From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Tue Dec  2 16:44:52 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 16:44:52 -0500
Subject: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
Message-ID: <BLU102-DAV7D3D981F89BC981B10AFBD6000@phx.gbl>

I got the results from the Cromwell Registrar of Voters (see below).  As
suspected, results reported by the Secretary of the State were incorrect.
Steve Fournier got 146 votes, not 11, which is 2.11%, not 0.16%.  And the
Working Families Party got 153 votes which were either not reported, or were
reported as Democratic votes.

I've reported this to the SOTS.  Let's see if they publish corrected,
certified results.

David Bedell


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Amenta, Mary" <mamenta at cromwellct.com>
To: "David Bedell" <dbedellgreen at hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 10:05 AM
Subject: RE: Congressional election results


sorry for the delay

fournier-  146

larson-

working families-  153

unknown-  92

mary amenta, r.o.v

-----Original Message-----
From: David Bedell [mailto:dbedellgreen at hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 2:05 PM
To: Amenta, Mary; Duren, Linda
Subject: Congressional election results


Dear Cromwell registrars:

I saw  published election results that John Larson beat Joe Visconti
4,646-2,130 in Cromwell.  Can you tell me, in addition, how many votes were
cast for Steve Fournier (Green), and how many of Larson's votes were cast on
the Working Families Party line?  I am trying to assess the impact of
third-party voting in CT.

Thank you for your assistance.


David Bedell




From richard.duffee at gmail.com  Tue Dec  2 17:45:28 2008
From: richard.duffee at gmail.com (Richard Duffee)
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 17:45:28 -0500
Subject: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
In-Reply-To: <BLU102-DAV7D3D981F89BC981B10AFBD6000@phx.gbl>
References: <BLU102-DAV7D3D981F89BC981B10AFBD6000@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <21f4f7390812021445h1371bb03m8fd192d2cdd13f9d@mail.gmail.com>

This is increasingly interesting. If we are able, twice in a row, to spot
figures that are probably incorrect simply by having done the simple--but
repeated--arithmetic needed to get percentages, why isn't SOTS doing this
as a check on their own figures?

Do they LIKE putting out erroneous figures only to have other people correct
them? Fat chance. So do they think that people like us can't spot such
errors? More likely. So why do they think that? My guess is because the
newspapers don't ask any questions SOTS thinks no one else will.

So shouldn't we be complaining to the newspapers as well as to SOTS? They're
supposed to have the past figures at their fingertips: they've got services
that keep all that information on file for use by reporters when writing
their stories. The reporters are supposed to be asking, "Why should Monroe
be so different from its neighbors?" and "What's the big difference between
Cornwall in previous elections and this one?"

They're NOT asking those questions--certainly not if they're about US.
They're satisfied to just ask about the Republicans and Democrats. But their
failure to ask anything about us involves them in failing to ask about the
Democrats too: they missed the fact that the Himes figures under the Working
Families tab were the same as the figures under the Democrat tab. That's
pretty sloppy.

So the papers' unambitious conduct in wanting no more than that
readers should know who their new office-holders are implies that the
papers may be quite willing to watch passively while a phoney election is
conducted under their noses. They're not going to raise the issue unless
someone else does.

So it looks like we have yet another role for ourselves. We should look up
each paper's report on the elections and write letters to the editors
congratulating papers that got the figures right and criticizing those
that them wrong. But are the papers going to publish such analyses if we
submit them? I guess that the way to do this is to find a paper that did it
right and write them a congratulatory letter that criticizes papers that did
it wrong. Then the letter is in print and so more likely to be answered.

Then our job is to pressure the embarrassed papers into reporting us more
accurately and openly while rewarding the papers that report us better.
Richard

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 4:44 PM, David Bedell <dbedellgreen at hotmail.com>wrote:

> 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
> I got the results from the Cromwell Registrar of Voters (see below).  As
> suspected, results reported by the Secretary of the State were incorrect.
> Steve Fournier got 146 votes, not 11, which is 2.11%, not 0.16%.  And the
> Working Families Party got 153 votes which were either not reported, or
> were
> reported as Democratic votes.
>
> I've reported this to the SOTS.  Let's see if they publish corrected,
> certified results.
>
> David Bedell
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Amenta, Mary" <mamenta at cromwellct.com>
> To: "David Bedell" <dbedellgreen at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 10:05 AM
> Subject: RE: Congressional election results
>
>
> sorry for the delay
>
> fournier-  146
>
> larson-
>
> working families-  153
>
> unknown-  92
>
> mary amenta, r.o.v
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Bedell [mailto:dbedellgreen at hotmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 2:05 PM
> To: Amenta, Mary; Duren, Linda
> Subject: Congressional election results
>
>
> Dear Cromwell registrars:
>
> I saw  published election results that John Larson beat Joe Visconti
> 4,646-2,130 in Cromwell.  Can you tell me, in addition, how many votes were
> cast for Steve Fournier (Green), and how many of Larson's votes were cast
> on
> the Working Families Party line?  I am trying to assess the impact of
> third-party voting in CT.
>
> Thank you for your assistance.
>
>
> David Bedell
>
>
> 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
>
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From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Tue Dec  2 23:22:49 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 23:22:49 -0500
Subject: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
References: <BLU102-DAV7D3D981F89BC981B10AFBD6000@phx.gbl>
	<21f4f7390812021445h1371bb03m8fd192d2cdd13f9d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <BLU102-DAV55246C6101120C28DC142D6030@phx.gbl>

Here is a recent press release from the SOTS.  The SOTS is required to
certify the winners, but not the exact counts, in November. Notice it says
final vote tallies will be published in January.

David Bedell

http://www.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/releases/2008/11.26.08_bysiewicz_certifies_2008_general_election_results.pdf

SUSAN BYSIEWICZ
SECRETARY OF THE STATE
CONNECTICUT

For Immediate Release:
November 26, 2008

For more information:
Av Harris: (860) 509-6255
Cell: (860) 463-5939

- NEWS RELEASE -

SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ CERTIFIES 2008 ELECTION
RESULTS

SECRETARY OF THE STATE MAKES HISTORIC ELECTION RESULTS OFFICIAL; RECORD
NUMBERS OF VOTERS ELECT PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, MEMBERS OF THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Hartford: Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today officially certified
the results of the 2008 General
Election on November 4th for the offices of President, Representative in
Congress, and members of the
Connecticut General Assembly. The 2008 general election saw a record number
of Connecticut voters go
to the polls. According to Connecticut General Statute 9-315, the Secretary
of the State, together with the
State Treasurer and the State Comptroller, must "declare what persons are
elected" on the last Wednesday
of the month of election.

"Connecticut voters came to the polls in record numbers on Election Day,"
said Secretary Bysiewicz. "By
certifying these election results, we are officially putting into the record
books the most historic election
our country and our state have ever seen."

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Connecticut voters chose Democrats Barack Obama
and Joe Biden for President
and Vice President. Democratic candidates John Larson(CT-1), Joe
Courtney(CT-2), Rosa DeLauro(CT-
3), Jim Himes(CT-4), and Christopher Murphy(CT-5) were also elected to the
111th Congress of the United
States. Democratic candidates were also elected to 114 seats in the State
House of Representatives and 24
seats in the State Senate. Republican candidates were elected to 37 seats in
the House of Representatives
and 12 seats in the State Senate. (A complete list of 2008 election winners
is attached).

Registrars of Voters were elected across the state, and there were also two
constitutional questions on the
ballot statewide. Question #1, asking voters if there should be a
constitutional convention, was defeated
by a 60%-40% margin. Question #2, asking voters if the constitution should
be amended to allow 17 yearolds
to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 on or before Election Day, passed
with 64% of voters voting
yes and 36% voting no. With the official certification of the election
results today, the 17 year-old voting
Constitutional Amendment takes affect and is now state law in Connecticut.

A full Statement of the Vote including final vote tallies for candidates for
President, Congress and General
Assembly by town, county, Congressional District and Legislative District
will be published by the
beginning of the General Assembly's 2009 legislative session in January.

Technically, voters chose 7 electors for President and Vice President, a
number equal to the total number of
U.S. Senators and Representatives in Congress from Connecticut. The 7
Democratic Electors will meet in
a formal ceremony in the State Senate Chambers on Monday December 15, 2008
to officially cast their
ballots for President and Vice President. Similar Electoral College votes
will be cast in state capitols
throughout the country on that day. The Electoral College vote will be
officially counted in a Special Joint
Session of Congress on Thursday January 8, 2009 with outgoing Vice President
Cheney presiding.

In Connecticut, 80.5% of registered voters cast ballots on November 4th, the
highest voter turnout
percentage since 1992. A record was set in 2008 for the highest number of
Connecticut residents to vote on
Election Day, with 1,643,488 casting ballots. Earlier this week, Secretary
Bysiewicz reported that the
towns in Connecticut with the highest voter turnout percentages and winners
of the 2008 "Democracy Cup"
are: New Hartford (94.78%), Weston (90.84%), Newtown (88.97%), and Stamford
(81.65%). The award is
given annually to the small, medium, large-sized towns and city with the
highest voter turnout on Election
Day. Between January 1, 2008 and the October 28, 2008 voter registration
deadline more than 300,000
Connecticut new voters registered, including more than 130,000 young voters
between the ages of 18 and
29.

STATE OF CONNECTICUT
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE

We, the undersigned, having canvassed the Returns of the Presiding Officers
of the
Electors' Meetings in the several towns of this State, hereby declare the
following
named persons to be chosen and appointed

ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Shirley W. Steinmetz
Nicholas Paindiris
Andrea Jackson Brooks
Jim Ezzes
Lorraine McQueen
Deborah McFadden
Ken Delacruz

Dated in Hartford, Connecticut
This twenty-sixth day of November
Two Thousand Eight
________________________________________________________
Susan Bysiewicz
Secretary of the State
________________________________________________________
Howard G. Rifkin
Deputy Treasurer
________________________________________________________
Nancy Wyman
Comptroller



From timmckee at mail.com  Wed Dec  3 08:55:06 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 08:55:06 -0500
Subject: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
Message-ID: <20081203135513.41C421CE8FC@ws1-6.us4.outblaze.com>

"we are officially putting into the record books the most historic
election"  is the telling statement,, no one will care in January if
votes are not counted for Greens or others,, I think we need to put out a
press release saying more and more OUR vote was not counted! Tim McKee

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "David Bedell"
  To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org, ctgp-elections at yahoogroups.com
  Subject: Re: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
  Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 23:22:49 -0500


  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
  Here is a recent press release from the SOTS. The SOTS is required to
  certify the winners, but not the exact counts, in November. Notice it
  says
  final vote tallies will be published in January.

  David Bedell

  http://www.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/releases/2008/11.26.08_bysiewicz_certifies_2008_general_election_results.pdf

  SUSAN BYSIEWICZ
  SECRETARY OF THE STATE
  CONNECTICUT

  For Immediate Release:
  November 26, 2008

  For more information:
  Av Harris: (860) 509-6255
  Cell: (860) 463-5939

  - NEWS RELEASE -

  SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ CERTIFIES 2008 ELECTION
  RESULTS

  SECRETARY OF THE STATE MAKES HISTORIC ELECTION RESULTS OFFICIAL;
  RECORD
  NUMBERS OF VOTERS ELECT PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, MEMBERS OF
  THE
  GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  Hartford: Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today officially
  certified
  the results of the 2008 General
  Election on November 4th for the offices of President, Representative
  in
  Congress, and members of the
  Connecticut General Assembly. The 2008 general election saw a record
  number
  of Connecticut voters go
  to the polls. According to Connecticut General Statute 9-315, the
  Secretary
  of the State, together with the
  State Treasurer and the State Comptroller, must "declare what persons
  are
  elected" on the last Wednesday
  of the month of election.

  "Connecticut voters came to the polls in record numbers on Election
  Day,"
  said Secretary Bysiewicz. "By
  certifying these election results, we are officially putting into the
  record
  books the most historic election
  our country and our state have ever seen."

  By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Connecticut voters chose Democrats Barack
  Obama
  and Joe Biden for President
  and Vice President. Democratic candidates John Larson(CT-1), Joe
  Courtney(CT-2), Rosa DeLauro(CT-
  3), Jim Himes(CT-4), and Christopher Murphy(CT-5) were also elected
  to the
  111th Congress of the United
  States. Democratic candidates were also elected to 114 seats in the
  State
  House of Representatives and 24
  seats in the State Senate. Republican candidates were elected to 37
  seats in
  the House of Representatives
  and 12 seats in the State Senate. (A complete list of 2008 election
  winners
  is attached).

  Registrars of Voters were elected across the state, and there were
  also two
  constitutional questions on the
  ballot statewide. Question #1, asking voters if there should be a
  constitutional convention, was defeated
  by a 60%-40% margin. Question #2, asking voters if the constitution
  should
  be amended to allow 17 yearolds
  to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 on or before Election Day,
  passed
  with 64% of voters voting
  yes and 36% voting no. With the official certification of the
  election
  results today, the 17 year-old voting
  Constitutional Amendment takes affect and is now state law in
  Connecticut.

  A full Statement of the Vote including final vote tallies for
  candidates for
  President, Congress and General
  Assembly by town, county, Congressional District and Legislative
  District
  will be published by the
  beginning of the General Assembly's 2009 legislative session in
  January.

  Technically, voters chose 7 electors for President and Vice
  President, a
  number equal to the total number of
  U.S. Senators and Representatives in Congress from Connecticut. The 7
  Democratic Electors will meet in
  a formal ceremony in the State Senate Chambers on Monday December 15,
  2008
  to officially cast their
  ballots for President and Vice President. Similar Electoral College
  votes
  will be cast in state capitols
  throughout the country on that day. The Electoral College vote will
  be
  officially counted in a Special Joint
  Session of Congress on Thursday January 8, 2009 with outgoing Vice
  President
  Cheney presiding.

  In Connecticut, 80.5% of registered voters cast ballots on November
  4th, the
  highest voter turnout
  percentage since 1992. A record was set in 2008 for the highest
  number of
  Connecticut residents to vote on
  Election Day, with 1,643,488 casting ballots. Earlier this week,
  Secretary
  Bysiewicz reported that the
  towns in Connecticut with the highest voter turnout percentages and
  winners
  of the 2008 "Democracy Cup"
  are: New Hartford (94.78%), Weston (90.84%), Newtown (88.97%), and
  Stamford
  (81.65%). The award is
  given annually to the small, medium, large-sized towns and city with
  the
  highest voter turnout on Election
  Day. Between January 1, 2008 and the October 28, 2008 voter
  registration
  deadline more than 300,000
  Connecticut new voters registered, including more than 130,000 young
  voters
  between the ages of 18 and
  29.

  STATE OF CONNECTICUT
  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE

  We, the undersigned, having canvassed the Returns of the Presiding
  Officers
  of the
  Electors' Meetings in the several towns of this State, hereby declare
  the
  following
  named persons to be chosen and appointed

  ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
  Shirley W. Steinmetz
  Nicholas Paindiris
  Andrea Jackson Brooks
  Jim Ezzes
  Lorraine McQueen
  Deborah McFadden
  Ken Delacruz

  Dated in Hartford, Connecticut
  This twenty-sixth day of November
  Two Thousand Eight
  ________________________________________________________
  Susan Bysiewicz
  Secretary of the State
  ________________________________________________________
  Howard G. Rifkin
  Deputy Treasurer
  ________________________________________________________
  Nancy Wyman
  Comptroller

  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



******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
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Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From timmckee at mail.com  Wed Dec  3 08:55:11 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 08:55:11 -0500
Subject: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
Message-ID: <20081203135513.4DF0C1CE902@ws1-6.us4.outblaze.com>

"we are officially putting into the record books the most historic
election"  is the telling statement,, no one will care in January if
votes are not counted for Greens or others,, I think we need to put out a
press release saying more and more OUR vote was not counted! Tim McKee

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "David Bedell"
  To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org, ctgp-elections at yahoogroups.com
  Subject: Re: {news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?
  Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 23:22:49 -0500


  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
  Here is a recent press release from the SOTS. The SOTS is required to
  certify the winners, but not the exact counts, in November. Notice it
  says
  final vote tallies will be published in January.

  David Bedell

  http://www.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/releases/2008/11.26.08_bysiewicz_certifies_2008_general_election_results.pdf

  SUSAN BYSIEWICZ
  SECRETARY OF THE STATE
  CONNECTICUT

  For Immediate Release:
  November 26, 2008

  For more information:
  Av Harris: (860) 509-6255
  Cell: (860) 463-5939

  - NEWS RELEASE -

  SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ CERTIFIES 2008 ELECTION
  RESULTS

  SECRETARY OF THE STATE MAKES HISTORIC ELECTION RESULTS OFFICIAL;
  RECORD
  NUMBERS OF VOTERS ELECT PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, MEMBERS OF
  THE
  GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  Hartford: Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today officially
  certified
  the results of the 2008 General
  Election on November 4th for the offices of President, Representative
  in
  Congress, and members of the
  Connecticut General Assembly. The 2008 general election saw a record
  number
  of Connecticut voters go
  to the polls. According to Connecticut General Statute 9-315, the
  Secretary
  of the State, together with the
  State Treasurer and the State Comptroller, must "declare what persons
  are
  elected" on the last Wednesday
  of the month of election.

  "Connecticut voters came to the polls in record numbers on Election
  Day,"
  said Secretary Bysiewicz. "By
  certifying these election results, we are officially putting into the
  record
  books the most historic election
  our country and our state have ever seen."

  By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Connecticut voters chose Democrats Barack
  Obama
  and Joe Biden for President
  and Vice President. Democratic candidates John Larson(CT-1), Joe
  Courtney(CT-2), Rosa DeLauro(CT-
  3), Jim Himes(CT-4), and Christopher Murphy(CT-5) were also elected
  to the
  111th Congress of the United
  States. Democratic candidates were also elected to 114 seats in the
  State
  House of Representatives and 24
  seats in the State Senate. Republican candidates were elected to 37
  seats in
  the House of Representatives
  and 12 seats in the State Senate. (A complete list of 2008 election
  winners
  is attached).

  Registrars of Voters were elected across the state, and there were
  also two
  constitutional questions on the
  ballot statewide. Question #1, asking voters if there should be a
  constitutional convention, was defeated
  by a 60%-40% margin. Question #2, asking voters if the constitution
  should
  be amended to allow 17 yearolds
  to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 on or before Election Day,
  passed
  with 64% of voters voting
  yes and 36% voting no. With the official certification of the
  election
  results today, the 17 year-old voting
  Constitutional Amendment takes affect and is now state law in
  Connecticut.

  A full Statement of the Vote including final vote tallies for
  candidates for
  President, Congress and General
  Assembly by town, county, Congressional District and Legislative
  District
  will be published by the
  beginning of the General Assembly's 2009 legislative session in
  January.

  Technically, voters chose 7 electors for President and Vice
  President, a
  number equal to the total number of
  U.S. Senators and Representatives in Congress from Connecticut. The 7
  Democratic Electors will meet in
  a formal ceremony in the State Senate Chambers on Monday December 15,
  2008
  to officially cast their
  ballots for President and Vice President. Similar Electoral College
  votes
  will be cast in state capitols
  throughout the country on that day. The Electoral College vote will
  be
  officially counted in a Special Joint
  Session of Congress on Thursday January 8, 2009 with outgoing Vice
  President
  Cheney presiding.

  In Connecticut, 80.5% of registered voters cast ballots on November
  4th, the
  highest voter turnout
  percentage since 1992. A record was set in 2008 for the highest
  number of
  Connecticut residents to vote on
  Election Day, with 1,643,488 casting ballots. Earlier this week,
  Secretary
  Bysiewicz reported that the
  towns in Connecticut with the highest voter turnout percentages and
  winners
  of the 2008 "Democracy Cup"
  are: New Hartford (94.78%), Weston (90.84%), Newtown (88.97%), and
  Stamford
  (81.65%). The award is
  given annually to the small, medium, large-sized towns and city with
  the
  highest voter turnout on Election
  Day. Between January 1, 2008 and the October 28, 2008 voter
  registration
  deadline more than 300,000
  Connecticut new voters registered, including more than 130,000 young
  voters
  between the ages of 18 and
  29.

  STATE OF CONNECTICUT
  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE

  We, the undersigned, having canvassed the Returns of the Presiding
  Officers
  of the
  Electors' Meetings in the several towns of this State, hereby declare
  the
  following
  named persons to be chosen and appointed

  ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
  Shirley W. Steinmetz
  Nicholas Paindiris
  Andrea Jackson Brooks
  Jim Ezzes
  Lorraine McQueen
  Deborah McFadden
  Ken Delacruz

  Dated in Hartford, Connecticut
  This twenty-sixth day of November
  Two Thousand Eight
  ________________________________________________________
  Susan Bysiewicz
  Secretary of the State
  ________________________________________________________
  Howard G. Rifkin
  Deputy Treasurer
  ________________________________________________________
  Nancy Wyman
  Comptroller

  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



******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Thu Dec  4 11:34:38 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:34:38 -0500
Subject: {news} Fw: To the Northeast Ain't So Shabby Either
Message-ID: <04c601c9562e$337575b0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Carl Arnold 
To: US Greens International Committee 
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 11:27 AM
Subject: To the Northeast Ain't So Shabby Either


Greens deliver climate wake-up call to PM


28 November 2008


MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, amd London Assembly Member Jenny Jones, have delivered a letter to 10 Downing Street urging the Prime Minsiter to secure strong greenhouse gas reduction targets at the Poznan climate talks next week.  The letter also asks that poorer countries are given the technology they need for low-carbon development, free of charge.


Deputy Leader Adrian Ramsay, London Assmbly Member Darren Johnson and MEP candidates Peter Cranie (North West) and Rupert Read (Eastern) also signed the letter, as part of a joint campiagn that saw Greens petition governments in 16 countries.


The letter reads:


28 November 2008


To: The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP


Dear Prime Minister and Secretary of State,


We are writing to you regarding the United Nations negotiations on climate change taking place in Poznan this December.


It is of the utmost importance that we achieve an effective agreement at the talks in Copenhagen in one year?s time in 2009, and Poznan will be an important milestone in the evolving negotiations.


We should aim to reach zero carbon emissions in the shortest possible timescale, at the latest by 2030, and an international agreement is crucial if we are to achieve this. There can be no reason to reject such a goal, not least because the first countries to achieve it will be in a very competitive situation, while fossil fuel become increasingly scarce.


The EU can provide the leadership the world needs at this crucial time in our history. This will require us to be generous in our dealings with developing countries, taking full account of their concerns. Any negotiated agreement will need to be based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, with equity at its core.


Developing countries should also be provided with renewable energy technology free of charge. This will not only help to mitigate climate change, and help economies in developing nations, but will also enable worldwide price reductions in this new technology by generating economies of scale, benefiting everyone.


Since the publication of the IPCC report last year, climate science indicates that runaway climate change is likely unless extremely rapid cuts in carbon emissions take place within the next few years. The second world war saw us transform our economy in months, so this is entirely realistic.


A similar effort is required now, and is justified, as the scale of the threat is far greater. Our children will not forgive us if we fail.


The scientific uncertainty over tipping points, and the precautionary principle, demand that the only morally acceptable conclusion for the talks in Copenhagen is to move in the direction of a zero carbon world as fast as we can.


Caroline Lucas MEP, Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Councillor Adrian Ramsay, Deputy Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Jean Lambert MEP
Cllr Darren Johnson AM
Cllr Jenny Jones AM
Cllr Dr Rupert Read
Peter Cranie 


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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Thu Dec  4 11:52:31 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:52:31 -0500
Subject: {news} : USGP-INT Toronto  bans Bottled Water!!
Message-ID: <04ea01c95630$b3129c10$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Julia Willebrand 
To: usgp-int at gp-us.org 
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 3:16 PM
Subject: USGP-INT Toronto bans Bottled Water!!


Oh! How I envy our comrades up north.


Julia
------- Forwarded message follows -------


From: "Richard" <richard at polarisinstitute.org>
To: <alliance-building at polarisinstitute.org>
Subject: Toronto bans BW!!
Date sent: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 12:59:12 -0500




Friends and Colleagues,
We are thrilled to share with you the news that the City of Toronto
(the 4th biggest city in North America) yesterday banned the sale and
provision of bottled water on city property and voted to re-invest in
public water services!See press release below.
The vote was the culmination of months of advocacy and public
pressure from community groups, environmental groups and labour
allies. In the face of extensive (and costly) corporate industry
lobbying, Toronto City Councillors made the right choice.
At the Polaris Institute, we want to thank all of you for your
contribution to this precedent setting vote. Many of you took action
by calling councillors, forwarding action alerts and writing letters
to Toronto councillors.
Thank you!
Polaris Water Team,
Tony Clarke, Joe Cressy, Richard Girard, Zoe Maggio




For Immediate
Release


3 December 2008
 Toronto Bans Bottled Water!
Toronto becomes the largest municipality in the world to ban bottled
 water

Toronto - Toronto City Council voted yesterday to ban the sale and
provision of bottled water in city facilities and ensure access to
public tap water in all city facilities. Toronto is now the largest
municipality in the world to ban bottled water.
"Toronto?s decision to ban the bottle and turn on the tap sends a
clear message that bottled water?s 15 minutes are up, the marketing
scam is out of the closet, and it?s time to go back to the tap," says
Joe Cressy, Campaigns Coordinator for the Polaris Institute.
Bottled Water Bans in Canada:
-17 municipalities from 5 provinces have banned the bottle.
-45 municipalities are planning restrictions on bottled water.
-Canada?s Parliament is currently considering a ban on bottled water
at the Parliament Buildings


 -30-


For more information contact:
Joe Cressy, Polaris Institute, 613-237-1717 x102,
joecressy at polarisinstitute.org




Richard Girard
Polaris Institute Researcher
180 Metcalfe St. Suite 500
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 1P5
(613) 237-1717 105
1-866-346-6602
Fax (613) 237-3359
www.polarisinstitute.org
------- End of forwarded message -------


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Julia Willebrand, Ed.D
Co-chair, USGP International Committee
212 877-5088











--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Oh! How I envy our comrades up north.

Julia
------- Forwarded message follows -------

From: "Richard" <richard at polarisinstitute.org>
To: <alliance-building at polarisinstitute.org>
Subject: Toronto bans BW!!
Date sent: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 12:59:12 -0500


Friends and Colleagues,
We are thrilled to share with you the news that the City of Toronto
(the 4th biggest city in North America) yesterday banned the sale and
provision of bottled water on city property and voted to re-invest in
public water services!See press release below.
The vote was the culmination of months of advocacy and public
pressure from community groups, environmental groups and labour
allies. In the face of extensive (and costly) corporate industry
lobbying, Toronto City Councillors made the right choice.
At the Polaris Institute, we want to thank all of you for your
contribution to this precedent setting vote. Many of you took action
by calling councillors, forwarding action alerts and writing letters
to Toronto councillors.
Thank you!
Polaris Water Team,
Tony Clarke, Joe Cressy, Richard Girard, Zoe Maggio


For Immediate
Release

3 December 2008
                     Toronto Bans Bottled Water!
Toronto becomes the largest municipality in the world to ban bottled
                                 water
Toronto - Toronto City Council voted yesterday to ban the sale and
provision of bottled water in city facilities and ensure access to
public tap water in all city facilities. Toronto is now the largest
municipality in the world to ban bottled water.
"Toronto?s decision to ban the bottle and turn on the tap sends a
clear message that bottled water?s 15 minutes are up, the marketing
scam is out of the closet, and it?s time to go back to the tap," says
Joe Cressy, Campaigns Coordinator for the Polaris Institute.
Bottled Water Bans in Canada:
-17 municipalities from 5 provinces have banned the bottle.
-45 municipalities are planning restrictions on bottled water.
-Canada?s Parliament is currently considering a ban on bottled water
at the Parliament Buildings

                                 -30-

For more information contact:
Joe Cressy, Polaris Institute, 613-237-1717 x102,
joecressy at polarisinstitute.org


Richard Girard
Polaris Institute Researcher
180 Metcalfe St. Suite 500
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 1P5
(613) 237-1717 105
1-866-346-6602
Fax (613) 237-3359
www.polarisinstitute.org
------- End of forwarded message -------???

Julia Willebrand, Ed.D
Co-chair, USGP International Committee
212 877-5088








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
usgp-int mailing list
usgp-int at gp-us.org
http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.12 - Release Date: 11/30/2008 12:00 AM



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.12 - Release Date: 11/30/2008 12:00 AM
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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Mon Dec  8 13:22:52 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 13:22:52 -0500
Subject: {news} USGP-INT SPIEGEL ONLINE - Putting Jobs First: Merkel
	Backpedals on Climate
Message-ID: <042601c95962$0ac1a620$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Feinstein" <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
To: "GP-US International Committee" <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 12:58 PM
Subject: USGP-INT SPIEGEL ONLINE - Putting Jobs First: Merkel Backpedals 
onClimate


One of the reasons the Christian Democrats were able to knock out the
Red-Green Coalition government in Germany a few years back is Merkel's
then pro-environmental positions.

Are things changing?



SPIEGEL ONLINE, 12/08/2008
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Putting Jobs First: Merkel Backpedals on Climate
---------------------------------------------------------------------

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long been on the front lines in
the battle against climate change. But with the economy in a
downturn, she may be changing her tune.

You can download the complete article over the Internet at the
following URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,595114,00.html


  SPIEGEL ONLINE
SPIEGEL ONLINE
12/08/2008 03:47 PM
PUTTING JOBS FIRST
Merkel Backpedals on Climate

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long been on the front lines in the
battle against climate change. But with the economy in a downturn, she
may be changing her tune.

It used to be that when environmentalists looked to Berlin, they saw one
of their closest allies in the fight against climate change. For much of
the last three years, Chancellor Angela Merkel has made the fight to
reduce global CO2 emissions a signature issue of her government.

On Monday, though, Merkel finds herself under fire from many of her
former allies. In a Monday article in the mass-circulation tabloid Bild,
Merkel said that she will not approve any European Union climate rules
"that endanger jobs or investments in Germany."

German Chancellor Merkel has said that the environment should take a
back seat to jobs.
DDP

German Chancellor Merkel has said that the environment should take a
back seat to jobs.
The Green Party in Berlin, which has for years had to stand by and watch
as Merkel appropriated one of its central issues, was quick to react.
"Merkel has abdicated her position as climate chancellor," said B?rbel
H?hn, acting floor leader for the Greens in parliament. "The fact that
the chancellor is trying to play the issue of jobs off against the
environment shows her economic ignorance and her amnesia when it comes
to climate issues."

The environmental and development group Oxfam echoed the sentiment,
saying that "with her behavior, Ms. Merkel has demonstrated to
developing countries that protecting climate-harming industries in
Germany is more important than preventing a global climate catastrophe."

Merkel's comments come ahead of the European Union summit in Brussels
this Thursday and Friday. In addition to the financial crisis, heads of
state and government from the 27 member states will be looking to
approve the bloc's much-touted package of rules aimed at reducing CO2
emissions. The package aims to reduce overall bloc emissions by 20
percent by 2020 relative to 1990 levels.

Part of that package was a rule to require all new cars to emit just 130
grams of CO2 per kilometer travel, averaged over a manufacturer's entire
fleet. In an agreement reached last week, the original deadline of 2012
was staggered and will now come into full effect in 2015. Fines on
companies not meeting the target were also lowered.

Sticking Points

Apart from the auto industry, however, there are a number of other
sticking points, with numerous EU countries trying to secure exceptions
for their domestic industries. Poland's efforts to be granted
concessions due to its heavily coal-reliant energy sector have received
the most press. But Merkel too is looking for exceptions for Germany's
steel, chemical and cement factories.

German Economics Minister Michael Glos, in Brussels for a meeting of EU
ministers on the bloc's energy policy, echoed Merkel's pre-summit
comments on Monday. "It is incredibly important that competitiveness of
German industry not be endangered by the climate package," he said.

It wasn't just environmental groups who were critical of Merkel on
Monday. Former German Environment Minister Klaus T?pfer, of Merkel's own
Christian Democrats, told the Cologne daily K?lner Stadt-Anzeiger on
Monday that "climate policy cannot be treated as disposable when it
comes to proposals regarding economic stimulus. Doing so is acting
irresponsibly from both an economic and environmental perspective. Only
those who are ahead environmentally can create the jobs of the future.
Climate friendly production is the solution to the crisis, not the cause."

In her interview with Bild, Merkel also said that she is planning a
meeting for next Sunday in the Berlin chancellery to discuss possible
further steps to combat the financial and economic crises. In addition
to Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Finance Minister Peer
Steinbr?ck, Labor Minister Olaf Schulz and Economics Minister Glos, a
number of representatives from the banking industry will likewise be
invited as will economics experts.

Merkel has been heavily criticized for what many see as a hesitant
reaction to the worsening economy in Germany and the rest of Europe.
Seemingly in answer to such criticism, the chancellor told Bild: "The
point of the meeting next Sunday is a collective analysis to obtain the
most clarity possible about the economic developments we can expect in
2009. I will continue to keep all options open. But I am not a fan of
daily speculation about new possibilities."


RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS:

     *
       Kyoto II in Poznan: Can the Climate Survive the Financial Crisis?
(12/01/2008)
       http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,593712,00.html
     *
       UN Environment Programme Director: 'Now Is the Time for a Green
New Deal' (12/01/2008)
       http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,593680,00.html
     *
       Climate Control: Germany Reaches Kyoto Emissions Commitments
(11/28/2008)
       http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,593296,00.html



_______________________________________________
usgp-int mailing list
usgp-int at gp-us.org
http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int





From efficacy at msn.com  Mon Dec  8 13:27:53 2008
From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 13:27:53 -0500
Subject: {news} Current TV
Message-ID: <BLU128-DS621D8B031B3336E9BAC20D1FD0@phx.gbl>

Hi gang,
>
> Please view this on current TV and vote on it, leave comments--some may 
> have seen this already.  If it wins this will become an infomercial.  Go 
> to it.
>
>
>
> http://current.com/items/89602648/the_war_on_drugs_fail.htm
>
> Cliff
>
> Efficacy
> PO Box 1234
> 860 657 8438
> Hartford, CT 06143
> efficacy at msn.com
> www.Efficacy-online.org
>
> "THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"
>
> Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit
> 501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are tax
> deductible 



From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Mon Dec  8 16:01:54 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 16:01:54 -0500
Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT From Cynthia McKinney: Please donate what you
	can for agood cause
Message-ID: <048801c95978$33a5a0d0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott McLarty" <scottmclarty at yahoo.com>
To: <usgp-media at gp-us.org>; <dcsgp at yahoogroups.com>; <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 2:58 PM
Subject: USGP-INT From Cynthia McKinney: Please donate what you can for 
agood cause


> From Cynthia McKinney.....
>
> As I prepare this message, David Josu? is in Haiti leading his family in 
> funeral services for his father who died one year to the date from the 
> death of his mother.  Many of you have had the opportunity to meet David 
> on the campaign trail.  Some of you know that at this time last year his 
> travel plans with our Power to the People campaign were abruptly canceled 
> due to the passing of his mother.
>
> David was in the process of renewing his efforts on behalf of his adopted 
> country of Guinea-Bissau after reading about yet another cholera outbreak 
> in that island country off the west coast of Africa.  He had updated his 
> website for his charitable activities there, http://www.aizan.org , and 
> had compiled a list of items that he wanted to send to the people there in 
> distress.  David has an active group of volunteers on the ground in 
> country and they are in need of items that we might take for granted: 
> soap, bleach, latex gloves, bicycles for volunteers to deliver assistance 
> to those in need.  And of course, cash donations are always appreciated. 
> Secure donations can be made online at http://www.aizan.org .
>
> While the cholera outbreak has abated now, international volunteers and UN 
> staffers cannot identify where or how it started.  David would love for 
> Aizan volunteers to be equipped so that they can be prepositioned to 
> intervene early to help save lives.  I encourage you to visit 
> http://www.aizan.org and donate what you can.
>
> Here's what the United Nations had to say on the situation in 
> Guinea-Bissau at its height:
>
>
> GUINEA-BISSAU: Cholera epidemic out of control
>
> DAKAR, 17 September 2008 (IRIN) - With 6,461 cholera cases and 122 deaths, 
> experts say the cholera epidemic in Guinea-Bissau is out of control.
>
> The number of reported cases has doubled in the past three weeks. All of 
> the country's 11 health regions have been affected, including the remote 
> Bijagos islands, 60 km off the Bissau coast, which have reported 158 
> cases.
>
> "At the moment, though measures are in place to deal with the epidemic, 
> the situation is not under control," said Daniel Remartinez, emergency 
> coordinator of the Spanish branch of non-governmental organisation (NGO) 
> M?decins sans Fronti?res (MSF-S).
>
> Hardest hit is Bissau with more than 4,500 cases, followed by Biombo 
> region with 836 reported cases, Quinara with 216 and Oio with 215.
>
> "Bissau [the capital] is a fantastic crossroads from which to spread the 
> epidemic throughout the country ? all traffic goes through it," said 
> Sylvana Nzirorera, deputy-representative of the UN Children's Fund 
> (UNICEF) in Bissau.
>
> According to Franck Bouvet, UNICEF's regional water, hygiene and 
> sanitation specialist, international agencies over-estimated the 
> government's ability to coordinate the battle against the epidemic, 
> costing valuable time.
>
> Emergency response teams from the UN and government, MSF-Spain, French NGO 
> M?decins du Monde and the Guinea Bissau Red Cross, are trying to make up 
> for lost time.
>
> Zero capacity
>
> Cholera is endemic in Guinea-Bissau, which has hardly any water pipes in 
> most of the country, and an ailing pipeline in Bissau, which only reaches 
> a quarter of the city's residents, according to UNICEF.
>
> With no government budget to build up such networks, most people construct 
> their own poorly-maintained wells, according to UNICEF's Nzirorera.
>
> Few organised community groups have stepped in to manage water wells, 
> pumps and other sources, said Nzirorera. "In Bissau when there is an 
> emergency, it is hard to know who in the community to talk to," she 
> pointed out.
>
> International response
>
> MSF-Spain is helping the government control the infection and treat cases 
> in 17 health centres and hospitals in Bissau as well as Biombo and Oio 
> regions bordering the capital.
>
> According to MSF-S's Remartinez, cholera victims had not been safely 
> quarantined from other patients in health centres, so MSF-S set up tents 
> to treat them separately.
>
> UNICEF is disinfecting city wells and other water sources with bleach or 
> chlorine in the capital with local organisation Aqua Guinea-Bissau (AGB) 
> and volunteer sanitation brigades.
>
> They have only been able to find less than half of the 3,000 wells thought 
> to exist according to Nzirorera, because they are so well-hidden.
>
> Duarte Falcon, data-manager of the government's national epidemiology unit 
> told IRIN the government is working with the Guinea Bissau Red Cross and 
> UNICEF to go from door-to-door to give hygiene tips to avoid cholera.
>
> For Nzirorera, children are "the best vectors of [public hygiene] messages 
> for families", and religious leadershave the "charisma and power to 
> persuade their followers."
>
> Next Steps
>
> UNICEF's water expert Bouvet says the government has little information 
> about how the infection is spread, or its source. To date, experts say the 
> government has not carried out a nation-wide comprehensive study, which 
> would require multi-region data gathering and analysis.
>
> The US-based Centre for Disease Control is expected to lend the technical 
> know-how and is currently carrying out this study.
>
> "There are behavioural, climactic, and socio-economic determinants to the 
> cause and spread of cholera and it can be hard to identify exactly why it 
> appears when and how. However, we know that key factors increase the risk 
> of an outbreak:  inappropriate hygiene behaviour, lack of drinking water, 
> and inadequate sanitation," Bouvet said.
>
> For UNICEF's Nzirorera, the battle-lines now need to shift beyond the 
> capital so the disease does not escalate in more remote regions.
>
> Most experts agree the government lacks a national plan to fight cholera 
> long-term.
>
> Meanwhile, emergency organisations are trying to address short-term needs.
>
> "We'll stay until the epidemic is under control. We have no idea how long 
> that will be ? it depends if the epidemic has reached its peak, or if that 
> is still to come," said Remartinez.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> usgp-int mailing list
> usgp-int at gp-us.org
> http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15 - Release Date: 12/5/2008 12:00 
AM



From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Mon Dec  8 20:01:41 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 20:01:41 -0500
Subject: {news} Fw: Act now for single payer: host or join a house meeting
Message-ID: <04f201c95999$b3419da0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>

Physicians for a National Health Program



 December 8, 2008


      Dear PNHP colleagues and friends:


      We urge you to act swiftly to host or participate in one of the "Health Care Community Discussions" sponsored by President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Team from Dec. 15-31. You can sign up to do so here:


      http://change.gov/page/s/hcdiscussion


      We need your voice and leadership abilities at this critical moment to ensure that single-payer national health insurance is a prominent part of these discussions. Once you have signed up to participate, please let us know by sending us an e-mail (info at pnhp.org).  This will allow us to provide you with useful background materials, and help us to gauge whether the Transition Team's recommendations accurately reflect the level of single-payer support.


      You have no doubt noticed that health reform has taken on a new sense of urgency, driven by the deepening health care crisis, the recession, and the high expectations that many people have of the incoming administration.  Health reform is also getting much more media attention (see, for example, recent commentaries in the Des Moines Register and the Philadelphia Inquirer).


      Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) recently unveiled his proposals for health reform, which largely mirror Obama's, and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has been holding meetings with various stakeholders and policy experts to prepare his own legislation.


      However well intentioned, the Obama/Baucus/Kennedy approaches share a fatal flaw: they preserve a central role for the private health insurance industry.  This approach is simply not viable, as numerous state-based experiments patterned on this model have shown. Such plans always fail because they are unable to control costs.


      At the same time, single payer has gained new momentum. It's a bold solution that meets our country's needs in a way that no other program can, and enjoys solid support of physicians and the general public alike. The insurance and pharmaceutical industries would like us to believe that single payer is "off the table," but we know otherwise.


      That's why we appeal to you to speak out in support of single-payer national health insurance now - at the Transition Team house party meetings (again, visit http://change.gov/page/s/hcdiscussion to sign up as a host or as a participant), at Grand Rounds, at public meetings, and in op-eds and letters to the editor. Whatever you can do to carve out time from your busy schedule and let your voice be heard, please do so. 


      Our Chicago office can help you with talking points, printed materials, slideshows, editing and whatever other assistance you may need. And our web site will have special talking points on the most current issues (www.pnhp.org/change), updated frequently.


      Please speak out during this critical time . and let us know how it goes!

      Cordially,


            
            Quentin Young, M.D. 
            National Coordinator Ida Hellander, M.D.
            Executive Director 

      P.S. You are also invited, of course, to make a tax-deductible contribution to PNHP. You can do so by clicking here. We need to muster all the resources we can to advance the cause of single payer during this extraordinary moment.

     


Physicians for a National Health Program
29 E Madison Suite 602, Chicago, IL 60602
Phone (312) 782-6006 | Fax: (312) 782-6007
www.pnhp.org | info at pnhp.org
? PNHP 2008

If you no longer wish to receive alerts from PNHP, please email us


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From smderosa at cox.net  Mon Dec  8 20:03:11 2008
From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 20:03:11 -0500
Subject: {news} Green/libertarian Party litigation Tuesday(12/9) and
	Wed(12/10) Bridgeport Federal court Building 9AM
Message-ID: <CF55EA0E9FAF434D89D4570132506842@OwnerPC>

Dear Greens:

 

Our lawsuit (i.e. Just For The Record the Plaintiffs are: G.P.C.T.;
L.P.C.T;  A.C.L.U.; Betty Gallo;  Mike DeRosa; and others) against Campaign
Finance Deform (also know as The No Republican or Democrat Left Behind Law)
continues this week.  

 

When: The hearings in this case start on this Tuesday (12/9/08) at 9:00AM
and will continue on Wednesday (12/10/09) at 9AM.                     

 

What: New hearings in this case. We are having the first part of a bench
trial this week before Federal Judge Underhill in Bridgeport.

           (We will not be calling witnesses, but will rely on our sworn
declarations and other evidence. The purpose of the trial is to walk the
judge    

                through the evidence and argue the law)  

 

Where: United States District Court, Bridgeport CT

 

Why: To show support for a constitutionally sound challenge to an unfair and
partisan law created by ethically challenged politicians

           who want a monopoly on state funding of campaigns using biased
criteria and draconian methods and procedures to discourage 

           and deny funding to certain political parties and individuals
whose ideas they don't like. We hope to see you there!

 

Sincerely,

THE PLAINTIFFS

 

 

 
<http://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/PDF%20Documents/bpt-driving-written-directions.
pdf> Written Directions:

 

Directions to United States District Court

9 1 5 L a f a y e t t e B o u l e v a r d

B r i d g e p o r t, C T 0 6 6 04

( 2 0 3 ) 5 7 9 - 5 8 6 1

North

Follow Interstate 95 south to Exit 27 (Lafayette Blvd), bear right onto
Lafayette Boulevard,

proceed to the third traffic light. The Courthouse is on your left. Take a
right onto State

Street and immediately get into the left lane. The parking garage is the
first parking garage

on your left (diagonally across from the Courthouse).

South

Follow Interstate 95 north to Exit 27 (Lafayette Blvd), proceed straight to
the third traffic

light. Take a left onto Lafayette Boulevard, go to the fourth traffic light.
The Courthouse is

on your left. Take a right onto State Street and immediately get into the
left lane. The

parking garage is the first parking garage on your left (diagonally across
from the

Courthouse).

Coming South on Route 25/8

Follow Route 25/8 to Exit 2 (Fairfield Avenue), proceed straight to the
third traffic light. You

are now facing the side of the Courthouse. Take a left onto State Street,
proceed past the

first traffic light. The parking garage is the first parking garage on your
left (diagonally

across from the Courthouse).

Coming from the Merritt Parkway

Northbound - Exit 49S, follow Route 25/8 directions above.

Southbound - Exit 52, follow Route 25/8 directions above.

 

 

 

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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Mon Dec  8 20:16:39 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 20:16:39 -0500
Subject: {news} USGP-INT Independent/UK: Israeli Civil Rights Group calls
	occupation Apartheid
Message-ID: <053f01c9599b$ca1163b0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Justine McCabe 
To: USGP International Committee 
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 8:07 PM
Subject: USGP-INT Independent/UK: Israeli Civil Rights Group calls occupation Apartheid


Published on Monday, December 8, 2008

The Independent/UK

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/civil-rights-group-claim-israeli-occupation-is-reminiscent-of-apartheid-1056546.html

Civil Rights Group Claim Israeli Occupation is "Reminiscent of Apartheid"

by Ben Lynfield

Israel's leading civil rights organisation yesterday broke a taboo by
describing Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank as being
"reminiscent of apartheid" in South Africa. 

Alleging an intensification of human rights abuses against Palestinians,
the respected Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) made the
comparison in an annual report that described the existence of separate
legal, planning and transportation systems for Jewish settlers and
Palestinians in the West Bank. 

"Israel has built a modern arterial road system in the West Bank
intended in fact only for use by Israeli traffic, whereas the
Palestinians are forced to travel for the most part on twisting and
dangerous roads," the report said. While Israel facilitates the
expansion of Jewish settlements, it restricts the growth of Palestinian
towns, the report added. "This state of affairs in which all the
services, budgets and the access to natural resources are granted along
discriminatory and separatist lines according to ethnic-national
criteria is a blatant violation of the principle of equality and is in
many ways reminiscent of the Apartheid regime in South Africa." 
Thereport said.

 Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, responded that "the whole comparison is inaccurate and
offensive."   "In the real world where there are real terrorist threats, the choice is
between roadblocks and protracted waiting [for Palestinians] or roads
for Palestinians." he said. 

ACRI wrote that while South Africa had been a case of a "racist
separation criterion" the one applied in the occupied terirories is
"ethnic-national." 

The group decided to drop its previous reluctance to use the South
Africa comparison, often invoked by those pressing for an international
boycott of Israel, because "things are getting worse rather than better"
according to spokeswoman Melanie Takefman. 

In particular, Ms. Takefman cited what ACRI views as the Israeli supreme
court's endorsement of the idea of separate road systems for Israelis
and Palestinians in the West Bank. Last March, the court ignored an ACRI
petition that it rule on the legality of the continued barring of
Palestinians from Highway 443, an alternate route between Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv that slices through expropriated Palestinian West Bank land. To
justify the expropriations, the state had said during the 1990's the
road would be for Palestinian benefit. But the road is now entirely an
Israeli commuter route, with Palestinian villagers who formerly used it
to access health, education and jobs in Ramallah barred since 2002 when
it was closed to them after attacks on Israeli motorists. Instead,
authorities are building a separate road for Palestinians. "The judges's
turning a blind eye and approving a separate road system was a very
depressing and ominous sign," Ms. Takefman said.

In 2006, former US President Jimmy Carter published Palestine: Peace not
Apartheid, in which he argued that apartheid is an appropriate term for
Israeli policies devoted to "the acquisition of land" in the West Bank.
His application of the term to the West Bank evoked heated responses
from supporters of Israel. 

Mr. Regev said the best way to address the separate legal systems in the
West Bank for settlers and Palestinians would be the creation of a
Palestinian state as an outgrowth of current negotiations. "Do people
really want us to annex the West Bank so that there will be one legal
system?" he asked. 



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
usgp-int mailing list
usgp-int at gp-us.org
http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int



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From timmckee at mail.com  Tue Dec  9 17:15:17 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 17:15:17 -0500
Subject: {news} Rich Whitney, former GP candidate for Illinois governor,
 comments on arrest of Gov. Blagojevich
Message-ID: <20081209221517.8AC5A11581F@ws1-7.us4.outblaze.com>

Note: Rich's name is already showing up in articles.

For immediate release
December 9, 2008

Contact:

Rich Whitney: 618-549-5159 x 138
Patrick Kelly, Illinois Green Party: 773-203-9631

Whitney for Governor
P.O. Box 3803, Carbondale, IL 62902
www.whitneyforgov.org

Former Gubernatorial Candidate Rich Whitney on the arrest and criminal
charges against Governor Rod Blagojevich

Carbondale civil rights attorney and 2006 Green Party candidate for
Governor Rich Whitney has issued the following statement today on the
arrest and criminal charges against Governor Rod Blagojevich. Whitney
has not formally announced himself as a candidate for governor in 2010
but has publicly acknowledged he is making preparations for such a
run:

We've all heard the expression, "I hate to tell you but I told you
so." But in this case, I honestly don't hate to say it: We did tell
you so. While I did not make any specific allegations against Mr.
Blagojevich during the campaign, every informed Illinoisan knew that
pay-for-play was endemic in our State and that illegal job patronage
had not stopped but had gone underground. But it was only the Whitney
campaign and the other campaigns of the Illinois Green Party that
raised the issue of serious campaign ethics reform, front and center.
Indeed, one of my campaign themes was to clean up government, along
with cleaning up the environment and the budget mess.

Now we're even deeper in the hole financially and we have truly hit
bottom ? I hope, anyway ? in terms of corruption in government.

In announcing the criminal charges against Blagojevich today, Robert
D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI,
stated that they "reveal that the office of the Governor has become
nothing more than a vehicle for self-enrichment, unrestricted by party
affiliation and taking Illinois politics to a new low. While I
understand the sentiment, I would respectfully remind Mr. Grant, and
Illinois voters, that there is one political party that has stood up
for the principle of not accepting any corporate campaign
contributions whatsoever, and that has stood firmly on a platform of
making serious campaign ethics reform a top priority. And that is the
Illinois Green Party.

I would also remind voters that this problem goes beyond the
corruption of one man. This is a systemic problem that demands a
systemic solution. The people of this State need to mobilize to gain
control over what is supposed to be their government. And the way to
do that is by building a grass-roots political party that is beholden
and accountable only to the people, not the same big-moneyed special
interests who have made practice of buying and selling politicians.

As an attorney, I have combated illegal job patronage. As a candidate,
I called for all non-policy-making State jobs to be selected on the
basis of objective criteria by an independent bureau. I also promised
to appoint an Inspector General from an opposition party, to prevent
and root out illegal job patronage and help remove the cloud of
corruption over our State. I advocated the formation of a Citizens'
Budget Review Commission, to review proposed budget proposals to help
ferret out wasteful pork spending and political favoritism. And I
called for campaign contribution limits of $500 per candidate per
campaign.

And of course, as with all Green Party candidates, I declined to
accept any corporate campaign contributions ? and advocated making a
ban on corporate contributions the law of our State.

Today's news is but the latest symptom of a much more pervasive
disease. The Democratic Party has had complete control of Illinois
State government for several years now ? and everyone can see for
themselves that it has given us a completely dysfunctional government
that has now led us into the abyss. Yet the Republican Party is just
as cravenly supportive of the same corporatist agenda; they have
simply been even less effective politically.

If the state of Illinois politics today doesn't demonstrate the need
for the people to embrace and build the Green Party ? a true party of,
by and for the people ? I don't know what will.

~END~

Approved by Rich Whitney for Governor
_______________________________________________
Natlcomaffairs mailing list
To send a message to the list, write to:
Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org
To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to:
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You must know your password to do this.

If you can't figure out how to
unsubscribe, as a last resort only,
send a message OFF LIST to
steveh at olypen.com

If your state delegation changes, please see:
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To report violations of listserv protocol, write to
forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org

For other information about the National Committee, see:
http://gp.org/committees/nc/



******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From timmckee at mail.com  Tue Dec  9 17:27:10 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 17:27:10 -0500
Subject: {news} Radio interview with WHUS about Cam. Finance Lawsuit
Message-ID: <20081209222710.67010478088@ws1-5.us4.outblaze.com>

Tonight i did a brief phone interview with WHUS about the Greens Lawsuit
on Cam Finance, not sure when or if it will air,,but you might hear it on
the radio tonight or tommorrw

******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Tue Dec  9 18:20:31 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 18:20:31 -0500
Subject: {news} complaint to SOTS on McKinney write-in votes
Message-ID: <BLU102-DAV138DC9A8891F9F783152A6D6FA0@phx.gbl>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Steve Fournier
To: 'David Bedell'
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 12:22 PM
Subject: complaint


Here's the complaint I mailed today to Bysiewicz.  For practical reasons, I
decided to confine this complaint to the presidential election.  We can make
further complaints about other contests after we see what sort of response
we get to this one.

Stephen Fournier
Attorney at Law
74 Tremont Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Tel: 860 794 6718    Fax: 860 233 3044
stepfour at stepfour.com

December 4, 2008

Secretary of the State of Connecticut
ATTN: Administrative Offices
PO Box 150470
Hartford, CT 06115-0470

Dear Secretary Bysiewicz:

Please take notice of this complaint on behalf of the Green Party of
Connecticut.  The final tally of votes for President recorded in your office
indicates that the Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, a write-in,
received no votes in 140 towns, including Bridgeport, Killingly, Manchester,
New Haven, New London, Stamford and Wethersfield.

We have collected statements from voters in these towns who wrote in Cynthia
McKinney's name and from voters in Windham and Norwich (which also recorded
no write-in votes) who were told by election officials that there were no
write-in candidates for President.  We understand that the Green Party
ticket did not receive enough votes to win the election, but the law
requires that write-in votes be counted even when the write-in candidate has
no chance of winning.  Like-minded voters, even if they vote on the losing
side, are entitled to know their numbers and their distribution.

Contrary to conventional political wisdom, elections involve more than just
selecting winners.  They mark regular debates on issues of public
importance, and the results of an election are a gauge of public opinion and
give insight into the future of public policy.   Abolitionist candidates
never won an election, and neither did women's suffrage candidates, but
their candidacies over generations of struggle were a key element in the
success of these movements for human rights.

We have no way of knowing how many write-in votes went uncounted, but we are
satisfied that the selections of voters in at least seven towns were never
recorded and that officials were misinformed about write-ins in at least two
polling places.  We ask that you initiate an inspection of the "paper-trail"
in the towns that recorded no write-in votes for Cynthia McKinney to
determine whether her vote was excluded from the tally for each such town.
We ask that you investigate discrepancies between the number of write-in
ballots cast and the number of write-in votes recorded.  We ask that you
remind registrars of voters that they have a legal obligation to count and
record write-in votes.  Finally, we ask that you instruct registrars to
recount the number of write-in ballots cast for Cynthia McKinney and that
you publish the corrected totals.

Yours truly,

Stephen Fournier
Green Party of Connecticut Co-Chair





From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Tue Dec  9 18:23:39 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 18:23:39 -0500
Subject: {news} Green/libertarian Party litigation Tuesday(12/9) and
	Wed(12/10) Bridgeport Federal court Building 9AM
Message-ID: <BLU102-DAV954A7F85AC263766D2149D6FA0@phx.gbl>

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hcu-campaignfinance-1209,0,1355843.story

Campaign Finance Lawsuit Goes To Trial

Associated Press
    2:15 PM EST, December 9, 2008

BRIDGEPORT - Connecticut's campaign financing law came under fire at a
hearing before a federal judge, as plaintiffs argued that it's full of
loopholes and places too many burdens on minor political parties and
petitioning candidates.

Mark Lopez, a lawyer for the Green and Libertarian parties, challenged the
law's constitutionality before Judge Stefan Underhill in Bridgeport on
Tuesday. At issue is the law's requirements for qualifying for public
financing of campaigns.

Lopez says the law is unfair because it includes more requirements for minor
party and petitioning candidates to qualify for public funding than for
major party candidates.

Lawyers for the state deny the allegations. They are expected to present
their arguments to Underhill on Wednesday.



From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Wed Dec 10 12:30:51 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:30:51 -0500
Subject: {news} Fw: GP RELEASE Greens offer six steps for economic recovery
Message-ID: <068a01c95aed$1ba113e0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>




GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org


Greens offer six big steps for economic recovery

? Greens support workers occupying a factory in Chicago after layoff:
bailout money isn't being used to help working Americans


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders said today that the incoming
Obama Administration and Congress should take six major steps to
reverse the financial meltdown and restore financial security for
Americans.

The steps include a Green public works program, aid for state and
muncipal governments, expansion of mass transit, Single-Payer health
care, a peace dividend gained by ending the occupations of Iraq and
Afghanistan, and an end to the wasteful war on drugs.

Green Party candidates running for local, state, and national office
in 2008 promoted many of these ideas even before the crisis
precipitated.  In September, Cynthia McKinney published a ten-point
list of solutions and reforms in response to the Wall Street meltdown,
titled "Seize the Time"
(http://votetruth08.com/index.php/learn/mckinney-messages).

Greens expressed support for United Electrical Workers union members
occupying a Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago after the
plant was shut down and they were laid off with three days' notice and
told they had no assurance of receiving severance and unused vacation
pay.  The company's creditor, Bank of America, received $25 billion
from the government's financial bailout package.  Greens said that the
bank's actions, including refusal to allow Republic to give workers 60
days notice (as required by law), demonstrates how bailout money isn't
being used to assist working Americans facing financial hardship.

Six Green steps for economic recovery:

(1) Enact a massive Green public works program, creating new
living-wage jobs in conservation (including weatherization and energy
retro-fitting); clean and safe energy technologies to replace fossil
fuel and nuclear sources and create a carbon-free economy; repair and
improvement of America's deteriorating infrastructure (especially
water and sewer systems); and improvement of public schools and Green
job training programs.

"The collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 was a result
of the neglect and starvation of funds for maintaining infrastructure
that was built decades ago.  The ideology of privatization and
hostility to 'big government' is no longer tenable during the
financial crisis -- the current White House and Congress conceded as
much when they began pushing for bailouts.  Public works programs
built America, and public works, with hundreds of thousands of new
Green jobs, is what America needs now for economic recovery," said
Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for Vice President
(http://www.rosaclemente.com).

"We're encouraged that President-elect Obama intends to launch a
public works program along these basic lines, but we hope Congress and
his own administration don't undermine and dilute such a program out
of traditional Democratic and Republican loyalty to corporate
interests and fear of being labeled liberal or socialist.  It's time
to follow the lead of the Green Jobs For All movement," Ms. Clemente
added.

(2) Bail out financially ailing towns, cities, and states before
bailing out private corporations: millions of public sector and
contractor jobs depend on the fiscal security of municipal and state
governments.

Greens noted that municipalities and states are businesses that drive
state and local economies throughout the US.  They also provide the
social safety net that millions of working people need during the
current crisis.

(3) Jumpstart our country's mass transit system, giving people an
alternative to cars while saving them money and providing jobs.

"Making autos more efficient will only get us part way toward solving
our energy and climate challenges.  We need to get people out of their
cars altogether.  Communities need the ability to provide local
solutions for mass transprotation: new trains, subways, light rail
wherever they fit," said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Green Party's
EcoAction Committee.

(4) Enact a Single-Payer/Medicare For All national health plan,
providing every American with coverage and removing the burden of
health care from small and large private businesses.

"The skyrocketing cost of health care under our private health care
system has created much of the economic instability as businesses
struggle to provide workers health benefits.  If President Obama and
Congress have the political will to resist the power of the insurance,
HMO, and pharmaceutical industries that siphon their profits off
America's need for health care, the relief that Single-Payer will be a
huge economic boost," said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party
of the United States.

Single-Payer would cover all Americans regardless of income,
employment, residence, age, or prior medical condition, allowing
choice of health care provider, and costing working people far less
than they now pay for private coverage.  In 2003, the New England
Journal of Medicine published an article estimating that Single-Payer
could cut health care costs by $350 billion annually
(http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf).  Greens sharply
criticized Barack Obama during the election season for rejecting
Single-Payer out of concern for health insurance companies.

(5) End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The staggering expense of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions and
occupations haven't only cost American, Iraqi, and Afghan lives.  It
also ate up trillions of dollars away that could have been spent on
human and environmental needs.  If we call home our troops right now,
we can divert the money needed for military occupations to Green
public works and other programs to jumpstart the economy -- a new
peace dividend," said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the Lavender Green
Caucus.

The Green Party opposed both wars from the beginning and has
criticized Mr. Obama's plans for delayed and partial troop withdrawal
from Iraq and for sending more troops to Afghanistan.

(6) End the war on drugs, which wastes billions annually, hasn't
curbed drug use, and ruins lives by incarcerating nonviolent offenders
(mostly young, African American, Latino, and poor white) at further
government expense.

"The war on drugs is America's longest and costliest war.  With
Afghanistan providing the world's biggest poppy crop, it's one of the
main reasons the US is fighting a war there," said Cliff Thornton,
co-chair of the Green Party and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc.
(http://www.efficacy-online.org), which promotes major reforms in drug
policy.

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that legalizing cannabis
would save federal, state, and local governments $44 billion a year in
enforcement costs (http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html).
Governments could collect another $33 billion in revenues by taxing
cannabis as heavily as alcohol and tobacco.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
? Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
? Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
? Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
? Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
? Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
? Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

"The financial meltdown requires far-reaching Green solutions, say
Green Party leaders"
Green Party press release, September 23, 2008
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=107

"The Auto Bailout Shows the Failure of Corporate-Government More than
the Failure of Detroit: And Solving it Presents Opportunities for a
New Economy"
By Kevin Zeese, OpEdNews.com, November 21, 2008
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Auto-Bailout-Shows-the-by-Kevin-Zeese-08112\1-683.html


~ END ~


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AM



From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Wed Dec 10 19:51:46 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:51:46 -0500
Subject: {news} USGP-INT UN attacks Israeli rights 'crimes'  
Message-ID: <004801c95b2a$b6627670$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Romi Elnagar 
To: Green Party IC 
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:39 PM
Subject: USGP-INT UN attacks Israeli rights 'crimes' 


            UN attacks Israeli rights 'crimes'  
           
                       
                        The delivery of essential aid to Gaza has been stemmed by the Israeli blockade [AFP] 
                 
            Israel's policies against the Palestinians are tantamount to a "crime against humanity", the United Nations' human rights rapporteur has said.

            Richard Falk said in a statement on Tuesday that the UN must "implement the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a crime against humanity".

            The statement came on the same day that the UN Human Rights Council urged Israel to implement 99 measures to improve its rights record.
            Falk said it would seem "mandatory" that the UN's International Criminal Court investigate Israel?s policies in regard to the Palestinians.

            "[The court could] determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law," he said.

                  IN VIDEO 

                  Human rights declaration 'under threat'
                 
            The Israeli government has faced a level of criticism by "normally cautious UN officials" not seen since the "the heyday of South African apartheid," Falk said. 

            "And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease."
            Israel has maintained tight controls on what supplies enter the Gaza Strip, home to about 1.5 million Palestinians, since Hamas, a Palestinian group, took control of it in June 2007.

            The Israeli and US governments say that Hamas is a terrorist organisation.

            Rights recommendations
            The Human Rights Council said in its list of 99 recommendations that Israel must completely end its blockade of Gaza, while also calling for it to release Arab detainees.

            Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva said that "Israel remains committed to reinforcing areas in which we are succeeding and bettering those areas that need improvement."

            Aharon Leshno Yaar said the dialogue had been "positive and productive".
            Israel is due to report to the UN council in March on how it will address the recommendations.

            Deliveries allowed
            The Israel military allowed dozens of lorries carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and permitted the delivery of diesel to Gaza's main power plant on Tuesday.
             
            The Karam Abu Salam crossing allowed about 40 lorries carrying supplies into the territory, while 30 lorries with grain, wheat and bird feed passed through the Karni crossing.

            The Nahal Oz fuel terminal allowed in some industrial fuel for Gaza's only power plant, as well as cooking gas for the general public and petrol for UN operations.

            The Erez crossing was also open for journalists and humanitarian workers coming into Gaza.

            But Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Palestinian coastal strip, said the amount of supplies allowed into Gaza was of limited quantity and would only probably last for a few days. 


      http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/20081210551198584.html 




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
usgp-int mailing list
usgp-int at gp-us.org
http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int



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From j.desmet at att.net  Wed Dec 10 21:08:30 2008
From: j.desmet at att.net (Jean de Smet)
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:08:30 -0500
Subject: {news} complaint to SOTS on McKinney write-in votes
In-Reply-To: <BLU102-DAV138DC9A8891F9F783152A6D6FA0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <000001c95b35$5dfc4d20$bb9df84c@jean1oa1rgr0ov>


I asked my registrar why I wasn't given the list of registered write-ins
when I asked.  She said that she didn't have the list yet since I voted
absentee, probably a week before the election.

And I was assured that all write-ins were counted, but there were none for
McKinney.

Jean


-----Original Message-----
From: ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org
[mailto:ctgp-news-bounces at ml.greens.org] On Behalf Of David Bedell
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 6:21 PM
To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org
Subject: {news} complaint to SOTS on McKinney write-in votes

Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS
http://www.ctgreens.org/ - http://www.greenpartyus.org/

to unsubscribe click here
mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Steve Fournier
To: 'David Bedell'
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 12:22 PM
Subject: complaint


Here's the complaint I mailed today to Bysiewicz.  For practical reasons, I
decided to confine this complaint to the presidential election.  We can make
further complaints about other contests after we see what sort of response
we get to this one.

Stephen Fournier
Attorney at Law
74 Tremont Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Tel: 860 794 6718    Fax: 860 233 3044
stepfour at stepfour.com

December 4, 2008

Secretary of the State of Connecticut
ATTN: Administrative Offices
PO Box 150470
Hartford, CT 06115-0470

Dear Secretary Bysiewicz:

Please take notice of this complaint on behalf of the Green Party of
Connecticut.  The final tally of votes for President recorded in your office
indicates that the Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, a write-in,
received no votes in 140 towns, including Bridgeport, Killingly, Manchester,
New Haven, New London, Stamford and Wethersfield.

We have collected statements from voters in these towns who wrote in Cynthia
McKinney's name and from voters in Windham and Norwich (which also recorded
no write-in votes) who were told by election officials that there were no
write-in candidates for President.  We understand that the Green Party
ticket did not receive enough votes to win the election, but the law
requires that write-in votes be counted even when the write-in candidate has
no chance of winning.  Like-minded voters, even if they vote on the losing
side, are entitled to know their numbers and their distribution.

Contrary to conventional political wisdom, elections involve more than just
selecting winners.  They mark regular debates on issues of public
importance, and the results of an election are a gauge of public opinion and
give insight into the future of public policy.   Abolitionist candidates
never won an election, and neither did women's suffrage candidates, but
their candidacies over generations of struggle were a key element in the
success of these movements for human rights.

We have no way of knowing how many write-in votes went uncounted, but we are
satisfied that the selections of voters in at least seven towns were never
recorded and that officials were misinformed about write-ins in at least two
polling places.  We ask that you initiate an inspection of the "paper-trail"
in the towns that recorded no write-in votes for Cynthia McKinney to
determine whether her vote was excluded from the tally for each such town.
We ask that you investigate discrepancies between the number of write-in
ballots cast and the number of write-in votes recorded.  We ask that you
remind registrars of voters that they have a legal obligation to count and
record write-in votes.  Finally, we ask that you instruct registrars to
recount the number of write-in ballots cast for Cynthia McKinney and that
you publish the corrected totals.

Yours truly,

Stephen Fournier
Green Party of Connecticut Co-Chair



To be removed please mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
_______________________________________________
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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
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mischief.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this e-mail in error, please
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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



From timmckee at mail.com  Thu Dec 11 17:18:44 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:18:44 -0500
Subject: {news} New Haven ADVocate covers Clean election trial day 1
Message-ID: <20081211221844.8E81A32675A@ws1-8.us4.outblaze.com>

Clean Elections on Trial: Day 1
===============================


Notes from the federal trial challenging Connecticut's historic campaign
finance reform law.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments (0)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
By Andy Bromage Andy Bromage photoMark Lopez, the Green Party of
Connecticut's lawyer, outside federal court in Bridgeport on Day One of
the clean elections trial.

Beth Rotman spends most of her time cheerleading the success of
Connecticut's historic clean elections program. But last year, she penned
a confidential memo to colleagues expressing grave doubts about a
loophole she said could undermine the program.

Rotman, director of the publicly-financed Citizens Election Program,
warned Andy Sauer and Karen Hobert Flynn of Common Cause that candidates
could skirt the Program's spending limits by raising money through
"exploratory" committees. Rotman wrote that because "expenditure limits
apply to the candidate's candidate committee, candidates may use
exploratory committees to raise and spend large sums of money, and
circumvent the overall goals of the Citizens' Election Program."

The memo was one of several pieces of evidence argued over during day one
of a bench trial at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport concerning the
state's fledgling campaign finance reform law. The Green Party of
Connecticut, the ACLU and the lobbyists' association are challenging the
law in the grounds it favors Republicans and Democrats over minor parties
and illegally bars lobbyists from donating to political campaigns.

The Rotman memo was not allowed into evidence because U.S. District Judge
Stefan R. Underhill wasn't convinced that Rotman wrote it in her official
capacity.

"If she writes a holiday card and says, 'Gee, that law we passed really
stinks,'" that wouldn't be admissible, Underhill said from the bench.

Luckily for the Green Party's lawyer, Mark Lopez of New York (pictured at
top), Rotman made similar remarks to the General Assembly that were
allowed into evidence.

For more than seven grueling hours in the wood-paneled courtroom, Lopez
laid out a numbers-laden case to prove the law screws third parties and
protects the ones in power. Lopez had one day to make his case to
Underhill before the defendant state Elections Enforcement Commission and
intervening defendants ? New York University's Brennan Center for
Justice, Common Cause and Connecticut Citizen Action Group -- get to
present their side on Wednesday.

THE 'INFERIOR MAJOR PARTY'

The gist of Lopez's argument is this: The Citizens Election Program gives
major parties a benefit that minor parties don't have ? and that's
unconstitutional. The benefit is guaranteed campaign cash, whether they
perform well in elections or not.

As major parties, the Democrats and Republicans are guaranteed public
funds to run for governor, legislature and the constitutional offices
(attorney general, secretary of the state, treasurer and comptroller)
provided they raise a minimal amount of seed money in increments of $100
or less.

Minor parties like the Greens, by contrast, can only get the full grant
if they raise the benchmark amount of cash, and if they won 20 percent of
the vote for a seat the prior election, or submit valid signatures equal
to 20 percent of the vote. Minor candidates can get lesser grant amounts
for lesser shares of the vote --- two-thirds of the grant for 15 percent
and one-third for 10 percent.

Green Party co-chair Mike DeRosa has run for state Senator in Hartford
the last several elections and never once broken the 11 percent
threshold.

De Rosa sat in the front row of the courtroom Tuesday (on those
punishing, church pew-style benches) as his lawyer described the bundles
of money his incumbent Democratic opponent raked in. State Sen. John
Fonfara earned a $75,000 primary grant and $85,000 election grant this
fall even though neither DeRosa nor their Republican challenger qualified
for the public grant and ran on just a few thousand bucks combined. That
created a lopsided election that resulted in Fonfara spending twice what
he has in prior elections against candidates who posed virtually no
threat, Lopez said.

The bottom line, according to Lopez: Republicans are just as hopeless as
the Greens or the Libertarians in certain districts. Why should their
access to the public election trough be any different than a minor
party's? If Republicans had the same qualifying rules as minor parities,
Lopez claimed, many that received public funding this year wouldn't have.

"You can't artificially [give money to] one set of inferior candidates
and not another," Lopez said. "By picking the 20 percent number, the
legislature is conferring serious advantage on an inferior major party
candidate."

Lopez made another point: By the state's own definition, races with a
margin of victory that's 20 points or more are non-competitive. In state
Senate races this year, nine major party candidates who got a full public
grant lost by 20 points or more. In state House races, 33 candidates who
got full grants did.

"Major party candidates who received full funding ? for lack of a better
way to put it ? are getting their heads handed to them," Lopez said.

ROADS NOT TAKEN

Lopez spent the first hour or so laying out proposed fixes to the law
that the legislature never enacted.

One amendment would have banned PACs (political action committees) and
leadership committees (fund-raising committees controlled by the leaders
of the legislature) from raising and spending money on a candidate's
behalf, possibly the biggest loophole heading into the 2010 governor's
race. It died.

So-called "organizational expenditures" are an end-run around the
spending limits that allow special interest PACs to funnel hundreds of
thousands of dollars to candidates they are banned from giving to
directly by funneling it through party and leadership committees that
spend it on their behalf.

That happened to a certain extent this fall ? Fonfara, for instance, took
a gratuitous $4,500 in organization expenditures on top of the $160,000
public largesse ? but will be an even bigger factor in 2010, when
gubernatorial candidates will get just $3 million for the primary and
general elections.

"We have a situation where Gov. Rell could raise another $3 million
through the state central committee," Lopez said. "The party can run a
stealth campaign behind the fa?ade of the public financing program."

Another amendment would have addressed the "exploratory" committee
loophole that Rotman discussed in her memo. It died.

Jeffrey Garfield, diretor of the state Elections Enforcment Commission
and the lead defendant named in the case, even testified before the
legislature on desperately needed fixes that were ignored.

At one point, Judge Underhill asked Lopez: "What is the relevance of
bills not passed, the alternatives not passed?"

Lopez replied: "They show ? did the legislature have alternatives that
were less prohibitive to minor parties?" The answer, Lopez inferred, is
yes.

The state's lawyer, Assistant Attorney General Perry A. Zinn Rowthorn,
said Garfield will testify that his concerns were unfounded.

Rotman says the same thing about the exploratory committee ? kind of. In
a brief chat outside the courtroom during a break, Rotman said candidates
for legislature didn't use exploratory committees to skirt spending
limits, but acknowledged the real test ? the governor's race ?is yet to
happen.

IT WORKS IN MAINE AND ARIZONA

Connecticut's public financing law is based, in part, in ones Maine and
Arizona. Those states set lower limits for third parties to qualify for
public financing, something Lopez argued actually levels the playing
field between major and minor party candidates.

Lopez reminded the court of something even more damning. Connecticut
justifies higher thresholds for third parties, in part, in the name of
protecting the public treasury from frivolous candidates.

But election officials from Maine and Arizona told Connecticut officials
that neither state had such a problem, according to Lopez. The campaign
drain just isn't an issue there.

'I OBJECT'

The defendants had a team of eight lawyers seated around two big wooden
desks. Zinn Rowthorn and his colleagues continually interrupted Lopez to
object to his characterizations of the law, or dispute facts he was
asserting.

Judge Underhill grew less patient over time, telling the defendants
they'd get their turn on Wednesday. You can refute all this tomorrow, the
judge said.

If Lopez is as objectionable, they'll get a taste of it themselves today.





******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From timmckee at mail.com  Thu Dec 11 17:18:50 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:18:50 -0500
Subject: {news} New Haven ADVocate covers Clean election trial day 1
Message-ID: <20081211221850.C84941CE8FB@ws1-6.us4.outblaze.com>

Clean Elections on Trial: Day 1
===============================


Notes from the federal trial challenging Connecticut's historic campaign
finance reform law.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments (0)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
By Andy Bromage Andy Bromage photoMark Lopez, the Green Party of
Connecticut's lawyer, outside federal court in Bridgeport on Day One of
the clean elections trial.

Beth Rotman spends most of her time cheerleading the success of
Connecticut's historic clean elections program. But last year, she penned
a confidential memo to colleagues expressing grave doubts about a
loophole she said could undermine the program.

Rotman, director of the publicly-financed Citizens Election Program,
warned Andy Sauer and Karen Hobert Flynn of Common Cause that candidates
could skirt the Program's spending limits by raising money through
"exploratory" committees. Rotman wrote that because "expenditure limits
apply to the candidate's candidate committee, candidates may use
exploratory committees to raise and spend large sums of money, and
circumvent the overall goals of the Citizens' Election Program."

The memo was one of several pieces of evidence argued over during day one
of a bench trial at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport concerning the
state's fledgling campaign finance reform law. The Green Party of
Connecticut, the ACLU and the lobbyists' association are challenging the
law in the grounds it favors Republicans and Democrats over minor parties
and illegally bars lobbyists from donating to political campaigns.

The Rotman memo was not allowed into evidence because U.S. District Judge
Stefan R. Underhill wasn't convinced that Rotman wrote it in her official
capacity.

"If she writes a holiday card and says, 'Gee, that law we passed really
stinks,'" that wouldn't be admissible, Underhill said from the bench.

Luckily for the Green Party's lawyer, Mark Lopez of New York (pictured at
top), Rotman made similar remarks to the General Assembly that were
allowed into evidence.

For more than seven grueling hours in the wood-paneled courtroom, Lopez
laid out a numbers-laden case to prove the law screws third parties and
protects the ones in power. Lopez had one day to make his case to
Underhill before the defendant state Elections Enforcement Commission and
intervening defendants ? New York University's Brennan Center for
Justice, Common Cause and Connecticut Citizen Action Group -- get to
present their side on Wednesday.

THE 'INFERIOR MAJOR PARTY'

The gist of Lopez's argument is this: The Citizens Election Program gives
major parties a benefit that minor parties don't have ? and that's
unconstitutional. The benefit is guaranteed campaign cash, whether they
perform well in elections or not.

As major parties, the Democrats and Republicans are guaranteed public
funds to run for governor, legislature and the constitutional offices
(attorney general, secretary of the state, treasurer and comptroller)
provided they raise a minimal amount of seed money in increments of $100
or less.

Minor parties like the Greens, by contrast, can only get the full grant
if they raise the benchmark amount of cash, and if they won 20 percent of
the vote for a seat the prior election, or submit valid signatures equal
to 20 percent of the vote. Minor candidates can get lesser grant amounts
for lesser shares of the vote --- two-thirds of the grant for 15 percent
and one-third for 10 percent.

Green Party co-chair Mike DeRosa has run for state Senator in Hartford
the last several elections and never once broken the 11 percent
threshold.

De Rosa sat in the front row of the courtroom Tuesday (on those
punishing, church pew-style benches) as his lawyer described the bundles
of money his incumbent Democratic opponent raked in. State Sen. John
Fonfara earned a $75,000 primary grant and $85,000 election grant this
fall even though neither DeRosa nor their Republican challenger qualified
for the public grant and ran on just a few thousand bucks combined. That
created a lopsided election that resulted in Fonfara spending twice what
he has in prior elections against candidates who posed virtually no
threat, Lopez said.

The bottom line, according to Lopez: Republicans are just as hopeless as
the Greens or the Libertarians in certain districts. Why should their
access to the public election trough be any different than a minor
party's? If Republicans had the same qualifying rules as minor parities,
Lopez claimed, many that received public funding this year wouldn't have.

"You can't artificially [give money to] one set of inferior candidates
and not another," Lopez said. "By picking the 20 percent number, the
legislature is conferring serious advantage on an inferior major party
candidate."

Lopez made another point: By the state's own definition, races with a
margin of victory that's 20 points or more are non-competitive. In state
Senate races this year, nine major party candidates who got a full public
grant lost by 20 points or more. In state House races, 33 candidates who
got full grants did.

"Major party candidates who received full funding ? for lack of a better
way to put it ? are getting their heads handed to them," Lopez said.

ROADS NOT TAKEN

Lopez spent the first hour or so laying out proposed fixes to the law
that the legislature never enacted.

One amendment would have banned PACs (political action committees) and
leadership committees (fund-raising committees controlled by the leaders
of the legislature) from raising and spending money on a candidate's
behalf, possibly the biggest loophole heading into the 2010 governor's
race. It died.

So-called "organizational expenditures" are an end-run around the
spending limits that allow special interest PACs to funnel hundreds of
thousands of dollars to candidates they are banned from giving to
directly by funneling it through party and leadership committees that
spend it on their behalf.

That happened to a certain extent this fall ? Fonfara, for instance, took
a gratuitous $4,500 in organization expenditures on top of the $160,000
public largesse ? but will be an even bigger factor in 2010, when
gubernatorial candidates will get just $3 million for the primary and
general elections.

"We have a situation where Gov. Rell could raise another $3 million
through the state central committee," Lopez said. "The party can run a
stealth campaign behind the fa?ade of the public financing program."

Another amendment would have addressed the "exploratory" committee
loophole that Rotman discussed in her memo. It died.

Jeffrey Garfield, diretor of the state Elections Enforcment Commission
and the lead defendant named in the case, even testified before the
legislature on desperately needed fixes that were ignored.

At one point, Judge Underhill asked Lopez: "What is the relevance of
bills not passed, the alternatives not passed?"

Lopez replied: "They show ? did the legislature have alternatives that
were less prohibitive to minor parties?" The answer, Lopez inferred, is
yes.

The state's lawyer, Assistant Attorney General Perry A. Zinn Rowthorn,
said Garfield will testify that his concerns were unfounded.

Rotman says the same thing about the exploratory committee ? kind of. In
a brief chat outside the courtroom during a break, Rotman said candidates
for legislature didn't use exploratory committees to skirt spending
limits, but acknowledged the real test ? the governor's race ?is yet to
happen.

IT WORKS IN MAINE AND ARIZONA

Connecticut's public financing law is based, in part, in ones Maine and
Arizona. Those states set lower limits for third parties to qualify for
public financing, something Lopez argued actually levels the playing
field between major and minor party candidates.

Lopez reminded the court of something even more damning. Connecticut
justifies higher thresholds for third parties, in part, in the name of
protecting the public treasury from frivolous candidates.

But election officials from Maine and Arizona told Connecticut officials
that neither state had such a problem, according to Lopez. The campaign
drain just isn't an issue there.

'I OBJECT'

The defendants had a team of eight lawyers seated around two big wooden
desks. Zinn Rowthorn and his colleagues continually interrupted Lopez to
object to his characterizations of the law, or dispute facts he was
asserting.

Judge Underhill grew less patient over time, telling the defendants
they'd get their turn on Wednesday. You can refute all this tomorrow, the
judge said.

If Lopez is as objectionable, they'll get a taste of it themselves today.





******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From timmckee at mail.com  Thu Dec 11 17:22:48 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:22:48 -0500
Subject: {news} Clean elections trial Day 2(New Haven Advocate)
Message-ID: <20081211222249.246FE606861@ws1-4.us4.outblaze.com>

Clean Elections On Trial: Day 2
===============================


Notes from the federal trial challenging Connecticut's historic campaign
finance reform law.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments (0)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Andy Bromage Andy Bromage photoYale University Professor Donald Green.

A Yale University professor told a federal judge Wednesday that minor
party candidates get "a fantastically good deal" under the state's new
clean elections system.

The testimony, by political science professor Donald Green, was in stark
contrast to the portrait painted a day earlier by the Green Party of
Connecticut's lawyer, who spent seven hours describing the hurdles third
parties face trying to get funds through the Citizens Election Program.

Green was called as an expert witness for the state Elections Enforcement
Commission during day two of a bench trial in U.S. District Court in
Bridgeport. The Green Party, the ACLU and the lobbyists' association are
challenging the state's campaign finance reform law on the grounds it
imposes stricter rules on minor political parties than on Democrats and
Republicans.

In the calm and precise tone of a scholar, Green refuted the notion that
third parties somehow get the shaft because they must raise seed money
and gather signature petitions to qualify for taxpayer-funded election
grants. Actually, it's a great deal for minor parties, he said.

The Citizens Election Program benefits minor parties in three ways, Green
said: It gives them access to money they wouldn't otherwise have access
to (public election grants that range from $3 million for governor down
to $50,000 for state representative); it helps them build a presence in
neighborhoods by meeting voters during petition drives; and it gives
voters incentive to support third parties because voting for minor party
candidates helps them qualify for ballot access and public money the next
time.

THE 20 PERCENT DOCTRINE

The Green Party's argument is that the law is unconstitutional because it
makes it harder for third parties to secure public cash than for major
parties. Democrats and Republicans are guaranteed public election grants
so long as they raise a base amount of seed money ($15,000 for state
Senate, $250,000 for governor, and varying amounts for other offices) in
amounts of $100 or less.

Minor parties, by contrast, can only get the full grant if they raise the
benchmark amount of cash, and if they won 20 percent of the vote for that
seat the prior election, or collect valid signatures equal to 20 percent
of the voter turnout for the past election. Minor candidates can get
lesser grant amounts for lesser shares of the vote --- two-thirds of the
grant for 15 percent and one-third for 10 percent.

Raising that much money isn't nearly as hard as the Green Party makes it
out to be, the professor testified.

"When you look at the powerful financial incentives the Citizens Election
Program offers, even at 10 percent the threshold is very, very minimal,"
Green said. "A 20 percent petition is less than 10,000 signatures [for
certain races]. Twenty percent is a very low threshold in terms of an
outward expression of electibility."

Prof. Green said there's good reason to set the threshold for full
funding at 20 percent, instead of the 5 percent bar set by public
financing programs in Maine and Arizona. For one thing, it weeds out
"non-serious candidates who embarrass the system" and would erode support
for publicly-funded elections in the legislature. And two, it keeps out
so-called "stalking horse candidates," Democrats or Republicans who would
run a sham campaign as a "third party" candidate to divide the
opposition.

But U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill saw an inherent flaw in
Green's logic: If collecting signatures from 20 percent of the voting
public is so easy (for minor parties), then how would it deter major
parties from running stalking horse candidates anyway? "You can't have it
both ways," the judge said.

MAJOR VS. MINOR

What makes someone a major political party? In Connecticut, the number 20
does.

Parties that have 20 percent of registered voters with them are
considered a major party. All others ? the Greens, the Libertarians, the
Working Families Party, Connecticut For Lieberman ? are considered minor.

The constitutional question that came into focus Wednesday, and that
could end up deciding the case, was this: At what level can the threshold
for qualifying for full public financing constitutionally be set? The
clean elections law sets it at 20 percent, same as the bar for major
party status.

Underhill questioned how realistic it is to expect a minor party
candidate to qualify for public financing in the 2010 governor's race.
Doing so would require getting around 100,000 valid signatures, roughly
20 percent of the vote total from 2006. Many times campaigns collect
twice as many petitions as actually needed to account for ones that don't
check out. For governor, that would mean 200,000 petitions, and at $2 per
signature (the going rate for professional canvassers) that would cost
$400,000, more than the amount allotted candidates during the qualifying
period.

As the day wore on, Underhill pressed a defense lawyer, Monica Youn of
the Brennan Center for Justice, which has teamed up with the state to
defend the law, about why a hopeless Republican running in a Democratic
stronghold like Bridgeport, for instance, should be treated any different
than a hopeless Green running anywhere else.

Underhill: "What evidence did the legislature consider when setting the
thresholds?"

Youn: "The legislature did not specifically look at statistics for
petitioning. What they did was look at the 10, 15 and 20 percent
benchmarks with regards to fundraising and petitioning."

Youn noted than in 2006, 22 out of 168 minor party and petitioning
candidates in state elections
(about 13 percent) received over 10 percent of the vote, meaning they
would qualify for some level of public financing in 2008.

Youn: "The evidence shows a viable minor party candidate would be able to
hit the threshold."

Then Youn took on what is often whispered about, if not expressly said.

"The suggestion that two major parties work together to keep out minor
party candidates just doesn't hold up as a matter of logic. The major
parties aren't worried about minor parties. They're worried about the
other major party. This idea that they're working together to protect a
duopoly is just fiction."

Underhill's questions eventually boiled down to this: Why should a major
party with a history of poor performance in a district (say, the
Republican Party in Bridgeport) be treated any differently than a minor
party? If Bridgeport was so solidly Democrat that Republicans didn't run
candidates there for years, why shouldn't they have to petition to
publicly finance a campaign there same as the Greens?

The answer given by Prof. Green and the defense was basically that the
Republicans, in this instance, have a greater level of "latent" support
around the state than minor parties have, as evidenced by broad support
for certain GOP candidates, like the popular Gov. Jodi Rell.

"Even in one-party dominant districts, the lesser majority party usually
gets 20 percent," Youn told the judge.

"If the legislature had wanted to discriminate, they couldn't have found
a better number than 20 percent," Underhill replied.

WHAT'S NEXT

This week's bench trial is a facial hearing, weighing the
constitutionality of the law on its face, or as written.

The parties will reconvene in Bridgeport on Thursday to summarize their
arguments, and come back in March with complete data from the 2008
election to argue the law "as applied," in other words, does the law have
a discriminatory effect in its application?

Stay tuned.


******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From roseberry3 at cox.net  Sun Dec 14 23:44:09 2008
From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry)
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:44:09 -0500
Subject: {news}
	proposed 12-16-08 EC meeting at ** 74 Tremont Street, Hartford,
	CT  06105
Message-ID: <20081215044410.TPYS18445.eastrmmtao103.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net>

**EC meeting is at the home of Stephen Fournier.

 

Discuss potential short and long term goals of the Green Party of CT

 

Develop the agenda for the 12-30-08 SCC meeting as indicated below:

 

Proposed agenda for the 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior
Center

Location: Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT  06480

Facilitator:  To Be Determined

 

A.      Preliminaries:

1.       (1 minute): Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees; chapters;
if quorum was met; timekeeper; ground rules.

2.       (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda, any deletions
or additions.

3.       (2-4 minutes): Review and approval of minutes of last SCC meeting.

4.     (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.

 

B.     Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee.

 

C. Reports:

1. (10 minutes): GPUS Presidential Candidate: Cynthia McKinney: write-in
issues at polling places;Secretary of State apparently has not counted
write-in votes from at least the following cities/towns: New Haven,
Manchester, Wethersfield.  .

 

2. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of
GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National
Committee Members: Steve Fournier, Richard Duffee and S. Michael DeRosa.  

 


3. (10-15 minutes):  Steven Fournier, endorsed 1st Congressional District
CTGP candidate: overview of campaign.

 

4. (10-15 minutes): G.Scott Dehefy, endorsed 2nd Congressional District CTGP
candidate: overview of campaign.      

 

5.  (10-15 minutes):  Ralph Ferrucci, endorsed candidate for the 3rd
Congressional District line: overview of campaign.

 

6.   (10-15 minutes):  Richard Duffee, 4th Congressional District CTGP
candidate; overview of campaign.

 

7.  (10-15 minutes): Harold Burbank, Green Party of CT candidate for 5th
Congressional District; overview of campaign.

 

8.  (15-20 minutes): Discussion about the results of the other CTGP
candidates: David Bedell for Stamford Registrar of Voters; Keith Brooks for
Weston Registrar of Voters; Charles Pillsbury for New Haven Registrar of
Voters; Remy Chevalier for the 135th District  of the CT House;  Colin
Bennett for the 33rd CT Senate District; Zaac Chaves for the 36th CT Senate
District; Mary T. Farrell for Stamford Board of Education; Kenric M. Hansen
for 39th CT House District.

 

9.  (5-10minutes): CTGP literature.

 

10. (5-10 minutes): Fundraising for CTGP.

 

11. (10-15 minutes): ACLU lawsuit update.

 

12. (5-10 minutes): CTGP potential goals for 2009.

 

13.  (2-5 minutes, each):  Chapter reports.

 

14.  Date and place for the 1-27-09, Tuesday SCC meeting.  Date, place and
time of next EC meeting in 1-09: to be determined.

 

15.    Any additions

 

Green Party Key Values: non-violence, respect for diversity, grassroots
democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom,
decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, future
focus and sustainability, personal and global responsibility, feminism and
gender 

 

 

 

 


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.18/1848 - Release Date: 12/14/2008
12:28 PM
 
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From rstuller at snet.net  Mon Dec 15 16:47:19 2008
From: rstuller at snet.net (Ronna Stuller)
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:47:19 -0500
Subject: {news} proposed 12-16-08 EC meeting at ** 74 Tremont Street,
	Hartford, CT  06105
In-Reply-To: <20081215044410.TPYS18445.eastrmmtao103.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net>
References: <20081215044410.TPYS18445.eastrmmtao103.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net>
Message-ID: <FE074BC1-EE23-48D5-9E5D-AAFC13D6FCFE@snet.net>

I just was informed that State Sen. Mary Ann Handley is planning to  
introduce a bill that would nullify Real ID in CT.  Maybe we should  
add an item to the SCC agenda to discuss this initiative and perhaps  
organize in support of it.

Ronna



On Dec 14, 2008, at 11:44 PM, B Barry wrote:
>
> *EC meeting is at the home of Stephen Fournier.
>
> Discuss potential short and long term goals of the Green Party of CT
>
> Develop the agenda for the 12-30-08 SCC meeting as indicated below:
>
> Proposed agenda for the 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland  
> Senior Center
> Location: Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT   
> 06480
> Facilitator:  To Be Determined
>
> A.      Preliminaries:
> 1.       (1 minute): Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees;  
> chapters; if quorum was met; timekeeper; ground rules.
> 2.       (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda, any  
> deletions or additions.
> 3.       (2-4 minutes): Review and approval of minutes of last SCC  
> meeting.
> 4.     (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.
>
> B.     Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee.
>
> C. Reports:
> 1. (10 minutes): GPUS Presidential Candidate: Cynthia McKinney:  
> write-in issues at polling places;Secretary of State apparently has  
> not counted write-in votes from at least the following cities/towns:  
> New Haven, Manchester, Wethersfield.  .
>
> 2. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co- 
> chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie  
> Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Steve Fournier, Richard  
> Duffee and S. Michael DeRosa.
>
> 3. (10-15 minutes):  Steven Fournier, endorsed 1st Congressional  
> District CTGP candidate: overview of campaign.
>
> 4. (10-15 minutes): G.Scott Dehefy, endorsed 2nd Congressional  
> District CTGP candidate: overview of campaign.
>
> 5.  (10-15 minutes):  Ralph Ferrucci, endorsed candidate for the 3rd  
> Congressional District line: overview of campaign.
>
> 6.   (10-15 minutes):  Richard Duffee, 4th Congressional District  
> CTGP candidate; overview of campaign.
>
> 7.  (10-15 minutes): Harold Burbank, Green Party of CT candidate for  
> 5th Congressional District; overview of campaign.
>
> 8.  (15-20 minutes): Discussion about the results of the other CTGP  
> candidates: David Bedell for Stamford Registrar of Voters; Keith  
> Brooks for Weston Registrar of Voters; Charles Pillsbury for New  
> Haven Registrar of Voters; Remy Chevalier for the 135th District  of  
> the CT House;  Colin Bennett for the 33rd CT Senate District; Zaac  
> Chaves for the 36th CT Senate District; Mary T. Farrell for Stamford  
> Board of Education; Kenric M. Hansen for 39th CT House District.
>
> 9.  (5-10minutes): CTGP literature.
>
> 10. (5-10 minutes): Fundraising for CTGP.
>
> 11. (10-15 minutes): ACLU lawsuit update.
>
> 12. (5-10 minutes): CTGP potential goals for 2009.
>
> 13.  (2-5 minutes, each):  Chapter reports.
>
> 14.  Date and place for the 1-27-09, Tuesday SCC meeting.  Date,  
> place and time of next EC meeting in 1-09: to be determined.
>
> 15.    Any additions
>
> Green Party Key Values: non-violence, respect for diversity,  
> grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity,  
> ecological wisdom, decentralization, community-based economics and  
> economic justice, future focus and sustainability, personal and  
> global responsibility, feminism and gender equality
>
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From efficacy at msn.com  Tue Dec 16 21:56:39 2008
From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton)
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:56:39 -0500
Subject: {news} FW: Six Green solutions to the economic meltdown
In-Reply-To: <c95.40e66c46.3679b6f8@aol.com>
References: <c95.40e66c46.3679b6f8@aol.com>
Message-ID: <BAY127-W32EEC60E53922FEC294A25D1F20@phx.gbl>




Efficacy
PO Box 1234
860 657 8438
Hartford, CT 06143
efficacy at msn.com
www.Efficacy-online.org
 
"THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"

Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit
501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are tax
deductible



From: Rbtfield at aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:59:20 -0500
Subject: Re: Six Green solutions to the economic meltdown
To: efficacy at msn.com; hmichaelgray at sbcglobal.net; zeese at csdp.org
CC: Korea92 at aol.com








Paint me Green from now on!
 

In a message dated 12/16/2008 3:49:20 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
efficacy at msn.com writes:

  
    
    
      
        
          
          
            FYI

Check number six


          
            Six Green solutions to the economic 
              meltdown
          
            letters at TimesRecord.Com
          
            

12/13/2008

http://www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/news.nsf/0/CA6E4BFEB4095D768525751E007618D1?Opendocument

          
            By Scott McLarty

If we're serious about 
              reversing the economic crisis and ending the recession, we should 
              take a step back and examine how our taxpayer dollars are being 
              spent.

The sit-in at the Republican Windows and Doors plant 
              in Chicago over the past few days revealed how little the bailouts 
              are helping working Americans who face financial hardship. The 
              plant was shut down and workers were laid off with three days' 
              notice (the law requires 60 days) and told they had no assurance 
              of receiving severance and unused vacation pay.

The 
              company's creditor, Bank of America, received $25 billion from the 
              government's bailout package, none of which helped the Republican 
              employees, until a settlement was reached Wednesday evening that 
              met the employees' demands.

One of the contributions of 
              political parties outside the mainstream is that they provide a 
              fresh approach to problems, without the assumptions on which 
              decisions are made in the two-party paradigm. It's unlikely, for 
              example, that most Republican and Democratic politicians will 
              admit that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or our inefficient 
              health care system have aggravated the current crisis.

In 
              September, 2008 Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney 
              published a 10-point list of solutions and reforms in response to 
              the Wall Street meltdown titled "Seize the Time" 
              (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=106). This week, the 
              Green Party published a list of six solutions to the deepening 
              crisis.

The solutions, if enacted, would restore financial 
              security for Americans, but they also address some of the other 
              challenges of the 21st century, including the need to curb global 
              warming. Here they are:

? 1.) Enact a massive Green public 
              works program, creating new living-wage jobs in conservation 
              (including weatherization and energy retro-fitting); clean and 
              safe energy technologies to replace fossil fuel and nuclear 
              sources and create a carbon-free economy; repair and improvement 
              of America's deteriorating infrastructure (especially water and 
              sewer systems); and improvement of public schools and Green job 
              training programs.

"The collapse of the I-35 bridge in 
              Minneapolis in 2007 was a result of the neglect and starvation of 
              funds for maintaining infrastructure that was built decades ago," 
              said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for vice 
              president (http://www.rosaclemente.com). "The ideology of 
              privatization and hostility to 'big government' is no longer 
              tenable during the financial crisis ? the current White House and 
              Congress conceded as much when they began pushing for bailouts. 
              Public works programs built America, and public works, with 
              hundreds of thousands of new Green jobs, is what America needs now 
              for economic recovery."

"We're encouraged that 
              President-elect Obama intends to launch a public works program 
              along these basic lines, but we hope Congress and his own 
              administration don't undermine and dilute such a program out of 
              traditional Democratic and Republican loyalty to corporate 
              interests and fear of being labeled liberal or socialist. It's 
              time to follow the lead of the Green Jobs For All movement," Ms. 
              Clemente added.

? 2.) Bail out financially ailing towns, 
              cities, and states before bailing out private corporations: 
              millions of public sector and contractor jobs depend on the fiscal 
              security of municipal and state governments.

Greens noted 
              that municipalities and states are businesses that drive state and 
              local economies throughout the US. They also provide the social 
              safety net that millions of working people need during the current 
              crisis.

? 3.) Jumpstart our country's mass transit system, 
              giving people an alternative to cars while saving them money and 
              providing jobs.

"Making autos more efficient will only get 
              us part way toward solving our energy and climate challenges," 
              said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Green Party's EcoAction 
              Committee. "We need to get people out of their cars altogether. 
              Communities need the ability to provide local solutions for mass 
              transportation: new trains, subways, light rail wherever they 
              fit." 

? 4.) Enact a single-payer/Medicare For All national 
              health plan, providing every American with coverage and removing 
              the burden of health care from small and large private 
              businesses.

"The skyrocketing cost of health care under our 
              private health care system has created much of the economic 
              instability as businesses struggle to provide workers health 
              benefits," said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the 
              United States. "If President Obama and Congress have the political 
              will to resist the power of the insurance, HMO, and pharmaceutical 
              industries that siphon their profits off America's need for health 
              care, the relief that single-payer will be a huge economic 
              boost."

Single-payer would cover all Americans regardless 
              of income, employment, residence, age, or prior medical condition, 
              allowing choice of health care provider, and costing working 
              people far less than they now pay for private coverage. 

In 
              2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article 
              estimating that single-payer could cut health care costs by 
              

$350 billion annually 
              (http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf). Greens sharply 
              criticized Barack Obama during the election season for rejecting 
              single-payer out of concern for health insurance 
              companies.

? 5.) End the occupations of Iraq and 
              Afghanistan.

"The staggering expense of the Iraq and 
              Afghanistan invasions and occupations haven't only cost American, 
              Iraqi, and Afghan lives," said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the 
              Lavender Green Caucus. "It also ate up trillions of dollars away 
              that could have been spent on human and environmental needs. If we 
              call home our troops right now, we can divert the money needed for 
              military occupations to Green public works and other programs to 
              jumpstart the economy ? a new peace dividend."

The Green 
              Party opposed both wars from the beginning and has criticized Mr. 
              Obama's plans for delayed and partial troop withdrawal from Iraq 
              and for sending more troops to Afghanistan.

? 6.) End the 
              war on drugs, which wastes billions annually, hasn't curbed drug 
              use, and ruins lives by incarcerating nonviolent offenders (mostly 
              young, African American, Latino, and poor white) at further 
              government expense.

"The war on drugs is America's longest 
              and costliest war. With Afghanistan providing the world's biggest 
              poppy crop, it's one of the main reasons the U.S. is fighting a 
              war there," said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party and 
              co-founder of Efficacy, Inc. (http://www.efficacy-online.org), 
              which promotes major reforms in drug policy.

Harvard 
              economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that legalizing cannabis ? a 
              drug far less harmful than alcohol ? would save federal, state, 
              and local governments $44 billion a year in enforcement costs 
              (http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html). Governments 
              could collect another $33 billion in revenues by taxing cannabis 
              as heavily as alcohol and tobacco.

Scott McLarty serves 
              as Media coordinator for the Green Party of the United States 
              (http://www.gp.org). He lives in Washington, 
        D.C.
        Top of Story

      
      
        
          
          
            
              OTHER SECTIONS 

        
          
          
            
              ADVERTISEMENT
          
            
               
               
               
              
    
      

      
      
        

  
    
    
      
        
          
          
            
          
            Six Green solutions to the economic 
              meltdown
          
            letters at TimesRecord.Com
          
            12/13/2008
          
            By Scott McLarty

If we're serious about 
              reversing the economic crisis and ending the recession, we should 
              take a step back and examine how our taxpayer dollars are being 
              spent.

The sit-in at the Republican Windows and Doors plant 
              in Chicago over the past few days revealed how little the bailouts 
              are helping working Americans who face financial hardship. The 
              plant was shut down and workers were laid off with three days' 
              notice (the law requires 60 days) and told they had no assurance 
              of receiving severance and unused vacation pay.

The 
              company's creditor, Bank of America, received $25 billion from the 
              government's bailout package, none of which helped the Republican 
              employees, until a settlement was reached Wednesday evening that 
              met the employees' demands.

One of the contributions of 
              political parties outside the mainstream is that they provide a 
              fresh approach to problems, without the assumptions on which 
              decisions are made in the two-party paradigm. It's unlikely, for 
              example, that most Republican and Democratic politicians will 
              admit that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or our inefficient 
              health care system have aggravated the current crisis.

In 
              September, 2008 Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney 
              published a 10-point list of solutions and reforms in response to 
              the Wall Street meltdown titled "Seize the Time" 
              (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=106). This week, the 
              Green Party published a list of six solutions to the deepening 
              crisis.

The solutions, if enacted, would restore financial 
              security for Americans, but they also address some of the other 
              challenges of the 21st century, including the need to curb global 
              warming. Here they are:

? 1.) Enact a massive Green public 
              works program, creating new living-wage jobs in conservation 
              (including weatherization and energy retro-fitting); clean and 
              safe energy technologies to replace fossil fuel and nuclear 
              sources and create a carbon-free economy; repair and improvement 
              of America's deteriorating infrastructure (especially water and 
              sewer systems); and improvement of public schools and Green job 
              training programs.

"The collapse of the I-35 bridge in 
              Minneapolis in 2007 was a result of the neglect and starvation of 
              funds for maintaining infrastructure that was built decades ago," 
              said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for vice 
              president (http://www.rosaclemente.com). "The ideology of 
              privatization and hostility to 'big government' is no longer 
              tenable during the financial crisis ? the current White House and 
              Congress conceded as much when they began pushing for bailouts. 
              Public works programs built America, and public works, with 
              hundreds of thousands of new Green jobs, is what America needs now 
              for economic recovery."

"We're encouraged that 
              President-elect Obama intends to launch a public works program 
              along these basic lines, but we hope Congress and his own 
              administration don't undermine and dilute such a program out of 
              traditional Democratic and Republican loyalty to corporate 
              interests and fear of being labeled liberal or socialist. It's 
              time to follow the lead of the Green Jobs For All movement," Ms. 
              Clemente added.

? 2.) Bail out financially ailing towns, 
              cities, and states before bailing out private corporations: 
              millions of public sector and contractor jobs depend on the fiscal 
              security of municipal and state governments.

Greens noted 
              that municipalities and states are businesses that drive state and 
              local economies throughout the US. They also provide the social 
              safety net that millions of working people need during the current 
              crisis.

? 3.) Jumpstart our country's mass transit system, 
              giving people an alternative to cars while saving them money and 
              providing jobs.

"Making autos more efficient will only get 
              us part way toward solving our energy and climate challenges," 
              said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Green Party's EcoAction 
              Committee. "We need to get people out of their cars altogether. 
              Communities need the ability to provide local solutions for mass 
              transportation: new trains, subways, light rail wherever they 
              fit." 

? 4.) Enact a single-payer/Medicare For All national 
              health plan, providing every American with coverage and removing 
              the burden of health care from small and large private 
              businesses.

"The skyrocketing cost of health care under our 

              private health care system has created much of the economic 
              instability as businesses struggle to provide workers health 
              benefits," said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the 
              United States. "If President Obama and Congress have the political 
              will to resist the power of the insurance, HMO, and pharmaceutical 
              industries that siphon their profits off America's need for health 
              care, the relief that single-payer will be a huge economic 
              boost."

Single-payer would cover all Americans regardless 
              of income, employment, residence, age, or prior medical condition, 
              allowing choice of health care provider, and costing working 
              people far less than they now pay for private coverage. 

In 
              2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article 
              estimating that single-payer could cut health care costs by 
              

$350 billion annually 
              (http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf). Greens sharply 
              criticized Barack Obama during the election season for rejecting 
              single-payer out of concern for health insurance 
              companies.

? 5.) End the occupations of Iraq and 
              Afghanistan.

"The staggering expense of the Iraq and 
              Afghanistan invasions and occupations haven't only cost American, 
              Iraqi, and Afghan lives," said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the 
              Lavender Green Caucus. "It also ate up trillions of dollars away 
              that could have been spent on human and environmental needs. If we 
              call home our troops right now, we can divert the money needed for 
              military occupations to Green public works and other programs to 
              jumpstart the economy ? a new peace dividend."

The Green 
              Party opposed both wars from the beginning and has criticized Mr. 
              Obama's plans for delayed and partial troop withdrawal from Iraq 
              and for sending more troops to Afghanistan.

? 6.) End the 
              war on drugs, which wastes billions annually, hasn't curbed drug 
              use, and ruins lives by incarcerating nonviolent offenders (mostly 
              young, African American, Latino, and poor white) at further 
              government expense.

"The war on drugs is America's longest 
              and costliest war. With Afghanistan providing the world's biggest 
              poppy crop, it's one of the main reasons the U.S. is fighting a 
              war there," said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party and 
              co-founder of Efficacy, Inc. (http://www.efficacy-online.org), 
              which promotes major reforms in drug policy.

Harvard 
              economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that legalizing cannabis ? a 
              drug far less harmful than alcohol ? would save federal, state, 
              and local governments $44 billion a year in enforcement costs 
              (http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html). Governments 
              could collect another $33 billion in revenues by taxing cannabis 
              as heavily as alcohol and tobacco.

Scott McLarty serves 
              as Media coordinator for the Green Party of the United States 
              (http://www.gp.org). He lives in Washington, 
        D.C.
        Top of Story

      
      
        
          
          
            
              OTHER SECTIONS 

        
          
          
            
              ADVERTISEMENT
          
            
               
               
               
              
    
      

      
      
        


Efficacy PO 
  Box 1234 860 657 8438 Hartford, CT 06143 efficacy at msn.com 
  www.Efficacy-online.org "THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON" Working to 
  end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit 501 (c) 3 
  organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are tax 
  deductible

=


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From smderosa at cox.net  Thu Dec 18 00:16:27 2008
From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa)
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:16:27 -0500
Subject: {news} Hartford Advocate News - No Major Party Left Behind
Message-ID: <7ADAD05306E24F6FB7E7A150248B0A16@OwnerPC>

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News

No Major Party Left Behind


Greens grumble that the state's clean-elections law makes independents jump
through more hoops for campaign aid

Comments (3) <>
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By Andy Bromage
  <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/sortable/image/ht51nc1%2Ejpg> Andy
Bromage photo
Green Party attorney Mark Lopez: Independent candidates are stuck.


Only the Green Party could complain about a state law that gives them keys
to a campaign war chest with more cash inside than they've ever dreamed of.

When's the last time you heard of a Green raising more than a few thousand
bucks to run for statewide office, or winning more than the usual 5 or 6
percent? The new Citizens' Election Program promises third parties up to $3
million in public money to run for office - the same as any Democrat or
Republican!

But there were the Greens in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport last week,
telling a judge that Connecticut's clean elections law is unconstitutional
because it makes minor parties work harder for campaign cash than
Republicans and Democrats. After two full days of testimony, their points
actually started making sense.

With receipts from Connecticut's first clean election not even tallied,
state officials found themselves back in court last week defending the
program, passed in 2005 after a string of embarrassing pay-for-play scandals
sent a host of public officials to prison.

The Green Party of Connecticut, along with the American Civil Liberties
Union and the lobbyists' association, are challenging the Citizens' Election
Program (CEP) on the grounds it discriminates against minor parties and
illegally bars lobbyists from donating to political campaigns.

The two-day bench trial was called to answer one question: Does the law, on
its face, discriminate against third parties?

Consider a few facts:

* Under the CEP, Republicans and Democrats are guaranteed public money to
run for governor, legislature and other state offices if they raise a base
amount of seed money in increments of $100 or less.

* Minor party candidates only get the full grant if they raise seed money
and if they won 20 percent of the vote for that seat in the prior election -
or collect signed petitions equal to 20 percent. They can get lesser grant
amounts for lesser shares of the vote: two-thirds of the grant for 15
percent, and one-third for 10 percent.

* Democrats and Republicans can get lucrative primary grants if they're
challenged from within, no matter how hopeless their opponent is. That
money's effectively off-limits to third parties, who almost never face
primaries.

* The CEP allows political parties to make "organizational expenditures" on
behalf of candidates, for consultants, literature and the like. That's a
huge advantage for Democrats and Republicans because it permits special
interest PACs and rich donors to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to
candidates they're barred from giving to directly, by passing it through
party fundraising committees.

* Nothing stops candidates from raising and spending unlimited money under
"exploratory" committees, then joining the public program at the last
possible moment. That again favors the major parties, which have party
infrastructure and a vast network of deep-pocketed donors already in place.

Qualifying might be doable in a state senate race, for instance, where you
might need 5,000 petitions to get the full $85,000 grant.

But what about the 2010 governor's race, when a candidate will, by one
estimate, need 400,000 signatures to qualify for public money? That's not
possible, according to Green Party attorney Mark Lopez. For one thing, at $2
per signature (a typical rate paid to canvassers) the $800,000 price-tag
would exceed the amount you're legally allowed to spend during the
qualifying period.

"You're in a box," Lopez told the court. "You can't get out if you're an
independent candidate."



Donald Green has a different theory on what's keeping the Green Party down:
Voters don't like them.

"Minor parties tend to have very little appeal to the voters," says Green, a
Yale University political science professor who testified as an expert
witness for the state. "The real reason there isn't support is the party's
position and organization."

Or lack of organization. The Greens field candidates (they ran a full slate
for Congress this year), but their efforts at party-building and voter
outreach are severely lacking, to say the least. That can make it hard to
sympathize.

Professor Green and the state's lawyers spent the better part of day two in
the wood-paneled courtroom telling U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill
why the 20 percent threshold makes sense and why meeting the threshold isn't
as hard as Greens make it seem.

Under state statute, political parties achieve major party status once 20
percent of state voters register with them. Setting the bar for full funding
at 20 percent, instead of 5 percent like programs in Maine and Arizona do,
weeds out "non-serious" candidates whose antics would waste taxpayer money
and erode support for the program in the legislature, Green said. And it
keeps out so-called "stalking horse candidates," Democrats or Republicans
running sham campaigns in the guise of a "third party" purely to divide the
opposition.

But Judge Underhill saw an inherent flaw in the professor's logic: If
collecting signatures from 20 percent of the voting public is so easy (for
minor parties), then how would it deter major parties from running stalking
horse candidates anyway? "You can't have it both ways," the judge said.



Underhill probed an even bigger flaw: Republicans are just as unelectable as
Greens in some parts of the state - like right here in Bridgeport. Why
should Greens have to petition for public funds in those districts and not
the GOP?, Underhill asked.

The state's answer: Because even in places like Bridgeport, Republicans,
when they do run, outperform minor parties.

But it wasn't third parties wasting taxpayer dollars on legislative races
they couldn't possibly win this year. It was largely Republicans, and a few
Democrats.

Consider that in 2008, five minor-party candidates qualified for some level
of public funds, all of whom lost badly. Meanwhile, there were nine
major-party candidates for Senate and 33 for House who lost by 20 points or
more and still received the full public election grant. That's $85,000 for
Senate, $25,000 for House. In Greater Hartford, Democratic Sen. Eric Coleman
beat Republican long-shot Veronica Airey-Wilson 77-23. In Fairfield County,
Democrat Sen. Bob Duff crushed Republican Steven Papadakos 70-30.

You tell me who's a bigger drain on the clean election fund.|

E-mail
<mailto:editor at hartfordadvocate.com?subject=letter%20to%20the%20editor> us

Comments (3)
?Post a Comment
First of all get your story right! Your presentages are way off on the
races!
Posted by Mark Gonzales on 12.16.08 at 14.05
Of course, when Republicans and CEOs get big checks from the government for
sitting on their butts, it's not "welfare", it's "stimulus".
Separate but equal is not equal. A system of first-class parties and
second-class parties has no place in a democracy. Everyone should have to
gather signatures, or no one should.
The problems that this alleged professor is warning about don't exist in
Maine or Arizona, where the threshold of support for receiving public
financing is 5%. Looks like professor Green (professor anti-Green?) didn't
do his homework.
Posted by greenferret <http://greenferret.wordpress.com/>  on 12.16.08 at
23.26
"But it wasn't third parties wasting taxpayer dollars on legislative races
they couldn't possibly win this year. It was largely Republicans, and a few
Democrats."

This is the real outcome of diverting taxpayer dollars from other priorities
to politicians' campaign coffers. Marginal candidates, otherwise destined to
be crushed by 20 points or more, are entitled to taxpayer money so they can
maybe lessen their loss by a few percentage points on election day.

The same people get elected, and they then go on to vote exactly the same
way as before when they were supposedly influenced by so-called "special
interest" money.

This whole thing is a scam, and the Greens' protest is just one facet of the
scheme.

Sean Parnell
President
Center for Competitive Politics
www.campaignfreedom.org
sparnell at campaignfreedom.org
Posted by Sean Parnell <http://www.campaignfreedom.org>  on 12.17.08 at 5.59

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A  <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10979> Looming Battle
MDC says not to worry, minorities will get their share of the work on the
massive Clean Water Project. Others aren't so sure.
By Daniel D'Ambrosio
12/18/2008
No  <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10967> Major Party Left
Behind
Greens grumble that the state's clean-elections law makes independents jump
through more hoops for campaign aid
By Andy Bromage
12/18/2008
Homelessness Grows <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10975>
Salvation Army asks city for $33,000 to fund overflow shelter for women and
children
By Daniel D'Ambrosio
12/18/2008
Thoreauly Modern Henry
<http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10981>
His "last lecture" may be our first alert
By Alan Bisbort
12/18/2008
Letter to the Editor <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10976>

There are people out there who don't take mints because they fear stinking.
They just don't want to smell bad.
By our readers
12/18/2008
Andean Delicacies <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10904>
Peruvians in Hartford showcase the breadth of their homeland's culinary
traditions
By Nathan Paluck
12/11/2008
Save  <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10871> the Fish
Millstone Power Station is looking to renew its water discharge permit,
which would allow for the continuation of mass fish-killing
By Andy Bromage
12/11/2008
Giving 'Til It Hurts <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=10903>

Money for nothing, and the crooks go free
By Alan Bisbort
12/11/2008

Hartford  <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/index.cfm> Advocate   |   Contact
Us <http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/contact.cfm>
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Copyright (c) 2008 by New Mass Media.



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From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Fri Dec 19 00:51:03 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:51:03 -0500
Subject: {news} green candidate in Long Island Sound
Message-ID: <BLU102-DAV11FEFA7E57886F28965F28D6F00@phx.gbl>

This is just for fun--I didn't know we had a green micronation in our
backyard, between Mystic and Fisher's Island.  If anyone gets an invitation
to North Dumpling Island, it could be worth the visit.

David Bedell


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/22/segway_inventor_touts_island_as_an_energy_model

Segway inventor touts island as an energy model

By John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer  |  November 22, 2008

MYSTIC, Conn. --Energy independence is still only a hypothetical goal for
the U.S., but the owner of a tiny island off the coast of Connecticut says
he has already achieved that feat and is offering his work as a model.

Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and numerous medical devices, jokingly
refers to his North Dumpling Island as an independent nation and himself as
Lord Dumpling. Kamen claims to have his own currency and offers visas to
visitors to the tiny island a few miles from Mystic, where he is the only
resident.

But Kamen, who bought the three-acre island in the 1980s as a retreat, is
serious about energy independence and the lessons it offers at a time of
volatile gas prices and fears about global warming.

"The rest of the world will eventually catch up if the Dumplonians can get
their message out," Kamen said.

Kamen's energy plan began when the Coast Guard recently notified him that it
was cutting off electrical service to the rocky island, part of New York
state, because it was switching to solar energy to power a lighthouse.

"That can typically ruin your day," said Kamen.

Then he had an epiphany: Why not make the island energy self-sufficient and
a showcase to the world.

Kamen, a prolific inventor who has hundreds of patents, already had been
working on energy conservation projects that he has introduced in poor
countries.

He also figured his island's timely new status could be used to draw
attention to the annual high school robotics competition he created called
FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Kamen
believes that by getting children excited about science and technology, the
robotics competition is creating a large pool of innovators who can
eventually solve the world's energy crisis and other challenges.

Kamen granted "visas" to representatives of a select group of corporate
sponsors such as Wal-Mart and other companies, inviting them to North
Dumpling Island to brainstorm about his plans for the island and how it
could be used to raise awareness and money for his robotics competition.

Visitors arrived on a wind-swept day, with Kamen's wind turbine spinning a
generator and solar panels facing the sky. A replica of Stonehenge is lit up
with green LED lights that use less electricity than common incandescent
light bulbs.

Kamen has been installing LED lights all over the island.

"We have zero tolerance for filaments," he said of incandescent bulbs.

Philips Color Kenetics, a Massachusetts-based company doing the project to
draw attention to LEDs, says the lights cut Kamen's electrical use at least
in half.

The tiny island even has rapid transit -- Kamen's Segways. He says the
self-balancing, two-wheel vehicles go up to 12 mph, faster than traffic
moves in most major cities around the world, and his point is underscored as
a Segway rider zips past.

Kamen says his island nation will distribute the technology he is
demonstrating to poor countries.

"It will be part of our foreign aid program," Kamen says.

Kamen showed his visitors his basement water purification system, which he
already has put to work in Honduras. The system can turn water from any
source into clean drinking water free of disease, he said.

He also demonstrated the energy-efficient Stirling engine that he has used
in Bangladesh to produce electricity by burning methane gas generated by cow
manure.

Before Kamen can show off his green nation, he says he'll have to win
"re-election." The campaign even features negative advertising, with "Dump
Dumpy '08" signs abounding on the island.

"I'm quite sure I'm going to win again," says the island's sole resident.
"I'm the only green candidate."

? Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company




From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Sat Dec 20 11:55:44 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:55:44 -0500
Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Minutes of the 16th Meeting of Green Parties of
	theAmericas
Message-ID: <005001c962c3$cf2d7f60$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>

Minutes of the 16th Meeting of Green Parties of the AmericDear All,

Pasted below are the minutes of the recent (annual) meeting of the Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas of which USGP is a member. Tony Affigne, IC member and USGP rep to the Federation, did an excellent job facilitating the meeting.  He prepared these minutes.

As many of you know, a Global Green Network was founded in Canberra in 2002. It is the organization of international Green Parties who share common Green principles, administered very informally through a Global Green Coordination (GGC).  Green Parties belong to different federations--Federation of the Americas, European Federation, Asia Pacific Federation-- from which representatives are sent to the GGC.  (In fact, my fellow IC  co-chair, Julia Willebrand, is currently one of 3 co-presidents of the Federation and a representative from our Federation to the GGC.)  At the second GG meeting in Sao Paulo last spring, people agreed to have some kind of secretariat for the GGN in order to enhance relations among individual green parties world wide. A work plan for that Secretariat is included in the minutes below.

I look forward to any comments you may have and would be happy to answer any questions raised by these minutes..

Peace, 
Justine McCabe     



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tony Affigne 
To: usgp-int at gp-us.org 
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 9:16 AM
Subject: USGP-INT Minutes of the 16th Meeting of Green Parties of theAmericas


IC Colleagues:


The official minutes of last month's meeting of the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas (FPVA) have now been approved. The English version is appended to this message, and is attached as a Microsoft Word file. Spanish, Portuguese, and French translations are also attached. As you'll see, this was an important meeting which produced many significant outcomes. Three new Green parties were admitted to provisional, observer status in the Federation, representing Greens in Bolivia, Guatemala, and French Guyana.


In some of the meeting's most important political decisions, a joint position declaring absolute opposition to the resurgence of nuclear power throughout the Americas was adopted; a Women's Commission was created; and first steps were taken towards creation of a Federation-affiliated Young Greens of the Americas. A proposed Work Plan for the new Global Green Secretariat was endorsed, with the proviso that the Global Greens must create an ombudsman position to advocate for the hemisphere's (and the world's) Indigenous peoples. A proposal to create a Foundation of Green Parties of the Americas, to support the growth of parties in the region, was endorsed.


Addressing concerns about the internal workings of the Federation, delegates held an extended discussion of the Federation's leadership, bylaws, and future structure; a bylaws committee was established, to consider amendments and bring proposals to the next meeting; plans for a new, independent Federation website (not connected to any particular country) were discussed; the three co-presidents and executive secretary were re-elected; and the next meeting was set for November 2009, to be hosted by the Partido Ecologista de Chile. Please take a few minutes to read the entire document, for details on many other discussions and decisions.


While everyone at the meeting might have wished for more progress in the Federation's organizational development, or stronger political declarations, or any number of other outcomes, most also believe that we made remarkable progress in a challenging environment. It's no easy task to organize and conduct a productive international meeting, with representatives from diverse Green party organizations, national cultures and political systems, with participants speaking four languages, lasting more than ten hours!


If you'll allow me one personal observation, I have learned that it is especially difficult for Greens from the United States, facing all of the potential resentments and misunderstandings "Americans" face around the world -- a legacy of our nation's and our government's, unhappy history with the world's people's and social movements -- to function effectively in such an environment. Assertive, proactive leadership by "Americans" can be misunderstood as Yankee arrogance and privilege, while the same actions by others are non-controversial; "American" representatives' claims about process, and the interpretation of rules, are easily misconstrued as Anglo-American legalism and manipulation; informality and casual banter can be seen as patronizing, disrespectful behavior. Even generosity can be misunderstood, as an attempt to use our comparative affluence to manipulate others; conversely, expecting others to pay our expenses, feed us, house us, and transport us from place to place, is seen as rude at best and at worst, indifference to the global mal-distribution of wealth! Individuals who don't understand these constraints, are poorly suited to be our Green representatives abroad.


In my experience, there's no easy way to navigate the baggage we carry to all international meetings, as Greens from the United States. Impatience, anger and resentment, or domineering, assertive discourse, are never appropriate responses, no matter how egregious the offense we believe we've suffered. They are also not very "Green" ways of conducting politics. Careful, patient, diplomatic speech and action, with awareness of how the world's legitimate grievances against the United States shape others' perceptions of U.S. Greens, and an inclusive willingness to see things through others' eyes, sometimes produce results very slowly. But for U.S. Greens, they are the only ways to influence results at all. Any other style of politics simply marginalizes us among international Greens, at the very moment in history when we need to be most fully engaged with Greens everywhere.


In light of these realities, I believe it's especially gratifying that Julia Willebrand was overwhelmingly re-elected to an additional one-year term as one of the Federation's three Co-Presidents; John Rensenbrinnk was invited to present a report -- formally accepted by the Federation -- outlining an expanded role for the Global Green Network; Justine McCabe, as co-chair of our IC, was invited to join the official delegates at the table, and was included in numerous private discussions to prepare initiatives. And for my part, the three co-presidents surprised me with a request that I preside over the entire meeting, facilitating a multi-lingual process, framing resolutions, adjudicating process disputes, and maintaining the collegial spirit of the proceedings.


This was a great honor and a humbling experience; I'd be remiss not to thank all of you, my colleagues on the IC, for entrusting me with the responsiblity (as your delegate), which made my participation possible. It was certainly one of the highlights of my 35 years of political activism. Thank you!


For a Green future,


Tony Affigne
Green Party of Rhode Island
U.S. Delegate to the Federation




==========================================================




Meeting of the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas
Federaci?n de Partidos Verdes de las Am?ricas (FPVA)
Quebec City 8th of November, 2008

PARTICIPANTS

FPVA Co-Presidents
Julia Willebrand (United States)
Jorge Gonz?lez Torres (M?xico)
Marco Antonio Mroz (Brasil)

FPVA Member Party Delegates
Julia Willebrand (United States, Green Party of the United States)
Jorge Gonz?lez Torres (M?xico, Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico)
Marco Antonio Mroz (Brasil, Partido Verde do Brasil)
Leonardo ?lvarez Romo (M?xico, Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico)
Fabio Mari?o Vargas (Colombia, Partido Verde Ox?geno)
Jean Cloutier (Canada, Parti Vert du Canada)
Silvaine Zimmermann (Canada, Green Party of Canada)
Fulvia Monti (Venezuela, Movimiento Ecol?gico de Venezuela)
Manuel Diaz Capdevilla (Venezuela, Movimiento Ecol?gico de Venezuela)
Manuel Baquedano (Chile, Partido Verde Ecologista de Chile)
Tony Affigne (United States, Green Party of the United States)
Roberta Moreno (Brasil, Partido Verde do Brasil)


FPVA Executive Secretary
Patricia Doneau (M?xico, Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico)

FPVA Member Party Delegates Not in Attendance
Flor de Maria Hurtado (Per?, Partido Ecologista Alternativa Verde del Per?)
Alex Gonz?les Castillo (Per?, Partido Ecologista Alternativa Verde del Per?)
Edward Salazar Cruz (Nicaragua, Partido Verde de Nicaragua)
Miguel ?ngel Pimentel (Rep?blica Dominicana, Partido Verde de la Unidad Democr?tica)
Juan Manuel Velasco (Argentina, Partido Iniciativa Verde)

FPVA Observer Party Delegates
Roberto C?ceres (Partido Verde de Guatemala, FPVA Observer Delegate)
Matilde Baj?n (Partido Verde de Guatemala, FPVA Observer Delegate)
Margot Soria Saravia (Partido Verde de Bolivia, FPVA Observer Delegate)
Michel Dubouill? (Les Verts-Guyane, FPVA Observer Delegate)

Guests
Margaret Blakers (Australia, The Greens; Global Green Coordination-Asia/Pacific)
Catherine Gr?ze (France, Les Verts; Global Green Coordination/Europe)
Johan Hamels (Belgium, Groen! Global Green Coordination/Europe)
Adamou Garba (Niger, Rassemblement pour un Sahel Vert; Global Green Coordination/Africa)
John Rensenbrink (USA, Green Party of the United States Delegate to Global Green Network)
Justine McCabe (USA, Green Party of the United States Co-Chair International Committee)
Miluska Aguilar Jeri (Bolivia, Movimiento los Verdes)
Daniel Garc?a Colorado (Colombia, Partido Verde Opci?n Centro)

SUMMARY OF MEETING AND DECISIONS BY THE ASSEMBLY

1) Welcome by the Co-Presidents: Co-President Marco Antonio Mroz of Brasil called the Annual Meeting of the Federation's General Assembly (Asamblea General) to order at 10:20AM. He introduced fellow Co-Presidents Julia Willebrand of the United States and Jorge Gonz?lez Torres of M?xico, and joined them in welcoming delegates to the meeting. Mroz proposed to the Assembly that Delegate Tony Affigne (United States) be appointed presiding officer for the meeting (facilitator). Del. Affigne's appointment was approved without objection.

2) Procedural Rules: The presiding officer proposed discussion rules allowing open discussion among voting delegates and official observers; recognizing speakers from the chair only as necessary to permit orderly speaking queues; and empowering delegates to request translations among Spanish, English and French. Without objection, the procedures were adopted.

3) Official Record of the Meeting: For an official record of the meeting, Silvaine Zimmermann, delegate from Canada, agreed to note all decisions taken by the group, and to distribute those minutes to all delegates for review, before public distribution. Adopting a proposal by Co-President Gonz?lez, without objection the meeting asked guest Michael Feinstein (United States) to cease videotaping the proceedings.

4) Approval of Agenda: On behalf of the Co-Presidents, from recommendations by delegates, the presiding officer presented the Co-Presidents' draft agenda, including the following items:
i) Roll Call of Green Parties: Introduction of Voting Delegates.
ii) Discussion regarding acceptance into the Federation, with Observer Status, of Green Parties from Bolivia, Guatemala, and French Guyana.
iii) Discussion of proposal for creation of a Foundation of Green Parties of the Americas.
iv) Discussion of election of Italian Greens living in North and South America, to the Italian and European Parliaments.
v) Discussion of election, by country, of Green representatives to the 2010 MercoSur Parliament.
vi) Discussion of recommendation for a joint Federation position, for Global Green participation at the World Social Forum (in Bel?m, Brasil, 27-31 January 2009).
vii) Discussion of Young Greens participation in the Federation.
viii) Discussion of formation of a Women's Commission in the Federation.
ix) Development of position of the Federation, with respect to the creation of a Global Green Secretariat, and the proposed work plan for the Global Greens, as agreed under documents adopted at the Green Congress in Sao Paulo.
x) Discussion of position of the Federation, with respect to the role of the Global Green Network (GGN) in the proposed Secretariat.
xi) Discussion of Executive Committee members' duties and rights.
xii) Election of Executive Committee members.
xiii) Discussion of the FPVA List Serve/Web Site.
xiv) Discussion of Federation bylaws (estatutos).
xv) Presentation by guests from Green organizations in Colombia and Bolivia.
xvi) Discussion of where/when the next FPVA meeting will be held, and who will organize it.
xvii) Approval of closing political declaration, by the Asamblea General.
The proposed agenda, with amendments, was adopted unanimously, and appropriate time allowances for debate on each item were agreed. It was also agreed that the meeting would recess for 90 minutes, at 2:00PM (1400h).

5) New Observer Parties from Guatemala, Bolivia, and French Guyana
Delegates agreed by consensus, that the Partido Verde de Guatemala (PVG) is approved for Observer Status in the Federation. To achieve voting membership, the party will provide full statutes and other documentation, for distribution to the Asamblea General, no later than one month prior to the next FPVA Annual Meeting. Del. Baquedano (Chile) will be the contact person, for receipt and review of the final PVG application for membership.
   Delegates agreed by consensus, that these same procedures will be applied to the Bolivian and French Guyanese parties, also seeking approval for Observer Status.
       Delegates agreed by consensus, that the Partido Verde de Bolivia is approved for Observer Status in the Federation.
     Delegates agreed by consensus, that Les Verts-Guyane are approved for Observer Status in the Federation; and also agreed the Federation will consider creating a special status of "Permanent Observer" for their case (and others, perhaps Puerto Rico and Qu?bec) when we review and develop new statutes.
    Following approval of their Observer Status applications, representatives of the Guatemalan, Bolivian, and French Guyanese parties were welcomed to sit among the Assembly, report on their parties' activities and political situations, and participate in the remainder of the meeting as our newest provisional member parties.

6) Creation of a "Foundation of Green Parties in the Americas"
After hearing an exploratory committee report by Co-President Mroz (Brasil), and Dels. Manuel Diaz Capdevilla (Venezuela) and Manuel Baquedano (Chile), the General Assembly agreed by consensus, to endorse in principle, creation of a non-governmental organization, a Green Foundation, to promote the growth of Green parties in the Americas; learned that Eva Go?s of the Green Forum (Sweden) has endorsed formation of this American foundation;  agreed by consensus to allow the exploratory committee some discretion in developing plans for the Foundation, with Del. Baquedano serving as point person for this effort; agreed by consensus that for each participating country, a point person for legal matters should be designated; agreed by consensus that draft statutes for the Foundation, currently available only in Spanish, should be translated into English and distributed to all delegates as soon as possible, with commentary to be submitted by all delegates within one month of that distribution; and agreed by consensus that a final proposal for the Foundation will be distributed to all FPVA member parties, no later than one month prior to the next Annual Meeting of the Federation.

7) Support for Italian Greens, Seeking Election to European and Italian Parliaments
Delegates agreed by consensus, to recommend that our individual Green Parties prepare to organize their Italian expatriate constituents, to help elect Greens to the European Parliament, in elections scheduled for June 7th, 2009; also agreed that Co-President Mroz will provide needed legal details and background information.

8) Green Party Participation in 2010 Mercosur Elections
Delegates agreed by consensus, to support our Green Parties in the Mercosur/Mercosul countries - Argentina, Brasil, and Venezuela (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Per? are Mercosur associate members) - in their efforts to organize Green candidacies for the Mercosur Parliament, to be elected in 2010; also agreed to recommend that the "Mercosur region" Green parties form a working committee, to discuss joint preparations for participation in those elections.

9) Federation position, for Global Green participation at the World Social Forum
Upon request by our Federation representatives to the Global Green Coordination (GGC), Co-Presidents Marco Antonio Mroz (Brasil), Jorge Gonz?lez Torres (M?xico), and Julia Willebrand (United States), and a formal request by GGC members Catherine Gr?ze (France), Margaret Blakers (Australia), Adamou Garba (Niger), and Johan Hamels (Belgium), the Asamblea General discussed the importance of a global Green policy, to be advanced by Greens from all countries, who attend the World Social Forum in Bel?m, Brasil, 27-31 January 2009 and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 28 January - 1 February 2009; the Assembly agreed unanimously to oppose the resurgence of nuclear energy development throughout the world, to condemn the use of food crops in the production of ethanol, to strongly endorse accelerated development of solar, wind, and other renewable, sustainable energy sources, and to explain our Global Green policy to the world's publics in its crucial ecological, as well as its positive economic dimensions; also agreed to request that our GGC representatives present the approved Federation position to the full Global Green Coordination, for further discussion and coordinated action.

10) Establishing the "Federaci?n de los J?venes Verdes de las Am?ricas"
The Asamblea General heard a report by Del. Roberta Moreno (Brasil), with draft statutes, requesting support for the creation of a Federation of Young Greens of the Americas, arising from discussions at the May 2008 Global Green Congress in Sao Paulo, Brasil; delegates agreed by consensus that we support the Young Greens proposal; that within the next 11 months, the Federation and FPVA member Parties should review and amend their statues to enable the participation of Young Greens, not just in parallel organizations but as meaningfully participating members; that within 11 months the Young Greens will distribute to the General Assembly their final proposed statutes, for review at our next Annual Meeting; and that the Federation Members will support the Young Greens of the Americas, so they will be well prepared to participate in the next meeting of Young Greens of the world in Graz, Austria, 30 August - 06 September 2009.

11) Establishing a Women's Commission in the Federation
After hearing a report from Del. Fulvia Monti (Venezuela), delegates voted by a show of hands (11-0-1), to endorse creation of a Women's Committee for the Federation; and to recommend amendments to our Federation statutes to incorporate a Women's Commission.

12) Global Green Secretariat, and Proposed Work Plan for the Global Greens
Guest Margaret Blakers (Australia) and other members of the Global Green Coordination presented a GGC proposal to establish a Global Green Secretariat, and to approve a Work Plan for the Global Greens, to serve as the Secretariat's mandate, until the next Global Green Congress in 2012 or 2013.
Overarching design and functions of the Secretariat (GGS) are proposed to include:
*Facilitate Global Green networking and cooperation
*Develop common views and campaigns
*Facilitate Green presence at global events
*Liaise with the Global Green Network (GGN)
*Support Greens by exchanging Skills and Support
*Promote our values and help implement Global Green Charter
*Situated in Australia
*Governed by the Global Green Coordination (GGC)
*Budget about 100 000 Euros/year

GGC requests that Federation member parties:
*Distribute the Work Plan for discussion by our national parties
*Respond with comments, within 1 month of receiving final Plan from GGC
*Authorize FPVA to ratify the Plan, towards its approval by all 4 Federations
*Authorize FPVA to review the Plan's progress, after 2 years
*Develop a process to finance the Secretariat's work (including 1% financing as requested)

Delegates agreed by consensus to approve in principle the Global Green Work Plan, and Secretariat proposal; to request that the Global Green Coordination incorporate into the next version of the working document, language to incorporate an ombudsman function, whose purpose is to uphold our respect for the diversity, traditions, customs, histories and social conditions of each people, especially Indigenous people, from all nations and communities of the world.

13) Report on Global Green Network
The Asamblea General heard a report and Advisory from GGN Del. John Rensenbrink (United States), about the Global Green Network (GGN), explaining how GGN was formed, and its role in the new Global Green Work Plan and Secretariat; and the Assembly agreed by acclamation to thank John Rensenbrink for the work he has done to help the Global Green Coordination incorporate the Advisory's recommendations into the Work Plan for the Global Green Secretariat's design and functions.

14) Discussion of Executive Committee Members' Duties and Rights
The Asamblea General discussed the question of elections to the Comit? Ejecutivo; five members of the Assembly who participated in statutes revisions at the FPVA meeting in Santo Domingo, 2002 - (Baquedano, Mroz, Torres, Willebrand, Affigne) - gave diverse interpretations of what they were; after discussion and several informal polls, the Assembly agreed by consensus to retain the existing structure of three co-presidents, with an elected executive secretary.

15) Election of Executive Committee and Executive Secretary
Delegates voted by a show of hands (9-0-3), to elect Julia Willebrand (United States), Jorge Gonz?lez Torres (M?xico), and Marco Antonio Mroz (Brasil) as Co-Presidents, to serve until the next meeting of the FPVA; and agreed by consensus to appoint Patricia Doneau (M?xico) as FPVA Executive Secretary, for administrative duties under the direction of the co-presidents and the General Assembly, until the next FPVA meeting.

16) Federation Listserve and Website
The Assembly heard a report from Executive Secretary Patricia Doneau, identifying the "Federation" side of the website - links to the left, and the individual "Parties" side - links to the right; received instructions that documents and revisions to the Party areas should be sent to Exec. Sec. Doneau, for submission to the webmaster; and was informed that a new Federation domain at <www.verdesamericagreens.org> is currently linked to the original site at <www.fpva.org.mx>, but will soon become the exclusive Internet location for our Federation.

17) Estatutos (By-Laws) of the Federation
Delegates agreed by acclamation to create a Statutes and Bylaws Committee, to review concerns and suggestions for statute revisions, and report those proposed revisions to the Assembly, no later than one month prior to the next Annual Meeting; voted unanimously to elect to this Committee, Delegates Silvaine Zimmermann and Jean Cloutier (Canada), Manuel Diaz Capdevilla (Venezuela), Manuel Baquedano (Chile), Leonardo ?lvarez (M?xico), and Fabio Mari?o (Colombia); and agreed by consensus that the Committee will choose its own point person/coordinator.

18) Presentation by Partido Verde Opci?n Centro (Colombia)
The Assembly heard a report by Daniel Garc?a Colorado, Secretary General of the Partido Verde Opci?n Centro (PVOC) in Colombia, who explained the history and political program of the organization; Co-President Mroz accepted PVOC's documents for further review.

19) Presentation by Movimiento los Verdes (Bolivia)
The Assembly heard a report by Miluska Aguilar Jeri of the Movimiento los Verdes in Cochabamba,  Bolivia, who explained the history, publications, and political program of the group, and invited delegates to attend the "World Social Ecological Forum" at Komunidad Janajpacha in Cochabamba, 28-30 November 2008;  Co-President Mroz accepted the group's documents for further review.

20) Guest Intervention
The Assembly heard a statement by guest Johan Hamels (Belgium), expressing concerns and asking the Federation to take action, regarding the political initiative of the Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico, which would reinstate capital punishment in M?xico, a position which is proscribed in the Global Green Charter; Del. ?lvarez of M?xico responded with an explanation of PVEM's position and rationale; delegates agreed by consensus to consider Hamel's request via the Federation listserve, and to request that the Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico submit the exact wording of their capital punishment initiative for distribution to the FPVA membership, which the Partido Verde Ecologista de M?xico agreed to do.

21) Next Meeting of the Federation
The Assembly heard Del. Baquedano's proposal to host the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Asamblea General in Chile; by acclamation the delegates approved the Chilean proposal.

22) Political Declaration
Del. Silvaine Zimmermann (Canada) offered to coordinate the drafting of a political declaration from the meeting, in consultation with Del. Fabino Mari?o (Colombia); and to distribute the draft to delegates via e-mail, seeking quick approval; Zimmermann's offer was accepted by the Assembly, by acclamation.

23) ADJOURNMENT
Having reached the end of the agenda, Del. Affigne thanked the Assembly for a long day of cooperative work on many difficult agenda items; the Co-Presidents thanked Del. Affigne for his facilitation of the meeting; the meeting adjourned at 8:05PM (2005h).

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From amyvasnunes at hotmail.com  Sun Dec 21 10:20:04 2008
From: amyvasnunes at hotmail.com (Amy Vas Nunes)
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:20:04 -0500
Subject: {news} Illegal McCabe Nominatuin per bylaws
In-Reply-To: <010601c96318$991f2590$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>
References: <200812180241.VAA23901@colossus.bilow.com><F313C6DD-DA8E-467C-9C39-986C2DCEAD19@mac.com><C1772E1C-85A2-4112-96FB-42D737A770EA@verizon.net><494BEC65.70905@feinstein.org>
	<p06240800c572c98d0dc0@[10.0.1.200]>
	<09B0AAC9-650F-4538-9C68-82CA0137528C@verizon.net> 
	<010601c96318$991f2590$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> 
Message-ID: <BLU132-W497C3AEB78B80329636F00BDEE0@phx.gbl>


FIRST READ MCCABE REQUEST EMAIL BELOW TO RUN FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR FOR SECOND TERM. SHE THINKS SHES VERY IMPORTANT JUST LIKE BUSH ALL HER FOLLOWERS AGREE WITH HER AND SAY YES . JUST SAY NO ! SHE IS NOT EVEN A CTGP MEMBER PER OUR BYLAWS

MCCABE HAS NOT POSTED THIS NOMINATION TO CTGP NOR ASKED CHAPTER[ NON EXISTANT FOR YEARS]  CTGP  SCC OR EX APPROVEL. SHE PROMISED US /SCC,LIST YEARS AGO WHEN LAST VOTED TO IC SHE WOULD "NOT RUN FOR COCHAIR AGAIN", THEIR ELECTION IS ALREADY 6 MONTHS LATE WITH NO DECENT TRANSPARENT NOMINATION /VOTE PROCESS ONLY A CADRE SELF STAMP. THERE IS REALLY ONLY A SMALL ACTIVE CADRE OF CERTIAN VIEWS RUNNING  INTERNATIONAL COMM. AND MOSTLY SELF AFFORDING TO ATTEND INTERNATIONAL MEETING IN OUR NAMES SHE HAS NOT ATTENDED ANY LEVEL CTGP MEETING OR REPORTED IN PERSON IN OVER FIVE YEARS NOR OUR CONVENTIONS . SHE IS NOT A GREEN BY BYLAWS DEFINITION AND IS PURPOSELY GOING AGAINST CTGP BYLAWS AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE BYLAWS BY RUNNING[ AGAIN, SHE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE ON THE iNTERNATIONAL COMM TOO MANY TIMES,TOO MANY YEARS, WITH OUT INFORMING OR CTGP APPROVEL WITH OUT OUR VOTES AT LEVELS, SHE WRITES OP EDS AND PAPERS AND TRAVELS OUT OF COUNTRYTO MEETINGS NUMEROUS TIMES IN OUR NAMES PRESENTING ONE SIDED NONE PEACEFUL ANTI SEMETIC FILTH. I AM ON INTERNATUINAL COMMITTEE AND GET/READ IT ALL,IT IS NEVER SENT TO CTGP FOR APPROVEL OR COMMENT NOR DO WE KNOW WHAT/WHEN SHE REPRESENTS CTGP AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE SHE CAN AFFORD TO SHE GOES/WRITES. CTGP WAS NOT INFORMED OR VOTED ON HER RUNNING AS COCHAIR LAST TIME NOR THIS, SHE DOES NOT SPEAK A MODERATE PEACEFUL AGENDA. SHE JOINED CTGP ,DONATED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, TO SPECIFFICALLY PUSH THIS/HER SICK ONE SIDED HATE AGENDA, SHE REFUSES TO SPEAK CIVILLY IN PUBLIC TO MIKE DEROSA AT NATIONAL CONVENTION, WHY HAVE MANY JEWS LEFT IN PAST AND STILL NOT JOINED CTGP? JUSTINE REMAINS ON THE ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE WATCH LIST ALL THESE YEARS FOR HER CONTINUED VOICED AND WRITTEN ANTI SEMETIC VIEWS. SHE IS NOT US! CTGP OFFICERS PLEASE TAKE A STAND AND ENFORCE OUR BYLAWS AND IC RULES.SHE IS AN OZZING SORE OF HATE THAT HAS BEEN IGNORED TO LONG AND GIVES US A BAD REPUTATION IN STATE AND NATIONALLY AS WELL AS INTERNATIONALLY    AMY

From: justinemccabe at earthlink.netTo: usgp-int at gp-us.orgDate: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:02:44 -0500Subject: Re: USGP-INT international committee elections +


Dear IC,
 
A few things:
 
-Many thanks to Tony Affigne, Richard, Bahram and Julia for their nomination/support of my candidacy for IC co-chair, which I accept. I appreciate Mike Feinstein's attention to our process but, as Julia and I posted earlier, I think that waiting until after the holidays for the election is soon enough and will maximize participation by committee members.
 
-I strongly support Steve Herrick as nominee for co-chair.  He is a very thoughtful and creative participant in our committee who, as Tony Affigne described, has valuable expertise in Latin America, a region that is of significant change and importance, especially for the promote of Green values .  Also, by electing Steve, there is an opportunity for the younger generation of IC members to begin to lead as older committee members take a more supportive, advisory role.    
 
-I want to thank Tony Affigne for his great IC great work, no better exemplified than at the meeting of Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas in Quebec where he did an outstanding job not only facilitating the meeting, but in using his political skills in a Green way to bring consensus at times of difficulty and tension in the meeting.   I appreciate his excellent report of that meeting and ongoing work as listserve moderator.
 
-Finally, I take this opportunity to say how much the IC owes Julia Willebrand for her stewardship these past several years.  For example, Julia worked tirelessly on the Global Green Coordination in preparation for the Sao Paolo GG meeting, doing 2 hour conference calls at 6 am for weeks on end  to--ultimately successfully--lobby our anti-war agenda in Sao Paolo, often in opposition to others on the GGC who did not see war as a priority with regard to climate change.  In addition , she has given the USGP an intelligent, hospitable face as she continually hosts international greens at her home in NYC.   In sum, Julia is that stop-you-in your-tracks combination of honesty, irascibility and diplomacy.   She is an absolute treasure to the IC and to USGP.  It has been my great pleasure to have worked closely with her these past 2 years.
 
Peace to you all, 
Justine    
 
 
        
 
  
 
     
  
 
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Julia Willebrand 
To: usgp-int at gp-us.org 
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: USGP-INT international committee elections
Dear All, 

I thank Tony for his nomination of  Justine McCabe and Steve Herrick. IMO they are the best possible candidates for the IC co-chair positions.  Tony's description of their party work and skills says it very well. Both Justine's and Steve's service to  the Green Party and the IC has been exceptional. Each of them has the skills, knowledge and temperament needed to lead our committee and represent the GP internationally. They will be a dynamic duo should the IC vote to elect them.

Needless to say, my support for Justine and Steve does not diminish my respect for the other nominees, Tony Affigne, Marnie Glickman and Tony Gronowicz's, whose service to our committee and our party has been admirable. 

As  for the  election, with the holidays already in full swing, the schedule proposed by  Justine and I seems a fair one. Mike Feinstein suggested a speeded up election schedule but,  shortening the time schedule will most likely limit participation, we prefer to leave the schedule we propose in place. 

Unless there is a groundswell of opposition, consider the nominations process started. It will close on January 15th. A sub committee to collect the votes will be appointed from IC members who are not running for election.

Greenly,

Julia






On Dec 20, 2008, at 11:48 AM, Tony Affigne wrote:

IC Friends,

Many thanks to Julia and Justine for their outstanding stewardship of the Committee, their diplomatic, inclusive style, and their very hard work on our behalf. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.

In response to this call for elections:

1. Please accept my nomination of Justine McCabe of Connecticut, to continue her service for another term. She has been an IC member for many years; has cooperated extraordinarily well in her time as co-chair with Julia Willebrand; has helped us understand and develop positions on a range of issues, especially those related to Palestine and the broader Middle East; has shown grace and strength in defending our position on Palestine, especially among European Greens whose views, shall we say, differ from our own; and is well-known and well-respected, by Greens in many countries. Will you accept, Justine?

2. Please accept my nomination of Steven Herrick of Wisconsin, who has effectively represented the IC at numerous international meetings; who helped facilitate the emergence of a Green Party in Nicaragua; who has always been willing to pitch in and help, whenever asked; who has demonstrated both fluency with written and spoken Spanish, and a deep understanding of diverse Latin American cultures and political systems; who has important technical skills which the IC will need, in our increasingly electronic discourse; and who demonstrates exactly the sort of patient, inclusive leadership style this large, rambunctious, and sometimes contrarian committee demands!

Please understand that my support for Justine and Steven in no way diminishes my regard for the other IC members whose names have been mentioned as possible nominees -- Tony Gronowicz, Marnie Glickman -- I respect them both, and believe they are more than capable of handling the co-chair's duties, should the Committee decide to elect them to this great responsibility. It's also true that I don't see eye-to-eye with Justine or Steve on every issue; we have our areas of sincere disagreement.

But beyond their personal talents and capabilities, when I look out across the coming years, Justine's and Steve's regions of special concern -- the Middle East and Latin America -- seem particularly central to our work and the challenges we face; at the same time, their personal styles and experience manifest exactly the Green response we need, especially in those two areas of the world where U.S. policy, military misadventure, and economic interests have caused, perhaps, the greatest harm to human rights and social justice.

To Vivek: your respect and kind words mean a great deal to me -- thank you! However, my time as IC co-chair is past. I sometimes think I'd enjoy another term, but at the present time my personal life and my other IC duties (website, listserve), as well as my continued responsibilities representing the U.S. within the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas, preclude my taking on any additional duties! So I must decline your nomination, with regrets.

Finally, regarding the timing of this internal election: unless there is some urgent need to complete the election soon, I am comfortable with the timetable Justine and Julia have proposed. Like many of you, I find it difficult to juggle everything I have to do (and think about) at this time of year. Barring some emergency which demands a quick election, I believe we should favor inclusiveness over speed, and schedule the election to maximize participation by the largest number of Committee members.

Thanks for "listening,"

For a Green future,

Tony Affigne
Green Party of Rhode Island

_______________________________________________
usgp-int mailing list
usgp-int at gp-us.org
http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int

Julia Willebrand, Ed.D
Co-chair, USGP International Committee
212 877-5088




_______________________________________________usgp-int mailing listusgp-int at gp-us.orghttp://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int


No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.18/1849 - Release Date: 12/15/2008 9:01 AM
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From karinlee1 at mindspring.com  Sun Dec 21 13:40:51 2008
From: karinlee1 at mindspring.com (Karin L. Norton)
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:40:51 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
Subject: {news} Illegal McCabe Nominatuin per bylaws
Message-ID: <21857449.1229884852131.JavaMail.root@elwamui-cypress.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Dear Greens of Connecticut:

This kind of letter is exactly why so many of us members of Green Party of Connecticut are no longer active in the State Party. Dozens of us left the GPCT because of innuendo and blatant lies spread by AVN, who has led and participated in the destruction of reputation of dozens of good hard-working Greens. Justine McCabe is a virtuous, diligent, selfless woman who is held in good regard by Greens around the nation and the world, as well as members of GPCT who were active before the GPCT decided to go along with revision of GPCT history. As for keeping CTGP informed, Justine posts updates regularly on the listservers. I completely understand why she doesn't go to state meetings any longer, and you'll find many others who don't attend and for the same reasons. As for meeting the criteria of membership for the GPCT, we are REGISTERED Green with the State of Connecticut, and that continues to be criteria for membership - check the Bylaws. I request AVN cease and desist the misuse of our listserv to spread her slander - please note the rules for use of the listservers. 

Karin Norton-O'Connor (a founder of Green Party of CT, former office-holder, and member of the CT Green Party of CT (despite not attending meetings)

-----Original Message-----
>From: Amy Vas Nunes <amyvasnunes at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Dec 21, 2008 10:20 AM
>To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org
>Subject: {news} Illegal McCabe Nominatuin per bylaws
FIRST READ MCCABE REQUEST EMAIL BELOW TO RUN FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR FOR SECOND TERM. SHE THINKS SHES VERY IMPORTANT JUST LIKE BUSH ALL HER FOLLOWERS AGREE WITH HER AND SAY YES . JUST SAY NO ! SHE IS NOT EVEN A CTGP MEMBER PER OUR BYLAWS


MCCABE HAS NOT POSTED THIS NOMINATION TO CTGP NOR ASKED CHAPTER[ NON EXISTANT FOR YEARS]  CTGP  SCC OR EX APPROVEL. SHE PROMISED US /SCC,LIST YEARS AGO WHEN LAST VOTED TO IC SHE WOULD "NOT RUN FOR COCHAIR AGAIN", THEIR ELECTION IS ALREADY 6 MONTHS LATE WITH NO DECENT TRANSPARENT NOMINATION /VOTE PROCESS ONLY A CADRE SELF STAMP. THERE IS REALLY ONLY A SMALL ACTIVE CADRE OF CERTIAN VIEWS RUNNING  INTERNATIONAL COMM. AND MOSTLY SELF AFFORDING TO ATTEND INTERNATIONAL MEETING IN OUR NAMES SHE HAS NOT ATTENDED ANY LEVEL CTGP MEETING OR REPORTED IN PERSON IN OVER FIVE YEARS NOR OUR CONVENTIONS . SHE IS NOT A GREEN BY BYLAWS DEFINITION AND IS PURPOSELY GOING AGAINST CTGP BYLAWS AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE BYLAWS BY RUNNING[ AGAIN, SHE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE ON THE iNTERNATIONAL COMM TOO MANY TIMES,TOO MANY YEARS, WITH OUT INFORMING OR CTGP APPROVEL WITH OUT OUR VOTES AT LEVELS, SHE WRITES OP EDS AND PAPERS AND TRAVELS OUT OF COUNTRYTO MEETINGS NUMEROUS TIMES IN OUR NAMES PRESENTING ONE SIDED NONE PEACEFUL ANTI SEMETIC FILTH. I AM ON INTERNATUINAL COMMITTEE AND GET/READ IT ALL,IT IS NEVER SENT TO CTGP FOR APPROVEL OR COMMENT NOR DO WE KNOW WHAT/WHEN SHE REPRESENTS CTGP AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE SHE CAN AFFORD TO SHE GOES/WRITES. CTGP WAS NOT INFORMED OR VOTED ON HER RUNNING AS COCHAIR LAST TIME NOR THIS, SHE DOES NOT SPEAK A MODERATE PEACEFUL AGENDA. SHE JOINED CTGP ,DONATED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, TO SPECIFFICALLY PUSH THIS/HER SICK ONE SIDED HATE AGENDA, SHE REFUSES TO SPEAK CIVILLY IN PUBLIC TO MIKE DEROSA AT NATIONAL CONVENTION, WHY HAVE MANY JEWS LEFT IN PAST AND STILL NOT JOINED CTGP? JUSTINE REMAINS ON THE ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE WATCH LIST ALL THESE YEARS FOR HER CONTINUED VOICED AND WRITTEN ANTI SEMETIC VIEWS. SHE IS NOT US! CTGP OFFICERS PLEASE TAKE A STAND AND ENFORCE OUR BYLAWS AND IC RULES.SHE IS AN OZZING SORE OF HATE THAT HAS BEEN IGNORED TO LONG AND GIVES US A BAD REPUTATION IN STATE AND NATIONALLY AS WELL AS INTERNATIONALLY    AMY
>
>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



From crashnewberg at netscape.net  Sun Dec 21 15:07:27 2008
From: crashnewberg at netscape.net (crashnewberg at netscape.net)
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:07:27 -0500
Subject: {news} Recent diatribe
Message-ID: <8CB31BEE1B8CE26-14C0-2423@MBLK-M16.sysops.aol.com>

I must second Karin's comments. This is exactly why I and others are less involved than we used to be.
Steve Newberg
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From amderr01 at gmail.com  Sun Dec 21 21:19:59 2008
From: amderr01 at gmail.com (Andy Derr)
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:19:59 -0500
Subject: {news} Diatribes on the "News" list
Message-ID: <d98e5fdf0812211819p40aafc86pb3dbc77bb77db265@mail.gmail.com>

Hello, Greens.  According to the summary page for the CT Greens News list
(the very one you are reading this message on) ...

This list is the official place for sharing news articles about the Green
Party in the state of Connecticut (or other relevant news stories).


There is no mention of opinion, or political wrangling, or personal
diatribes, or spite, or venom.

Although this list serves an important purpose, unless the CT Green Party
can and will control the list to the extent of preventing the inclusion of
opinion, political wrangling, personal diatribes, spite, and venom, the list
is counterproductive, and should be discontinued.

I ask the State CoChairs, and the State Central Committee to act on this
matter as soon as possible, and I will ask my chapter to pass a resolution
requesting the CoChairs and the SCC to do so.   The technology is quite
simple, and requires only the will  to use it.

If no action is taken, and the situation continues (as it has for years),
then I will unsubscribe.   I would rather be less informed than put with
this!

Andy Derr
New London
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From mrdweezel at yahoo.com  Mon Dec 22 06:52:29 2008
From: mrdweezel at yahoo.com (MaryAnne Davis)
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:52:29 -0800 (PST)
Subject: {news} Diatribes etc
In-Reply-To: <21857449.1229884852131.JavaMail.root@elwamui-cypress.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <186692.46523.qm@web65405.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>

Upon subscribing to the listserve & "news" I quickly
learned which senders to delete before reading,  along
with other junk mail.  Sadly, it seems there will be a
few unbalanced individuals no matter where you go.


--- "Karin L. Norton" <karinlee1 at mindspring.com>
wrote:

> 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
> Dear Greens of Connecticut:
> 
> This kind of letter is exactly why so many of us
> members of Green Party of Connecticut are no longer
> active in the State Party. Dozens of us left the
> GPCT because of innuendo and blatant lies spread by
> AVN, who has led and participated in the destruction
> of reputation of dozens of good hard-working Greens.
> Justine McCabe is a virtuous, diligent, selfless
> woman who is held in good regard by Greens around
> the nation and the world, as well as members of GPCT
> who were active before the GPCT decided to go along
> with revision of GPCT history. As for keeping CTGP
> informed, Justine posts updates regularly on the
> listservers. I completely understand why she doesn't
> go to state meetings any longer, and you'll find
> many others who don't attend and for the same
> reasons. As for meeting the criteria of membership
> for the GPCT, we are REGISTERED Green with the State
> of Connecticut, and that continues to be criteria
> for membership - check the Bylaws. I request AVN
> cease and desist the misuse of our listserv to
> spread her slander - please note the rules for use
> of the listservers. 
> 
> Karin Norton-O'Connor (a founder of Green Party of
> CT, former office-holder, and member of the CT Green
> Party of CT (despite not attending meetings)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Amy Vas Nunes <amyvasnunes at hotmail.com>
> >Sent: Dec 21, 2008 10:20 AM
> >To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org
> >Subject: {news} Illegal McCabe Nominatuin per
> bylaws
> FIRST READ MCCABE REQUEST EMAIL BELOW TO RUN FOR
> INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR FOR SECOND TERM. SHE
> THINKS SHES VERY IMPORTANT JUST LIKE BUSH ALL HER
> FOLLOWERS AGREE WITH HER AND SAY YES . JUST SAY NO !
> SHE IS NOT EVEN A CTGP MEMBER PER OUR BYLAWS
> 
> 
> MCCABE HAS NOT POSTED THIS NOMINATION TO CTGP NOR
> ASKED CHAPTER[ NON EXISTANT FOR YEARS]  CTGP  SCC OR
> EX APPROVEL. SHE PROMISED US /SCC,LIST YEARS AGO
> WHEN LAST VOTED TO IC SHE WOULD "NOT RUN FOR COCHAIR
> AGAIN", THEIR ELECTION IS ALREADY 6 MONTHS LATE WITH
> NO DECENT TRANSPARENT NOMINATION /VOTE PROCESS ONLY
> A CADRE SELF STAMP. THERE IS REALLY ONLY A SMALL
> ACTIVE CADRE OF CERTIAN VIEWS RUNNING  INTERNATIONAL
> COMM. AND MOSTLY SELF AFFORDING TO ATTEND
> INTERNATIONAL MEETING IN OUR NAMES SHE HAS NOT
> ATTENDED ANY LEVEL CTGP MEETING OR REPORTED IN
> PERSON IN OVER FIVE YEARS NOR OUR CONVENTIONS . SHE
> IS NOT A GREEN BY BYLAWS DEFINITION AND IS PURPOSELY
> GOING AGAINST CTGP BYLAWS AND INTERNATIONAL
> COMMITTEE BYLAWS BY RUNNING[ AGAIN, SHE SHOULD NOT
> EVEN BE ON THE iNTERNATIONAL COMM TOO MANY TIMES,TOO
> MANY YEARS, WITH OUT INFORMING OR CTGP APPROVEL WITH
> OUT OUR VOTES AT LEVELS, SHE WRITES OP EDS AND
> PAPERS AND TRAVELS OUT OF COUNTRYTO MEETINGS
> NUMEROUS TIMES IN OUR NAMES PRESENTING ONE SIDED
> NONE PEACEFUL ANTI SEMETIC FILTH. I AM ON
> INTERNATUINAL COMMITTEE AND GET/READ IT ALL,IT IS
> NEVER SENT TO CTGP FOR APPROVEL OR COMMENT NOR DO WE
> KNOW WHAT/WHEN SHE REPRESENTS CTGP AROUND THE WORLD
> BECAUSE SHE CAN AFFORD TO SHE GOES/WRITES. CTGP WAS
> NOT INFORMED OR VOTED ON HER RUNNING AS COCHAIR LAST
> TIME NOR THIS, SHE DOES NOT SPEAK A MODERATE
> PEACEFUL AGENDA. SHE JOINED CTGP ,DONATED THOUSANDS
> OF DOLLARS, TO SPECIFFICALLY PUSH THIS/HER SICK ONE
> SIDED HATE AGENDA, SHE REFUSES TO SPEAK CIVILLY IN
> PUBLIC TO MIKE DEROSA AT NATIONAL CONVENTION, WHY
> HAVE MANY JEWS LEFT IN PAST AND STILL NOT JOINED
> CTGP? JUSTINE REMAINS ON THE ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE
> WATCH LIST ALL THESE YEARS FOR HER CONTINUED VOICED
> AND WRITTEN ANTI SEMETIC VIEWS. SHE IS NOT US! CTGP
> OFFICERS PLEASE TAKE A STAND AND ENFORCE OUR BYLAWS
> AND IC RULES.SHE IS AN OZZING SORE OF HATE THAT HAS
> BEEN IGNORED TO LONG AND GIVES US A BAD REPUTATION
> IN STATE AND NATIONALLY AS WELL AS INTERNATIONALLY  
>  AMY
> >
> >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
> 
> 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
> 



      


From timmckee at mail.com  Mon Dec 22 17:02:12 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:02:12 -0500
Subject: {news} Profile of CT Green elected official- Jean DeSmet
Message-ID: <20081222220213.0732511581F@ws1-7.us4.outblaze.com>

First Selectman's Goal: A More User-Friendly Windham
====================================================

By REGINE LABOSSIERE | The Hartford Courant
      December 22, 2008

Jean de Smet

Jean de Smet, now Windham's first selectman, is shown here in October
2006, when she was running for lieutenant governor on the Green Party
ticket. She is a master electrician. (MICHAEL MCANDREWS / HARTFORD
COURANT / October 31, 2006)


When Jean de Smet was elected last year as Windham's first selectman, she
said she wanted to shake up the office by turning "town hall into a
public service."

De Smet's goal almost was overshadowed by her triumph. She was the first
Green Party candidate to be elected first selectman in the largely
Democratic town. Third-party candidates rarely succeed in getting
elected, but de Smet got the win by rallying voters around a specific
issue. She beat Windham's three-term Democratic First Selectman Michael
Paulhus by campaigning to make local government more open to the public
and to give residents easier access to town hall.

In the year since, de Smet has made town hall and local government more
user-friendly, she and others who work with her said recently. De Smet
said one of the first items she tackled was making the town website more
informative and organizing training sessions for department heads so they
could regularly update their own websites.

"We're trying to make it so we're user-friendly. Perhaps you can go on
the website and get the information you need instead of possibly having
to come in," de Smet said.

The board of selectmen also has created numerous subcommittees
encouraging input from residents, business owners and town officials.
Some of the subcommittees focus on renewable energy, the senior center
and community engagement. De Smet said the subcommittees were formed to
"allow the members of the community to have their ideas and move them
forward. That's different, I think, than most other towns."

De Smet said she realizes she hasn't been able to give much of her
attention to everything that needs improvement in Windham, including
improving downtown Willimantic. But de Smet said she hopes to change
that. She held a meeting recently with downtown business owners and
organization leaders to discuss downtown growth.

Nancy Tinker, president of Thread City Development Corp. who helped work
on the town's facade improvement program, said de Smet has been
instrumental in getting more residents involved in local government.

"She hasn't lost any of her enthusiasm, which I worried about because
that's the kind of job that can get you down after a while. There's so
many people who say 'no.' She's very open to taking input from people in
the town and listening to them. She has certainly opened the doors to
city hall," Tinker said.

De Smet's first win as first selectman will be her last. The town is
changing its form of government to have a town manager when de Smet's
two-year term ends. She said she might consider running for mayor or even
applying for the town manager job, but she's not looking that far ahead
yet.

"I'm working on my campaign promises. I look at them frequently to remind
myself what direction we're going in and it's all about finding the
priorities," de Smet said. "It's been a whirlwind year and it's going to
take a lot of energy and strength, but a lot of people are with me."

EmailE-mailShare

  * Digg

  * Del.icio.us

  * it!

PrintPrintReprintReprint

Copyright ? 2008, The Hartford Courant


******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From efficacy at msn.com  Mon Dec 22 17:12:39 2008
From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton)
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:12:39 -0500
Subject: {news} Profile of CT Green elected official- Jean DeSmet
In-Reply-To: <20081222220213.0732511581F@ws1-7.us4.outblaze.com>
References: <20081222220213.0732511581F@ws1-7.us4.outblaze.com>
Message-ID: <BLU128-DS4089CF349F088430BE92DD1EF0@phx.gbl>

WAY TO GO "GENO"      Happy holidays to all and to all keep on truckin.

Cliff


Original Message ----- 
  From: Tim McKee<mailto:timmckee at mail.com> 
  To: CT Greens News<mailto:ctgp-news at ml.greens.org> 
  Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 5:02 PM
  Subject: {news} Profile of CT Green elected official- Jean DeSmet


  Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS
  http://www.ctgreens.org/<http://www.ctgreens.org/> - http://www.greenpartyus.org/<http://www.greenpartyus.org/>

  to unsubscribe click here
  mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org<mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org> 
  First Selectman's Goal: A More User-Friendly Windham
    By REGINE LABOSSIERE | The Hartford Courant 
    December 22, 2008 
   

  Jean de Smet, now Windham's first selectman, is shown here in October 2006, when she was running for lieutenant governor on the Green Party ticket. She is a master electrician. (MICHAEL MCANDREWS / HARTFORD COURANT / October 31, 2006)




  When Jean de Smet was elected last year as Windham's first selectman, she said she wanted to shake up the office by turning "town hall into a public service."

  De Smet's goal almost was overshadowed by her triumph. She was the first Green Party candidate to be elected first selectman in the largely Democratic town. Third-party candidates rarely succeed in getting elected, but de Smet got the win by rallying voters around a specific issue. She beat Windham's three-term Democratic First Selectman Michael Paulhus by campaigning to make local government more open to the public and to give residents easier access to town hall.

  In the year since, de Smet has made town hall and local government more user-friendly, she and others who work with her said recently. De Smet said one of the first items she tackled was making the town website more informative and organizing training sessions for department heads so they could regularly update their own websites.

  "We're trying to make it so we're user-friendly. Perhaps you can go on the website and get the information you need instead of possibly having to come in," de Smet said.




  The board of selectmen also has created numerous subcommittees encouraging input from residents, business owners and town officials. Some of the subcommittees focus on renewable energy, the senior center and community engagement. De Smet said the subcommittees were formed to "allow the members of the community to have their ideas and move them forward. That's different, I think, than most other towns."

  De Smet said she realizes she hasn't been able to give much of her attention to everything that needs improvement in Windham, including improving downtown Willimantic. But de Smet said she hopes to change that. She held a meeting recently with downtown business owners and organization leaders to discuss downtown growth.

  Nancy Tinker, president of Thread City Development Corp. who helped work on the town's facade improvement program, said de Smet has been instrumental in getting more residents involved in local government.

  "She hasn't lost any of her enthusiasm, which I worried about because that's the kind of job that can get you down after a while. There's so many people who say 'no.' She's very open to taking input from people in the town and listening to them. She has certainly opened the doors to city hall," Tinker said.

  De Smet's first win as first selectman will be her last. The town is changing its form of government to have a town manager when de Smet's two-year term ends. She said she might consider running for mayor or even applying for the town manager job, but she's not looking that far ahead yet.

  "I'm working on my campaign promises. I look at them frequently to remind myself what direction we're going in and it's all about finding the priorities," de Smet said. "It's been a whirlwind year and it's going to take a lot of energy and strength, but a lot of people are with me."

  E-mail<http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-postscript1222.artdec22,0,3171374,email.story>
  Share<javascript://> 
    a.. Digg<http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-postscript1222.artdec22,0,1098281.story&title=First Selectman's Goal: A More User-Friendly Windham> 
    b.. Del.icio.us<http://del.icio.us/post?&url=http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-postscript1222.artdec22,0,1098281.story&title=First Selectman's Goal: A More User-Friendly Windham> 
    c.. it!<http://www.mixx.com/submit?page_url=http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-postscript1222.artdec22,0,1098281.story> 
  Print<http://www.courant.com/community/news/ec/hc-postscript1222.artdec22,0,2839130,print.story>
  Reprint<http://www.courant.com/reprints/>
  Copyright ? 2008, The Hartford Courant<http://www.courant.com/>


       



******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

  -- 
  Be Yourself @ mail.com!
  Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
  Get a Free Account at www.mail.com<http://www.mail.com/Product.aspx>!
  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
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From roseberry3 at cox.net  Tue Dec 23 23:45:01 2008
From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry)
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:45:01 -0500
Subject: {news} 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior Center
Message-ID: <20081224044450.YLDT29613.eastrmmtao106.cox.net@eastrmimpo02.cox.net>

Proposed agenda for the 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior
Center

Location: Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT  06480

Facilitator:  To Be Determined

 

A.      Preliminaries:

1.       (1 minute): Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees; chapters;
if quorum was met; timekeeper; ground rules.

2.       (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda, any deletions
or additions.

3.       (2-4 minutes): Review and approval of minutes of  the 11-11-08 SCC
meeting.

4.     ( 2-4minutes): Review and acceptance of the 12-16-08 EC meeting
minutes.

5.      (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.

 

B.     Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee.

 

C. Reports:

1. (10 minutes): GPUS Presidential Candidate: Cynthia McKinney: write-in
issues at polling places; Secretary of State apparently has not counted
write-in votes from at least the following cities/towns: New Haven,
Manchester, Wethersfield.  Steve Fournier, co-chairperson of CTGP,  wrote to
the Secretary of State and to the state chapter of the League of Women
Voters about this situation.

 

2. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of
GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National
Committee Members: Steve Fournier, Richard Duffee and S. Michael DeRosa.  

 


3. (5-10minutes): CTGP literature.

 

4.  (15 minutes): Fundraising for CTGP: EC proposes that a fundraising
dinner be held on Sunday, 1-18-09 at a Hartford location.  Dinner theme will
be our response to continuing the work for human and civil rights in 2009
which was a primary concern of the late Rev. Martin Luther King.  Other
activities at this dinner: trivia quiz and door prizes.

 

5.  (5 minutes): Chapter mailing list and state mailing list.

 

6.  (10-15 minutes): ACLU lawsuit update.

 

7. (10-15 minutes): CTGP potential goals for 2009:  development of CTGP
Agenda for 2009; e.g. Fight the Hike and repeal of real ID; hearing meetings
to go to; information about meetings.

 

8.  (5-10 minutes): Website:  Steve Fournier, co-chairperson, to update and
maintain database on website inclusive of information which prior candidates
needed to provide organizations during campaigns; candidate position papers.

 

9.  (5-10 minutes):  Green Party of CT road show. First Road Show to be in
Willimantic, Wednesday at 7pm on 1-28-09: Speakers: Jean deSmet, 1st
selectperson of Willimantic and G. Scott Deshefy.

 

10. (2-5 minutes, each):  Chapter reports.

 

11.  Any additions.

 

12.  Date and place for the 1-27-09, Tuesday SCC meeting.  Date, place and
time of next EC meeting in 1-09: to be determined.

 

 

Green Party Key Values: non-violence, respect for diversity, grassroots
democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom,
decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, future
focus and sustainability, personal and global responsibility, feminism and
gender 

 

 

 

 

 


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.0/1862 - Release Date: 12/23/2008
12:08 PM
 
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From amyvasnunes at hotmail.com  Wed Dec 24 02:32:00 2008
From: amyvasnunes at hotmail.com (Amy Vas Nunes)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:32:00 -0500
Subject: {news} Additional Agenda item
In-Reply-To: <20081224044450.YLDT29613.eastrmmtao106.cox.net@eastrmimpo02.cox.net>
References: <20081224044450.YLDT29613.eastrmmtao106.cox.net@eastrmimpo02.cox.net>
Message-ID: <BLU132-W2438AD25004D4AAB984CE4BDED0@phx.gbl>


Barb, I will attend meeting if I can get ride with Pheobe{? do you know of any other Willi Greens comming? Here is agenda item   " Review of CTGP bylaws and USGP Internatal  Comm rules for StateReps to serve{ any term limits] and report to CTGP IC activities , How often does rep have to ATTEND SCC and report and post reports of ALL activities? Does rep need to attend a functioning chapter and are they CTGP member per bylaws? Does CTGP need  reports/notice of Reps intent to run for office , submit platform to USGP, opeds and articles and attend worldwide conferences for our platform reviews of CTGP? Approvel or Not of Justine McCabe to serve on USGP  IC and run as chair without anynotice to CTGP, attendance or regular complete reports to CTGP SCC in SIX years? " Amy

From: roseberry3 at cox.netTo: ctgp-news at ml.greens.orgDate: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:45:01 -0500CC: phoebe.godfrey at uconn.edu; phoebegodfrey at uconn.eduSubject: {news} 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior Center





Proposed agenda for the 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior Center
Location: Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT  06480
Facilitator:  To Be Determined
 
A.      Preliminaries:
1.       (1 minute): Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees; chapters; if quorum was met; timekeeper; ground rules.
2.       (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda, any deletions or additions.
3.       (2-4 minutes): Review and approval of minutes of  the 11-11-08 SCC meeting.
4.     ( 2-4minutes): Review and acceptance of the 12-16-08 EC meeting minutes.
5.      (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.
 
B.     Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee.
 
C. Reports:
1. (10 minutes): GPUS Presidential Candidate: Cynthia McKinney: write-in issues at polling places; Secretary of State apparently has not counted write-in votes from at least the following cities/towns: New Haven, Manchester, Wethersfield.  Steve Fournier, co-chairperson of CTGP,  wrote to the Secretary of State and to the state chapter of the League of Women Voters about this situation.
 
2. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Steve Fournier, Richard Duffee and S. Michael DeRosa.  
                                                                                                      
3. (5-10minutes): CTGP literature.
 
4.  (15 minutes): Fundraising for CTGP: EC proposes that a fundraising dinner be held on Sunday, 1-18-09 at a Hartford location.  Dinner theme will be our response to continuing the work for human and civil rights in 2009 which was a primary concern of the late Rev. Martin Luther King.  Other activities at this dinner: trivia quiz and door prizes.
 
5.  (5 minutes): Chapter mailing list and state mailing list.
 
6.  (10-15 minutes): ACLU lawsuit update.
 
7. (10-15 minutes): CTGP potential goals for 2009:  development of CTGP Agenda for 2009; e.g. Fight the Hike and repeal of real ID; hearing meetings to go to; information about meetings.
 
8.  (5-10 minutes): Website:  Steve Fournier, co-chairperson, to update and maintain database on website inclusive of information which prior candidates needed to provide organizations during campaigns; candidate position papers.
 
9.  (5-10 minutes):  Green Party of CT road show. First Road Show to be in Willimantic, Wednesday at 7pm on 1-28-09: Speakers: Jean deSmet, 1st selectperson of Willimantic and G. Scott Deshefy.
 
10. (2-5 minutes, each):  Chapter reports.
 
11.  Any additions.
 
12.  Date and place for the 1-27-09, Tuesday SCC meeting.  Date, place and time of next EC meeting in 1-09: to be determined.
 
 
Green Party Key Values: non-violence, respect for diversity, grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, future focus and sustainability, personal and global responsibility, feminism and gender 
 
 
 
 
 
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From smderosa at cox.net  Wed Dec 24 11:37:56 2008
From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:37:56 -0500
Subject: {news} Green Party Road Show Comes to Willimantic Jan 28, 2008 7PM
Message-ID: <05DFFD5EA1284115B1D0619AC6C2D302@OwnerPC>

Participate in the 1st Green Party Road Show 2009

 

What: Green Party Road Show 2009 - Green Local and State candidates and
Green elected officials tell the unique story of the Green Party in CT.  The
true narrative of CT's fastest growing third Party (including literature and
refreshments served)(More Road Shows Planned)

 

When: Jan 28, 2009 7PM-9PM

 

Where: Wrench In The Works (a collective coffee house and social justice
center) 861 Main ST.  Willimantic, CT  http://www.wrenchintheworks.org/

 

Why: To expose new people to the unique narrative of the CT Green Party and
facilitate preferred solution based outcomes that promote social and
environmental justice.

 

Contacts:
westerfield at sysmatrix.net
smderosa at cox.net

860-919-4042

 

 

 

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From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com  Wed Dec 24 12:24:22 2008
From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:24:22 +0000
Subject: {news} Diatribes on the "News" list
Message-ID: <BLU102-W3956E01C690CFE84DEE0D7D6ED0@phx.gbl>


As listserv manager, I'm going to try this compromise.  Let ctgp-news at ml.greens.org be used for news and announcements, as described on its information page.  Let ctgp-forum at ml.greens.org be used for discussion, including heated debates.  CTGP-forum will not be moderated, so please read at your own risk since it may include personal attacks or even obscenity and adult language.

I will try to moderate CTGP-news, and if I catch something inappropriate, I will reroute it to CTGP-forum.  I don't think it's a good idea to censor someone completely; better to have an outlet for expressing anger.

Karin is correct about membership: our bylaws state clearly, "Anyone registered to vote as a Green is a Green Party member."  I don't know where Amy gets the idea that Justine is not a member.  We cannot kick people out of the party any more than the Democrats can kick Lieberman out of their party.  We can, however, take away certain appointments or privileges, and Amy is legitimate in questioning the length of term for Justine's appointment to the International Committee (but if we set term lengths, these should apply to ALL committee appointments, not just Justine).  I too, wish Amy would use a less vindictive tone in her messages, but I hope others on the CTGP-forum list will try to find the substance beneath the "venom."

David Bedell

----------Original message--------------------
Subject: {news} Diatribes on the "News" list
From: Andy Derr amderr01 at gmail.com
Date: Sun Dec 21 18:19:59 PST 2008


Hello, Greens.  According to the summary page for the CT Greens News list
(the very one you are reading this message on) ...

This list is the official place for sharing news articles about the Green
Party in the state of Connecticut (or other relevant news stories).


There is no mention of opinion, or political wrangling, or personal
diatribes, or spite, or venom.

Although this list serves an important purpose, unless the CT Green Party
can and will control the list to the extent of preventing the inclusion of
opinion, political wrangling, personal diatribes, spite, and venom, the list
is counterproductive, and should be discontinued.

I ask the State CoChairs, and the State Central Committee to act on this
matter as soon as possible, and I will ask my chapter to pass a resolution
requesting the CoChairs and the SCC to do so.   The technology is quite
simple, and requires only the will  to use it.

If no action is taken, and the situation continues (as it has for years),
then I will unsubscribe.   I would rather be less informed than put with
this!

Andy Derr
New London
_________________________________________________________________
Life on your PC is safer, easier, and more enjoyable with Windows Vista?. 
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/127032870/direct/01/

From richard.duffee at gmail.com  Wed Dec 24 14:08:16 2008
From: richard.duffee at gmail.com (Richard Duffee)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:08:16 -0500
Subject: {forum} RE: {news} Diatribes on the "News" list
In-Reply-To: <BLU102-W3956E01C690CFE84DEE0D7D6ED0@phx.gbl>
References: <BLU102-W3956E01C690CFE84DEE0D7D6ED0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <21f4f7390812241108v1c3565f8gbaa045bac2ea673f@mail.gmail.com>

Good solution.

The Democrats, however, COULD kick Lieberman out of their party. Myrna
Watanabe introduced a resolution in a Demcratic State Central Committee
meeting on Wednesday the 17th to do exactly that. That resolution never came
up for a vote because it was superceded by a resolution to send a letter
chiding him instead. It was probably because the THREAT if kicking Lieberman
out was real and present that the letter of censure got passed.

Richard

On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 12:24 PM, David Bedell <dbedellgreen at hotmail.com>wrote:

> Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS
> http://www.ctgreens.org/ - http://www.greenpartyus.org/
>
> to unsubscribe click here
> mailto://ctgp-forum-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
>
> As listserv manager, I'm going to try this compromise.  Let
> ctgp-news at ml.greens.org be used for news and announcements, as described
> on its information page.  Let ctgp-forum at ml.greens.org be used for
> discussion, including heated debates.  CTGP-forum will not be moderated, so
> please read at your own risk since it may include personal attacks or even
> obscenity and adult language.
>
> I will try to moderate CTGP-news, and if I catch something inappropriate, I
> will reroute it to CTGP-forum.  I don't think it's a good idea to censor
> someone completely; better to have an outlet for expressing anger.
>
> Karin is correct about membership: our bylaws state clearly, "Anyone
> registered to vote as a Green is a Green Party member."  I don't know where
> Amy gets the idea that Justine is not a member.  We cannot kick people out
> of the party any more than the Democrats can kick Lieberman out of their
> party.  We can, however, take away certain appointments or privileges, and
> Amy is legitimate in questioning the length of term for Justine's
> appointment to the International Committee (but if we set term lengths,
> these should apply to ALL committee appointments, not just Justine).  I too,
> wish Amy would use a less vindictive tone in her messages, but I hope others
> on the CTGP-forum list will try to find the substance beneath the "venom."
>
> David Bedell
>
> ----------Original message--------------------
> Subject: {news} Diatribes on the "News" list
> From: Andy Derr amderr01 at gmail.com
> Date: Sun Dec 21 18:19:59 PST 2008
>
>
> Hello, Greens.  According to the summary page for the CT Greens News list
> (the very one you are reading this message on) ...
>
> This list is the official place for sharing news articles about the Green
> Party in the state of Connecticut (or other relevant news stories).
>
>
> There is no mention of opinion, or political wrangling, or personal
> diatribes, or spite, or venom.
>
> Although this list serves an important purpose, unless the CT Green Party
> can and will control the list to the extent of preventing the inclusion of
> opinion, political wrangling, personal diatribes, spite, and venom, the
> list
> is counterproductive, and should be discontinued.
>
> I ask the State CoChairs, and the State Central Committee to act on this
> matter as soon as possible, and I will ask my chapter to pass a resolution
> requesting the CoChairs and the SCC to do so.   The technology is quite
> simple, and requires only the will  to use it.
>
> If no action is taken, and the situation continues (as it has for years),
> then I will unsubscribe.   I would rather be less informed than put with
> this!
>
> Andy Derr
> New London
> _________________________________________________________________
> Life on your PC is safer, easier, and more enjoyable with Windows Vista(R).
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/127032870/direct/01/to unsubscribe click here
> mailto://ctgp-forum-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
> _______________________________________________
> Ctgp-forum mailing list
> Ctgp-forum at ml.greens.org
> http://ml.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/ctgp-forum
> 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-forum-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
>
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From efficacy at msn.com  Fri Dec 26 09:29:14 2008
From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton)
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:29:14 -0500
Subject: {news} Green Party Road Show Comes to Willimantic Jan 28, 2008 7PM
In-Reply-To: <05DFFD5EA1284115B1D0619AC6C2D302@OwnerPC>
References: <05DFFD5EA1284115B1D0619AC6C2D302@OwnerPC>
Message-ID: <BLU128-DS20BB35D5400BF74E43C25D1EB0@phx.gbl>

This is something that can qualify as part of the purposed road show.  Tim, could you help organize students at CCSU to attend for the conference.  Save the date.

Also, see if I can give lectures leading up to the conference in classes.  I will work with you to achieve this.

Cliff


"Drug Policy for the 21st Century"

February 4, 2009 CCSU Conference

Proposed Agenda

 

 

9:00am                         Welcome                      

 

9:10-9:40am                 History & Background of Current U.S. Drug Policy - Dean Susan Pease 

 

9:45-10:30am               Keynote Address:  "The Failed Drug Policy" - Ethan Nadelmann,      

Drug Policy Alliance

 

10:30-11:15am Prof. Tim Black, University of Hartford

 

11:15-11:30am Break

 

11:30-1:00pm              "Viable Policy Approaches" - Panel Discussion (Stan Simpson, Moderator)

 

Harm Reduction - Alan Clear, Harm Reduction Coalition

Legalization or Decriminalization - Jack Cole, LEAP

International Experience with Other Models (Europe & Canada) - Dr. Craig Reinarman, University of California, Santa Cruz

 

1:00-2:00pm                Lunch w/ Student Debate

 

2:00-3:30pm                "Challenges & Possibilities for Implementing a New Drug Policy for the 21st Century" - Panel Discussion (Ned Lamont, Moderator)

 

Disparity Resulting from the War on Drugs - Ryan King, The Sentencing Project 

Green Party Plan - Clifford Thornton, Efficacy

A Better Way - Lorenzo Jones

Experiences with Medical Marijuana Legislation Efforts - (Rep. Bacchiochi)

Drug Policy Reform at the Local Level - Dr. Bob Painter

 

            3:30-4:30pm                Discussion Groups

 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mike DeRosa<mailto:smderosa at cox.net> 
  To: CTGP-candidates at yahoogroups.com<mailto:CTGP-candidates at yahoogroups.com> ; newhavengreens at yahoogroups.com<mailto:newhavengreens at yahoogroups.com> ; ctgp-news at ml.greens.org<mailto:ctgp-news at ml.greens.org> ; ctgp-forum at ml.greens.org<mailto:ctgp-forum at ml.greens.org> 
  Cc: jdesmet at windhamct.com<mailto:jdesmet at windhamct.com> ; Deshefy_For_Congress at yahoo.com<mailto:Deshefy_For_Congress at yahoo.com> 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 11:37 AM
  Subject: {news} Green Party Road Show Comes to Willimantic Jan 28, 2008 7PM


  Connecticut Green Party - Part of the GPUS
  http://www.ctgreens.org/<http://www.ctgreens.org/> - http://www.greenpartyus.org/<http://www.greenpartyus.org/>

  to unsubscribe click here
  mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org<mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org> 
  Participate in the 1st Green Party Road Show 2009

   

  What: Green Party Road Show 2009 - Green Local and State candidates and Green elected officials tell the unique story of the Green Party in CT.  The true narrative of CT's fastest growing third Party (including literature and refreshments served)(More Road Shows Planned)

   

  When: Jan 28, 2009 7PM-9PM

   

  Where: Wrench In The Works (a collective coffee house and social justice center) 861 Main ST.  Willimantic, CT  http://www.wrenchintheworks.org/<http://www.wrenchintheworks.org/>

   

  Why: To expose new people to the unique narrative of the CT Green Party and facilitate preferred solution based outcomes that promote social and environmental justice.

   

  Contacts:
  westerfield at sysmatrix.net
  smderosa at cox.net<mailto:smderosa at cox.net>

  860-919-4042

   

   

   

  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
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From efficacy at msn.com  Sun Dec 28 12:18:07 2008
From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton)
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:18:07 -0500
Subject: {news} Milestone
In-Reply-To: <D8A7A436D56D42548C4EE84C9A0175F0@irving>
References: <D8A7A436D56D42548C4EE84C9A0175F0@irving>
Message-ID: <BLU128-W3840BD74A6F59629FC7433D1E90@phx.gbl>


Happy holidays everyone

Efficacy
PO Box 1234
860 657 8438
Hartford, CT 06143
efficacy at msn.com
www.Efficacy-online.org
 
"THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"

Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit
501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are tax
deductible



From: eyle at reconsider.org
To: Tony at Dukes.com; efficacy at msn.com; afschofi at hotmail.com
Subject: Fw: Milestone
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:52:48 -0500




Milestone





 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Gene Tinelli 

 
Subject: Milestone



In a few short days, an African American man will move from his 
private
residence into a much larger and infinitely more expensive one owned 
not
by him but by the taxpayers. A vast lawn, a perimeter fence and 
many
well trained security specialists will insulate him from the rest of 
us
but the mere fact that this man will be residing in this house 
should
make us all stop and count our blessings - because it proves that 
we
live in a nation where anything is possible.

Many believed this day 
would never come. Most of us hoped and
prayed that it would, but few of us 
actually believed we would live to
see it. Racism is an ugly thing in all of 
it's forms and there is little
doubt that if this man had moved into this 
house fifteen years ago,
there would have been a great outcry - possibly even 
rioting in the 
streets.

Today, we can all be both grateful and proud 
that no such mayhem will
take place.when this man takes up residency in this 
house.
This man, moving into this house at this time in our 
nation's
history is much more than a simple change of addresses for him - it 
is
proof of a change in our attitude as a nation. It is an amends of 
sorts
- - the righting of a great wrong. It is a symbol of our growth, and 
of
our willingness to "judge a man, not by the color of his skin but by 
the
content of his character".

There can be little doubt now that the 
vast majority of us truly
believe that this man has earned both his place in 
history and his new
address. His time in this house will not be easy - it 
will be fraught
with danger and he will face many challenges. I am sure there 
will be
many times when he asks himself how in the world he ended up here 
and
like all who have gone before him, the experience will age him 
greatly.
But I for one will not waste an ounce of worry for his sake - 
because in
every way a man can, he asked for this. His whole life for the 
past
fifteen years appears to have been inexorably leading this man 
toward
this house. It is highly probable that that in the past, despite all 
of
his actions, racism would have kept this man out of this house. 
Today,
I thank the lord above that I am an American and that I live in a 
nation
where wrongs are righted, where justice matters and where truly 
anything
is possible.

Who is this man you ask? (see attached 
picture)





 
 
 
 
 
 
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From timmckee at mail.com  Mon Dec 29 15:53:41 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:53:41 -0500
Subject: {news} Additional Agenda item? Several items not one!
Message-ID: <20081229205342.1CAF7606861@ws1-4.us4.outblaze.com>

Once again this is not an additional items, but several unclear items. do
we want to propose TERM limits? Bylaws would have to be addressed? Does
an international committee have to report to us? several people are on
that Committee- where are their reports? Most state Green Parties have NO
state meetings, let along MONTHLY meetings- are OUR rules different than
theirs? WE have to approve ALL our state or national editors? letters?
platforms?? For ALL of leaders for everything they write? NO state party
does that, do we really want to do that??   if someone has REAL
proposals, real solutions,, let them submit to the list servers...We have
no time for fishing.around, arguing with NO agenda and fighting and
re-fighting PAST personals agendas if you have positive ,moving forward
agenda items please post themif u are ON several national committees
everyone should be able to talk (report)breifly about thier actions.. Tim
McKee -- Original Message -----
From: "Amy Vas Nunes"
To: "B Barry" , ctgp-news at ml.greens.org
Cc: phoebe.godfrey at uconn.edu, phoebegodfrey at uconn.edu
Subject: {news} Additional Agenda item
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:32:00 -0500


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
Barb, I will attend meeting if I can get ride with Pheobe{? do you know
of any other Willi Greens comming? Here is agenda item   " Review of CTGP
bylaws and USGP Internatal  Comm rules for StateReps to serve{ any term
limits] and report to CTGP IC activities , How often does rep have to
ATTEND SCC and report and post reports of ALL activities? Does rep need
to attend a functioning chapter and are they CTGP member per bylaws? Does
CTGP need  reports/notice of Reps intent to run for office , submit
platform to USGP, opeds and articles and attend worldwide conferences for
our platform reviews of CTGP? Approvel or Not of Justine McCabe to serve
on USGP  IC and run as chair without anynotice to CTGP, attendance or
regular complete reports to CTGP SCC in SIX years? " Amy

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: roseberry3 at cox.net
To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:45:01 -0500
CC: phoebe.godfrey at uconn.edu; phoebegodfrey at uconn.edu
Subject: {news} 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland Senior Center

  Proposed agenda for the 7PM 12-30-08 SCC CTGP meeting at Portland
  Senior Center

  Location: Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 
  06480

  Facilitator:  To Be Determined

  A. Preliminaries:

  1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees;
  chapters; if quorum was met; timekeeper; ground rules.

  2. (2-4 minutes): Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda, any
  deletions or additions.

  3. (2-4 minutes): Review and approval of minutes of  the 11-11-08 SCC
  meeting.

  4.     ( 2-4minutes): Review and acceptance of the 12-16-08 EC
  meeting minutes.

  5.      (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.

  B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee.

  C. Reports:

  1. (10 minutes): GPUS Presidential Candidate: Cynthia McKinney:
  write-in issues at polling places; Secretary of State apparently has
  not counted write-in votes from at least the following cities/towns:
  New Haven, Manchester, Wethersfield.  Steve Fournier, co-chairperson
  of CTGP,  wrote to the Secretary of State and to the state chapter of
  the League of Women Voters about this situation.

  2. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson
  of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and
  National Committee Members: Steve Fournier, Richard Duffee and S.
  Michael DeRosa. 

  3. (5-10minutes): CTGP literature.

  4.  (15 minutes): Fundraising for CTGP: EC proposes that a
  fundraising dinner be held on Sunday, 1-18-09 at a Hartford
  location.  Dinner theme will be our response to continuing the work
  for human and civil rights in 2009 which was a primary concern of the
  late Rev. Martin Luther King.  Other activities at this dinner:
  trivia quiz and door prizes.

  5. (5 minutes): Chapter mailing list and state mailing list.

  6.  (10-15 minutes): ACLU lawsuit update.

  7. (10-15 minutes): CTGP potential goals for 2009:  development of
  CTGP Agenda for 2009; e.g. Fight the Hike and repeal of real ID;
  hearing meetings to go to; information about meetings.

  8.  (5-10 minutes): Website: Steve Fournier, co-chairperson, to
  update and maintain database on website inclusive of information
  which prior candidates needed to provide organizations during
  campaigns; candidate position papers.

  9.  (5-10 minutes):  Green Party of CT road show. First Road Show to
  be in Willimantic, Wednesday at 7pm on 1-28-09: Speakers: Jean
  deSmet, 1st selectperson of Willimantic and G. Scott Deshefy.

  10. (2-5 minutes, each):  Chapter reports.

  11.  Any additions.

  12.  Date and place for the 1-27-09, Tuesday SCC meeting.  Date,
  place and time of next EC meeting in 1-09: to be determined.

  Green Party Key Values: non-violence, respect for diversity,
  grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity,
  ecological wisdom, decentralization, community-based economics and
  economic justice, future focus and sustainability, personal and
  global responsibility, feminism and gender


  No virus found in this outgoing message.
  Checked by AVG.
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  To be removed please mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org
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******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Tue Dec 30 15:41:38 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:41:38 -0500
Subject: {news} GP RELEASE Greens condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza;
	McKinney on relief vessel rammed by Israeli gunboats
Message-ID: <078401c96abf$03de2e00$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org


Green Party condemns Israel's massive air attack on Gaza, calls on US
to rein in Israel and seek a ceasefire

. Green presidential candidate McKinney is safe after the SS Dignity,
carrying relief to Gaza, is rammed by an Israeli gunboat in
international waters

. Greens challenge Obama to press Israel to comply with international
law and end the illegal occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian lands


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States calls for an
immediate end to Israel's bombing attacks on Gaza, which in the past
four days has already caused at least 364 deaths, including
Palestinian women and children, with hundreds more wounded.

"It's clear that President Bush gave a green light for Israel's
massive and disproportionate display of force.  The Green Party
demands that the US seek a bilateral ceasefire, with immediate
pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment and end the occupation,"
said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for Vice
President of the United States (http://www.rosaclemente.com).

Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's 2008 presidential candidate, had
joined the Free Gaza Group (http://www.freegaza.org) on the SS
Dignity, which sailed from Cyprus to deliver three tons of medicine
and humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade.  Ms.
McKinney was safe after Israeli gunboats attempted to intercept the
Dignity last night and one gunboat illegally rammed the vessel in
international waters, 90 miles off the Gaza coast
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/30/israel-gaza-aid-ship).
Despite damage sustained in the encounter, the Dignity has docked
safely in Lebanon and Ms. McKinney is on her way to Beirut.

In an interview on CNN
(http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/30/am.lebanon.aid.boat.mckinney.cnn),
Cynthia McKinney said, "What we have gone through pales in comparison
to what the people of the Gaza Strip are suffering."  Ms. McKinney is
challenging President-elect Barack Obama to condemn Israel's attacks
on Gaza.

Greens noted that Hamas, the target of Israel's aerial bombardment,
was democratically elected in 2006, and that Israel and the US have
been trying to remove Hamas from power, especially by attempting to
spark a civil war between Hamas and Fatah.

Since its election, Hamas has repeatedly offered to talk with Israel,
but Israel has rejected all such overtures.  Hamas had observed a
five-month truce that was broken on November 4 when Israeli Defense
Forces killed five Palestinians.  In retaliation, Hamas responded with
missiles which over the last month have injured one Israeli and caused
property damage.  The Green Party categorically condemns all violence
visited on unarmed civilians.

"Palestinians are living under an occupation that has continued
despite numerous UN directives ordering Israel to withdraw.  Israel's
latest lethal assault will only intensify the crisis and inflict
further suffering on the Palestinian people.  Two thirds of Gazans are
refugees -- some doubly so, from 1948 and 1967 -- and all Gaza
residents are living in conditions comparable to a medieval siege.
Israel must comply with international law and ends its illegal
military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,
dismantle the illegal separation wall, make restitution to
Palestinians whose lands have been seized, and recognize the
Palestinian right of return.  If President Obama wants to make history
by resolving the Middle East conflict, he must press Israel to take
these steps," said Hajja Romi Elnagar, Louisiana Green and member of
the Green Party's International Committee
(http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).

"The current assumption in the US media that this is a symmetrical
conflict between equals is as absurd as the claim that Israel's bombs
are not threatening women and children.  Israel is the world's fourth
most powerful military nation, a nuclear power that enjoys support
from the US, while Palestinians are impoverished, with many living
without electricity, water, food, and medicine for weeks," said Ms.
Elnagar.

As a result of the Israeli blockade, 80% of Gazans live on less than
two dollars a day.  Unemployment hovers at 50-60% in Gaza, with only
195 factories, reduced from 3,900 in 2005.  Israel has barred the
delivery of UN relief to Gazans.

The Green Party has called for an end to US military aid to Israel and
supports the movement for international boycott, divestment, and
sanctions against Israel until Israel ends the occupation, obeys
international law (including Geneva Conventions and the UN's Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), and guarantees full human rights for
Palestinians.  The party supports efforts by Palestinian and Israeli
peace groups towards a nonviolent negotiated resolution to the
conflict.

The Green Party also endorses complete regional (and, ultimately,
global) nuclear disarmament to remove the threat of a nuclear exchange
in the Middle East and Asia.  Greens have expressed concern that
Barack Obama will bow to demands from AIPAC and other pro-Israel
lobbies and maintain the Clinton and Bush administrations' uncritical
support for Israel's military objectives and human rights violations.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
. Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
. Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
. Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
. Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
. Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
. Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 2008 'Power to the People' Campaign for
the White House
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com

Green Party press releases:
"Greens call the 60th anniversary of Israel an occasion to affirm
international law, enact human rights, and end the illegal occupation
of Palestinian territories" (May 19, 2008)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=61
"Greens: Obama's AIPAC speech reveals he has embraced Bush propaganda
on Iran, may support an attack" (June 12, 2008)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=67


~ END ~
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From timmckee at mail.com  Tue Dec 30 16:19:10 2008
From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee)
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:19:10 -0500
Subject: {news} Press release from FreeGaza.org on Israel gunboat ramming of
 SS Dignity
Message-ID: <20081230211910.95073BE4078@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com>

----- Original Message -----

From: "Scott McLarty"
To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org
Subject: [usgp-dx] Press release from FreeGaza.org on Israel gunboat
ramming of SS Dignity
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:04:27 +0000



> From Ramzi Kysia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Israeli Gunboats Came out of the Darkness and Rammed us Three Times

For more information, please contact:
(Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497 / freelance at mailworks.org
(Cyprus) Lubna Masarwa +357 99 081 767 / lubnna at gmail.com
(Lebanon) Caoimhe Butterly +961 70 875 727 / sahara78 at hotmail.co.uk
http://www.FreeGaza.org

(Lebanon, Tuesday 30 December) - Today the Free Gaza ship "Dignity"
carefully made its way to safe harbor in Tyre, Lebanon's
southern-most port city, after receiving serious structural damage
when Israeli warships rammed its bow and the port side. Waiting to
greet the passengers and crew were thousands of Lebanese who came
out to show their solidarity with this attempt to deliver volunteer
doctors and desperately needed medical supplies to war-ravaged
Gaza. The Lebanese government has pledged to provide a forensic
analysis of what happened in the dark morning, when Israel rammed
the civilian ship in international waters, and put the people on
board in danger of losing their lives.

The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked
by the Israeli Navy at approximately 6am (UST) in international
waters, roughly 90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli
warships surrounded the small, human rights boat, firing live
ammunition around it, then intentionally ramming it three times.
According to ship's captain Denis Healy, the Israeli attack came,
""without any warning, or any provocation."

Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated
that, "The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the
darkness firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our
faces. We were so shocked that at first we didn't react. We knew we
were well within international waters and supposedly safe from
attack. They rammed us three times, hitting the side of the boat
hard. We began taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all
feared for our lives. After they rammed us, they started screaming
at us as we were frantically getting the life boats ready and
putting on our life jackets. They kept yelling that if we didn't
turn back they would shoot us."

Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party
presidential candidate, was traveling to Gaza aboard the Dignity in
order to assess the impact of Israel's military onslaught against
the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. According to McKinney,
"Israeli patrol boats...tracked us for about 30 minutes...and then
all of a sudden they rammed us approximately three times, twice in
the front and once in the side...the Israelis indicated that [they
felt] we were involved in terrorist activities."

The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on
Monday 29 December with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately
needed medical supplies donated to Gaza by the people of Cyprus.
Three surgeons were also aboard, traveling to Gaza to volunteer in
overwhelmed hospitals and clinics. The ship was searched by Cypriot
Port authorities prior to departure, and its passenger list was
made public.

Israel's deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of
both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for
peaceful purposes."

Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to
civilians is a just such a "peaceful purpose." Deliberately ramming
a mercy ship and endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism.

CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP
attacking the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence
to prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the
Palestinian people.

Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
mark.regev at it.pmo.gov.il

Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar at mod.gov.il

Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy at:
+ 972 5 781 86248

###
The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to
Gaza in August 2008. These were the first international boats to
land in the port in 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were
successful, taking Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and
other dignitaries to witness the effects of Israel's draconian
policies on the civilians of Gaza.
http://www.FreeGaza.org
_________________________________________________________________
Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass.
http://windowslive.com/oneline/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_anywhere_122008
_______________________________________________
Natlcomaffairs mailing list
To send a message to the list, write to:
Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org
To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to:
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs

You must know your password to do this.

If you can't figure out how to
unsubscribe, as a last resort only,
send a message OFF LIST to
steveh at olypen.com

If your state delegation changes, please see:
http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html

To report violations of listserv protocol, write to
forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org

For other information about the National Committee, see:
http://gp.org/committees/nc/



******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

-- 
Be Yourself @ mail.com!
Choose From 200+ Email Addresses
Get a Free Account at www.mail.com

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From justinemccabe at earthlink.net  Tue Dec 30 16:37:08 2008
From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe)
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:37:08 -0500
Subject: {news} Response from Swedish Green/former MEP Per Gahrton to GP
	RELEASE on Gaza
Message-ID: <085d01c96ac6$c4b64c00$0402a8c0@JUSTINE>


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Justine McCabe 
To: USGP International Committee 
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 4:22 PM
Subject: USGP-INT Response from Swedish Green Per Gahrton to GP RELEASEGreens condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza;McKinney on relief vessel rammed by Israeli gunboats


Hi All, 

A message of support for the Gaza PR from Swedish Green and former MEP Per Gahrton, a long-time activist for I-P peace and Palestinian human rights..

Justine  



---- Original Message ----- 
From: Per Gahrton 
To: Justine McCabe 
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 4:07 PM
Subject: Re: GP RELEASE Greens condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza; McKinney on relief vessel rammed by Israeli gunboats


thanks for information, great that us greens react sharply,
yours Per Gahrton, former MEP Sweden, just published The Palestinian Liberation struggle (770 pages, unfortunately only in Swedish)
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Justine McCabe 
  To: Justine McCabe 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 9:40 PM
  Subject: GP RELEASE Greens condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza; McKinney on relief vessel rammed by Israeli gunboats


  GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
  http://www.gp.org

  For Immediate Release:
  Tuesday, December 30, 2008

  Contacts:
  Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
  mclarty at greens.org
  Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org


  Green Party condemns Israel's massive air attack on Gaza, calls on US
  to rein in Israel and seek a ceasefire

  . Green presidential candidate McKinney is safe after the SS Dignity,
  carrying relief to Gaza, is rammed by an Israeli gunboat in
  international waters

  . Greens challenge Obama to press Israel to comply with international
  law and end the illegal occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian lands


  WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States calls for an
  immediate end to Israel's bombing attacks on Gaza, which in the past
  four days has already caused at least 364 deaths, including
  Palestinian women and children, with hundreds more wounded.

  "It's clear that President Bush gave a green light for Israel's
  massive and disproportionate display of force.  The Green Party
  demands that the US seek a bilateral ceasefire, with immediate
  pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment and end the occupation,"
  said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for Vice
  President of the United States (http://www.rosaclemente.com).

  Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's 2008 presidential candidate, had
  joined the Free Gaza Group (http://www.freegaza.org) on the SS
  Dignity, which sailed from Cyprus to deliver three tons of medicine
  and humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade.  Ms.
  McKinney was safe after Israeli gunboats attempted to intercept the
  Dignity last night and one gunboat illegally rammed the vessel in
  international waters, 90 miles off the Gaza coast
  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/30/israel-gaza-aid-ship).
  Despite damage sustained in the encounter, the Dignity has docked
  safely in Lebanon and Ms. McKinney is on her way to Beirut.

  In an interview on CNN
  (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/30/am.lebanon.aid.boat.mckinney.cnn),
  Cynthia McKinney said, "What we have gone through pales in comparison
  to what the people of the Gaza Strip are suffering."  Ms. McKinney is
  challenging President-elect Barack Obama to condemn Israel's attacks
  on Gaza.

  Greens noted that Hamas, the target of Israel's aerial bombardment,
  was democratically elected in 2006, and that Israel and the US have
  been trying to remove Hamas from power, especially by attempting to
  spark a civil war between Hamas and Fatah.

  Since its election, Hamas has repeatedly offered to talk with Israel,
  but Israel has rejected all such overtures.  Hamas had observed a
  five-month truce that was broken on November 4 when Israeli Defense
  Forces killed five Palestinians.  In retaliation, Hamas responded with
  missiles which over the last month have injured one Israeli and caused
  property damage.  The Green Party categorically condemns all violence
  visited on unarmed civilians.

  "Palestinians are living under an occupation that has continued
  despite numerous UN directives ordering Israel to withdraw.  Israel's
  latest lethal assault will only intensify the crisis and inflict
  further suffering on the Palestinian people.  Two thirds of Gazans are
  refugees -- some doubly so, from 1948 and 1967 -- and all Gaza
  residents are living in conditions comparable to a medieval siege.
  Israel must comply with international law and ends its illegal
  military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,
  dismantle the illegal separation wall, make restitution to
  Palestinians whose lands have been seized, and recognize the
  Palestinian right of return.  If President Obama wants to make history
  by resolving the Middle East conflict, he must press Israel to take
  these steps," said Hajja Romi Elnagar, Louisiana Green and member of
  the Green Party's International Committee
  (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).

  "The current assumption in the US media that this is a symmetrical
  conflict between equals is as absurd as the claim that Israel's bombs
  are not threatening women and children.  Israel is the world's fourth
  most powerful military nation, a nuclear power that enjoys support
  from the US, while Palestinians are impoverished, with many living
  without electricity, water, food, and medicine for weeks," said Ms.
  Elnagar.

  As a result of the Israeli blockade, 80% of Gazans live on less than
  two dollars a day.  Unemployment hovers at 50-60% in Gaza, with only
  195 factories, reduced from 3,900 in 2005.  Israel has barred the
  delivery of UN relief to Gazans.

  The Green Party has called for an end to US military aid to Israel and
  supports the movement for international boycott, divestment, and
  sanctions against Israel until Israel ends the occupation, obeys
  international law (including Geneva Conventions and the UN's Universal
  Declaration of Human Rights), and guarantees full human rights for
  Palestinians.  The party supports efforts by Palestinian and Israeli
  peace groups towards a nonviolent negotiated resolution to the
  conflict.

  The Green Party also endorses complete regional (and, ultimately,
  global) nuclear disarmament to remove the threat of a nuclear exchange
  in the Middle East and Asia.  Greens have expressed concern that
  Barack Obama will bow to demands from AIPAC and other pro-Israel
  lobbies and maintain the Clinton and Bush administrations' uncritical
  support for Israel's military objectives and human rights violations.


  MORE INFORMATION

  Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
  202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
  Fax 202-319-7193
  . Tally of Green election victories
  http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
  . Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
  . Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
  http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
  . Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
  . Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
  . Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

  Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 2008 'Power to the People' Campaign for
  the White House
  http://www.runcynthiarun.org
  http://votetruth08.com
  http://www.rosaclemente.com

  Green Party press releases:
  "Greens call the 60th anniversary of Israel an occasion to affirm
  international law, enact human rights, and end the illegal occupation
  of Palestinian territories" (May 19, 2008)
  http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=61
  "Greens: Obama's AIPAC speech reveals he has embraced Bush propaganda
  on Iran, may support an attack" (June 12, 2008)
  http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=67


  ~ END ~



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