **Asks for comments on idea of not replacing co-chair Elizabeth Horton Sheff (internal elections should occur in the spring). No attendee objected to this idea. Ralph suggested that a rule be added to the bylaws that in this situation the next co-chair runner-up in the internal elections would be appointed co-chair. **Asks for volunteers for legislative committee/taskforce (this committee is in the Action Plan and a listserve for it exists). Mike gave examples of the possible work of this committee: health care (single-payer) (more work to continue that done previously by Greens such as John Battista and Justine McCabe); support legislation of environmental groups; speak at the capitol and to legislators as if we had won November elections (we did get votes and we do have a constituency) (this could lead to press coverage). **Asks for volunteers for internal elections committee. Elizabeth has contacted some Greens involved in past internal elections committees; Jean has expressed interest; if interested in serving please contact Elizabeth. Jean said that last year internal elections and the annual meeting were held on March 13; she asked tonight's attendees if a similar date would be good this year; no objections were expressed. Jean said that further thought must be given to the question of the US Green Party representative alternate position--should the third-highest vote getter for this position in the internal elections become the alternate (as was done last year), or should people run for the alternate position? Karin said that our bylaws' definition of member, and the concept of mailing a ballot to all the members, causes a great deal of financial expense during the internal elections. Jean said that when chapters submit their lists to the internal elections committee, they need to be sure to eliminate people who do not fit the bylaws definition of member--doing this would cut back our costs. Jean asked that chapters start updating their lists for submission to the internal elections committee. **Submitted a large (2,000-plus names) fundraising mailing to American Mailing Services, using the list of registered Greens. **Wonders if the annual meeting would be an appropriate time to have yes/no vote(s) on bylaws issues. 3. Budget Committee. Judy reported that Audrey Cole had told her that she would be contacting Chris Reilly and Bob Eaton to set up a meeting regarding auditing the CTGP books. 4. Office Committee. Ed said that Lynah will be arranging a meeting of this committee. 5. Conflict resolution committees. David Adams said that Charlie Pillsbury and David Eliscu have been doing conflict resolution work for the national party. 6. Women's Caucus. Will be meeting soon; invites new members; has listserve. National party's Women's Caucus is now accredited. 7. Report from US Green Party representatives. Tom said that: **The national Party ran a full-page ad in the New York Times in most areas of the US. The national Party has been getting more than the usual number of "hits" to its website since the November elections. (When Tom gets a Connecticut name from national, he sends this person a newcomer's packet giving chapter contacts, etc.) **Cobb, the Libertarian candidate for president, and Nader are involved in forcing recounts of the presidential ballots in Ohio and other states. This is getting the Green Party name into the news (CNN etc.) **In response to a question from Mike, Tom said that discussions are going on within the national party on the questions of closing the national office (for financial reasons) and renewing (or not renewing) the contract of the national fundraising director. Sustainers give the national party $10,000 per month. Could money be better spent on projects? 8. VOTER (Mike). VOTER will be meeting December 1. Connecticut will be buying electronic voting machines; VOTER will be working to ensure they will provide a paper trail of votes cast. VOTER will also work on issues such as minority party ballot access. F. DISCUSSION 1. Planning/strategizing session for the state party in January. (Agenda item from Tom Sevigny, Andy Derr, Lindsay Mathews, Bob Eaton, Colin Bennett, and Kaye Ward.) Due to the lateness of the hour, only minimal discussion of this agenda item was done, during the presentation by Ralph and Calvin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 1 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures) [Submitted by New London chapter per e-mail of 9/13/04 from Andy.] 4-1. CHAPTERS 4-1-A. A local chapter shall consist of Green Party members from towns and municipalities within a contiguous geographic region. No chapter shall be larger than a County and none smaller than a single town with the exception of Campus Green organizations. 4-1-B. A local chapter may petition for affiliation with the State Central Committee upon having at least three meetings with five or more Green Party members in attendance at each of the three meetings. 4-1-C. A chapter may be declared inactive by a majority vote of the State Central Committee (SCC) if it has not met within the past three months. A chapter will automatically be declared inactive if it has not sent chapter representatives to the State Central Committee meeting for three months in a row. Inactive status will begin as of the third meeting. 4-1-D. The State Central Committee may vote to revoke a chapter's affiliation with the CTGP if that chapter has not met within the past 6 months. 4-1-E. An inactive chapter will be declared active again if it hold two consecutive monthly meetings monthly meetings with at least five members present and sends representatives to two successive state meetings. 4-1-F. Chapters that have had their affiliation revoked must re-petition the State Central Committee for affiliation once the requirements detailed in 4.1.B are met. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 2 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP Committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures). [From e-mail received from Tom 7/26/04; revised per 9/13/04 e-mail from Andy.] 4-2 STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 4-2-A. The State Central Committee (SCC) shall be the final decision making body of the Green Party of Connecticut, and shall consist of democratically elected representatives from each affiliated local chapter. 4-2-B. Local chapters of the CTGP shall be represented at State Central Committee meetings accordingly : Each chapter is entitled to two voting representatives, and is also entitled to an additional representative for each 100 registered Greens residing in the chapter. Voter lists from an appropriate authority (either a town clerk or the Secretary of State) will be the final source in determining the count of a chapter's membership. If these are not obtainable the chapter shall be entitled to two voting representatives. 4-2-C. Caucuses for under-represented groups shall be entitled to one voting representative on the State Central Committee. Under-represented groups are defined as any grouping of Greens that has historically failed to gain adequate access to power in society at-large (i.e., women, African-Americans, youth, etc.). Caucuses shall be established by the State Central Committee. An individual attending an SCC meeting may cast multiple votes--one vote as a chapter representative and one as a caucus representative. 4-2-D. Representatives to the State Central Committee are responsible for disseminating information to their respective local chapters. They are also responsible for following the mandates of the local chapters they represent. 4-2-E. The modified consensus process will be used at State Central Committee meetings. In the event consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken with a simple majority being needed for passage of the proposal. Changes to the bylaws need a 66% majority for passage. 4-2-F. Quorum shall be required for votes taken at the State Central Committee meeting. Quorum shall be defined as representation (by at least one voting representative) of at least two-thirds of all active CTGP chapters, excepting Campus Green chapters and inactive chapters. 4-2-G. Chapters shall elect their representatives to the SCC once a year. Representatives shall be eligible for re-election. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 3 Proposal on endorsing "A Cultural Evening for Palestine" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Dec 15 01:06:16 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:06:16 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes November 2004 SCC meeting,part 3 of 3 Message-ID: <006601c4e26c$be4b0770$9c80f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Appendix 3 Proposal on endorsing "A Cultural Evening for Palestine" Green Party Meeting Proposal Form PRESENTER (committee, chapter(s) or group of individuals): Green Party of CT Women's Caucus CONTACT (name, address, phone number, email): Justine McCabe justinemccabe at earthlink.net 860-354-1822 SUBJECT (10 words or less): Endorsing Al-Awda-CT sponsored event, "A Cultural Evening for Palestine," to benefit the Al-Rowwad Children's Theater, December 4, First United Methodist Church, Middletown. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE (100 words or less; include relationship, reasons and/or justification to the State Central Committee): In June, 2003, the SCC of the Green Party of CT voted to make the CT chapter of Al-Awda-the Palestine Right of Return Coalition-an allied organization. This designation includes supporting its activities/goals, which are consonant with our values and CTGP and USGP platform positions endorsing the legal and human right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. [This position was endorsed by CTGP on 2 occasions, October, 2000 and March, 2001. See USGP Platform on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/democracy.html#310677; For the entire USGP Platform: http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/index.html] Palestinian civil society and economy are currently in ruins, as Israel's violent and illegal occupation continues into its 38th year. This event will be supporting Palestinian arts, an essential part of any peaceful society. Specifically, this event will benefit a US tour of the Al-Rowwad Children's Theater, whose members are residents of the Aida Refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Theater's aims include " Distract[ing] children from the heavy atmosphere of war and violence surrounding them and engage them in peaceful activities. (See http://www.artistsnetwork.org/news13/news614.html). After a dinner prepared by Oliva Cafe, there will be a showing of feature film Rana's Wedding, the 2003 recipient of Human Rights Watch International Film Festival's Nestor Almendros Prize. ================================== Al-Awda-CT, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, presents: Dinner & A Movie: A CULTURAL EVENING FOR PALESTINE [photo] Members of Al Rowwad Children's Theater from Aida Refugee Camp Please join us for an evening of Palestinian culture! Saturday, December 4 at 6 p.m. First United Methodist Church 24 Old Church Street, Middletown, CT Tickets: $20 per person; $10 students and children under 12 ? Middle Eastern food prepared by New York Times' five-star chef/owner of Oliva Caf?, New Preston ? A screening of the award-winning Palestinian film Rana's Wedding ? Doorprizes, silent auction of Palestinian arts, crafts, and olive oil All proceeds will benefit the U.S. 2005 summer tour of Al Rowwad Children's Theater from Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. Reservations and tickets are available by calling 860-536-4640, 860-824-7636, or by sending a check to Palestine Right to Return Coalition, P.O. Box 1172, Orange, CT 06477-7172. Seating is limited! Please reserve early! Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is a registered charitable and educational nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible. For more information, go to www.al-awda.org. ----------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 4. Handout "Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut". Authored by Calvin L. Nicholson and Ralph A. Ferrucci; 11/29/04 Proposed Two Year Campaign Strategy for the 2006 State and Federal Elections Introduction: To better prepare for the 2006 election and subsequent state and federal elections, the following proposal is presented to organize a two-year effort to prepare for statewide and federal elections. The following proposal consists of three main components: **An Election Committee who oversee the initial selection of candidates and propose the campaign and nomination guidelines for all candidates. **A Fundraising Committee who will be solely focused on raising capital for the State Party. **A Two-Year Guideline for preparing and executing a successful Green Party slate for the 2006 elections. [I.] New Election Committee A. Focus on Statewide and Federal Offices (non-Presidential) B. Composition and Size 1) No greater than 25 2) Chairman and Structure i. 5-7 Greens (1 chair) ii. 7-15 Greens (2 co-chairs) iii. 15+ Greens (3 co-chairs) 3) Chairpersons voted annually by committee C. Committee will decide Preliminary Slate of state and federal candidates for the nominees D. Decide on Primary and Campaign Guidelines, which will exceed state and federal standards. E. Decide on any proposed state level referendums. F. Members cannot belong to any other committee. G. Decide target races for party growth. [II.] New Fundraising Committee A. No more than five Greens, one chairperson. B. Cannot belong to any other committee within the State Party. C. Will submit monthly reports to the State Party. D. Decide Fundraising strategies beyond phone banking and street canvassing. All strategies approved by the State Party. E. Will receive stipend of the funds raised. [III.] Proposed timeline (January 2, 2005 - November 1, 2006) A. 1/15/05 - 11/15/05: Decide statewide platform and referendums for 2006. B. 1/15/05 - 3/15/06: Potential candidates selected for state and federal races. C. Last Saturday of April 2006: State Party Convention. D. 5/1/06 - 10/31/06: Main Campaign Thrust 1. Phase One: i. Ballot Access--May 1, 2006 - June 1, 2006 ii. Voter Registration--May 1, 2006 - October 15, 2006 iii. Community Forums (correlate with local Greens) -- May 1, 2006-August 30, 2006 2. Phase Two: i. Op-ed pieces (in conjunction with media committee) -- August 1, 2006-November 1, 2006 ii. Phone banking -- October 1, 2006-November 1, 2006 E. Election Day -- November 6, 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------- If you have serious disagreements with the accuracy of anything written in these minutes, please contact the secretary, Ed DuBrule, at edubrule at sbcglobal.net or 860-523-4016. If your e-mail or letter is titled "I remember things happened differently" or "I remember that this also occurred", I will treat your e-mail or letter (or a summary of it) as an addendum to these minutes. Such e-mails or letters must be received within 4 weeks of the date of publication of the minutes to the News listserve to be considered addenda. Addenda are published to the News listserve and are considered part of the minutes. They are brought to the following month's SCC meeting (for distribution at the time the minutes are approved/disapproved); they are posted to the CT Green Party website as part of the minutes. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sat Dec 18 20:39:19 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 20:39:19 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT German Greens at 11% Message-ID: <031001c4e56b$8f016070$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> FYI ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Feinstein" To: Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2004 5:32 AM Subject: USGP-INT German Greens at 11% http://www.cpod.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=5340 From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Dec 19 12:22:36 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 12:22:36 -0500 Subject: {news} CTGP ENDORSEMENT? RE: USGP-INT (FYI) Resolution on Haiti from Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Delaware Message-ID: <03ab01c4e5ef$56015990$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Dear CT Greens/ co-chairs, As you'll see below, Ohio Greens are seeking co-sponsorship for an upcoming resolution on Haiti that will be put before the USGP Coordinating Committee in January. The International Committee is likely to endorse also. Please give me imput regarding: 1) IC endorsement; 2) formal co-sponsorship by CTGP. Peace, Justine (International Committee rep.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Affigne & Julia Willebrand" To: Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2004 11:22 AM Subject: USGP-INT (FYI) Resolution on Haiti from Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Delaware > IC Members: > > We are forwarding a follow-up message from Logan Martinez, CC member from > the Green Party of Ohio, with an update on state party co-sponsorship for > a resolution on Haiti. > > As you'll see, the resolution points to the overthrow of Haiti's elected > government by armed insurgents with U.S. backing, expresses solidarity and > sympathy for the Haitian people, and calls for creation of a Green Party > task force on Haiti, perhaps as a subcommittee of the IC. > > To date, we have taken no position on this resolution, but have encouraged > IC members to forward the proposal to their parties for discussion. > > In your view, should we: > > - continue with this approach, or > - take a formal IC position on the resolution? > > The resolution will be presented to the national CC in January, with or > without the IC's endorsement. > > Your thoughts? > > For a Green future, > > Tony Affigne > Green Party of Rhode Island > Julia Willebrand > Green Party of New York > Co-Chairs, International Committee > Green Party of the United States > mailto:intcomm at gp-us.org > http://gp.org/committees/intl > > > ============================================ > > FORWARDED MESSAGE FROM LOGAN MARTINEZ (OHIO) > > Dear Greens, > > The Iowa Green Party and the Green Party of Delaware have voted to become > cosponsors of the Haiti Resolution along with Wisconsin and Ohio. Haiti > needs our solidarity and active support. Please ask your state to become a > cosponsor. I would like the Steering Committee to put the resolution on > our agenda for a January vote. > > Very much thanks to the the Iowa, Delaware and Wisconsin folks for their > support. > > Logan Martinez > Dayton, OH > 937-275-2759 > > > HAITI RESOLUTION > ---------------- > > Sponsors: Green Party of Ohio > Wisconsin Green Party > Iowa Green Party > Green Party of Delaware > > "The Green Party pledges to work for Peace and Freedom for the people of > Haiti. > > "In 1804, 60 years before emancipation of slaves in the US, Haiti's slaves > freed themselves, the only country where slaves were able to do so. Haiti > is the poorest county in the Americas. Last February the elected > government of Haiti of Aristide's Lavallasse Party was overthrown by armed > insurgents backed by the US Government and an undemocratic regime was > inserted. In a wave of violence, over a thousand Haitians have been > murdered. Solidarity is needed now. > > "In August the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne killed over 2000 > people in and around the city of Gonaives. The flooding has left thousands > of people homeless in the north west province surrounding the city. > People are in need of food and other basic supplies. > > "We call on our members and supporters to work in their communities to aid > the people of Haiti both materially and politically. We should establish > of a national task-force on Haiti. (This task-force may be a sub-committee > of the International committee). > > "The Green party has an important role to play working with other groups > building solidarity with Haitian people." > > ---------------- > > > --- > | Sent via usgp-int > | To unsubscribe, please send a message to usgp-int-request at gp-us.org > | with ONLY unsubscribe in the message > --- > From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Dec 20 13:54:25 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 13:54:25 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: New Release: 2004 Federal Budget Year in Review Message-ID: <059f01c4e6c5$53c965b0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Dear All, Read this National Priorities project bulletin and weep. Peace, Justine ----------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Release: 2004 Federal Budget Year in Review National Priorities Project Bulletin - December 20, 2004 The year 2004 saw higher federal budget deficits, escalating costs of the Iraq War coupled with cuts in domestic programs and low job growth. NPP's 2004 Federal Budget Year in Review offers state-level numbers on cuts to state programs and a comprehensive snapshot of this year's federal budget decisions and consequences. Go to www.nationalpriorities.org/yir2004 to read more. Wishing you a healthy and brighter new year. Pamela Schwartz, Outreach Director, and all of us at NPP. ********************************************************************** If you have found our materials useful to you during this year, and would like to help ensure they are freely available to all, please support NPP's work by making a tax-deductible donation. By credit card, go to: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/support/index.html By check, mail it directly to: National Priorities Project, 17 New South Street, Suite 302, Northampton, MA 01060. ----- If you received this email from a colleague and would like to join receive our monthly updates of pressing issues, please email us at pschwartz at nationalpriorities.org to subscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe, please email us at pschwartz at nationalpriorities.org. -- Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Mon Dec 20 23:20:38 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:20:38 -0500 Subject: {news} invitation to run for co-chair, treasurer, secretary, USGP rep/alternate, or help with internal elections Message-ID: <0bf701c4e715$33054790$0595f504@edgn2b574u14bi> The below is from Jean deSmet of the internal elections committee. Please post to chapter listserves. --Ed -------------------------------------- Please notify as many of your chapter members as possible that Elections to State Green Offices will be held in early March. All members are encouraged to run for office. The following one-year positions are available: Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented Two Representatives and one alternate for REPRESENTATIVE to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES One SECRETARY One TREASURER Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the January 25th, 2005 State Central Committee meeting. Please contact: Jean de Smet 39 Davis St. Willimantic, CT 06226 860 456-2188 JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net Please also note that there are openings on the Internal Elections Committee for anyone who would like to participate. We will also need volunteers to count the ballots at the Annual Meeting. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Tue Dec 21 23:29:52 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 23:29:52 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes of 12/15/04 Executive Committee meeting Message-ID: <002001c4e7df$07f0a070$afc2f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Minutes of December 15, 2004 Executive Committee meeting--Hartford office, 6-8:30pm Attending: both current co-chairs (Mike DeRosa, Elizabeth Brancato), treasurer Bob Eaton, secretary Ed DuBrule. Tim McKee (observer). Fundraising letter mailed out 12/2/04. Receipts so far are 3 checks totaling $170, with Chris Reilly reporting that 2 other envelopes have been received at the post office box. The bill received from the mailing bureau exceeds the price quote obtained from them ($855-955). The bill from the mailing bureau is $1,339.68; this includes postage of $447.98 which Bob has already paid. The number of pieces mailed out (2,188) exceeds the number in the quote (2,000). A two-page letter rather than our requested two-sided letter was sent out. 2,700 letters were printed and folded, but only 2,188 sent out. Mike said that the quote didn't include the cost of the paper. Mike will again call the mailing bureau to discuss these issues. Treasurer's report. A check for $258 was received from the national party; the accompanying letter was unclear but apparently a percentage of donations sent to national from CT Greens is returned to the state. The only outstanding obligation at this time is the cost of the mailing. Bob is investigating the bill for the $104 insurance rider mentioned in the treasurer's report presented to the November SCC meeting. Unreimbursed expenditures of Chris Reilly. We will be presenting a proposal to the January 4, 2005 SCC meeting stating that the Executive Committee believes that Chris should be repaid the money he spent for office rent. Audit of CTGP books by Audrey Cole. A meeting of Bob, Chris Reilly, and Audrey had been planned but did not occur. Bob will contact Audrey to try to reschedule such a meeting, or otherwise further the process of getting the audit done. "Thank you candidates"/"Where to we go from here" event. Tim volunteered to help work on putting together an event, perhaps at the Hartford office, where our November elections candidates make short presentations on their campaigns and where our elections strategies can be discussed. Perhaps Calvin Nicholson and Ralph Ferrucci can attend and discussion of their ideas (as presented at the November SCC meeting) can occur. Internal elections. The internal elections commmittee will need to submit a proposal to an SCC meeting authorizing an appropriation of funds. Ed and Tim will meet to sort some remaining bad-address ballots (containing address corrections from the post office) so that these address changes can be given to chapter reps at the January 4 SCC meeting. Tim wondered if a functioning computer could be put in the office so that list work could be done there, perhaps by co-op students. Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut. This document, prepared by Calvin and Ralph, was presented at the November SCC meeting. Today we wondered how their ideas relate to the Action Plan. The document proposes a "New Elections Committee" and a "New Fundraising Committee"; the Action Plan already provides for an Elections Committee and a Fundraising Committee. Ralph and Calvin could join the Elections Committee and the Elections Committee could make proposal(s) on elections strategies to the SCC. Would the mission of the "New Fundraising Committee" be limited to raising funds for statewide/federal elections efforts, rather than the CTGP as a whole? Is the proposed restriction that members of the New Elections Committee and New Fundraising Committee cannot belong to other committees consistent with the Action Plan? SCC agenda. The agenda for the January 4, 2005 SCC meeting was worked out. As usual, it will be published to the News listserve one week before the meeting. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at sbcglobal.net Thu Dec 23 11:27:39 2004 From: timmckee at sbcglobal.net (Tim McKee) Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:27:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} (Torrington Register) Nader Stays on the Attack in Winsted Message-ID: <20041223162739.68602.qmail@web81110.mail.yahoo.com> http://www.registercitizen.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13612861&BRD=1652&PAG=461&dept_id=12530&rfi=6 Nader Stays on the Attack in Winsted RICK KLIMANOWSKI, Register Citizen Staff 12/23/2004 WINSTED -- A two-party system isn?t real democracy, failed independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader said at a fund-raiser in his hometown Wednesday night, and this year, the Democrats were guilty of attempting to protect a process that is "rigged." Nader said Democratic candidate John Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, should have won the election by a landslide. Instead, the Democrats focused on keeping Nader off the ballot in many states. '); } //--> "Their plan was to get Nader-Camejo off the ballot in any way they could," he said. "We won a majority of the Supreme Court cases, but it drained us." Many Democrats blame Nader for Al Gore?s defeat in 2000 against Republican George W. Bush, but Nader said there are many "what ifs" that could be argued, many of which could have possibly changed the outcome. Nader spoke in Winsted -- and will appear again tonight -- to raise money to pay off some of his expenses from the November election campaign. Hundreds of books are on display at 514 Main St., Winsted, and people can contribute $25 for four books, $50 for 10 books or $100 and you can pick up 20 books. All proceeds will benefit Nader?s campaign expenses. Books include subjects on consumer protection, politics, and even children?s titles are available. Signed copies of Nader?s "Crashing the Party" are available for $75. Though Nader and running mate Peter Camejo, a California Green Party activist, only gained about 500,000 votes, Nader said his mission was much larger than the Oval Office. "The whole point is trying to get as many people to see what we are doing so they can do it themselves," Nader told a crowd of about 50 people Wednesday night. Nader said he could reach out to many more people doing it as a presidential candidate than fighting for a seat in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives from Connecticut. After his experience attempting to gain ballot access, Nader is focused on election reform. He?d like to see a uniform system across the 50 states. In Tennessee, for instance, Nader needed only 350 signatures to get on the presidential ballot. However, in North Carolina he needed 130,000 signatures. Calling the system "seriously rigged," Nader also questioned why in a state like Ohio that have areas with large minority populations, the voting stations had people waiting in lines for hours. Areas with large minority populations tend to vote Democrat. However, in areas that are largely Republican, the lines weren?t nearly as long because many more voting stations were available, he said. People can?t wait in line for 13 hours because they have to go to work, Nader said. "We should have a federal standard for federal ballot access," he said. "To try and challenge the two parties is like trying to climb a mountain with a very slippery rope." In addition, Nader is lobbying for public funding of public campaigns and nationwide same-day voter registration. Nader said many good people shy away from politics because it has become "a dirty word." "Good people don?t run for office. We are losing a lot of talent at the state, local and national level," Nader said. "It isn?t that they don?t want to debate. They don?t want to spend a lot of time of the controversy." The fund-raiser continues tonight at 514 Main St., the former Creative Events Art Space. Nader will speak at 7:30 p.m., followed by a question and answer forum. Rick Klimanowski can be reached by e-mail at winsted at registercitizen.com. ?The Register Citizen 2004 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Tue Dec 28 18:47:41 2004 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 18:47:41 -0500 Subject: {news} agenda Jan.4 SCC meeting Message-ID: <000701c4ed37$e72e6c60$24c2f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Agenda--January 4, 2004 SCC meeting Location: Portland Public Library, Wagner Room A. Directions from library's website: Via Route 72 Eastbound from New Britain: At Exit 22, turn on to Route 9 South. ** Turn right at traffic light in Middletown beneath the Arrigoni Bridge. At the traffic light, turn right on to Route 66. Cross bridge to Portland. Turn right at the second traffic light on to Freestone Avenue. Turn left in to Library's drive. Via Route 66 Eastbound from Meriden: After crossing the Arrigoni Bridge, Turn right at the second traffic light on to Freestone Avenue. Turn left in to Library's drive. Via Route 2 Westbound from Norwich: In Colchester, take Route 16 West to Route 66 in Cobalt. After you cross the railroad tracks in Portland, turn right on to Cross Street. Go one block. Turn Left on to Freestone Avenue. The library is three blocks on the right. Via I-91 Southbound from Hartford: In Cromwell, take left exit (22S) on to Route 9. Follow directions from ** above. Via Route 9 Northbound from Old Saybrook: Turn left at traffic light in Middletown beneath the Arrigoni Bridge. At the traffic light, turn right on to Route 66. Cross bridge to Portland. Turn right at the second traffic light on to Freestone Avenue. Turn left in to Library's drive. [from www.portland.lib.ct.us/directions.htm; map at www.portland.lib.ct.us/directionsmap.htm] ---------------------------------------- B. Directions based on a map: If crossing the Arrigoni Bridge across the Connecticut River (coming from Middletown), you end up going north on Main St. (Route 17A) in Portland and you will soon see Route 66/Route 17 on your right. Do not turn right onto Route 66/Route 17; instead go one block further and you'll see Freestone Ave. on your right. The library is on Freestone Ave. Coming west on Route 66 in Portland, you'll come to the intersection of Route 17 with Route 66. As you continue west, you are then travelling on both Routes 66 and Route 17. Keep going on Route 66/Route 17 until you reach Route 17A (Main St.) Take a right onto Route 17A/Main St and go one block; turn right onto Freestone Ave. The library is on Freestone Ave. Facilitator: Tim McKee A. PRELIMINARIES 1. (2 minutes) Introductions/identify chapter reps, recruit stacker and timekeeper 2. (1 minute) Identify people present who are NOT voting reps (information needed by secretary) 3. (1 minute) Adopt groundrules (last page of this agenda) 4. (2 minutes) Approval of tonight's proposed agenda/additions and deletions 5. (2 minutes) Comments/approval of November SCC minutes 6. (5 minutes) Treasurer's report 7. (10 minutes) Guest slot (if a guest is present, he/she will speak here). B. OLD BUSINESS AND PROPOSALS 1. (10 minutes) Bylaws segment "4-1 Chapters" (Appendix 1). Referred to chapters by September SCC meeting (a step in the bylaws revision process). 2. (10 minutes) Bylaws segment "4-2 State Central Committee" (Appendix 2). Referred to chapters by September SCC meeting (a step in the bylaws revision process). 3. (5 minutes) Proposal to become an organizational supporter of abolishing the death penalty in Connecticut (Appendix 3). D. REPORTS 1. Chapter reports (1 minute each) 2. (15 minutes) Elections Committee 3. (10 minutes) Executive Committee 4. (2 minutes) Fundraising Committee 5. (1 minute) Budget Committee 6. (1 minute) Office Committee 7. (5 minutes) Conflict resolution committees 8. (2 minutes) Communications Committee 9. (2 minutes) Diversity Committee 10. (2 minutes) Women's Caucus 11. (2 minutes) Bylaws, Rules, Policies, and Procedures Committee 12. (2 minutes) IT (Information Technology) Committee 13. (2 minutes) Voters' Rights Working Group 14. (5 minutes) Report from US Green Party representatives 15. (1 minute) VOTER E. DISCUSSION 1. (10 minutes) Planning/strategizing session for the state party in January. (Agenda item from Tom Sevigny, Andy Derr, Lindsay Mathews, Bob Eaton, Colin Bennett, and Kaye Ward.) F. ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 1 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures) [Submitted by New London chapter per e-mail of 9/13/04 from Andy.] 4-1. CHAPTERS 4-1-A. A local chapter shall consist of Green Party members from towns and municipalities within a contiguous geographic region. No chapter shall be larger than a County and none smaller than a single town with the exception of Campus Green organizations. 4-1-B. A local chapter may petition for affiliation with the State Central Committee upon having at least three meetings with five or more Green Party members in attendance at each of the three meetings. 4-1-C. A chapter may be declared inactive by a majority vote of the State Central Committee (SCC) if it has not met within the past three months. A chapter will automatically be declared inactive if it has not sent chapter representatives to the State Central Committee meeting for three months in a row. Inactive status will begin as of the third meeting. 4-1-D. The State Central Committee may vote to revoke a chapter's affiliation with the CTGP if that chapter has not met within the past 6 months. 4-1-E. An inactive chapter will be declared active again if it hold two consecutive monthly meetings monthly meetings with at least five members present and sends representatives to two successive state meetings. 4-1-F. Chapters that have had their affiliation revoked must re-petition the State Central Committee for affiliation once the requirements detailed in 4.1.B are met. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 2 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP Committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures). [From e-mail received from Tom 7/26/04; revised per 9/13/04 e-mail from Andy.] 4-2 STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 4-2-A. The State Central Committee (SCC) shall be the final decision making body of the Green Party of Connecticut, and shall consist of democratically elected representatives from each affiliated local chapter. 4-2-B. Local chapters of the CTGP shall be represented at State Central Committee meetings accordingly : Each chapter is entitled to two voting representatives, and is also entitled to an additional representative for each 100 registered Greens residing in the chapter. Voter lists from an appropriate authority (either a town clerk or the Secretary of State) will be the final source in determining the count of a chapter's membership. If these are not obtainable the chapter shall be entitled to two voting representatives. 4-2-C. Caucuses for under-represented groups shall be entitled to one voting representative on the State Central Committee. Under-represented groups are defined as any grouping of Greens that has historically failed to gain adequate access to power in society at-large (i.e., women, African-Americans, youth, etc.). Caucuses shall be established by the State Central Committee. An individual attending an SCC meeting may cast multiple votes--one vote as a chapter representative and one as a caucus representative. 4-2-D. Representatives to the State Central Committee are responsible for disseminating information to their respective local chapters. They are also responsible for following the mandates of the local chapters they represent. 4-2-E. The modified consensus process will be used at State Central Committee meetings. In the event consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken with a simple majority being needed for passage of the proposal. Changes to the bylaws need a 66% majority for passage. 4-2-F. Quorum shall be required for votes taken at the State Central Committee meeting. Quorum shall be defined as representation (by at least one voting representative) of at least two-thirds of all active CTGP chapters, excepting Campus Green chapters and inactive chapters. 4-2-G. Chapters shall elect their representatives to the SCC once a year. Representatives shall be eligible for re-election. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 3. Death penalty proposal. Green Party Meeting Proposal Form PRESENTER: Fairfield County chapter (as voted at chapter meeting 12/14/04); Northwest chapter CONTACT: David Bedell, dbedellgreen at hotmail.com, 203-594-9013 SUBJECT: Become an Organizational Supporter of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Connecticut BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: On January 26, 2005, CT plans to execute serial murderer Michael Ross. This will be the first execution in CT and all of New England since 1960. Of the six New England states, only Connecticut and New Hampshire have the death penalty. New Hampshire has nobody on death row and has not executed anyone since 1939. Rhode Island has not put anyone to death since 1845; in Maine it's been since 1885; in Massachusetts, 1947; and Vermont, 1954. Michael Ross is one of 8 or 9 men on CT's death row. The CT Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP) is seeking organizational partners. The New Haven Green Party and the Fairfield County Green Party have already signed on. This requires no financial support, but the affirmation of a resolution stating several "WHEREAS" clauses (arguments against the death penalty) followed by: "THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that our organization calls upon the Connecticut General Assembly to abolish the death penalty." Resolution and signup form: http://www.dontkillinmynamect.org/orgsignup.asp List of network partners: http://www.dontkillinmynamect.org/cnadp.htm The USGP Platform, section H-18, calls for legislation to abolish the death penalty. http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/socjustice.html#1001998 ------------------------------------------------------------- [page 5 is ground rules] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Tue Dec 28 21:57:46 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:57:46 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: 55, 000 Dead...Money for human needs, not for war... Message-ID: <003f01c4ed52$306a4ab0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> A Statement from the International Action Center While earthquakes and tsunamis are natural disasters, the decision to spend billions of dollars on wars of conquest while ignoring simple measures that can save human lives is not. At least 55,000 people were killed by the tsunami that devastated coastlines from Indonesia to Somalia. Almost a third of the dead are children. Thousands are still missing and millions are homeless in 11 countries. Hundreds of thousands have lost everything, and millions face a bleak future because of polluted drinking water, a lack of sanitation and no health services, according to UN undersecretary Jan Egeland, who is in charge of emergency relief coordination. Egeland said, "We cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages and so on that have just been wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone." No money for early warning system Much of this death and destruction could have been prevented with a simple and inexpensive system of buoys. Officials in Thailand and Indonesia have said that an immediate public warning could have saved lives, but that they could not know of the danger because there is no international system in place to track tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Such a system is not difficult or expensive to install. In fact, the detector buoys that monitor tsunamis have been available for decades and the U.S. has had a monitoring system in place for more than half a century. More than 50 seismometers are scattered across the Northwest to detect and measure earthquakes that might spawn tsunamis. In the middle of the Pacific are six buoys equipped with sensors called "tsunameters" that measure small changes in water pressure and programmed to automatically alert the country's two tsunami-warning centers in Hawaii and Alaska. Dr. Eddie Bernard, director of the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, says just a few buoys could do the job. Scientists wanted to place two more tsunami meters in the Indian Ocean, including one near Indonesia, but the plan had not been funded, said Bernard. The tsunameters each cost only $250,000. A mere half million dollars could have provided an early warning system that could have saved thousands of lives. This should be compared to the $1,500,000,000 the U.S. spends every day to fund the Pentagon war machine. This means that for what the U.S. is spending for less than one second of bombing and destruction it could construct a system that could have prevented thousands of needless deaths. Lack of funding for an inexpensive, low-tech early warning system is simply criminal negligence. Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said, "If the country had such an alert system in place, we could have warned the coastal areas of the imminent danger and avoided the loss of life." But there is no room in the Bush budget for such life-saving measures; the U.S. government's priorities are corporate profit and endless war. At a meeting of the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in June, experts concluded that the "Indian Ocean has a significant threat from both local and distant tsunamis" and should have a warning network. But no action was agreed upon. Geologist Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey said, "Sumatra has an ample history of great earthquakes, which makes the lack of a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean all the more tragic. Everyone knew Sumatra was a loaded gun." U.S. government failed to warn region Although the local governments had no real warning, the U.S. government did, and it failed to pass along the information. Within minutes of the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, U.S. scientists working with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suspected that a deadly wave was spreading through the Indian Ocean. They did not call anyone in the governments in the area. Jeff LaDouce, an official in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that they e-mailed Indonesian officials, but said that he wasn't aware what happened after they sent the e-mails. In this day of instant communications, controlled in a large part by the U.S., it is possible to communicate within minutes to every part of the globe. It is beyond belief that the officials at the NOAA could not find any method to directly and immediately contact civilian authorities in the area. Their decision not to do so may have cost thousands of lives. Even a few minutes warning would have given the inhabitants a chance to seek higher ground. The NOAA had several hours notice before the first waves hit shore. Tim Walsh, geologic-hazards program manager for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, said, "Fifty feet of elevation would be enough to escape the worst of the waves. In most places, 25 feet would be sufficient. If you go uphill or inland, the effect of the tsunami will be diminished." But the inhabitants of the area weren't given the warning - as a result, television and radio alerts were not issued in Thailand until nearly an hour after the waves had hit and thousands were already dead. The failure to make any real effort to warn the people of the region, knowing that tens of thousands of lives were at stake, is part of a pattern of imperial contempt and racism that has become the cornerstone of U.S. policies worldwide. The NOAA immediately warned the U.S. Naval Station at Diego Garcia, which suffered very little damage from the tsunami. It is telling that the NOAA was able to get the warning to the US Navy base in the area, but wouldn't pick up the phone and call the civil authorities in the region to warn them. They made sure that a US military base was notified and did almost nothing to issue a warning to the civilian inhabitants who were in the direct path of the wave--a warning that might have saved thousands of lives. This is criminal negligence. Disease may kill tens of thousands more The 55,000 deaths directly resulting from the tsunami are just the beginning of the tragedy. Disease could claim as many victims as have been killed in the weekend's earthquake-sparked tsunami, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Medical experts warn that malaria, cholera and dengue fever are expected to pose serious health threats to survivors in the area, where waves spoiled drinking-water supplies, polluted streets and homes with raw sewage, swept away medical clinics, ruined food stocks and left acres of stagnant ponds where malaria-carrying mosquitoes can breed. "The biggest threat to survivors is from the spread of infection through contamination of drinking water and putrefying bodies left by the receding waters," said Jamie McGoldrick, a senior U.N. health official. "Within a few days, we fear, there is going to be outbreaks of disease," Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said. "Cholera is going to be a problem. This is going to be the most important thing in a few days." The response of the U.S. government to this emergency is to offer a paltry $15 million "aid package." To put this in perspective, this is one tenth of one percent of what Washington has spent thus far on the war against the people of Iraq. Money for human needs, not for war The U.S. and British governments owe billions of dollars in reparations to the countries of this region and to all other formerly colonized countries. The poverty and lack of infrastructure that contribute to and exacerbate the scope of this disaster are the direct result of colonial rule and neo-colonial policies. Although economic and political policies cannot control the weather, they can determine how a nation is impacted by natural disasters. We must hold the U.S. government accountable for their role in tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of deaths. We must demand that it stop spending $1.5 billion each day for war and occupation and instead provide health care for the victims of this tragedy, build an early warning system, and rebuild the homes and infrastructure destroyed by the tsunami. Sara Flounders Dustin Langley for the International Action Center The International Action Center http://www.iacenter.org mail to:iacenter at iacenter.org _______________________________________________ Anyone can subscribe to the International Action Center's activist announcement list. Send an email request to ActionCenter.actgen-subscribe at organizerweb.com To unsubscribe ActionCenter.actgen-unsubscribe at organizerweb.com Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/actioncenter.actgen ================================================================= Support Al-Awda's Upcoming Third Annual International Convention in Los Angeles http://www.al-awdacal.org/alert-supp_conv.html ================================================================= Save the Dates - Al-Awda's Third International Convention: Empowering the Palestine Right to Return Movement, 15 - 17 April 2005, Los Angeles, California. Check for details at http://al-awdacal.org ================================================================= Al-Awda's Website: http://www.al-awda.org ================================================================= Contact your representatives and elected officials: use http://congress.cfl-online.org/ ================================================================= Unless indicated otherwise, all statements posted represent the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. ================================================================= Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Media/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Al-Awda-Media-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Wed Dec 29 11:23:18 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:23:18 -0500 Subject: {news} Workshop at Wisdom House in February Message-ID: <011e01c4edc2$b5113a60$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> FYI: Reggie Marra is a local green supporter and peace activist. Justine ----- Original Message ----- Toward an Integral Perspective Balancing and Deepening Self and Culture A Weekend Exploration with Reggie Marra February 4-6, 2005 Wisdom House 229 East Litchfield Road Litchfield, CT 06759-3002 Toward an Integral Perspective is an opportunity to broaden and deepen the lens through which we view ourselves, others, and the world at large. The framework within which we'll do this is what Ken Wilber has called an "all-quadrant, all-level, all-line, all-state, all-type" or AQAL approach-by any other name, "integral." Together, we'll explore the contemporary manifestations of decades of research and centuries of wisdom through both dialogue and multi-media presentations. We'll sit in council, meditate, and take a balanced look at the "dignities and disasters" of our respective intentions, worldviews and behaviors. We'll discover the value of an integral perspective applied to our personal and professional lives, as well as to the rest of the planet-and beyond. Ultimately our work together will encourage us, and provide insights and strategies, to attain health and balance wherever we find ourselves, and, for those so inclined, insight and strategies for ongoing transformation. What You'll Need: openness, courage and a sense of humor. While familiarity with Ken Wilber's work is not required, if you'd like to read his overview of "integral" visit www.integralinstitute.org/approach.htm, or, if you have the time, peruse A Theory of Everything (Shambhala, 2000). For an overview of Don Beck's work with emerging values, visit www.wie.org, search "magazine" for "Spiral Dynamics," and click on "Dr. Don Beck: The Never-Ending Upward Quest." Nuts and Bolts Location: Wisdom House is a peaceful retreat and conference center nestled in the hills of northwestern Connecticut. If you have questions about accommodations, meals or directions, please contact Wisdom House directly or explore their website: www.wisdomhouse.org Email: info at wisdomhouse.org Phone: 1-860-567-3163. Ask for Bonnie. Cost: $275.00, includes workshop fee, shared room (2-3 beds) and shared bath; 5 meals (breakfast and lunch, Saturday and Sunday; dinner on Saturday), and coffee service. Optional Housing and Costs: Commuter (includes 5 meals, as above): $188.00 Private bed/shared bath: $314.00 Private bed with bath: $344.00 Schedule (subject to change): Friday February 4: 7:00 - 7:30 PM Arrival and Registration 7:30 - 10:30 PM Welcome & Opening Session Saturday February 5: 7:00 - 7:45 AM Gentle Stretching and Meditation 8:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 11:45 Morning Session (with break) 12:00 PM Lunch 1:15 - 5:00 Afternoon Session (with break) 5:30 Dinner 7:30 - 10:30 Evening Session (with break) Sunday February 6: 7:00 - 7:45 AM Gentle Stretching and Meditation 8:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 11:45 Closing Session 12:00 Lunch 1:00 PM Check-Out How to Register Please email, call or write Integral Journeys for a registration form, or visit http://www.integraljourneys.com/registration_feb4_2005.html, complete the online form, print, and send it, along with your payment, payable to Integral Journeys, to: Integral Journeys 15 Orchard Heights New Milford, CT 06776-3018 reggie at integraljourneys.com 1-860-354-9186 Full payment is due by Friday January 21. Enrollment is limited to 20 Your full payment with registration is very helpful, but you may reserve your space by sending a $50.00 non-refundable deposit, with the balance due by January 21. Cancellation: Registrations cancelled prior to January 28 will be refunded less $50.00. Those cancelled on or after January 28 will not be refunded due to our reservation commitments with Wisdom House. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IPbrochure.Wisdom House.doc Type: application/msword Size: 36864 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nectgreens at hotmail.com Thu Dec 30 21:29:49 2004 From: nectgreens at hotmail.com (NECT Greens) Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:29:49 +0000 Subject: {news} Demand a Recount! Message-ID: (Please print, post, and forward as widely as possible.) On January 6, 2005, the House and Senate will once again meet to consider the electoral vote count. And once again, that vote count is likely to be challenged by a group of progressive House members, who will make the case that the mis-allocation of voting machines (especially in Ohio), the abuse of provisional balloting in numerous states, and the refusal and/or inability to conduct the recount in an open and auditable manner in Ohio, in Florida, and in so many other key states, mean that the certified electors should not be seated. Tim Carpenter of the Progressive Democrats for America, stated: "We all remember that early scene from Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911", where one African American after another stands up in the well of the House to challenge the Florida vote from 2000, only to be ruled out of order due to the lack of a single signature from a single Senator. Not this time. * Urge Your Senator to Contest The Vote -- On January 6, 2005, the House and Senate will meet to consider the electoral vote count. Progressive members of the House Representatives will challenge the vote count based on the voting irregularities and recount efforts still underway. Urge your Senator to stand with the Representatives to avoid a repeat of the 2000 silence from the Senate. This action also targets potential Senators who are allies on this cause. >From recent postings, a lot of Senators are concerned, but afraid to act. They need lots of phone calls in the next few days. There will be a caucus on Tuesday, so please call before that, if possible. Don't be fooled into inaction by the lack of media coverage. There's a lot going on. Check www.votecobb.org for up-to-date info. Take action by calling your Senators! Senator Chris Dodd 1-800-334-5341 1-202-224-2823 Senator Joe Lieberman 1-800-225-5605 1-202-224-4041 From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Dec 30 23:53:33 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:53:33 -0500 Subject: {news} Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies Message-ID: <021e01c4eef4$aeebdae0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> "The Green Party and David Cobb, as has been true all along, will be centrally involved in this process, . . ." Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies By William Rivers Pitt t r u t h o u t | Report Thursday 30 December 2004 Representative John Conyers, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will object to the counting of the Ohio Electors from the 2004 Presidential election when Congress convenes to ratify those votes on January 6th. In a letter dispatched to every Senator, which will be officially published by his office shortly, Conyers declares that he will be joined in this by several other members of the House. Rep. Conyers is taking this dramatic step because he believes the allegations and evidence of election tampering and fraud render the current slate of Ohio Electors illegitimate. "As you know," writes Rep. Conyers in his letter, "on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law." The letter goes on to ask the Senators who receive this letter to join Conyers in objecting to the Ohio Electors. "I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort," writes Conyers, "to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election." There are expected to be high level meetings with high ranking Democratic officials next week to coordinate a concerted lobbying effort to convince Senators to challenge the vote. The Green Party and David Cobb, as has been true all along, will be centrally involved in this process, as will Rev. Jesse Jackson. The remainder of the Conyers letter reads: 3 U.S.C. ?15 provides when the results from each of the states are announced, that "the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any." Any objection must be presented in writing and "signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received." The objection must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof." When an objection has been properly made in writing and endorsed by a member of each body the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body meets separately to consider the objection. "No votes...from any other State shall be acted upon until the (pending) objection...(is) finally disposed of." 3 U.S.C. ?17 limits debate on the objections in each body to two hours, during which time no member may speak more than once and not for more than five minutes. Both the Senate and the House must separately agree to the objection; otherwise, the challenged vote or votes are counted. Historically, there appears to be three general grounds for objecting to the counting of electoral votes. The language of 3 U.S.C. ?15 suggests that objection may be made on the grounds that (1) a vote was not "regularly given" by the challenged elector(s); and/or (2) the elector(s) was not "lawfully certified" under state law; or (3) two slates of electors have been presented to Congress from the same State. Since the Electoral Count Act of 1887, no objection meeting the requirements of the Act have been made against an entire slate of state electors. In the 2000 election several Members of the House of Representatives attempted to challenge the electoral votes from the State of Florida. However, no Senator joined in the objection, and therefore, the objection was not "received." In addition, there was no determination whether the objection constituted an appropriate basis under the 1887 Act. However, if a State - in this case Ohio - has not followed its own procedures and met its obligation to conduct a free and fair election, a valid objection -if endorsed by at least one Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives- should be debated by each body separately until "disposed of". A key legal aspect of this is the second clause referenced in the letter. Rep. Conyers and the other House members involved do not believe the electors have been lawfully certified. They believe that there has been too much illegal activity on the part of Blackwell, other election officials, and Republican operatives on the ground and therefore, as stated in the letter, the electors were not "lawfully certified" under state law. Next week, the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff will release the report referenced in the letter, which is now still in draft form, and which led Mr. Conyers to this decision. The Senators who shall receive the greatest focus from Conyers in this matter are Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden and Obama. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and international bestseller of two books - 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence.' ------- ? Copyright 2004 by TruthOut.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Dec 31 10:30:25 2004 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 10:30:25 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Re: Int'l Committee: Software patents in Europe Message-ID: <02bd01c4ef4d$a689de70$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Dear CT Greens, FYI--Please comment on this proposal to the International Committee from Maryland Green Steve Kramer. Any opposition to supporting his suggestions? Peace to you all, Justine ----- Original Message ----- From: bahram To: Steve Kramer ; bahram at greens.org ; gerardgiblin at yahoo.com Cc: secretary at gpus.org ; gwenwages at earthlink.net ; usgp-int at gp-us.org Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 11:15 PM Subject: USGP-INT Re: Int'l Committee: Software patents in Europe Steve, Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I am forwarding it to the International Committee for comments. Regards, bahram Steve Kramer wrote: Bahram and Gerard, Happy New Year! Hope this finds you well. As Maryland's representatives on the International Committee, I wanted to raise something to your attention that we may wish to act on. You may be aware of the controversy over software patenting (Bahram especially, as he is a professional in the IT field). This allows the patenting of what are technically and realistically *ideas* rather than *devices*. It would be as if Haydn, for example, had patented the idea of a "symphony"; thus, anyone else who wished to write one would have to pay Haydn or be out of luck. This is a patently (pardon the pun) anti-Green idea, directly contrary to the Key Value of Community-based Economics - essentially a sell-out to the large, controlling software giants over the individual innovator. The fight has long since been lost in the U.S.; software patenting has been a reality for years, and correspondingly, the stifled software industry is becoming dominated by a few megacorporate programming houses who have produced fewer software projects, and whose labor practices are questionable to say the least, with labor classifications and mandatory overtime being employed to bilk workers, and skirt around labor laws. Calls for unionization in the software industry have brought the inevitable backlashes by management. The European Union recently faced exactly this dilemma in allowing companies to patent software in the EU. Prominent European software designers, such as Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, dissented, noting the chilling effect on the industry here in the U.S. However, the ministers of the EU were prepared to forge ahead, without heeding the grassroots. At the last minute, however, there was a dissenting voice. Poland's Undersecretary of State for Science and Information Technology, Wlodzimierz Marcinski, spoke out at the EU Council meeting, and announced his country would block the resolution. The grateful European software programmers have responded by establishing a Web site, http://thankpoland.info, in which they thank Mr. Marcinski for his cogent and brave act of public service. The Web site has gathered over 25,000 signatures. I believe it would be a fitting gesture for the GPUS to also send a letter to the Polish government, thanking the Undersecretary for his act - perhaps at the same time, sending a carbon-copy to the appropriate Undersecretary of Commerce, restating the propriety of Mr. Marcinski's objections, and asking that the United States consider Poland's example and make significant changes in software patents and other areas of intellectual property law, to recognize our shared "cultural commons" and prevent a handful of moneyed corporations from controlling our very ideas. (Perhaps we could further phrase it to the Commerce Department as, "You forgot Poland." :-) I would appreciate it if you would consider this matter in the International Committee. I've cc'd Greg Gerritt and Gwen Wages on this letter, as they are the Steering Committee members responsible for the portfolio that includes the International Committee. Here are a few Web sites you may wish to visit for more information about the software patenting controversy: http://thankpoland.info http://www.eurolinux.org http://www.evolt.org/article/European_Union_Just_say_no_to_ePATENTS/25/2249/ http://www.freepatents.org Thank you! -- Steve Kramer || scooter (at) guisarme dot net || _____________________ =================================================== | __/^\__ ,-^,| "Nope. Nope, I've been here before. |/~ \_ { / | I'm going on an adventure. We're going \/\ |! | the *other* way." / / ) |___ (_ \ \ / Abby Kramer, age 6 ~v^ ?_,-' -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Fri Dec 31 12:17:09 2004 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 12:17:09 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [usgp-media] Conyers to challenge election...one Senator needed (800 numbers to call) Message-ID: <003301c4ef5c$8fe0ca80$dd8f0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Allen" To: Cc: Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 4:49 PM Subject: [usgp-media] Conyers to challenge election...one Senator needed (800 numbers to call) Numbers to call Senators - especially Senator Robert Byrd 1-800-839-5276 1-877-762-8762 Letter from Congressman Conyers to US Senators Calling for Congressional Debate on 2004 Elections December 30, 2004 Dear Senator Boxer (sent to all US Senators), As you know, on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress, commencing at 1:00 P.M. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law. I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election. 3 U.S.C. ?15 provides when the results from each of the states are announced, that "the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any." Any objection must be presented in writing and "signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received."1. The objection must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof."2 When an objection has been properly made in writing and endorsed by a member of each body the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body meets separately to consider the objection. "No votes . . . from any other State shall be acted upon until the [pending] objection . . . [is] finally disposed of."3 3 U.S.C. ?17 limits debate on the objections in each body to two hours, during which time no member may speak more than once and not for more than five minutes. Both the Senate and the House must separately agree to the objection; otherwise, the challenged vote or votes are counted.4 Historically, there appears to be three general grounds for objecting to the counting of electoral votes. The language of 3 U.S.C. ?15 suggests that objection may be made on the grounds that (1) a vote was not "regularly given" by the challenged elector(s); and/or (2) the elector(s) was not "lawfully certified" under state law; or (3) two slates of electors have been presented to Congress from the same State. Since the Electoral Count Act of 1887, no objection meeting the requirements of the Act have been made against an entire slate of state electors.5 In the 2000 election several Members of the House of Representatives attempted to challenge the electoral votes from the State of Florida. However, no Senator joined in the objection, and therefore, the objection was not "received." In addition, there was no determination whether the objection constituted an appropriate basis under the 1887 Act. However, if a State - in this case Ohio - has not followed its own procedures and met its obligation to conduct a free and fair election, a valid objection -if endorsed by at least one Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives- should be debated by each body separately until "disposed of". Please contact me at 225-5126 to appraise me of your thoughts on this important matter. If your staff has questions, that may be forwarded to Perry Apelbaum or Ted Kalo of my Judiciary Committee staff at 225-6504. Thank you. Sincerely, John Conyers, Jr. _______________________________________________ usgp-media mailing list usgp-media at lists.gp-us.org http://lists.gp-us.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-media