From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Jan 1 23:43:27 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 23:43:27 -0500 Subject: {news} letter to senators about 2004 presidential elections--endorsement possible agenda item at January 4 SCC meeting Message-ID: <002801c4f085$c5ffaa80$bebff504@edgn2b574u14bi> To SCC reps: Below find --a letter to several senators concerning the November 2004 presidential elections --an e-mail concerning the possibility of the CTGP endorsing this letter (this question may be added to the agenda of the January 4 SCC meeting) --information about Congressman John Conyer's efforts on this matter Congress is to consider this matter on January 6 and our SCC meeting is January 4. --Ed DuBrule ----------------------------------- Coalition Against Election Fraud of Massachusetts c/o Truth in Elections 49 Francesca Ave., Somerville, MA 02144 617-625-3166 econhmnrts at aol.com December 19, 2004 Dear Senators Boxer, Byrd, Dayton, Harkin, Jeffords, Kennedy, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Obama, Snow and Schumer: The ideal of one person, one vote and that everyone's vote is counted has been deeply cherished in the United States of America since the Anti-Slavery Movement, the Women's Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Movement and the expansion of voting to young people. The 2000 and 2004 presidential elections have made it clear that this precious cornerstone of American democracy has been destroyed. We the undersigned, respectfully request that you take action as a Senator to recognize that the November 2, 2004 presidential election was fraught with voting violations, misconduct of some highly placed election officials, tampering, voter suppression, interference targeted at communities of people of color, students, and low-income people - all of which has raised suspicions in many minds that this was not a free, fair and honest election. Given the widespread use of electronic voting machines, which are especially liable to malfunction and fraud and leave no trace of how they work nor what data they receive, it is not possible to perform recounts in many states. Hundreds of stories on malfunctions of electronic voting machines and central tabulation machines are appearing in regional news media. Papers and sworn testimonies by experts state that the chances of the exit polls giving such divergent results from the official tallies are almost a statistical impossibility. Nor is it statistically conceivable that practically all the reported malfunctions and errors would give the advantage to the same candidate. Furthermore, statistical analysis reveals that even the popular vote victory may turn out to be false. To preserve democracy in the United States of America, we ask that you be open to the concerns of large numbers of Americans. Almost 57,000 complaints have thus far been filed about this election process. Recounts are being demanded in several states. In the critical states of Ohio and Florida, hard evidence of improprieties is accumulating daily, almost always in the same direction and substantial enough to be outcome-determinative. In Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who is avowedly partisan as the Co-Chair for the Bush/Cheney campaign, has used his official powers illegally to hinder the recount process in Ohio in many ways. He has also refused to cooperate with the Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in its hearing headed by Representative Conyers. One example of many equally egregious problems in the Ohio election was a severe shortage of voting machines in precincts of people of color and students at colleges, leading to waits of up to 10 hours for voters to cast their ballot. We call on you to review the evidence. We are asking you to be our voice. We think this is crucial for the future of democracy and this country and we hope you will respond to our plea. We are keenly aware that no Senator was willing to stand with the Representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus in their challenge to the presidential election of 2000. In 2004 the evidence of fraud is systemic, stronger, more widespread and believed by millions of Americans. We urge you to be courageous by taking leadership and refusing to certify the results of the presidential election of 2004. We also urge you to voice open support for any formal objections from the House of Representatives and to sign with them if any House members challenge the 2004 presidential election. Sheila Parks Deirdre Doran Ellen Stone Dinah Starr Maureen Carey Janet Poole Simone Charpentier Alice Carter Diane Lopez Dotty Gaydosh Suzanne Belote Shanley Brayton Shanley ----------------------------------- e-mail received 12/29/04: Dear Connecticut Greens, I am writing to ask whether it is possible for the Green Party of CT to endorse the attached letter to US Senators, asking them to refuse certification of the November 2nd vote. This letter was drafted by the recently formed Coalition Against Election Fraud (www.caef.us). We hope to meet with Senator Kennedy this week, and it would be great if we can take a list of endorsing groups. As you are aware, the Green Party and Green Presidential candidate David Cobb are playing a vital role in the Ohio recount and other efforts to expose election fraud and systemic voting violations. If we can get an objection to the certification of the vote from any state (requiring a Senator to join House Democrats), then there will be up to two hours of debate in both houses on voting violations and we can finally break the media silence. Many thanks, Eli Beckerman Somerville, MA www.caef.us -------------------------------------------------- Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS http://www.ctgreens.org/ - http://www.greenpartyus.org/ to unsubscribe click here mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org ----- 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. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From embrancato at netzero.com Mon Jan 3 17:18:02 2005 From: embrancato at netzero.com (Elizabeth M. Brancato) Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:18:02 -0500 Subject: {news} [Fwd: JANUARY 10 FORUM featuring JOHN PERKINS] Message-ID: <41D9C49A.3090401@netzero.com> */PLEASE ATTEND & HELP US TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT OUR UPCOMING FORUM/* */* * */* */West Hartford/**/ Citizens for Peace and Justice/* Town Hall Forum *Confessions of An Economic Hit Man* /An inside operator?s account of how the US government?s secret acts of economic manipulation, bribery and sabotage affect developing countries and its terrifying methods of final resort./ *Monday* *January 10, 2005*** *7:00 PM*** / / West Hartford Town Hall *50 South Main Street**, 3^rd Floor* *Introduction by **West Hartford** Mayor**,** **Scott Slifka*** * * *Featuring:** **John Perkins**, **best-selling author of*** _Confessions of an Economic Hit Man_ */Free and Open to the Public/* _ _ _ _ _For more information: 860 231-7428 or 860 561-2263_ * * *Co-Sponsors include: *The West Hartford Public Library, American Friends Service Committee. Connecticut Coalition for Peace and Justice, PaxEducare, The Bookworm. ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. The Main Message from West Hartford Peace & Justice is below the advertising in this email: Our favorite sites: Best Alternative News, daily 1-hour TV and Radio show - see it online: http://www.democracynow.org The most effective national organizing sites for progressives: http://www.moveon.org and http://www.moveonpac.org (for election material) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Yahoo! Groups Links* * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/whcpj/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: whcpj-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Tue Jan 4 00:05:32 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:05:32 -0500 Subject: {news} re-post: agenda for Jan. 4 SCC meeting, including locatiion (Portland Public Library) Message-ID: <069d01c4f21e$04a96ed0$9b34f704@edgn2b574u14bi> I posted this agenda (including the location of the meeting--Portland Public Library) to the News listserve last week. I post the agenda one week before each SCC meeting. Tonight I learned that two SCC reps had called Mike DeRosa asking where the meeting was. Perhaps there was a problem with the News listserve, so I am reposting this agenda, unchanged, tonight. NOTE: at one point in the past I used to send the SCC agendas to the announcements listserve (which no longer exists), the ctgp at lists.riseup.net listserve, and my list of chapter reps. Many months ago I announced that I would only be posting the SCC agenda to the News listserve, and I asked that all SCC reps join the News listserve. I hope to see you Tuesday evening. --Ed --------------------------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------ ground rules as last page -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Tue Jan 4 00:06:44 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:06:44 -0500 Subject: {news} CTGP Executive Committee endorses letter to US senators asking them to refuse certification of the November 2 presidential vote Message-ID: <06a001c4f21e$19814760$9b34f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Per action of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Green Party, the Connecticut Green Party has endorsed the letter to the senators below. I have notified Eli Beckerman of this decision. --Ed DuBrule, CTGP secretary --------------------------------- Below find --a letter to several senators concerning the November 2004 presidential elections --an e-mail from Eli Beckerman requesting that the CTGP endorse this letter --information about Congressman John Conyer's efforts on this matter Congress is to consider this matter on January 6. ----------------------------------- Coalition Against Election Fraud of Massachusetts c/o Truth in Elections 49 Francesca Ave., Somerville, MA 02144 617-625-3166 econhmnrts at aol.com December 19, 2004 Dear Senators Boxer, Byrd, Dayton, Harkin, Jeffords, Kennedy, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Obama, Snow and Schumer: The ideal of one person, one vote and that everyone's vote is counted has been deeply cherished in the United States of America since the Anti-Slavery Movement, the Women's Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Movement and the expansion of voting to young people. The 2000 and 2004 presidential elections have made it clear that this precious cornerstone of American democracy has been destroyed. We the undersigned, respectfully request that you take action as a Senator to recognize that the November 2, 2004 presidential election was fraught with voting violations, misconduct of some highly placed election officials, tampering, voter suppression, interference targeted at communities of people of color, students, and low-income people - all of which has raised suspicions in many minds that this was not a free, fair and honest election. Given the widespread use of electronic voting machines, which are especially liable to malfunction and fraud and leave no trace of how they work nor what data they receive, it is not possible to perform recounts in many states. Hundreds of stories on malfunctions of electronic voting machines and central tabulation machines are appearing in regional news media. Papers and sworn testimonies by experts state that the chances of the exit polls giving such divergent results from the official tallies are almost a statistical impossibility. Nor is it statistically conceivable that practically all the reported malfunctions and errors would give the advantage to the same candidate. Furthermore, statistical analysis reveals that even the popular vote victory may turn out to be false. To preserve democracy in the United States of America, we ask that you be open to the concerns of large numbers of Americans. Almost 57,000 complaints have thus far been filed about this election process. Recounts are being demanded in several states. In the critical states of Ohio and Florida, hard evidence of improprieties is accumulating daily, almost always in the same direction and substantial enough to be outcome-determinative. In Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who is avowedly partisan as the Co-Chair for the Bush/Cheney campaign, has used his official powers illegally to hinder the recount process in Ohio in many ways. He has also refused to cooperate with the Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in its hearing headed by Representative Conyers. One example of many equally egregious problems in the Ohio election was a severe shortage of voting machines in precincts of people of color and students at colleges, leading to waits of up to 10 hours for voters to cast their ballot. We call on you to review the evidence. We are asking you to be our voice. We think this is crucial for the future of democracy and this country and we hope you will respond to our plea. We are keenly aware that no Senator was willing to stand with the Representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus in their challenge to the presidential election of 2000. In 2004 the evidence of fraud is systemic, stronger, more widespread and believed by millions of Americans. We urge you to be courageous by taking leadership and refusing to certify the results of the presidential election of 2004. We also urge you to voice open support for any formal objections from the House of Representatives and to sign with them if any House members challenge the 2004 presidential election. Sheila Parks Deirdre Doran Ellen Stone Dinah Starr Maureen Carey Janet Poole Simone Charpentier Alice Carter Diane Lopez Dotty Gaydosh Suzanne Belote Shanley Brayton Shanley ----------------------------------- e-mail received 12/29/04: Dear Connecticut Greens, I am writing to ask whether it is possible for the Green Party of CT to endorse the attached letter to US Senators, asking them to refuse certification of the November 2nd vote. This letter was drafted by the recently formed Coalition Against Election Fraud (www.caef.us). We hope to meet with Senator Kennedy this week, and it would be great if we can take a list of endorsing groups. As you are aware, the Green Party and Green Presidential candidate David Cobb are playing a vital role in the Ohio recount and other efforts to expose election fraud and systemic voting violations. If we can get an objection to the certification of the vote from any state (requiring a Senator to join House Democrats), then there will be up to two hours of debate in both houses on voting violations and we can finally break the media silence. Many thanks, Eli Beckerman Somerville, MA www.caef.us -------------------------------------------------- ----- 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. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Tue Jan 4 10:08:07 2005 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 10:08:07 -0500 Subject: {news} National Working groups Message-ID: <006c01c4f26f$329a9660$dd8f0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> Folks, The National Party has created two working groups and is now looking for volunteers to participate. The working groups are as follows: 1. PRESIDENTIAL PROCESS GROUP. This group will be tasked with developing a new process for our presidential process in 2008. 2. STRATEGIC PLANNING. This group, limited to 9 people, will develop a survey that will be sent to as many Greens across the country as possible to help determine the strategy for the national party over the next several years. If you are interested in serving on any of these groups please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks, Tom From timmckee at sbcglobal.net Tue Jan 4 11:07:56 2005 From: timmckee at sbcglobal.net (Tim McKee) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 08:07:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} test Message-ID: <20050104160756.50198.qmail@web81110.mail.yahoo.com> test -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 5 12:06:25 2005 From: timmckee at sbcglobal.net (Tim McKee) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:06:25 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} Jan. 22- Green Party Super Strategy meeting (Thank you Candidates Party!) Message-ID: <20050105170625.49157.qmail@web81110.mail.yahoo.com> Please pass the word- far and wide The Green Party of Connecticut will present a very exciting planning session on Saturday January 22 , 2005 at the State Green Party Headquarters at Hartford, 418 A New Britain Avenue from 11 am till 2 pm. Come hear our past candidates- what worked for them and what they need in the future- and THANK THEM FOR THEIR HARD WORK! in the first part of the meeting. Some light snacks, drinks at about noon. (Bring a few goodies- not quite a full pot luck) Then an amazing discussion about the future! plans for 2005 election (local, city and town elections) and 2006- plans for a full Congressional and Senator race? candidates of State office? Governor. and state level offices? Led by Ralph Ferrucci and Calvin Nicholson Bring YOUR ideas! This is YOUR session! Questions- contact your local leaders, state leaders or me Tim McKee (860) 643-2282 Please car pool with your local people- and ask local people if they need a ride! We expect people from all over the state to attend- please make it if you can! #### -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 5 22:03:17 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 22:03:17 -0500 Subject: {news} Executive Committee meeting Thurs. Jan 13 6pm, Hartford office Message-ID: <000801c4f39c$a8c77c30$2832f704@edgn2b574u14bi> The Connecticut Green Party Executive Committee (co-chairs, treasurer, and secretary) will meet Thursday, January 13 at 6pm at the Hartford office. Any Green is invited to attend Executive Committee meetings as an observer. ------------------------------------------------ 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 Thu Jan 6 20:48:50 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 20:48:50 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes Jan 4, 2004 SCC meeting--Portland library Message-ID: <002f01c4f45b$4ff564e0$c933f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Minutes of January 4, 2004 SCC meeting--Portland Public Library, 7:10-8:40pm Attendees: 1. Central Connecticut chapter: Vic Lancia, Vincent Maruffi 2. Fairfield chapter: David Bedell 3. Hamden chapter: Aaron Gustafson, Francis Braunlich 4. Hartford chapter: Ed DuBrule (NV), Mike DeRosa 5. New London chapter: Andy Derr, Chris Nelson 6. Northeast chapter: Jean deSmet 7. Northwest chapter: Elizabeth Brancato, Bob Eaton 8. Shoreline chapter: Colin Bennett 9. Tolland chapter: Tim McKee (facilitator) NV=non-voting. Quorum was not reached until 7:45 pm. Chapter and committee reports and the treasurer's report were done in the period 7:10-7:45 pm. Approval of minutes of the November SCC meeting was not considered. A. TREASURER'S REPORT "Over the last month we had receipts of $1,103, $750 of that was from the fall fundraiser. We also received $258 from the Green Party US. Our expenses were $395. - $281 was for the office in Hartford. - $74 to reimburse Chris Reilly - $31 for credit card processing - $9 for our toll free number "Currently we have a balance of $1,210. "We have been negotiating with the mailing company used for our recent fundraising mailing. It looks like we owe them an additional $452. Including the $448 we already paid that makes for a total of $900. "We are up to 23 in the 100 for 100 program. "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" Bob also spoke of his efforts to determine what fundraising methods are acceptable for the CTGP in light of Connecticut's laws relating to political parties. B. OTHER REPORTS 1. Chapter reports **New London: planning campaigns for city council and/or board of ed seats; produces weekly Greens TV show (videotapes available). **Central Connecticut: planning salons at Buttonwood Tree restaurant (Greens involved). **Northeast: planning to (re-)start TV show; Green appointed to housing commission; chapter may form town committee; city council member Juan Perez changed voter registration from Green Party to Working Families Party. **Hartford: needs donation of television to continue having movie nights; planning fundraiser with Nader and rock artist Patti Smith at end of January; chapter may be forming in New Britain. **Northwest: working on Bill Davis campaign (2006) for Congress **Hamden: planning campaigns for town council and/or board of ed **Tolland: has worked against a WalMart (construction delayed); new WalMart proposed for Stafford Springs; Manchester/Manchester Community College chapter may form. 2. Executive Committee. Mike listed some of the topics discussed at the December Executive Committee meeting: the December fundraising letter, unreimbursed expenditures of Chris Reilly, an audit of CTGP financial records by Audrey Cole, a possible "thank you candidates/elections discussion" event, internal elections, and the Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut (Nicholson/Ferrucci). The Executive Committee endorsed a letter to several senators which says that "the November 2, 2004 presidential election was fraught with voting violations, misconduct of some highly placed election officials, tampering ...." It asks that these senators refuse to certify the results of the election in Congress on January 6 and support any House members who challenge the results. The letter and additional information was published on the News listserve on January 4. 3. VOTER. Mike reported on a 1/4/05 VOTER meeting attended by 25 people. They hope to meet with the Secretary of State and the governor. Projects include voting machines (including inclusion of a paper trail) and legislation on ballot access for minor parties. There will be a venders' meeting in connection with a request for proposals for voting machines January 11 at the Transportation Department, and VOTER hopes to be able to present its views there. 4. Report from US Green Party representatives. Tim reported that the national Green Party has laid off their fundraiser, due to financial difficulties. 5. Elections committee. Elizabeth noted that Ralph Ferrucci has agreed to chair this committee. She noted that the committee has a listserve. 6. Internal elections committee. Jean said that the annual meeting is planned for mid-March (last year it was March 13). A mailing is planned to people entitled to vote in the internal elections. Last year a full ballot package (ballot, voting instructions, candidate biographies, and information about the annual meeting) was sent out to all eligible. This year the poor financial status of the CTGP may lead to use of postcards instead. Jean said that she likes the idea of sending the full ballot package to all who voted in last year's internal elections, despite the cost. No one objected to this idea. The full ballot package could also be sent out to people who have registered as Greens since last March--people that hadn't ever received the full package before. Are postcards really cheaper than the full package? Aaron said that the postage for a postcard is 19 cents. Elizabeth said that you can send a pdf file to the post office and it will print and mail postcards. Mike said he and the Hartford chapter favor sending the full package to all; people receiving a postcard are much less likely to vote than those receiving a ballot; fundraising should be done to cover the costs. Aaron suggested printing the ballot on postcards that opened up to a full sheet of paper. Aaron said he could do layout work for the mailing. Bob said that the SCC should approve an appropriation for the mailing. David has investigated two possible locations for the annual meeting in New Haven. Vic said he will inquire at Wesleyan. Jean said that a separate room for counting ballots is needed. Bill Davis (a Green running for Congress in 2005) was mentioned as one possible speaker for the annual meeting. C. 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). 2. Bylaws segment "4-2 State Central Committee" (Appendix 2). Referred to chapters by September SCC meeting (a step in the bylaws revision process). Ed and Andy reminded us that the BRPP committee was to do further work on these bylaws proposals, including citing the paragraphs in the current bylaws that these proposals would supplement or replace. This work has not been done, so these proposals were not considered further tonight. 3. Proposal to become an organizational supporter of abolishing the death penalty in Connecticut (Appendix 3). By consensus the SCC passed this proposal. David will notify the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty of our support. D. 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.) Tim will work on arranging a combination "thank you candidates" session (at which our November 2004 candidates can say what worked for them) and planning session. The planning session could include a presentation by Calvin Nicholson and Ralph Ferrucci (Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut). We agreed on Saturday January 22, 11am-2pm at the Hartford office. Tim will publish details to listserves; he asks that chapter members be informed of the event. E. ANNOUNCEMENTS **Mike said that a New Britain state representative will be submitting a single payer health insurance bill to the Connecticut legislature this session. There will be a meeting of the Healthcare for All Coalition on January 20--Mike will post the details to listserves. **Jean said that there will be a bus leaving Willimantic for the presidential inauguration protests in Washington DC. Elizabeth said that there will be three buses from Connecticut. **There are daily vigils in front of the governor's office (until the execution of Michael Ross) sponsored by the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty. There will be a lobby day January 19 at the Capitol on the death penalty issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 [For reasons of brevity, this text is not reproduced here. It is unchanged from the text in the minutes of the November 2004 SCC meeting.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 [For reasons of brevity, this text is not reproduced here. It is unchanged from the text in the minutes of the November 2004 SCC meeting.] ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 nectgreens at hotmail.com Sun Jan 9 17:55:31 2005 From: nectgreens at hotmail.com (NECT Greens) Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 22:55:31 +0000 Subject: {news} Northeast GP Meeting Tuesday Message-ID: The monthly meeting of the Northeast CT chapter of the Green Party will be Tuesday, January 11, at 7pm in Main St. Cafe. Agenda: Anti-inauguration. Peace and Justice. Fun--Hey, we really need to get our Cable TV Show started! Let's buckle down and do it. State and National Politics. See ya there! Jean From embrancato at netzero.com Mon Jan 10 20:07:12 2005 From: embrancato at netzero.com (Elizabeth M. Brancato) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:07:12 -0500 Subject: {news} [Fwd: [CTpeace-activists] ***ALERT Volunteers NEEDED for JAN 15 - NEW HAVEN HONOR DR MLK] Message-ID: <41E326C0.1070503@netzero.com> VOLUNTEERS NEEDED PLEASE READ ON *Please distribute attached flyer as widely as possible! * *Honor the Rev. Dr. King: * *_Speak Out Against the War _* Public Witness Sat., January 15, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. *Press Conference, 12:00noon **New Haven Green * New Haven, CT Honor the Dead:* *Public reading of the names of all U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and an equal number of Iraqi citizens Honor the Vision of the Rev. Dr. King: Readings from key anti-war speeches of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Honor the Obligation to Speak Out: ?A Call to Resist? will be publicly read and signed * * This public witness launches a new campaign to end the war in Iraq: organizing, educating, resisting, witnessing. *_Volunteers requested_* to read names of the war dead, in 15-minute intervals. Please contact Allie Perry, 203-865-6575 or aperry7247 at aol.com _Location_: Corner of College and Chapel streets (Bishop Tutu Corner), the southwest corner of the upper Green. If the weather is inclement, we will gather at United Church on the Green, at the corner of Temple and Elm streets, the northeast corner of the upper Green. (There will be access to bathroom facilities and space for respite from the cold.) Organized by Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. Contact persons: John Humphries, 860-236-5175, jhumphries at igc.org or Allie Perry, 203-865-6575, aperry7247 at aol.com ------ End of Forwarded Message Join Us! 2003 is Al-Nakba Awareness and Al-Awda Activism Year. http://Al-Awda.org Contact your representatives and elected officials: use http://congress.cfl-online.org/ For other ways to help, see http://BoycottIsraeliGoods.org The views pesented are those of their authors. Please invite others to join. To join/subscribe to this list, an individual can send a message to CTpeace-activists-subscribe at yahoogroups.com You may choose to view messages on the web in lieu of individual messages by resetting your preferences at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CTpeace-activists/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Yahoo! Groups Links* * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CTpeace-activists/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CTpeace-activists-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: KingFlyer2.doc Type: application/octet-stream Size: 25600 bytes Desc: not available URL: From embrancato at netzero.com Mon Jan 10 20:08:07 2005 From: embrancato at netzero.com (Elizabeth M. Brancato) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:08:07 -0500 Subject: {news} [Fwd: [CTpeace-activists] Bus To DC JAN @) SEATS AVAILABLE] Message-ID: <41E326F7.4050509@netzero.com> *GET ON THE BUS Protest the Inauguration Say ?NO! to Bush * SEATS STILL AVAILABLE JAN 20 COUNTER INAUGURATION Washington, DC ********************************************* *Bus Sponsored by CT United for Peace *Tickets are $40.00 CT United for Peace Send checks to PO BOX 514 Portland, CT 06480 $42.00 per person through paypal ( we are charged for the service) Credit cards payments accepted through PAYPAL Send you payment from PAYPAL to : ctunitedforpeace at yahoo.com Questions: GO TO OUR WEBISTE FOR LINKS Counter inaugural information call Stan 203 498 8185 nowstrane at aol.com Call Meg 860 347 5488 ctunitedfopeace at yahoo.com ****************************************** *Bus Sponsored by Nov 3 Committee ? Willimantic *Cost: $45.00 Leaving Willimantic on Jan 20th for information call: For reservations and more info. call John 860-456-9213. P.M. hours only, Join Us! 2003 is Al-Nakba Awareness and Al-Awda Activism Year. http://Al-Awda.org Contact your representatives and elected officials: use http://congress.cfl-online.org/ For other ways to help, see http://BoycottIsraeliGoods.org The views pesented are those of their authors. Please invite others to join. To join/subscribe to this list, an individual can send a message to CTpeace-activists-subscribe at yahoogroups.com You may choose to view messages on the web in lieu of individual messages by resetting your preferences at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CTpeace-activists/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Yahoo! Groups Links* * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CTpeace-activists/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CTpeace-activists-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Tue Jan 11 13:29:06 2005 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 13:29:06 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: MADRE: [Palestinian] Elections, But No Democracy Message-ID: <026301c4f80b$6fc00380$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Elections, But No Democracy By Yifat Susskind Associate Director, MADRE January 10, 2005 On January 9, Palestinians voted in a presidential election for the first time since 1996. To most people in the US, elections connote a democratic system of government. But elections without sovereignty don't equal democracy. The Palestinian territories, where voting took place, have been under Israeli military occupation for 37 years-a fact that won't be changed by the elections. Israel uses violence to control all aspects of Palestinian life, from freedom of movement to freedom of the press, precluding "free and fair" elections from the start. Under their newly elected president, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinians will still lack control over their territory, economy, and foreign and domestic policies. This raises a question about what, exactly, the new president will preside over. President of What? **Mainstream media coverage implied that these were elections for the new president of "Palestine." But no independent Palestinian state exists. Rather, Abbas will head the Palestinian Authority (PA), a body created under the defunct, US-sponsored Oslo Agreements signed by the Palestinian leadership and Israel in 1993. The PA has been under attack by Israel since 2000. But prior to that, Israel and the US allowed the PA to administer limited aspects of Palestinian public life (education, health, municipal and taxation services) in exchange for guaranteeing security to Israel, mainly by cracking down on Palestinian militants. **In the current framework, Abbas will have only as much power as US-backed Israel grants him. Remember that Yasser Arafat, the late PA president, spent the last years of his life under permanent house arrest for refusing to forfeit Palestinian rights guaranteed by UN resolutions and international law. Once Arafat refused to meet Israel's demands, the US branded him "irrelevant" and began pressuring Palestinians to hold elections for a new PA president. **Only a minority of Palestinians - those living in the Occupied Territories - were eligible to vote. Unlike the elections in Afghanistan and those scheduled in Iraq, Palestinians living abroad as refugees or exiles were barred from voting. **Many Palestinians, including supporters of the two militant Islamic factions, boycotted the elections because they saw them as part of a bankrupt political process meant to facilitate ongoing Israeli control of the Occupied Territories. **Others - including Abbas' main challenger, long-time human rights activist Dr. Mustafa Barghouti - saw the elections as part of a broader process of building democratic Palestinian institutions and as a precondition for producing a PA president with legitimate authority to negotiate with Israel. Palestinian progressives like Bargouti have reminded the world that Palestinians have a distinguished democratic tradition, developed in opposition to decades of Israeli occupation. "Israelis Elect New Palestinian Leader" **Satirical headlines like the one above from the Electronic Intifada reflect Israeli interference in the election. Israeli soldiers beat, arrested, and restricted the movement of all Palestinian candidates except the favored Abbas, preventing other candidates from effectively campaigning against him. In fact, five of the 11 original candidates stood down, citing Israeli restrictions on their freedom to campaign. **Israeli violence against Palestinians continued unabated throughout the campaign period. Israeli soldiers killed nearly 30 Palestinians, including six boys from one family, during the campaign season. **We've heard that Israel "facilitated" voting by withdrawing troops from parts of the Occupied Territories. But the troops were redeployed right after the election. The reality is that elections under military occupation are never truly democratic. Elections at Gunpoint **After the death of long-time Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, many Palestinians saw this election as a chance to choose a PA president with whom Israel would agree to negotiate. This was a critical consideration for many people who have suffered tremendously during four years of escalated Israeli assaults. Since 2000, nearly 3,500 Palestinians have been killed, and poverty and child malnutrition rates have tripled. **As society's primary caretakers, Palestinian women are overwhelmingly responsible for the wellbeing of thousands who have been traumatized and wounded by Israeli violence, and women are particularly hard-hit by the wide scale destruction of homes, clinics, public infrastructure, and supplies of food and drinking water. **In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has described these measures as a tactic for eroding Palestinians' resolve to reject Israeli terms at the negotiating table. **Like the terrorists he condemns, Sharon has made ordinary women and families suffer in order to induce political results, in this case, the election of Abbas, a presumably conciliatory negotiating partner. Undermining Democracy and Human Rights: The US Role **Bush sees the Palestinian elections, like those planned in Iraq, as part of a broader US plan for overhauling governments throughout the Middle East. **Bush strongly favored Abbas, who rejects armed struggle as a strategy for ending Israeli occupation. Bush promised to facilitate $500 million more in international aid to the PA if Abbas won. **The US will now likely push for a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the PA. But the same politics that doomed the Oslo Agreements remain at play. **The US supports Israel almost unconditionally: Bush has endorsed Israeli plans to annex much of the West Bank (in violation of the UN Charter); denied Palestinian refugees' right to return to their lands in what is now Israel (guaranteed by UN Resolution 194); and condoned Israel's illegal West Bank settlements. Meanwhile, Bush's 2003 "roadmap" indicates that he will pressure Palestinians to sign agreements that disregard human rights and international law. What Next? **Abbas faces a real dilemma: he was elected despite being the favored candidate of his constituents' two biggest perceived enemies, Israel and the US. Palestinians are adamant that he not negotiate away basic rights, while Israel and the US insist that he do just that. **Abbas has already shown himself willing to make concessions, but progress towards peace will depend on the US and Israel realizing that the political impasse cannot be resolved by military force. **Ultimately, Abbas will be judged not by the fact that he was elected to office, but by how he negotiates with Israel. Despite Israeli/US attempts to dominate the elections and the PA itself, the elections were important: they demonstrated yet again that Palestinians have the collective will and the political culture to create democratic government. They lack only the freedom to do so. ******** MADRE supports community-based programs in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel that work to redress human rights violations and promote a lasting peace in the Middle East based on principles of human rights and international law. For more information about MADRE's programs, please visit www.madre.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 12 14:56:36 2005 From: timmckee at sbcglobal.net (Tim McKee) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:56:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} action! please help us get this out to the media! (PRESS RELEASE) CT GREENS TO HOLD STATE WIDE PLANNING SESSION Message-ID: <20050112195637.7839.qmail@web81107.mail.yahoo.com> Folks- please help us get the word out to the new media and local groups about this session! If you have person contact with local media people- please cut and paste this release to them- maybe add your name and number for a local contact- We send these out to almost one hundred contacts but it is hit and miss in this large state- please send to your local paper, new magazine or college paper- thanks again! ### Press release- For Immediate release- January 12, 2005 Contact; Tim McKee GP-National Committee (860) 643-2282 or cell (860) 324-1684 Mike DeRosa, State GP Co-chair, (860) 956-8170 or (860) 919-4042 Tom Sevigny, GP National Committee, (860) 693-8344 Green Party to hold state wide planning session The Green Party of Connecticut will present a very exciting planning session on Saturday January 22 , 2005 at the Hartford Green Party Headquarters at 418 A New Britain Avenue, in Hartford from 11 am till 2 pm. The session is free and open to all interested in the Green Party. "The purpose of the planning session in hear the more than 2,000 registered Green voters ideas for future election and agendas for state and local governments" said Tim McKee a member of the National Green Committee and a spokesperson for the party said . Over 65,000 state voters have vote a Green Party candidate (Nader 2000) so we know we have strong interest across the state. Our state and local agenda includes working for Single payer health care for the state, repealing the Patriot Act, "Bring the Troops Home Local Resolutions,state election reforms including leading for computer voting reforms and many other items, McKee said. This planning session will build on our local candidates who increased overall election numbers in 2004 and there is strong interest in running candidates for all congressional race and for all state wide offices include Governor in 2006. This would be a first for the Greens, who have only ran candidates for Congress in the New Haven Area's 3rd District, and but not for state wide offices. There is strong interest in running a candidate against conservative Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman in 2006, McKee said. With local elections in 2005 for many local and city election, the hope to expand our record number of candidates (17 in 2003) with even more candidates running to win in 2005. 3 persons are elected Greens in the state, with many others servicing in non elected boards and commissions. Across the nation, Greens have elected 224 local officials, by far the most elected third party members. One work shop will be lead by former Congressional candidate Ralph Ferrucci and New Haven Board of Canvassers candidate Calvin Nicholson. Further information, the public is invited to call 1-888-877-8607 or visiting the CT Green Party web site: www.ctgreens.org ### -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Wed Jan 12 16:34:36 2005 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 16:34:36 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: TURN YOUR BACK ON BUSH, DC, 1/20 Message-ID: <00b501c4f8ee$837fc430$dd8f0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> Folks, If you are going to be in DC on the 20th check this out. Tom > > TURN YOUR BACK ON BUSH! > > Citizens from across the nation, and from many constituencies--including > some from here in Connecticut--will converge on Washington DC on Inaugural > Day, January 20th, to repudiate the policies of President George W. Bush by > participating in a nonviolent direct action called Turn Your Back On Bush. > The action calls for participants to gather along the Inaugural Parade > route and silently turn their backs on the president at a given signal. > Interested individuals, or leaders of interested groups, should email > Connecticut Organizer mike at turnyourbackonbush.org, after exploring the > information available at the TYBOB website, > http://www.turnyourbackonbush.org. The parade route *will* be open to the > public. Official information on Inaugural Day events is available at > http://www.inaugural05.com. > > ------------------------------ > > > Attached is the TYBOB press release (Word document). > > Thanks again, > > Mike Milius > Granby CT > IN CONFIDENCE TO GREEN LEADERSHIP: mikemilius at earthlink.net > IN CONFIDENCE TO GREEN LEADERSHIP: 860.653.5996 > From chapillsbury at igc.org Fri Jan 14 16:40:43 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:40:43 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Ralph Nader and Patti Smith, Jan. 28th Message-ID: <00de01c4fa81$b3478330$6701a8c0@EXDIR04> ----- Original Message ----- From: kelly anthony To: mbutterfield at wesleyan.edu Cc: cwood at wesleyan.edu ; nansari at wesleyan.edu ; sfeinman at wesleyan.edu ; rblumenshine at wesleyan.edu ; lcamner at wesleyan.edu ; dwiener at wesleyan.edu ; ahadler at wesleyan.edu ; mslobin at wesleyan.edu ; zzankel at wesleyan.edu ; ebarton at wesleyan.edu ; blove at wesleyan.edu ; sfleischner at wesleyan.edu ; awozny at wesleyan.edu ; nmelnechuk at wesleyan.edu ; mflemingives at wesleyan.edu ; amartinez at wesleyan.edu ; rrosenthal at wesleyan.edu ; mclawson at wesleyan.edu ; jcutler at wesleyan.edu ; nfelshin at wesleyan.edu ; kmercado at wesleyan.edu ; Charlie Pillsbury ; APerry7247 at aol.com ; VantageTax at aol.com Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 4:40 PM Subject: Ralph Nader and Patti Smith, Jan. 28th Hi All- It's a 'go' for Ralph Nader and Patti Smith on Jan. 28th @ 7:30-9:30 pm at our own Memorial Chapel. I think this is a cool way to kick off WesPeace work, Spring '05. This visit is about peace, power, and getting involved- not about Dems, Greens, Independents, or one of those other parties. Please spread the word. The event is $10 for students, and $15 for all others. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for issues we would like to ask Ralph touch on, comments on admission price (too high, too low?), student groups who wish to co-sponsor, local acts to warm up (about 15 min.) etc. This is happening FAST, so don't tarry! Flyers and formal announcement to follow. Mike Butterfield is kindly doing paperwork for us- Student Media Action and WesPeace are the two sponsors at this point. Donations are gladly accepted. Peace, Kelly mbutterfield at wesleyan.edu wrote: Howdy, 1. I made a WesPeace list-serve because I keep on losing people's names. It will be up in a few days and can be subscribed to by sending a blank email to : wespeace-subscribe at lists.riseup.net. Pass it on. 2. Both Noam Chomsky and Dahr Jamal (indep rep in BDad) agreed tentatively to talk on the (speaker)phone this spring. I thought; would this be doable on WESU? DJs--do you have good afternoon times to do this? I know Andrea has a 12-1 slot every day--could use that one day, Dre? Would other WesPeace people be able to come to the radio station for an hour at that time (it seems good b/c everyone will be on lunch break...) Otherwise, we can still have these speakerphone conversations in like a lecture hall or room, with the option of a live WESU feed...Or no WESU at all... MB -- Kelly Anthony Williams Visiting Assistant Professor Psychology Department Wesleyan University kanthony at wesleyan.edu (w) 860-685-2468 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at igc.org Fri Jan 14 23:17:44 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 23:17:44 -0500 Subject: {news} A Call to Resist the War in Iraq - please forward References: <002f01c4f45b$4ff564e0$c933f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Message-ID: <00d201c4fab9$2a1eeca0$841efea9@S0031616584> A Call to Resist the War in Iraq FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: John Humphries, 860-236-5175 The Rev. Allie Perry, 203-865-6575; 203-215-2613 (cell) The Rev. Kathleen McTigue, 203-288-1807; 203-232-1044 (cell) HONORING the DEAD, OPPOSING the WAR: FAITH-BASED WITNESS honors the PROPHETIC VOICE of DR. KING and the US SOLDIERS and IRAQI CIVILIANS who have DIED in the WAR Saturday, January 15 New Haven Green 10:00 am - 2:30 pm: Reading the Names of all US Soldiers who have died in Iraq since the invasion and an equal number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed as a result of the war ***PHOTO OP: Portable 60-ft Wall with the Names and Photos*** Noon: Media Event featuring readings from Dr. King's 1967 sermon against the Vietnam War, a public signing of A Call to Resist the War in Iraq, and launching a new action campaign Religious leaders and people of faith from around the state will hold a public witness and press conference at Noon on January 15, 2005, on the New Haven Green near the Corner of College and Chapel Streets*. The event will mark the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, highlighting his opposition to militarism and war and responding to his call to seek out "every creative means of protest." The group will honor those who have died in the war in Iraq by reading many of their names. Challenging faith communities to speak out against the torture of prisoners and other war crimes, religious leaders will publicly sign a pledge of resistance and launch a campaign of coordinated activities to oppose the war, including providing counseling to military personnel questioning the justification and morality of the ongoing war and occupation in Iraq. "Responsibility for US war crimes in Iraq doesn't lie with the soldiers who have been called to serve," said the Rev. Allie Perry. "The responsibility lies with the high government officials who gave the orders in this illegal and immoral war, sending men and women, physically and morally, into harm's way. And now the responsibility lies with us, as citizens of the world, to bring these crimes and this illegal war to a halt." On April 4, 1967, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out prophetically against the war in Vietnam. He urged other people of faith to join him, saying, "We in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task to urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible.." "Our generation needs to heed Dr. King's words today", said the Rev. Kathleen McTigue, of the Unitarian Society of New Haven. "Religious people in this country must begin to live up to the mandates of our faiths. We must raise our voices against the growing slaughter and destruction in Iraq. We must speak and act, loudly and consistently, against the torture and other crimes being committed in our names." Both Rev. Perry and Rev. McTigue are members of the Steering Committee for Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, a statewide interfaith network of religious leaders and people of faith promoting nonviolent alternatives to war. The group will announce a new campaign to oppose the war by publicizing the national GI Rights Hotline, providing training to clergy in counseling military personnel about their rights, and supporting efforts around the state to discourage young people from enlisting in the military and educate them about conscientious objection. Preparing for the March 20 anniversary of the invasion, they will collect humanitarian aid for Iraq, sponsor educational events, and organize meetings with Congressional representatives. Volunteers of all ages will read names of the war dead in 15-minute shifts, alternating the name of a US soldier with the name of an Iraqi civilian. Event organizers estimate that reading the more than 2700 names will take nearly five hours. The text of the Call to Resist is posted at http://internationallaw.pro-se-institute.org/ct_clergy.html [This is a very powerful call from a group of clergy and other religious leaders called Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. They are planning to sign and release it on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, as explained in the media release that follows the Call. The Call could serve as a model for local groups all over the country. - Jeremy Brecher] A growing number of U.S. citizens have realized that the war in Iraq is an immoral and profoundly destructive waste of both Iraqi and American lives. The war was begun in violation of international law, and founded on lies told to our own people and to our allies. It has included defiance of the Geneva Conventions with illegal and secret detentions of prisoners, a denial of due process of law and well- documented torture and killing of prisoners in American custody. Its extravagant cost increasingly robs our own neediest citizens of vital services while enriching a few private corporations. We believe it is the moral responsibility of every U.S. citizen to raise our voices and take action to stop this illegal war and bring our soldiers home. We believe it is our duty as both Americans and members of the international community to insist that our government immediately adhere to the international agreements binding us, including the Geneva Accords protecting prisoners from torture and indefinite detention. Many members of the armed services are seeking ways to avoid service in Iraq or leave the military completely; some young men are refusing to register for Selective Service. Increasing numbers of enlisted men and women are risking prison sentences or forced immigration in order to avoid collaboration in an immoral war. We applaud these choices and will do all that we can to encourage others to follow their example. More specifically, we support and will spread the word about the G.I. Rights Hotline and other efforts to support soldiers in withdrawing from the military. We will counsel young men turning eighteen on the moral obligations as well as risks inherent in a refusal to register with the Selective Service, and we will raise funds to support them in their legal defense. Should a draft be reinstituted we will encourage young men and women not to comply. The War Crimes Tribunals following World War II declared, "Anyone with knowledge of illegal activity and an opportunity to do something is a potential criminal under international law, unless the person takes affirmative measures to prevent the commission of the crimes." We, the undersigned, commit ourselves to undertake all affirmative measures available to us to fulfill our obligations under these treaties, which have guided our world for half a century. We will continue to raise our voices and engage in nonviolent resistance until our government has withdrawn from Iraq and brought our soldiers home. Signed: RECLAIMING THE PROPHETIC VOICE c/o 247 Saint Ronan St. New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 865-6575 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sat Jan 15 09:16:48 2005 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:16:48 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Jan. 22 at Yale - Palestine, Israel [Panel Discussion] Message-ID: <062c01c4fb0c$da3f0900$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> ----- Original Message ----- From: Stan H To: ctpeace ctpeace ; awda awda Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 4:33 PM Subject: [al-awda-CT] Jan. 22 at Yale - Palestine, Israel [Panel Discussion] What are conditions of life for Palestinian today? Are Israeli Jews on the verge of civil war? What will it take to build a movement to win justice and peace? Panel Discussion: Palestine, Israel, and the USA No Equality, No Peace Lenni Brenner Author of "Zionism in the Age of the Dictators", "The Iron Wall", "51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis", "Jefferson and Madison on the Separation of Church and State" Mazin Qumsiyeh Author "Sharing the Land of Canaan", co-founder Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Vice-Chair, Middle East Crisis Committee Stanley Heller Host of The Struggle TV News, Chairperson, Middle East Crisis Committee Saturday, January 22, 2005 7 p.m. Yale University Hall of Graduate Studies, 320 York St., New Haven Room #211 Free and open to the public..for more info 203-934-2761 Join Us! 2003 is Al-Nakba Awareness and Al-Awda Activism Year. http://Al-Awda.org Contact your representatives and elected officials: use http://congress.cfl-online.org/ For other ways to help, see http://BoycottIsraeliGoods.org Views are those of their owners. To subscribe to Al-Awda Connecticut, please send a blank message to: Al-Awda-CT-subscribe at yahoogroups.com. To unsubscribe, send a blank message to: Al-Awda-CT-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/al-awda-CT/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: al-awda-CT-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 nectgreens at hotmail.com Sat Jan 15 18:50:57 2005 From: nectgreens at hotmail.com (NECT Greens) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 23:50:57 +0000 Subject: {news} (no subject) Message-ID: >The Northeast Conn. Coalition for Peace and Justice will be holding a "large vigil" on Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th between 5 and 6 p.m. It will be in the usual place, on the corner of Jackson and Main Streets, just across from the Frog Bridge in Willimantic. If you are "disconcerted" by the re-election of George W. Bush, please join us. If you can, bring a sign expressing just what you feel about the Bush plans for the next four years. > >If you want to get closer to the Inauguration action, the November 3rd Group will be providing a bus to Washington D.C. It will leave just after midnight on January 20th, arrive in Washington for the demonstrations surrounding the Inauguration Day, and return home that evening. Places are still available. The price is $45.00 per person, though some subsidies may be available for those who wish to go but can't afford the fare. > >For more info, contact John at 456-9213 in the evenings. From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Jan 15 20:44:40 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 20:44:40 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes of 1/13/05 Executive Committee meeting Message-ID: <000601c4fb6d$7e1aa920$f936f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Minutes of January 13, 2005 Executive Committee meeting--6:45pm-8:45 pm, Hartford office Financial matters. The fundraising letter (mailed 12/2/04 to 2200 registered Greens) has by now brought in $34 over the cost of the printing and mailing. We have paid the entire amount due to the mailing bureau. The Party checking account now holds approximately $700. Internal elections. The internal election committee plans to have the annual meeting in March, which elects co-chairs and other officers of the CTGP. Today we discussed whether a ballot packet (ballot, voting instructions, candidate statements, annual meeting location) could be sent to all CTGP members (members per the bylaws definition). This would be a mailing to the 2500 registered Greens and perhaps 500 other people; this would be costly. One alternative would be to send the ballot packet to those who voted in the 2004 internal elections, and send a postcard to the rest of the members. The postcard would contain information on the annual meeting and how to obtain a ballot and candidate statements (via phone call or via computer). We did a very rough calculation--the printing and mailing expenses of the latter plan might be $1600. Some contributions might come in from the mailing. We might need to spend money to rent rooms for the annual meeting (main room and ballot-counting room). Fundraising calls could be made, asking potential donors for contributions for the specific purpose of being able to mail the entire ballot packet to all CTGP members. The US Postal service can print and mail; Elizabeth has obtained information on this service. We encourage the internal elections committee to come up with a proposal (including dollar amount needed) by the January 25 SCC meeting. We encourage Greens to run for office (three co-chair positions--must represent both genders, treasurer, secretary, two representatives to the national Party and alternate). Replacement for Rachel Goodkind. The July 2004 SCC meeting elected the following as the Process Committee of the conflict resolution process: David Adams, Charlie Pillsbury, and Rachel Goodkind. David will be serving for one year, Charlie for two, and Rachel was to serve the three-year term. Rachel has moved out of Connecticut. Selecting a replacement for Rachel will be put on the agenda of the January 25 SCC meeting. The paragraphs governing this process are appended to these minutes. Rachel's replacement must be a female. Today we discussed whether the three members of the Process Committee must be from three different chapters. Charlie and (it appears) David have expressed their belief, in e-mails to us, that such a requirement only applied to the selection of Process Committee members that was done when the very first Process Committee was set up. Towns/chapters map. Bob has prepared a map showing the towns associated with each chapter. He will distribute this map within the CTGP and ask for comments. Unreimbursed expenditures of Chris Reilly. We had a lengthy discussion of a draft proposal from the Executive Committee to the SCC which expresses our belief that Chris should be reimbursed the money he paid for office rent in 2003 and early 2004. Connecticut law appears to prohibit loans from individuals to the CTGP; the concern behind the law may be that such loans could fail to be repaid and turn into nonrecorded contributions. Should the Executive Committee proposal simply state that we feel that Chris should be reimbursed, or should it state our belief as to what percent of Chris's rent expenditures should be paid from the CTGP versus the Hartford chapter? At its November 14, 2000 meeting, the SCC decided that the CTGP would pay half the rent (and half the utilities) of the CTGP office. The latter fact does not lead to a simple conclusion that the Hartford chapter owes half Chris half the rent money--the situation is more complicated (for example, the Sheff campaign paid toward Hartford office rent). Will Audrey's possible audit of CTGP books supply information relevant to these issues? The draft proposal will not be put on the agenda of the January 25 SCC meeting. Vas Nunes vs. Sevigny complaint. Elizabeth will contact David Adams and/or Charlie Pillsbury regarding whether a Resolution Committee has produced a report in response to this complaint. Possible formation of New Britain chapter. Mike reported that a New Britain chapter may be forming, with a possible candidate for mayor. Proposal to endorse March 5 "Bring the troops home" event. The Executive Committee will submit a proposal to the SCC asking for SCC endorsement of a March 5 event sponsored by the Bring The Troops Home Coalition. Possible death penalty press release. Perhaps Tim, possibly with assistance from Kaye Ward, can write a press release about the scheduled execution of Michael Ross. Mike has learned that the state of Connecticut is trying to keep anti-death penalty protesters a long distance away from the prison where the execution will occur--a freedom of speech/civil liberties issue. SCC agenda. The agenda for the January 25 SCC meeting was worked out. As usual, it will be posted to the News listserve a week before the meeting. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix. Excerpt from Conflict Resolution Process, revised after 1 year's experience. [NOTE: explanatory notes between brackets and in italics were not approved by the SCC and are not part of the Resolution Process, but reflect comments made at the April 2003 SCC meeting when the Resolution Process was adopted; recommended additions are in bold print; recommended deletions are in bold print between brackets.] RESOLUTION PROCESS STRUCTURE. The Resolution Process is a two-step process involving a standing (elected) Process Committee and ad hoc Resolution Committees appointed to dispose of each complaint. The Resolution Process functions are in order of importance: 1) fact-finding, 2) education, 3) mediation and reconciliation, and 4) corrective action. The Process Committee (PC) [prosecutor/grand jury function] consists of three people from different chapters who were nominated and elected by the SCC immediately after the SCC approved the Resolution Process. [The three people nominated and elected unanimously were David Adams, Rachel Goodkind and Lynah Linwood] These three people will serve until the SCC has reviewed, ratified or amended the Resolution Process, as described in the final paragraph below, in approximately one year. Upon ratification or amendment of the Process, three people will be elected immediately to serve for one year, two years and three years, respectively. After these initial terms, PC members will be elected to serve three-year terms, and no person may serve on the PC for more than six years under any circumstances. In nominating people to serve on the PC, the SCC will consider the Party's respect for diversity. At no time may all three members of the PC be of the same gender. [Key Values 7 & 8] The Resolution Committee (RC) ... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net Sun Jan 16 12:29:41 2005 From: JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net (Jean de Smet) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 12:29:41 -0500 Subject: {news} minutes of 1/13/05 Executive Committee meeting References: <000601c4fb6d$7e1aa920$f936f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Message-ID: <004001c4fbf0$f87d4aa0$37b1d942@jeansmet> RE: Process Committee. Since the board members are elected, do we want to put that on the general internal elections ballot? Or is that just a little too confusing... Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: edubrule To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 8:44 PM Subject: {news} minutes of 1/13/05 Executive Committee meeting Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS http://www.ctgreens.org/ - http://www.greenpartyus.org/ to unsubscribe click here mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Minutes of January 13, 2005 Executive Committee meeting--6:45pm-8:45 pm, Hartford office Financial matters. The fundraising letter (mailed 12/2/04 to 2200 registered Greens) has by now brought in $34 over the cost of the printing and mailing. We have paid the entire amount due to the mailing bureau. The Party checking account now holds approximately $700. Internal elections. The internal election committee plans to have the annual meeting in March, which elects co-chairs and other officers of the CTGP. Today we discussed whether a ballot packet (ballot, voting instructions, candidate statements, annual meeting location) could be sent to all CTGP members (members per the bylaws definition). This would be a mailing to the 2500 registered Greens and perhaps 500 other people; this would be costly. One alternative would be to send the ballot packet to those who voted in the 2004 internal elections, and send a postcard to the rest of the members. The postcard would contain information on the annual meeting and how to obtain a ballot and candidate statements (via phone call or via computer). We did a very rough calculation--the printing and mailing expenses of the latter plan might be $1600. Some contributions might come in from the mailing. We might need to spend money to rent rooms for the annual meeting (main room and ballot-counting room). Fundraising calls could be made, asking potential donors for contributions for the specific purpose of being able to mail the entire ballot packet to all CTGP members. The US Postal service can print and mail; Elizabeth has obtained information on this service. We encourage the internal elections committee to come up with a proposal (including dollar amount needed) by the January 25 SCC meeting. We encourage Greens to run for office (three co-chair positions--must represent both genders, treasurer, secretary, two representatives to the national Party and alternate). Replacement for Rachel Goodkind. The July 2004 SCC meeting elected the following as the Process Committee of the conflict resolution process: David Adams, Charlie Pillsbury, and Rachel Goodkind. David will be serving for one year, Charlie for two, and Rachel was to serve the three-year term. Rachel has moved out of Connecticut. Selecting a replacement for Rachel will be put on the agenda of the January 25 SCC meeting. The paragraphs governing this process are appended to these minutes. Rachel's replacement must be a female. Today we discussed whether the three members of the Process Committee must be from three different chapters. Charlie and (it appears) David have expressed their belief, in e-mails to us, that such a requirement only applied to the selection of Process Committee members that was done when the very first Process Committee was set up. Towns/chapters map. Bob has prepared a map showing the towns associated with each chapter. He will distribute this map within the CTGP and ask for comments. Unreimbursed expenditures of Chris Reilly. We had a lengthy discussion of a draft proposal from the Executive Committee to the SCC which expresses our belief that Chris should be reimbursed the money he paid for office rent in 2003 and early 2004. Connecticut law appears to prohibit loans from individuals to the CTGP; the concern behind the law may be that such loans could fail to be repaid and turn into nonrecorded contributions. Should the Executive Committee proposal simply state that we feel that Chris should be reimbursed, or should it state our belief as to what percent of Chris's rent expenditures should be paid from the CTGP versus the Hartford chapter? At its November 14, 2000 meeting, the SCC decided that the CTGP would pay half the rent (and half the utilities) of the CTGP office. The latter fact does not lead to a simple conclusion that the Hartford chapter owes half Chris half the rent money--the situation is more complicated (for example, the Sheff campaign paid toward Hartford office rent). Will Audrey's possible audit of CTGP books supply information relevant to these issues? The draft proposal will not be put on the agenda of the January 25 SCC meeting. Vas Nunes vs. Sevigny complaint. Elizabeth will contact David Adams and/or Charlie Pillsbury regarding whether a Resolution Committee has produced a report in response to this complaint. Possible formation of New Britain chapter. Mike reported that a New Britain chapter may be forming, with a possible candidate for mayor. Proposal to endorse March 5 "Bring the troops home" event. The Executive Committee will submit a proposal to the SCC asking for SCC endorsement of a March 5 event sponsored by the Bring The Troops Home Coalition. Possible death penalty press release. Perhaps Tim, possibly with assistance from Kaye Ward, can write a press release about the scheduled execution of Michael Ross. Mike has learned that the state of Connecticut is trying to keep anti-death penalty protesters a long distance away from the prison where the execution will occur--a freedom of speech/civil liberties issue. SCC agenda. The agenda for the January 25 SCC meeting was worked out. As usual, it will be posted to the News listserve a week before the meeting. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix. Excerpt from Conflict Resolution Process, revised after 1 year's experience. [NOTE: explanatory notes between brackets and in italics were not approved by the SCC and are not part of the Resolution Process, but reflect comments made at the April 2003 SCC meeting when the Resolution Process was adopted; recommended additions are in bold print; recommended deletions are in bold print between brackets.] RESOLUTION PROCESS STRUCTURE. The Resolution Process is a two-step process involving a standing (elected) Process Committee and ad hoc Resolution Committees appointed to dispose of each complaint. The Resolution Process functions are in order of importance: 1) fact-finding, 2) education, 3) mediation and reconciliation, and 4) corrective action. The Process Committee (PC) [prosecutor/grand jury function] consists of three people from different chapters who were nominated and elected by the SCC immediately after the SCC approved the Resolution Process. [The three people nominated and elected unanimously were David Adams, Rachel Goodkind and Lynah Linwood] These three people will serve until the SCC has reviewed, ratified or amended the Resolution Process, as described in the final paragraph below, in approximately one year. Upon ratification or amendment of the Process, three people will be elected immediately to serve for one year, two years and three years, respectively. After these initial terms, PC members will be elected to serve three-year terms, and no person may serve on the PC for more than six years under any circumstances. In nominating people to serve on the PC, the SCC will consider the Party's respect for diversity. At no time may all three members of the PC be of the same gender. [Key Values 7 & 8] The Resolution Committee (RC) ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To be removed please mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org _______________________________________________ CTGP-news mailing list CTGP-news at ml.greens.org http://ml.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/ctgp-news ATTENTION! The information in this transmission is privileged and confidential and intended only for the recipient listed above. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email and delete the original message. The text of this email is similar to ordinary or face-to-face conversations and does not reflect the level of factual or legal inquiry or analysis which would be applied in the case of a formal legal opinion and does not constitute a representation of the opinions of the CT Green Party. The responsibility for any messages posted herein is solely that of the person who sent the message, and the CT Green Party hereby leaves this responsibility in the hands of it's members. NOTE: This is an inherently insecure forum, please do not post confidential messages and always realize that your address can be faked, and although a message may appear to be from a certain individual, it is always possible that it is fakemail. This is mail sent by a third party under an illegally assumed identity for purposes of coercion, misdirection, or general mischief. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by e-mail at the address shown. This e-mail transmission may contain confidential information. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom it is intended even if addressed incorrectly. Please delete it from your files if you are not the intended recipient. Thank you for your compliance. To be removed please mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 19 00:02:17 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 00:02:17 -0500 Subject: {news} agenda--Jan 25 SCC meeting Message-ID: <003b01c4fde8$060e58a0$7bd7f504@edgn2b574u14bi> Agenda--January 25, 2004 SCC meeting Time: 7pm Location: Portland Public Library (Wagner Room) Directions (from library's website) (map at www.portland.lib.ct.us/directionsmap.htm): 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. -------------------------------------------- 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: David Eliscu 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 and December 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 [A proposal from the internal elections committee authorizing spending may be added to this agenda at the beginning of the meeting] D. REPORTS 1. Chapter reports (1 minute each) 2. (10 minutes) Executive Committee 3. (20 minutes) Internal Elections Committee 4. (10 minutes) Elections Committee 5. (2 minutes) Fundraising Committee 6. (1 minute) Budget Committee 7. (1 minute) Office Committee 8. (5 minutes) Conflict resolution committees 9. (2 minutes) Communications Committee 10. (2 minutes) Diversity Committee 11. (2 minutes) Women's Caucus 12. (2 minutes) Bylaws, Rules, Policies, and Procedures Committee 13. (2 minutes) IT (Information Technology) Committee 14. (2 minutes) Voters' Rights Working Group 15. (5 minutes) Report from US Green Party representatives 16. (5 minutes) VOTER 17. (10 minutes) Legislative report (Mike) NEW BUSINESS 1. (5 minutes) Select replacement on Process Committee for Rachel Goodkind, who has moved from Connecticut --must be female (Appendix 1) F. ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 1 Excerpt from Conflict Resolution Process, revised after 1 year's experience. [NOTE: explanatory notes between brackets and in italics were not approved by the SCC and are not part of the Resolution Process, but reflect comments made at the April 2003 SCC meeting when the Resolution Process was adopted; recommended additions are in bold print; recommended deletions are in bold print between brackets.] RESOLUTION PROCESS STRUCTURE. The Resolution Process is a two-step process involving a standing (elected) Process Committee and ad hoc Resolution Committees appointed to dispose of each complaint. The Resolution Process functions are in order of importance: 1) fact-finding, 2) education, 3) mediation and reconciliation, and 4) corrective action. The Process Committee (PC) [prosecutor/grand jury function] consists of three people from different chapters who were nominated and elected by the SCC immediately after the SCC approved the Resolution Process. [The three people nominated and elected unanimously were David Adams, Rachel Goodkind and Lynah Linwood] These three people will serve until the SCC has reviewed, ratified or amended the Resolution Process, as described in the final paragraph below, in approximately one year. Upon ratification or amendment of the Process, three people will be elected immediately to serve for one year, two years and three years, respectively. After these initial terms, PC members will be elected to serve three-year terms, and no person may serve on the PC for more than six years under any circumstances. In nominating people to serve on the PC, the SCC will consider the Party's respect for diversity. At no time may all three members of the PC be of the same gender. [Key Values 7 & 8] The Resolution Committee (RC) ... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 19 00:29:04 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 00:29:04 -0500 Subject: {news} panel member needed--"Youth in Politics" Message-ID: <003f01c4fde8$0e9fcc10$7bd7f504@edgn2b574u14bi> The following e-mail was sent to greens at ctgreens.org, the "contact us" address of the CTGP website. If you or someone you know might be interested in being on the panel, let me know, and I'll supply you with the contact information for Terri Saulter. I'm e-mailing Terri tonight and asking how many students might be in the audience for the panel. --Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: "SAULTER, TERESA M" [her e-mail address appears here] To: Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 10:50 AM Subject: Speaker > hello! My name is Terri Saulter and I am the chairman of the Hugh O'Brian > Youth Leadership Seminar. This years Connecticut Seminar will be March > 11-13th at the Vernon Quality Inn in Vernon. The seminar brings together > high school sophomores from around the state to listen to panels on a > variety of topics. > > One of our panels this year on the Youth in Politics. We were wondering > if anyone from your organization might be interested in speaking on our > panel which is scheduled for Friday March 11th from 1-2:30 p.m. The > Questions we hope to address in the panel are: > > Youth in the Political Process: Is there room in the political process for > young voters? Do the parties embrace the young votes? How can young > people be involved in the political process? Is showing up to vote enough? > What does it take to cast a responsible vote? > > Please let us know if someone from your organization would be interested > in participating. > > Thank you. > > Terri Saulter > [her phone number appears here] From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 19 15:45:46 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:45:46 -0500 Subject: {news} panel member for "Youth in Politics" panel found Message-ID: <000b01c4fe68$1bb9c5b0$a135f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Tim McKee has volunteered to speak on the "Youth in Politics" panel (the subject of a posting yesterday of mine). --Ed -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 19 16:50:58 2005 From: timmckee at sbcglobal.net (Tim McKee) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 13:50:58 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} (New London, CT "The Day")Green Party Member Wants to Wake Up the Electorate Message-ID: <20050119215058.73874.qmail@web81103.mail.yahoo.com> http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=6b2bc755-49cd-4612-b43d-c7ae1d735a7a Green Party Member Wants To Wake Up The Electorate Buy this PhotoTim CookKenric HansonBy KATE MORAN Day Staff Writer, New London Published on 1/16/2005 Kenric Hanson has no major gripes with the city about the services it provides. His trash gets picked up, his snow gets plowed, and he has confidence in the police and fire departments. But as a Green Party member in a city awash with Democrats, he thinks politics could benefit from a little more pluralism. In the 2003 local election, when Hanson ran for the school board and lost, he says he observed a great many voters who were isolated from the political process. While candidates knocked on doors in the southern and more affluent end of town, which has the heaviest voter turnout, they paid fewer visits to the first and second voting districts, he says. Hanson, 46 years old and a city resident for 15 years, says voters begin to feel indifferent to the small band of politicians whose names are recycled on the ballot year after year. This syndrome, he says, is reflected by the oddity of voters rejecting the city budget at the referendum in 2003 but then re-electing the very politicians who put it together. ?A big problem is the poor participation of the electorate, which I think nurtures a poor political environment where accountability isn't something that's maintained between voters and their representatives,? he said. Roughly 40 percent of registered voters participated in the last local election in November 2003. To shorten the distance between politicians and their constituents, he proposes a system of district representation in which voters would choose one person from their greater neighborhood to speak for them in City Hall rather than elect seven council members at-large. ?It seems the council and the city manager together represent a narrow viewpoint,? Hanson said. ?There's a minority population and a northern section of town with different views than those in city government.? Hanson, who is married and has children in the magnet elementary school in the city, counts himself among the 56 percent of residents polled who favor electing a strong mayor as the city's chief executive. A strong mayoral system, he says, would allow one person to assert a strong platform, awake voters out of political torpor and prevent the march of initiatives, such as eminent domain, that have, at best, ambivalent public support. ?If I were a strong mayor, I wouldn't be afraid of asserting myself in the direction that got me elected,? said Hanson, who is a self-employed Ocean Avenue resident. While generally satisfied with city services, Hanson thinks local government has gone about economic development in the wrong way. Instead of courting large corporations or national chains, such as CVS or Brooks pharmacies, he says, the city should boost homegrown businesses and help to renovate a few houses to stimulate a domino effect in neighborhoods teetering on blight. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at igc.org Wed Jan 19 23:03:25 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 23:03:25 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: the Death Penalty in CT: an update, 1/19 Message-ID: <003901c4fea4$fe061680$841efea9@S0031616584> the Death Penalty in CT: an update, 1/19in response to Robin - what you can do in the next 7 days - see below. Hi Charlie, Just read your message from Monday. What are you trying to organize? Are we writing Gov Rell or??? Let me know, I'd like to participate, Thanks, Robin ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Kobasa To: NetworkResponse: Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 7:53 PM Subject: the Death Penalty in CT: an update, 1/19 the Death Penalty in CT: An Update Please forward to groups, listserves and friends Whatever happens on January 26, we must persist in our work to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut 1) Continue to contact Governor Rell and call upon her to reconsider her earlier decision, and immediately grant a reprieve to Michael Ross. The Honorable M. Jodi Rell Office of the Governor State Capital 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 860- 566-4840/ 800- 406-1527 governor.rell at po.state.ct.us 2) The CNADP (CT Network to Abolish the Death Penalty) is continuing its vigils, now at the Legislative Office Building atrium from 11:00 to 1:00. The goal is to focus attention on the death penalty and scheduled 1/26/05 execution. Meet Amy Harris there and she will have stickers and any other materials and current information. If you can take a day, please contact Amy Harris (860)673 -1597 with the day you are available. 3) In reference to the vigils noted below, the ecumenical prayer service at 8:15 is a Christian prayer service, drawing from a number of different Christian communities. The inter-religious prayer vigil is open to all faith communities and not just Christian ones. Many of the invited speakers come from non-Christian traditions. Ecumenical Worship Service Sponsored by the Christian Conference of Connecticut January 25, 2005, 8:15 p.m. Saint Lawrence O'Toole Roman Catholic Church 494 New Britain Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut Our Christian heritage calls us to recognize the sovereignty of God alone over all life. In Genesis 1:26 we are told we are all "created in the image and likeness of God." Jesus also challenges us further with his law of forgiveness, "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22). A criminal conviction for a capital offense does not eliminate the inherent dignity and sacredness of the offender's life. Thus, we witness on this evening to the theological fact that no act, no matter how heinous, can place its perpetrator outside the circle of God's unconditional love. We believe that carrying out an execution is an admission of defeat by the state. It is an indication that the state does not know how to deal with capital offenders and leaves it no alternative to executing them. The state is reduced to the morally untenable position of killing someone in order to prove that it is wrong to kill someone. We gather together in the spirit of prayer for all those who mourn over deaths in their families. We gather together to commit ourselves anew, as Christians, to the abolition of the death penalty in the State of Connecticut. We gather together ecumenically in worship all those who would work for the day when no individual is seen as beyond redemption and all are fully reconciled in Christ. Inter-religious Prayer Vigil Sponsored by the Christian Conference of Connecticut January 25-26, 2005, 10:15 p.m.-12:45 a.m. Somers Congregational Church 599 Main St., Somers, Connecticut Religious leaders from a variety of religious traditions will be offering readings from their own traditions on non-violence and opposition to capital punishment. In a quiet, prayerful atmosphere, they will direct the moral reflection and silent meditation of those gathered. Readings will be offered intermittently during the inter-religious prayer vigil. For more information, please contact: The Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Sidorak, Jr., Executive Director Christian Conference of Connecticut, 60 Lorraine Street, Hartford, CT 06105 (860) 236-4281 (tel) (860) 236-9977 (fax) 4)Contact your state legislators. Information on adresses and phone numbers available at. Demand that they support abolition by voting for the bill which calls for it, and which will be considered in the Judiciary Committee this session. 5) Visit the website at for current updates, especially concerning plans for a vigil at the prison on January 26. The execution is scheduled for 2 a.m. Osborn Correctional Institution 100 Bilton Road Somers, CT 06071 >From I-91 North: Take I-91 north to Enfield, exit 48 (route 220). Take a right at the end of the ramp onto Elm Street (east). Go approximately one mile to a fork in the road. There is a traffic light at the fork. Bear left at the fork and go straight for several miles. Carl Robinson Correctional Institution is the first facility on the left. Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution is at the bottom of the hill and Enfield Correctional Institution is at the top of the hill. Osborn Correctional Institution and Northern Correctional Institution are the last facilities, on the right. 6) Join the CT Network to Abolish the Death Penalty.The CNADP is a coalition of many organizations and individuals. They meet at 7:00 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at the United Methodist Church, 571 Farmington Avenue, Hartford and at 7:00 on the 4th Tuesday of each month at the U -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Jan 21 15:17:16 2005 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:17:16 -0500 Subject: {news} Haaretz: Israeli government strips Palestinians of their East Jerusalem property Message-ID: <040101c4fff6$34474460$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Dear All, As yesterday's Haaretz' article indicates below, the Sharon government plans on implementing Israel's 1950 "Absentee Property Law" in East Jerusalem in an effort to steal Palestinian-owned land there from thousands of Palestinians currently living in the West Bank. This "law" is an Israeli catch-22 used to rationalize the earlier seizure of land from the 750,000+ Palestinians who were expelled/fled in the 1947-49 war. That is, Israel--forcibly preventing these refugees from returning to their homes/lands--declared them "absent" and then took their land. (BTW, those native Palestinians who managed to remain within Israel at the time but were internally displaced from their homes were also prevented from returning and had their land seized. They were assigned the legal oxymoron: "present absentees." Unlike non-native Jews, these natives to Palestine had to become "naturalized" in order to become Israeli citizens). Estimates show that by this action, Israel could end up appropriating up to half of all Palestinian-owned East Jerusalem property. This decision has already been approved by the prime minister and attorney general. This law is racist in that it is only applied to Palestinians. It's another mechanism that Israel is utilizing in order to seize land and illegally unify Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in violation of UN Resolution 252. So much for the new "window of peace" that purportedly came with Arafat's demise and the election of Abu Mazen, the US/Israeli man in Ramallah. Peace, Justine CT Greens =============================================== http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/529510.html w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last update - 15:01 20/01/2005 Gov't decision strips Palestinians of their East J'lem property By Meron Rappaport, Haaretz Correspondent The Sharon government implemented the Absentee Property Law in East Jerusalem last July, contrary to Israeli government policy, since Israeli law was extended to East Jerusalem after the Six Day War. The law means that thousands of Palestinians who live in the West Bank will lose ownership of their property in East Jerusalem. Government officials estimate the assets total thousands of dunam, while other estimates say they could add up to half of all East Jerusalem property. The government decision in July confirms a decision reached in the ministerial committee for Jerusalem affairs a month earlier. The decision was presented to the prime minister and attorney general and met with their approval, but the decision was not publicized until now and is not listed on the Web site of the Prime Minister's Office. The Absentee Property Law of 1950 stipulates, among other things, that an absentee is someone who at the time of the War of Independence "was in any part of the land of Israel that is outside the area of Israel" - that is, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to the law, absentee assets are transfered to the authority of the Custodian for Absentee Property, without the absentee being eligible for any compensation. When East Jerusalem came under Israeli law, then-attorney general Meir Shamgar directed that the law not be applied to West Bank residents who have property in the parts of East Jerusalem that became part of the State of Israel. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin reissued that directive in 1993. With the recent construction of the fence in the Jerusalem region, Palestinian landholders from Bethlehem and Beit Jala requested permission to continue working their fields, which are within Jerusalem's municipal jurisdiction. The state's response stated that the lands "no longer belong to them, but have been handed over to the Custodian for Absentee Property." At stake are thousands of dunam of agricultural land on which the Palestinians grew olives and grapes throughout the years. "These people's property was always considered absentee assets, but so long as no fence existed, these people could get to their property and everything was fine from their standpoint," said a senior judicial official involved in the case. "The fence is the result of terrorism. It's not fair that a man becomes an absentee because his tie to his land has been cut without his doing. But morality is one thing, and what is written in our laws another." The Palestinian landholders and their Israeli lawyers term it a "land grab," and also worry that nascent Housing Ministry plans will build on part of absentees' land. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=529510 close window -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 0.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: hpna Type: application/octet-stream Size: 44 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Jan 24 09:02:24 2005 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:02:24 -0500 Subject: {news} MERIP REPORT: Iran's Nuclear Posture and the Scars of War Message-ID: <06cf01c5021d$54d99560$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Dear All, FYI: Backround info on Iran as regime-change talk by Bush grows. Peace, Justine --------------------------------------------------- Iran's Nuclear Posture and the Scars of War Joost R. Hiltermann January 18, 2005 (Joost R. Hiltermann, Middle East Project director for the International Crisis Group in Amman, is completing a book on chemical weapons use during the Iran-Iraq war and consequences of international silence. He wrote this article in his personal capacity. He can be reached at joosthiltermann at yahoo.com.) In waging war on Iraq, one of the points the Bush administration sought to prove was that President Bill Clinton's policy of dual containment had failed -- that despite a decade of threats, sanctions, military action and UN-led disarmament, Iraq had continued to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Iraq, of course, was not the only target of dual containment. So was neighboring Iran, which likewise was suspected of having secret programs for building weapons of mass destruction and was seen as a destabilizing force hostile to US interests. If dual containment failed, it is not because Iraq managed to escape from its strictures. Iraq, it turned out, had no WMD in March 2003, and probably did not have any for most of the preceding decade. Dual containment failed because mounting evidence suggests that Iran is the country that has made significant advances in developing non-conventional weapons, so much so that some experts see the country's emergence as the Middle East's second nuclear power (after Israel) as likely within two or three years. It is even likely that Saddam Hussein was so acutely aware of the gathering danger across the border that for purposes of deterrence he kept up the pretense of hiding WMD, while declaring formally -- and truthfully -- that his arsenal had been dismantled by UN inspectors. The comprehensive report on Iraq's WMD "program-related activities," filed on September 30, 2004 by former inspector Charles Duelfer, certainly suggests as much. Iran, too, has issued repeated denials that it is pursuing WMD, demonstrating its innocence by placing its signature beneath all the key multilateral restraints the world has designed to put a brake on the development of such weapons: the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and others. Following revelations about its clandestine nuclear research in 2002, Iran pledged to allow UN inspections of the research facilities, then denied access to undeclared sites. In October 2003, Iran promised the trio of Britain, France and Germany that it would cease enriching uranium, only to resume enriching it less than a year later. Under another deal with the "European Three," concluded in November 2004, Tehran again agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, while continuing to insist that any such activity would aim only at a peaceful nuclear program. The most recent deal has held so far, but Iran's behavior has failed to allay international suspicions, particularly those of the United States. Whether Iran's nuclear program is strictly peaceful or intended for military purposes has not yet been established, but the program's potential is beyond doubt. Why is Iran engaged in this apparently dogged pursuit of WMD concealed by an endless series of dodges, half-truths and quasi-concessions it fails to implement? INSULT TO INJURY To understand the psychology of Iran's behavior, we have to look back to the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq fought a bloody eight-year war, initiated by a reckless Saddam Hussein, perpetuated futilely by a vengeful Khomeini regime and ending in a stalemate with neither having scored territorial gain but both having suffered staggering losses of life. By conservative estimates, some 400,000 Iraqis and Iranians were killed in the war. What finally compelled the Iranians to sue for peace was Iraq's escalating resort to ever more lethal chemical weapons as a means of subduing relentless Iranian "human wave" assaults that threatened to overwhelm its heavily fortified positions. Chemical weapons are first and foremost weapons of terror, causing mass panic instead of inflicting huge casualties. Unequipped and untrained, Iran's ragtag army of "volunteer" foot soldiers was easy prey for poison gases, which dispatched them in flight. In the final years of the war, Iraq's chemical bombardment of Kurdish civilian areas, both in Iran and Iraq, and the threat to similarly target Tehran eroded the popular morale that had underpinned the war effort of both Iranian military forces and Iraqi Kurdish insurgents. Iraq's non-conventional capabilities exposed a near fatal vulnerability in Iran's defenses. What was almost worse was that Tehran's repeated remonstrations with the United Nations fell virtually on deaf ears. For six years, Iranian diplomats wrought ever more sophisticated legal arguments to persuade the UN that it should have an institutional interest in upholding the relevant precepts of international humanitarian law. In particular, the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits "the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices," was directly on point. The UN's failure to uphold such precepts, the Iranians said, would undermine its credibility and impartiality, while giving rise to a regional arms race. Not only were Iranian claims of Iraqi chemical weapons use largely ignored at the time, Iran was declared a liar and a hypocrite (not entirely without justification, as both sides committed atrocities during the war). Eventually -- adding insult to injury -- the chemical charges were turned on the Iranians themselves, even if no convincing evidence of Iranian chemical weapons use was ever produced. The United States, initially neutral in the conflict, increasingly tilted toward Iraq, preferring a drawn-out stalemate between the two belligerents (who thus no longer would pose a threat to either Israel or the West's access to reasonably priced Gulf oil) or perhaps a victory by a weakened Iraq, but under no circumstances an Iranian one. Yet Iraq's growing resort to poison gas on the battlefield as well as against civilians became somewhat of an embarrassment to the Reagan administration. DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN At first, when journalists stood on the verge of exposing Iraq's wartime use of chemical weapons in the spring of 1984, Washington moved preemptively to condemn the Iraqis, slapping a ban on the export of chemical precursors to both Iraq and Iran. Internal documents show that US officials had been aware of Iraq's conduct for at least six months. Their condemnation came not a moment too late, because Iraq stood accused of the first recorded use of a nerve agent (tabun) on the battlefield. Then Donald Rumsfeld, President Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, undercut this stern message when he traveled to Baghdad to explain that Washington's position had been merely one of principle. Rumsfeld assured Iraq's foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, that the Reagan administration's support for the war against Iran and normalization of relations remained "undiminished." On November 26, 1984, the Iraqis were rewarded with the resumption of the diplomatic ties that had been severed since the June 1967 war. During Iran's next "final" offensive, in the spring of 1985, Iraq proved undeterred, deploying more sophisticated chemical weapons delivery systems in countering the enemy. By 1987, when the Iraqi regime started attacking Kurdish civilians (in both Iran and Iraq) with gas, Iraq's sponsors in Washington were forced to engage in further damage control. Buoyed by the defeat of their bureaucratic opponents in the Iran-contra scandal, they had stepped up their support of a regime that most agreed was unsavory but saw as a necessary bulwark against the spread of Islamist radicalism in the sensitive Gulf region. They plied the Iraqis with satellite intelligence of Iranian troop movements and encouraged allied Arab states to provide them with military hardware. These measures led the Iraqis to believe that they enjoyed Washington's benign tolerance of their war effort, whatever the means deployed. The result was more lethal chemical agents, used more massively than before, targeting now also civilian populations. The policy reached its apex with the wholesale gassing of the large Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in March 1988, an attack in which several thousand civilians perished. When evidence of civilian chemical casualties first emerged in April 1987, the Reagan administration moved from preemptive condemnation to active disinformation in an effort to diffuse Iraq's responsibility for waging chemical warfare. By blaming both sides equally, Iraq would effectively be let off the hook. By the fall of 1987, word was out that Iran had begun to respond to Iraqi chemical weapons outrages in kind. Baghdad repeatedly made such claims, and now Washington chimed in. Iran thus had to fight off accusations of perpetrating precisely the kinds of atrocities from which it had always claimed it had refrained out of deference to moral principles rooted in humanity and religion (not to mention that it lagged years behind Iraq in developing these weapons). Whatever voice it had on chemical warfare -- the only rhetorical edge it had enjoyed over Iraq in the war -- was now drowned out by contrary claims that directly challenged the moral high ground it had professed to be taking. Iran's own admonitions that it might eventually have no choice but to wage chemical warfare of its own certainly did not help. NAKED DECEPTION Initially, Iraqi claims that Iran was using chemical weapons had no empirical basis, and so they set about creating one. This was simple, since Iraq had a ready supply of chemical casualties of its own. These derived from two sources: gas dispersed incompetently by its own forces, and poorly manufactured, leaking munitions. There is substantial evidence that Iraqi airplanes routinely but unintentionally gassed their own ground forces. These self-inflicted casualties were often due to shifting winds, and they were especially likely to occur along the front lines where both sides' troops were entrenched in close proximity. The problem became more acute when Iran acquired American Hawk anti-aircraft missiles as part of the Iran-contra deals. Iran's new missile capability forced Iraqi bombers to fly at much higher altitudes, which greatly enlarged the field of dispersal of the various gases dropped. A post-war CIA report confirms the blowback problem. In attacking Iranian troops with chemical weapons, the CIA said, Iraq demonstrated "relatively little regard for the safety of Iraq's own troops who were in or near the chemically contaminated area.... Regardless of Iraq's rationale, large numbers of Iraq's own troops were killed or injured during Iraqi chemical attacks." Iraqi soldiers and pilots, interviewed in Iraq and elsewhere over the past four years, corroborate this conclusion. One pilot asserted that Iraqi planes accidentally bombed their own forces on many occasions with both conventional and chemical weapons. These mistakes, he said, caused many casualties. Moreover, he said, "Saddam Hussein was able to use the Iraqi victims as evidence of Iranian chemical weapons use." Iraq's chemical casualties were served up to visiting UN chemical experts in 1987 and 1988. Although the latter stated they were unable to establish that these were the victims of Iranian gas attacks, the public impression was left that indeed they were; in private conversations in the UN corridors in New York, however, the experts made clear that in their minds these soldiers were victims of Iraq's careless use of its own chemical munitions. When Iraqi planes gassed Halabja, the embarrassment potential was such that Washington went into disinformation overdrive. It took a week before the rhetorical counter-attack was ready for public display, but it was spectacularly successful. By suggesting deviously and on the basis of the flimsiest evidence that not only Iraq but also Iran had used gas in Halabja, State Department spokesmen lifted the onus off the Iraqis. Declassified cables show that US diplomats were then instructed to propagate this myth and dodge the "What's the evidence" question with the stock "Sorry, but that's classified information" response. They found a receptive audience. After all, why should anyone care? By taking American hostages, sponsoring the bombings and kidnappings carried out by Hizballah, and threatening the Middle East with an Islamic makeover on the Khomeini model, Iran had found itself in the international doghouse. Security Council Resolution 612 (May 3, 1988) condemning the Halabja atrocity came a long two months after the event and cast its disapproval on both governments in equal measure. In the final analysis, the only evidence for the convenient claim that Iran used chemical weapons during the war is that the US government said so. Somehow, this sufficed. The naked deception over Halabja, received with hosannas in Baghdad, gave the Iraqis the green light they needed to gas the war to an end. In a series of lightning counter-assaults against Iranian troops and Iraqi Kurdish guerrillas they used chemical weapons on the first day of each offensive to terrorize their adversaries, then pummeled the demoralized and retreating forces with tons of conventional munitions. They also threatened to place chemical payloads on the long-range missiles with which they had started bombarding Tehran, prompting a mass evacuation of civilians. Within three months, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini acquiesced to drinking from the "cup of poison," acknowledging Iran's inability to carry on and agreeing to a humiliating ceasefire. "DROPS OF INK ON PAPER" Iran and Iraq emerged from the war badly scarred, but to the Iranians the profound feeling of having been virtually alone, and -- at least on the chemical weapons issue -- of having been right and yet scorned, left perhaps the deepest scar. The young and inexperienced Islamic Republic learned two important lessons from its experience: first, never again allow yourself to be in a position of such strategic vulnerability and second, when you are facing the world's superpower, multilateral treaties and conventions are worthless. They decided to act on these insights. It is generally accepted that toward the end of the war Iran had gained the capability to field its own chemical weapons. Parliamentary speaker (and future president) Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared two months after war's end that "chemical bombs and biological weapons are poor man's atomic bombs and can easily be produced. We should at least consider them for our defense.... Although the use of such weapons is inhuman, the war taught us that international laws are only drops of ink on paper." In the 1990s Iraq was removed as a strategic threat, and Iran became an enthusiastic participant in international negotiations aimed at banning chemical weapons. In due course, after ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, Iran complied with its obligation under the convention to report its possession of chemical weapons, and these were subsequently destroyed under international supervision. Nevertheless, there are persistent suspicions that Iran continues to have an active chemical weapons program. If the suspicions are correct, the program would be an indisputable legacy of Iraq's repeated use of gas during the war and the failure of the international community to put an end to it. Moreover, the world's ability to challenge Iran on any programs it may have today is reduced dramatically by the Iranian perception that it has nothing to protect it from WMD in the hands of a regional power, such as Israel, but its own WMD deterrent. The current standoff over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program is a graphic illustration of the problem. Where to from here? How the nuclear question plays out will depend in part on how the internal debate unfolds inside Iran. One option that should be given serious consideration is the idea of a "grand bargain," whereby Iran would give up its nuclear weapons program, cease its military support of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups, and desist from running interference in Iraq in exchange for international support for its peaceful nuclear industry, guarantees of protection from regime change and other hostile military endeavors, and full reintegration into the community of nations. The Bush administration, whose accusations about Iran's nuclear weapons program are undermined by its track record of WMD claims in the run-up to the war in Iraq, would be prudent to work toward this goal before the nuclear genie successfully springs its confines. ----- A footnoted version of this article is available online at: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero011805.html For background on Iran's nuclear program, see Kaveh Ehsani and Chris Toensing, "Neo-Conservatives, Hardline Clerics and the Bomb," in Middle East Report 233 (Winter 2004). To order back issues of Middle East Report or to subscribe, visit MERIP's home page: http://www.merip.org Middle East Report Online is a free service of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Mon Jan 24 14:24:43 2005 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:24:43 +0000 Subject: {news} Ross Execution Postponed! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The Wed. execution has been postponed by the court! (Hartford Courant story below) Please stand by for vigil information in case the execution is rescheduled. (Keep up to date at http://www.dontkillinmynamect.org ) In the meantime, you can keep pressure on the legislature to abolish the death penalty. You can send an email easily thru ACLU or Amnesty Intl websites: ACLU Legislative Action Center: http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=BGCLU%20 Amnesty International Action Center: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=11460 http://www.ctnow.com/hc-ross-hold,1,6207065.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking&ctrack=1&cset=true Ross Execution Postponed By LYNNE TUOHY January 24 2005, 12:27 PM EST Wednesday's scheduled execution of serial killer Michael Ross, 45, was postponed indefinitely this morning by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny, so that Chatigny can hear arguments on Ross' mental competency. After hearing arguments from the state Public Defender's Office and from attorney Hubert Santos, who is assisting with legal strategy, Chatigny said he wanted to hear from experts on what effect close conditions of confinement over a long period of time have had on Ross' ability to truly volunteer to be executed, and the extent to which incarceration has affected what the judge called Ross' "volitional capacity." "After going through numerous court hearings, where our motives and actions were criticized, finally our position is being vindicated," said Chief Public Defender Gerard Smyth. "There is a legitimate basis for contending Ross is mentally incompetent that has not been reviewed by the courts at all. " Smyth said he applauds Chatigny's willingness to postpone the execution date. "There should be no rush to resolve all these serious and important issues so the execution can go forward on Jan. 26," Smyth said. The public defenders, who represented Ross for 17 of the 20 years he has been in custody, sought unsuccessfully to intervene last month in a competency hearing in New London Superior Court. They also submitted more than 150 pages of documents to the state Supreme Court in an effort to get Ross' mental state more closely assessed, but were rebuffed. Ross indicated in October that he wanted to forgo all further appeals and proceed to his execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday at 2:01 a.m. Ross was given the opportunity to participate in today's hearing in federal court by video closed circuit video relay from Osborn Correctional Institution, in Somers, where the execution was scheduled to take place, but he declined. His lawyer, T. R. Paulding, said Ross preferred to stick with his busy schedule of visitors, in the event that the execution does take place Wednesday, rather than get back into the legal fray. "I'm upset for him," Paulding said. "I'm upset for Michael. I'm very worried about him." There is the possibility that state prosecutors could appeal Chatigny's ruling immediately to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, but as of noon, when the court reconvened, they still were considering what strategy they would employ. The first witness scheduled to testify was Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist in Cambridge, Mass., who specializes in the psychiatric effects of stringent conditions of confinement and has closely studied death row inmates. In a document submitted to the state Supreme Court earlier this month, Grassian, had noted: ``It is this desperate need to regain control which underlies an inmate's decision to volunteer [for execution] by waiving his appeals and dismissing his attorneys. The post-conviction appeal process in capital cases is inherently grueling -- a roller coaster of hope and despair, and often of utter helplessness.'' Ross, 45, has admitted killing eight women in Connecticut and New York during the 1980s and raping most of his victims. He was sentenced to death in 1987 and again in 2000 for the murders of four young women in eastern Connecticut. His scheduled execution would be the first in New England since 1960. The public defenders have said all along that they felt their best chance of halting the execution of their former client lay in the federal courts, and specifically the 2nd Circuit, which has never passed judgment on the constitutionality of Connecticut's death penalty scheme. The appeals court has not had an occasion to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the resumption of executions in 1976. The federal appellate judges in New York -- removed from the emotionally-charged landscape in Connecticut -- may find it more palatable to issue a stay of the execution. This is the potential legal challenge that Ross himself has said he most feared. Chatigny had told Smyth to be prepared to call witnesses to support his claim that Ross is mentally incompetent, despite all other rulings and assertions to the contrary. Another federal judge, U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney, dismissed a challenge to the lethal injection process on Jan. 10, filed on behalf of Ross' father -- Dan Ross -- because he deemed Ross was mentally competent to make his own decisions and no one should be permitted to intervene in a contrary manner. Paulding has said that Ross has been concerned for quite a while that those acting in opposition to his stated wishes to be executed would reach the 2nd Circuit. "This has been his concern right along," Paulding said. Paulding also said the swirl of litigation has been unsettling to Ross, at a time when he is "trying to prepare himself mentally and emotionally" for his execution. Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant From chapillsbury at igc.org Wed Jan 26 22:00:36 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 22:00:36 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Update on the death penalty, 1/26 Message-ID: <001101c5041c$607b35d0$841efea9@S0031616584> Update on the death penalty, 1/26----- Original Message ----- Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 7:15 PM Subject: Update on the death penalty, 1/26 (Washington-AP, Jan. 26, 2005 6:00 PM ) _ There's word at this hour that Federal Judge Robert Chatigny in Hartford has issued a temporary restraining order stopping the execution for at least 10 days. Please circulate this information as widely as possible. Check the website www.DontKillInMyNameCT.org for updates. Please write the Governor and ask her to reconsider her threat to veto an abolition bill. Please contact your legislators and urge them to support an abolition bill. Please continue to gather signatures on the CNADP petition against the death penalty. At the last count, the Catholic Church gathered over 20,000 signatures on the weekends of 1/8 and 1/15! An incredible number, be we need every signature we can get. Also, on Monday, January 31, the Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the death penalty. CNADP would like to get as many abolition supporters as possible to attend: we want the hearing room filled to overflowing for the entire five hours. Here are the details on the hearing: The Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, January 31, 2005 from 2: 00 P. M. to 7: 00 P. M. in Room 2E of the LOB. Speaker order will be decided by a lottery system. Numbers may be drawn beginning at 9: 00 A. M. in Room 2500 of the LOB and will be available until 1: 30 P. M. The list of speakers will posted in Room 2E of the LOB at 1: 45 P. M. Please submit 65 copies of written testimony to Committee staff two hours prior to the start of the hearing in the Judiciary Committee, Room 2500 of the LOB. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Thu Jan 27 00:25:27 2005 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 05:25:27 +0000 Subject: {news} Better Motors, Better Batteries March 5 at Pequot Museum Message-ID: This symposium is organized by Fairfield County Green Remy Chevalier (Greenburbs.com editor). Keynote speaker is Ed "Eagle Man" McGaa, Sioux Tribal Leader who ran as a Minnesota Green Party candidate in a controversial campaign against Senator Paul Wellstone in 2002. I'm preparing a CT Green Party press release. Symposium details at http://www.bmbb.biz -------------------------------------------- From: http://www.atlantisrising.com Atlantis Rising magazine March/April 2005 ISSUE 50 (On newsstands everywhere by mid-February) REPORT FROM THE FRONT Tracking the News of the Coming Energy Revolution Sovereign Nations Fund Clean Energy By Jeane Manning While learning about an upcoming symposium on batteries and motors, I had the privilege of talking with Native American tribal leader Ed McGaa, known as Eagle Man. I couldn't help thinking that if Eagle Man were scientifically inclined, which he says he isn't, he'd take notice of the late Austrian forester and inventor Viktor Schauberger's ideas. Harmony with nature was Schauberger's theme, and it's also McGaa's. For countless generations, his people walked the talk. Before we get to his story, however, let's find out why McGaa-a lawyer, registered Oglala Sioux, author of books about native spirituality-will be the keynote speaker at the Better Motors, Better Batteries (BMBB) symposium on March 5. And why this technical meeting will be held at the Pequot Museum, which owes its success to the Foxwood Casino next door in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The BMBB symposium will be about smaller, lighter, cheaper, faster batteries and motors. No surprise there. But it's more than just a gathering of technophiles. The meeting will bring together an unusual mixture of people who have the potential to cooperatively make good things happen-a state's technology council, people from energy-related companies, perhaps experts in non-conventional energy sources, and Native American business competitors who are a formidable force when they unite and put their money where their spiritual/environmental mottos are. You can see that a seasoned leader such as McGaa can set the tone for uniting Native Indian tribal groups for a big-picture cause. The symposium plans came about because in nearby Weston, Connecticut, the think-tank Environmental Library Fund (ELF) is encouraging the win-win strategy behind it. A press release says the symposium, cosponsored by the ELF and its partner the electric-vehicle publication Electrifying Times, can be an opportunity for technological companies in Connecticut to preserve energy innovations in the state as well as revolutionize other aspects of R&D and manufacturing of energy components. The http://www.bmbb.biz website explains "What will set this symposium apart from other such professional meetings is that ELF, through its long and respectful relationship with Native American environmental interests, is guiding profits generated by Indian Casino Gaming into viable and profitable clean industries." Remy Chevalier, founder of the Environmental Library Fund, says both casinos in the area are creating new ways of doing business in Connecticut, in tune with their earth-stewardship and spiritual heritage. The Pequot museum is in part funded by earnings from Foxwood casino. Chevalier told me about visiting the other Native American casino nearby. He describes the Mohegun Sun as one of the country's most impressive green buildings. Built by the Mohegan Tribe in 1996, the casino has a Mohegan-themed design, and outstanding architecture. The Sky Dome-the world's largest planetarium dome-provides the casino with an ever-changing display of constellations. A seven-story waterfall adds to the experience. Chevalier says, "You plug in your quarter in that setting and you feel like you're donating to Gaia." The Foxwood casino has a Hard Rock Caf? which has "Save the Planet" emblazoned above its logo. Chevalier felt further inspired to urge McGaa, author of successful books such as Nature's Way, published by Harper Collins, and Mother Earth Spirituality (in its 33rd printing) to speak at the motors/batteries symposium. McGaa could help connect alternative energy professionals-and innovative research-with tribal interests in the Northeast. In keeping with the Pequot Museum's focus, McGaa will talk about environmental defense as it relates to the Native American heritage. The aim of the BMBB conference is to help restore a balance between energy-technology trade overseas and the need to preserve factory floor "handson" jobs in the state. Eco-awareness combined with bold business decisions could bring about that balance, it seems. For more than the 14 years I've known him, Chevalier has been pushing for a seriously funded project, supported with financial resources and expertise at the level of the historical Manhattan Project, to develop and commercialize clean-energy breakthroughs. His passion for the environment dates back to a life-changing night on a beach when he was a teenager- experiencing the cosmos as an interconnected web of life. Chevalier also has a history of connecting seemingly divergent elements. The nightclub in New York known as Wetlands became a hangout for enviros and a place to put sustainable-living information out there in an innovative way, due to his relentless promotion of the concept. He also successfully promoted the combining of fashion magazines and eco-awareness. To get serious about weaning our society away from polluting energy technologies, maybe we need to put it into a totally new context, he told me recently. Expecting big government or megacorporations to fund a shift away from the status-quo of dirty energy technologies had been unrealistic. Perhaps now his home state's job-drain crisis, along with factors such as purses full of coins draining into casinos, can be transformed into that opportunity. His new concept fits with Chevalier's respect for the insights of genuine Native American environmental and spiritual leaders. What was that about a job-drain? Chevalier replies that Connecticut is referred to in energy circles as The Fuel Cell State. For 30 years, most fuel cells for space and military applications were made in the state. But when civilian uses of fuel cells became attractive, the manufacturing of fuel cells began to spread around the world-mainly to Japan, and now to China. Connecticut therefore is now faced with a hemorrhaging of state-of-the-art energy conversion technologies away from their birthplace. Chevalier says this could negatively impact future generations of Americans, financially and strategically. On the other hand, Connecticut's availability of skilled workers could be turned into an advantage. Chevalier feels that too much undue attention to fuel cells has diverted focus from improving the efficiency of 100% electrical battery storage (the buzz words of the moment are nanotech and aerogel) as well as from improving motor efficiency. Most commercial motors today are still copper wound. Improving pure electrical battery storage and making motors more efficient would at long last enable the mass production of a truly revolutionary generation of electric vehicles. Chevalier says this could give Connecticut, and more specifically, Indian lands in that state, amazing new high tech opportunities. General Electric and makers of many of today's commercial electric motors call Connecticut home. GE, by the way, inaugurated a wind power division recently. One of the world's largest suppliers of consumer batteries, Duracell, is headquartered in the state, and Eveready and Rayovac also have facilities there. Those corporations, however, don't rock the vested-interest boat with truly revolutionary new energy products. Instead, they competitively improve on old technologies that in my opinion have little hope of liberating us from King Oil and the Nasty Nukes. Yes, nukes too. Building many more nuclear fission plants is part of the establishment vision for a "hydrogen economy." Wind and solar are allowed by megacorporate interests, it seems, as long as those alternatives don't get so cost-effective and widespread that they replace the nation's fossil-fuel addiction. Right now those standard renewable-energy alternatives provide only a tiny fraction of America's power needs. They aren't any threat to oil's dominance in the world. If mega-corporations won't lead an energy revolution, who will? Perhaps sovereign states are the answer. The tiny country of Monaco is contributing to electric vehicle state-of-the-art with the 0-60 in 3.4 seconds Venturi Fetish. Gibraltar has its breakthroughs too-an electric motor named Chorus, which takes advantage of harmonic resonances rather than trying to suppress them. Instead of reshuffling the 50-year-old basic electric motor, the company in Gibraltar has something really new, with five times the performance of other motors in the class. They recently signed a deal with Boeing Phantom Works. Underestimated independent little countries are finding their stride. Speaking of sovereignty, of course in North America it's been reclaimed by Native Americans. Eagle Man BMBB Symposium keynote speaker Ed McGaa is one of those independent Native Americans with a history of standing up for what he believes is right. He joined up for the Korean War at age 17, came back as a Marine Corporal, earned an undergraduate degree, then later rejoined the Marine Corps to become a Phantom F4 fighter pilot in Vietnam. When he returned to his home, the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, he was a much-decorated veteran. Eight days later, he jumped into law school at the state university. All along, his most revered teachers were Sioux holy men Chief Eagle Feather and Chief Fool's Crow. His association with them started in the 1950s when the Sun Dance secretly resurfaced. Ben Black Elk was another close mentor. McGaa danced in six annual Sioux Sun Dances. The Sun Dance led him to the seven Mother Earth ceremonies. McGaa was immersed in learning from his people's holy men, even flying them in light planes to offreservation ceremonies. Native spiritual ceremonies were still banned by the U S government. For a while the forbidden ceremonies took place in the most remote parts of the Badlands, until an elder said it was not right to hide their ceremonial activities. One year McGaa stood alone in defiance of a priest who once again arrived at the Sun Dance tree, in a truck carrying a portable altar, to stop a four-day Sun Dance from continuing on a Sunday. McGaa was the victor in the confrontation. The next year McGaa brought members of the American Indian Movement, who stood by while the Oglala Sioux had their Sun Dance. The year after that the AIM members participated. The ban on the ceremonies wasn't declared unconstitutional until the U.S. Congress' Freedom of Religion Act in 1978 finally recognized the injustice. What does this have to do with new energy-related research and development? My reply is that it's an attitude thing. The prevalent political mindset in the western industrialized countries consistently places barriers in front of truly revolutionary new energy inventions and consistently manipulates taxpayers into propping up fossil fuels and nuclear fission. I've written enough about those barriers erected by the bureaucratic/ academic/ corporate/ military/ media establishment. The liberating clean-energy revolution won't be started by that fossilized-attitude club. Now I'm hoping that funding for new energy developments will come from some unexpected direction, possibly from some group or nation that has the guts to stand alone for what it believes is right-cleaning up Mother Earth's waters, air, soils and whatever else we've polluted. Will our Native Americans be such a group? McGaa in all honesty admits that not every one of the people known as American Indians lives by the traditional ethic of respect and harmony with nature. On his home reservation, however, most of the young people are returning to their spiritual heritage. It seems to me that we should have another look at that heritage, as well as to keep an eye on the momentum that McGaa could help start in Connecticut. McGaa says, "Our beliefs and commonsense culture are very different from Dominant Society." His books call for a major change in the way people relate to the world. McGaa says if we begin to live by the principles that are demonstrated by the world of nature itself, we will then be in harmony with the world, rather than taking from it destructively. For instance, he discusses lessons humans can learn from animals, such as the lioness's aptitude for balancing male and female energy. I haven't read McGaa's new book yet, so will quote Chevalier's review which sums up this topic. He says McGaa makes one realize that the native American love and unity with the earth is not just some greenwashing PR scam. Further, Chevalier recommends the book to people who are fascinated by native culture's sudden regaining of control over their lives-a luxury afforded to them by the realization that sovereignty over their lands entitles all Indian tribes to a slew of business opportunities never before possible. "If the growing cash flow of reservation casinos can translate into environmental industries, which it already has at resorts like the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, this book may very well be the rallying call tribal leaders needed to make strength in numbers." From chapillsbury at igc.org Thu Jan 27 23:36:10 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:36:10 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Help for Needed Colombia Activists' Tour Message-ID: <003d01c504f2$e4181f30$841efea9@S0031616584> Help for Needed Colombia Activists' Tour ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Kobasa To: Recipient List Suppressed: Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 10:54 PM Subject: Help for Needed Colombia Activists' Tour Friends...The U.S. Office on Colombia is a non-profit in Washington that is working to protect human rights in Colombia and insist on a U.S. policy in Colombia that supports peace and justice instead of sending billions of dollars to an abusive military. Every year, USOC brings peace and justice workers from Colombia to the US to speak to audiences about the situation in their country and the role of US foreign policy. This year's tour involves two speakers, Isabel Ortiz from a women's rights organization and Jenny Neme, co-Director of Justapaz, a justice and peace organization that is a ministry of the Colombian Mennonite Church. Further details of the tour included below. USOC is hoping to set up activities for these great speakers in parts of CT approximately Feb 24-26. They are trying to hit specific congressional districts on this tour to influence the votes in Congress on this issue. The two districts they plan to focus on in CT are Nancy Johnson's district (Danbury, New Britain, Waterbury, Torrington, Meriden) and Christopher Shays' district (Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Trumbull). Annyone on this list who would be interested and willing to help them set up speaking engagements in any of those locations is asked to contact me as soon aspossible at . I would also appreciate having the names of other possible contacts whom you might want to suggest. in peace, Stephen U.S. Office on Colombia connecting civil society to policymakers Announces Tour to Connecticut and Pennsylvania! Colombians Tell Their Story: The Real Impact of War and U.S. Foreign Policy February 18-27, 2005 Sponsored by the U.S. Office on Colombia The US Office on Colombia is proud to sponsor a tour, featuring Jenny Neme and Isabel Ortiz of Colombia, which will visit Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Ms. Neme, the co-Director of Justapaz, a Colombian Mennonite justice and peace organization, and Ms. Ortiz, founder and director of Women and Future, come to the United States to address the impact of Colombia's war on churches, children and women as well as the role of U.S. policy. Join us in Pennsylvania and Connecticut The speakers will draw on their first-hand experience and expertise to discuss the armed conflict in Colombia and the impact of U.S. policy. The presentations will be in Spanish with English translation provided. For decades left-wing guerrillas and pro-government paramilitaries have assassinated, kidnapped, tortured and displaced civilians in Colombia. According to the State Department, the Colombian Armed Forces actively collaborate with the paramilitary groups. Yet the U.S. government has provided Colombia with over $3 billion in mostly military and police aid since 2000. During that time the violence has continued - with over one million more people displaced from their homes - and the amount of drugs reaching the our shores has remained unchanged. Yet last year President Bush and Congress doubled the number of U.S. military personnel authorized for deployment in Colombia and are set to consider sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Colombia's security forces again this year. USOC is a Washington-based non-governmental organization dedicated to educating the public, Congress and the media about the impact of U.S. policy in Colombia. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From capeconn at comcast.net Fri Jan 28 10:29:58 2005 From: capeconn at comcast.net (Tom Sevigny) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 10:29:58 -0500 Subject: {news} Notes from Strategy meeting Message-ID: <002a01c5054e$3a4c3cf0$dd8f0218@sevigny8wcbjrd> Notes from last Saturday's strategy meeting are below. Overall, the meeting was very positive and, IMO, the discussions we had were an excellent foundation for future meetings. NOTES 1. PROS/CONS of 2004 elections PROS a. increased access to media and debates b. gain in votes from "non-classic" constituencies CONS a. Loss votes in traditional constituencies b. Negative Green image or non-image 2. PROJECT FOR A GREEN CT - two year plan A. Formation of election committee a. Develop platform b. Find candidates c. Increase media coverage both traditional and non-traditional B. Fundraising committee a. Develop efficient fundraising committee C. Develop media/PR committee D. Develop timeline & tactics E. Run candidates at local level 3. INTERNAL STRUCTURE (action Plan) a. Financial - Fundraising/Budget b. Outreach - Media/PR/Diversity c. Electoral d. Policy - Platform e. Internal - bylaws 4. SLATE OF CANDIDATES - Complete or targeted? 5. GENERAL IDEAS a. Greens not just "protest party" b. Develop candidates through apprenticeships c. Look for candidates with party discipline and loyalty d. Simplify 10 key values/platform e. Emphasize what we are for, not just what we're against f. Create GP identity 6. NEXT STEPS a. Have another strategy meeting b. at that meeting create committees/internal structure that will actually move strategy forward. DETAILS OF THE TIME/PLACE OF NEXT MEETING WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON. WE NEED AS MANY PEOPLE TO ATTEND THE NEXT STRATEGY MEETING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WE NEED PEOPLE TO VOLUNTEER FOR COMMITTEES AND GET INVOLVED. In Solidarity, Tom -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From embrancato at netzero.com Sat Jan 29 10:32:51 2005 From: embrancato at netzero.com (Elizabeth M. Brancato) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:32:51 -0500 Subject: {news} IMPORTANT Hearing on Monday Message-ID: <41FBACA3.8070004@netzero.com> *MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 * *The Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, January 31, 2005 from 2: 00 P. M. to 7: 00 P. M. in Room 2E of the LOB.* *WE HAVE TO PACK THIS ROOM - IF YOU DO ANY ONE THING, PLEASE ATTEND THIS EVENT!!!* Speaker order will be decided by a lottery system. Numbers may be drawn beginning at 9: 00 A. M. in Room 2500 of the LOB and will be available until 1: 30 P. M. The list of speakers will posted in Room 2E of the LOB at 1: 45 P. M. Please submit 65 copies of written testimony to Committee staff two hours prior to the start of the hearing in the Judiciary Committee, Room 2500 of the LOB. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. SUBJECT MATTER: Death Penalty *H. B. No. 6012 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING MURDER WITH SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at igc.org Sat Jan 29 12:20:56 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:20:56 -0500 Subject: {news} CHRO dismisses Amy's complaint References: <000601c4fb6d$7e1aa920$f936f704@edgn2b574u14bi> Message-ID: <004801c50626$e54a68b0$841efea9@S0031616584> This morning I went to the Post Office and signed for our copy of a certified letter dated 01/18/05 from the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to Amy VasNunes. The letter states: "The complaint fails to state a claim for relief and should be dismissed because: The complaint is untimely filed. The incidents that the Complainant complained of (i.e., the outburst and Complainant's removal from the Committee) occurred in November 6, 2003. The Complainant filed the instant complaint on August 9, 2004, 429 [?] days after the alleged incident occurred." Aside from the fact that the CHRO cannot count, I think their decision still holds because I think that a CHRO complaint must be filed within 180 days of the alleged incident, which would have been early May 2004. In any case, Amy has "fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of this letter" to request a reconsideration of CHRO's decision to dismiss her complaint for this reason. Charlie Pillsbury 247 Saint Ronan Street New Haven CT 06511 203-865-6575 chapillsbury at igc.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Jan 29 14:58:59 2005 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:58:59 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Darfur program in Storrs Message-ID: <0d1a01c50643$675de770$0da4f504@edgn2b574u14bi> ----- Original Message ----- From: Kasha Ho To: Kasha Ho Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:06 PM Subject: Darfur program in Storrs DARFUR. What is happening? What can be done? A special evening sponsored by Storrs Friends Meeting (Quakers) will focus on the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan which has now claimed 70,000 lives and driven 2 million from their homes. Addressing the issue are three outstanding speakers: Chris Allen-Doucot, a social activist who recently visited Darfur as part of a Catholic Worker peace team; Dr. Amii Omara-Otunnu, executive director of the UNESCO human rights chair and ANC Partnership at the University of Connecticut; and Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, a.k.a. Mohamed Elgadi, a Sudanese human rights activist and a torture survivor of the Sudanese regime, now works for the American Friends Service Committee on immigrant and refugee issues. The program will take place Friday, Jan. 28, at 7:00 p.m. at Storrs Friends Meeting, located at the intersection of North Eagleville Rd. and Hunting Lodge Rd., in Storrs, CT. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (860) 429-6803. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From embrancato at netzero.com Sun Jan 30 16:57:50 2005 From: embrancato at netzero.com (Elizabeth M. Brancato) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:57:50 -0500 Subject: {news} [Fwd: [gpcwc] IMPORTANT Hearing on Monday] Message-ID: <41FD585E.3060503@netzero.com> *MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 * *The Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, January 31, 2005 from 2: 00 P. M. to 7: 00 P. M. in Room 2E of the LOB.* *WE HAVE TO PACK THIS ROOM - IF YOU DO ANY ONE THING, PLEASE ATTEND THIS EVENT!!!* Speaker order will be decided by a lottery system. Numbers may be drawn beginning at 9: 00 A. M. in Room 2500 of the LOB and will be available until 1: 30 P. M. The list of speakers will posted in Room 2E of the LOB at 1: 45 P. M. Please submit 65 copies of written testimony to Committee staff two hours prior to the start of the hearing in the Judiciary Committee, Room 2500 of the LOB. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. SUBJECT MATTER: Death Penalty *H. B. No. 6012 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING MURDER WITH SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. From chapillsbury at igc.org Sun Jan 30 17:10:41 2005 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:10:41 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: Death Penalty update, 1/30 Message-ID: <003901c50718$89d2a4a0$841efea9@S0031616584> Death Penalty update, 1/30 ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Kobasa To: Recipient List Suppressed: Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 2:22 PM Subject: Death Penalty update, 1/30 As of this time (Sunday, 1 p.m.) the execution of Michael Ross is set for tomorrow, Monday, January 31st, at 9 p.m. But this could change, so please check e-mail and web page frequently There is a possibility that "60 Minutes" this evening will carry a report on the Ross case.Check local listings. If the execution does proceed, people are asked to be in Somers/Enfield Monday night at Shaker Field by 8 p.m. - the Somers Congregational Church will be open by 5 p.m. HOWEVER, whatever happens in regard to the execution, please note that The Judiciary Committee is holding a public hearing on the death penalty tomorrow, January 31, and they are considering a bill to repeal the law. PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ATTEND THIS HEARING. If you do not wish to speak, just show up any time after 1:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. You can stay some or all of the time, but we must PACK THIS MEETING WITH ANTI-DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE. The legislators are going out on a limb on this one and we need to show them they have support. CALL THEM, WRITE THEM, STOP BY THEIR OFFICES WHILE YOU ARE THERE but please let them know we are out there. We will leave the Legislative Office Building when the meeting ends at 7 p.m. and go to Shaker Field directly if need be. The meeting will last from 2: 00 P. M. to 7: 00 P. M. in Room 2E of the LOB. Speaker order will be decided by a lottery system. Numbers may be drawn beginning at 9: 00 A. M. in Room 2500 of the LOB and will be available until 1: 30 P. M. The list of speakers will posted in Room 2E of the LOB at 1: 45 P. M. Please submit 65 copies of written testimony to Committee staff two hours prior to the start of the hearing in the Judiciary Committee, Room 2500 of the LOB. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. Please, if you do only one thing this year, get to Hartford Monday afternoon. Parking can be a problem. You can try to find a spot behind the Legislative Office Building - this fills up fast. Other parking alternatives 1) on the street - free and meters 2) free lot on Capitol Avenue - on corner of Broad Street - free, but unpaved and unsupervised. This is a free for all 3) Park at paid lot at CEA Headquarters on Oak Street - directly across from the LOB - $12 for three hours or more 4) park at lots near the Bushnell and that area near the Courthouse on Main Street Continue to contact Governor Rell and call upon her to reconsider her earlier decision, and immediately grant a reprieve to Michael Ross. Please also ask the governor to reconsider her threat to veto an abolition bill. The Honorable M. Jodi Rell Office of the Governor State Capital 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 860- 566-4840/ 800- 406-1527 governor.rell at po.state.ct.us -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: