From efficacy at msn.com Sat Jul 1 06:43:55 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 06:43:55 -0400 Subject: {news} PRISON FOR YOU, YES, BUT NOT FOR ME Message-ID: I really don't think the Green Party realizes the opportunity we have here. We must get on the ballot. The whole world is watching and waiting for us to get on the ballot. Especially the drug reform movement and the all the money they will contribute to my campaign. We have to captolize. Cliff click here for this article's associated links PRISON FOR YOU, YES, BUT NOT FOR ME By John Stossel Our elected officials say they are just like the rest of us. But that's a myth. "The king can do no wrong" is often closer to the truth. Consider drug use. In 1992, when Presidential candidate Bill Clinton was asked about his, he said, "I have never broken the laws of my country." It was one of those lawyerly language tricks, which was revealed when a reporter later asked him about laws in other countries. "I have never broken a state law," he said. "When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it and didn't inhale." There was a smirk on his face; it was clear drug use was no big deal to him. Remember when he played the sax on TV? What got him the biggest laugh that night was talking about smoking dope: "That's how I learned to inhale, by playing my saxophone," he said, grinning. "You blow out and then you have to inhale." Everyone applauded. What fun. His vice president, Al Gore, did drugs, too -- "as a student, a few times in the army" -- and so did other officials, like former Senator Bill Bradley and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Our current President simply admitted to "mistakes" in his youth, and his father, George H.W. Bush, when asked if he had ever smoked grass, replied, "No, but I'd hate to speak for my kids." It's something to chuckle about. After all, more than 30 million Americans have tried cocaine, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use. Ninety million Americans have used marijuana at least once. "It is not a big deal," said Bill Clinton. But if it's no big deal, why did he and his vice president push for tougher drug laws with longer jail time, and why are we arresting more people than ever, more than 1.5 million Americans a year, on drug charges? The biggest category of arrest is possession of marijuana. We arrest more people for marijuana than for rape, robbery, murder, and aggravated assault combined. Eight out of 10 drug arrests are just for possession -- for exactly what the politicians admitted to doing. Ha ha. We'll smoke grass and joke about it, but you, we'll lock up. Hypocrites. The hypocrisy also comes out when their friends and family get caught. Likely 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain, R-Ariz., has advocated tougher drug laws, but in the early 1990s, his wife, Cindy, stole Percocet and Vicodin from a charity. She was not prosecuted. Percocet and Vicodin are Schedule II drugs, in the same legal category as opium. Each pill theft carries a penalty of one year in prison and a monetary fine. But Mrs. McCain entered a pretrial diversion program and escaped without a criminal record. The son of Duke "Death Penalty for Drug Kingpins" Cunningham, R-Calif., was convicted for possession of 400 pounds of marijuana. Mother Jones reported that in court, the congressman cried and pleaded for mercy, explaining that his son "has a good heart. He works hard." The congressman -- who denounced "soft-on-crime liberal judges" and railed against "reduced mandatory-minimum sentences for drug trafficking" ( and who himself is now in prison for taking bribes ) -- won for his son the mercy he fought to deny others: half the federal "mandatory" minimum sentence. All too often, officials protect themselves and their families from the punishments they set up for the rest of us. Using drugs might be a crime for you, but it's a joke for someone named Bush or Clinton. Our rulers make laws to control and punish you and your family for doing the very acts they flaunted in their youth. Smoking pot is not a big deal. If the politicians have enough common sense to know that their lives shouldn't be ruined over a little drug use, they should also have enough common decency to recognize that neither should anyone else's. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated links<>: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net Sat Jul 1 12:18:33 2006 From: JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net (Jean de Smet) Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 12:18:33 -0400 Subject: {news} 4th of July, Boom Box Parade, Willimantic Message-ID: <000201c69d2a$05491260$30ddf504@jean1oa1rgr0ov> On July 4th, the Willimantic Boom Box Parade is the place to be! Especially for Greens. The Parade exemplifies our key values: grassroots, participatory democracy where anything goes! All the major media will cover the parade, and all the major candidates will be there. The Green Candidates need 10,000 signatures to just get on the ballot. Coincidentally, there will be about 10,000 people at the Boom Box Parade! What a great opportunity for us to have fun and get a lot of the petitioning done at the same time. Let's meet at 9:30 in the Jillson Parking lot, in front of the former cinema (directions below). We can easily get the parade marchers to sign as they assemble, because they are just hanging around waiting, and looking for interesting people (like us) to talk to. If there's 20 of us, we might get half of them! The marchers aren?t ?marchers? per se. They are just people like us with their dogs and kids and trucks and boomboxes. We can walk the parade route, too, and get signatures from the observers. Or, if Ken can bring our banner, we can definitely walk in the parade. Bring a boombox! There is no pre-registration required, we can hand out leaflets for Ralph and Cliff, etc. We easily give away 1000 flyers when we do this. It's a great way to be seen. We always get a great reception, and people are familiar with the Greens in Willi. In my petitioning, I've only had 4 people out of 200 refuse to sign. So, this is fertile ground! Let's make our presence felt. To get to Jillson Square: Technically, Jillson is on Route 66, Main Street. Coming from east and west, you?ll be on scenic Route 6. Route 6 becomes an expressway in Windham. Take the exit marked ?UConn?, and follow the signs to Route 195/UConn. Take a right on 195, which in about ? mile becomes Jackson Street at Mama?s Pizza (don?t go left and follow 195). Keep going straight into Willi, about another mile. Go right on Valley Street, which is at the corner of Jillson Square. Take the first driveway on your left into the parking lot. If you miss Valley, you?ll see the famous Frog Bridge in front of you, but turn right on Main, and right into Jillson parking lot. The former movie theater is the only building there. >From the south, take Route 32, go over the Frog Bridge in Willi, ta da, you?re here. From the north, just come down Route 195 or route 32 into Willi. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Sat Jul 1 12:55:50 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 12:55:50 -0400 Subject: {news} Looking for a convertable car Message-ID: Hello, Would anyone know anyone that has a convertible to be used over the 4th for parades up in Willimantic? Please get back to me or Ken Krayeske 860 295 0222 or me 860 657 8438. Cliff -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 3 17:02:30 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 17:02:30 -0400 Subject: {news} Paying for college with lottery proposed Message-ID: http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16875128&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6 Paying for college with lottery proposed Maria Garriga, Register Staff 07/03/2006 Email to a friendPrinter-friendly The Green Party candidate for governor, Cliff Thornton, wants to give the state's college students free tuition, funded through lottery earnings. But while the other candidates running for governor agree that costly college tuition is a problem, they generally don't see lottery funds as the answer. "Anyone who wants to go to college should be able to go to college," said Thornton, a retired Southern New England Telephone Co. manager who lives in Glastonbury. Thornton's plan would be similar to the Hope Scholarships in Georgia, which give free college tuition to residents who maintain a B average. To give students an incentive to work for the money, he would make the scholarships contingent on students maintaining a 2.0 grade point average at two-year colleges and a 3.0 at four-year colleges. Thornton said the money to make this happen is already available. "In the fiscal year 2005, the Connecticut lottery provided $268.5 million to the state's general fund, where it is used as a slush fund for all sorts of pet projects and pork barrel. Why not dedicate it solely for free tuition for our students?" Thornton asked. "When students take out loans, they are paying the loans back for half their lives." Thornton's free tuition plan would pay for public institutions in-state and would contribute the cost of an in-state public college toward the cost of attending private colleges. According to the state Division of Special Revenue, the lottery revenue went into the state's general budget and was used for a variety of purposes: 21.7 percent or $58.4 million of the lottery revenue was used for state Medicaid costs; 15.35 percent or $41.2 million went to the Department of Education; 10.1 percent or $27.1 percent was used to pay off old state borrowing. The rest of the lottery money was used for a variety of programs. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican who is seeking re-election, said through a spokesman that she would not support the plan to use lottery funds to give state college students free tuition. "Certainly she would support ways to make college more affordable, but the real question is how to pay for it," said Rell's campaign spokesman Rich Harris. "The lottery funds are already overextended." Harris said Rell proposed a tuition freeze last year but it was rejected by the General Assembly. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., who, along with Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in an Aug. 8 primary, said the lottery funds have already been fully tapped for necessary programs. "Tuition should never be a barrier for a person wanting to attend one of Connecticut's colleges or universities and ... Connecticut should consider its own type of Hope Scholarship program, similar to Georgia's," said Derek Slap, DeStefano's campaign spokesman. Slap said DeStefano proposed the In-demand Scholars Program - providing more than $175 million in targeted scholarships to students pursuing careers in nursing, engineering and the sciences. The scholarship will require a four-year residence in the state to prevent brain drain. If a scholarship-holder leaves the state before completing the residency requirement, the scholarship will be treated as a loan under DeStefano's proposal. Malloy's camp is more sympathetic to the idea of using lottery funds for free college tuition but stopped short of endorsing it. "When the concept of the lottery and the casinos (was) pitched to the people of Connecticut, it was promised both would be solely dedicated to education. That hasn't happened during the Rowland and Rell administrations, and that's why Connecticut has some of the highest property taxes in the country," said Malloy's campaign manager, Chris Cooney. Malloy would expand school revenue sources, Cooney said. "We should draw on the lottery income, casino income, income taxes, property taxes and utility taxes. That would alleviate the property tax burden on Connecticut's working families," Cooney said. Malloy's plan would freeze tuition at state colleges and universities, offer reduced "seasonal prices" for winter and summer courses, slash the tuition rate at the University of Connecticut's branch campuses and offer a $1,000 tuition rebate to students who graduate within four years with a B-plus grade point average. Malloy would also create a "Teach for Connecticut" student loan reimbursement program to attract highly skilled graduates to obtain certification and teach in critical shortage areas. ?New Haven Register 2006 Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: email_this_article.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: printversion.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=461&BRD=1281&LOCALPCT=100&AREA=515&VERT=349&NAREA=470&barnd=7430 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 42 bytes Desc: not available URL: From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 3 17:06:31 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 17:06:31 -0400 Subject: {news} Drugs keep guns on the street Message-ID: http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16875126&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6 Connecticut Drugs keep guns on the street William Kaempffer, Register Staff 07/03/2006 Email to a friendPrinter-friendly Clifford Allderige doesn't immediately spring to mind when you envision an illegal gun trafficker. But the decorated former Hamden police officer, who retired in 2001 on a disability pension after 14 years on the force, is accused of providing at least three guns to a New Haven drug dealer after developing a crack cocaine habit and running up a debt. Every year, New Haven police seize hundreds of guns off city streets, but a steady flow of replacements keep youths and criminals supplied with deadly firepower. Where do they come from? "A tremendous number of these guns that end up on the street come from straw purchasers, primarily drug addicts, who exchange guns for drugs," said U. S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor, the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut. "We've prosecuted in the last year or two quite a few of these cases." In March, O'Connor's office secured an indictment against an East Windsor chiropractor and his wife for their alleged role in a firearms-for-narcotics scheme. Authorities seized more than 80 weapons from home of David "The Doc" Muska. "If that addiction continued, how many of those guns would have ended up on the street?" O'Connor asked. While guns filter to the street in many ways, straw buying is an increasing problem across the country and individual purchasers can put dozens and even hundreds of weapons into criminal hands. "Straw purchases are probably the No. 1 way that guns get put into the hands of people who shouldn't have them," said Jim McNally, a spokesman for the Boston field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "Some people are motivated by addiction. Some people are motivated by financial gain. A gun that sells for $100, they can get 300 on the street." A straw buyer is a person who legally purchases one or more weapons and then sells or trades them, usually to a felon or someone who otherwise wouldn't legally be able to purchase them. Sometimes the scheme occurs on a frighteningly large scale. One straw buyer purchased about 250 handguns at gun shows in Ohio and sold them on the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. Authorities estimated he and his accomplices pocketed $50,000 in profits before the plan unraveled. In Pittsburgh, a woman was arrested after purchasing 40 handguns and turning them over to a felon. More often, a buyer purchases a few guns, passes them along and gets some kind of payment, like money or drugs. Sometimes, addicts desperate for their next hit will trade their personal weapons. Allderige fit into the latter category, according to police. In March, the 46-year-old Hamden resident admitted to New Haven police and an ATF agent that he had a crack addiction and gambling problem and accumulated a debt. When his Fair Haven dealer suggested Allderige could pay him back by buying firearms, Allderige bought two Glock pistols and supplied them to the dealer, who paid for the guns, gave him $100 and some drugs, according to a police affidavit. Allderidge also admitted he sold one of his personal guns to the dealer. Although he was charged with three counts of illegal sale of a weapon, he admitted providing the dealer with four guns, the affidavit said. One of the Glocks was used in four shooting incidents, including one in which a victim was shot in the neck. Allderige could not be reached for comment. A message left with his attorney has gone unanswered. Allderige's case is still pending in New Haven Superior Court. Similarly, a gun owned by Michael Rice of Milford was used to shoot a New Haven police officer in 2002 after Rice gave it and two other weapons to his drug dealer to hold because he was short on money. Officer Robert Fumiatti was shot in the face with one of the weapons. Rice pleaded guilty in February 2004 to one count of illegal transfer of a gun. What's frustrating for law enforcement is that it's often difficult to make a case against the gun owner when it turns up on the street or is used in a crime. Rice and Allderige confessed when confronted with the facts, police said, but others escape prosecution. It's easy to report the gun stolen or missing after the fact or claim they didn't realize it was missing. "Folks, when they're dealing with addictions, we have found in this city are trading guns for drugs around the clock. It concerns us, because to some extent there's little consequence for the gun owner," New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said. Police chiefs across the state rallied behind legislation this year that would have made it a crime in Connecticut to fail to report the loss or theft of a firearm. The National Rifle Association and sportsmen's groups lobbied against the proposed law, and it was killed by the state House lawmakers. Opponents warned that the measure could result in law-abiding gun owners being fined or charged with a crime simply because they didn't realize their firearms had been lost or stolen. Local straw buyers aren't the only source of illegal firearms on the street. Other guns are traced out-of-state, where gun laws are less strict and they make their way to Connecticut through a formal or informal pipeline. But O'Connor said he believed most of the guns on Connecticut streets originally were purchased from state gun dealers. Earlier this year, the ATF arrested Frank D'Andrea, owner of D'Andrea Gun Case in Milford, one of the state's largest gun dealers, on charges he fudged criminal background checks, sold weapons to people who indicated on forms that they were under indictment for a felony and failed to report "hundreds of instances of lost or missing firearms." The problems were detected during an ATF audit, but federal authorities had D'Andrea's on their radar screen before that, O'Connor said. When D'Andrea's was at its previous location in Stratford, the federal government rented billboard space near the store to send a message to prospective straw buyers: If you sell a gun for drugs, you're not only going to have blood on your hands if that gun is used to kill or maim someone, but you're also going to jail. O'Connor said the placement was no coincidence. "We had reason to believe a lot of guns were coming back to that store. We recognized that it had become a magnet for straw purchasers, and we wanted them to realize that we're paying attention." D'Andrea could not be reached for comment. ?New Haven Register 2006 Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: email_this_article.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: printversion.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Box 150470 Hartford CT 06115-0470 lead@ po.state.ct.us To Whom It May Concern: Pursuant to CT General Statutes Sec. 9-452a, as Secretary of the Fairfield County chapter of the CT Green Party, I hereby provide statutory notice of a Party nominating meeting to be held: Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Location: Fat Cat Pie Company, 9-11 Wall Street, Norwalk, CT Purpose: Nominate candidates for public office, including U.S. Representative from the Fourth Congressional District; State Senators and State Representatives from districts within Fairfield County; and municipal offices such as Board of Education, Judge of Probate, and Registrar of Voters from municipalities within Fairfield County. Nominations shall be accepted from the floor. Anyone who meets the requirements of membership as defined by the bylaws of the CT Green Party, who resides within Fairfield County and/or the Fourth Congressional District, and is present at the meeting is eligible to vote. The nominees must receive support from a simple majority of those who actually vote. If there is more than one person nominated for the same office, instant runoff voting will be used and abstentions will not be counted as votes. Snack food and beverages will be provided. Respectfully submitted, David Bedell, Secretary Fairfield County Chapter, CT Green Party 12 Ardsley Rd Stamford, CT 06906 203-581-3193 dbedellgreen@ hotmail.com cc: Donna Loglisci, Stamford Town Clerk From efficacy at msn.com Wed Jul 5 08:01:18 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 08:01:18 -0400 Subject: {news} picture of cliff for top of website Message-ID: HAPPY 4TH! I can't figure out how to load this picture to the top of our website if you load it and put it above the fold, i will add in the text i wnt thanks, ken -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: cliff.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 133766 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Wed Jul 5 23:19:41 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 23:19:41 -0400 Subject: {news} Green MEP condemns EU 'imbalance' over Israel Message-ID: <027901c6a0ab$079a91e0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> > > NEWS RELEASE >> From the office of the South-East England's Green MEP Caroline Lucas >> >> July 5th, 2006 >> >> MEP CONDEMNS EU 'IMBALANCE' OVER ISRAEL >> EU PUSHING PALESTINE TO HUMANITARIAN BRINK, WARNS LUCAS >> >> GREEN Party MEP Caroline Lucas has condemned the EU's response to events >> in >> the Middle East as unbalanced ? and a risk to the EU's credibility in the >> region. >> >> Dr Lucas, who is a member of the EU's delegation to the occupied >> Palestinian >> territories ? and was an official election observer in Gaza last year ? >> said >> a Finnish presidency statement on behalf of the EU Council on recent >> events >> in Gaza gave undue emphasis to the kidnapping of one Israeli soldier but >> was >> far less critical of Israel's 'completely disproportionate' response. >> >> She said: "Contrary to international law and humanitarian principles, the >> Israeli government has systematically attacked civilian electricity and >> water supplies ? and kidnapped and arrested fully 64 Palestinian elected >> representatives. >> >> "If that had happened anywhere else in the world we would expect >> immediate >> condemnation by the international community. >> >> "Of course we all condemn the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, and call >> for his swift and safe release ? but we should be consistent and not >> forget >> that Israel is holding 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners, over half >> of >> whom are being held without trial and nearly 400 of whom are children >> under >> 18." >> >> Dr Lucas called on the EU to restore full financial assistance to >> Palestine >> and re-open dialogue with the Hamas leadership, which has demonstrated >> its >> credibility and ability to evolve by agreeing to sign the so-called >> 'Prisoners' Agreement' calling for a government of national coalition and >> taking a step towards the recognition of Israel. >> >> Speaking in a parliamentary debate on events in Israel and Gaza over >> recent >> days, she added: "The EU simply cannot justify the continued withholding >> of >> vital funding, which is denying payment to doctors, teachers and other >> public servants, crippling the Palestinian authority and exacerbating the >> already desperate humanitarian crisis. >> >> "Current EU policy is completely counter-productive: it hurts the poorest >> and most vulnerable, drives many into the arms of extremists, and >> undermines >> the very political and judicial reforms which we have been demanding for >> years. >> >> "To build peace and address the unfolding humanitarian crisis we must >> condemn all human rights violations ? whether Palestinian or Israeli ? >> and >> re-open effective dialogue with all parties. It is simply unacceptable to >> collectively punish the Palestinian people for their choices at the >> ballots >> in a free and fair election." >> >> ENDS >> >> Note to Editors: Dr Lucas made her comments in an intervention during >> a >> Parliamentary debate on EU policy in Israel / Palestine. For a copy see >> www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk or call Ben on any number below. >> >> For more information please contact Ben on 01273 671946, 07973 823358 or >> ben at greenmeps.org.uk >> www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk >> >> Ben Duncan >> Media Officer to Caroline Lucas MEP >> benduncan at greenmeps.org.uk >> 01273 671946 (office) >> 07973 823358 (mobile) > > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> > Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. > http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/xYTolB/TM > --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > ================================================================= > Fourth Annual International Al-Awda Convention > San Francisco - July 14-16, 2006 > To register: http://al-awda.org/sf-conv_reserve.html > To flyer, the writing is on the wall: http://al-awda.org/pdf/flyer.pdf > For all other convention info: http://al-awda.org > Al-Awda's Points of Unity: http://al-awda.org/pou.html > ================================================================= > Unless indicated otherwise, all statements posted represent the views of > their authors and not necessarily those of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to > Return Coalition. > ================================================================= > Yahoo! Groups Links > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Media/ > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > Al-Awda-Media-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > > From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Wed Jul 5 23:20:15 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 23:20:15 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: [GPUS-PAX] FW: Thursday Protest the Assault on the Palestinian People at UN NY Message-ID: <027e01c6a0ab$19e9ead0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 11:07 PM Subject: [GPUS-PAX] FW: Thursday Protest the Assault on the Palestinian People at UN NY > > -------------- Forwarded Message: > http://iacenter.org/Palestine/palest_0706.htm-------------- > An urgent appeal to all antiwar activists and organizations: Join us at > Thursday's protest against the assault on the Palestinian people > > When: This Thursday July, 6, 2006, 4:30 p.m. > > Where: 1st Avenue between E 42nd and E 43rd St., NY (Ralph Bunche Park - > Across the street from the United Nations) > > The Arab community has issued a call for all to participate in an > emergency mass protest against the vicious and inhuman siege of Gaza for > Thursday, July 7 at the UN, starting at 4:30 pm. Lets show by our own > actions that the anti-war movement is also outraged over this attack on > the Palestinian people. > > Let's show that our movement understands that the U.S. government > essentially funds the Israeli war against the Palestinian people for the > same reason that U.S. soldiers are sent to die in Iraq - oil, and > colonial domination of the Middle East. And just as we oppose the > occupation of Iraq, we must oppose U.S. support for occupation and war > against the Palestinian people. Once again, the antiwar movement has a > timely opportunity to bridge the gap between our movement and the > Palestinian people > > If we are serious about our commitment to justice, a world free of racism > and colonialism, then there is no place more important for us to be than > at the protest on Thursday. If not us, then whom? If not now, then when? > > Wouldn't it be something if thousands of us, representing all > nationalities, political views, and religions made it our business to > attend the protest on Thursday? It's possible, it's necessary, and it's > up to you. > > Troops Out Now Coalition http://www.troopsoutnow.org > > (Below is the Call Issued for Thursday's Protest ) > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > A CALL TO ACTION: DEMONSTRATION AT THE UN PROTEST THE ASSAULT ON THE > PALESTINIAN PEOPLE! CALL FOR IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FOR > PALESTINIANS AND A RELEASE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS! > > When This Thursday July, 6, 2006, 4:30 p.m. > Where 1st Avenue between E 42nd and E 43rd St., NY (Ralph Bunche Park - > Across the street from the United Nations) > Why The Israeli military is conducting daily raids that have killed > dozens of Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others. > > Come to a protest and demonstration to demand action now to stop the > killing of Palestinians and hold Israel accountable for its crimes. > > Additionally, a group of organizations will present a letter to the > Security Council and to Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanding an end to > Israeli aggression and calling upon the international community to protect > the lives of Palestinians. Dozens of organizations and hundreds of > individuals have signed. See below for the letter. > > Bring signs, candles, and slogans. Bring white throw-away T-shirts on > which you can write facts about the assault and slogans. > > Who: The New York Chapter of the National Council of Arab-Americans, the > International Solidarity Movement, the New York Campaign for Boycott, > Divestment, and Sanctions, the International Socialist Organization, the > Troops Out Now Coalition, the International Action Center, and ADC New > York. > > For more information, contact Issa Mikel at 917-446-8032 or > issamikel at gmail.com . > > Since Wednesday, June 28, there have been protests around the world > calling for an end to the recent escalation in Israeli aggression. And > many more are planned, including in Palestine; Sudan; Egypt; New York; > Toledo, Ohio; France; Houston, Texas; Oxford, UK; London, UK; Ontario, > Canada; Seattle, Washington; Luxembourg; Brussels, Belgium; Berlin, > Germany; Washington, D.C.; and Minneapolis, MN. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.gp-us.org > http://lists.gp-us.org/mailman/listinfo/peace > From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Thu Jul 6 01:02:03 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 05:02:03 +0000 Subject: {news} Lieberman, Lamont and the Greens In-Reply-To: <1152154054.5119793.aee7d608c71d0557.6d201699@persist.google.com> Message-ID: http://www.counterpunch.org/maruffi07052006.html July 5, 2006 Lieberman, Lamont and the Greens Party Politics in Connecticut By VINCENT MARUFFI The recent news regarding Senator Joe Lieberman's intention to attempt to run as a "petitioning Democrat" should he lose the upcoming August 8 Connecticut Democratic Senatorial primary has put this tiny state in the unusual position of national prominence. Rarely does a state with only seven electoral votes have the chance to affect the national debate on any subject. Although there are other issues discussed in the campaign, the primary between Senator Lieberman and Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont has become a referendum on Lieberman's blind support for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, with the Lamont campaign calling for withdrawal of troops and closing of all bases. The lefty blogs have been leading the Lamont charge since the campaign's inception attempting to rally anti-war Democrats across the country to support the quixotic efforts of a heretofore relative unknown in CT politics. Their efforts have helped narrow the gap in pre-primary polling to the point where there is a legitimate shot of the biggest upset in Connecticut politics since Lowell Weicker's victory as an independent for Governor in 1990. Now with the Lieberman petition announcement, Lamont supporters are having kittens over the "disloyalty" of the Senator's actions. They feel that the loser should pledge full support for the winner after August 8. Lamont has run radio ads saying he would do so should Lieberman win. But nobody should be surprised by Joe's actions. This just another instance of opportunism that has been a hallmark of Lieberman's career since his first campaign for the Senate in the late 1980s when he ran with the support of such "Democrats" as William Buckley. But what about Ned? Why should he stick to his pledge to support Lieberman if he is the Dem nominee? If Joe won't support him then why should he support Joe? If the main issue of his campaign is the end of the Iraq war then he should announce that he will petition as well. He can use the same line as Lieberman: "I want the opportunity to put my case before all the people of Connecticut in November." It appears as of now that Lamont will put all his eggs in the primary basket. Should he lose then he will be a good Democratic lemming and march along with the pro-war Lieberman "for the good of the party". What hogwash! If Lieberman wins the primary then Lamont should immediately pledge his support for a true anti-war campaign, such as the Green Party's Ralph Ferrucci. Lamont supporters would do well to do the same. It would show that there is a real debate on the Iraq war in Connecticut politics and in turn help foment a real debate in the country this campaign season. Vicent Maruffi lives in Middletown, Connecticut. He can be reached at: vmaruffi@ sbcglobal.net From efficacy at msn.com Thu Jul 6 12:39:21 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 12:39:21 -0400 Subject: {news} Political Scandals Refuse To Go Away in 'Corrupticut' Message-ID: US CT: Political Scandals Refuse To Go Away in 'Corrupticut' URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n889/a07.html Newshawk: Index of Online HELP Documents www.mapinc.org/help Votes: 0 Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jul 2006 Source: Washington Post (DC) Page: A03 Copyright: 2006 The Washington Post Company Contact: letters at washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Fabrizi Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) POLITICAL SCANDALS REFUSE TO GO AWAY IN 'CORRUPTICUT' Officials' Wrongdoing Persists After Governor's 2005 Conviction NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- There was the mayor who liked to be plied with $100-plus bottles of Bordeaux. The governor who took a free hot tub. The state senator who was given a job that paid $30,000 for doing nothing -- and then demanded a raise. The past few years have revealed so many tales of graft, malfeasance and all-purpose criminality by public servants in Connecticut that it's hard to choose the most brazen. But for Kevin J. O'Connor, the U.S. attorney here, one moment stands out. It came in June 2004, while then-Gov. John G. Rowland ( R ) -- he of the hot tub -- was facing impeachment in the legislature for improperly taking gifts. Even in that fraught time, O'Connor said, federal agents recorded state Sen. Ernest E. Newton II ( D ) -- he of the no-show job - -- asking someone for a bribe. "I thought to myself, you know, 'What are these people thinking?' " O'Connor said. When Connecticut forefathers nicknamed their state "The Land of Steady Habits," this was probably not what they had in mind. But a tradition of bad behavior by officeholders persists here, despite numerous prosecutions and attempts at reform. If more proof were needed, it has come in the past few weeks, with three new scandals involving current or former big-city mayors. When Rowland resigned, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March 2005 to a year and a day in jail, "everybody thought that was going to be the end of it," said John M. Orman, a professor of politics at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn. Instead, he said, the continuing parade of misdeeds has helped the state live up to a new nickname, "Corrupticut." "We just keep having 'em in Connecticut," Orman said. The recent scandals here include the tearful, nationally televised admission on June 20 by Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi ( D ) that he had used cocaine while in office. "I am pleased to tell you that I have not used drugs in the last 18 months," said Fabrizi, who has been mayor for more than three years. For now, the U.S. attorney's office says it has no plans to prosecute him for the drug use. Other cases include a former mayor and city council member from Middletown -- who pleaded guilty late last month to fraud for embezzling money from his law clients -- and a new charge against Joseph Santopietro, the former mayor of Waterbury. Santopietro previously was convicted on bribery charges stemming from his conduct as mayor in the 1990s. Now out of jail, he has been charged with racketeering conspiracy for allegedly serving as a consultant to a mob-affiliated garbage-hauling business. These cases are just the latest in a long string of charges against officeholders this year. There was Rowland's former chief of staff, who was sentenced to jail in April for bribery and tax offenses. There was a postmaster who stole from a customer, a public-works official who lied to federal investigators, and a state transportation worker who helped rig a bidding process and got a free TV from the winning contractor. It all adds up to a big problem, officials here say. Statistically, the state's corruption prosecutions still don't equal those of places such as New Jersey, Illinois or Mississippi. But many fear that businesses will be driven away, or that voters and potential candidates might be disillusioned by a perception that Connecticut is - -- as one pol has put it -- "Louisiana with foliage." "We thought we were a state of Yankee integrity," said Howard L. Reiter, a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. "Clearly, that's not the case anymore." Observers of Connecticut politics say that part of the problem was that ethics rules went unenforced here for so long, allowing corrupt practices to become ingrained before large-scale prosecutions began in the 1980s and 1990s. Another problem is the state's network of political machines, which incubate Republican and Democratic hopefuls in systems in which friendship and favors rule. In recent years, the two most prolific incubators have been a pair of old manufacturing cities in Connecticut's western half. Waterbury, in addition to being Rowland's home town, had three mayors charged with crimes, and two of them imprisoned. In Bridgeport, Fabrizi's predecessor, Joseph P. Ganim, also a Democrat, was convicted of taking bribes and kickbacks. In the Ganim case, one of those doing the bribing was Lennie Grimaldi, a public relations consultant. Grimaldi said that the city's political culture dictated that he lavish gifts on the mayor or else worry that his clients would be frozen out of city business. "It started off with, you know, buying dinners, and then expensive dinners, and then a little bit of wine, and then the gifts. . . . It became this monster," recalled Grimaldi, who served 10 months in prison and has become a successful freelance writer after his release. "I didn't have the guts to say no to a mayor that had a tremendous amount of economic power over me." Last year, the Rowland scandal galvanized legislators to try to change the atmosphere. They created a system that bars political contributions from state contractors and lobbyists, and aims to reduce the influence of donors overall by providing public financing for candidates in future elections. Locally, some officials have made their own efforts at doing politics strictly by the book. These days, Waterbury Mayor Michael J. Jarjura ( D ) said, even fruit baskets sent by constituents won't be accepted. "I know they're just trying to be kind," Jarjura said, "but we immediately send it back, and we document that we sent it back." These efforts at reforming the system are now widespread enough that Rowland's defense attorney, William F. Dow III, said he fears the good in the state's old system might be lost. "Government will operate less efficiently" if politicians obsess over avoiding appearances of impropriety, Dow said. "I think this dotting the i's and crossing the t's is going to have a chilling effect." The chill isn't here yet, though. Instead, last week saw another of the kind of embarrassing spectacle Connecticut is seeking to avoid, as defendants in the garbage-hauling case were arraigned in New Haven's federal court. In that case, prosecutors allege that a slew of Connecticut businesses used mob muscle to keep competitors away from the routes where they picked up trash. Those charged include an 86-year-old man alleged to be mob boss "Matty the Horse," plus a number of lower-level players who appeared in court wearing pompadour haircuts or tailored suits. Then there was Santopietro, the former Republican mayor of Waterbury, who stood out because he wore just slacks and a sensible-looking short-sleeved dress shirt. Out of the whole bunch, he was the only one who looked like a civil servant. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From efficacy at msn.com Fri Jul 7 10:29:37 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 10:29:37 -0400 Subject: {news} Campaign Reforms Challenged Message-ID: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctaclu0707.artjul07,0,5354492.story?coll=hc-headlines-local CONNECTICUT NEWS Campaign Reforms Challenged ACLU Lawsuit Says New Law Violates Rights Of Some Donors, Hurts Minor Parties July 7, 2006 By MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writer The sweeping campaign finance reforms passed last year by the General Assembly violate free-speech rights of certain political donors and discriminate against minor political parties, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, the ACLU asked Judge Robert N. Chatigny to block the new system of publicly financing campaigns from taking effect in the 2008 election cycle unless legislative changes are made next year. "For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed fundamentally flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters," said Roger C. Vann, executive director of the ACLU. Hailed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Democratic legislative leaders as model legislation, the 2005 law has two constitutional flaws in the view of the ACLU and five other plaintiffs: minor-party candidates cannot obtain public financing as easily as Democrats and Republicans, and a ban on so-called special interest contributions is overly broad. Lobbyists, state contractors and immediate family members are barred from contributing to campaigns or soliciting donations, violating their free-speech rights, the ACLU said. Rell and legislators had been advised that a total ban was legally risky, but they could restrict contributions. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the law was constitutional and would be defended in court. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system - and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," Blumenthal said. The law created a Citizens' Election Fund under which qualifying candidates who agree to spending limits can obtain grants to finance primary and general election campaigns, starting with the 2008 elections. General election grants range from $25,000 for a House race to $3 million for governor. Joining the ACLU as plaintiffs are: Betty Gallo, a lobbyist whose clients include the ACLU; Joanne P. Philips, a Democratic activist whose husband is a lobbyist for the Connecticut Bar Association; Michael DeRosa, a Green Party leader and candidate for secretary of the state; the Green Party; and the Libertarian Party. The suit says Gallo is excluded from making contributions as a lobbyist, while Philips is effectively barred from political fundraising because she is married to a lobbyist. Gallo and Philips each have managed political campaigns and made and solicited contributions. The ACLU said minor party candidates effectively are prohibited from public financing by a provision requiring that the party received at least 10 percent of the vote in the prior election. Petitioning candidates can qualify only if they gather signatures from voters equal to at least 10 percent of the votes cast for that office in the last election. As originally approved, the thresholds were higher. Legislators dropped them to 10 percent this year. "They thought they were making a good effort to bridge the gap," said Andy Sauer, the executive director of Connecticut Common Cause. But they still are too high, the plaintiffs said. "The onerous requirements in this law stack the deck against third parties and make it almost impossible for Green Party candidates to receive campaign funding," DeRosa said. Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, D-Bridgeport, one of the law's chief sponsors, said the legislature set reasonable standards for minor candidates to meet before they can obtain public financing. "They can access the system. It doesn't lock them out of it," he said. Rich Harris, a spokesman for Rell, said the governor was open to changes that might improve the law, but she believed the system was constitutional as currently constructed. Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas at courant.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: blackpix.gif Type: image/gif Size: 35 bytes Desc: not available URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Fri Jul 7 17:27:41 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 14:27:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} GP National Press Release- Greens endorse Voters for Peace Pledge Message-ID: <20060707212741.74951.qmail@web81406.mail.mud.yahoo.com> GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Friday, July 7, 2006 Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty at greens.org Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at greens.org For VotersForPeace.US: Linda Schade, Executive Director, 301-270-2355 (office), 202-422-5780 The Green Party endorses the VotersForPeace.us pledge ? Greens urge voters who favor withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to sign the pledge and help elect the Green Party's 'Peace Slate' WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party's National Committee has endorsed the VotersForPeace pledge , a national effort to organize the emerging 'Peace Vote' as a voting block with the power to determine the outcome of elections. The pledge reads "I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign." "We encourage all voters who agree that U.S. troops must be withdrawn from Iraq to sign the VotersForPeace pledge," said Rae Vogeler, Wisconsin Green candidate for the U.S. Senate . "The only way to stop the war is to get Democratic and Republican warhawks out of office." "The Green Party and the 'Peace Slate' of Green candidates have consistently opposed the invasion and occupation since the beginning, and have criticized President Bush's threats of a military assault against Iran. In many elections, the Green is the only candidate running who calls for immediate troop withdrawal," Ms. Vogeler added. Greens have expressed dismay at Congress's refusal, in recent House and Senate votes, to set even a tentative deadline for the withdrawal of American troops, and blamed Democrats and Republicans who voted to defeat the proposals. When VotersForPeace.US was launched on March 17, 2006, the first signer was Michael Berg, whose son Nick was taken hostage in Iraq and killed in May, 2004. Mr. Berg is currently running as the Delaware Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives . Kevin Zeese, candidate on the Green ticket for U.S. Senator from Maryland and director of DemocracyRising.US , is co-founder of VotersForPeace. VotersForPeace itself is nonprofit and nonpartisan, and does not endorse candidates. Green Party members joined various antiwar events during the July 4th holiday. Greens support the 'Troops Home Fast' organized by CodePink, which is taking place in front of the White House until August 14. On August 14, the fast will move to Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, where it will continue. Party members also support U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada, who recently refused orders to fly to Iraq, on the grounds that the war and occupation in Iraq are illegal. For Green campaign listings, news, photos, and web sites, visit the Green Party's candidate spotlight page and the Green elections database , which lists all 2006 candidates. The Green Party will hold its 2006 national meeting, titled "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green," in Tucson, Arizona, from July 27 to 30 . For media credentialing, visit . MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404 Washington, DC 20009. 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193 Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) http://www.gp.org/committees/peace "Democrats Versus the Peace Movement?" By Stephen Zunes, Foreign Policy In Focus, July 6, 2006 http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3346 "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green" National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States in Tucson, Arizona, July 27-30, 2006 http://www.gp.org/meeting2006/ http://www.pimagreens.org/gpusanm/index.html Media credentialing page: http://www.gp.org/forms/media ~ END ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From smderosa at cox.net Fri Jul 7 23:14:36 2006 From: smderosa at cox.net (smderosa) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 23:14:36 -0400 Subject: {news} Journal Inquiry story on Campaign Reforms Challenged In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20060708031438.DHAU17255.eastrmmtao01.cox.net@userb649154f63> 07/07/2006 ACLU, minor parties, challenge campaign finance system By Keith M. Phaneuf , Journal Inquirer The long-anticipated court challenge to Connecticut's new campaign financing system arrived Thursday, as the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union brought its case to federal court. Joining the ACLU were Connecticut's Green and Libertarian parties, along with veteran Capitol lobbyist Betty Gallo, who argued the legislation adopted in 2005 and revised this past spring stacks the election deck in favor of incumbents from the two major parties. Advertisement HYPERLINK "http://oascentral.zwire.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.poweronemedia.co m/300X250.html/@Top?x" HYPERLINK "http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000708474/mnum=0000360888/genr= 1/tkdt=B0P0R1T0/cstr=14028934=_44af2299,2985439721,708474^360888^1^0,1_/bnum =14028934" \nClick to learn more... HYPERLINK "http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&B RD=985"Click Here! The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, also charges that restrictions barring lobbyists from contributing to or working on state campaigns infringes on their First Amendment rights. "For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed deeply flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters," ACLU of Connecticut Executive Director Roger C. Vann said. "We consider this law an act of blatant discrimination against third-party and independent candidates," added S. Michael DeRosa, co-chairman of the Green Party, who labeled the new system the "no incumbent left behind law." Connecticut earned praise from both politicians and advocacy groups nationwide last year when, after a nearly yearlong fight, the Democrat-controlled legislature and Republican governor agreed on a bill that establishes public financing for all state elections after 2006. That bill also bans all lobbyists, state contractors, and their spouses from making political contributions, and reduces - but doesn't eliminate - political action committee activity and the use of business funds in politics through the sale of ads in program books. The first hurdle candidates seeking public financing must clear is to obtain a threshold level of contributions from private individuals in small amounts, not exceeding $100. For example, candidates could qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a state House race if they collect $5,000 in threshold funding. For $85,000 for a Senate contest, the threshold level is $15,000, and to receive $3 million in public money to wage a gubernatorial campaign it takes $250,000 in start-up contributions. Renee C. Redman, legal director for the Connecticut ACLU, said the group believes this burden, which all potential publicly funded candidates face, is too great. But there are extra burdens for independent and minor-party candidates. Independents and candidates from new minor parties seeking the same money also must collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Candidates from established minor parties can avoid that hurdle if their party received at least 20 percent of the vote for the office being sought in the prior election. If the party received at least 10 percent, a reduced public grant is available. If the 10 percent mark isn't achieved, a minor-party candidate seeking public money must go the petitioning route. Andrew Sauer, executive director of Common Cause of Connecticut and a major advocate of the campaign finance legislation, defended these standards, saying they are designed to ensure public money is sent only to serious candidates. "You shouldn't be able to receive thousands of public dollars with little or nothing required," he said. Sauer and many Connecticut lawmakers acknowledged two years ago that the ban on lobbyist and contractor contributions could come under fire, but said even if that provision is struck down, the legislature likely would have an opportunity to amend the law and allow only very modest contributions. "The state's burden now is to show it has a compelling interest in banning these contributions," Sauer added. "Why not have this debate in a public court of law?" Gallo said the law leaves her out of the campaign system entirely, stopping her from giving a candidate even $25, or helping out on a friend's campaign committee. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government," she said. "It does violate my rights." The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, Redman said. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he would defend the law vigorously. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor-party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." This story includes Associated Press reporting. _____ From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org [mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of clifford thornton Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 10:30 AM To: ctgp-news Subject: {news} Campaign Reforms Challenged HYPERLINK "http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctaclu0707.artjul07,0,5354492.story?co ll=hc-headlines-local"http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctaclu0707.artjul 07,0,5354492.story?coll=hc-headlines-local CONNECTICUT NEWS Campaign Reforms Challenged HYPERLINK "http://www.courant.com/images/standard/blackpix.gif"ACLU Lawsuit Says New Law Violates Rights Of Some Donors, Hurts Minor Parties July 7, 2006 By MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writer The sweeping campaign finance reforms passed last year by the General Assembly violate free-speech rights of certain political donors and discriminate against minor political parties, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, the ACLU asked Judge Robert N. Chatigny to block the new system of publicly financing campaigns from taking effect in the 2008 election cycle unless legislative changes are made next year. "For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed fundamentally flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters," said Roger C. Vann, executive director of the ACLU. Hailed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Democratic legislative leaders as model legislation, the 2005 law has two constitutional flaws in the view of the ACLU and five other plaintiffs: minor-party candidates cannot obtain public financing as easily as Democrats and Republicans, and a ban on so-called special interest contributions is overly broad. Lobbyists, state contractors and immediate family members are barred from contributing to campaigns or soliciting donations, violating their free-speech rights, the ACLU said. Rell and legislators had been advised that a total ban was legally risky, but they could restrict contributions. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the law was constitutional and would be defended in court. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system - and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," Blumenthal said. The law created a Citizens' Election Fund under which qualifying candidates who agree to spending limits can obtain grants to finance primary and general election campaigns, starting with the 2008 elections. General election grants range from $25,000 for a House race to $3 million for governor. Joining the ACLU as plaintiffs are: Betty Gallo, a lobbyist whose clients include the ACLU; Joanne P. Philips, a Democratic activist whose husband is a lobbyist for the Connecticut Bar Association; Michael DeRosa, a Green Party leader and candidate for secretary of the state; the Green Party; and the Libertarian Party. The suit says Gallo is excluded from making contributions as a lobbyist, while Philips is effectively barred from political fundraising because she is married to a lobbyist. Gallo and Philips each have managed political campaigns and made and solicited contributions. The ACLU said minor party candidates effectively are prohibited from public financing by a provision requiring that the party received at least 10 percent of the vote in the prior election. Petitioning candidates can qualify only if they gather signatures from voters equal to at least 10 percent of the votes cast for that office in the last election. As originally approved, the thresholds were higher. Legislators dropped them to 10 percent this year. "They thought they were making a good effort to bridge the gap," said Andy Sauer, the executive director of Connecticut Common Cause. But they still are too high, the plaintiffs said. "The onerous requirements in this law stack the deck against third parties and make it almost impossible for Green Party candidates to receive campaign funding," DeRosa said. Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, D-Bridgeport, one of the law's chief sponsors, said the legislature set reasonable standards for minor candidates to meet before they can obtain public financing. "They can access the system. It doesn't lock them out of it," he said. Rich Harris, a spokesman for Rell, said the governor was open to changes that might improve the law, but she believed the system was constitutional as currently constructed. Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas at courant.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: @Topx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: optn=1 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 16542 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&BRD=985&LOCALPCT=50&AREA=410&VERT=6543&NAREA=410&barnd=3254 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: blackpix.gif Type: image/gif Size: 35 bytes Desc: not available URL: From smderosa at cox.net Fri Jul 7 23:25:53 2006 From: smderosa at cox.net (smderosa) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 23:25:53 -0400 Subject: {news} Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged-Went out on AP wire In-Reply-To: <20060708031438.DHAU17255.eastrmmtao01.cox.net@userb649154f63> Message-ID: <20060708032554.VPXZ26910.eastrmmtao05.cox.net@userb649154f63> ACLU Files Campaign Finance Lawsuit By PAT EATON-ROBB The Associated Press July 6 2006, 2:41 PM EDT HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System."' Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." Copyright 2006 Associated Press _____ From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org [mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of smderosa Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 11:15 PM To: 'clifford thornton'; 'ctgp-news' Subject: {news} Journal Inquiry story on Campaign Reforms Challenged 07/07/2006 ACLU, minor parties, challenge campaign finance system By Keith M. Phaneuf , Journal Inquirer The long-anticipated court challenge to Connecticut's new campaign financing system arrived Thursday, as the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union brought its case to federal court. Joining the ACLU were Connecticut's Green and Libertarian parties, along with veteran Capitol lobbyist Betty Gallo, who argued the legislation adopted in 2005 and revised this past spring stacks the election deck in favor of incumbents from the two major parties. Advertisement HYPERLINK "http://oascentral.zwire.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.poweronemedia.co m/300X250.html/@Top?x" HYPERLINK "http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000708474/mnum=0000360888/genr= 1/tkdt=B0P0R1T0/cstr=14028934=_44af2299,2985439721,708474^360888^1^0,1_/bnum =14028934" \nClick to learn more... HYPERLINK "http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&B RD=985"Click Here! The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, also charges that restrictions barring lobbyists from contributing to or working on state campaigns infringes on their First Amendment rights. "For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed deeply flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters," ACLU of Connecticut Executive Director Roger C. Vann said. "We consider this law an act of blatant discrimination against third-party and independent candidates," added S. Michael DeRosa, co-chairman of the Green Party, who labeled the new system the "no incumbent left behind law." Connecticut earned praise from both politicians and advocacy groups nationwide last year when, after a nearly yearlong fight, the Democrat-controlled legislature and Republican governor agreed on a bill that establishes public financing for all state elections after 2006. That bill also bans all lobbyists, state contractors, and their spouses from making political contributions, and reduces - but doesn't eliminate - political action committee activity and the use of business funds in politics through the sale of ads in program books. The first hurdle candidates seeking public financing must clear is to obtain a threshold level of contributions from private individuals in small amounts, not exceeding $100. For example, candidates could qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a state House race if they collect $5,000 in threshold funding. For $85,000 for a Senate contest, the threshold level is $15,000, and to receive $3 million in public money to wage a gubernatorial campaign it takes $250,000 in start-up contributions. Renee C. Redman, legal director for the Connecticut ACLU, said the group believes this burden, which all potential publicly funded candidates face, is too great. But there are extra burdens for independent and minor-party candidates. Independents and candidates from new minor parties seeking the same money also must collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Candidates from established minor parties can avoid that hurdle if their party received at least 20 percent of the vote for the office being sought in the prior election. If the party received at least 10 percent, a reduced public grant is available. If the 10 percent mark isn't achieved, a minor-party candidate seeking public money must go the petitioning route. Andrew Sauer, executive director of Common Cause of Connecticut and a major advocate of the campaign finance legislation, defended these standards, saying they are designed to ensure public money is sent only to serious candidates. "You shouldn't be able to receive thousands of public dollars with little or nothing required," he said. Sauer and many Connecticut lawmakers acknowledged two years ago that the ban on lobbyist and contractor contributions could come under fire, but said even if that provision is struck down, the legislature likely would have an opportunity to amend the law and allow only very modest contributions. "The state's burden now is to show it has a compelling interest in banning these contributions," Sauer added. "Why not have this debate in a public court of law?" Gallo said the law leaves her out of the campaign system entirely, stopping her from giving a candidate even $25, or helping out on a friend's campaign committee. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government," she said. "It does violate my rights." The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, Redman said. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he would defend the law vigorously. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor-party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." This story includes Associated Press reporting. _____ From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org [mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of clifford thornton Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 10:30 AM To: ctgp-news Subject: {news} Campaign Reforms Challenged HYPERLINK "http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctaclu0707.artjul07,0,5354492.story?co ll=hc-headlines-local"http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctaclu0707.artjul 07,0,5354492.story?coll=hc-headlines-local CONNECTICUT NEWS Campaign Reforms Challenged HYPERLINK "http://www.courant.com/images/standard/blackpix.gif"ACLU Lawsuit Says New Law Violates Rights Of Some Donors, Hurts Minor Parties July 7, 2006 By MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writer The sweeping campaign finance reforms passed last year by the General Assembly violate free-speech rights of certain political donors and discriminate against minor political parties, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford, the ACLU asked Judge Robert N. Chatigny to block the new system of publicly financing campaigns from taking effect in the 2008 election cycle unless legislative changes are made next year. "For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed fundamentally flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters," said Roger C. Vann, executive director of the ACLU. Hailed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Democratic legislative leaders as model legislation, the 2005 law has two constitutional flaws in the view of the ACLU and five other plaintiffs: minor-party candidates cannot obtain public financing as easily as Democrats and Republicans, and a ban on so-called special interest contributions is overly broad. Lobbyists, state contractors and immediate family members are barred from contributing to campaigns or soliciting donations, violating their free-speech rights, the ACLU said. Rell and legislators had been advised that a total ban was legally risky, but they could restrict contributions. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the law was constitutional and would be defended in court. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system - and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," Blumenthal said. The law created a Citizens' Election Fund under which qualifying candidates who agree to spending limits can obtain grants to finance primary and general election campaigns, starting with the 2008 elections. General election grants range from $25,000 for a House race to $3 million for governor. Joining the ACLU as plaintiffs are: Betty Gallo, a lobbyist whose clients include the ACLU; Joanne P. Philips, a Democratic activist whose husband is a lobbyist for the Connecticut Bar Association; Michael DeRosa, a Green Party leader and candidate for secretary of the state; the Green Party; and the Libertarian Party. The suit says Gallo is excluded from making contributions as a lobbyist, while Philips is effectively barred from political fundraising because she is married to a lobbyist. Gallo and Philips each have managed political campaigns and made and solicited contributions. The ACLU said minor party candidates effectively are prohibited from public financing by a provision requiring that the party received at least 10 percent of the vote in the prior election. Petitioning candidates can qualify only if they gather signatures from voters equal to at least 10 percent of the votes cast for that office in the last election. As originally approved, the thresholds were higher. Legislators dropped them to 10 percent this year. "They thought they were making a good effort to bridge the gap," said Andy Sauer, the executive director of Connecticut Common Cause. But they still are too high, the plaintiffs said. "The onerous requirements in this law stack the deck against third parties and make it almost impossible for Green Party candidates to receive campaign funding," DeRosa said. Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, D-Bridgeport, one of the law's chief sponsors, said the legislature set reasonable standards for minor candidates to meet before they can obtain public financing. "They can access the system. It doesn't lock them out of it," he said. Rich Harris, a spokesman for Rell, said the governor was open to changes that might improve the law, but she believed the system was constitutional as currently constructed. Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas at courant.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: @Topx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: optn=1 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 16542 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: blackpix.gif Type: image/gif Size: 35 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chapillsbury at igc.org Fri Jul 7 23:32:37 2006 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 23:32:37 -0400 Subject: {news} Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged-Wentout on AP wire References: <20060708032554.VPXZ26910.eastrmmtao05.cox.net@userb649154f63> Message-ID: <002001c6a23f$28db7c30$6500a8c0@S0031616584> The AP story was also in today's New Haven Register. 07/07/2006 Group seeks to block election finance law Associated Press -HARTFORD - A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign-financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed Dec. 7, includes a voluntary public-financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public-financing system unfairly benefits major-party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fund-raising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor-party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind system.'" Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." ----- Original Message ----- From: smderosa To: 'smderosa' ; 'clifford thornton' ; 'ctgp-news' Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 11:25 PM Subject: {news} Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged-Wentout on AP wire 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACLU Files Campaign Finance Lawsuit By PAT EATON-ROBB The Associated Press July 6 2006, 2:41 PM EDT HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System."' Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." Copyright 2006 Associated Press -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: custlogoLG.gif Type: image/gif Size: 7128 bytes Desc: not available URL: From smderosa at cox.net Fri Jul 7 23:48:12 2006 From: smderosa at cox.net (smderosa) Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 23:48:12 -0400 Subject: {news} Boston Globe Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged Message-ID: <20060708034813.WVYY26910.eastrmmtao05.cox.net@userb649154f63> This story appeared on the Boston Globe website: ACLU files lawsuit challenging campaign finance law By Pat Eaton-Robb, Associated Press Writer | July 6, 2006 HARTFORD, Conn. --A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System.'" Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." HYPERLINK "http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/dingbat_story_ end_icon.gif" HYPERLINK "http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/spacer.gif" ? HYPERLINK "http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright"Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company HYPERLINK "http://nytbglobe.112.2o7.net/b/ss/nytbglobe/1/G.5-PD-S/s7350148513156?[AQB] &ndh=1&t=7/6/2006%2023%3A44%3A33%205%20240&pageName=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C %20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%2 0law&ch=News&events=event2&c1=News%20%7C%20Local&c5=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C %20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%2 0law%20%7C%20PF&c6=Article%20Page%20%7C%20AP%20XML%20Story&pid=News%20%7C%20 Local%20%7C%20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign% 20finance%20law&pidt=1&oid=http%3A//www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/ar ticles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_camp&ot=A&oi=199&g=http%3A/ /www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsui t_challenging_campaign_finance_law%3Fmode%3DPF&r=http%3A//www.boston.com/new s/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_campa ign_finance_law/&s=800x600&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&k=Y&bw=800&bh=411&ct=lan&hp=N&[AQE ]" HYPERLINK "http://te.boston.com/tte/blank.gif?0.28159691593870867&snippet_version=1.3a &referrer=http%3A//www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06 /aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_campaign_finance_law/&page=http%3A//www.bost on.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challen ging_campaign_finance_law%3Fmode%3DPF&timezone=240&clist_TID=3a23g28126d0d0& var_t_section=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C%20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsui t%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%20law&var_site=boston.com" The AP story was also in today's New Haven Register. HYPERLINK "http://www.nhregister.com/site/News.cfm?brd=1281" 07/07/2006 Group seeks to block election finance law Associated Press -HARTFORD ? A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut?s new campaign-financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed Dec. 7, includes a voluntary public-financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. HYPERLINK "http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&B RD=1281"Click Here! It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU?s Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won?t even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public-financing system unfairly benefits major-party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor?s office if they meet private fund-raising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor-party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party?s candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the ?No Incumbent Left Behind system.?" Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." ----- Original Message ----- From: HYPERLINK "mailto:smderosa at cox.net"smderosa To: HYPERLINK "mailto:smderosa at cox.net"'smderosa' ; HYPERLINK "mailto:efficacy at msn.com"'clifford thornton' ; HYPERLINK "mailto:ctgp-news at ml.greens.org"'ctgp-news' Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 11:25 PM Subject: {news} Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged-Wentout on AP wire Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS HYPERLINK "http://www.ctgreens.org/"http://www.ctgreens.org/ - HYPERLINK "http://www.greenpartyus.org/"http://www.greenpartyus.org/ to unsubscribe click here HYPERLINK "mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org"mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe @ml.greens.org _____ ACLU Files Campaign Finance Lawsuit By PAT EATON-ROBB The Associated Press July 6 2006, 2:41 PM EDT HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System."' Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." Copyright 2006 Associated Press -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: custlogoLG.gif Type: image/gif Size: 7128 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: dingbat_story_end_icon.gif Type: image/gif Size: 49 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: spacer.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT00023.txt URL: From smderosa at cox.net Sat Jul 8 00:22:28 2006 From: smderosa at cox.net (smderosa) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 00:22:28 -0400 Subject: {news} Very Positive Editorial Today in Bridgeport Post on Campaign Suit Message-ID: <20060708042229.GCVX17255.eastrmmtao01.cox.net@userb649154f63> Article Created: 7/07/2006 04:44 AM Very Positive Editorial Today in Bridgeport Post on Campaign Finance Suit: Lawsuit challenges new campaign law Connecticut Post Online As expected, Connecticut's landmark campaign public financing law is being challenged in federal court ? and for good reason. Last minute alterations made to the law in this year's General Assembly session simply did not go far enough. The legislation, first approved in late fall of 2005, still harshly discriminates against third-party and petitioning candidates in sharing in a voluntary public funding system. In addition, the new law's outright ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists and state contractors and their families may be flirting with unconstitutionality, if recent court decisions in the campaign finance arena are any barometer. Don't get us wrong ? the reform law is an adequate start to decreasing the influence of special interest money in state elections, if the voluntary funds can be raised. But, it must also be a tool for encouraging more participation in elections, a factor the state's two major political parties are not enthusiastic about for obvious reasons. The law ? which doesn't go into effect until Jan. 1, 2007, the start of the 2008 election cycle ? was approved with major procedural flaws that weren't discovered until after it was signed into law. The Assembly remedied those flaws in its last session, but lawmakers did not budge on the overly strict ban on contributions or the nearly insurmountable obstacles placed in the way of third party and petitioning candidates. For example, under the law, Democratic and Republican candidates for state offices must meet minimum fund-raising levels to qualify for public funds. However, third party and petitioning candidates must not only raise those funding levels but also collect signatures of eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. A third party gubernatorial candidate, for example, would have to collect some 200,000 petition signatures to qualify for public funding. The American Civil Liberties Union, two third-party entities and a lobbyist are among those who have filed the lawsuit challenging the new law. Perhaps through their efforts, the federal courts will make a good law even better. This story appeared on the Boston Globe website: ACLU files lawsuit challenging campaign finance law By Pat Eaton-Robb, Associated Press Writer | July 6, 2006 HARTFORD, Conn. --A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System.'" Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." HYPERLINK "http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/dingbat_story_ end_icon.gif" HYPERLINK "http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/spacer.gif" ? HYPERLINK "http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright"Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company HYPERLINK "http://nytbglobe.112.2o7.net/b/ss/nytbglobe/1/G.5-PD-S/s7350148513156?[AQB] &ndh=1&t=7/6/2006%2023%3A44%3A33%205%20240&pageName=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C %20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%2 0law&ch=News&events=event2&c1=News%20%7C%20Local&c5=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C %20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%2 0law%20%7C%20PF&c6=Article%20Page%20%7C%20AP%20XML%20Story&pid=News%20%7C%20 Local%20%7C%20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsuit%20challenging%20campaign% 20finance%20law&pidt=1&oid=http%3A//www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/ar ticles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_camp&ot=A&oi=199&g=http%3A/ /www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsui t_challenging_campaign_finance_law%3Fmode%3DPF&r=http%3A//www.boston.com/new s/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_campa ign_finance_law/&s=800x600&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&k=Y&bw=800&bh=411&ct=lan&hp=N&[AQE ]" HYPERLINK "http://te.boston.com/tte/blank.gif?0.28159691593870867&snippet_version=1.3a &referrer=http%3A//www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06 /aclu_files_lawsuit_challenging_campaign_finance_law/&page=http%3A//www.bost on.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/07/06/aclu_files_lawsuit_challen ging_campaign_finance_law%3Fmode%3DPF&timezone=240&clist_TID=3a23g28126d0d0& var_t_section=News%20%7C%20Local%20%7C%20Conn.%20%7C%20ACLU%20files%20lawsui t%20challenging%20campaign%20finance%20law&var_site=boston.com" The AP story was also in today's New Haven Register. HYPERLINK "http://www.nhregister.com/site/News.cfm?brd=1281" 07/07/2006 Group seeks to block election finance law Associated Press -HARTFORD ? A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut?s new campaign-financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed Dec. 7, includes a voluntary public-financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. HYPERLINK "http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=791&B RD=1281"Click Here! It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU?s Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won?t even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public-financing system unfairly benefits major-party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor?s office if they meet private fund-raising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor-party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party?s candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the ?No Incumbent Left Behind system.?" Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." ----- Original Message ----- From: HYPERLINK "mailto:smderosa at cox.net"smderosa To: HYPERLINK "mailto:smderosa at cox.net"'smderosa' ; HYPERLINK "mailto:efficacy at msn.com"'clifford thornton' ; HYPERLINK "mailto:ctgp-news at ml.greens.org"'ctgp-news' Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 11:25 PM Subject: {news} Associated Press story on Campaign Reforms Challenged-Wentout on AP wire Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS HYPERLINK "http://www.ctgreens.org/"http://www.ctgreens.org/ - HYPERLINK "http://www.greenpartyus.org/"http://www.greenpartyus.org/ to unsubscribe click here HYPERLINK "mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org"mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe @ml.greens.org _____ ACLU Files Campaign Finance Lawsuit By PAT EATON-ROBB The Associated Press July 6 2006, 2:41 PM EDT HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System."' Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." Copyright 2006 Associated Press -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: ATT00035.txt URL: From smderosa at cox.net Sat Jul 8 01:32:02 2006 From: smderosa at cox.net (smderosa) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 01:32:02 -0400 Subject: {news} Long Island Newsday article on Campaign Finance Suit Message-ID: <20060708053204.OEQR23863.eastrmmtao03.cox.net@userb649154f63> | This AP article appeared on the L.I. Newsday site: HYPERLINK "http://www.amny.com/" ACLU files lawsuit challenging campaign finance law HYPERLINK "http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v6|341c|3|0|%2a|h%3B33248210%3B0-0%3B0% 3B12927804%3B2321-160|600%3B16548077|16565972|1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://new sday.p2ionline.com/how2guide/ss/index.aspx" HYPERLINK "http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v6|341c|3|0|%2a|h%3B33248210%3B0-0%3B0% 3B12927804%3B2321-160|600%3B16548077|16565972|1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://new sday.p2ionline.com/how2guide/ss/index.aspx"TTK HYPERLINK "http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/trb.newsday/news/local/wire;ptype=ps;rg=ur;r ef=newsdaycom;pos=1;tile=1;sz=160x600;ord=95735270" \n By PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press Writer July 7, 2006, 1:32 AM EDT HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group including third-party candidates, lobbyists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Connecticut's new campaign financing system. The law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed on Dec. 7, 2005, includes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns beginning with the 2008 election cycle. It also bans campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and their families in an effort to eliminate incentives for corruption and contract steering. The bans apply to employees who spend as little as 10 percent of their time lobbying the General Assembly, and would even include a worker at a child-care center who manages a contract that is even partly funded by the state, said Renee Redman, the legal director of the ACLU's Connecticut chapter. "These limitations severely impinge the freedoms of speech and association, and we know of no justification for such severe limitations," she said. Lobbyist Betty Gallo, a plaintiff, said that under the law she won't even be able to answer questions about lawmakers from friends who are considering making campaign donations. "I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. I cannot even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," she said. "I do not think prohibiting these activities makes the political process better or somehow takes corruption out of government. It does violate my rights." The plaintiffs also argue that the new public financing system unfairly benefits major party candidates. Candidates would qualify for public financing of $25,000 for a House race, $85,000 for a Senate contest and $3 million to seek the governor's office if they meet private fundraising thresholds of $5,000 for a House campaign, $15,000 for a Senate race and $250,000 for governor. To obtain the same money given to Democrats and Republicans, minor-party and petitioning candidates must not only raise that money, but also collect signatures from eligible voters equal to 20 percent of the turnout in the most recent election for the office. Based on a turnout of more than 1 million voters statewide in 2002, a minor party candidate for governor would have to collect more than 200,000 signatures to qualify for full funding. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael Derosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the Green Party's candidate for secretary of the state. "Some of us in the Green Party call this the 'No Incumbent Left Behind System."' Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, which fought for the legislation, said similar challenges to the federal presidential public financing program were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will vigorously defend the law. "The legislature rightfully believed that public financing was critical to eliminating abuses in the present system, and these public policy goals are entitled to respect," he said. "Minor party candidates continue to have access to public funding if they meet the threshold established by the legislature." Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NDLIhowTo160.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 23630 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: wire; ptype=ps; rg=ur; ref=newsdaycom; pos=1; dcopt=ist; sz=160x600; tile=1; ord=95735270 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 25398 bytes Desc: not available URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Sat Jul 8 11:50:28 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 08:50:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Fwd: More Green Candidates hit the Campaign Trail Message-ID: <20060708155028.50366.qmail@web81404.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Green Party of the United States wrote: Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:34:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Green Party of the United States To: greenpartyct at yahoo.com Subject: More Green Candidates hit the Campaign Trail June 2006 News Headlines LA Greens are Hot Former Pasadena mayor Bill Paparian is well supported in his bid to become the first Green to be elected to US Congress in California?s 29th district. The Los Angeles Sentinel, the oldest African American newspaper in California, has endorsed Paparian, as has actor Ed Begley, Jr. Paparian has made the war in Iraq his top campaign issue, calling to ?Bring the Troops Home Now,? in stark contrast to the competition, pro-war Democrat Adam Schiff. Supporter Ed Begly, jr. with Green Candidate Bill Paparian - Photo by Catherine Bauknight Sarah Knopp, a public school teacher from LA, came close to forcing a runoff election in the California election for Superintendent of Public Education. Knopp received over 569,000 votes, the most ever for a Green in a statewide race in CA, and came in second place out of five contenders. With a war chest of over $1 million the incumbent, Jack O?Connell, received just over 50% of the vote. Knopp was in the best position to take advantage of the public?s anti-incumbent sentiment because of her opposition to standardized testing, saying it threatened to turn public schools into "teach-to-the-test drill camps" that "suck the joy out of education." Michael Berg Receives Wings of Justice Award It?s not just Greens who are incredibly proud of and inspired by Michael Berg, Green Party Congressional Candidate in DE. It looks like a lot of other people are as well. Last week, following a series of interviews on national networks, Buzzflash gave Berg its ?Wings of Justice Award?: Michael Berg, like Cindy Sheehan and the 9/11 widows, has had to grievously suffer twice: first losing a loved one to terrorism and war, and secondly to then endure the slanderous attacks of the entrenched Republican Taliban faction. Nick Berg, Michael Berg's son, was hideously beheaded, allegedly by al-Zarqawi or one of his followers. The beheading was shamelessly used by the Bush Administration for propaganda purposes to justify the war with Iraq. But al-Zarqawi wasn't able to freely operate in Iraq until Bush invaded the nation But instead of turning his grief into supporting Bush's downward spiral of inciting more violence, Berg became an apostle of peace. In a CNN interview, Michael Berg noted: "Iraq did not have al Qaeda in it. Al Qaeda supposedly killed my son. Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda. Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability. Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year." Michael Berg has emerged the wiser and more courageous man. He is a most worthy recipient of this week's BuzzFlash "Wings of Justice Award." DC Statehood Greens Help Organize Annual Juneteenth Celebration and Music Festival Photo by Badia AlBanna For the second year in a row, DC Statehood Greens helped organize the District?s Juneteenth Celebration. Juneteenth commemorates the anniversary of the day, June 19, 1865, when Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, to establish the Emancipation Proclamation as law in the last state of Confederate rebellion?two years after the date of the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863). Statehood Greens have called the movement for D.C. statehood a continuation of the struggle for emancipation and civil rights for African Americans. The party supports the D.C. Juneteenth Celebration as an example of grassroots democratic cooperation by District artists and activists, representing what DC residents can accomplish by working together. This is a friendly reminder to let you know that the advance registration rate for the Green Party National Meeting will end on Friday, July 1st. Register by the end of the day on Friday to take advantage of the advance registration rate of $100 before late registration starts and the price goes up to $115. Register on-line at http://www.gp.org/meeting2006/ Highlights Include: ? National Committee Meeting: Delegates from all affiliated state Green parties will meet to discuss Green Party business and plan for the future. ? Workshops: Skills building workshops to build successful campaigns and effective local organizing ? Local Issues: The Arizona Green Party will host a series of issue based workshops focused on immigration, border, and development issues ? Entertainment: Border issues dinner on Friday night, hosted by the Pima Greens. Great live music Saturday night! ? Network with Greens from across the country. Be Seen Being Green Celebrate Independence Day by showing your Green along with your pride in the stars and stripes! Order one of our new styles of Green Party t-shirts at our online store today. New styles in kelly green and women?s muscle Ts. Union made and sweatshop free. Order now while they?re still in stock. Green Party online shopping just got easier! To Order: online store. Register Green. Vote Green. Give Green. The Green Party does not accept corporate donations. We depend entirely on donations from people who are committed to building a powerful and progressive alternative to the two corporate parties. We ask you to challenge corporate influence in politics by supporting the Green Party of the United States! Show your resistance to the status quo by enabling us to continue organizing and mobilizing for real change. Please help us get out our positive, progressive values to new communities, and to deepen our involvement where we're already anchored. Support us today and please consider becoming a sustainer (look for the recurring donation option). Green Party online shopping just got easier! Visit our improved online store. Americans are ready for Change America is ready for the Green Party's message. But we need your help in bringing the message to the American people! Donate now to the Green Party Make your friends GREEN with envy. Become a card-carrying Green today! Buy Your Green Party Card Online (or download a PDF order form). The latest, coolest item in the wallets of progressives is the personalized Green Party Card. For $36.00 a year* you can be a card-carrying Green. When you become an active supporter of the Green Party of the United States, you'll receive our spanking-new card, which shows the world that you stand committed to time-honored progressive values like liberty, equality, democracy, social justice, personal responsibility and focus on the future. In addition, you will receive a Green Party button and bumper sticker, a one-year subscription to Green Pages, plus all of the information you need to get involved and active as a Green. Half of your contribution will be shared with your state's Green Party. The Future is Green! Order Your Green Party Card Online Today ------------- Federal law requires political committees to use their best effort to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for each individual whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. Contributions form the following individuals and entities are prohibited: corporations, labor organizations, national banks, government contractors, people under 18 years of age, and foreign nationals. *$36.00 is roughly equivalent to the $1.00 paid for a one-year membership in the Populist Party of the 1890s. The Populist Party was a multiracial, progressive, grassroots third party of working people which agitated for many popular progressive reforms. The Green Party of the 21st century continues the Populist's fight for citizen empowerment and progressive reforms at all levels today. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = All comments, feedback and content suggestions should be sent to: office at gp.org. You've been reading Green Line, the monthly e-newsletter of the Green Party of the United States. Subscribe for free at gp.org. Click here to unsubscribe. Paid for by the Green Party of the United States ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Sat Jul 8 14:02:30 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 11:02:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Illinois Greens petition drive update- Are we next? Message-ID: <20060708180230.64813.qmail@web81410.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Greens warn Dems about challenge BY NICOLE SACK, THE SOUTHERN The Greens are cautioning the Democrats not to use state workers "on the clock" to conduct the petition challenge to keep the Greens' state slate off the ballot. Rich Whitney, Green gubernatorial hopeful, said despite having the advantage of incumbency and a huge campaign fund, the Democrats apparently don't want to risk letting the voters have a chance to vote Green in the General Election. = 1131602400) & (nAdsysTime = 1137132000) & (nAdsysTime = 1145077200) & (nAdsysTime = 1148533200) & (nAdsysTime "More than 39,000 voters signed our petitions saying they want the Green Party on the ballot," said Whitney, a Carbondale civil-rights attorney. "But that's still not good enough for them. Now they want to use up taxpayer money going through thousands of signatures line-by-line in probably a futile effort to keep the Greens off the ballot." On Monday, two Chicagoland Democrats filed an 8,000-page objection to Whitney's legitimacy. Whitney, 51, said Illinois has one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation, but even so, the Greens were able to surpass the 25,000-signature requirement - with all signatures required to be collected in a 90-day window - to get a new party on the ballot. Established parties of Republicans and Democrats are required to collect 5,000 to 10,000 signatures for statewide ticket placement. "The Democrats say they just want to make sure everyone plays by the rules, but they don't mention that the rules are a stacked deck against third parties," Whitney said. "I have to wonder if the Democrats could find 39,000 people in 90 days to sign a petition saying they really wanted Rod Blagojevich on the ballot." The Greens are in preparation mode for the binder check. It will be July 11 before the Greens will know how the State Board of Elections will proceed with the review of the objection and the Greens' rebuttal. It could be mid-August before a final decision is reached. Jennifer Rose, Whitney campaign manager, said there was some good news from Monday's objection deadline. "Two Green Party state senate candidates were not challenged," Rose said. "Now they can be called candidates and get to the work of putting their message out across their districts, whereas we have to dedicate a large portion of our time to this challenge and not campaigning - it makes it that much more difficult for us." Whitney is looking to join Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka on the General Election ballot. nicole.sack at thesouthern.com (618) 529-5454 ext. 5816 Published on: Saturday, July 8, 2006 6:08 AM CDT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Sat Jul 8 16:06:22 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 16:06:22 -0400 Subject: {news} Bridgeport Connecticut Council Making Reforms Message-ID: US CT: Council Making Reforms URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n893/a02.html Newshawk: REVISED: How to Newshawk www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm Votes: 0 Pubdate: Tue, 04 Jul 2006 Source: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT) Copyright: 2006sMediaNews Group, Inc Contact: edit at ctpost.com Website: http://www.connpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/574 Author: Susan Silvers, Connecticut Post Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Fabrizi Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) COUNCIL MAKING REFORMS Power Sought to Recall Bridgeport's Mayor BRIDGEPORT -- Two weeks after Mayor John M. Fabrizi's tearful confession that he had used cocaine while in office, a special City Council committee was named Monday to recommend appropriate reforms. In naming the committee, council President Andres Ayala Jr. said the members would "develop a plan to move forward" to address issues raised by the mayor's drug use. Ayala's appointments followed a caucus of Democratic members last Thursday in which participants said no clear groundswell developed to call for the mayor's resignation, even though some council members -- either publicly or privately -- have suggested he do so. But regardless of their feelings on that, Ayala said there were several points of mutual agreement, including the enactment of a provision in the City Charter that could allow the recall of the mayor. Other points of agreement include the possibility of adopting a strict city policy pertaining to drug use; and making drug use an ethical violation under city ordinances. Council members said the wish list would not be easy to achieve. For example, the state does not allow a recall provision, even if the city wishes to adopt one. Still, Ayala said an outpouring of support for one on the local level could resonate in state lawmakers' ears. "If we can send a message to our Hartford legislators, then they would hear the need for such a tool," he said. Ayala said that right now, the only city workers subject to a comprehensive drug policy are drivers with commercial licenses. He said council members wanted to see if more workers could be subject to specific standards, but cautioned that such action would entail cooperation from unions. While Fabrizi himself said he would "absolutely" consider suggestions made by the council, "they don't set policy," he said. Ayala said he also hoped Fabrizi would set forth a specific "roadmap" to rectify his own credibility and any harm done to the city. Reaction to Fabrizi's admission remains difficult to gauge. He was warmly received by parade-goers at the Barnum Festival Sunday. Some council members, such as Elaine Pivirotto, D-132, have said they have heard many complaints from constituents. Others, such as Richard Paoletto, D-138, have said they haven't received any. The committee will consist of Robert P. Curwen, D-138; Amy Vizzo-Paniccia, D-134; Angel M. DePara Jr., D-136; Johnny Dye, D-135; Keith Rodgerson, D-133; and Michelle Lyons, D-134. The sole GOP member of the council, Donna Curran, R-130, was also appointed. Ayala set no specific timetable for the committee to finish. Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sat Jul 8 23:44:55 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 23:44:55 -0400 Subject: {news} agenda for 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP Message-ID: <20060709034501.DZNC2018.eastrmmtao02.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> agenda for 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP in Willimantic, CT El Palenque Restaurant 1172 Main Street, Willimantic, CT , 06226 Phone: 860-423-6011 1. Discuss/review/refine our petition drive for our state-wide candidates. 2. Status of current CTGP candidates/events 3. Potential financial support for CTGP candidates? 4. Any other potential CTGP candidates? 5. CTGP website status. 6. CT Green Times newspaper status: are more articles needed from chapters about their positions? Estimated date it will be going to publisher and availability for distribution. Review distribution process for possible fine tuning with Albert Marceau. 7. Need to find out from SCC and David Bedell about the various listservs: a) which listservers are being used? which are not being used? b) who wants off of the listserves? Who wants to get on the listserves? c) clarify who is to monitor the listserve activities? 8. Treasurer's report from Christopher Reilly. 9. ACLU lawsuit regarding the 2005 CT "campaign finance reform" law. 10. Events/developments regarding the Peace Party i.e. Green Party. 11. agenda for 7-25-06 SCC meeting. 12. Any proposals. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sat Jul 8 23:53:19 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 23:53:19 -0400 Subject: FW: {news} agenda for 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP Message-ID: <20060709035323.JRUI23863.eastrmmtao03.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> time of EC meeting: 7:30pm to 9pm. _____ From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org [mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of B Barry Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2006 11:45 PM To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org Subject: {news} agenda for 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP agenda for 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP in Willimantic, CT El Palenque Restaurant 1172 Main Street, Willimantic, CT , 06226 Phone: 860-423-6011 1. Discuss/review/refine our petition drive for our state-wide candidates. 2. Status of current CTGP candidates/events 3. Potential financial support for CTGP candidates? 4. Any other potential CTGP candidates? 5. CTGP website status. 6. CT Green Times newspaper status: are more articles needed from chapters about their positions? Estimated date it will be going to publisher and availability for distribution. Review distribution process for possible fine tuning with Albert Marceau. 7. Need to find out from SCC and David Bedell about the various listservs: a) which listservers are being used? which are not being used? b) who wants off of the listserves? Who wants to get on the listserves? c) clarify who is to monitor the listserve activities? 8. Treasurer's report from Christopher Reilly. 9. ACLU lawsuit regarding the 2005 CT "campaign finance reform" law. 10. Events/developments regarding the Peace Party i.e. Green Party. 11. agenda for 7-25-06 SCC meeting. 12. Any proposals. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT00148.txt URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Sun Jul 9 18:27:45 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 15:27:45 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} DC Statehood Green Mayoral candidate murdered! Message-ID: <20060709222745.40636.qmail@web81403.mail.mud.yahoo.com> 1. DC Statehood Green mayoral candidate murdered (Washington Post) (Scott McLarty) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 08:34:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Scott McLarty Subject: [usgp-dx] DC Statehood Green mayoral candidate murdered (Washington Post) To: usgp-media at gp-us.org, natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org, dcsgp at yahoogroups.com Message-ID: <20060709153444.52841.qmail at web51102.mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Activist Fatally Shot In NW Man Who Took On Bigwigs Had Filed To Run for Mayor By Robert E. Pierre Washington Post Staff Writer The Washington Post, July 9, 2006 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800861.html A community activist who made a habit of confronting the powerful and had filed papers to run for D.C. mayor was fatally shot early yesterday in a park a block away from the city's thriving new convention center. Chris Crowder, 44, was shot multiple times and found by police next to the wheelchair he had used since 1990, when he was shot and paralyzed from the waist down on a playground in the same neighborhood. The earlier shooting -- a case of mistaken identity, Crowder had said -- came near the end of the crack epidemic, in a year when the District logged 474 homicides and was known as the nation's "murder capital." Now his Mount Vernon neighborhood is in the midst of a rapid transformation, luring developers of pricey condominiums and suburbanites itching to be close to downtown. But homicides, sexual assaults, robberies and assaults with a deadly weapon have increased this year in the police district that includes Mount Vernon, according to police statistics. Crowder was found at 3:43 a.m. in a park near Sixth and N streets NW, a place where his mother said he and other men his age often hung out and talked. D.C. police spokesman Joe Gentile said investigators know of no motive or suspects in the shooting and do not know whether it was the result of a dispute, a robbery or a random act of violence. Another man was shot multiple times in the same incident and was in critical condition last night, police said, declining to release his name. Around the neighborhood and in political circles, Crowder was known as a loud-talking guy who had opinions -- often good ones -- on everything. He gained some fame for an appearance in 1995 on CBS's "60 Minutes," in which he spoke about the 1990 shooting, and for his penchant for taking on bigwigs. He would yell at D.C. Council members during hearings, and in May he bumped heads with entertainer Bill Cosby. Often brash and disheveled, Crowder also came across as thoughtful, according to those who encountered him at public meetings. "He stood out because of his energy and his passion," said D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), a leading mayoral candidate. "He was an advocate for affordable housing, more services and programs for young people. He spoke very loud. Even when he was challenging the government, he was always the type of person who would walk over and shake your hand. He really seemed concerned about the future of the city." Crowder was among 12 candidates who had filed official petitions to run for mayor. He had filed as a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party, which advocates for the elimination of federal oversight of the District, statehood for the city and reparations for descendants of slaves, among other causes. "He said he wanted to help the city be better," his mother, Gracie Brown, said of Crowder's mayoral bid. "He didn't have much money, but he was running." Crowder shared an apartment with his mother on Seventh Street NW, a few blocks from the scene of the shooting. Brown rushed to the park after neighbors knocked frantically on her door. A detective told her that her son had been shot seven times, she said. Yesterday afternoon, a steady stream of neighbors visited and telephoned her to offer condolences. Crowder had graduated from Howard University and was working his way through law school in 1990 when he was shot the first time. Five years later, during the "60 Minutes" interview with Mike Wallace, Crowder said he had been shot by one of three teenagers who mistook him for a police officer. That attack led to years of health problems, he told Wallace, explaining that he required a nurse daily, medication for bed sores and several skin grafts. Asked what he would have told the people who shot him, Crowder said: "Man, do you know how much you've sidelined me? Do you know how much you've cost me and how much it's costing me now? Do you know how much pain I have to go through certain days? How I feel when I wet myself?" During Cosby's recent speech at the University of the District of Columbia, Crowder yelled to Cosby that he was hosting a "watered-down dialogue." Cosby has traveled across the country criticizing black people who shun personal responsibility, blame police for incarcerations and let their children speak improper English. After Crowder's outburst, Cosby came down from the stage to confront him. "You don't deserve an audience with me," the entertainer said. Brown said her son had been unable to work because of his injuries and was receiving disability payments. She said he was always helpful with seniors in their apartment building in the 1300 block of Seventh Street. One neighbor said that too many youths in and around the building are violent and disrespectful to adults. "We bring this up at tenants meetings, but nothing is ever done," said the woman, a friend of Brown's who has lived in the same building for 15 years and declined to give her name. One question bothered Fenty and others yesterday: "How does a guy in a wheelchair get shot?" the council member asked. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your mailing list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs End of Natlcomaffairs Digest, Vol 31, Issue 14 ********************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 10 09:31:00 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:31:00 -0400 Subject: {news} Cannabis is a First-Line Treatment for Childhood Mental Disorders Message-ID: http://www.counterpunch.org/mikuriya07082006.html Why Judges Shouldn't Have Control Over Everything Cannabis is a First-Line Treatment for Childhood Mental Disorders By Dr. TOD MIKURIYA In 1996, California legalized cannabis as a treatment for "any... condition for which marijuana brings relief." Although the law does not constrain physicians from approving the use of cannabis by children and adolescents, the state medical board has investigated physicians for doing so, exerting a profoundly inhibiting effect. Even doctors associated with the Society of Cannabis Clinicians have been reluctant to approve cannabis use by patients under 16 years of age, and have done so only in cases in which prescribable pharmaceuticals had been tried unsuccessfully. The case of Alex P. suggests that the practice of employing pharmaceutical drugs as first-line treatment exposes children gratuitously to harmful side effects. Alex P., accompanied by his mother, first visited my office in February 2005 at age 15 years, 6 months. At that time he had been prescribed and was taking Fioricet with codeine (30 mg, 3x/day); Klonopin (1 mg, 2x/day); Ativan (1 mg, 2x/day); and Dilaudid "as needed" to treat migraine headaches (346.1), insomnia (307.42), and outbursts of aggression to which various diagnoses -including bipolar with schizophrenic tendencies- had been attached by doctors in the Kaiser Healthcare system. Alex had previously been prescribed Ritalin, Prozac, Paxil, Maxalt, Immitrex, Depacote, Phenergan, Inderal, Thorazine, Amitriptaline, Buspar, Vicodin, Seroquel, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Clozaril, Norco, and Oxycodone. A history taken from Alex and a separate interview with his mother, Barbara P., were in full accordance. The mother described Alex as a healthy baby who was "never a good sleeper." She had "a rocky relationship" with Alex's father, who had three children from a previous marriage. Alex, their second son, "always saw himself as the peacemaker when there was arguing... I think that's why, when it was time for him to go to school, he never wanted to go. He just didn't like to leave the house." Although Alex showed facility communicating verbally, his reading and writing skills disappointed his teachers and prior to going to middle school he was evaluated for an Individual Educational Plan. According to his mother, "They didn't say he was dyslexic, they said he 'had trouble processing things.' He wasn't acting wild in school. He was always well behaved. But they said he had ADD because he couldn't concentrate and process things." At age 11, Alex was prescribed Ritalin for attention deficit disorder. In middle school Alex befriended some 13- and 14-year-olds, with whom he was caught stealing a car (and with whom he had shared his stimulant medication, and who introduced him to marijuana). Thus began a four-year sojourn through institutions of the Central Valley juvenile justice system and Kaiser-affiliated hospitals and clinics. In this period, according to Barbara P., "They put him on all these medications and not only couldn't he sleep at night, but he started having rampages, hitting -mainly me. He fought with his brother and his dad, too. He beat up the truck. He couldn't remember afterwards what he actually did. He seemed like a completely different person. I don't think that's because of who he is. I think it was because of the medications he was taking." Barbara P. expresses remorse that she obeyed court orders to force Alex to take his prescribed medications. At age 13 Alex made a serious attempt at suicide by hanging himself from a tree outside his house. He was rescued by his brother returning home unexpectedly. He reports making other attempts to overdose on pills. Alex had known since age 11, when he first smoked cannabis with his older friends, that it had a calming effect. Many of his encounters with the juvenile justice system were for marijuana possession. His mother says, "He was aware that it helped him not feel stressed out and not have headaches. It helped him concentrate. It helped him sleep. All the things he needed. But I wasn't for smoking it." She reports feeling social pressure from her Central Valley community and pressure from her husband to oppose Alex's attempts to obtain and use marijuana. "Alex went through three rehabs--two inpatient and one outpatient, all court-ordered, all for marijuana. He could not do inpatient and I told them that. It's not that Alex wanted to be out there doing drugs, he wanted to be home! He had a thing where he didn't want to be put in an institution where he didn't know anybody. That would drive him more crazy. He ended up running from one rehab house and getting kicked out of another." Perceiving that Alex's mental state was worsening, and in response to his repeated requests to be allowed to smoke marijuana, Barbara did research on the internet that alerted her to similarities between cannabis and Marinol (dronabinol), a legally prescribable drug. Her request that a Kaiser physician prescribe Marinol for Alex was rejected. Through the internet she identified the author as a specialist in cannabinoid therapeutics and arranged an appointment for Alex. A prescription was written in February 2005 for Marinol (10 mg), along with a recommendation to use cannabis by means of a vaporizer. Alex has consistently maintained he prefers smoking cannabis to ingestion by other means, due to rapidity of onset and ability to titrate dosage. ("It works great and you can use just as much as you need," he says.) When a drug test ordered by the Probation department turned up positive for cannabinoids, Alex had a hearing at which a Superior Court judge declared that because Marinol use could mask marijuana use, he would not allow it. He explicitly refused to recognize the validity of a specialist in the field of cannabis therapeutics and ordered Alex to take only drugs prescribed by Kaiser. Barbara P. says: "I guess judges have authority over anything. He thought Alex had a drug problem with marijuana because he had smoked it before." At a subsequent hearing another judge rescinded the order. When Alex's Probation ended in May, 2005, he began medicating exclusively with smoked cannabis. Dramatic improvement Alex and Barbara P. were seen by the author at a follow-up visit in February 2006. Alex reported dramatically improved mood and functionality with only one migraine attack in the past year, not severe enough to require a trip to the hospital for a Dilaudid injection. He is in an independent study program at a small public school and getting straight As and Bs. "They love me at school," Alex asserts. His teacher is aware that he medicates with cannabis with a physician's approval. He smokes approximately one ounce per week and would use 50% more if it were cheaper to obtain. He does not vaporize because a vaporizer is "too expensive" (although he has taken up the guitar and purchased several models). He summarizes his status thus: "I use(d) to use a lot of medication like Klonopin and other pain medication but I haven't had to since the use of cannabis." His mother reports: "We knew after about three months on Marinol that he was going to be okay. He started doing a lot better. He sleeps well, he's not on any of the other medications, I haven't had to take him to the emergency room for migraine since he first went on Marinol. He's been totally fine. He walks the dog, cleans up his room, does chores for the family. And I know that he's going to be okay. Before, I never knew what was going to happen. I couldn't picture him getting a job." Alex's father has relented in his disapproval of Alex's cannabis use, having seen its effects on the household. The case of Alex P. is one of iatrogenic illness in which drug-oriented school counselors and administrators played a harmful role. In a previous era, psychologists would have put more emphasis on examining the family constellation. An adequate work-up would have identified Alex's insomnia as the likely cause of his poor scholastic performance. Failing an adequate work-up, the quasi-diagnosis "inability to process" led to a prescription of methylphenidate, a stimulant, for an 11-year-old with persistent insomnia. The resulting disinhibition led in turn to trouble with law enforcement, a cycle of extreme anxiety and distress, and the prescription of more drugs, irrationally chosen to counteract drug-induced symptoms. As a result of the federal prohibition, there exist no official guidelines governing when and how cannabis should be used by patients suffering from a given condition. The Institute of Medicine Report of 1999 acknowledges the feasibility of cannabis being used to treat certain conditions when all pharmaceutical options have failed. The case of Alex P. suggests that employing pharmaceutical stimulants, antidepressants and anti-psychotics exposes children gratuitously to harmful side effects in violation of Hippocratic principles. The first-line treatment for any condition, efficacy being equal, would be the drug or procedure least likely to cause harm. Given the benign side-effect profile of cannabis, it should be the first-line of treatment in a wide range of childhood mental disorders, including persistent insomnia. Physicians and parents both face stigma and take risks in authorizing cannabis use by children, but the risks are legal and social rather than medical. The case of Alex P. exemplifies this reality. Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 10 09:34:33 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:34:33 -0400 Subject: {news} Woman: Family helped son sustain heroin habit Message-ID: http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16896800&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6 Top Stories Woman: Family helped son sustain heroin habit By Jennifer Hoyt, Journal Inquirer 07/08/2006 ENFIELD - Karen Menard, a mother who was arrested Thursday on charges that she helped her son obtain heroin, told police that she and her parents were supporting her son's drug habit "because they care about him," according to a police affidavit. All four family members were arrested Thursday after police entered their home at 18 Haynes St. with a search warrant. Police say they found 56 bags of heroin in the living room. Advertisement Two sets of charges were filed against each defendant, one stemming from Thursday's search and the other from a search of the same home on May 25. Karen Menard, 48, was charged with conspiracy to possess narcotics and two counts of aiding and encouraging the possession of narcotics. She was released on $100,000 in non-surety bonds, meaning that she didn't have to post money or property with the court but will be charged that amount if she fails to appear in court when required. Her son, James Menard, 25, was charged with operating a drug factory, two counts of possession of narcotics, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. After his arraignment Friday, he was being held in lieu of $50,000 in bonds at the Hartford Correctional Center, a court clerk said. James Menard's grandparents, Edward Ambrosini, 74, and Alice Ambrosini, 73, were also arrested Thursday. Both were charged with two counts of aiding and encouraging the possession of narcotics. They were released on non-surety bonds and are scheduled to appear in court July 18. When the police first searched the home on May 25, the only people present at first were the Ambrosinis, who own the home, Detective Gary Castle said in affidavits. Alice Ambrosini told the police that Karen Menard was in Hartford at the time, where she had taken James Menard so that he could buy heroin, Castle wrote. Another detective, who interviewed the Ambrosinis, reported that the couple didn't seem to "understand the seriousness of James' drug use," Castle wrote. The detective reported that the Ambrosinis knew James was addicted and that they thought they were helping him by supplying him with drug money until he could "get in rehab," Castle added. Alice also told police that her husband had sold off parts of his antique train collection so that James could buy drugs, Castle wrote. While police were searching the home on May 25, Karen Menard arrived home alone, according to Castle. He quoted her as saying that she was returning from Hartford, where she had helped her son buy $200 worth of heroin. Castle also quoted Karen Menard as saying that before she dropped her son off at a friend's home in East Windsor that day, he had sniffed two of the bags of heroin in her car. She said James Menard, who is her only child, "has a habit of 50 bags of heroin per day," Castle added. During the arraignment of Karen Menard, Judge Howard Scheinblum said of the accusation that she had driven her son to Hartford to buy drugs: "If that's true, you are not a very good mother." Bail Commissioner Paul Maselek said Karen Menard had no prior criminal record. James Menard has a criminal history that includes charges of larceny, breach of peace, and violations of probation, Maselek said. Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer ?Journal Inquirer 2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: @Topx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=461&BRD=985&LOCALPCT=50&AREA=410&VERT=6543&NAREA=410&barnd=5834 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chapillsbury at igc.org Mon Jul 10 13:36:22 2006 From: chapillsbury at igc.org (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 13:36:22 -0400 Subject: {news} FW: Press Release - ACLU of Connecticut Files Federal Lawsuit Message-ID: <005601c6a447$5e2082a0$1901a8c0@EXDIR04> _____ From: ACLU-Connecticut [mailto:actionalert at acluct.org] Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 10:56 AM To: chapillsbury at igc.org Subject: Press Release - ACLU of Connecticut Files Federal Lawsuit ACLU of Connecticut Logo ***PRESS RELEASE*** ACLU of Connecticut Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging State Campaign Finance Law Suit Targets Provisions on Minor Party Participation and Lobbyist Contributions Jeffrey Garfield and Richard Blumenthal Named as Defendants Read the complaint at: http://www.acluct.org/downloads/CFRComplaint.pdf July 10, 2006 HARTFORD, CT - On July 6th, the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut filed a lawsuit in federal court in Hartford challenging the state's new campaign finance law, saying that several provisions of the law violate the freedoms of speech and association under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The suit names Jeffrey Garfield, Executive Director of the state Elections Enforcement Commission, and State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal as defendants and seeks to block them from enforcing those provisions. "For more than 17 years, the ACLU has supported public financing for political campaigns as a means of facilitating the candidacy of individuals from diverse socio-economic and political backgrounds. At the same time, however, we have been concerned that election campaign reforms be achieved by means that do not sacrifice basic civil liberties," said Roger C. Vann, Executive Director of ACLU-CT. He added, "We believe that Connecticut's campaign finance law crosses that line. For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed deeply flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters." The campaign law, which was passed in December of 2005 and amended this past June, establishes a system of public financing for campaigns for state Constitutional and General Assembly offices. "In order for the public financing of campaigns to be fair, funds must be equally available in equal amounts to all qualified candidates who are able to objectively demonstrate support for their candidacies, said Renee C. Redman, ACLUF-CT Legal Director and co-counsel in the lawsuit. "Connecticut's law doesn't meet that standard because it effectively excludes minor party candidates from receiving public financing. Minor party candidates are compelled to demonstrate support not only through onerous financial requirements but also through prior election activity. This goes far beyond an objective showing of support," added Redman. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said plaintiff S. Michael Derosa, co-chair of the Green Party of Connecticut and the party's current candidate for Secretary of the State. He added, "We consider this law an act of blatant discrimination against third party and independent candidacies." The law also bars contributions by lobbyists, state contractors, and their immediate family members. Certain employees, officers and directors of current and prospective state contractors are also barred from making contributions. The lawsuit claims that these absolute restrictions violate the First Amendment. Betty Gallo, a plaintiff in the case, heads the lobbying and government relations firm Betty Gallo & Co., and has lobbied before the state General Assembly since 1976. She feels the new campaign finance law will unfairly limit her right to actively participate in the political process as a "responsible citizen." "The way this law is written if my doctor said, 'I got a request for a campaign contribution from my representative. Is she good on the expansion of HUSKY? Should I send her money?' I can't answer that question. If my neighbor said, 'This Senator is doing a fundraiser next week. How is he on infertility coverage or same sex marriage?' I can't answer that question. I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state race. And I can't even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office," Gallo said. In addition to Derosa and Gallo, the ACLU is representing the Green Party of Connecticut; Dr. Joanne P. Philips, the wife of Don Philips who is a communicator lobbyist for the Connecticut Bar Association; the Libertarian Party of Connecticut; and the ACLU of Connecticut. Redman and National ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Mark Lopez are co-counsel in the case. The ACLU is seeking permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the implementation of the challenged provisions. Roger Roger C. Vann Executive Director ACLU-Connecticut 32 Grand Street Hartford, CT 06106 _____ To learn more about ACLU-CT please visit our website at http://www.acluct.org . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Tue Jul 11 17:30:29 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 14:30:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Sec of State urges YOU to become a Democrat! "Affilate and Participate!" Theme!!! Message-ID: <20060711213029.20019.qmail@web81412.mail.mud.yahoo.com> http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-11154824.apds.m0515.bc-ct--votejul11,0,6523671.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire Parties, officials urging unaffiliated voters to choose Associated Press July 11, 2006 HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Secretary of the State's office is teaming up with Democrats and Republicans to urge Connecticut's unaffiliated voters - the largest voting block - to pick a party. The upcoming Aug. 8 primary is too important for voters to miss, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Tuesday. "This is a very fundamental right we all have as Americans, the right to choose our leaders," Bysiewicz said at a state Capitol news conference. As many as 15 primaries are scheduled throughout the state, including Democratic primaries for the U.S. Senate and governor. There is also a Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District and a dozen primaries for state House and Senate seats. Unaffiliated voters, as well unregistered voters, have until Aug. 7 at noon to register in person with a political party. They need to visit their local town or city halls. Bysiewicz said voters can switch back to being unaffiliated after the primary. About 900,000, or 49 percent, of the state's voters are unaffiliated. They're the largest block, followed by Democrats and then Republicans. Some local registrars of voters said that this year they've seen a larger-than-usual number of unaffiliated voters ask to switch to a political party, typically the Democratic Party. George Cody, the Democratic registrar in New Canaan, said some Republicans have asked to change their affiliation to vote in the primary. But it's too late. The deadline to change from Democrat to Republican or Republican to Democrat was in May. Judith Beaudreau, the Democratic registrar in Vernon, said she heard some unaffiliated voters saying they wanted to become Democrats to vote in the primary between U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and challenger Ned Lamont. The Senate battle has attracted national attention as Lamont gains ground in public opinion polls. Lieberman, who is popular among unaffiliated and Republican voters in Connecticut, plans to begin collecting signatures to secure a spot on the November ballot should he lose the Democratic primary. Lieberman plans to run under a new party called Connecticut for Lieberman. Meanwhile, Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, who won the Democratic nomination at the recent party convention, is vying against New Haven Mayor John DeStefano on Aug. 8. Both hope to challenge Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell in November. Copyright ? 2006, The Associated Press var st_v=1.0; var st_pg=""; var st_ci="703"; var st_di="d019"; var st_dd="st.sageanalyst.net"; var st_tai="v:1.2.1"; var st_ai=""; if (st_v==1.0) { var st_uj; var st_dn = (new Date()).getTime(); var st_rf = escape(document.referrer); st_uj = "//"+st_dd+"/"+st_dn+"/JS?ci="+st_ci+"&di="+st_di+ "&pg="+st_pg+"&rf="+st_rf+"&jv="+st_v+"&tai="+st_tai+"&ai="+st_ai; var iXz = new Image(); iXz.src = st_uj; } =0)document.write(unescape('%3C')+'\!-'+'-') //--> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Wed Jul 12 13:53:50 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:53:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Nader on Lamont- Lieberman race in CT WTIC radio podcast Message-ID: <20060712175350.3135.qmail@web81411.mail.mud.yahoo.com> http://www.wtic.com/pages/3029.php http://podcast.wtic.com/wtic/19527.mp3 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Thu Jul 13 06:54:25 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 03:54:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} (Hartford Advocate) "THIRD PARTY ANIMALS" Message-ID: <20060713105425.81235.qmail@web81415.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Third Party Animals Meet Ralph Ferrucci and John Mertens, the other next Senators from Connecticut by Adam Bulger - July 13, 2006 NICK LACY PHOTOS Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, Ralph Ferrucci. John Mertens is running for senate on the Independent Party CT. When Joe Lieberman announced on July 3 that he was collecting signatures in anticipation of running as an independent candidate in the event he lost the August 8 Democratic primary, it sent shock waves throughout state and national politics. Commentators called the move a betrayal of the Democratic Party. Lieberman could, of course, still win the primary. However, one of his opponents in the race doubts he will. ?We think it?s pretty much a foregone conclusion that it?s going to be a three way race,? Republican Senatorial candidate Alan Schlesinger told the Advocate in a phone interview. As such, Schlesinger is preparing to run a campaign on two fronts, with Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont as the Democratic nominee and Lieberman running as an independent. But Lieberman, Lamont and Schlesinger won?t be the only names on the ballot. There have been third party candidates in the race for a while. If Lieberman does run as an independent, he?ll find the playing field fairly crowded. Ralph Ferrucci, a veteran political activist from New Haven, is running for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket. Along with Avon drug-legalization activist Cliff Thornton?s bid for the governor?s job, Ferrucci?s campaign is part of the Green Party?s first bid for statewide office. When I met with Ferrucci at his apartment in New Haven, we spoke in his modest living room, which was packed with DVDs like the Sex Pistols documentary The Filth and the Fury , and books by Michael Moore and other left-leaning writers. He had a somewhat quiet, laid back demeanor and a sly sense of humor, which ran counter to his active history in state politics. This is not Ferrucci?s first bid for public office. In 2003, he ran for Mayor of New Haven on the Guilty Party platform in a campaign that was steeped in political theater. The only prior candidate the Guilty Party had was an unconvincing drag queen named ?Little Miss Mess-up.? During Ferrucci?s campaign, volunteers tried to ?buy? votes with self-printed three dollar bills. ?The Green Party wasn?t ready to run a mayoral campaign at that time. And there was no other opposition to the Mayor [John DeStefano]. So we felt somebody should run against him,? Ferrucci said. His platform included taxing Yale and converting the city?s school buses to biodiesel fuel. Ferrucci first got involved in politics through the 1999-2000 Ralph Nader presidential campaign. A full-time truck driver -- he delivers cookies for the Entenmann?s company, Ferrucci has continued to be active in New Haven Green and statewide party politics since then, working on the successful John Halle Alderman campaign in 2001 and Charlie Pillsbury?s 2002 bid for Congress, among other races. Healthcare led him to the Green Party, and remains his dominant issue. ?The biggest thing, especially with the Nader campaign and the Green Party, has been health care. That?s actually my biggest issue. I talk about health care more than I talk about the war. A lot of people want to talk about the war. Strangely enough, on my website, I get more hits on my section about healthcare than the war.? Ferrucci said. His concerns about universal healthcare are due in part to a vested interest. ?I?m one of 45 million people in America without it.? On his website, ferrucciforsenate.org, Ferrucci outlines his plan for a single-payer universal health care system. He said his strategy for the race, in part, depended on the outcome of the Democratic primary. ?This is all about taking down Lieberman at all costs,? Ferrucci said, adding that he had no interest in acting as a spoiler for Lamont, the more progressive of the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. The Greens plan on endorsing Lamont for the Democratic primary, and had offered the Lamont campaign help if needed. ?I don?t plan on going up against Lamont. If Lamont wins and I?m going to throw the election, I won?t stay in that campaign. I don?t want to throw it to Lieberman,? Ferrucci said. ?But I will stay in the race to attack Lieberman.? --------------------------------- When I spoke with California native and West Hartford resident John Mertens, the senatorial candidate for the Independent Party CT, he spoke fast and intensely, in logically sorted bullet points. Looking at my notes, it?s almost like an outline of a book: Energy and oil addiction. Social Security. Budget deficits. Overspending. Pork. ?I?m about solving problems. We need to bring in solutions that very smart people have figured out about very important questions,? Mertens said. It?s not surprising that Mertens approaches government and politics the same way that an engineer approaches any problem that needs solving. The first-time political office seeker is a tenured professor in the engineering department at Hartford?s Trinity College. His engineering background was evident both in his subject matter -- he?s a proponent of wind power and a fan of nuclear power -- as well as his choice of words. Talking about his campaign platform: he used the word ?quantifiable? several times. He explained his campaign in pragmatic terms. ?I?m running for two reasons. The first is to help build a viable third party in Connecticut by getting at least one percent of the vote,? Mertens said. ?The other is to scream from the mountain top about the solutions to problems that career politicians won?t talk about.? On his website, www.mertens2006.com, Merten describes himself as a ?fiscal conservative? and a ?social liberal.? While that equation usually adds up to ?Libertarian,? Mertens said he ?couldn?t cotton to the ideas of the Libertarians,? since he believes government has responsibilities to its citizens. ?I hate the terms conservative and liberal. I like the terms responsible and freedom,? Mertens said. The Independent Party CT grew out of dissatisfaction with local politics in Waterbury, when party chairman Mike Telesca formed it in 2003. ?We realized that the only way to change the system was from the outside,? Telesca said. Subsequently, the Independent Party picked up four seats on the city?s board of aldermen. The Independent Party is forwarding five candidates in this coming election, their first bid for statewide offices. Like Ferrucci, Merten spoke favorably of Lamont, but had harsh words for Lieberman. ?If Lieberman loses the Democratic primary, I?ll try to take votes away from him,? Mertens said. But if the election goes south for Lamont, Merten said, ?honestly, watch my dust.? We want your feedback. Email abulger at hartfordadvocate.com Email editor at hartfordadvocate.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Thu Jul 13 13:41:41 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:41:41 -0400 Subject: {news} Re: Frank Zeidler, last Socialist mayor, dies References: <20060709194815.34561.qmail@web30101.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Zeidler was part of the same movement that elected Jasper McLevy, Bridgeport's Socialist mayor during the 1940s and 50s. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13770756 Frank Zeidler, last Socialist mayor, dies By COLIN FLY, Associated Press Writer Sat Jul 8, 7:04 PM ET MILWAUKEE - Frank Zeidler, a former Milwaukee mayor who was the last Socialist to run a major American city, has died. He was 93. Zeidler died late Friday of congestive heart failure and diverticulitis, hospital spokesman Gregg Hartzog said. He led Milwaukee from 1948 through 1960. Born in Milwaukee on Sept. 20, 1912, Zeidler was part of the Socialist Party's city stronghold, which was fueled by German immigrants who flocked there. The party had thousands of members, a congressional seat and control of the mayor's office for nearly a half-century, ending with Zeidler. "Historians described him in the tradition of Milwaukee's sewer socialists," said Zeidler's youngest daughter, Jeanne, who followed her father into politics and is mayor of Williamsburg, Va. "They were community leaders, mayors of Milwaukee who thought everyone should have access to plumbing in their homes," she said. "But he also had a bigger vision than that. He really was an activist of world peace, of tolerance, of people working together." His three terms as mayor were marked by large-scale construction of public housing, creation of the first educational television station in Wisconsin and city beautification programs. He also made strong statements on behalf of civil rights as Milwaukee became the 11th-largest city in the United States by the end of his term, Jeanne Zeidler said. Zeidler said the word "socialism" was discredited when Stalin and Hitler used it in their rhetoric. Still, he remained an ardent Socialist until his death, serving as chairman of the national Socialist party, even as numbers dwindled. He never moved from the house he owned before being elected mayor, an office he retired from. Zeidler wrote a 1,022-page manuscript in 1962 called "A Liberal in City Government" that was a memoir and a reflection on municipal government. It was finally published last year. "I thought I would discharge the contents of my mind," he said of his work. Zeidler ran for president unsuccessfully in 1976, receiving about 6,000 votes. From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Fri Jul 14 10:00:19 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:00:19 -0400 Subject: {news} Re: 'The Nanny Diaries' References: <563.1e4c70f.31e8e8e8@aol.com> Message-ID: This opinion in The Day of New London raises a persistent question about the role of theatrics in political campaigns. My own feeling is that the majority of people find politics boring and don't pay attention unless you throw in some theatrics (mascots, costumes, props, etc.) just like commercial advertisers use (think of the GEICO gecko). Probably some people are turned off or don't take the message seriously because of this, but I think we reach a much greater part of the population who would not hear the message otherwise. http://www.theday.com/re_txt.aspx?re=987fe20c-b01c-4e60-ad23-91cde751856d The Nanny Diaries By Mike DiMauro Published on 7/14/2006 in Features ? Columns Recently, The Day was granted an exclusive interview with Katie The Goat, official mascot of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. Katie chose The Day over ?60 Minutes,? a ?Barbara Walters Special,? ?Dateline? and ?Geraldo At Large.? The interview took place in The Day's fourth-floor conference room with milk and cheese as refreshments. The Day: Thanks for meeting with us, Katie. But why us? Katie: Ed Bradley, Baaaarbara, Stone Phillips and Geraldo would see a goat and ask too many yes and naaaaa questions. That would really get myself. The Day: What do you mean, ?get myself?? Katie: Well, I could say it would really get my goat, but that would be redundant. Plus, I've always liked the way The Day has treated me. The Day: Hey, we try. So, Katie, do you like being the official mascot of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone (CCAM)? Katie: I have to be careful here, because I'm getting three plants a day, plus a roof over my horns. But I have to admit, I think they could make their point a little better. The Day: CCAM contends that the milk you produce shows high levels of the radioactive isotope strontium 90, which can cause cancer. Katie: I'm aware of that. But that doesn't mean they should milk me for all I'm worth. The Day: Why? Katie: Because I'm a goat. All my life, I've railed on about how goats are people too, you know, and nobody takes it seriously. My brother, Billy, has been so distraught that his veterinarian recommended a goat psychologist. I've seen what it's done to him. The Day: Recently in Niantic, Nancy Burton, the CCAM director, squeezed a few drops of milk from you at a rally to prove a point. You didn't seem pleased. Katie: How would she like it if she got squeezed where the sun doesn't shine? Is that all we're good for? Milk? The Day: How do you think your milk became toxic? Katie: I really don't know. And I'm not really sure it's relevant. The Day: Why is it not relevant? Katie: Because I'm a goat. I don't think the plight of goats really drives home the point to the general population. CCAM might be making some good points that the people who live around here need to hear. But I doubt they are taken seriously when they see somebody with their hands all over a goat's unmentionables. The Day: What points do you think CCAM makes that the public needs to hear? Katie: Well, here's the deal: It's hard to draw conclusions from studies because generally, the studies say exactly what the people who paid for them want them to say. But nuclear waste storage near a residential area might be dangerous. It's piling up at Millstone because the federal government hasn't come up with a place for it, as it promised. There might be radiological risks. A lot of people live around Millstone. I think those are legitimate concerns. But they're getting lost because CCAM keeps trotting me out. I mean, mascots are supposed to be associated with fun things. Like Blaze at the Connecticut Sun or Cutter with the Defenders. The Day: How did you get so smart? Katie: I drank my milk as a kid. The Day: Thanks for your time. For all of us at the paper, we hope you live a more sheltered existence from now on. Katie: Me, too. This is the opinion of Mike DiMauro. From efficacy at msn.com Fri Jul 14 12:12:51 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:12:51 -0400 Subject: {news} Family Man, Addict, Prisoner Message-ID: "If one does not understand racism, classism, white privilege, terrorism, and the war on drugs--what these terms mean--how these concepts work, then everything else you do understand will only confuse you" http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-dyer0714.artjul14,0,3762011.story?coll=hc-headlines-home CONNECTICUT NEWS Family Man, Addict, Prisoner Canton Father Gets 37 Months For Selling Weapons For Drugs July 14, 2006 By LYNNE TUOHY, COURANT STAFF WRITER NEW HAVEN -- Robert Dyer is 50, white, a doting husband and father and lifelong Canton resident with an impressive work record. He also was feeding high-powered weapons into the arsenal on Hartford's streets to sate his escalating hunger for drugs. At Dyer's sentencing before Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns Thursday, a federal prosecutor expressed incredulity at the outpouring of support for Dyer by friends, neighbors and colleagues. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Leaming mused what the scenario would be if the same crime bore a different face. "I wonder if it was a Hartford man - a father, son, brother, neighbor - who had a drug addiction and decided he would put guns into the hands of a known drug dealer and convicted felon in the town of Canton, knowing that that gun would be used in a crime of violence or wind up in the hands of a child, would they be here," Leaming queried during the proceeding. "I suspect they would say, `37 to 46 months, is that all he gets?'" That was the range Dyer faced, and Burns refused to drop below it, saying it seems a day doesn't go by when there isn't a report of at least one fatal shooting in one of Connecticut's cities. "The public needs to be aware of the fact the courts take these crimes very seriously," Burns said before sentencing Dyer to 37 months. He is scheduled to surrender to U.S. marshals Aug. 3. Dyer's wife, Carol, wept quietly during the nearly hour-long sentencing proceeding, though Dyer himself showed no visible reaction when he learned his fate. He spoke briefly during the hearing. "I did a very bad thing," he said. "I'm very sorry. "I just feel so bad for my family," Dyer added. "If I have to go for a long time, I don't know what they'll do. I've never done anything like that; I'll never do it again." Andrea Comer, president of the African American Alliance and a longtime Hartford activist, later said Dyer's case is just the latest in a string of crimes involving suburbanites coming into Hartford to exchange guns or cash for drugs. She noted the arrest earlier this year of East Windsor chiropractor David Muska, also an admitted drug addict, who faces federal charges of exchanging guns for drugs on Hartford's streets. "It's amazing how it seems people have no remorse about destroying a community that's not theirs, and we get labeled as `the bad place.' .. I think it's unfortunate that, too often, the city is where suburban folks come to do their dirt," Comer said. Dyer's lawyer, Alan J. Sobol, argued vigorously for a sentence involving little or no incarceration, citing Dyer's role as his family's sole source of financial support. Dyer's wife stays home to care for the couple's seriously disabled 23-year-old daughter, Jessica. Another daughter, 21-year-old Joan, also lives with them and commutes to college. "His judgment was clearly clouded by his involvement in drugs," Sobol said, but stressed that Dyer maintained a sterling work record at various trucking firms in the Hartford area. "He's the sole provider. The family has enormous debt," Sobol said. Dyer's family goes back generations in Canton, and remains tight-knit. Two of his siblings spoke about what a loving and generous man Dyer is, and how he cared for their elderly mother until her death last year. But substance abuse has nagged Dyer since his teen years, Sobol wrote in a sentencing memorandum. At 15 he was drinking a six-pack of beer and smoking marijuana on a daily basis. At 30 he added cocaine to the mix; at 40, heroin. At 45 he became addicted to crack cocaine. He and a friend, Joseph Duffy of East Hartford, were indicted last September on charges of selling weapons and ammunition to their drug supplier in Hartford, who agreed to become a confidential witness to possibly lessen his exposure on crimes he faced. The informant is not identified in the indictment. During a two-month investigation, FBI agents tracked the informant as he purchased weapons and ammunition from Duffy, who was supplied the items by Dyer. The weapons included an assault rifle and a shotgun, with serial numbers partially obliterated, and three banana-style magazines of assault ammunition. Firearms experts were able to discern the serial numbers and trace the guns to Dyer. One of the magazines bore a fingerprint matching Dyer's. When Dyer was arrested in September, federal agents seized from his home seven rifles and assault weapons, high capacity magazines and more than 11,000 rounds of ammunition. Dyer pleaded guilty in March to engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license and possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user. Federal prosecutors in their sentencing memorandum noted that in 2005, more than 200 people were charged with possession of a firearm in Hartford, and more than 350 guns were seized. One weapon seized from a convicted felon in an unrelated arrest was traced to Dyer. "These arrests beg the question: From where do they come and how do they arrive," Leaming wrote of how guns get to Hartford. "From over the mountain and through the woods, literally and figuratively, [Dyer] trafficked guns to his friend, Joe Duffy, to sell to their drug supplier." Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez said Dyer and others like him think they're committing victimless crimes. "They don't see the harm. They're not the ones doing the shooting," Perez said of Dyer. "What this does is put guns into the hands of the most dangerous criminals in our city. These are people who are profiting from dealing drugs. They use the guns not only to conduct their trade but to set a tone of intimidation. The guns get used for retaliation when drug deals go bad. This is like a cancer that grows." Contact Lynne Tuohy at ltuohy at courant.com. A discussion of this story with Courant Staff Writer Lynne Tuohy is scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each hour today between 9 a.m. and noon. Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: blackpix.gif Type: image/gif Size: 35 bytes Desc: not available URL: From efficacy at msn.com Fri Jul 14 16:49:04 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:49:04 -0400 Subject: {news} workshop tues july 18 Message-ID: *MEMORANDUM* To: Campaign Treasurers From: Jeffrey B. Garfield, Executive Director and General Counsel Date: June 23, 2006 Subject: *2006 Workshops on Campaign Financing Requirements * The staff of the State Elections Enforcement Commission is pleased to announce that it will again be conducting workshops on the requirements of the Campaign Finance Laws. These workshops will be directed towards candidates and committees participating in the November 7, 2006 election. The workshops will be held at the following dates and locations: *Thursday, July 13, 2006, Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Room 2C * *Tuesday, July 18, 2006, Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Room 2C* * * * * The role of campaign treasurer is an */extremely important/* one in the campaign. Treasurers are responsible for ensuring that campaign funds received by the committee are from permissible sources and within permissible limits, and that disclosure of contributions and expenditures are made completely and timely. If you are a treasurer of a candidate for a statewide office, the General Assembly, or Judge of Probate, your attendance at one of these workshops is essential. Candidates, campaign chairpersons, and campaign workers are also encouraged and welcome to attend. * * *If you have served as a treasurer in the past, you should still attend. The laws were * *changed since the last campaign, and our seminar will explain those changes. * The State Elections Enforcement Commission is the only state agency responsible for enforcement of the campaign finance laws, and therefore monitors compliance with the requirements. Our philosophy is to prevent problems before they occur. Our workshops provide you with a detailed explanation of your duties, and are the best */free/* advice that you will receive during the campaign. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity by attending one of these workshops. If however, you are unable to attend, the information presented will be available on the State Elections Enforcement Commission website. Our formal presentation will begin at */7:00 p.m/*., be approximately one hour in length, and will be followed by a question and answer period. We look forward to seeing you at the workshop. If you have any questions during the campaign, you may contact Dara Haqq or Dianna Kulmacz, Associate Account Examiners at the Commission at (860) 566-1776 or at dara.haqq at ct.gov > or dianna.kulm acz at ct.govacz at ct.gov>. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Sat Jul 15 06:36:46 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 06:36:46 -0400 Subject: {news} opportunity Message-ID: Here is yet another opportunity. http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-morano0715.artjul15,0,622111.story?coll=hc-headlines-local Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Sun Jul 16 16:26:37 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:26:37 +0000 Subject: {news} Stamford Advocate: Green Party picks Duffee for 4th Congressional District race Message-ID: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-green5jul16,0,6332908.story Green Party picks Duffee for 4th Congressional District race By Mark Ginocchio Staff Writer July 16, 2006 Promising it won't be a spoiler for Democratic challenger Diane Farrell's bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, the state's Green Party picked its congressional candidate. At a nominating convention last week in Norwalk, members of the party chose Stamford resident Richard Duffee as their candidate in the 4th Congressional District. Duffee, 57, a poet and writer who also has worked as an environmental lawyer and a high school science teacher, was considered the favorite over Bridgeport resident Stephen Miller, a former Wall Street stockbroker and money manager who had considered withdrawing because he wasn't getting enough exposure from the party. But after Miller was a no-show at the convention, the party considered whether it should run a candidate and risk jeopardizing Farrell's shot to defeat Shays, R-Bridgeport, in what is being projected as a close race, said David Bedell, secretary for the Green Party's Fairfield County chapter. "We were considering the spoiler effect," Bedell said in a telephone interview last week. "Some (party) members did not want to increase the chances of Chris Shays being re-elected. But we realized if we didn't run a candidate, we wouldn't be able to express our viewpoints." Duffee's campaign is centered on improving the Bush administration's "failed" foreign policy, instituting universal health care and legalizing gay marriage. Bedell said he does not think [Duffee's] campaign will draw votes from Farrell -- who lost to Shays by 4 percentage points two years ago -- and believes [Duffee's] ability to offer a more liberal viewpoint will hurt the incumbent and help create votes for the former Westport first selectwoman. "We're not even looking to necessarily get those votes for Richard," Bedell said. Michael Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, did not address the Green Party's desire to oust the congressman, saying, "Chris looks forward to debating all his opponents." Farrell's camp said it respects the Green Party but said Duffee's candidacy would not affect how Farrell runs her race. "We're running against Chris Shays and trying to establish a new majority in Congress," said Adam Wood, Farrell's campaign manager. "Like the Green Party, Diane has a very strong commitment to the environment and has been very progressive in her policy as first selectwoman of Westport." Wood would not speculate on how Duffee's candidacy would affect the votes Farrell receives. One political observer said Duffee's candidacy could hurt Farrell. "There is reason to believe a Green Party candidate can draw support from the Democrats," said Gary Rose, professor and chairman of the department of government and policy at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. Duffee "could pull votes from the far left away from Farrell." To get on the ballot, Duffee needs to collect 2,909 signatures from registered voters by Aug. 9. Phil Maymin, a Greenwich Libertarian and hedge fund founder, also is trying to petition his way onto the ballot. Copyright ? 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. From greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net Mon Jul 17 11:15:36 2006 From: greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net (Green Party-CT) Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:15:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Feedback please!_ New National Greens Proposed donor "Confdentially"policy Message-ID: <20060717151536.26571.qmail@web81404.mail.mud.yahoo.com> greens, I am really puzzzled by this new proposal that will keep "confidentially" of donors. Any feedback from you guys? We want a open book .. but we can hide some donors? eh?? Tim McKee Proposal Details Proposal ID 239 Proposal GPUS Fiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection Presenter GPUS Finance Committee Floor Manager Rebecca Rotzler Phase Discussion Discussion 07/17/2006 - 07/30/2006 Voting 07/31/2006 - 08/06/2006 Presens Quorum 0.6666 Consens Quorum A Majority of Yes and No Votes BackgroundIt has been determined by the Finance Committee that our fiscal policies are lacking any privacy protection for our donors. Therefore we are offering this revision of our fiscal policies in our Rules, Policies and Procedures to afford some level of confidentially to our donors. Current policies with revisions are as follows: 5. FISCAL POLICY (118) INTRODUCTION These fiscal policies are intended to make possible a higher level of Green political activity, while safeguarding the independence of the Green Party, the autonomy of its member parties, and the accountability of its political and fiscal officers. INCOME Individuals: Contributions from individuals will be accepted in amounts as permitted by law and all excess contributions will be returned. The names [delete: of all individuals contributors will be in the public domain.] and information for donors will be available to state parties upon written request by the states? delegates or treasurer. Organizations: No contributions will be accepted from political action committees (PACs) without the express authorization of the National Committee. Grants or contributions from foundations or other non-profit organizations will be accepted up to a limit of $2000 per year per grantor. No contributions will be accepted from for-profit corporations. The Treasurers annual report to the National Committee will partially consist of the most recent Federal Elections Commission report which is viewable in the public domain [delete: and includes details on contributions by category as well as the names and addresses of all contributing parties, individuals, and organizations.] Proposal5. FISCAL POLICY INTRODUCTION These fiscal policies are intended to make possible a higher level of Green political activity, while safeguarding the independence of the Green Party, the autonomy of its member parties, and the accountability of its political and fiscal officers. INCOME Individuals: Contributions from individuals will be accepted in amounts as permitted by law and all excess contributions will be returned. The names and information for donors will be available to state parties upon written request by the state?s delegates or treasurer Organizations: No contributions will be accepted from political action committees (PACS) without the express authorization of the National Committee. Grants or contributions from foundations or other non-profits organizations will be accepted up to a limit of $2000 per year per grantor. No contributions will be accepted from for-profit corporations. The Treasurers annual report to the National Committee will partially consist of the most recent Federal Elections Commission report, which is viewable in the public domain. ResourcesNone. Referenceswwwgp.org/documents/rules.shtml Revised Fiscal Policy 01-10-2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Tue Jul 18 08:50:39 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:50:39 -0400 Subject: {news} CT: Police Boost Efforts To Stem Activity Message-ID: And on we go, This is being done all over the state. We as reformers know what the results will be. The question is; how do we project to the public that this will not curb anything???? In many ways this helps create urban sprawl.--White flight!! US CT: Police Boost Efforts To Stem Activity URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n938/a05.html Newshawk: Increase Your Media http://www.mapinc.org/resource Votes: 0 Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 Source: Register Citizen (CT) Copyright: 2006 Register Citizen Contact: editor at registercitizen.com Website: http://www.registercitizen.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/598 Author: Tracy Kennedy, Register Citizen Staff, courts at registercitizen.com Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise public figures or officials. POLICE BOOST EFFORTS TO STEM ACTIVITY TORRINGTON - Narcotics arrests are on the rise in Torrington as city police focus on putting a network of city drug dealers out of business. "We have seized more than $160,000 in the last three months and made more than 30 arrests," Torrington Police Lt. Todd Schaller said. From downtown to the East End, Torrington police are conducting surveillance in neighborhoods throughout the city, interviewing drug users as well as using traditional strategies to flush out dealers. Some of the arrests from the city drug trade include ( listed from most recent ): July 13: ( name redacted ) and ( name redacted ) were arrested after officers allegedly found cocaine, heroin, marijuana and Ecstasy in their homes and Willis' Jeep. A prosecutor said Friday that ( name redacted ) inherited the drug business from Marcus "Mo" Brisbane, of 371 Migeon Ave., who has been in jail since September for allegedly kidnapping a city man at gunpoint because the victim stole thousands of dollars in drug money. June 13: ( name redacted ) allegedly distributed crack cocaine from a reported drug factory at 349 South Main St. Police said ( name redacted ) used a fake Dr. Pepper soda can to hide bundles of crack cocaine he delivered to customers in his 1999 Ford Expedition. June 7: ( name redacted ) and ( name redacted ) were allegedly found with heroin, marijuana and drug paraphernalia during a raid of their Lakeside Motel room at 3570 Winsted Road. May 30: ( name redacted ) was arrested after police allegedly conducted four undercover drug purchases from his green Chevrolet Tahoe. May 10: ( name redacted ) allegedly delivered crack cocaine and marijuana to his customers in front of the busy Cumberland Farms store on South Main Street from his apartment at 193 B South Main St. March 27: ( name redacted ) was allegedly observed delivering crack cocaine in her 2001 Lincoln Navigator with her 10-year-old child inside, in the parking lot of the Wendy's Restaurant at 222 Dibble St. There are a number of factors that account for the recent increase in arrests, Sgt. Steve Russo said. People are frustrated about the drug plague in cities such as New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport, and are concerned the problem is creeping north. "It is very helpful when residents call to report suspicious activity in their neighborhood because we cannot be everywhere every minute," Russo said. A number of successful investigations began with a citizen's report of cars frequently stopping at a neighbor's house for short periods of time, Russo said. "People should report the activities as soon as they happen, don't wait until after something goes wrong," he said. By phone or letter, anonymously, or not, neighbors can report their suspicions to police. An anonymous letter sent to police last year led to the investigation of Bigelow, Schaller said. Using standard police tactics including surveillance and trash recovery, police were able to find enough evidence to obtain a search-and-seizure warrant for Bigelow's two apartments and vehicle. Police allegedly seized two small bags of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash at the Grove Street house. Also allegedly seized at 349 South Main St. were 11 ounces of crack cocaine, $27,644 in cash and two computers, and what may be evidence that Bigelow was laundering his profits in an Internet company called Interstate Tickets, according to documents released Friday in Litchfield Superior Court. Police also seized documents such as credit card statements owned by Dmowski, according to the warrant, that may link both crimes. The results of the investigations are no surprise, State's Attorney David Shepack said Friday. "Over the last few years we have certainly been very pleased with the work product from Torrington police," Shepack said. "The work by Torrington police and Devin Stilson, who works very closely with the narcotics cases pre and post arrest, has been very good on a consistent basis." A federal grant provided to Torrington police has also aided in bringing more officers to the narcotics division, Russo said. One of the most noticeable factors that has aided in more arrests, he said, is department cooperation. With drug users turning to burglary, robbery and larceny to fund their habit, different divisions often have information or witnesses all too willing to help snare a dealer to get out from under a burglary arrest, for example, Russo said. "They have been doing an awesome job," Schaller said. With everyone working together, he expects continued success. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester, CT 06045 votethornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee-Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske-field Manager Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-Mckee, Treasure -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Tue Jul 18 15:27:58 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:27:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} CT COMMON CAUSE WANTS ME TO" Help us defend Clean Elections!" Message-ID: <20060718192758.43333.qmail@web81413.mail.mud.yahoo.com> fUNNY THIS IS ALL ABOUT LOBBYIST?? NOT MINOR PARTIES? Tim McKee wrote: Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 10:45:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim McKee Subject: Fwd: Help us defend Clean Elections To: greenpartyct at yahoo.com "Andy Sauer, Connecticut Common Cause" wrote: To: "Tim Mckee" Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:36:28 -0700 Subject: Help us defend Clean Elections From: "Andy Sauer, Connecticut Common Cause" td, table, p, div, span, tr, b, i, font, body{ font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; } A { COLOR: #EA6903; text-decoration: none; } A:hover { COLOR: #EA6903; text-decoration: underline; } Dear Tim, The lobbyists strike back! On behalf of contract lobbyists and other plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of Connecticut's new landmark campaign finance law - before it even takes effect! Read the New London Day's story on the ACLU's lawsuit here. The lawsuit was not unexpected. Ever since the state's sweeping campaign finance law was passed in 2005, Connecticut's lobbyists have been desperate to do whatever it takes to hold onto their power and influence. The lobbyists have complained that law keeps them and their families from giving campaign contributions and was a violation of their First Amendment rights. Yet, instead of targeting the sections of the law to which they object, they aim to block the whole campaign finance law. Why? Could it be that the problem lobbyists have with the strongest campaign finance law in the nation is not that it limits their "speech" but that it gives candidates an alternative to the money-in-politics game the state's lobbyists have leveraged to their advantage so well? The ACLU's legal challenge - as audacious as it is - gives Connecticut, as it defends its law, an opportunity to re-examine state scandals and allows us to shed light on the seamy underside of Connecticut's current pay-to-play system. Connecticut Common Cause has pledged to provide whatever legal and research support is needed to help the state defend the law, but we need your help to do it. We can't provide the state with cutting-edge research - the kind of research that helped pass the landmark law - without the financial support of members like you. To help Connecticut Common Cause protect our sweeping Clean Money law, click here. Please help us defend Connecticut's landmark campaign finance law. Please make a contribution to Connecticut Common Cause today. Sincerely, Andy Sauer Executive Director Connecticut Common Cause Forward this email Give to Common Cause Discuss this message Remove yourself from this mailing. Modify your profile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 18 16:48:08 2006 From: greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:48:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Camejo in CA barred in debate (was included in past debates many times!) Message-ID: <20060718204808.96059.qmail@web81404.mail.mud.yahoo.com> League of Women Voters Bars Green Camejo, Violates 'Nonpartisan' Code Green Party of the United States www.gp.org Peter Camejo For Governor 2006 http://www.VoteCamejo.com July 17, 2006 Originally released July 13, 2006 Contact: Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9170 Jo Chamberlain, 650.346-3775 Peter Camejo accuses League of Women Voters of violating its own 'non-partisan' code if he is not invited to gubernatorial debates Originally released July 13, 2006 SACRAMENTO -- The League of Women Voters would violate its own "non-partisan" code by excluding from statewide debates all candidates for governor other than Democrat Phil Angelides and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gubernatorial candidate Peter Miguel Camejo will allege at a major news conference here Friday. The Green Party candidate will release his letter to the LWV at the news conference FRIDAY, at 10 a.m. at the League's State Office (801 12th Street Suite #220). The LWV is expected to decide this weekend about how to determine who will participate in the debates. In the letter, Camejo notes he was excluded from the 2002 debates, even though an ABC poll showed 69 percent of those polled wanted him in the debates. In the 2003 Recall Election, Camejo was allowed in the debates, and a poll by the San Francisco Chronicle found Camejo the "winner" of those debates. "I respectfully request, in the interest of fairness, that the League conduct a poll asking voters not who they may vote for in November, but who they want to see in the debates. I believe you will find that there will be massive support for my candidacy," said Camejo in his letter to be released Friday. "I urge you to consider the contradiction that our electoral winner-take-all system has created, and ask that the League maintain that nonpartisanship when it conducts any poll regarding the debates. To do otherwise...the League would, although unintentionally, work against the voters' desires," he said. On Wednesday, the Camejo campaign filed a Fair Political Practices Commission complaint alleging a poll by San Jose State University was, in fact, a "clear promotion of two partisan candidates" and violated campaign laws because the poll discriminated against four other ballot-qualified candidates who were not included in the polling. ___ Peter Camejo For Governor 2006 http://www.VoteCamejo.com 1710 Broadway #122 Sacramento, CA 95818 search: elct ___ Disclaimer: State, local, and candidate press releases made available here represent the opinions of the original source only. Opinions expressed by a state party or candidate do not necessarily represent the views of the Green Party of the United States. State party contact information, when provided with candidate releases, does not imply state party endorsement of the opinions expressed nor of the candidate (prior to gaining formal nomination by the party). ___ Office: PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037 Email: office at gp.org 202-319-7191 or toll-free (US): 866-41GREEN var gAutoPrint = false; // Flag for whether or not to automatically call the print function function printSpecial() { if (document.getElementById != null) { var html = '\n\n'; if (document.getElementsByTagName != null) { var headTags = document.getElementsByTagName("head"); if (headTags.length > 0) html += headTags[0].innerHTML; } html += '\n\n\n'; var printReadyElem = document.getElementById("printReady"); if (printReadyElem != null) { html += printReadyElem.innerHTML; } else { alert("Could not find the printReady section in the HTML"); return; } html += '\n\n'; var printWin = window.open("","printSpecial"); printWin.document.open(); printWin.document.write(html); printWin.document.close(); if (gAutoPrint) printWin.print(); } else { alert("Sorry, the print ready feature is only available in modern browsers."); } } ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 18 16:47:55 2006 From: greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:47:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Camejo in CA barred in debate (was included in past debates many times!) Message-ID: <20060718204756.60315.qmail@web81407.mail.mud.yahoo.com> League of Women Voters Bars Green Camejo, Violates 'Nonpartisan' Code Green Party of the United States www.gp.org Peter Camejo For Governor 2006 http://www.VoteCamejo.com July 17, 2006 Originally released July 13, 2006 Contact: Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9170 Jo Chamberlain, 650.346-3775 Peter Camejo accuses League of Women Voters of violating its own 'non-partisan' code if he is not invited to gubernatorial debates Originally released July 13, 2006 SACRAMENTO -- The League of Women Voters would violate its own "non-partisan" code by excluding from statewide debates all candidates for governor other than Democrat Phil Angelides and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gubernatorial candidate Peter Miguel Camejo will allege at a major news conference here Friday. The Green Party candidate will release his letter to the LWV at the news conference FRIDAY, at 10 a.m. at the League's State Office (801 12th Street Suite #220). The LWV is expected to decide this weekend about how to determine who will participate in the debates. In the letter, Camejo notes he was excluded from the 2002 debates, even though an ABC poll showed 69 percent of those polled wanted him in the debates. In the 2003 Recall Election, Camejo was allowed in the debates, and a poll by the San Francisco Chronicle found Camejo the "winner" of those debates. "I respectfully request, in the interest of fairness, that the League conduct a poll asking voters not who they may vote for in November, but who they want to see in the debates. I believe you will find that there will be massive support for my candidacy," said Camejo in his letter to be released Friday. "I urge you to consider the contradiction that our electoral winner-take-all system has created, and ask that the League maintain that nonpartisanship when it conducts any poll regarding the debates. To do otherwise...the League would, although unintentionally, work against the voters' desires," he said. On Wednesday, the Camejo campaign filed a Fair Political Practices Commission complaint alleging a poll by San Jose State University was, in fact, a "clear promotion of two partisan candidates" and violated campaign laws because the poll discriminated against four other ballot-qualified candidates who were not included in the polling. ___ Peter Camejo For Governor 2006 http://www.VoteCamejo.com 1710 Broadway #122 Sacramento, CA 95818 search: elct ___ Disclaimer: State, local, and candidate press releases made available here represent the opinions of the original source only. Opinions expressed by a state party or candidate do not necessarily represent the views of the Green Party of the United States. State party contact information, when provided with candidate releases, does not imply state party endorsement of the opinions expressed nor of the candidate (prior to gaining formal nomination by the party). ___ Office: PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037 Email: office at gp.org 202-319-7191 or toll-free (US): 866-41GREEN var gAutoPrint = false; // Flag for whether or not to automatically call the print function function printSpecial() { if (document.getElementById != null) { var html = '\n\n'; if (document.getElementsByTagName != null) { var headTags = document.getElementsByTagName("head"); if (headTags.length > 0) html += headTags[0].innerHTML; } html += '\n\n\n'; var printReadyElem = document.getElementById("printReady"); if (printReadyElem != null) { html += printReadyElem.innerHTML; } else { alert("Could not find the printReady section in the HTML"); return; } html += '\n\n'; var printWin = window.open("","printSpecial"); printWin.document.open(); printWin.document.write(html); printWin.document.close(); if (gAutoPrint) printWin.print(); } else { alert("Sorry, the print ready feature is only available in modern browsers."); } } ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Wed Jul 19 17:33:27 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:33:27 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} NL Call asks who should lead the state? including Cliff Thornton! Message-ID: <20060719213327.67297.qmail@web81401.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Who won? Published on 7/19/2006 in Politics ? Politics Local Ted Mann Day Staff Writer, Politics/Government E-mail: t.mann at theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4373 Other Recent Articles Malloy\, DeStefano Pitch Energy\, Tax Plans - 7/18/2006 Malloy\, DeStefano Tackle the Issues in Debate - 7/18/2006 Simmons\, Courtney Raise Record Cash - 7/16/2006 Woman Killed By Bus On Interstate - 7/16/2006 Schlesinger Says He\'s Not Quitting U.S. Senate Race - 7/14/2006 Finally - 7/12/2006 Urban Petitions for Ballot Spot In U.S. Senate Race - 7/12/2006 Lieberman Takes Step To Secure Ballot Spot - 7/11/2006 Lieberman Takes Out Paperwork for Independent Run - 7/10/2006 ',SHADOW, CAPTIONSTYLE, 'italic',CLOSEWEIGHT, 'bold', CLOSESIZE, 1, CLOSECOLOR, '#ffffff', STICKY, CAPTION, 'Author Profile', FGCOLOR, '#ffffcc', OFFSETX, 20, OFFSETY, -25, WIDTH, 300);" onmouseout="return nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">Ted Mann Click for author info, more articles ... Day Staff Writer, Politics/Government Interactive Profile Politics and Government Ted Mann has worked for The Day for about three years, though it may seem much longer to his editors. He covers politics and the state legislature from the paper?s Capitol desk in Hartford. He has a degree in English and American literature from NYU. Ted's Interactive Archive Print This E-mail This Post Comment Send Letter Send Correction Most E-mailed Increase Text Actual Text Decrease Text R E C E N T B L O G S (by Ted M.) Finally - 7/12/2006 Post a Comment View All Comments So, I suppose it is possible that you weren?t in the crowd at the Garde Arts Center, listening to the debate between Democratic candidates for governor John DeStefano and Dan Malloy. Maybe you were not among the shouting, sign-waving partisans who rallied around the theater at the outset, and swept into the restaurants and taverns afterward. It even might be possible that you didn?t watch it on television from start to finish. Even if that is the case, it?s not too late to weigh in, or to watch the debate itself. So tell us, on the morning after: Who was the better debater? Who is the better Democratic candidate? And who ? DeStefano, Malloy, Green Party candidate Cliff Thornton, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell ? should lead this state? And why? Post a Comment -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Wed Jul 19 18:48:40 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:48:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} (NEWS RELEASE) LIEBERMAN REFUSES TO SIGN GREEN PARTY PETITIONS Message-ID: <20060719224840.42170.qmail@web81413.mail.mud.yahoo.com> GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT NEWS RELEASE- for Immediate Release- July 19, 2006 Contact: Tim McKee, CT Green Party National Committee Person, cell (860)860-778- 1304(NEW NUMBER) or (860)-643-2282 Jean DeSmet, State Co-Chair 860 456-2188 Ralph Ferrucci, U.S. Senate candidate (203) 430-9342 LIEBERMAN REFUSES TO SIGN GREEN PARTY PETITION Lamont and staff sign GREEN PARTY rival?s petition Hartford, CT- GREEN PARTY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE TODAY THEY WILL MEET U. S. SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, IF HE CHANGES HIS MIND AND WANTS TO SIGN PETITIONS FOR THE SLATE OF GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE, INCLUDING U.S. SENATE RIVAL RALPH FERRUCCI AFTER THE SENATOR TWICE REFUSED TO SIGN THE PETITIONS FOR THE GREENS AT THE WILLIMANTIC BOOM BOX PARADE . Lieberman is also collecting petitions for a Independent ballot Line, if he loses the Democrat Primary to Ned Lamont and many have said his is trying to have ?two bites of the apple? and run twice for same office in the same year. A petitioner approached Lieberman personally to sign the petition after Democratic candidate Ned Lamont and many of his staff signed the petitions for Greens, Lieberman refused Later after the parade, Willimantic Green Jean DeSmet asked Lieberman to sign. He turned her down, too, but when pressed he said he believed in the Greens right to be on the ballot, but the former Attorney General for Connecticut and 3 term US Senator said that he was not sure if he should sign. He indicated that he might sign later, and then directed his staff to sign, but Lieberman and his wife would not sign it themselves. DeSmet is Co Chair of Connecticut Greens and beat the Republican to come in second with 29 percent of the vote in the 2005 municipal contest for Windham First Selectman. Lieberman?s staffers even asked Greens advice on the petitioning process. His staffers asked "Are you turning them in as you go along, or are you going to wait until the end?" and Greens acknowledged that they were turning them in as we went along. Lieberman staffers said Lieberman will wait to submit them at the end, probably because they hope to win the Democratic primary. DeSmet said Greens are offering to meet Senator Lieberman any time and any where to sign his petition if he will sign theirs. DeSmet add ?We Greens believe that in America, everyone has the right to run for office.? The Greens (and Lieberman) need to collect 7,500 valid signatures by August 8. The Greens are running for the first time slate of state wide officers and U S Senate candidates. The Greens and others filed suit against the new CT campaign finance law that will require them to collect an additional 200,000 signatures for public financing in 2008. -30- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net Wed Jul 19 21:00:11 2006 From: JeandeSmet at galaxyinternet.net (Jean de Smet) Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:00:11 -0400 Subject: {news} (NEWS RELEASE) LIEBERMAN REFUSES TO SIGN GREEN PARTYPETITIONS In-Reply-To: <20060719224840.42170.qmail@web81413.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <000d01c6ab97$db2256f0$12cef504@jean1oa1rgr0ov> Just some more typos. Jean -----Original Message----- From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org [mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of Green Party-CT Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 6:49 PM To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org Subject: {news} (NEWS RELEASE) LIEBERMAN REFUSES TO SIGN GREEN PARTYPETITIONS GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT NEWS RELEASE- for Immediate Release- July 19, 2006 Contact: Tim McKee, CT Green Party National Committee Person, cell (860)860-778- 1304(NEW NUMBER) or (860)-643-2282 Jean DeSmet, State Co-Chair 860 456-2188 Ralph Ferrucci, U.S. Senate candidate (203) 430-9342 LIEBERMAN REFUSES TO SIGN GREEN PARTY PETITION Lamont and staff sign GREEN PARTY rival's petition Hartford, CT- GREEN PARTY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE TODAY THEY WILL MEET U. S. SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, IF HE CHANGES HIS MIND AND WANTS TO SIGN PETITIONS FOR THE SLATE OF GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE, INCLUDING U.S. SENATE RIVAL RALPH FERRUCCI AFTER THE SENATOR TWICE REFUSED TO SIGN THE PETITIONS FOR THE GREENS AT THE WILLIMANTIC BOOM BOX PARADE . Lieberman is also collecting petitions for an Independent ballot Line, if he loses the Democrat Primary to Ned Lamont and many have said he is trying to have "two bites of the apple" and run twice for same office in the same year. A petitioner approached Lieberman personally to sign the petition after Democratic candidate Ned Lamont and many of his staff signed the petitions for Greens, Lieberman refused Later after the parade, Willimantic Green Jean deSmet asked Lieberman to sign. He turned her down, too, but when pressed he said he believed in the Green Party's right to be on the ballot, but the former Attorney General for Connecticut and 3 term US Senator said that he was not sure if he should sign. He indicated that he might sign later, and then directed his staff to sign, but Lieberman and his wife would not sign it themselves. DeSmet is Co Chair of Connecticut Greens and beat the Republican to come in second with 29 percent of the vote in the 2005 municipal contest for Windham First Selectman. The Greens (and Lieberman) need to collect 7,500 valid signatures by August 8. The Greens are running for the first time slate of state wide officers and U S Senate candidates. The Greens and others filed suit against the new CT campaign finance law that will require them to collect an additional 200,000 signatures for public financing in 2008. Lieberman's staffers even asked the Greens advice on the petitioning process. His staffers asked "Are you turning them in as you go along, or are you going to wait until the end?" and the Greens acknowledged that they were turning them in as they went along. Lieberman staffers said Lieberman will wait to submit them at the end, probably because they hope to win the Democratic primary. DeSmet said Greens are offering to meet Senator Lieberman any time and any where to sign his petition if he will sign theirs. DeSmet added "The Green Party believes that in America everyone has the right to run for office." -30- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Thu Jul 20 09:26:08 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 06:26:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Lamont leads Lieberman in Q poll (others at 1%- Greens?) Message-ID: <20060720132608.24201.qmail@web81405.mail.mud.yahoo.com> http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11362.xml?ReleaseID=940 Greens Ferrucci (US Senate) and Thornton(CT Gov) not included, but 1 % for "others" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net Thu Jul 20 11:22:40 2006 From: greenpartyct at sbcglobal.net (Green Party-CT) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:22:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} GREENS ARE THE NEW MAINSTREAM? Message-ID: <20060720152240.95633.qmail@web81407.mail.mud.yahoo.com> UNDERNEWS JUL 19, 2006 FROM THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW EDITED BY SAM SMITH LATEST HEADLINES & INDEX: http://prorev.com UNDERNEWS: http://www.prorev.com/indexa.htm RAFTING DOWN AMERICA'S REAL MAINSTREAM By Sam Smith Permanent link: http://prorev.com/rafting.htm I helped to start the national Green Party some years back because I was looking for a political organization in the American mainstream with which I could feel comfortable. I wanted to get out of the Democratic Party because I thought I might become liable under the racketeering statutes. I didn't want anything to do with parties that went around invading countries and killing people in the name of freedom. I certainly didn't want to find myself called before some war crime tribunal. And I wanted nothing to do with an economics based on the cruel notion that what was best for one's campaign contributors was also best for the country. Or people who treated nature like it was Kleenex. In short, I wanted a nice conservative American political party. One that would conserve the environment, the Constitution, individual liberty, economic and social opportunity, and all the other values that our country claimed - if not always followed - during its first two centuries. Values like independence, fairness, cooperation, and the protection of those places - including communities, open spaces or buildings - that people called home. Of course, I couldn't even mention to my fellow Greens that I thought of them as mainstream. Some of them would have been insulted, some would have gone off to form a another party, and some would have argued with me long past my bedtime. But I was right. If you want to find the prototypical American who not only values those things most often associated with America at its best, but acts on those values, you need search no further than the Green Party. There are others to be sure: libertarians, free thinkers, devolutionists, unpolitical small farmers, eccentric shopkeepers, independent religionists and what Bill Kaufman in Look Homeward America calls "reactionary radicals and front porch anarchists." On his website you'll find a tentative list that includes, besides this writer, Ivan Illich, Wendell Berry, Karl Hess, Bob Dylan, Zora Neal Hurston, Senator Burton Wheeler, Jane Jacobs, Ken Kesey, Merle Haggard, Kenneth Rexroth, Hiram Johnson, William Jennings Bryan and Albert Jay Nock. It is as inexplicable as it is flattering to be in such company unless, that is, you accept a currently unpopular notion that it is not policy or ideology that really divides us but our understanding of, and relationship to, the world, America, and each other. While I might not agree with all the company that Kaufman would have me keep, I accept absolutely his argument: "There are two Americas: the televised America, known and hated by the world, and the rest of us. The former is a factitious creation whose strange gods include HBO, accentless TV anchor people, Dick Cheney, reruns of Friends, and the National Endowment for Democracy. It is real enough - cross it and you'll learn more than you want to know about weapons of mass destruction - but it has no heart, no soul, no connection to the thousand and one real Americas that produced Zora Neale Hurston and Jack Kerouac and Saint Dorothy Day and the Mighty Casey who has struck out. "I am of the other America, the unseen America, the America undreamt of by the foreigners who hate my country without knowing a single thing about it. Ours is a land of volunteer fire departments, of baseball played without payment or sanction, of uncut maples and unpasteurized cider. "So no, I do not feel 'ashamed' of my country, for America. . . is not George W. Bush or Hillary Clinton but my friends, my neighbors, and yes, the Grand Canyon, too. Even better, it is the little canyon and the rude stream and Tom Sawyer's cave and all those places whose names we know, whose myths we have memorized, and whose existence remains quite beyond the compass of ABC-TV." The Green Party is part of that unseen America. The problem is that I seem to be among the few who know it. The media treats the Green Party as though it were a bag of nuts, liberals regard it as a strain of avian flu, and the Greens, to a sad degree, accept the illusion that they are an oddity rather than prototypical of their country. The danger in this is that the Green Party will end up in hippie heaven, an ideological Balinas full of old VW buses, people who think the right thing and act the right way, but huddled together in a refuge when they should be leading a revolution. A revolution by mainstream Americans to recover their land from the thieves, dunces, megalomaniacs and pathological psychopaths who are destroying it in one of the greatest acts of political dishonesty, economic banditry and cultural apostasy in human history. This is not rhetoric. On issues including the Iraq war, the environment, health care, campaign financing, genetically modified foods, and marijuana use, the Greens represent mainstream America better than either of the two major parties. And there are other potential issues and constituencies about which the Greens have paid far too little attention but with nothing between them except the will and an appreciation that it's not abstract platforms of good intentions that matter but the ability to witness one's beliefs at ground zero every day and in every way. For example, on immigration, a recent poll finds Latinos blaming the Republicans and distrusting the Democrats - providing an opening for the Greens they have yet to discover. Or consider the women's movement, so absorbed with glass ceilings that it ignores the hard floors daily faced by their sisters at Wal-Mart and elsewhere. Or consider the lack of any movement for young men with less than a college education, whom conservatives send to fight their wars or imprison for smoking pot, and whom liberals assign to a rhetorical hegemony of dominant males these men will never meet, let alone emulate. Or consider issues like eminent domain reform and small business that are just sitting there hungry for a political voice but shunned by both major parties. The issues are out there. And so are the voters. If people went to the polls as they did in 1960 there would be about 25 million more of them. Finally, there are two great issues the Democrats have deserted: civil liberties and economic decency. Once hallmarks of liberalism, these causes have been forgotten by the liberals and trashed by the Clintonistas. One hardly hears a Democrat mention health care, pensions, or minimum wages any more because too many of the party's elite have drifted into a social class buffered against such concerns and the party's campaign contributors won't let them near such issues anyway. A Green Party that not only opposed the misadventures of U.S. imperialism and continued its fight for sane ecological policies and electoral reform, but also became the loudest voice for single payer healthcare, populist economic reforms; a sane drug policy; tight control on eminent domain; devolution of power, better treatment of small business; and fair immigration laws would pick up a large new constituency as it became the movement of the silenced majority, which is to say just about everyone in America currently being screwed by the Democrats and Republicans. It wouldn't be easy because the Greens are an anarchistic amalgam of pragmatists and purists; utopians; spiritualists; ideological fundamentalists and strategic agnostics; people with a natural feel for politics and people who would rather be practicing a religion; the sanctimonious and the excessively humble; those absorbed in a pointlessly fractious debate over presidential politics and those deeply involved at the local level; the gentle and the obnoxious. In other words, a typical American assemblage. But there's a big America out there without any party that gives a damn about its concerns. Many of these Americans have given up voting. The Greens could be the party of this America if they learned to lead on issues that currently don't interest them; to respond to things actually happening around them as well in their heads and debates; to follow fellow spirits as well as to lead them; to take pleasure in, and make friends with, those who can only travel part their way; and to explain and celebrate their close connection to the best of mainstream traditions and values of an America the other parties have betrayed. The politics are all out there. All that is missing is a party. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Thu Jul 20 14:17:53 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:17:53 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Swiss Greens takes on Israeli arms deal Message-ID: <20060720181753.97760.qmail@web81404.mail.mud.yahoo.com> 20. July 2006, Swissinfo Controversy mounts over Israeli arms deal As tensions in the Middle East rise, calls are mounting for Switzerland to stop its military collaboration with Israel and other countries in the region. In particular, the Green Party and an anti:war group want the Swiss government to call off the purchase of a telecommunications system from Israel, part of the latest army procurement programme. Switzerland's reaction to Israel's military intervention in Lebanon was clear. In a statement released on July 13, the foreign ministry criticised the Israeli attacks as "disproportionate", while also condemning the aggression by militant Islamic group Hezbollah as violation of international human rights. But the Green Party and the Group for Switzerland without an Army want the government to go a step further. They have called on Switzerland to stop trade in weapons and military equipment with Israel and other countries in the Middle East. "Our demand sticks to the spirit of the federal law on military equipment," Green Party parliamentarian Josef Lang told swissinfo. "It also mirrors the population's feelings, because people don't want Switzerland to undertake military collaboration with countries at war." In a statement, the Group for Switzerland without an Army said that in February 2005 Defence Minister Samuel Schmid had justified the decision to restart arms deals with Israel ? after a three:year hiatus ? on the basis of "positive developments" in the Middle East. D?tente The worsening of the situation requires a new embargo, said the group. "Whoever uses this 'd?tente' as a justification should admit today that a mistake was made and overturn earlier decisions," said Lang. "But at the defence ministry the prevailing sentiment is one of wanting to pursue the collaboration with Israel for technical reasons as well as political ones." The defence ministry has so far not commented on the demands made by the Green Party and the anti:war group. But the foreign ministry said no action was being taken to change the current military cooperation because the conflict was between Israel and the Hezbollah and not between two states. Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy:Rey said her ministry would continue to follow the situation and if Friday's meeting of the United Nation Security Council decided that Israel's attacks constituted an attack on Lebanon, the Swiss position could change. An embargo would in reality only affect Israel, which is the only Middle Eastern country that sells arms to Switzerland. Other countries in the region tend to buy Swiss weapons. Latest figures show from the first half of the year show that Israel was one of the countries that had imported arms from Switzerland. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said that Israel had received around SFr81,000 ($65,000) worth of parts for FA/18 fighter jets. These are worked on in Israel and then sent on to the United States. Communications systems The Green Party and the anti:war group are targeting the expected purchase of a communications system for SFr395 million, which is partly produced by the Israeli firm, IAI ELTA Systems. The Israeli share of the contract is worth SFr147 million.The deal was approved as part of the Swiss army's procurement programme for 2005. Lang strongly denies accusations that he is biased in any way. "In the Middle East Israel is by far the greater power. And obviously, Switzerland does not have any military collaboration with Hezbollah. "However, we also opposed the sale of tanks to Iraq," he added, referring to a sale last year of used personnel carriers to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was halted when it was revealed that the armoured vehicles would not be used for civilian purposes. In October the UAE cancelled the deal because of the delay. Meanwhile, the Greens say they will try and block investment in the communications system when the issue is debated at parliament's autumn session. Lang is also the co:author of another proposal that calls for the blanket suspension of trade in military materials with Middle East countries. It has been signed by 91 parliamentarians, including the newly:elected economics minister, Doris Leuthard. swissinfo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Thu Jul 20 19:50:07 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:50:07 -0400 Subject: {news} 7-25-06 SCC meeting from 6PM to 7:45PM at Portland Public Library Message-ID: <20060720235005.UGMZ7951.eastrmmtao05.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> Portland Public Library, 20 Freestone Avenue, Portland, CT 860-342-6770 ******************** from 6:00PM until closing at 7:45PM (summertime hours) ******************************** Facilitator: to be determined. A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of attendees and chapters. Recruit timekeeper. 2. (1 minute): Identify attendees who are NOT voting representatives. 3. (1 minute): Adopt ground rules. 4. (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight's proposed agenda, additions and deletions. 5. (2-4 minutes): Comments and approval of 6-27-06 SCC meeting. 6. (2-4 minutes): 7-10-06 EC meeting presentation by Barbara Barry and approval. 7. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer's report by Christopher Reilly. B. Reports: 1. (30 minutes): CTGP petitioning drive so far, strategies to achieve our goal, who/when will petitions be notorized prior to handing in to register of voters in CT towns. 2. (30 minutes): CTGP candidates, events, literature, items, getting message to media and into polls. 3. (5 minutes): U.S. Green Party report by CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury. 4. (10 minutes): Discussing articles and petition papers for the "CT Green Times" newspaper. 5. (5 minutes): Update regarding CTGP website. 6. (5 minutes): Update regarding CTGP listservs. 7. Soliciting ideas/people from the chapters for our 2007 legislative agenda/V.O.T.E.R. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Fri Jul 21 00:57:02 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:57:02 -0400 Subject: {news} Richard Duffee in Norwalk Citizen-News References: <20060720181800.A54CA89C3B4@gandhi.greens.org> Message-ID: The reporter listed our whole slate but forgot Cliff Thornton for Governor? http://www.norwalkcitizen-news.com/local/ci_4075320 Duffee is Green Party's Nominee for 4th District By Leslie Hutchison Norwalk Citizen Richard Duffee of Stamford, the Green Party candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat, had to convince his own party's state committee that he had the wherewithal to launch a campaign. Duffee said the committee recently did agree that "there is energy to run" against Republican incumbent Christopher Shays. Duffee's campaign manager, Paul Bassler of Norwalk, said some committee members were concerned the party would spread itself too thin with a run for Congress. However, Bassler believes "a local candidate energizes those areas and brings out more support" for statewide Green Party races. At the party's Fairfield County nominating meeting July 11 in Norwalk, Duffee received 19 of the 22 votes cast. However, to get his name on the ballot, Duffee and his volunteer campaign workers must collect at least 2,909 signatures by Aug. 9. To ensure that enough qualifying signatures are amassed, Bassler said their goal is to collect 5,000. The Green Party's nominees at the state level are Robin Schafer for lieutenant governor, Colin D. Bennett for comptroller, David Bue for treasurer, Nancy Burton for attorney general, and Mike DeRosa for secretary of the state. Ralph A. Ferrucci is the Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Campaign strategies for a third-party candidate are not that different from those for a mainstream Republican or Democratic contender, according to Bassler. He said he'll work "to get Richard in front of groups and associations" and included in any debates that may be scheduled between Shays and his Democratic challenger, Diane Farrell of Westport. Duffee is a former teacher who also has a law degree. He's lived in Stamford for about a year and is "just doing this now," he said, referring to his candidacy. "This is very absorbing," he added. The candidate said he's been "interested in the Green Party for a long time," going back to the early 1980s, when he worked on environmental issues in the Hudson Valley. This campaign is Duffee's second, having run in the 1990s for the school board in Peekskill, N.Y., where he lost by 35 votes, he said. Duffee pointed to his Web site, www. duffee.politicalgateway.com, to explain his platform for the race. His top five priorities are nuclear disarmament; the halting and reversal of the greenhouse effect; massive United Nations reform, including democratic reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions; the abolition of absolute poverty; and reductions in the levels of disparity of income to what they were in the 1940s and '50s. Duffee has raised some funds for his candidacy, but nothing like his opponents. Duffee said he has $400 on hand, having spent $200 of a total $600 raised. In comparison, Shays reported to the Federal Election Commission on Saturday that his campaign had raised $2.3 million through June 30 and had $1.5 million on hand. Farrell's campaign finance report to the FEC shows she had raised $1.8 million through June 30 and had $1.3 million on hand. Greenwich Libertarian Phil Maymin also is petitioning to be placed on the ballot for the 4th District race. From efficacy at msn.com Fri Jul 21 05:55:52 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 05:55:52 -0400 Subject: {news} Richard Duffee in Norwalk Citizen-News References: <20060720181800.A54CA89C3B4@gandhi.greens.org> Message-ID: What happened to the Governor??? I know this is an oversight of the Norwalk Citizen--right--This looks really bad "The Green Party's nominees at the state level are Robin Schafer for lieutenant governor, Colin D. Bennett for comptroller, David Bue for treasurer, Nancy Burton for attorney general, and Mike DeRosa for secretary of the state." Ralph A. Ferrucci is the Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester, CT 06045 votethornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee-Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske-field Manager Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-Mckee, Treasure ----- Original Message ----- From: David Bedell To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org ; FairfieldCountyGreens at yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 12:57 AM Subject: {news} Richard Duffee in Norwalk Citizen-News 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 The reporter listed our whole slate but forgot Cliff Thornton for Governor? http://www.norwalkcitizen-news.com/local/ci_4075320 Duffee is Green Party's Nominee for 4th District By Leslie Hutchison Norwalk Citizen Richard Duffee of Stamford, the Green Party candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat, had to convince his own party's state committee that he had the wherewithal to launch a campaign. Duffee said the committee recently did agree that "there is energy to run" against Republican incumbent Christopher Shays. Duffee's campaign manager, Paul Bassler of Norwalk, said some committee members were concerned the party would spread itself too thin with a run for Congress. However, Bassler believes "a local candidate energizes those areas and brings out more support" for statewide Green Party races. At the party's Fairfield County nominating meeting July 11 in Norwalk, Duffee received 19 of the 22 votes cast. However, to get his name on the ballot, Duffee and his volunteer campaign workers must collect at least 2,909 signatures by Aug. 9. To ensure that enough qualifying signatures are amassed, Bassler said their goal is to collect 5,000. The Green Party's nominees at the state level are Robin Schafer for lieutenant governor, Colin D. Bennett for comptroller, David Bue for treasurer, Nancy Burton for attorney general, and Mike DeRosa for secretary of the state. Ralph A. Ferrucci is the Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Campaign strategies for a third-party candidate are not that different from those for a mainstream Republican or Democratic contender, according to Bassler. He said he'll work "to get Richard in front of groups and associations" and included in any debates that may be scheduled between Shays and his Democratic challenger, Diane Farrell of Westport. Duffee is a former teacher who also has a law degree. He's lived in Stamford for about a year and is "just doing this now," he said, referring to his candidacy. "This is very absorbing," he added. The candidate said he's been "interested in the Green Party for a long time," going back to the early 1980s, when he worked on environmental issues in the Hudson Valley. This campaign is Duffee's second, having run in the 1990s for the school board in Peekskill, N.Y., where he lost by 35 votes, he said. Duffee pointed to his Web site, www. duffee.politicalgateway.com, to explain his platform for the race. His top five priorities are nuclear disarmament; the halting and reversal of the greenhouse effect; massive United Nations reform, including democratic reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions; the abolition of absolute poverty; and reductions in the levels of disparity of income to what they were in the 1940s and '50s. Duffee has raised some funds for his candidacy, but nothing like his opponents. Duffee said he has $400 on hand, having spent $200 of a total $600 raised. In comparison, Shays reported to the Federal Election Commission on Saturday that his campaign had raised $2.3 million through June 30 and had $1.5 million on hand. Farrell's campaign finance report to the FEC shows she had raised $1.8 million through June 30 and had $1.3 million on hand. Greenwich Libertarian Phil Maymin also is petitioning to be placed on the ballot for the 4th District race. 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 greenpartyct at yahoo.com Fri Jul 21 12:05:54 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:05:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Some answers about Proposal: 239-GPUS Fiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection Response to Delegates Message-ID: <20060721160554.98914.qmail@web81412.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: Jake Schneider To: natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 7:19 AM Subject: Proposal: 239-GPUS Fiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection Response to Delegates Delegates Joni, Liz, Mato and Liz This proposal is not about secrecy nor is it about FEC rules and requirements. Donor names, addresses and amounts will still be reported to the FEC and will still be avialable to the general public. Lists will still be available to state parties, candidates and locals. This proposal does not change that. This proposal is about GPUS controlling it's database and safeguarding the additional information that is in it regarding our donors such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses, call notes, donor history, ect.. This information is not available to the general public, nor can the information filed with the FEC be legallly use for solicitations. All this proposal does is place limitations as to who may have access the data we have developed in our database.. As the current fiscal policy is written it is wide open to access and without any controls whatsoever as to who the information can go to. This makes it possible for our lists to be shared with candidates or committees from another party, telemarketing firms, ect.. While this change in the policy won't prevent that from happening entirely, at least this policy change assures that those receiving the list are making a pledge to use it only for Green Party activity and not to share it with outside organizations. Without this change in policy GPUS would have no legal recourse if that happened. Jake Schneider GPUS Treasurer Marc Sanson Co-chair Finance Committee ----- Original Message ----- From: Joni LeViness To: 'Green Party-CT' ; 'Mato Ska' ; 'elizarnone' ; natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 9:36 PM Subject: RE: [usgp-coo] Discussion Has Begun on GP-US Proposal: ID 239-GPUSFiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection I Twinkle Mato and Tim's sentiment. There's a certain innocence that is gone when we realize that donor funds are transparent, yet this is one of the few checks and balances that remain. If there is a GPUS policy that requires a Secrecy to donors i'd like to see it. and work on a proposal to change it. Peace, Joni LeViness gpok delegate -----Original Message----- From: natlcomvotes-bounces at green.gpus.org [mailto:natlcomvotes-bounces at green.gpus.org] On Behalf Of Green Party-CT Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 10:21 AM To: Mato Ska; elizarnone; natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org Subject: Re: [usgp-coo] Discussion Has Begun on GP-US Proposal: ID 239 -GPUSFiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection Let me echo the questions about this proposal. We want to be the LEADERS in reform and yet we want to hide some donors? Would we allow the Demo-publicans to do the same thing? I think not! Fin. Committee..please explain? Tim McKee CT Mato Ska wrote: Doesn't the FEC have something to say about this? Disclosure is a key principle of campaign finance reform? As a party that had an abortive effort by the state Repub chair to fund a candidate, I would want openness. What is all this business about "donor privacy" ? Mato Ska Delegate NMGP ----- Original Message ----- From: "elizarnone" To: Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 1:00 AM Subject: Re: [usgp-coo] Discussion Has Begun on GP-US Proposal: ID 239 -GPUS Fiscal Policy Donor Confidentially Protection > I feel donors are entitled to privacy and these lists should not be loosely > made available. I would not like my name made available to the public and > then find myself on someone's mailing list. > > Donors should feel our lists are secure and private. > > Liz > -- _______________________________________________ Natlcomvotes mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomvotes If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Fri Jul 21 14:40:14 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:40:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Thornton on Cox Public access tv -tonight- call in!! July 21, 2006 Message-ID: <20060721184014.73060.qmail@web81406.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Manchester, glastonbury,Newington, South Winsor,Wethersfield, and Rocky Hill tonight on Milt's world at 7 pm. call in live show -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Jul 22 17:49:24 2006 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 17:49:24 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: List your Events and Submit Photos [may be a place for Greens to post events] Message-ID: <001f01c6add8$f1bf5ff0$c7994c0c@edgn2b574u14bi> We hope everyone enjoyed this yeThe following was sent to the CT Green Party via our website. I examined the website MyTownHall.info briefly and it appears to resemble a collection of community newspapers (you can click on your town). It might be of use to publicize Green Party events. --Ed DuBrule ----- Original Message ----- From: MyTownHall.info To: greens at ctgreens.org Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:09 PM Subject: List your Events and Submit Photos Hello, We hope everyone is enjoying their summer and are finding fun activities to beat this heat. MyTownHall.info is a leading provider of community resource web pages. One of our newest features is an interactive community calendar and photo/music/video sharing gallery. If you have not had a chance to visit us yet please click here. www.MyTownHall.info Simply enter your zip code on the left to go to your town page. If your organization is not listed please notify us by clicking the link below and provide us with your information. www.MyTownHall.info/Forms/organization-listing.htm Our Community calendars give you a place to post your events by town or state wide to let others know what is happening. Click here http://mytownhall.info/event_add.asp to begin promoting your organization today. Below is a link to photos and slideshows we have received from events around the state. http://mytownhall.info/igallery/igallery.asp?d=\photos\ If you or others from your organization (staff, members, parents, kids) want to submit photos of your own activities and events just click here to begin. http://mytownhall.info/igallery/submitphotos.asp?mi=1 Once we receive you photos they will be categorized by town and organization for easy navigation and searching. You can also use this link to send us your logo and we will post it on your community page and even link it to your website or e-mail. Please feel free to forward this e-mail toanyone on your lists you know will benefit for information. If you have any questions or ideas you would like added to our community pages or anyway we can help you promote your organization please click here to contact us. Matt www.MyTownHall.info 300 Taintor St. Suffield, CT 06078 If you would prefer not to receive future notices about relative community events just click here and we will remove your address from our community contacts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: header_new_02[1] Type: image/[1] Size: 10502 bytes Desc: not available URL: From efficacy at msn.com Sun Jul 23 05:01:11 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:01:11 -0400 Subject: {news} The whole world is watching--drug policy reform movement has a web section on candidates Message-ID: The people below are considered by many as international experts in not only drug policy reform but on many issues that Green party people endorse. http://www.drugsense.org/voteforchange Vote For Change While effective lobbying and activism can bring about social reform at the highest levels, the act of running for office is another tool that can often significantly influence progressive change through the democratic process. In keeping with our philosophy that "knowledge = power", DrugSense has created the Vote for Change project, a website that will highlight the political campaigns of drug policy reformers who have thrown their hats into the political ring. We hope that this resource will not only call attention to the innovative political strategies of candidates in all levels of government who are working to end the war on drugs, and will also encourage other reformers to get more directly involved in the political process. If you know of any other drug policy reformer running for political office, please send this info to phil at drugsense.org 2006 Political Candidates from the Drug Policy Reform Community Candidate Party Office Location Loretta Nall Libertarian Party Governor Alabama Cliff Thornton Green Party Governor Connecticut Kevin Zeese Green, Libertarian and Populist Parties U.S. Senator Maryland Roger Goodman Democratic Party State Representative Washington Jean Marlowe Democratic Party County Commissioner Polk County, North Carolina C A N D I D A T E D E T A I L S Loretta Nall - Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Alabama, 2006 www.nallforgovernor.com "I hope that by running for Governor I will give Alabamians who wish for change in our barbaric drug laws the opportunity to voice their dissent without fear of retribution. If you believe that drug policy reform is needed in Alabama and you agree with my ideas then I ask you to support my campaign by making a contribution, volunteering, collecting signatures for ballot access and telling your family, friends and co-workers about my campaign." - Loretta Nall -------------------------------------------------------------------- Cliff Thornton - Green Party candidate for Governor of Connecticut, 2006 www.thornton.politicalgateway.com/cand.php?id=314 "We need politicians that are so committed to their jobs that they are willing to loose it to make the right decision. Any politician that is not willing to risk election should not be elected in the first place." - Cliff Thornton -------------------------------------------------------------------- Kevin Zeese - Green, Libertarian and Populist Parties candidate for U.S. Senate for state of Maryland, 2006 www.kevinzeese.com "I'm running for U.S. Senate because the two major parties no longer represent the interests of most Americans. A recent poll described in July 16 th Economist, asked voters if they thought their elected officials represented their priorities. Only 17 percent said yes. And, if we look at the policies being put in place by those in office we repeatedly see that the American people are correct - their views are unrepresented." - Kevin Zeese -------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Goodman - Democratic Party candidate for Washington State Representative, 2006 www.voterogergoodman.com "Our region is extraordinary and at the same time faces some serious challenges. Health care costs are too high and too many people are uninsured. We waste too much time in traffic. Our schools are stretched too thin. Let's roll up our sleeves and rise above the partisan bickering to address these challenges so we can enhance our quality of life. I ask you to support this campaign so that we can forge commons sense solutions for positive results." - Roger Goodman -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean Marlowe - Candidate for County Commissioner www.jeanmarlowe.net "I care about the citizens of Polk County and their concern; the environment, education, taxes and fiscal responsibility. I am researching information and talking with the appropriate experts to find the best way to relieve you of your growing property tax burden." - Jean Marlowe Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester, CT 06045 votethornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee-Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske-field Manager Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-Mckee, Treasure -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pixel.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: corner-bottom-left.gif Type: image/gif Size: 277 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: corner-bottom-right.gif Type: image/gif Size: 278 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Jul 23 09:32:21 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:32:21 -0400 Subject: {news} Israel's catastrophe -- by Ali Abunimah Message-ID: <04fb01c6ae5c$6d7905f0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> A good summary of the debacle occurring in ME, and implicit support for the growing boycott/divestment/sanctions against Israel movement which GPUS has endorsed [http://www.green-party.org.il/public_statement.htm]. Justine McCabe Co-Chair International Committee, GPUS =============================================================================== The Middle East debate By Ali Abunimah The Sunday Business Post (Ireland) 23 July 2006 http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=GUEST%20WRITER-qqqm=nav-qqqid=15886-qqqx=1.asp Lacking in political and moral legitimacy, Israel exists only due to the constant exercising of brute force and American-supplied weapons technology, writes Ali Abunimah. Israel wants us to believe that its wholesale destruction of Lebanon and killing to date of nearly 400 civilians is about the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah. This focus on the "latest incident" is designed to obscure what truly lies at the heart of this ongoing conflict: Israel's violent takeover of Palestine. Palestinians, expelled from their country in 1948, had continued their struggle against Israel from Lebanon. In 1982, Israel invaded that country in an attempt to destroy the Palestine Liberation Organisation, killing tens of thousands of civilians. On that occasion, Israel's official pretext was a failed assassination attempt against its London ambassador. Rather than ending resistance, Israel laid the seeds for what we see today. The mostly Shia villagers in southern Lebanon who bore the brunt of Israel's 1982 invasion are the core constituency of Hezbollah, founded in 1983 to resist Israel's occupation. The fighting in Lebanon, and to the south in Gaza, are directly related to Israel's origins, and the regional violence will only spiral until there is a just solution to the Palestine question. Israel was established in 1948 as an explicitly ''Jewish state'' in a country whose overwhelming majority population at the time was not Jewish and had no desire to live under such a government. Such a project could only generate enormous resistance. Because of this, Israel has never gained legitimacy among the people who paid the price for its creation. Lacking such legitimacy, Israel exists only by the constant exercise of brute force - first to expel the majority of Palestinians, to prevent the return of refugees and, after 1967, to settle as many of its Jewish citizens as it could in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Zionist leaders hoped that the transformation of Palestine from a multicultural, multireligious society into one ruled exclusively by and for Jews would have been completed by now, with the Palestinians merely a distant memory. Instead, Israel created a catastrophe. Today because of their determination not to be driven from what remains of their land, and due to their higher birth rate, Palestinians are once again becoming the majority population. Their struggle draws support across the Arab world, including from groups like Hezbollah. For the first time since the 1948 expulsions accompanying Israel's foundation, Jews no longer form the absolute majority in the territory they control. Israeli and Palestinian official statistics count 5.3 million Jews living in Israel-Palestine and 5.6 million non-Jews (this does not include millions more Palestinian refugees outside the country). Israeli leaders understand what this means. Prime minister Ehud Olmert said in 2003: "We are approaching the point where more and more Palestinians will say 'There is no place for two states between the [River] Jordan and the [Mediterranean] sea. All we want is the right to vote'. The day they get it, we [Israeli Jews] will lose everything." Olmert added: "I shudder to think that liberal Jewish organisations that shouldered the burden of struggle against apartheid in South Africa will lead the struggle against us." The internationally-endorsed solution for the dilemma is a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967 so that Palestinians can establish a state in these areas, which amount to just 22 per cent of their original homeland. Unfortunately, Israel used the years of the peace process, not to begin to end its occupation, but to entrench it - doubling the number of settlers in the West Bank. While it pulled 8,000 settlers out of Gaza last year, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres explained on the BBC in August: "We are disengaging from Gaza because of demography." Israel hoped that, distracted by the pulling out of a few settlers, the world would not notice its continued military control of Gaza, as well as its annexation wall and the massive expansion of Jews-only colonies throughout the West Bank. Israel's full-scale assault on Lebanon and its round-the-clock bombardment of Gaza have nothing to do with the recent attacks on its army. The indiscriminate killing of civilians can only be understood as an attempt to put fear back into the Arabs, in a desperate effort to maintain Israel as a Jewish-dominated garrison state surrounded by concrete walls. But groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, which emerged as a direct response to the brutality of decades of Israeli occupation, and an absence of principled international intervention, represent a generation no longer cowed by Israel's US-supplied missiles and jets. FW de Klerk, the last president of apartheid-era South Africa, calculated when he took office that the white government could retain power for many years, but only at the cost of inflicting enormous casualties. Both he and Nelson Mandela concluded that nothing could be gained from further bloodshed and that the time had come to negotiate the peaceful end of apartheid. Looking back on the apartheid regime's long history of violence, de Klerk wrote in his memoirs: "There is no evidence that the assassination of opponents had the slightest effect on the final outcome of the struggle, other than causing further personal suffering and bitterness." It is only by ending their claims of superior rights and power that Israeli Jews, like white South Africans, will gain the legitimacy and acceptance from people in Lebanon, Palestine and across the Middle East that cannot be won with violence. Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, and author of the forthcoming book One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. *********************************************** Ali Abunimah http://electronicIntifada.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Sun Jul 23 16:25:16 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:25:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} (MASS) Candidates for Governor debate Cape Wind, global warming Message-ID: <20060723202516.43191.qmail@web81414.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Home Milford Daily News Candidates for governor debate Cape Wind, global warming By Jon Brodkin Sunday, July 23, 2006 When 1,100 environmentalists filled an MIT auditorium for a gubernatorial debate this month, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey was a no-show to no one?s surprise, Attorney General Thomas Reilly pulled out of the forum at the last minute, and Green Party members were planning to disrupt the event because their candidate was being excluded. Yup, it?s an election year. And four months before Massachusetts chooses Mitt Romney?s successor, environmental advocacy groups are making sure their concerns will not be ignored. Despite Healey and Reilly not showing up, the debate on July 12 gave the public its clearest views yet on where candidates stand on environmental issues from Cape Wind to global warming. While Healey simply chose not to respond to an invitation from organizers, Reilly committed to the debate, then canceled because of the Big Dig tunnel tragedy. "We were really disappointed he didn?t come," said Lora Wondolowski, executive director of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, the debate organizer. "We recognized there was another crisis happening in the city....I can?t help but think having over 1,000 people there and him not being there may hurt him a little bit among environmentalists." Wondolowski acknowledged that because Reilly has an established record from his time as attorney general, he may not have needed the debate as much as the other candidates. His decision not to attend left the door open for Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross to join the debate, even though she was originally excluded because of low poll numbers. Organizers let Ross in just before the start, preempting a protest planned by her supporters. Ross was joined by candidates Deval Patrick and Chris Gabrieli of the Democratic Party, and independent candidate Christy Mihos. A strict one-hour time limit interfered with the ultimate goal of a debate - to illustrate differences in opinion - because most of the questions were directed to just one candidate with no opportunity for others to respond. The most significant disagreement may have been Mihos?s opposition to Cape Wind compared to Patrick?s embrace of the project to build a wind farm at Nantucket Sound. Though Mihos pledged to move the state "expeditiously, massively into on-shore wind power," he blasted Cape Wind as nothing more than a boon to private interests. "If you like the Big Dig, you?ll love Cape Wind," Mihos declared. "I have never ever ever seen a land grab...of $72 million each and every year by one private concern to enrich a private concern. There won?t be a kilowatt produced there that will reduce anybody?s bill at all." Mihos said Cape Wind would be fine if it were operated by the state instead of private developers. Patrick supports the project the way it is. "Cape Wind is not easy. Not all people who oppose Cape Wind are just rich, beachfront property owners who worry about their view," Patrick said. "On balance, this project is important for us from an environmental, and energy and an economic point of view." All four candidates were asked for their views on climate change. Ross said global warming is one of the main reasons she ran for governor. "We have monsoon season now in Massachusetts. We have increasing pollen rates that are making all of us sick and research shows that will only get worse," Ross said. Gabrieli and Patrick both called for Massachusetts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a pact among Northeast states to reduce global warming emissions. Gov. Romney helped develop the agreement, then refused to sign it when seven states announced a deal in December. "The decision to step away from that is a hallmark of what is wrong with this administration, a decision made clearly in the crucible of politics," Gabrieli said. The most probing question of the evening was asked by moderator Steve Curwood, a National Public Radio host, who asked Patrick if he owes an apology to the indigenous people of Ecuador, who were on the losing side of a battle over oil pollution when Patrick was general counsel for Texaco. After taking the Texaco job in 1999, Patrick argued that the indigenous people had no right to sue the company in the United States, and that the claim should be heard in Ecuador instead. A federal appeals court dismissed the case in 2002, agreeing that Ecuador was the logical site for the trial. Patrick changed jobs the same year, moving to Coca-Cola. Patrick said he does not owe an apology to the people of Ecuador, but regrets not being able to negotiate a settlement. "I think we took an appropriate position in the case. The issue that was litigated was where the case should be litigated," Patrick said. "I did that job as I have every other job, without leaving my conscience at the door." The Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters is working on a report detailing the environmental records and positions of all candidates for governor. Wondolowski said she believes Mihos and Gabrieli gained the most from the debate. Mihos expressed a stronger stance on environmental issues than he had previously, she said, while Gabrieli won points with her by speaking of a comprehensive energy plan based on conservation, alternative fuels and renewable energy. Wondolowski was disappointed Patrick "waffled" when discussing a plan for a liquefied natural gas terminal on Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor. She hoped he would oppose it outright. Her harshest judgment was reserved for Healey, who not only ignored an invitation to the debate but was the only candidate who failed to fill out a questionnaire drafted by the League of Environmental Voters. "I am concerned she is writing off the environmental vote," Wondolowski said. Environmentalists hope Healey will take stronger positions on the environment than Romney, but haven?t heard enough to form a judgment yet. "Many of us in the environmental community have been unhappy with Gov. Romney?s record on the environment, from his underfunding of environmental agencies, to his cutback in spending on open space protection, to his pulling out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative," said Jim Gomes, who was a high-ranking state environmental official under Gov. Michael Dukakis, and is now president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. "We hope that Lt. Gov. Healey will try a different course." Healey won?t debate anyone until after the primary, once "the Democrats have figured out who they?d like to be in the race," said Healey spokeswoman Amy Lambiaso. Healey plans to announce an energy policy within two weeks, but until then will remain silent about her environmental goals. "We?re not ready to announce any environmental priorities," Lambiaso said in a phone interview. As one of three panelists in the debate drawn from local media, I had the opportunity to ask questions of Ross, Patrick and Mihos. Mihos delivered the most direct answer of the three, after I asked if he would reverse massive staff cuts at the Department of Environmental Protection. These cuts led to an 18 percent drop in the agency?s annual inspections of potential polluters. Pledging to restore all the staff lost by the department, Mihos delivered an impassioned attack on big-money special interests. "Being independent and not taking money from lobbyists, state workers, state contractors and political action committees, you can do the right thing," Mihos said. "You are not bought and sold by special interests who get in there and absolutely foul the environment." I asked Patrick for his thoughts on how environmental problems disproportionately affect poor people and minorities. One report found that Massachusetts communities with high minority populations have seven and a half times as many hazardous waste sites per town than communities with low minority populations. Patrick said he wants the approval process for new industrial projects to take a closer look at the effects on the poor and minorities. Paraphrasing John F. Kennedy, Patrick said, "In Massachusetts, there are a handful of people who have the connections, the power and the influence to ensure their interests on Beacon Hill. Everyone else is the responsibility of the governor, and I intend to assume that responsibility." I asked Ross whether she supports a pending bill in the Legislature that would mandate fluoridation of water statewide, given that new research from Harvard University found a link between fluoride in water and bone cancer in young boys. Ross said "there is definite proof that fluoridation is a problem," and that an even bigger concern is the overall quality of our water supply. "As governor, we have to have a commitment not only to deal with the fluoridation issue, but to deal with the fact that we now have more heavy metals in our water than we did, and we have not done the upkeep of the water systems we need to," Ross said. Earlier in the debate, Ross was asked by Curwood to defend her decision to run for governor, given that third-party candidates sometimes play the spoiler role, like Ralph Nader in 2000. Ross responded, "why does it ever make sense to have regular people running for office, when we could just have millionaires and career politicians?...If you think having the strongest voice for the environment excluded from the race in some way moves us closer to that goal (of protecting the environment) then I guess you and I have different perspectives." While Ross criticized Boston University?s project to build an infectious disease laboratory in a South End community densely populated with minorities, Gabrieli risked the crowd?s wrath by supporting the venture. He argued that BU?s medical center offers a logical site for the biolab and that research on "infectious diseases (is) crucial." Some in the crowd responded angrily, but Gabrieli elicited a big round of applause when he came back with this statement: "I understand I?m not saying what you want to hear, every single one of you. That?s because you want to elect a governor who will tell you what they really believe, not a governor who panders to you." Environmental stances alone won?t win any of these candidates a spot in the governor?s office, but Wondolowski believes the environment is taking on a prominent role in this election. "It?s far enough post-Sept. 11 that some of the more backyard issues are starting to play a little bit more," she said. Gomes is also counting on voters to take a close look at the candidates? environmental records. "The great majority of people in Massachusetts and indeed in the country care a lot about whether their water is clean, whether our natural areas and parks are protected, whether they?re safe from toxic chemicals and waste," Gomes said. "If the candidates distinguish themselves on those issues, I think it would be very important in moving voters." Jon Brodkin can be reached at 508-626-4424 or jbrodkin at cnc.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ken at the40yearplan.com Mon Jul 24 15:29:59 2006 From: ken at the40yearplan.com (Ken Krayeske) Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:29:59 -0400 Subject: {news} re: August 9 Party Message-ID: <44C51FB7.2090606@the40yearplan.com> Attached is a .pdf flyer for the August 9, 2006 fundraiser celebrating Ballot Access for Cliff Thornton and the Green Party in Hartford. If you want copies of this postcard printed both sides on green stock, please email me and I will be sure to mail them to you. Also, I will bring some to tomorrow night's state central meeting. Keep up the petitioning work. We're closing in. Peace, Ken Krayeske Field Coordinator CT Green Party -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 8-9-6 GP Fundraiser Invite.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 438800 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Jul 24 17:52:15 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:52:15 -0400 Subject: {news} Fine Release by DeLauro (Green P) Challenger Message-ID: <018101c6af6b$6dff09b0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> ----- Original Message ----- From: Stan H To: Stop The War Stop the War Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 2:58 PM Subject: [Stopthewarpolitics] Fine Release by DeLauro Challenger I apologize, but I don't think I sent this statement to you. It came out at the start of the month. Stan This is the press release which has just been sent out. Daniel ===========================================================* Sumrall for Congress 108 Dwight St., #5, New Haven, CT 06511 www.sumrallforcongress.politicalgateway.com PRESS RELEASE-July 4, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Daniel Sumrall, (540) 257-3551, daniel_sumrall at yahoo.com or Charlie Pillsbury, (203) 865-6575 Sumrall Speaks Out Against Invasion of Gaza New Haven-On June 29th the Green Party candidate for US House of Representatives, Daniel Sumrall, joined the Middle East Crisis Committee (MECC) to picket in front of Rep. Rosa DeLauro's office in New Haven. Sumrall and MECC were there to protest the Israeli invasion of Gaza and the Congresswoman's blind support for the Israeli government's dehumanizing tactics of revenge. Stanley Heller, MECC Chairperson, has said, "The current invasion of Gaza is an escalation in attacks on civilians in Gaza that has gone on for months. Israeli troops have fired over 5,000 shells, often resulting in gruesome casualties like the family that was wiped out on June 9 on a Gaza beach. The attack on Israeli soldiers and the capture of one soldier is no reason for cutting off most of Gaza's electricity and water. Collective punishment is banned by international law." Sumrall stated that he would introduce and push for the passage of a resolution condemning the assault on Gaza, citing the violation of the Geneva Conventions in collectively punishing civilians, and demanding action to address the grave humanitarian crisis created by the continued revenge-based violence from both sides. Believing Israel to be the United States closest ally, Sumrall feels that our nation has an obligation to speak the truth to Israel. Currently, the Israeli government is viciously persecuting Palestinian civilians, acting in such a way as to cause the creation of more Palestinian terrorists, and virtually guaranteeing continued needless death. "Make no mistake," Sumrall said, "the Palestinian militias are not innocent but neither are the Zionists. I back the following goals: 1) The right of return for refugees to their homes, farms, businesses, and lands (include restitution, and compensation for suffering), 2) A pluralistic democracy in Israel/Palestine with equality and human rights for all, 3) An end to all acts of violence by both sides. The killing must stop, so must the excuses." Until Israel is prepared to take the moral high ground and stop giving in to revenge attacks the United States should suspend all aid to Israel (currently over $3 billion yearly). As a member of the Green Party, the electoral arm of the peace and social justice movement, Sumrall is the only candidate in the 3rd district's congressional race opposing any further military aid to Israel and who is willing to secure aid for the Palestinian Authority to build the infrastructure necessary to end poverty, defuse extremism, and work for the safety of all people in Israel. -end- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Stopthewarpolitics mailing list Stopthewarpolitics at stopthewarpolitics.com http://stopthewarpolitics.com/mailman/listinfo/stopthewarpolitics_stopthewarpolitics.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Tue Jul 25 12:02:45 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:02:45 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} Fwd: You are urged to sign 'Peace Pledge' and vote for 'Peace Slate' Message-ID: <20060725160245.23293.qmail@web81412.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Green Party of the United States wrote: Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 10:19:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Green Party of the United States To: greenpartyct at yahoo.com Subject: You are urged to sign 'Peace Pledge' and vote for 'Peace Slate' July 2006 News Headlines Against the occupation of Iraq? Sign the pledge to help elect the Green Party's 'Peace Slate' Pledge to vote for pro-peace candidates like Rae Vogeler, Wisc. Green candidate for U.S. Senate The Green Party's National Committee recently endorsed the VotersForPeace pledge http://www.votersforpeace.us, a national effort to organize the emerging 'Peace Vote' as a voting block with the power to determine the outcome of elections. The pledge reads, "I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign." "We encourage all voters who agree that U.S. troops must be withdrawn from Iraq to sign the Voters For Peace pledge," said Rae Vogeler, Wisconsin Green candidate for the U.S. Senate http://www.voterae.org. "The only way to stop the war is to get Democratic and Republican warhawks out of office." "The Green Party and the 'Peace Slate' of Green candidates have consistently opposed the invasion and occupation since the beginning, and have criticized President Bush's threats of a military assault against Iran. In many elections, the Green is the only candidate running who calls for immediate troop withdrawal," Ms. Vogeler added. Greens have expressed dismay at Congress's refusal, in recent House and Senate votes, to set even a tentative deadline for the withdrawal of American troops, and blamed Democrats and Republicans who voted to defeat the proposals. When VotersForPeace.US was launched on March 17, 2006, the first signer was Michael Berg, whose son Nick was taken hostage in Iraq and killed in May, 2004. Berg is currently running as the Delaware Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives http://www.bergforcongress.us. Kevin Zeese, candidate on the Green ticket for U.S. Senator from Maryland http://www.kevinzeese.com and director of DemocracyRising.US http://www.democracyrising.us, is co-founder of VotersForPeace. Your John Hancock, Please In local and state offices around the country, Greens are collecting signatures to get on the ballot this fall. Requirements vary by state, but some have very high thresholds for third-party candidates to get on the ballot. Last week, Illinois volunteers collected and submitted more than 39,000 signatures?well over the 25,000 required to qualify a complete Green slate of candidates for statewide office for the November 2006 general election. New GP-US Outreach Handouts Available! Due to popular demand, the Green Party of the United States has created several new Outreach pieces of literature in English and Spanish (and we're working on more, so let us know what you need at office at gp.org) to get the Green word out in your community. Information about downloading or ordering in bulk follows the descriptions. "Democracy is Coming to the USA" is suitable for anybody who doesn't know the Green Party from Greenpeace?perfect for distribution at any public gathering or to leave in stacks where people can pick up a copy. Highlights include: -Straightforward info about what the Green Party is all about -Top 10 reasons to go Green -Spanish-language article on immigration rights -10 Key Values in both English and Spanish -Cartoons, photos of Greens, overall dynamic layout -Space for a sticker with local Green Party contact info To help cover costs of printing and shipping, bundles of 100 cost $15. Purchase copies at the online store at online store, or please contact as at office at gp.org or (toll-free) 866-41GREEN to place an order. You can also download copies at http://www.gp.org/committees/outreach/DemocracyIsComing.pdf Also available for download: Bilingual (English/Spanish) 10 Key Values Download this simple but elegant version of the 10 Key Values, print on both sides of the page, and cut into quarters?fabulous palm-size handouts with the 10 Key Values in English on one side, Spanish on the other. No waste?just print as many as you need. Download at http://www.gp.org/committees/outreach/10kvSpanishEnglish.pdf El Futuro es Verde?and the Future is Now! The Green Party will hold its 2006 national meeting, titled "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green," in Tucson, Arizona, from July 27 to 30 . In-person registration will be available. For media credentialing, visit http://www.gp.org/forms/media. Be Seen Being Green Order one of our new styles of Green Party t-shirts at our online store today. New styles in kelly green and women?s muscle Ts. Union made and sweatshop free. Order now while they?re still in stock. Green Party online shopping just got easier! To Order: online store. Register Green. Vote Green. Give Green. The Green Party does not accept corporate donations. We depend entirely on donations from people who are committed to building a powerful and progressive alternative to the two corporate parties. We ask you to challenge corporate influence in politics by supporting the Green Party of the United States! Show your resistance to the status quo by enabling us to continue organizing and mobilizing for real change. Please help us get out our positive, progressive values to new communities, and to deepen our involvement where we're already anchored. Support us today and please consider becoming a sustainer (look for the recurring donation option). Green Party online shopping just got easier! Visit our improved online store. Americans are ready for Change America is ready for the Green Party's message. But we need your help in bringing the message to the American people! Donate now to the Green Party Make your friends GREEN with envy. Become a card-carrying Green today! Buy Your Green Party Card Online (or download a PDF order form). The latest, coolest item in the wallets of progressives is the personalized Green Party Card. For $36.00 a year* you can be a card-carrying Green. When you become an active supporter of the Green Party of the United States, you'll receive our spanking-new card, which shows the world that you stand committed to time-honored progressive values like liberty, equality, democracy, social justice, personal responsibility and focus on the future. In addition, you will receive a Green Party button and bumper sticker, a one-year subscription to Green Pages, plus all of the information you need to get involved and active as a Green. Half of your contribution will be shared with your state's Green Party. The Future is Green! Order Your Green Party Card Online Today ------------- Federal law requires political committees to use their best effort to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for each individual whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. Contributions form the following individuals and entities are prohibited: corporations, labor organizations, national banks, government contractors, people under 18 years of age, and foreign nationals. *$36.00 is roughly equivalent to the $1.00 paid for a one-year membership in the Populist Party of the 1890s. The Populist Party was a multiracial, progressive, grassroots third party of working people which agitated for many popular progressive reforms. The Green Party of the 21st century continues the Populist's fight for citizen empowerment and progressive reforms at all levels today. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = All comments, feedback and content suggestions should be sent to: office at gp.org. You've been reading Green Line, the monthly e-newsletter of the Green Party of the United States. Subscribe for free at gp.org. Click here to unsubscribe. Paid for by the Green Party of the United States ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Tue Jul 25 12:48:27 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:48:27 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} First Black Woman to run for Gov in CA, becomes a GREEN! Message-ID: <20060725164827.49057.qmail@web81407.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Barbara Becnel Switches to Green Party in Run for Governor THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA www.cagreens.org July 24, 2006 Released July 20, 2006 Contact: Sara Amir, spokesperson, 310.270-7106 saraamir at earthlink.net Pat Driscoll, spokesperson, 916.320-6430 patp at sonicfrog.com Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524 funking at mindspring.com Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9710 civillib at cwnet.com Democratic Party leadership accused of 'race and class bias' by black gubernatorial candidate Barbara Becnel; She re-registers with Green Party SAN FRANCISCO -- Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate and death penalty foe Barbara Becnel - the first black woman to run for governor in California - announced this week that she has left the Democratic Party because the "Democratic leadership is allowing race and class bias to dishonor the Democratic Party." With Green Party candidate for Governor Peter Miguel Camejo by her side, Becnel signed a voter registration form switching to the Green Party Tuesday night. She is second high-profile person of color to switch to the Green Party of late - Nativo Lopez, state and national president of the influential Mexican American Political Association, has also re-registered Green, the failure of the Democratic Party to address the concerns of Latinos." In a letter to Democratic Party chairman Art Torres (available upon request), Becnel said the Democratic Party "has transformed itself from Dixiecrats to Richiecrats - money counts, equality of treatment does not. This is shameful. The message to us everyday folks from today's Democratic Party is that the votes of black, brown, poor and middle class people matter to the Democratic Party leadership only because the Party needs those votes. But...ordinary, non-millionaire members of the electorate do not (really) matter." She said the party refused to invite her to events, and when asked to speak by the Progressive Democrats of America at the State Democratic Convention, she was later "uninvited" by the state party leadership.. "I can no longer support a party that doesn't fundamentally support...issues that are important to people like me: ending the death penalty (and) three-strikes and the participation of California's National Guard in the Iraq war. I plan to tell my story of discrimination and bias to every person of color with whom I come in contact, encouraging them to leave this out-of-step Democratic Party and become a Green," she said. "Barbara Becnel is a breath of fresh air in the Green Party. As a fellow activist and 'sister,' I welcome her with open arms, knowing that with her know-how and commitment, the Green Party is better equipped to fight for justice in the black community," said Donna Warren, who is black and the Green Party's Lt. Governor candidate. -30- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Tue Jul 25 12:48:25 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:48:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} First Black Woman to run for Gov in CA, becomes a GREEN! Message-ID: <20060725164826.11764.qmail@web81402.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Barbara Becnel Switches to Green Party in Run for Governor THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA www.cagreens.org July 24, 2006 Released July 20, 2006 Contact: Sara Amir, spokesperson, 310.270-7106 saraamir at earthlink.net Pat Driscoll, spokesperson, 916.320-6430 patp at sonicfrog.com Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524 funking at mindspring.com Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9710 civillib at cwnet.com Democratic Party leadership accused of 'race and class bias' by black gubernatorial candidate Barbara Becnel; She re-registers with Green Party SAN FRANCISCO -- Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate and death penalty foe Barbara Becnel - the first black woman to run for governor in California - announced this week that she has left the Democratic Party because the "Democratic leadership is allowing race and class bias to dishonor the Democratic Party." With Green Party candidate for Governor Peter Miguel Camejo by her side, Becnel signed a voter registration form switching to the Green Party Tuesday night. She is second high-profile person of color to switch to the Green Party of late - Nativo Lopez, state and national president of the influential Mexican American Political Association, has also re-registered Green, the failure of the Democratic Party to address the concerns of Latinos." In a letter to Democratic Party chairman Art Torres (available upon request), Becnel said the Democratic Party "has transformed itself from Dixiecrats to Richiecrats - money counts, equality of treatment does not. This is shameful. The message to us everyday folks from today's Democratic Party is that the votes of black, brown, poor and middle class people matter to the Democratic Party leadership only because the Party needs those votes. But...ordinary, non-millionaire members of the electorate do not (really) matter." She said the party refused to invite her to events, and when asked to speak by the Progressive Democrats of America at the State Democratic Convention, she was later "uninvited" by the state party leadership.. "I can no longer support a party that doesn't fundamentally support...issues that are important to people like me: ending the death penalty (and) three-strikes and the participation of California's National Guard in the Iraq war. I plan to tell my story of discrimination and bias to every person of color with whom I come in contact, encouraging them to leave this out-of-step Democratic Party and become a Green," she said. "Barbara Becnel is a breath of fresh air in the Green Party. As a fellow activist and 'sister,' I welcome her with open arms, knowing that with her know-how and commitment, the Green Party is better equipped to fight for justice in the black community," said Donna Warren, who is black and the Green Party's Lt. Governor candidate. -30- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Wed Jul 26 01:01:56 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:01:56 -0400 Subject: {news} Minutes from the emergency 6-19-06 SCC meeting, quorum met. Message-ID: <20060726050157.ZYXQ23863.eastrmmtao03.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> Minutes from the emergency 6-19-06 SCC meeting, quorum met. Place: Portland Public Library, 20 Freestone Avenue, Portland, CT phone: 860-342-6770 at 7PM Facilitator: Michael Westerfield. Voting attendees: Central Chapter: Vic Lancia, Fairfield Chapter: David Bedell, Richard Duffee; Greater Hartford Chapter: Mike DeRosa, a co-chairperson of CTGP, Cliff Thornton; Rob Pandolfo; Hamden chapter: Francis; New Haven: Alan Brisson and Ralph Ferruci; New London: Chris Nelson; Northeast chapter: Michael Westerfield, a co-chairperson of CTGP. Tolland: Tim McKee, CTGP representative to GPUS. Non-voting attendee: Ken Krayeske, paid campaign coordinator; female from Hamden. Purpose: a) potential hiring of state-wide petition coordinator, Ken Krayeske: from 6-2-06 through 8-9-06 is 8 weeks. 8-9-06 is the last day that petitions can be submitted. Cliff: pay for Ken Krayeske is $1000/week x 8 weeks; with the option to extend his contract, based on getting on the ballot, Cliff and the CTGP will reconsider after 8-9-06, the value of any possible extension of a paid campaign coordinator for the remainder of the campaign. Ken Krayeske: have 3,064 gathered petitions i.e. a fifth of what we need to hand in based on 50% lost. 670 have been turned in. Will have phone banking every Wednesday and people can hand in petitions and get them notarized. My personal goal is to build local organizations out of the state-wide campaign, so that in 2007, we can have local organizations that will win local races. When petitions are notarized, they will be copied for our records. Ken's goals for various chapters: New Haven to gather 4,750 signatures; Greater Hartford: 2500; Fairfield: 3000 certified signatures are needed to get their own candidate on the ballot. Therefore, should be able to get 3000 for the state-wide candidates. New London: 1500; Hamden: 500; Tolland: 250, Northeast: 1000; Central: 1500. West/Northwest/Shoreline chapters are defunct. Has 7 out of the 10 key values on a postcard to use for communication/handouts (cost $.07/piece). Also have buttons. Cliff and I and Kaliff of New Haven (worked for David Cobb's campaign) have talked about potential paid petitioners, rate of pay: $1.00 per petition. If we do not have 5000 petitions by 7-8-06, then may need to consider paid petitioners. Ken would like to have all the petitions handed in by 8-1-06. Cliff Thornton: suggests CTGP members write letters to the editor; the use of cocaine by the current Bridgeport, CT mayor has increased people contacting Cliff. Mike DeRosa: Black and Latino people in the Northend of Hartford and Dixwell Avenue in New Haven, know about Cliff and seem to tend to lean toward him. Francis from Hamden: have not had an active chapter for some months but goal might be achievable. Mike DeRosa: per treasurer: Chris Reilly: have paid all bills and as of today, have $14,600, but need to do fundraising and learn to be better fundraiser. Cliff Thornton: potential fundraisers via his phone banking of Nader's supporters; a fundraiser in San Franciso and via music group in New York. Must get into the polls. To have an interview on Univision, Latino TV station. Tim McKee, campaign manager for Cliff Thornton: took in about $12,000 and presently have $2700. Concencus: all agreed to the paid campaign coordinator contract; none against; no abstains. b) need to organize and get updates regarding the petition campaign for state-wide offices: see above. c) Richard Duffee, potential 4th Congressional District candidate for CTGP: his website is: www.duffee.politicalgateway.com . Lists his issues which affect human life: nuclear disarmament; control of world economies by world banks; need to decrease energy consumption due to greenhouse effect; drug war and war on terrorism are both phony. CTGP can help Richard to get on the ballot and get speaking engagements. These things can be discussed at the Fairfield Chapter Nominating Convention on 7-11-06. Mike DeRosa proposal: can publish a 4 page newpaper for $480 which can have all the candidates in it to disseminate candidate information, issues, and concerns. Concencus: Allow $500 of CTGP funds to be used to publish the CTGP Green Times within 4-5 weeks. Note: Regular monthly SCC meeting will still be held on Tuesday, 6-27-06 at Portland Public Library at 7PM. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Wed Jul 26 01:03:03 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:03:03 -0400 Subject: {news} Minutes from the 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP in Willimantic, CT Message-ID: <20060726050304.ZZFX23863.eastrmmtao03.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> Minutes from the 7-10-06 EC meeting of CTGP in Willimantic, CT El Palenque Restaurant, 1172 Main Street, Willimantic, CT , 06226 Phone: 860-423-6011 7PM to 9PM Attendees: Co-chairpersons: Jean deSmet from Northeast Chapter, Mike DeRosa, Greater Hartford Chapter; Treasurer, Christopher Reilly, Greater Hartford, Secretary, Barbara Barry and Ken Krayeske, paid campaign coordinator. Absent: Michael Westerfield who was out-of-state. 1. Discuss/review/refine our petition drive for our state-wide candidates: KK: have 8601 signed petitions; Have been reviewed 1090 and certified 800. Suggest maintaining our goal of 13, 000 to 15,000 signatures. 2. Status of current CTGP candidates: KK: New London Chapter will not endorse a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District. Richard Duffee will be requesting the endorsement of the Fairfield Chapter to run as a candidate in the 4th Congressional District. KK: I believe that he should not run and will tell Fairfield Chapter at their 7-11-06 convention of my concerns that it would hurt the Democratic candidate, Diane Farrell. Jean/Barbara/Chris and Mike: we hear your recommendation as a paid campaign coordination. However: per CTGP bylaws and procedures, if a person comes forward seeking to run as a CTGP candidate, and if the appropriate CTGP chapter endorses said candidate after vetting him/her, and if the state CTGP also endorses said candidate, then that person can run as a CTGP candidate. Therefore, we will allow the Fairfield Chapter to decide if they wish to endorse Richard Duffee, as a candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat. KK: Betsy Reina is unable to run for lt. governor. Events: KK: Cliff Thornton has almost daily events. Mike: please arrange/provide the option for all the state-wide candidates to be at as many of these events, as possible. Please contact all the candidates to allow the opportunity for our state-wide candidates to participate in events, if possible. KK: will be available for paid campaign work after the petitioning drive while he goes to law school full time. 3. Potential financial support for CTGP candidates: Fundraisers: a) Ralph Nader has agreed to participate in 2 fundraisers: one in July or August and the other in September or October. b) Steve Fournier has agreed to do 1 or 2 fundraisers at his Hartford home: one of which might be a pizza/beer party. 4. CTGP website status: Chris Reilly had done the face page and will continue to be webmaster with Michael Westerfield. Information/people interested in CTGP from the GPUS website is passed along to Ed Dubrule. Ed then disburses that information to the appropriate person: CTGP treasurer or Secretary or current CTGP co-webmasters: Christopher Reilly and Michael Westerfield. KK: Chris Nelson or someone in New London may want to keep this central database list of people interested in the CTGP. Chris will need $400 to get the software to do this on his Mac computer. The chapters will need to provide this central contact with a list of such people who a) work as contacts with other organizations; b) work only during campaigns; c) only work on election day; d) people who will carry petitions; e) donors; etc. 5. CT Green Times newspaper status: Mike: 2 articles have been submitted. I still need articles from all our candidates and from our paid campaign coordinator. Also need articles from chapters about their positions/concerns. Mike: estimated date it will be going to publisher and availability for distribution: as soon as I get the articles. Distribution will remain with Albert Marceau. 6. Treasurer's report from Christopher Reilly: sent the 2nd quarter report to the CT Secretary of State via paper and will return to electronic reporting. $1000/week salary to Ken Krayeske is from CTGP monies. 7. ACLU lawsuit regarding the 2005 CT "campaign finance reform" law: Mike: was announced at press conference last week. 8. Agenda for 7-25-06 SCC meeting: similar to 6-06 SCC meeting. Mike to contact Vic Lancia regarding getting the Portland Library for SCC meeting. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Wed Jul 26 01:04:07 2006 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:04:07 -0400 Subject: {news} Minutes from the 6-27-05 SCC CTGP meeting, quorum was met. Message-ID: <20060726050407.ZZPA23863.eastrmmtao03.cox.net@BarbaraBarry> Minutes from the 6-27-05 SCC CTGP meeting, quorum was met. Place: Middletown Russell Public Library, 1st Floor, Reading Room #2, 123 Broad Street, Middletown, CT. Time: 7pm to 8:45pm closing Phone: 860-347-2528 Facilitator: Cliff Thornton Voting attendees: Central Chapter: Vittorio Lancia; Fairfield Chapter: Paul Bassler, Richard Duffee; Greater Hartford Chapter: Barbara Barry, Secretary of CTGP, Mike DeRosa, a co-chairperson of CTGP, Cliff Thornton; New Haven Chapter: Charlie Pillsbury and CTGP representative to Green Party of US; New London Chapter: Andy Derr, Chris Nelson; Northeast Chapter: Michael Westerfield, a co-chairperson of CTGP; Tolland Chapter: Tim McKee and CTGP representative to Green Party of US. Non voting attendees: Jeff Russell, New London chapter; and Ken Krayeske, paid campaign coordinator. A. Preliminaries: 1. Introductions of attendees and chapters. Recruit timekeeper: Vic Lancia. 2. Identify attendees who are NOT voting representatives. 3. Adoption of ground rules. 4. Approval of tonight's proposed agenda, no additions and deletions: report from GPUS representatives; Budget Committee suggestions 5. Approval of 5-30-06 SCC minutes presented by Barbara Barry. 6. Approval of 6-12-06 EC meeting presentation by Barbara Barry. 7. Treasurer's report by Mike DeRosa per 6-27-06 email from Christopher Reilly, treasurer: as of today, after expeditures, have about $14,000 in treasury. B. Proposal from 6-12-06 EC meeting: vote to allow Amy Vas Nunes full CTGP membership. Presented by co-chairperson, Michael Westerfield and discussed by attendees: Concencus: to allow full membership without sanctions. C. Reports: 1. CTGP petitioning drive so far by Ken Krayeske: 4500 signatures have been acquired; 1000 have been turned in with more than 240 validated i.e. about a 24% rejection rate. Goal is to acquire 15,000 signatures by 8-9-06 deadline without paid help, SCC will need to decide at next 7-25-06 SCC meeting if paid help will be needed to get/achieve our goal. Strategies to achieve our goal: petitioners the weekend of 7-7-06 and 7-8-06 at New London Sail Festival, Suggest going to July 4th fireworks displays in our towns for more petitioning. We discussed running CTGP candidates in the 2nd and 4th Congressional districts. Concerns were discussed about whether these candidates would improve or hinder our efforts to get our state-wide candidates on the ballot by petitioning and if we would have enough remaining effort to give due diligence to all candidates. Prevailing sentiment was given by Richard Duffee, petitioning candidate for the 4th Congressional District: it is up to the CTGP local chapter and CTGP to decide if candidates should run for office or not. Paul Bassler, in my years of working in campaigs, congressional candidates energize all CTGP campaigns. Barbara Barry: these types of campaigns are often an educational tool for anyone involved in municipal, state or federal campaigns. Additional, some people are only involved with political parties during campaigns. Mike DeRosa: tactically, CTGP can carry the petitions for the state-wide candidates and also for the 4th Congressional District candidate. However, the Fairfield Chapter has to decide at their convention, it they want to run a Congressional candidate or not.. 2. CTGP candidate events: Steve Fournier has committed to doing 2 fundraisers at his Hartford home e.g. cookout in his backyard which can hold up to 100 people. Do we want to do paid radio ads and a possible TV commercial in addition to having our candidates on local community TV programs. Ken Krayeske: we need a database of contributors, Chris Nelson of New London Chapter is willing to do this but needs $400 to buy the software as he only works off of a MAC. However, they may be people who will be able to do this for free Mike DeRosa: Dave in Glastonbury has provided this banner for Cliff and is willing to so any Banner or sign for any CTGP candidate. You can call Dave at: 860-633-9310. New London Chapter wants any CTGP candidate to be interviewed for potential CTGP approval. 3. CTGP newspaper: email articles to Mike DeRosa at smderosa at cox.net. 4. Our ACLU lawsuit against the 2005 CT "campaign finance reform" law: Mike DeRosa: got the ACLU to agree in writing that ACLU will pay all fees/costs incurred by this lawsuit, including any after costs e.g. court approval that the defendants are allowed to require the plaintiffs to pay defendants lawyers fees. S. Michael DeRosa is one of the plaintiffs, as one name is required per group, The Libertarian Party is also a plaintiff. All publicity is being handled by the ACLU and will be announced in early July 2006. Charlie Pillsbury: the CTGP agrees with 2 of the 4 ACLU concerns: 1) we agree that the petitioning requirement to get full campaign funding is unconstitutional and 2) the 2 state major parties are allowed to pay more monies to their candidates than the other parties. The ACLU is also concerned about the 3) zero tolerance for contributions from lobbyists i.e. no lobbyist or family member can contribute to any campaign and 4) public campaign finance caps: allows self-funded wealthy candidates to be exempt from the caps but any candidate who chooses to utility the state campaign funding, must abide by the caps. This violates the Helsinki accords i.e. international laws and discourages the development and activities of multiple political parties and allowing democratic chooses to the voters. Mike DeRosa: unintended benefits of other campaign finance reforms laws have been seen. In Maine, more candidates were women, and independent candidates. These candidates reflected a broader demographic of the population i.e. less candidates were lawyers. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Wed Jul 26 09:29:48 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:29:48 +0000 Subject: {news} Nancy Burton challenges disinterment of African prince In-Reply-To: <20060726050310.B414F89C0BF@gandhi.greens.org> Message-ID: courant.com http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctstopdig0726.artjul26,0,4109425.story?coll=hc-headlines-local Project Challenged Activist Asks Court To Halt Dig At Gravesite Of Slave-Turned-Merchant Venture Smith By PENELOPE OVERTON Courant Staff Writer July 26 2006 EAST HADDAM -- A disbarred lawyer running for state attorney general is seeking a court order to stop the excavation of the gravesite of freed slave Venture Smith, claiming the dig is an illegal desecration of the skeletal remains of a state hero. Nancy Burton of Redding, who has worked with Smith descendants in the past to defend the old Venture Smith homestead in Haddam Neck, filed a request for an injunction in Superior Court in Hartford on Tuesday to stop the DNA retrieval project. Smith was a kidnapped African prince who bought his own freedom and became a prosperous Connecticut merchant. "I believe it is disrespectful to the sacred memory of a state hero," Burton said. "We wouldn't treat George Washington's grave like this. ... It treats Venture like a sub-species, like a slave, not a first-class citizen. That deeply offends me, and it offends the public interest." On Tuesday, Burton asked Judge Lois Tanzer to order an immediate suspension of the work, but Tanzer focused her attention on Burton's legal paperwork, saying Burton had failed to provide legal notification to all defendants of her injunction request. Tanzer told Burton she could air her concerns at a court hearing Thursday morning. Burton complained that State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni, who is overseeing the dig and was represented at the Tuesday hearing by members of the state Attorney General's Office, might reach Smith's skeletal remains by Thursday. "In this case, justice delayed might be justice denied," Burton told Tanzer. Burton claims the excavation is illegal because the project leaders didn't obtain required disinterment permits, nor the permission of many of Smith's living descendants. She said the dig could damage a cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Upon the receipt of their subpoenas Tuesday afternoon, leaders of the Venture Smith Project said they have the disinterment permits, and the permission of Coralynne Jackson, the descendant who is recognized as the sole legal guardian of Smith's remains. As of Tuesday afternoon, the team had dug two feet into the earth. Funeral tradition around the time of Smith's death in 1805 customarily laid bodies about six feet down, Bellantoni said. He said the dig is not proceeding as quickly as he had expected, partly due to Burton's legal action. "As for George Washington, she's dead wrong about that," Bellantoni quipped. "Give me the chance, and a scientific reason, and I'd dig George Washington up in a second. I've excavated the grave of Samuel Huntington, and he was the president of the Continental Congress." Burton said some Smith descendants don't want the dig to continue, but said they wouldn't come forward publicly because they didn't want to divide the family. Project leaders note, however, that it was a family member, Jackson, who initially requested a DNA retrieval project. Project leaders say it would have been impossible to contact all of Smith's descendants, who number about 70, and they question whether Burton is merely seeking publicity. Burton, disbarred in Connecticut 2001, is running on the Green Party ticket for attorney general. "We all want this dig to continue," said Frank Warmsley Sr. of East Hampton. "We know the whole thing might not lead to any bones, not enough to find out where Venture was from, but the whole family is willing to give it a try. At least it's spreading Venture's story." Contact Penelope Overton at poverton@ courant.com. Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant From ken at the40yearplan.com Wed Jul 26 22:14:10 2006 From: ken at the40yearplan.com (Ken Krayeske) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 22:14:10 -0400 Subject: {news} re: diana urban Message-ID: <44C82172.6080804@the40yearplan.com> this from today's ctnewsjunkie.com // With less than five months left until election day, state Rep. Diana Urban, R-North Stonington, will attempt to petition her way into the U.S. Senate race by collecting 7,500 signatures by Aug. 9. A later comer to the race, Urban will attempt to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who will run as an independent candidate if he loses the primary Aug. 8 to his Democratic challenger Ned Lamont. If Urban makes it onto the ballot she will also have to challenge her own party?s endorsed candidate Alan Schlesinger, whose candidacy has recently been plagued by news of his gambling habits. [More:] For those who don?t know Urban, she?s a self-proclaimed progressive Republican along the lines of Roosevelt, who doesn?t often tow the party line. This Tuesday during an interview at the Legislative Office Building cafeteria the Republican with an eye on the environment, global warming, and education rhetorically asked why all those things are not Republican issues. Urban who is running unopposed for her state legislative seat said she wants to continue to serve the public if she loses her bid to get on the ballot or win the U.S. Senate seat. Why is she running for U.S. Senate? ?If not now, then when and if not me, then who,? will stand up for Connecticut in Washington DC, Urban said. An anti-war candidate, Urban, said, 70 percent of Lieberman?s constituency doesn?t agree with him on the war and Lamont, the anti-war Democrat challenging him ?doesn?t have a record of any substance.? But it?s not all about the War in Iraq. She said she?s concerned about the economy, global warming, and education. ?And I have a legislative record to back up those concerns,? she said. An economist, Urban said she?d like to see some consistency in Washington DC when it comes to the economy. She said the United States can?t expect to grow the economy when it tells 120,000 high school graduates they won?t be able to go onto college because there isn?t enough money to help them get there. She said that kind of thinking is inconsistent with a desire to build a robust economy. She said she is a firm believer in a ?back and fill? economic strategy which promotes small business and micro enterprise. She said the subsidies given to big businesses is a practice that needs to stop. Urban said she was asked by the fourth-graders at Deans Mills School what she would do if her constituents were divided on an issue. She said she would ?go to my core values and hope those values are why my constituency elected me.? She said she bumped into a fourth-grader from that same school a few weeks later in a store. The fourth-grader whispered to her mother, ?That?s Diana Urban.? According to Urban, the mother said her daughter has done nothing but talk about how a woman can run for office since Urban visited their class. And ?If that?s all I do is inspire little Meg, then that?s okay with me,? Urban said Tuesday. Urban, single-mom, said she is running for U.S. Senate for children like Meg, her 24-year-old son Lex, and others in their generation, who will undoubtedly inherit an economic recession based on the poor choices of the current administration under President George W. Bush. ?I always wanted to represent and serve more people,? Urban said. Already her grassroots effort has helped her collect over 3,500 signatures. She said if she doesn?t gather enough signatures she will drop her bid for the Senate. From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Thu Jul 27 19:38:02 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 16:38:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} wesu radio article (Har.Courant, Boston globe) Thornton was a guest Message-ID: <20060727233802.87754.qmail@web81413.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Homeless man gives weekly perspective for college radio show By Annie Tasker, Hartford Courant | July 27, 2006 MIDDLETOWN, Conn. --In 30 years of being homeless, Fred Carroll has found some creative places to rest his head: the back room of a bowling alley or a 7-Eleven, the balcony of a luxury suite at a hotel where he was doing construction work. But these days, for one hour a week, his home is on the airwaves of Wesleyan University's WESU FM 88.1 as host of "The Homeless Report." "I can't hold a thought or string three things together well enough to do anything, but I can sit down and talk," said Carroll, 52. "So I figure, that's my contribution." Middletown councilman and talk show host David Bauer says Carroll does more than that for the community. After finding Carroll playing chess with a Wesleyan student in a local coffee shop, Bauer brought him onto his Friday afternoon show, "The Bauer Hour," a year and a half ago. Though they no longer work together, Bauer still thinks Carroll's observations serve Middletown not only by giving a voice to the homeless, but by giving listeners a new perspective on where they live. "Through his eyes and words, people can see their town in a whole different way," Bauer said. From 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sundays, Carroll delivers stream-of-consciousness commentary and guest interviews on homelessness and other issues in Middletown. The topics range from the sculptures on Main Street (Carroll hates them) to panhandling (he's morally opposed). His guests have included Green Party gubernatorial candidate Cliff Thornton, and a man who, until recently, lived in a tent on the street. "There's got to be a homeless theme," he said. "Like, I'll talk about the war, but from a homeless perspective, because that was my deal." On a recent show, Carroll veers from panhandling to circus animals to, inevitably, the necessity of money itself. "Money isn't everything, but it's good when you're hungry," he said to Bob, the man who lived in a tent and is now becoming a regular on the show. He goes on to explain his stance on the psychology of panhandlers: Either you've got it or you don't, he said -- "it" being an emotional capacity for approaching strangers and asking them for money. He compares panhandlers to mimes, "workin' it with the face, with a hat or something." Carroll doesn't panhandle -- and advises people not to give money to those who do. "When you give a panhandler a dollar, God only knows what has happened on a karmic level," he tells his audience. "You may not have done him a favor, but you don't know that." The Homeless Report started as a 2 a.m. spot in February, and was moved to its current time after getting good feedback from Wesleyan University listeners. Carroll's first thought when he got moved to a Sunday afternoon slot this summer was that he was in over his head. "I did a great goofball show at 2 in the morning," he said. "I had fun. But what I realize is I'm not really qualified." Carroll said he's homeless because he's bad at saving money. Moving with his mother to Connecticut from Woodhaven, Queens, in 1974 after his parents' divorce, he said, started him on his path to homelessness. "I started getting sloppy and indigent right away," he said. The working world, with its insistence on paperwork and forms of identification, never felt right to him. "Most people who are sober and reasonable and intelligent have never really played the fool," said Carroll. "I think my deal is, I never lost it, but I've been an idiot. I can talk about it with a certain authority, this homeless thing." Think about a daily routine after work, and how different a daily routine can be for the homeless, Bauer said. When you're living indoors, you come home, change your clothes and use the bathroom. If you're homeless, doing the same basic things in public is against the law. "To be homeless is to be illegal in just about everything you do," Bauer said. "In some very difficult ways, being homeless is a full-time job. The show gives people a window in on a life like that." Carroll, in fact, isn't homeless these days -- and it's making him nervous. For the past few months, he has been living with Anne-Marie, the hot dog lady on Court Street, in exchange for helping around the house and walking her brother's dog. If his experience has taught him one thing, it's that, when you're living under someone else's roof, you're two words away from being back on the street: "Get out." So, even though he has a house key and a cell phone from Anne-Marie that rings "Flight of the Bumblebee," Carroll is waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's that mind-set that makes him predict he will die alone, huddled in a bus stop, trying to stay out of the cold. Until then, he will be Middletown's voice for the homeless -- if for no other reason than that he's the only one in the running for the title. "Most people want the homeless to be invisible," Bauer said. "That he's out there taking a fresh whack at it every week -- it's uncharted territory." ? Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company '); //--> =0)document.write(unescape('%3C')+'\!-'+'-'); //--> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From greenpartyct at yahoo.com Fri Jul 28 19:39:56 2006 From: greenpartyct at yahoo.com (Green Party-CT) Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:39:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: {news} DAY ONE at the National Greens meeting Message-ID: <20060728233956.49788.qmail@web81411.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Greetings from Arizona! After a very rainy start, it was a nice 72 degrees and sunny in Tuscon! Our first full day began with many workshops on many issues. Cliff attended workshops on fundraising and campaigns. I attend ballot access meetings late Thursaday night and on Friday morning. I also attend a discuss about a Presidential campaign in 08. Did you know the Green's nationally previously pased a resolution for a Full OUT race in 2008? Whether its a home grown or national known figure the plan is for a flat out race in 2008. No safe state ideas, or bowing to any Democrat, hillary clinton or an anti-war liberal like Russ Feingold. If people want to dicsuss this the forum list serve would be a good place. Several press conferences were held and Cliff was the star at the state and local candidates. I hope to have this on a dvd or online soon..stay tuned. Most of the afternoon was spent on fundraising. Since the 2004 divide, we have lost lots of the base and money. Many of the delegates also think the anti-war efforts are also taking money from us. We are also thinking that the lack of a clear agenda on a national level has hurt. many of the states are doing much better than many thought while some are slideing off the earth and aare floundering. Tonight more networking continues and a women in black vigil wil be held to protest the war. I will try to post a report tommorrow. Peace, Tim McKee ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Thornton For Governor ,Donna Byrne-McKee, treasurer- www.VoteThornton.com email: info at votethornton.com Tim McKee NEW cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282 Cliff Thornton for Governor- Campaign Manager- National Committee member of the Green Party- Connecticut -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From apbrison at hotmail.com Mon Jul 31 12:46:56 2006 From: apbrison at hotmail.com (allan brison) Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:46:56 -0400 Subject: {news} FW: August 8: Rally against the Minutemen in Hartford Message-ID: ----Original Message Follows---- From: Peter Goselin To: Peter Goselin Subject: August 8: Rally against the Minutemen in Hartford Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:23:10 -0400 [Attached is the following: English and Spanish text, pasted below, for the August 8 rally against the Minutemen in Hartford; English flyer in pdf and Spanish flyer in pdf. Please help spread the word!] Say Yes to Connecticut's Diversity! Say No to the Racist Minutemen! On Tuesday, August 8, a group of motorcyclists who are part of the ultra-right wing and racist Minutemen will be in Hartford. They claim that they are here to warn us of an "invasion" by immigrants. Their leader is "Frosty" Wooldridge, who blames immigrants for everything from violent crime to tuberculosis to violence against women to overcrowding in public schools and hospitals! Articles written by Wooldridge calling for an "uprising" to "defend ourselves" are featured on anti-immigrant, white racist and neo-nazi websites around the country. We are proud that immigrant workers and their families have always been a part of Connecticut. We are committed to take a stand against the bigotry of Wooldridge and the Minutemen. We are gathering at Minuteman Park in Hartford because we refuse to let Wooldridge re-write history, comparing the rebel heros of New England to his hate-filled crew. On August 8, join us as we say Yes to diversity, inclusion and social justice, and No to hate, racism and the Minutemen. WHEN: Tuesday, August 8 at 11:30AM WHERE: Gather at Minuteman Park, at the intersection of Broad Street and Capitol Avenue Our endorsers list is in formation. Here are some of the groups that are helping to build this action: Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) ??? CT, Connecticut Regional Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Creating Local Autonomy and Solidarity in Hartford (CLASH Collective), Danbury Coalition for Immigrant Rights (DACORIM), Immanuel Congregational Church, International Socialist Organization -- New Haven, La Paloma Sabanera Coffehouse and Bookstore, Latinos Contra La Guerra, National Lawyers Guild ??? Connecticut Chapter, Queers Without Borders, Socialist Action, Unidad Latinos En Accion, Colombia Action, Connecticut Chapter - National Organization for Women. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dile SI a la Diversidad en Connecticut! Dile Ni a los Racistas Minutemen! El Martes 8 de Agosto, un grupo de motociclistas que son parte de un grupo ultra derechista de Minutemen, van a estar en Hartford. Ellos declaran que estan aqui para prevenirnos de una ??invasion?? de immigrantes. Su lider, ??Frosty?? Wooldrige, le echa la culpa a los inmigrantes por todo: crimenes violentos, tuberculosis, violencia en contra de las mujeres, amontonamiento en las escuelas y hospitales! Algunos articulos escritos por Wooldrige en donde el le pide a la gente que ??se levanate?? para ??defender a la comunidad?? han sido publicados en websites al rededor del pais que son anti-inmigrantes, racistas y neo-nazis. Nosotros estamos orgullosos de que los trabajadores inmigrantes y sus familias siempre han sido una parte de Connecticut. Estamos comprometidos a tomar una posicion en contra de el racismo de Wooldridge y de los Minutemen. Nos vamos a reunir en el Parque minuteman en Hartford porque nos rehusamos a dejar que Wooldrige re-escriba la historia, comparando a los heroes rebeldes de Nueva Inglaterra con su grupo lleno de odio. El 8 de Agosto, unete a nosotros para decirle SI a la diversidad, a la inclusion y a la justicia social y NO a el odio, el racismo y a los Minutemen. CUANDO: Martes, 8 de Agosto a las 11:30 am DONDE: Nos juntaremos en el parque Minuteman en la interseccion de Broad Street y la Avenida Capitol. Esta es la lista de endorsantes y algunos de los grupos que estan ayudando a organizar esta accion: Coalicion Regional de Connecticut por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes, Unidad Latina en Accion, DACORIM (Danbury Coalition for the Rights of Inmigrants), Latinos en Contra de la Guerra, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) - CT, Creating Local Autonomy and Solidarity in Hartford (CLASH Collective), Immanuel Congregational Church, International Socialist Organization -- New Haven, La Paloma Sabanera Coffehouse and Bookstore, National Lawyers Guild - Connecticut Chapter, Queers Without Borders, Socialist Action, Colombia Action, Connecticut Chapter - National Organization for Women -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: august8flyerenglish.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 59167 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: august8flyerspanish.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 59341 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Mon Jul 31 14:09:44 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:09:44 +0000 Subject: {news} Ralph Nader in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport Wednesday In-Reply-To: <20060731165359.47135.qmail@web56309.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Come See Ralph Nader (expanded schedule): In Hartford This Wednesday, August 2 at 1:30 pm Location to Be Announced Topic: The War in Iraq and Joseph Lieberman More info: 203-435-1577 vantagetax@ aol.com In New Haven This Wednesday, August 2 at 3:45 pm New Haven Public Library ? Downtown Corner of Elm Street and Temple Street Topic: The War in Iraq and Joseph Lieberman More info: 203-435-1577 vantagetax@ aol.com In Bridgeport This Wednesday, August 2 at 6:30 pm Bloodroot Restaurant in Black Rock 85 Ferris St Topic: The Green Party as a force for change More info: 203-581-3193 dbedellgreen@ hotmail.com From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 31 14:17:08 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:17:08 -0400 Subject: {news} US CT: Torrington Drug War Heats Up Message-ID: This has got to stop. This is highway robbery in the name of the war on drugs. Legalizing, Medicalizing and decriminalizing drugs means one thing and one thing only--the redistribution of wealth and income US CT: Torrington Drug War Heats Up URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n995/a06.html Newshawk: Beth Votes: 0 Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 Source: Republican-American (CT) Copyright: 2006 American-Republican Inc. Contact: rveillette at rep-am.com Website: http://www.rep-am.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/571 Author: Bryan Sundie Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) TORRINGTON DRUG WAR HEATS UP Seized Vehicle On Display As Warning TORRINGTON -- If dealers pushing heroin and crack cocaine have not noticed a recent barrage of busts in the city, the police chief has a plan to make his anti-drug plans clear. A vehicle seized from a drug raid will be parked in front of the Police Department with a warning for everyone to see, Chief Robert Milano said Saturday. The warning, which will call attention to the former owner, will proclaim what Milano has been saying for months: Torrington is waging a war on drugs. The department's latest arrests came during a bust early Saturday morning. Police interrupted a cocaine buy on Winthrop Street near the Winthrop Court apartments, next door to the city's skate park and Torrington High School. They two men, one local and one from Waterbury, after finding freebase cocaine and $9,000. The investigation also added a confiscated car to the department's list: a 1997 Infinity Q45. Torrington has confiscated at least three other cars connected to drug arrests since the spring. Ultimately, a judge must decide what happens to the vehicles. "We are at a very serious stage," said Milano, who explained that drugs are often the root cause burglaries, robberies and shoplifting complaints in Torrington. "A month doesn't go by when we don't have a heroin overdose." Thursday, detectives arrested a Highland Avenue man after finding cocaine and $3,000 in his apartment. And two weeks ago, police searched two apartments simultaneously, one on Birge Road and the other Prospect Street, confiscating heroin, Ecstasy, cocaine and a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. In June, officers found $27,000 and $12,000 worth of cocaine on South Main Street. "We're a growing city, and with a growing city comes city problems," said first-term Mayor Ryan J. Bingham. While on the campaign trail, he rode with officers and was motivated to address drug problems in Torrington. "I saw some of the drug use and its effect on people first hand," he said. Bingham said making headway requires a two-pronged approach. Vigilant enforcement is crucial, but the city can take other steps to aid the cause, he said, such as stamping out blight or encouraging neighborhood watch programs. "We don't want to become a city where drugs are such a prevalent issue that it's almost uncontrollable," he said. Milano credited determination for catching dealers, but said staffing changes have helped. They include assigning a sergeant to oversee narcotics enforcement and using a federal grant to help shift a patrolman to focus on those cases. And the department has money to hire four new officers, allowing Milano to move existing officers to the Detective Bureau. "They will continue to hammer away at it," he said. Saturday, police charged Russell Whitney, 45, of 120 Harwinton Ave., with criminal attempt to buy cocaine and possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school. They levied drug charges against 25-year-old David Ireland of Waterbury, too. Charged with possession of more than five grams of freebase cocaine, Ireland was held on $250,000 bond. Bingham applauded the department's efforts and said he has no gripes about Milano's proposed advertising campaign about drugs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester, CT 06045 votethornton at yahoogroups.com www.votethornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee-Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske-field Manager Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-Mckee, Treasure -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Mon Jul 31 21:03:43 2006 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 01:03:43 +0000 Subject: {news} Say no to Bush's faux pas, and foie gras, too In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I wasn't at the state meeting last week so didn't hear Diana Urban's presentation. I understand her stance on ending the Iraq War was not strong enough to win much support from Greens; however, I was impressed by the following article which shows her dedication to non-violence. How many of our candidates have included animal cruelty or animal rights in their campaign platforms? http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-foiegras.artjul25,0,4495992.story Cruelty Claims May Foil Foie Gras By WILLIAM WEIR Courant Staff Writer July 25 2006 In the kitchen of Grants in West Hartford Center, chef Eric Sass holds up a couple of pounds of foie gras. Before it gets fancied up for customers, this delicacy isn't much more than a plastic-wrapped shapeless lump. It's so underwhelming that it's surprising that it would be the center of the latest food controversy. In fact, this shapeless lump would be banned from restaurants and stores in Connecticut under a bill to be offered in the General Assembly next year. "The way to bring attention to this is to ban the sale," says Rep. Diana Urban, R-North Stonington, who plans to introduce legislation in January. "I know that that's going out on a limb, but what I want to do is generate discussion - and I'm sure we will." By January, it may seem less of a long shot. Chicago's city council has already passed a ban on selling foie gras (pronounced "fwah grah"), and California will restrict its production starting in 2012. Regulations are also being considered in Philadelphia, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois. Animal-rights activists say the farms where the ducks and geese are raised for foie gras combine the worst elements of all mass-production animal farms. Those in the industry, though, contend they're being singled out because they don't have the political power of other meat industries. Though it didn't gain much of a following in the United States until the mid-1980s, foie gras has since become a staple of French cuisine. Most of the chefs we spoke to said they'll serve it as long as their customers want it. And for now, at least, their customers want foie gras. "We've heard from people who ask questions about it and then order it," says Steve Abrams, co-owner of Max Downtown. "It's doesn't seem like a problem for them." Animal activists have seized upon the way ducks and geese are fed - tubes are forced down their throats to pump in food for 3 seconds at a time, three times a day. "The question is, does the process of feeding the ducks cause unacceptable pain?" says Michael Ginor, co-owner of the nation's biggest foie gras producer, Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York. "The focus of all the attention has been on the actual feeding process." Most of the foie gras in the U.S. comes from three farms - two in New York and one in California. Ginor's produces 250 tons a year. Foie gras translates literally to "fatty liver" and is exactly that. Ducks are force-fed so that their livers grow to up to 12 times normal size. The imagery of the feeding process is misleading, Ginor says. Because ducks don't have a gag reflex like we do, this doesn't hurt them the way many think it would. Bruce Friedrich, spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says objections go beyond feeding. Videos exist of ducks jammed into cages or dangling from wires. Inspections of farms routinely find ducks that are "dead, dying or diseased." Everyone from the pope to the Israeli supreme court has condemned foie gras, Friedrich says. People who defend it have a vested interest or have never seen the process of making it. "We have done undercover investigations into the production of all animal products, and this combines the worst elements of all of the other animal products," he says. "There isn't really a close second place." Elizabeth Ciarlelli, manager of Zinc in New Haven, said she welcomes any discussion that causes people to "be aware of what we put in our mouths." The popular restaurant serves free-range chicken, supports local farms and avoids using endangered fish. But there's been no serious discussion about removing foie gras from its menu. Listed as "duck liver mousse torchon," it goes for $11. Personally, she neither cares for foie gras nor the process used to make it. But she also recognizes that the ethics of what we choose to eat can be complicated. "If I loved it, would I feel that way?" she wonders. Ginor thinks his product is being singled out for political reasons. The foie gras industry doesn't have much clout, and it's easier to persuade people to give up something they might have once or twice a year than to forego staples like hamburgers or chicken. "And it's something foreign and something most people have never heard of," he says. Urban, who is running for the U.S. Senate as an independent petitioning candidate, says a pricey delicacy is the perfect place to start raising awareness about farming standards. "It's a luxury product, and it is indeed incumbent upon as a society to ask, `Is this a product that we need if it's produced this way?'" Oddly, Ginor says, talk about banning foie gras has been good for his business. People are talking about his product. And in any business, he says, that's half the battle. "They don't quite remember what they heard or what was said, but they remember it, so they try it," he says. "This year, revenue-wise, it'll be better than any year we've had before." William Weir can be contacted at bweir@ courant.com. A discussion of this story with William Weir is scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each hour today between 9 a.m. and noon. Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant From efficacy at msn.com Mon Jul 3 16:56:30 2006 From: efficacy at msn.com (clifford thornton) Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2006 20:56:30 -0000 Subject: {news} Drugs keep guns on the street Message-ID: http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16875126&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6 Connecticut Drugs keep guns on the street William Kaempffer, Register Staff 07/03/2006 Email to a friendPrinter-friendly Clifford Allderige doesn't immediately spring to mind when you envision an illegal gun trafficker. But the decorated former Hamden police officer, who retired in 2001 on a disability pension after 14 years on the force, is accused of providing at least three guns to a New Haven drug dealer after developing a crack cocaine habit and running up a debt. Every year, New Haven police seize hundreds of guns off city streets, but a steady flow of replacements keep youths and criminals supplied with deadly firepower. Where do they come from? "A tremendous number of these guns that end up on the street come from straw purchasers, primarily drug addicts, who exchange guns for drugs," said U. S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor, the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut. "We've prosecuted in the last year or two quite a few of these cases." In March, O'Connor's office secured an indictment against an East Windsor chiropractor and his wife for their alleged role in a firearms-for-narcotics scheme. Authorities seized more than 80 weapons from home of David "The Doc" Muska. "If that addiction continued, how many of those guns would have ended up on the street?" O'Connor asked. While guns filter to the street in many ways, straw buying is an increasing problem across the country and individual purchasers can put dozens and even hundreds of weapons into criminal hands. "Straw purchases are probably the No. 1 way that guns get put into the hands of people who shouldn't have them," said Jim McNally, a spokesman for the Boston field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "Some people are motivated by addiction. Some people are motivated by financial gain. A gun that sells for $100, they can get 300 on the street." A straw buyer is a person who legally purchases one or more weapons and then sells or trades them, usually to a felon or someone who otherwise wouldn't legally be able to purchase them. Sometimes the scheme occurs on a frighteningly large scale. One straw buyer purchased about 250 handguns at gun shows in Ohio and sold them on the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. Authorities estimated he and his accomplices pocketed $50,000 in profits before the plan unraveled. In Pittsburgh, a woman was arrested after purchasing 40 handguns and turning them over to a felon. More often, a buyer purchases a few guns, passes them along and gets some kind of payment, like money or drugs. Sometimes, addicts desperate for their next hit will trade their personal weapons. Allderige fit into the latter category, according to police. In March, the 46-year-old Hamden resident admitted to New Haven police and an ATF agent that he had a crack addiction and gambling problem and accumulated a debt. When his Fair Haven dealer suggested Allderige could pay him back by buying firearms, Allderige bought two Glock pistols and supplied them to the dealer, who paid for the guns, gave him $100 and some drugs, according to a police affidavit. Allderidge also admitted he sold one of his personal guns to the dealer. Although he was charged with three counts of illegal sale of a weapon, he admitted providing the dealer with four guns, the affidavit said. One of the Glocks was used in four shooting incidents, including one in which a victim was shot in the neck. Allderige could not be reached for comment. A message left with his attorney has gone unanswered. Allderige's case is still pending in New Haven Superior Court. Similarly, a gun owned by Michael Rice of Milford was used to shoot a New Haven police officer in 2002 after Rice gave it and two other weapons to his drug dealer to hold because he was short on money. Officer Robert Fumiatti was shot in the face with one of the weapons. Rice pleaded guilty in February 2004 to one count of illegal transfer of a gun. What's frustrating for law enforcement is that it's often difficult to make a case against the gun owner when it turns up on the street or is used in a crime. Rice and Allderige confessed when confronted with the facts, police said, but others escape prosecution. It's easy to report the gun stolen or missing after the fact or claim they didn't realize it was missing. "Folks, when they're dealing with addictions, we have found in this city are trading guns for drugs around the clock. It concerns us, because to some extent there's little consequence for the gun owner," New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said. Police chiefs across the state rallied behind legislation this year that would have made it a crime in Connecticut to fail to report the loss or theft of a firearm. The National Rifle Association and sportsmen's groups lobbied against the proposed law, and it was killed by the state House lawmakers. Opponents warned that the measure could result in law-abiding gun owners being fined or charged with a crime simply because they didn't realize their firearms had been lost or stolen. Local straw buyers aren't the only source of illegal firearms on the street. Other guns are traced out-of-state, where gun laws are less strict and they make their way to Connecticut through a formal or informal pipeline. But O'Connor said he believed most of the guns on Connecticut streets originally were purchased from state gun dealers. Earlier this year, the ATF arrested Frank D'Andrea, owner of D'Andrea Gun Case in Milford, one of the state's largest gun dealers, on charges he fudged criminal background checks, sold weapons to people who indicated on forms that they were under indictment for a felony and failed to report "hundreds of instances of lost or missing firearms." The problems were detected during an ATF audit, but federal authorities had D'Andrea's on their radar screen before that, O'Connor said. When D'Andrea's was at its previous location in Stratford, the federal government rented billboard space near the store to send a message to prospective straw buyers: If you sell a gun for drugs, you're not only going to have blood on your hands if that gun is used to kill or maim someone, but you're also going to jail. O'Connor said the placement was no coincidence. "We had reason to believe a lot of guns were coming back to that store. We recognized that it had become a magnet for straw purchasers, and we wanted them to realize that we're paying attention." D'Andrea could not be reached for comment. ?New Haven Register 2006 Thornton for Governor PO Box 1971 Manchester CT 06045 VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com WWW.VoteThornton.com 860 657 8438-H 860 268 1294-C 860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager 860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator Paid for by Thornton For Governor Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: email_this_article.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: printversion.gif Type: image/gif Size: 101 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=461&BRD=1281&LOCALPCT=100&AREA=515&VERT=349&NAREA=470&barnd=5082 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 42 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ralphferrucci at sbcglobal.net Wed Jul 5 21:37:31 2006 From: ralphferrucci at sbcglobal.net (ralph ferrucci) Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 01:37:31 -0000 Subject: {news} Gaza Message-ID: United for Peace and Justice is looking for groups to sign onto this. We should condemn the attacks on Gaza. I think it would be good for the party to call on Israel to withdraw from Gaza and come back to the table and discuss the Peace Talks. We should discuss this. Ralph Attacks on Palestinians We call on Israel immediately to end its ongoing military attacks on Palestine and the terrorizing of the Palestinian people. The massive bombing of power plants and bridges, the targeting of government offices, the constant artillery barrages and fighter jet harassment, the broad-scale assassinations and the kidnapping and imprisonment of democratically elected members of the Palestinian government are leading to further destruction of an already devastated community. Collective punishment of the Palestinian people is a crime against humanity. History has poved that overwhelming violence inflames the ongoing conflict and increases isecurity. We call on all of our Connecticut Congresspeople and Senators to demand that the Bush administration promptly cease its support of these crimes by Israel, condemn these atacks and insist that they end with all deliberate speed. Signed: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 1874 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Jul 2 12:29:59 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2006 16:29:59 -0000 Subject: {news} Iranian Jews oppose Gaza operation Message-ID: <0be501c69df4$c2638180$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Iranian Jews oppose Gaza operation Heads of Jewish congregation in Iran: No good reason for IDF's 'campaign of death' to kidnap Palestinian government members, bomb population centers; call on Jewish leaders to speak out against policy that 'tramples upon humane tenets of Jewish tradition' Dudi Cohen A statement published Sunday in the formal internet website of the Jewish community in Iran said that "the Jewish congregation in Iran censures the human rights violations of the Palestinians in the Gaza strip by the Zionists and is grieved by this occurrence." IDF Strike Gaza: IAF blasts Haniyeh's office / Hanan Greenberg (VIDEO) Warplane fires missile, directly hitting and burning Palestinian prime minister's office; IDF: We are making it clear to Haniyeh that he is responsible for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's fate. Haniyeh arrives at bombarded office, says 'this is policy of jungle, arrogance' Full story The letter was signed by head of the Iranian Jewish congregation, Harun Ishayai, and the Jewish representative in the Iranian Parliament, Maurice Motamed. According to the two, "there is no good reason for the campaign of death being undertaken by Israeli soldiers to kidnap Palestinian government members and bomb population centers." "We condemn this violent behavior by Israeli leaders and are sure that the Palestinian nation will firmly defend its right to exist and its other legitimate and natural rights," said the leaders of the congregation. They added: "We deplore this aggressive behavior and are sure that it will exacerbate the situation with each passing day. Behavior such as this may lead to bloodshed among blameless men and women and among innocent children." Operation antithetical to Jewish principles Leaders of the congregation claim that the IDF operation is antithetical to Judaism: "We are aware that these actions are in no way related to principles of the Jewish faith, the precepts of Moses or the holy books. They are antithetical to the Jewish faith." "We call upon Jews around the globe to speak out to the world in protest against the behavior of the soldiers and the Israeli leaders," they continued. "It is the mission of Jews, more than any other people, to prevent a policy that tramples upon the humane tenets of the Jewish tradition." Iranian worshippers protest against Israel over weekend (Photo: Reuters) Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Ishayai's recent interview with the Russian newspaper Gazzetta. During the interview, in response to a question, Ishayai said that Iran does not believe in Israel's right to exist and that the congregation "shares this viewpoint, as citizens of Iran." Ishayai also said that the foreign press is mistaken in their reports that the Jewish community does not express their opinions because of pressure from the Iranian government. In response to a question on the interaction between Jews and Muslims in Iran, he responded: "We pray in Hebrew, but speak to each other in Farsi." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Jul 6 08:09:07 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 12:09:07 -0000 Subject: {news} Fw: UN Envoy Attacks Israel over Gaza Message-ID: <029c01c6a0f5$40451a20$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> FOSNA.ORG UN envoy attacks Israel over Gaza Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5150840.stm Published: 2006/07/05 17:26:55 GMT An emergency meeting of the UN's new human rights body on the Gaza crisis has heard condemnation of Israeli policy and its effects on civilians. Israel was violating in Gaza the "most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law", UN envoy John Dugard told the special session. But Israel, which threatens to broaden military action, said the Human Rights Council was ignoring its concerns. The meeting was called by Muslim states with support from Russia and others. UN aid agencies warn of a humanitarian crisis in the territory as Israel confronts the Hamas-led government. Food and medicines are running low, and there have been power and water shortages since the Israelis began military action last Tuesday. Bridges have been bombed along with the Strip's only power station. Aid workers had cautiously welcomed the debate in Geneva but feared it might become bogged down in a political slanging match, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports. 'Bombarded and terrorised' Mr Dugard, the keynote UN speaker, told the session that Israel's conduct was "morally indefensible". "Over 1,500 rounds of artillery have been showered on Gaza," he said. "Sonic booms terrorise the people. Transport has been seriously disrupted by the destruction of roads and bridges. Sanitation is threatened." While expressing sympathy for the Israeli soldier whose capture sparked Israel's offensive last week, he said that Israel's military action was a "disproportionate use of force against civilians". Mr Dugard, a UN special rapporteur on human rights in Gaza, also accused the so-called Quartet of Mid-East mediators - the US, EU, UN and Russia - of failing to rein in Israel. 'Absurd' meeting Itzhak Levanon, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the session was a "planned and premeditated" attack on his country. And he suggested the newly created Council was continuing the alleged anti-Israeli bias of its discredited predecessor, the Human Rights Commission. "We find ourselves in an absurd situation in which the Human Rights Council, convened into urgent session, ignores the rights of one side and holds a special meeting to defend the rights of the other side," he said. The United States has also suggested that the Council is returning to what they see as the bad old ways of the discredited Human Rights Commission. That body often focused on Israel's alleged human rights abuses, while ignoring serious violations in other parts of the world, our correspondent notes. The special session may run into Thursday, diplomats say. Inevitable debate Given the situation in Gaza, there was never much chance that the subject would be ignored by the UN's top human rights body, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says. The request submitted by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference - a group of 57 largely Muslim states - argued there was a "serious and escalating situation" in Gaza. The resolution being debated calls on "Israel, the occupying power, [to] end its military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory [ ] and refrain from imposing collective punishment on Palestinian civilians". Meanwhile, Israel's security cabinet instructed the army to begin a long battle focusing on "institutions and infrastructure facilitating terrorism" in response to a Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli city of Ashkelon. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Jul 21 13:57:14 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:57:14 -0000 Subject: {news} GP RELEASE Greens to Bush: Demand Israel stop slaughter of civilians Message-ID: <00ff01c6acee$92a55320$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 20, 2006 Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty at greens.org Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at greens.org Greens to Bush: Press Israel to stop the attacks on Lebanon . Slaughter of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians is a punishable war crime; use of U.S. weapons for such purposes violates U.S. laws WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called on President Bush to demand that Israel immediately cease its invasion of Lebanon and its rain of destruction on civilian populations and infrastructure in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Greens urged President Bush to press for an immediate ceasefire. The Green Party has repeatedly called for negotiation, a halt to violence by both sides, and adherence to international law as the only means to achieve peace and security for all Israelis, Palestinians, and people in surrounding countries. "The current U.S. reaction is a bipartisan disaster, with most Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress expressing unqualified support for Israel," said Rae Vogeler, Wisconsin Green candidate for the U.S. Senate . "While President Bush is busy rattling sabers at Iran and Syria and refusing to demand a ceasefire, hundreds of innocent Lebanese and Palestinian civilians are dying." Greens based their demand on the following: . Israel's attacks violate Fourth Geneva Convention prohibitions against "collective punishment," i.e., the retaliatory killing of civilians, "targeted" assassinations, and destruction of the infrastructure of an occupied territory. Israel's use of U.S.-made weapons violates U.S. laws against deploying such weapons for use against civilians. . The attacks cannot be justified as a response to the capture of an Israeli soldier who was in Gaza as part of the occupation force. (The current exchange of violence began with Israeli shellings that killed eight Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach.) Israel itself is holding thousands of Palestinian civilians, including over 400 Palestinian children and 120 women, in inhumane conditions and has reportedly subjected some detainees to torture. . Israel and the U.S. have refused to recognize Hamas as the legitimate democratically elected government of the Palestinian territories; the current attacks are clearly meant to destroy Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to punish Palestinian civilians for having elected Hamas. . The current escalation of hostilities is a result of Israel's illegal occupation (with U.S. support) of Palestinian lands and daily brutality and killing visited on Palestinians, land grabs and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, cutoff of water and electricity, destruction of homes and businesses, economic strangulation, and conversion of the Palestinian territories into heavily guarded bantustans sealed off with a 'security' wall. . The Olmert government's current actions, especially deployment of troops into Lebanon, risk a greater regional conflict that will threaten global peace as other nations become involved in the conflict, and will also hinder efforts to effect U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Aside from the U.S. and Israel itself, most of the world understands the attacks as illegal Israeli military aggression. Greens have repeatedly called for Israel to end the occupation and fully recognize the human rights of Palestinians, in accord with international law and U.N. directives, as necessary first steps for peace in the Middle East. In November, 2005, the Green Party endorsed a resolution calling for divestment and a general boycott of Israel until it complies with international law and realizes human rights for Palestinians, including those living within Israel's borders . Greens have also endorsed the Palestinian Right of Return, consistent with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 (nonbinding, passed December 11, 1948), which states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date." ==> For Green campaign listings, news, photos, and web sites, visit the Green Party's candidate spotlight page and the Green elections database , which lists all 2006 candidates. The Green Party will hold its 2006 national meeting, titled "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green," in Tucson, Arizona, from July 27 to 30 . For media credentialing, visit . MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404 Washington, DC 20009. 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193 Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) http://www.gp.org/committees/peace "El Futuro es Verde / The Future is Green" National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States in Tucson, Arizona, July 27-30, 2006 http://www.gp.org/meeting2006/ http://www.pimagreens.org/gpusanm/index.html Media credentialing page: http://www.gp.org/forms/media ~ END ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Jul 21 14:05:29 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:05:29 -0000 Subject: {news} MERIP, "Letting Lebanon Burn" Message-ID: <010801c6acf0$3c770780$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Middle East Report Online http://www.merip.org/mero/mero072106.html Letting Lebanon Burn >From the Editors July 21, 2006 Israel is raining destruction upon Lebanon in a purely defensive operation, according to the White House and most of Congress. Even some CNN anchors, habituated to mechanical reporting of "Middle East violence," sound slightly incredulous. With over 300 Lebanese dead and easily 500,000 displaced, with the Beirut airport, bridges and power plants disabled, the enormous assault is more than a "disproportionate response" to Hizballah's July 12 seizure of two soldiers and killing of three others on Israeli soil. It is more than the "excessive use of force" that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan decries. The aerial assault dwarfs the damage done by Hizballah's rocket attacks on Israeli towns. Entire villages in south Lebanon lie in ruins, unknown numbers of their inhabitants buried in the rubble and tens of others incinerated in their vehicles by Israeli missiles as they attempted to escape northward. As it awaits the promised "humanitarian corridor," Lebanon remains almost entirely cut off from the outside world by air, sea and land. As of July 20, thousands of Israeli troops have moved across the UN-demarcated Blue Line. Yet virtually the entire American political class actively resists international calls for an immediate ceasefire, preferring to wait for an Israeli victory. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert set the tone immediately after Hizballah struck, branding the cross-border raid as "an act of war" whose consequences would be "very, very, very painful." Moreover, Israel would hold the Lebanese government and the Lebanese nation as a whole responsible. Israel's determination to inflict pain upon Lebanon was fanned on the fourth day of Israeli bombardment when Hizballah Secretary-General Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah likewise declared "open warfare," and the Shiite movement's militia stepped up rocket fire that has taken 15 Israeli civilian lives. Though the Katyushas and larger projectiles are much deadlier than the Qassams of Hamas, Israel faces no existential threat from the rockets on either front. It is in Lebanon, to paraphrase Israeli army chief of staff Gen. Dan Halutz, where the clock has been turned back 20 years. The American broadcast media nevertheless labor to fashion symmetry where there is none. There is balanced treatment of the casualties on both sides. The Israelis forced into bomb shelters are juxtaposed with the Lebanese politely warned to flee their homes. For competing renditions of the day's bloodletting, CNN's avuncular Larry King turns first to nonchalantly windblown Israeli spokeswoman Miri Eisen and then to a program director from Hizballah's al-Manar satellite channel, Ibrahim al-Musawi, who always seems to have one eye on the sky. The rock-star reporters who parachuted in to cover the story dispense dollops of confusion. CNN's Anderson Cooper in Cyprus explained that, since Hamas members are Sunni and Hizballah members Shi'i, they are "historic rivals." MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, sans bowtie to convey the seriousness of the occasion, wondered if Hizballah had rocketed Nazareth because its residents are all Christian, ignoring the images on the screen behind him from the attack victims' funeral at a mosque. The likes of Carlson can perhaps be forgiven for grasping at clash-of-civilizations straws. The White House's immediate fingering of Iran and Syria as the masterminds of Hizballah's self-described "adventure" substituted phantoms and bogeymen for real political causes. Israel was similarly quick to espy an "axis of Islamic terror" stretching to Damascus and Tehran. Former Speaker of the House and would-be presidential candidate Newt Gingrich went officialdom one better, declaring on NBC's Meet the Press that the US and its allies are in "World War III." A steady stream of Congressmen goes before the cameras to aver that Tehran and Damascus are pulling the strings. No evidence, beyond leaked Israeli intelligence of secret meetings between Nasrallah and his alleged Syrian and Iranian puppeteers, has been presented for the thesis of broader conspiracy, let alone for the core proposition that Hizballah snatched the Israeli soldiers on orders from Bashar al-Asad and/or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Who else sees the hand of Iran, by the way? Saddam Hussein, admonishing Syria from his Baghdad jail cell not to "deepen its coalition with Iran, because Iranians have bad intentions toward all Arabs and they hope to do away with them.") The fact that Hizballah's arsenal includes missiles of Iranian and Syrian provenance is also adduced as proof. By this same logic, of course, Washington must be ordering every sortie of Israeli F-16s over Beirut and every demolition of Palestinian homes by Caterpillar bulldozers. Hizballah is not shy about acknowledging its external patrons, who presumably assented to its operation. But the timing of the militia's cross-border raid, as Israel was punishing all of Gaza for the capture of one soldier, suggests another motivation rooted in regional politics -- namely, that Hizballah aimed to impress the Arab public as capable champions of the Palestinians, in contrast to the impotent grumbling of the US-allied Arab regimes. Surely, as well, Saudi and Egyptian criticisms of Hizballah stem more from the popularity of Nasrallah among their own (all or mostly Sunni) populations than from a genuine fear of a "Shiite crescent." The scholars who know Hizballah best say the movement is more Lebanese and nationalist now than any time in its history. Even before the departure of Syrian troops in the spring of 2005, Hizballah was increasingly speaking with nationalist rhetoric. While their political opponents staged what they call the Independence Uprising, Hizballah-mobilized demonstrators "thanked" the Syrians for their services, rather than demanding that they stay, and waved Lebanese flags alongside the party's yellow banners. Hizballah has been pressing the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, along with Lebanon's claim to the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms along the Syrian-Lebanese border, for some time. The Lebanese government backs both of these causes. But it is odd, to say the least, to hold the Lebanese government responsible for Hizballah's initial cross-border operation. To the contrary, the evidence suggests that the Islamist party acted unilaterally, despite having representatives in the cabinet and in Parliament. This circumstance suggests that the raid should be interpreted as Hizballah muscle flexing on the domestic stage to ward off pressure to relinquish its arms to the Lebanese army, as per the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Perhaps, having exchanged prisoners with Israel as recently as 2004, the movement miscalculated how Israel would react, and now they are getting more than they bargained for. Certainly, Lebanon is. Whichever combination of these factors accounts for Hizballah's action, the real question is what Israel hopes to accomplish by bombing the whole of Lebanon in reprisal. The strategy behind the assault, apart from blind retribution, is difficult to fathom. Even though Israeli jets buzzed Asad's presidential palace after Hamas captured an Israeli soldier, and even though evidence of Syrian influence over Hamas is far wispier than its ties to Hizballah, Israel seems disinclined to draw Damascus into the fighting. "We're not a gang that shoots in every direction," an Israeli officer told Ha'aretz. Nor, despite bellicose talk of "root causes" and rumors of Iranian Revolutionary Guards firing from Hizballah launching pads, does Israel or the US appear prepared to do more than trade insults with Tehran. There is a risk of catastrophic escalation, but it is reasonable to hope it is not planned. Rather, the stated objective (beyond the recovery of the captive soldiers) is the implementation of a UN resolution, an instrument of international diplomacy for which Israeli spokespeople have developed a touching new fondness. If the Lebanese government will not disarm Hizballah, then Israel will. If the Lebanese will not "exercise their sovereignty," as Eisen demanded on CNN, then Israel will appropriate that sovereignty and exercise it in Lebanon's stead. Perhaps because the US has its own history of invading Middle Eastern countries to "enforce UN resolutions," the American media seem to regard Israel's case as entirely sensible. One wonders how the media would have treated similar external intervention to impose UN Security Council Resolution 425, which called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 1978, and, of course, was not honored until 2000, under the pesky fire of Hizballah. But that is what-if history. Back in the present, says the tough-talking Israeli ambassador in Washington, David Ayalon: "We'll have to go for the kill-Hizballah neutralization." Thus far, independent assessments of "operational success" are bleak. On July 20, the Times of London quoted "a senior British official" as saying: "Our concern is that Israeli military action is not having the desired effect.. We are concerned that continued military operations by Israel will cause further damage to infrastructure and loss of civilian life which the damage to Hizballah will not justify." The well-connected military affairs columnist for Ha'aretz, Ze'ev Schiff, penned a similarly pessimistic appraisal. Hence the large-scale Israeli ground incursion that commenced on July 20. While Halutz told the troops that the incursion could last for "an extended period of time," Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz has stressed that it will not lead to permanent reoccupation of south Lebanon. Indeed, from the Israeli government's perspective, one benefit of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, like its pullout from Gaza in August 2005, is the latitude to deploy the full force of bombs and tanks unavailable as long as Israel was the occupying power. The architect of Gaza disengagement, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, came to appreciate this logic despite having vehemently denounced the peril to Israel's "deterrence capability" when the Labor government brought troops home from Lebanon. Whether the ground incursion will "degrade" Hizballah's fighting effectiveness or strengthen their argument that Lebanon needs their independent militia for its own national defense remains to be seen. It seems that Israeli strategists are making up the military objectives as they go along, with one eye on the degree of "operational success" and another eye on what Washington will let its tank commanders and bombardiers get away with. Many European chanceries, like Annan, evoking rules-of-war distress at Israel's "excessive use of force," are calling for an immediate ceasefire. These calls were faint indeed amidst a week of air raids and the Group of Eight's toothless tut-tutting about "extremist forces." >From Washington came the bright green go-ahead to keep on bombing. Asked how long Israel's campaign could continue, a high-ranking US official told the Washington Post: "There's a natural dynamic to these things. When the military starts, it may be that it has to run its course." So we arrive at the Bush administration's breathtakingly cavalier stance and, again, the human cost of its decision to use Lebanon's agony to tilt at Iranian and Syrian windmills. On July 15, by several accounts, US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton blocked Security Council discussion of the ceasefire resolution for which Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has pleaded in every available forum. Since then, despite blatant violations of principles of proportionality and growing international alarm about the internally displaced Lebanese, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledges only to work for a ceasefire "as soon as possible when conditions are conducive to do so." The conditions, of course, grow less "conducive" the longer Washington's green light glares. Such signals to Israel are not unprecedented, of course, but in this case they are completely and rather shockingly public. The secretary of state has disagreed with the Egyptian foreign minister about the urgency of a ceasefire while standing before the same bank of microphones in Foggy Bottom. Making the Sunday talk show rounds on July 16, Rice again shopped an applause line from her June 2005 American University in Cairo address: "For the last 60 years, American administrations of both stripes -- Democratic, Republican -- traded what they thought was security and stability and turned a blind eye to the absence of democratic forces, to the absence of pluralism in the region." This policy, she still claims, has been reversed. In reality, with its unabashed approval of Israel's pounding of Lebanon, the Bush administration has reversed 60 years of basing US policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict on the premise -- however fictional in practice -- that the US seeks peace between the parties. Meanwhile, as Rice dithers over setting a date certain for a Middle East diplomatic mission, the US green light may actually exacerbate the carnage in Lebanon, since Israeli military commanders know that they will have limited time to accomplish their goals. On July 19, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Tony Snow if Bush's insistence that Rice not undertake shuttle diplomacy until Israel "defangs" Hizballah made the conflagration in Lebanon a US war as well as an Israeli one. Snow dissembled: "Why would it be our war? I mean, it's not on our territory. This is a war in which the United States -- it's not even a war. What you have are hostilities, at this point, between Israel and Hizballah. I would not characterize it as a war." It is a war, an unjustified war. Israel's legal justifications -- protecting the sanctity of its borders and enforcing UN resolutions -- are disingenuous to the point of being dishonest, after Israel's own years of ignoring the will of the international community and crossing and erasing boundaries with impunity. The US is the only international actor with the power to stop this war, and instead has chosen to encourage the fighting. So the US, too, will be held accountable by history. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Jul 21 18:41:58 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:41:58 -0000 Subject: {news} UN Commissioner warns of War Crimes; Israel Lobby thanks Saudi Arabia; and Iraq condemns Israel Message-ID: <023d01c6ad16$dee0ad70$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> > UN warning on Mid-East war crimes, BBC News > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5197544.stm > 2006/07/20 > > War crimes could have been committed in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, a senior > UN official has said. > UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said international law > stressed the need to protect civilians. > > There is an obligation on all parties to respect the "principle of > proportionality", she said. > About 300 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the > violence. Thirty Israelis, including 15 civilians, have also been killed. > > The UN reported on Wednesday that about 100 Palestinians, civilians and > fighters, have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive in > Gaza in late June. > > "Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and > unacceptable targeting of civilians," Ms Arbour said. "Similarly, the > bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting > invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable." > > Ms Arbour expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming > of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory". > > Without pointing to specific individuals, she suggested that leaders could > bear personal responsibility. > > "I do believe that on the basis of evidence that is available in the > public domain there are very serious concerns that the level of civilian > casualties, the indiscriminate shelling of cities and so on, on their face > raise sufficient questions that I think one must issue a sobering signal > to those who are behind these initiatives to examine very closely their > personal exposure," she told the BBC. > ________________________________________________________________________________ > > Israel Lobby thanks Saudia Arabia ambassador for support in Lebanon > massacre > The Forward, New York, July 19,2006 > http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=nir200607191126 > Bush Urged To Give Israel More Time for Attacks > By Ori Nir > > WASHINGTON - Bucking calls in the international community for a cease-fire > in the Middle East, Jewish organizations launched a major lobbying > offensive in the nation's capital this week to give Israel more time to > deal a decisive blow to Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza.About 50 > leaders of the Jewish community from across the country were scheduled to > meet Thursday with Bush administration officials and congressional > leaders. > > In a particularly unusual move, one top Jewish communal leader, > Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, visited the Saudi > ambassador in Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, to thank him for his > country's condemnation of Hezbollah for igniting the crisis by launching a > cross-border raid against Israel and abducting two of its soldiers. > > "We told the ambassador that this could be a new moment in the > relationship, that the neighborhood is changing because the threats that > face the Jewish people are also facing moderate Arab states," Foxman said. > According to the ADL, the Saudi ambassador urged all parties to "return to > the basics" of Middle East peacemaking by embracing the Saudi peace plan > of March 2002, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines > in return for peaceful, normal relations between Israel and the Arab > world. The Saudi diplomat, Foxman said, agreed that "this could be a > moment to bring moderates on all sides closer together." > > Many Jewish organizations, including the ADL, were also praising President > Bush for repeatedly defending Israel's right to defend itself. But their > most important goal appeared to be to keep America from shutting down > Israel's military operations prematurely. "It is important, as the > fighting continues," he said, "that the United States government continues > its steadfast support for Israel's right to defend itself." > > This week, several Jewish groups - including UJC, the American Jewish > Committee and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish > Organizations - organized emergency missions to Israel to meet with > Israeli leaders and to tour Israeli communities that have come under > rocket fire. > > Jewish communities in several major American cities - including New York, > Washington, Miami, St. Louis, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and > Philadelphia - have organized rallies in support of Israel. Jewish > activists are also scheduling meetings with diplomats stationed in foreign > embassies in Washington and consulates across America to encourage foreign > governments to support Israel's campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah. > > "This is a unique moment of broad consensus in the community in support of > Israel's right to defend itself and to take the measures necessary to stop > the reign of terror," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of > the Presidents Conference. The conference is a 52-member umbrella group > widely seen as the Jewish community's collective voice on Middle East > affairs. "There is deep concern because people have come to realize that > this has nothing to do with occupation of territory. This is really about > Israel's right to exist. There are no issues here that justify what's > happening either from Gaza or from Lebanon. People also see it as a part > of the war on terrorism." Jewish communal leaders expressed particular > appreciation for the administration's early public support of Israel's > position that it was pointless to push for a cease-fire before Hezbollah > was significantly weakened. > > Thanks to the pressure from Bush, the statement of the G8 industrial > nations was "remarkably positive, more than most of us would have > imagined," said the AJCommittee's executive director, David Harris. He was > speaking from Israel, where he is leading an AJCommittee delegation of 40 > lay leaders and staffers from America and Europe. Jack Rosen, chairman of > the American Jewish Congress, also expressed relief that the G8 statement > avoided any harsh criticisms of Israel. "I would have expected a much > harsher reaction from around the world," Rosen said. "I think that what > has finally settled in everyone's mind is that this is a war that has to > be fought by all countries that suffer from extremism. It's a united world > against extremism." > > Jewish groups said that they were quite happy with the response of several > Arab countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. Egyptian President > Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah last week endorsed an official > Saudi statement blaming Hezbollah - which strongly benefits from Iranian > financial and military support - for the deterioration across the > Israeli-Lebanese border. Iran's growing influence in the region "causes > serious concern among 'status quo' regimes such as the Saudi, the Egyptian > and the Jordanian," said Gary Sick, who is a professor of international > affairs at Columbia University and a former National Security Council > expert on Iran and the Gulf. > __________________________________________________________________________ > From: > What Bush's Open Mike Revealed > By Robert Scheer > Truthdig.com > > Tuesday 18 July 2006 > > The U.S. continues to embrace the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and > Jordan, as has been the case for sixty years. In fact, > Bush has added Libya to the "approved" list. > Meanwhile, Israel is attacking elected governments in > the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon with U.S. > support. > > As for the democracy in Iraq that Bush wants > Russia to emulate, things haven't worked out as > neocons like invasion architect Richard Perle had > hoped when he fantasized about Pentagon favorite Ahmed > Chalabi leading Baghdad to recognize Israel. On > Sunday, according to Reuters, the notoriously divided > Iraqi parliament UNANIMOUSLY passed a motion > condemning the Israeli offensive and urging the U.N. > Security Council and Group of Eight leaders meeting to > intervene "to stop the ... Israeli criminal > aggression." From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Jul 23 21:45:53 2006 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 01:45:53 -0000 Subject: {news} Australian Greens call for intervention in Lebanon Message-ID: <000601c6aec2$e37f7f70$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> Australian Greens call for intervention in Lebanon > Lebanon: PM should intervene, say Greens > > Senator Brown, 20th July 2006 > The Greens have again called on the Australian government to help engineer > an immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon. > > "The Prime Minister's failure to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and to > demand > an end to Israel's bombing of civilian targets in Lebanon, does not > reflect > the feedback we are getting from Australians," Greens Leader Bob Brown > said > today. > > "Many Australians are appalled by the bombing of civilian targets by both > Israel and Hezbollah. Two wrongs don't make a right. Hezbollah was never > in > control of Beirut airport, or many other civilian targets bombed by > Israel. > The continued destruction of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure is > disproportionate and will not help bring peace to the Middle East." > > "The Prime Minister, who has widely condemned Hezbollah, has wrongly > failed > to condemn the Israeli government for its bombing of civilian targets in > Lebanon," Senator Brown said. > > http://greens.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/senatorbrown/200706a > > > PM wrong to support Israel's tactics in Lebanon and Gaza > > Senator Nettle, 19th July 2006 > Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today criticised John Howard for failing to > condemn the disproportionate use of violence by Israel in Gaza and > Lebanon. > > "The Greens are appalled by the escalation in violence in the region and > are > particularly concerned that John Howard has not joined other world leaders > to condemn the Israeli government's disproportionate use of violence along > with criticism of Hezbollah," Senator Nettle said. > > "Mr Howard shouldn't be tacitly supporting Israel's strategy of bombing > Lebanese civilians and civilian infrastructure as 'self-defence'. He > should > immediately join the many world leaders who call for an immediate > ceasefire > from both sides and an end to the killing. > > "The Lebanese (and Australian) families being bombed by Israel are not > responsible for the actions of Hezbollah and their deaths are crimes just > as > much as the deaths of Israeli citizens are. > > "The European Union and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan have added to > their > condemnation of Hezbollah and Hamas, a condemnation of Israel for a > disproportionate use of violence. > > "The Australian government should be doing more to help Australians > wanting > to flee the Israeli bombing of Lebanon. They should also be trying to stop > the bombs falling." > > > Contact - Jon Edwards 0428 213 146 > > http://greens.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/senatornettle/190706a