From efficacy at msn.com Sat Mar 1 08:39:03 2008 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 08:39:03 -0500 Subject: {news} Cliff Thornton will tour four countries while in Europe--DRUG PEACE DAYS IN VIENNA Message-ID: Dear friends, The new version of the programme of the Drug Peace Days that are organised by ENCOD on 7, 8 and 9 March in Vienna is now available on http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN-YEARS-AFTER.html The days will include a Drug Peace March on 7 March to the Vienna International Centre, seat of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, where from Monday 10 March onwards, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will have its 51. annual meeting. In this meeting, the CND will start its "year of reflection" on the results of the 10 global strategy to "significantly reduce the supply and demand for illicit drugs", agreed upon in 1998 in New York. We intend to give them something to reflect about. In the Conference that will be held in Vienna University on 8 & 9 March prominent US drug policy reformers such as Clifford Thornton, and Peter Webster will intervene, next to drug policy experts and activists from Europe and South America.. Cliff Thornton will also journey to Germany, France and Italy for presentations with elected Green Party officials and conferences in those countries. The programme FLARE and all its participants www.flareprogramme.org (about 200 young people coming from more than twenty different countries, more than 40 organizations) will gather again for the third time in Italy, in the city of Bari, from 11 to 16 of March 2008, just after the Vienna meeting! I would really like to invite Mr Thorntorn will be in the city of Bari (southerm Italy) on March 12th to hold a seminar upon alternative solution to drug trafficking. For those of you who wish to make the trip to Vienna, you can find information on hotel accomodation on our website. If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best wishes, Joep Oomen EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES Lange Lozanastraat 14 ? 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 ? Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644 E-mail: info at encod.org > / www.encod.org > 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ralphferrucci at sbcglobal.net Sat Mar 1 15:43:16 2008 From: ralphferrucci at sbcglobal.net (RALPH FERRUCCI) Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 12:43:16 -0800 (PST) Subject: {news} state GP elections In-Reply-To: <20080301200009.4DAC18DC587@gandhi.greens.org> Message-ID: <524592.70478.qm@web81007.mail.mud.yahoo.com> It is election time again. If you would like to run for State/ US Green Rep or know someone who would please contact Chris Reilly at the email below. Ralph Ferrucci Please notify as many of your chapter members as possible that Elections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES 3. One SECRETARY 4. One TREASURER Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting. If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact: Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123. When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly From creilly1952 at hotmail.com Sun Mar 2 11:43:26 2008 From: creilly1952 at hotmail.com (Christopher Reilly) Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2008 11:43:26 -0500 Subject: {news} Annual Meeting/ Elections of Officers Message-ID: Please notify as many of your chapter members as possible that Elections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES 3. One SECRETARY 4. One TREASURER Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting. If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact: Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123. When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly _________________________________________________________________ Climb to the top of the charts!?Play the word scramble challenge with star power. http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_jan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Mar 3 17:30:52 2008 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 17:30:52 -0500 Subject: {news} GP RELEASE Greens seek divestment, aid cutoff as Israeli crimes mount in Gaza Message-ID: <133001c87d7e$3d9ab700$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Monday, March 3, 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 urge economic pressure and cutoff of all military aid to Israel as Gaza situation worsens . Demanding an end to illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, Greens urge widespread grassroots support for the Palestine BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Campaign . Greens blast Clinton, Obama, and McCain for uncritical support of Israel despite mounting crimes WASHINGTON, DC -- Calling the Siege of Gaza an international emergency, the Green Party is urging Congress to reject President Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel, and reiterated the call for a cut-off of all US military aid to Israel. "The Siege of Gaza is an ongoing atrocity, with mounting civilian casualties, especially children, killed and maimed by Israeli Defense Forces," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States and member of People for Justice in Palestine, responding to the mass killing of Palestinians during the past weekend. "Greens are demanding an end to the siege and to the occupation of Palestinian lands, to Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians, and to targeted assassinations, all of which violate international law." Greens noted that the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has doubled since the Annapolis peace talks sponsored by the US in November 2007. In some areas of the West Bank, home invasions by IDF since January 1 have resulted in the kidnapping and detention without charges of nearly 400 civilians, including children. 1.5 million Gazans, mostly refugees from Israel in 1948, live in an open-air prison, unable to exit, and with electricity, fuel, and water under Israeli control. "Peace talks are a sham as long as Israel refuses to discuss the construction of new housing units for Jewish settlers throughout occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank," said David J. Kalbfleisch, a Green congressional candidate in Illinois' 10th district . "Israel must meet its obligations under U.N. security council resolution 242." The Green Party has already called for an economic boycott and divestment of Israel until the occupation is ended and full human rights and equality are realized throughout historic Palestine, including Israel , and also for recognition of the right of return. Green leaders, emphasizing the need for popular pressure on the US government similar to the campaign against South African apartheid two decades ago, have supported the efforts of Palestinian and Israeli peace groups to seek negotiation and a halt to violence, and are urging participation in the Palestine BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Campaign . The President's FY2009 request would enact a 9% increase over 2007 spending, and would be the first installment of a ten-year agreement between the US and Israel, signed in August 2007, to increase military aid by 25%, totaling $30 billion by FY2018. The arms purchased through Foreign Military Financing are being used to enforce Israel's 40-year military occupation and siege of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and for violation of human rights in the Occupied Territories and against civilians in Lebanon. Such use of weapons purchased with US money violates of the Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. "The Green Party has repeatedly called for an end to Israel's illegal occupation, for enforcement of human rights laws consistently violated by Israel, and for an end to all attacks against unarmed civilians by either side," said Justine McCabe, co-chair of the party's International Committee. "Under the influence of AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbies, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have bent over backwards to support the Israel government and avoid criticism -- even as Israel warns that it may invade and Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai threatens Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with a 'holocaust.' If the national debate on the Middle East is restricted to Democratic and Republican positions in 2008, the crisis and the atrocities will continue regardless of who wins the White House," Dr. McCabe added. MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193 . Video of Green presidential candidates http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/presidential-videos.php . Green candidate database for 2007 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 . 2008 Green National Convention: Live Green, Vote Green http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/index.shtml . Media credentialing http://www.gp.org/committees/media/kit.shtml Green Party International Committee http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/ Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/ Wheels of Justice Tour: Nonviolent education and action against war and occupation in Iraq and Palestine for justice and universal human rights http://justicewheels.org "Israeli minister threatens "holocaust" as public demand ceasefire talks" Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, February 29, 2008 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9354.shtml Palestinian deaths double since Annapolis By Mel Frykberg, Middle East Times, January 16, 2008 http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/01/16/palestinian_deaths_double_since_annapolis/9342/ ~ END ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vantagetax at aol.com Mon Mar 3 21:44:31 2008 From: vantagetax at aol.com (vantagetax at aol.com) Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 21:44:31 -0500 Subject: {news} Ralph Nader on Daily Show Tuesday In-Reply-To: <101870.6644.qm@web81003.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Ralph Nader will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart tomorrow: Tuesday 11 pm on Comedy Central For more info: www.votenader.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 5098 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Fri Mar 7 17:43:32 2008 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:43:32 -0500 Subject: {news} presidential petition Message-ID: I've scanned the petition and posted it at http://www.ctgreens.org/candidates/president.petition.2008.pdf so that people can download and print copies. It's a large file, 1.5 MB, which may be hard to download--if anyone can make a better scan of the original (legible and a manageable file size) and email it to me, I'd appreciate it. For the record, here is the list of candidates for Presidential Elector on the presidential petition. These people's names will be enshrined in the State Register & Manual, under "Election Statistics and Statement of Vote". Below are also the lists for 2004, 2000, and 1996: 2008 petition: Green President: Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr., Glastonbury (placeholder). Vice President: Greg Gerritt, Providence, RI (placeholder). Presidential Electors: Vittorio E. Lancia, Portland; Richard Z. Duffee, Stamford; Ronna K. Stuller, New London; G. Scott Deshefy, Lebanon; S. Michael DeRosa, Wethersfield; Barbara A. Barry, Wethersfield; Timothy L. McKee, Manchester. 2004: http://www.sots.ct.gov/RegisterManual/SectionVIII/SOV04President.htm Green President: David Cobb, 1402 M Street, Eureka, CA 95501. Vice President: Patricia La Marche, 101 Newell Road, Yarmouth, ME 04096. Presidential Electors: John R. Battista, New Milford; Ed J. DuBrule, West Hartford; Elizabeth D. Horton Sheff, Hartford; Charles A. Pillsbury, New Haven; Lindsey W. Mathews, Branford; Elizabeth M. Brancato, Torrington; Thomas J. Sevigny, Canton. Petitioning Candidate President: Ralph Nader, 53 Hillside Avenue, Winsted (Winchester), CT 06098. Vice President: Peter Miguel Camejo, 767 Halidon Way, Folsom, CA 95630. Presidential Electors: Timothy L. McKee, Manchester; Donna Lynn Byrne-McKee, Manchester; Peter Ellner, Oxford; Michael Edwardo Ellner, Oxford; Aaron Tabackman, New Haven; Ralph Anthony Ferrucci, New Haven; David C. Agosta, Hamden. 2000: http://www.sots.ct.gov/RegisterManual/SectionVIII/SOV00President.htm Green President: Ralph Nader, 53 Hillside Avenue, Winsted, CT 06098. Vice President: Winona LaDuke, Route 1, Box 308, Ponsford, MN 56575. Presidential Electors: Karin Norton, Mansfield; Thomas J. Sevigny, Canton; Edward Shatas, Meriden; Amy Van Nunes, Windham; Paul James, Meriden; Vittorio Lancia, Portland; Chris Reilly, Newington; Paul Bassler, Norwalk. 1996 petition (not online): Green President: Bertram Garskof, Bethany (placeholder for Ralph Nader). Vice President: Anthony Bottalico, Hopewell, NY (placeholder for Winona LaDuke). Presidential Electors: James M. Kowalshyn, West Hartford; Anne M. Dettenborn, West Hartford; Harriet Lucinda Hannon, Simsbury; Edward E. Shatas, Meriden; John J. Reardon, Meriden; Paul F. Bassler, Norwalk; Sharon O'Neil Doyle, Durham; Michael F. Doyle, Durham. From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sat Mar 8 11:13:00 2008 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 11:13:00 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: EIN News Alert: Vermont Issues Arrest Warrants for Bush, Cheney Message-ID: <003301c8813e$f8879650$d99b4c0c@edgn2b574u14bi> EIN News Alert: Vermont Issues Arrest Warrants for Bush, CheneyThis came to my inbox. I know nothing more about it. I do not know what EIN News is. And the title is misleading: two counties in Vermont (supposedly), not the entire state of Vermont, took this action. --Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: EIN News To: [Ed DuBrule's personal in-box] Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 12:27 PM Subject: EIN News Alert: Vermont Issues Arrest Warrants for Bush, Cheney NEWS ALERT Vermont Issues Arrest Warrants for Bush, Cheney; EIN News Offers Extensive Coverage of U.S. Politics WASHINGTON, March 5 - /EIN News/ Residents of two counties in Vermont have voted to arrest the U.S. President and Vice President if either men step foot in the state for "crimes against the U.S. Constitution". Stay on top of U.S. Politics with a free trial to U.S. Politics Today: http://uspolitics.einnews.com/users/register.php See also: -- Daily Breaking News on U.S. Politics - http://uspolitics.einnews.com/ -- Vermont Political News - http://uspolitics.einnews.com/vermont/ -- George Bush & Vermont News - http://uspolitics.einnews.com/news/george-bush-vermont -- All U.S. Politics Today News Sections - http://uspolitics.einnews.com/news-index.php The New England state is known for its liberal politics, and the state legislature has more than once made motions to impeach Bush, although the measures have never been taken up in Washington. George Bush has never visited the state, and is now more likely to avoid it as the presidential election campaign heats up. About U.S. Politics Today, http://uspolitics.einnews.com/ Indexing thousands of articles from over 25,000 online news sources and news sections, U.S. Politics Today provides the most comprehensive and up-to-the-minute information available on the web regarding U.S. politics. U.S. Politics Today is a resource for political professionals and tracks the latest news about every member of Congress, every member of the Bush cabinet and inner circle, every federal agency, every governor, the political happenings in every state, the most important campaigns and campaign issues, and much more. The publisher of U.S. Politics Today, EIN News, has been publishing since 1996 and ranks in Alexa's Top 10 list of online media services. We provide Internet data mining and search services to organizations, researchers and professional users who find them an indispensable source of latest news. See also: -- EIN News - http://www.einnews.com/ -- EU Politics Today - http://eupolitics.einnews.com/ -- Healthcare Industry Today - http://health.einnews.com/ -- Music Industry Today - http://music.einnews.com/ -- The Inbox Robot - http://www.inboxrobot.com/ -- Energy Industry Today - http://energy.einnews.com/ -- Agriculture Industry Today - http://agriculture.einnews.com/ For a FREE TRIAL to any of our services please visit: http://www.einnews.com/ Contact: David Rothstein -- http://www.ipdgroup.com/ -- Telephone: 202 318 8905 This message has been sent to edubrule at sbcglobal.net by the IPD Group, Inc. If you would prefer not to receive further commercial messages, please confirm your request. About IPD Group | Products & Services | Sign up / Free Trials | Benefits | Contact Us ? 2007 Internet Product Development Group Inc. All rights reserved. Streamline your news resources C977 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rstuller at snet.net Sun Mar 9 12:31:42 2008 From: rstuller at snet.net (Ronna Stuller) Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 12:31:42 -0400 Subject: {news} presidential petition In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: If someone can get a good hard copy of the petition to me (put in the mail to 19 Evergreen Avenue, New London 06320, or perhaps Laura can pick one up from someone in Hartford), we will try to make a better, smaller one. I am attaching a pdf of the 2nd District Congressional Representative petition, for any one who needs it. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NominatingPetition small.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 864395 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- Ronna On Mar 7, 2008, at 5:43 PM, David Bedell wrote: > I've scanned the petition and posted it at > http://www.ctgreens.org/candidates/president.petition.2008.pdf so that > people can download and print copies. It's a large file, 1.5 MB, > which may > be hard to download--if anyone can make a better scan of the original > (legible and a manageable file size) and email it to me, I'd > appreciate it. From smderosa at cox.net Mon Mar 10 23:29:00 2008 From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa) Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:29:00 -0400 Subject: {news} GREATER HARFORD GREEN PARTY CONVENTION Message-ID: <20C83B1590344DA1A9373750182CCFFD@OwnerPC> A Greater Hartford Green Party Convention will take place on Wed. March 12, 2008 at 7PM at 74 Tremont ST, Hartford, CT. The purpose of this convention is nominations and approval of candidates for U.S. Congress in the 1st District, and for CT State Senate 1st District. Green Party members in good standing in the Greater Hartford Green Party Chapter will be able to vote. Refreshments will be served. Paid for by Green Party of CT, Chris Reilly, Treasurer. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Wed Mar 12 21:50:50 2008 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:50:50 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Announcement from the GPUS Treasurer Message-ID: <10859a090803121850m7257cdc3n2baba0b3e3f150e5@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jody Grage Date: Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 5:28 PM Subject: [usgp-nc] Announcement from the Treasurer To: natlcomvotes I am pleased to announce that we have received the first installment from the legacy to GPUS from the estate of Sulo Jacob Juoni from Deschute County, Oregon. GPUS will receive a yearly check for the FEC limit in effect for the year, which is $28,500 in 2008, from the Sulo Jacob Juoni Testamentary Trust for the Benefit of the Green Party of the United States. The receipt of this bequest is enabling us to make early repayments to the Green Party members who contributed to the Loan to Pay Printing Costs and to add $10,000 to our Reserve Account. In addition, we have the wording in Mr. Juoni's will and in the Trust to use as examples for those of you who wish to consider including GPUS in your will. If you would like to discuss this possibility, please contact Brent McMillan or me. Jody Grage, Treasurer *Sulo 'Jake' Jacob Juoni Published: August 06. 2007 4:00AM PST * April 21, 1911 ? July 31, 2007 * Sulo "Jake" Jacob Juoni, of Bend (OR) died Tuesday of natural causes. He was 96. Mr. Juoni was born April 21, 1911, in High Bridge, Wis., the son of Isaac and Anna Juoni. He married Aili Viro. Mr. Juoni was a carpenter.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cpr101 at hotmail.com Thu Mar 13 15:10:11 2008 From: cpr101 at hotmail.com (Christopher Reilly) Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:10:11 -0400 Subject: {news} Candidates for CT/GP Positions Message-ID: Elections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. See below for further information about what offices are available. The following candidates have declared for office today (Thur. 3/13): 1. Phoebe Godfrey has declared for co-chair and has provided a biography (see below) 2. Charles Pillsbury has declared for National Representative and has provided a biography (see below) 3. Christopher Reilly has declared for Treasurer =========================================================================================== Phoebe Godfrey, Ph.D. is a professor of sociology at UConn. Her research is on a a wide range of issues such as racism, sexism and environmental activism. She has lived in Willimantic, Ct for two years and has become involved in the local Wrench in the Works collective where she is currently teaching a free community class on democracy and democratic movements. She is passionate about progressive social change and believes in the power of education and activism to achieve it. =========================================================================================== Charlie Pillsbury has served since 1989, as the Executive Director of Community Mediation, Inc., a nonprofit community mediation program in New Haven CT. He co-chaired the Board of Directors of the National Association for Community Mediation from 1999-2001, and is an experienced mediator and facilitator. Charles joined the Green Party in 2001 and in 2002 was the Green Party candidate in CT?s 3rd Congressional District. He also was a candidate for New Haven?s Board of Alders in 2003 and 2005. He currently co-chairs the New Haven Green Party Chapter and is one of the CTGP representatives to the GPUS National Committee. He also co-chairs the GPUS Dispute Resolution Committee. Charles has four children: Leah, Susannah, Lydia and Andrew, and is married to the Rev. Allie Perry. They live in New Haven and are members of the Shalom United Church of Christ. =========================================================================================== Elections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. Declared candidates: A. Phoebe Godfrey (declared on 3/13) 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES Declared candidates: A. Charles Pillsbury (declared on 3/13) 3. One SECRETARY 4. One TREASURER Declared candidates: A. Christopher Reilly (declared on 3/13) Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting. If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact: Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123. When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Thu Mar 13 18:36:47 2008 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:36:47 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Announcement from Treasurer-expanded Message-ID: <10859a090803131536g2fe73627g4d568fc811a49e81@mail.gmail.com> Mr. Juoni was an elderly man of Finnish descent and was 94 when he died. He left half of his money to us and half to the Communist Party so I gather he was not enthusiastic about the duopoly. His wife died before he did and he had only a few distant relatives - a nephew or two as I recall. The only people present at his funeral were the attorney with whom I have dealt and another woman from the attorney's office. I am honored that GPUS has been selected to receive a legacy from Mr. Juoni. I only wish I had had an opportunity to meet him... Jody Grage, Treasurer ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jody Grage Date: Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 5:28 PM Subject: [usgp-nc] Announcement from the Treasurer To: natlcomvotes I am pleased to announce that we have received the first installment from the legacy to GPUS from the estate of Sulo Jacob Juoni from Deschute County, Oregon. GPUS will receive a yearly check for the FEC limit in effect for the year, which is $28,500 in 2008, from the Sulo Jacob Juoni Testamentary Trust for the Benefit of the Green Party of the United States. The receipt of this bequest is enabling us to make early repayments to the Green Party members who contributed to the Loan to Pay Printing Costs and to add $10,000 to our Reserve Account. In addition, we have the wording in Mr. Juoni's will and in the Trust to use as examples for those of you who wish to consider including GPUS in your will. If you would like to discuss this possibility, please contact Brent McMillan or me. Jody Grage, Treasurer _______________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Fri Mar 14 14:08:16 2008 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:08:16 -0400 Subject: {news} Scott Deshefy 2nd CD ballot petition Message-ID: Ronna Stuller scanned the ballot petition for Scott Deshefy, 2nd District Congressional Representative, and it can now be downloaded from http://ctgreens.org/candidates/deshefy.petition.pdf Please print, make copies (enlarge onto legal size paper if possible), and start circulating! Any CT registered voter can be a circulator, and any 2nd District voter can sign it. You need a separate page for different towns (fill in the name of the town at the top of the page). The circulator must be present when it is signed--for example, you can't just pin it to a bulletin board. The following towns are in the 2nd District: * Andover * Ashford * Bolton * Bozrah * Brooklyn * Canterbury * Chaplin * Chester * Clinton * Colchester * Columbia * Coventry * Deep River * Durham * East Haddam * East Hampton * East Lyme * Eastford * Ellington * Enfield * Essex * Franklin * Glastonbury * Griswold * Groton * Haddam * Hampton * Hebron * Killingly * Killingworth * Lebanon * Ledyard * Lisbon * Lyme * Madison * Mansfield * Marlborough * Montville * New London * North Stonington * Norwich * Old Lyme * Old Saybrook * Plainfield * Pomfret * Preston * Putnam * Salem * Scotland * Somers * Sprague * Stafford * Sterling * Stonington * Suffield * Thompson * Tolland * Union * Vernon * Voluntown * Waterford * Westbrook * Willington * Windham * Woodstock David Bedell From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sun Mar 16 15:17:53 2008 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:17:53 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: Upcoming Events for 5th Anniversary of Iraq War [Unicode format] Message-ID: <008501c887a5$39868550$a3904c0c@edgn2b574u14bi> 6-Story Newsletter Template + Images ----- Original Message ----- From: AFSC Connecticut To: edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 6:15 PM Subject: Upcoming Events for 5th Anniversary of Iraq War American Friends Service Committee Connecticut In This Issue: March 14 2008 ? Commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Murder ? March 19: March on the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. ? March 19th: Lamentation and Protest in Hartford ? Take Action to stop the anti-immigrant Save Act now in Congress ? March 19: Vigil at Senator Joe Liberman's office Commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Murder Sunday, March 16th is the 5th Anniversary of the murder of solidarity activist Rachel Corrie in Israel by a bulldozer driven by Israeli solider. There are events in the afternoon at 1:00pm in New Haven and in Hartford that evening at 7:30pm. Come to a Film About her Life and Learn about What is Being Done to Palestinians. Rachel Corrie of Washington State was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier as she was standing in front of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip. She and other international observers were trying to prevent the home's demolition. Israel was demolishing homes to create a ?no man?s land? to help it maintain control of the Strip. The Bush Administration and Congress never protested Rachel?s killing. Her family was never paid a penny in compensation. Israel?s government is still at it, attacking the Gaza Strip constantly. From Feb. 27 to March 3 it killed 106 people, 54 of whom had no connection to the fighting, one as young as one year old. 1.5 million Palestinians in the Strip live in a virtual prison with less food and necessities day by day. Palestinians on the West Bank are only somewhat better off, divided by walls and checkpoints with much of their land taken by illegal Israeli settlements. Come learn more Sunday March 16, 1 PM Rachel Corrie Commemoration Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street, New Haven Sponsors: Palestine American Congress (Connecticut), Middle East Crisis Committee For more information: (203) 934-2761 mail at TheStruggle.org Reading of Rachel Corrie's E-mails: "Rachel's Words? Sunday, March 16th 6 PM Hartford Friends Meeting 144 South Quaker Lane West Hartford, CT Actors and musicians will interpret writings of young American woman who met death in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities The writings of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year old American human rights worker killed while serving in Palestine in 2003, will be interpreted by readers at the Friends Meeting House in West Hartford on Monday evening, March 10th at 7:30 PM Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer as she protested the demolition of the home of a Palestinian family in Gaza. Her journal entries and correspondence depict the passion and conviction of a young woman caught up in the human drama of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They illuminate her passage from typical American adolescence to ardent activism, and reflect the concerns of her parents and friends as her priorities took shape. She vividly describes the harsh realities of life in occupied Gaza, documenting exquisitely tender moments as well as the most frightful ones. ?Rachel?s story is an especially poignant reminder that there can be no winners in this war, or any other war. Both sides have suffered greatly from the inhumanity of violence. Rachel?s heroism, and the worldwide attention it has earned, demonstrate both the tragedy and the triumph of this courageous young woman, standing for peace in the midst of brutal conflict.? www.hopeoutloud.org March 19th: Lamentation and Protest in Hartford LAMENTATION and PROTEST Remember the Dead ? Count the Cost ? End the War Wednesday, March 19 at Noon HARTFORD Interfaith Prayer Service Center Church Corner of Gold Street and Main Street (diagonally across from the Wadsworth Atheneum) followed by a silent procession, ending with a Public Witness to the Destruction of War Federal Building 450 Main Street, Hartford, CT Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, a statewide interfaith network of religious leaders and people of faith, will mark this 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by bearing witness to the horrifying costs of war (human, economic, and moral) and to the complicity of silence (by individuals, institutions and corporations). A brief interfaith prayer service on the steps of Center Church (featuring AFSC?s ?Cost of War? banners and boots representing CT?s soldiers who have died) will be followed by a procession to the Federal Building, stopping in front of United Technologies headquarters along the way. Participants are encouraged to wear black and to bring one or more stones to add to a pile, making visible the destruction and human cost of the war. On each stone, please inscribe the name of an Iraqi civilian who has died in the war (one list is available at www.iraqbodycount.org/database/individuals/). Stones should be large enough to write on with a permanent marker but small enough to carry five blocks. Clergy are asked to wear visible signs of their office. Contact Rev. Kathleen McTigue (203-288-1807 x202) for info re: an affinity group that may risk arrest. For general info, contact John Humphries at 860-236-5175. www.ReclaimingthePropheticVoice.org March 19: Vigil at Senator Joe Liberman's office Please join Connecticut Opposes the War at a vigil starting at 11:30am in front of Senator Joe Liberman's Hartford office. 1 CONSTITUTION PLAZA -- (GATHER @ THE CORNER OF MARKET ST & KINSLEY ST) -- HARTFORD, CT 06103. The vigil when then join the march organized by Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. March 19: March on the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. On the Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq Invasion March Against the War Three trillion dollars wasted (Newest estimate by Nobel Prize economist). 4,000 Americans dead, 60,000 injured or sick so far. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead. Five million Iraqi refugees. An Iraq invasion based on enormous lies. Collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Billions sent yearly to Israel to build illegal settlements and an illegal Wall. Bush seeking war against Iran Money desperately needed in the US for health care, New Orleans and fighting the recession End the War NOW Money for Peoples Needs, Not War and Prisons Stop the Criminal Siege of Gaza Join us for a rally and march at the Federal Building, 141 Church St. New Haven at 4:30 on Wednesday, March 19 After 5 we?ll march past Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro?s office (to protest her total backing of Israeli brutality), and around Yale University which has just invited war criminal Tony Blair to ?teach? seminars next year. Initiated by Middle East Crisis Committee; ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), CT; American Friends Service Committee, Hartford Green Party, Iranians for Peace and Justice, Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) Youth for Justice, People of Faith For more information contact MECC 203-934-2761, mail at thestruggle.org; or ANSWER, CT 203-606-0319, connecticut at answercoalition.org People Against Injustice, ANSWER and The Middle East Crisis Committee encourage all marchers to continue on with the march to a 6 pm rally for prisoners' rights initiated by People Against Injustice at the New Haven Correctional Center, 245 Whalley Ave., at the side visiting entrance on County St Take Action to stop the anti-immigrant Save Act now in Congress ACTION ALERT: URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO REJECT THE SAVE ACT Dear Friends, On March 11 members of Congress filed a "discharge petition" on the deportation-only SAVE Act (H.R. 4088). If the discharge petition receives 218 signatures, it would force the House of Representatives to vote on the bill without an opportunity for review by a committee or allowing members to offer amendments. We need to respond now to stop the petition. The discharge petition, which would force the SAVE Act to go to the House floor for a vote, has received 169 signatures. 218 signatures are needed. House offices are receiving a lot of calls & faxes in favor of the discharge petition. They need to hear from you to stop the petition Please call your Representative today to stop the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088) a deportation-only immigration proposal. Call (202) 225 ? 3121 Tell your Representative?s office: Please say NO to the discharge petition for the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088). Instead, I want humane immigration reform that protects our rights. The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088): Hurts every U.S. worker by using a faulty verification system for all workers, without safeguarding their labor rights and privacy. Increases imprisonment of children by expanding family detention space without addressing concerns about the way the government treats those who are already detained, including children and their families. Wastes taxpayer dollars by putting resources toward ineffective border fencing without addressing the root causes of migration. At a time when our nation?s economy is frail and weakened, we urge you to support immigration policies that stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, produce humane and sensible solutions, and keep immigrant families together. Here is a press statement by Project Voice, AFSC's national immigrant rights program. ?SAVE? IMMIGRATION BILL A REPEAT OF PAST POLICY DISAPPOINTMENTS PHILADELPHIA (March 13, 2008) ? The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which advocates for constructive and humane immigration policies, considers the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE) another disappointment because it is grounded in political posturing and rehashes ill-conceived, punitive positions from previous Congressional debates. ?The SAVE Act puts our civil liberties and the privacy of all workers at risk,? says Esther Nieves, director of Project Voice, AFSC?s national immigrants? rights program. ?Political expediency and partisan tactics seem to be the order of the day. It is critical that the public contact legislators and advocate for more evenhanded and sensible policies.? The Service Committee monitors Congressional discussions and finds the SAVE Act to be unworkable, specifically because it steps up the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, enacts an impractical national employment verification program, and blurs the line between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. It is particularly unfortunate that this bill has support in Congress given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of this election year. AFSC has issued a national action alert and regional AFSC offices have taken local actions urging the public to press for a bipartisan dialogue leading to achievable immigration legislation. The Service Committee continues to call for feasible solutions that include a path to lawful permanent residency, fair labor laws and policies that keep families together. The American Friends Service Committee supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. Project Voice, the AFSC immigrants? rights initiative, works to uplift migrant voices and strengthen efforts of migrant-led organizations to set an agenda for fair and humane national public policies. AFSC has 90 years experience working with immigrants and refugees and presently works with immigrants in 18 communities in fourteen states and in 22 countries around the world. http://support.afsc.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6341.0&dlv_id=9801 American Friends Service Committee Connecticut Area Office 56 Arbor Street, Suite 213 Hartford, CT 06106 Phone: 860.523.1534 Fax: 860.523.1705 Email: connecticut at afsc.org Visit AFSC CT Online Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Confirm | Forward -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sun Mar 16 15:18:29 2008 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:18:29 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: Upcoming Events for 5th Anniversary of Iraq War [non-Unicode format] Message-ID: <008601c887a5$499738e0$a3904c0c@edgn2b574u14bi> 6-Story Newsletter Template + Images ----- Original Message ----- From: AFSC Connecticut To: edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 6:15 PM Subject: Upcoming Events for 5th Anniversary of Iraq War American Friends Service Committee Connecticut In This Issue: March 14 2008 . Commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Murder . March 19: March on the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. . March 19th: Lamentation and Protest in Hartford . Take Action to stop the anti-immigrant Save Act now in Congress . March 19: Vigil at Senator Joe Liberman's office Commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Murder Sunday, March 16th is the 5th Anniversary of the murder of solidarity activist Rachel Corrie in Israel by a bulldozer driven by Israeli solider. There are events in the afternoon at 1:00pm in New Haven and in Hartford that evening at 7:30pm. Come to a Film About her Life and Learn about What is Being Done to Palestinians. Rachel Corrie of Washington State was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier as she was standing in front of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip. She and other international observers were trying to prevent the home's demolition. Israel was demolishing homes to create a "no man's land" to help it maintain control of the Strip. The Bush Administration and Congress never protested Rachel's killing. Her family was never paid a penny in compensation. Israel's government is still at it, attacking the Gaza Strip constantly. From Feb. 27 to March 3 it killed 106 people, 54 of whom had no connection to the fighting, one as young as one year old. 1.5 million Palestinians in the Strip live in a virtual prison with less food and necessities day by day. Palestinians on the West Bank are only somewhat better off, divided by walls and checkpoints with much of their land taken by illegal Israeli settlements. Come learn more Sunday March 16, 1 PM Rachel Corrie Commemoration Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street, New Haven Sponsors: Palestine American Congress (Connecticut), Middle East Crisis Committee For more information: (203) 934-2761 mail at TheStruggle.org Reading of Rachel Corrie's E-mails: "Rachel's Words" Sunday, March 16th 6 PM Hartford Friends Meeting 144 South Quaker Lane West Hartford, CT Actors and musicians will interpret writings of young American woman who met death in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities The writings of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year old American human rights worker killed while serving in Palestine in 2003, will be interpreted by readers at the Friends Meeting House in West Hartford on Monday evening, March 10th at 7:30 PM Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer as she protested the demolition of the home of a Palestinian family in Gaza. Her journal entries and correspondence depict the passion and conviction of a young woman caught up in the human drama of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They illuminate her passage from typical American adolescence to ardent activism, and reflect the concerns of her parents and friends as her priorities took shape. She vividly describes the harsh realities of life in occupied Gaza, documenting exquisitely tender moments as well as the most frightful ones. "Rachel's story is an especially poignant reminder that there can be no winners in this war, or any other war. Both sides have suffered greatly from the inhumanity of violence. Rachel's heroism, and the worldwide attention it has earned, demonstrate both the tragedy and the triumph of this courageous young woman, standing for peace in the midst of brutal conflict." www.hopeoutloud.org March 19th: Lamentation and Protest in Hartford LAMENTATION and PROTEST Remember the Dead ? Count the Cost ? End the War Wednesday, March 19 at Noon HARTFORD Interfaith Prayer Service Center Church Corner of Gold Street and Main Street (diagonally across from the Wadsworth Atheneum) followed by a silent procession, ending with a Public Witness to the Destruction of War Federal Building 450 Main Street, Hartford, CT Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, a statewide interfaith network of religious leaders and people of faith, will mark this 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by bearing witness to the horrifying costs of war (human, economic, and moral) and to the complicity of silence (by individuals, institutions and corporations). A brief interfaith prayer service on the steps of Center Church (featuring AFSC's "Cost of War" banners and boots representing CT's soldiers who have died) will be followed by a procession to the Federal Building, stopping in front of United Technologies headquarters along the way. Participants are encouraged to wear black and to bring one or more stones to add to a pile, making visible the destruction and human cost of the war. On each stone, please inscribe the name of an Iraqi civilian who has died in the war (one list is available at www.iraqbodycount.org/database/individuals/). Stones should be large enough to write on with a permanent marker but small enough to carry five blocks. Clergy are asked to wear visible signs of their office. Contact Rev. Kathleen McTigue (203-288-1807 x202) for info re: an affinity group that may risk arrest. For general info, contact John Humphries at 860-236-5175. www.ReclaimingthePropheticVoice.org March 19: Vigil at Senator Joe Liberman's office Please join Connecticut Opposes the War at a vigil starting at 11:30am in front of Senator Joe Liberman's Hartford office. 1 CONSTITUTION PLAZA -- (GATHER @ THE CORNER OF MARKET ST & KINSLEY ST) -- HARTFORD, CT 06103. The vigil when then join the march organized by Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. March 19: March on the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. On the Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq Invasion March Against the War Three trillion dollars wasted (Newest estimate by Nobel Prize economist). 4,000 Americans dead, 60,000 injured or sick so far. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead. Five million Iraqi refugees. An Iraq invasion based on enormous lies. Collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Billions sent yearly to Israel to build illegal settlements and an illegal Wall. Bush seeking war against Iran Money desperately needed in the US for health care, New Orleans and fighting the recession End the War NOW Money for Peoples Needs, Not War and Prisons Stop the Criminal Siege of Gaza Join us for a rally and march at the Federal Building, 141 Church St. New Haven at 4:30 on Wednesday, March 19 After 5 we'll march past Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro's office (to protest her total backing of Israeli brutality), and around Yale University which has just invited war criminal Tony Blair to "teach" seminars next year. Initiated by Middle East Crisis Committee; ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), CT; American Friends Service Committee, Hartford Green Party, Iranians for Peace and Justice, Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) Youth for Justice, People of Faith For more information contact MECC 203-934-2761, mail at thestruggle.org; or ANSWER, CT 203-606-0319, connecticut at answercoalition.org People Against Injustice, ANSWER and The Middle East Crisis Committee encourage all marchers to continue on with the march to a 6 pm rally for prisoners' rights initiated by People Against Injustice at the New Haven Correctional Center, 245 Whalley Ave., at the side visiting entrance on County St Take Action to stop the anti-immigrant Save Act now in Congress ACTION ALERT: URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO REJECT THE SAVE ACT Dear Friends, On March 11 members of Congress filed a "discharge petition" on the deportation-only SAVE Act (H.R. 4088). If the discharge petition receives 218 signatures, it would force the House of Representatives to vote on the bill without an opportunity for review by a committee or allowing members to offer amendments. We need to respond now to stop the petition. The discharge petition, which would force the SAVE Act to go to the House floor for a vote, has received 169 signatures. 218 signatures are needed. House offices are receiving a lot of calls & faxes in favor of the discharge petition. They need to hear from you to stop the petition Please call your Representative today to stop the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088) a deportation-only immigration proposal. Call (202) 225 - 3121 Tell your Representative's office: Please say NO to the discharge petition for the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088). Instead, I want humane immigration reform that protects our rights. The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088): Hurts every U.S. worker by using a faulty verification system for all workers, without safeguarding their labor rights and privacy. Increases imprisonment of children by expanding family detention space without addressing concerns about the way the government treats those who are already detained, including children and their families. Wastes taxpayer dollars by putting resources toward ineffective border fencing without addressing the root causes of migration. At a time when our nation's economy is frail and weakened, we urge you to support immigration policies that stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, produce humane and sensible solutions, and keep immigrant families together. Here is a press statement by Project Voice, AFSC's national immigrant rights program. "SAVE" IMMIGRATION BILL A REPEAT OF PAST POLICY DISAPPOINTMENTS PHILADELPHIA (March 13, 2008) - The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which advocates for constructive and humane immigration policies, considers the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE) another disappointment because it is grounded in political posturing and rehashes ill-conceived, punitive positions from previous Congressional debates. "The SAVE Act puts our civil liberties and the privacy of all workers at risk," says Esther Nieves, director of Project Voice, AFSC's national immigrants' rights program. "Political expediency and partisan tactics seem to be the order of the day. It is critical that the public contact legislators and advocate for more evenhanded and sensible policies." The Service Committee monitors Congressional discussions and finds the SAVE Act to be unworkable, specifically because it steps up the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, enacts an impractical national employment verification program, and blurs the line between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. It is particularly unfortunate that this bill has support in Congress given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of this election year. AFSC has issued a national action alert and regional AFSC offices have taken local actions urging the public to press for a bipartisan dialogue leading to achievable immigration legislation. The Service Committee continues to call for feasible solutions that include a path to lawful permanent residency, fair labor laws and policies that keep families together. The American Friends Service Committee supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. Project Voice, the AFSC immigrants' rights initiative, works to uplift migrant voices and strengthen efforts of migrant-led organizations to set an agenda for fair and humane national public policies. AFSC has 90 years experience working with immigrants and refugees and presently works with immigrants in 18 communities in fourteen states and in 22 countries around the world. http://support.afsc.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6341.0&dlv_id=9801 American Friends Service Committee Connecticut Area Office 56 Arbor Street, Suite 213 Hartford, CT 06106 Phone: 860.523.1534 Fax: 860.523.1705 Email: connecticut at afsc.org Visit AFSC CT Online Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Confirm | Forward -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Mon Mar 17 23:07:51 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:07:51 -0400 Subject: {news} proposed agenda for Wednesday, 3-19-08 EC meeting of GP of CT Message-ID: <20080318030752.YNMU880.eastrmmtao101.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net> Location of 3-19-08 EC meeting at 7pm : Ruby Tuesday restaurant 3240 Berlin Turnpike (by Lowe?s) Newington, CT 06111 P: 860-667-0282 Develop proposed agenda for 3-25-08 SCC meeting of CTGP at Portland?s Senior Center 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:000PM Facilitator: To Be Determined A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting attendees; 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 2-26-08 SCC meeting. 4. (2-4 minutes): Review and acceptance of minutes from the 3-19-08 EC meeting. 5. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly. B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee: a) .Policies and Proposals; C. Reports: 1. (15 minutes): Update from the Internal Elections Committee and the Convention Committee. 2. (30 minutes): Endorsed or potential Green Party of CT candidates re: any candidate for 1st Congressional District; petitioning sheets for the petitioning candidates, campaign issues. 3. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Amy Vas Nunes and S. Michael DeRosa. 4. (5 minutes): Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike/universal health coverage. 5. (5 minutes): Presidential candidates on GP of CT ballot. 6. (5 minutes): CT Green Times. 7. ( 3 minutes): Summer Intern for GP of CT. 8. (3 minute): ACLU lawsuit. 9. (2-5 minutes, each): other Chapter reports. 10. Date, place and time for next SCC meeting ?4-29-08 and date, place and time of next EC meeting in ?4-08. 11. 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. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1332 - Release Date: 3/17/2008 10:48 AM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cpr101 at hotmail.com Tue Mar 18 08:15:05 2008 From: cpr101 at hotmail.com (Christopher Reilly) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:15:05 -0400 Subject: {news} Announced Candidates for CT/GP Positions Message-ID: Elections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. See below for further information about what offices are available. The following candidate declared for office today: Barbara Barry has declared for SECRETARY. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. Declared candidates: A. Phoebe Godfrey (declared on 3/13) 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES Declared candidates: A. Charles Pillsbury (declared on 3/13) B. Richard Duffee (declared on 3/14) 3. One SECRETARY A. Barbara Barry (declared on 3/18) 4. One TREASURER Declared candidates: A. Christopher Reilly (declared on 3/13) Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting. If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact: Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123. When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From amyvasnunes at hotmail.com Wed Mar 19 17:39:56 2008 From: amyvasnunes at hotmail.com (Amy Vas Nunes) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:39:56 -0400 Subject: {news} proposed agenda for Wednesday, 3-19-08 EC meeting of GP of CT In-Reply-To: <20080318030752.YNMU880.eastrmmtao101.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net> References: <20080318030752.YNMU880.eastrmmtao101.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net> Message-ID: IF anyone from NEGP area is attending SCC meeting please contact me. My eye specialist has said I can not drive at night anymore. I also need to get to convention. Amy From: roseberry3 at cox.netTo: ctgp-news at ml.greens.orgDate: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:07:51 -0400Subject: {news} proposed agenda for Wednesday, 3-19-08 EC meeting of GP of CT Location of 3-19-08 EC meeting at 7pm : Ruby Tuesday restaurant 3240 Berlin Turnpike (by Lowe?s) Newington, CT 06111 P: 860-667-0282 Develop proposed agenda for 3-25-08 SCC meeting of CTGP at Portland?s Senior Center 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:000PM Facilitator: To Be Determined A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting attendees; 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 2-26-08 SCC meeting. 4. (2-4 minutes): Review and acceptance of minutes from the 3-19-08 EC meeting. 5. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly. B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee: a) .Policies and Proposals; C. Reports: 1. (15 minutes): Update from the Internal Elections Committee and the Convention Committee. 2. (30 minutes): Endorsed or potential Green Party of CT candidates re: any candidate for 1st Congressional District; petitioning sheets for the petitioning candidates, campaign issues. 3. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Amy Vas Nunes and S. Michael DeRosa. 4. (5 minutes): Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike/universal health coverage. 5. (5 minutes): Presidential candidates on GP of CT ballot. 6. (5 minutes): CT Green Times. 7. ( 3 minutes): Summer Intern for GP of CT. 8. (3 minute): ACLU lawsuit. 9. (2-5 minutes, each): other Chapter reports. 10. Date, place and time for next SCC meeting ?4-29-08 and date, place and time of next EC meeting in ?4-08. 11. 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. No virus found in this outgoing message.Checked by AVG.Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1332 - Release Date: 3/17/2008 10:48 AM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cpr101 at hotmail.com Thu Mar 20 08:16:01 2008 From: cpr101 at hotmail.com (Christopher Reilly) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:16:01 -0400 Subject: {news} Announced Candidates for CT/GP Positions Message-ID: The following candidates declared for office on March 18: Barbara Barry has declared for SECRETARY. Mike DeRosa has declared for CO-CHAIR and NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE Tim McKee has declared for NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVEElections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. See below for further information about what offices are available. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. Declared candidates: A. Phoebe Godfrey (declared on 3/13) B. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES Declared candidates: A. Charles Pillsbury (declared on 3/13) B. Richard Duffee (declared on 3/14) C. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) D. Tim McKee (declared on 3/18) 3. One SECRETARY Declared candidates: A. Barbara Barry (declared on 3/18) 4. One TREASURER Declared candidates: A. Christopher Reilly (declared on 3/13) Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting.If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact:Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123.When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From amyvasnunes at hotmail.com Thu Mar 20 13:07:26 2008 From: amyvasnunes at hotmail.com (Amy Vas Nunes) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:07:26 -0400 Subject: {news} Announced Candidates for CT/GP Positions In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Our bylaws state ALL offices especially National Reps are to be GENDER BALANCED.I am unable to run unless I get rides at night, I am getting adaptive computer equiptment[THIS WILL IMPROVE SPELLING]. These imbalances reflect badly on us in CT and Nationaly especially to women, and will NOT help bring women into party, the same can be said for all male candidates in Congress races. This is no reflection on the excellant qualifications of the men running. Its not merely a "recruiting" issue its an ATTITUDE issue, women need to see it and hear it to come and belive. Amy From: cpr101 at hotmail.comTo: ctgp-news at ml.greens.orgDate: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:16:01 -0400Subject: {news} Announced Candidates for CT/GP Positions The following candidates declared for office on March 18: Barbara Barry has declared for SECRETARY. Mike DeRosa has declared for CO-CHAIR and NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE Tim McKee has declared for NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVEElections to State Green Offices will be held on Saturday April 26 at the Annual Meeting. All members are encouraged to run for office. See below for further information about what offices are available. The following one-year positions are available: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. Declared candidates: A. Phoebe Godfrey (declared on 3/13) B. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES Declared candidates: A. Charles Pillsbury (declared on 3/13) B. Richard Duffee (declared on 3/14) C. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) D. Tim McKee (declared on 3/18) 3. One SECRETARY Declared candidates: A. Barbara Barry (declared on 3/18) 4. One TREASURER Declared candidates: A. Christopher Reilly (declared on 3/13) Nominations or candidacies must be announced prior to or at the March 25th State Central Committee meeting in order to be included in the printed mailings. All candidates are "self-nominated" and all nominations must be in writing in the form of an email or a letter to our P.O. Box. Optionally, candidates can wait until the March SCC meeting and then verbally announce their candidacy at the meeting.If you intend to run for any of the above offices and wish to announce prior to the march SCC meeting please contact:Christopher Reilly at cpr101 at hotmail.com If you prefer, you can mail your nomination to the Green Party of Connecticut, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123.When your email or letter is received, an email will be send to the GP/CT listservs with your name and office sought. At a later date you will have the opportunity to write a short statement that will be included in the mailing that we will be sending out early in April. --Christopher Reilly Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. Get it now! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Thu Mar 20 23:56:42 2008 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:56:42 +0000 Subject: {news} Connecticut for Lieberman Party presidential endorsement Message-ID: Notice there were 3 votes for Nader. I wish a lot more progressive Democrats and Unaffiliated would join minor parties, where they can have a much bigger proportional impact. http://ctforlieberman.blogspot.com/2008/03/connecticut-for-lieberman-party_10.html Monday, March 10, 2008 Connecticut for Lieberman Party endorses Barack Obama The Connecticut for Lieberman Party voted to endorse a candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election at the March 6, 2008 statewide party caucus, with the following results: Barack Obama------------------------------------19 votes Ralph Nader---------------------------------------3 votes Party should not endorse a candidate----------1 vote It's also worth reviewing their bylaws (party rules), posted at http://ctforlieberman.blogspot.com David Bedell _________________________________________________________________ How well do you know your celebrity gossip? http://originals.msn.com/thebigdebate?ocid=T002MSN03N0707A From roseberry3 at cox.net Fri Mar 21 00:27:02 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:27:02 -0400 Subject: {news} =?windows-1250?q?Proposed_agenda_for_3-25-08_SCC_meeting_o?= =?windows-1250?q?f_CTGP_at_Portland=92s_Senior_Center_?= Message-ID: <20080321042659.GJAD4272.eastrmmtao103.cox.net@eastrmimpo03.cox.net> Proposed agenda for 3-25-08 SCC meeting of CTGP at Portland?s Senior Center 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:000PM Facilitator: To Be Determined A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting attendees; 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 2-26-08 SCC meeting. 4. (2-4 minutes): Review and acceptance of minutes from the 3-19-08 EC meeting. 5. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly. B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters or committee. A) .Policies and Proposals Committee proposals about Chapters: Establishment of Chapters: Any group of five (5) or more individual, who reside in a cohesive geographic or a political area, may apply to form a regional chapter. Upon holding a minimum of one (1) monthly meeting over three (3 ) consecutive months with at least five (5) people in attendance, an application can be made for Chapter status. Minutes of all meetings and attendance must be submitted with the application. A representative of the Chapter must attend at least one (1) meeting of the SCC prior to being granted chapter status. Written by-laws and other documentation should be submitted with the chapter application. Criteria for chapter membership in the Green Party of Connecticut: Acceptance of the Ten Key Values as guiding principles. Chapter shall be organized and run in accordance with those values and with the utilization of GP of CT policies and procedures. A chapter is based on a town-wide or area-wide organization is open to and reflective of their defined geographic membership. The chapter agrees to support national and state candidates selected by GPUS and GP of CT conventions. Or GP candidates may be endorsed by the Executive Committee (EC) but these GP candidates must also endorsed by the State Central Committee (SCC). The chapter makes good faith effort to run state and local candidates/ presents written bylaws and other documentation with that application/ states an intention to network with other organizations which support one or more of Green Party Ten Key Values or legislation, goals or concepts. The chapter attests to a commitment to and makes good faith efforts to achieve gender balance in party leadership and representation. The chapter will identify and allay with other organizations, caucuses or individual(s,) who promote GP Values, concepts, goals and legislation. Chapter Responsibilities: members residing in all active chapters and their affiliated geographic areas, must receive all GP of CT mandated mailings. Members residing outside of active chapters and their affiliated geographic areas must also receive all GP of CT mandated mailings. Chapter membership meetings must be held at least every two (2) months within a rolling twelve (12) month period in order to maintain active chapter status within the GP of CT. The chapter must select representative(s) to attend each SCC meeting. The representative(s) would be responsible for all communication between the chapter and the SCC . A copy of all chapter minutes and attendance records must be sent to the SCC or Secretary of the GP of CT, within one (1) week of their acceptance by the chapter membership. Unapproved minutes may be submitted if approved minutes are not available. The chapter must reply, in a timely manner, to all requests from the SCC. The chapter must maintain a membership list of all registered Green Party voters or members within their borders, including updated town voter lists when available. The chapter is entitled to 30% of all CP of CT donations which are received from contributors residing in the chapter?s affiliated geographic area. Active Status: any chapter that is not represented at three (3) consecutive SCC will be placed in an inactive status and will lose its voting rights until reactivation. A chapter may have its SCC voting rights reactivated after it is represented at three (3) consecutive SCC meetings. Any chapter that does not hold a chapter meeting at least every two (2) months in a rolling twelve (12) month period, will be considered in an inactive status. The SCC has the right to contact chapter members. Any funds expended by the SCC to reactivate the chapter will be charged against the chapters reserved funds. Chapter Dissolution: The SCC can revoke the chapter status of any chapter that fails to hold chapter meetings for a period of one (1) year. Any treasury funds held for the chapter?s use can then be used for general expenses of the party. C. Reports: 1. (30 minutes): Update from the Internal Elections Committee: finalization of all candidates for GP of CT officers and GPUS Representatives; the order of candidates? placement on the ballot; names to be placed on the ballot for GPUS presidential candidate; Presidential candidate ballot is to include an option for ?write in? and an option for ?uncommitted?. 2. (15 minutes): 4-26-08 GP of CT Convention Committee: the working agenda at this time. Place: New Haven Central Labor Council, 267 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 3. (30 minutes): Endorsed or potential Green Party of CT candidates re: any candidate for 1st Congressional District; petitioning sheets for the petitioning candidates, campaign issues. 4. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Amy Vas Nunes and S. Michael DeRosa. 5. (5 minutes): Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike/universal health coverage. 6. (2 minutes): CT Green Times. 7. (3 minutes): Summer Intern for GP of CT. 8. (3 minute): ACLU lawsuit. 9. (2-5 minutes, each): other Chapter reports. 10. Date, place and time for next SCC meeting to be either 4-29-08 or 5-27-08. Date, place and time of next EC meeting in 4-08: to be determined. 11. 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. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.8/1337 - Release Date: 3/20/2008 8:10 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From smderosa at cox.net Sat Mar 22 20:04:06 2008 From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa) Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:04:06 -0400 Subject: {news} FW: A Victory for CT Green Party's Campaign Finance Lawsuit- Not Final- But Very Very Interesting! Message-ID: Dear Fellow Greens: Federal Judge Underhill has denied the defendants' in this case (the state of CT etc) summary judgment on most of our challenge to the No Democrat or Republican Left Behind Law (CT campaign finance law). This means that the judge is saying that our case has merit and then it can go forward to trial. If you take the time to read the document you will see that the judge (in my opinion) is making comments that are quite helpful to our case. What the final outcome will be is of course still up in the air. Find below Richard Winger's (Editor of Ballot Access News) take on this decision below. I agree with everything he is saying. I believe that we are close to victory but we will just have to wait and see. It's not over till it's over. Sincerely, Mike DeRosa Connecticut Ruling, Although Not Final, Is Very Helpful March 21st, 2008 As noted in a blog post below, on March 20, a U.S. District Court in Connecticut said that the lawsuit Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield must go to trial. However, the March 20 order is not just a simple procedural matter; it is a 49-page careful analysis of whether states can substantially discriminate against non-Democrats and non-Republicans, in the matter of public funding. Here is the decision. The substantive parts start on page 29. Noteworthy quotes are, "The Connecticut General Assembly had no obligation to pass a law that levels the playing field, but the legislature is not free to pass a law that further slants the playing field." Also, "The size of the 10%-15%-20% (petition) thresholds is not as problematic as the fact that thresholds (i.e., petitions) apply only to minor party candidates in the first instance. Plaintiffs argue that it is unfair to impose additional qualifying requirements only on minor party candidates because, in one-party-dominant districts, the minor party candidate's chances to win the general election as are good as, or better than, the token (or nonexistent) major party candidate, yet the token major party candidate is presumptively entitled to the full complement of public funds, whereas the minor party candidate must show additional 'modicums of support.' That argument is persuasive. Indeed, in those districts, major party candidates have proven to be just as capable of running hopeless candidacies, or no candidacies at all, as minor party candidates. Defendants have suggested no good reason why the legislature sought to protect the public fisc from hopeless minor party candidacies, on the one hand, while spending significant sums of money on hopeless major party candidacies, on the other." One Response to "Connecticut Ruling, Although Not Final, Is Very Helpful" 1. David Gaines Says: March 22nd, 2008 at 2:53 pm Very interesting indeed. I've brought up this point to people numerous times when they use the tired old wasted vote argument. Strangely, for people who are obsessed with only voting for candidates who have a chance of winning, it's not a waste to vote for candidates like George McGovern '72 or Walter Mondale '84, neither of whom had a prayer of winning most states' electoral votes, let alone the whole election. This is because they were major party nominees, and the psychology, bizarre though it may be, slants in their favor. In terms of the nuts and bolts of "wasting your vote on someone who isn't going to win," however, because of the current winner-take-all nature of electoral votes, McGovern/Mondale-type major party candidates have no more chance of winning the presidency than any given 3rd party candidate does, so there was no "additional waste" in voting for, say, Benjamin Spock in '72 or Sonia Johnson in '84. A fine piece of reasoning by this court. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 10561 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Opinion on MTD.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 279604 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Sun Mar 23 02:00:36 2008 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:00:36 +0000 Subject: {news} FW: A Victory for CT Green Party's Campaign Finance Lawsuit- Not Final- But Very Very Int Message-ID: And here's the AP story as run in the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2008/03/21/federal_judge_dismisses_part_of_campaign_finance_law_challenge/ The Associated Press Federal judge dismisses part of campaign finance law challenge By Susan Haigh, Associated Press Writer | March 21, 2008 HARTFORD, Conn. --A federal judge has dismissed part of a challenge of Connecticut's new public financing law, but agreed to hear claims that the law is unfair to minor party and petitioning candidates. U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill said the plaintiffs did not prove that a part of the law concerning matching funds was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs include the state's Green and Libertarian parties and the Connecticut ACLU. Under the voluntary public financing system, which took affect for 2008 elections, a participant can get additional money if his or her opponent is not a participant and spends beyond the public financing limits. The participating candidate can also obtain more public funding if an independent group, such as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, exceeds the public program's spending limits. The plaintiffs claimed that the possibility of the participating candidate getting more public funds would discourage the non-participant from participating, essentially violating his free speech rights. But Underhill disagreed. In his ruling released late Thursday from Bridgepport federal court, Underhill said the provision did not stymie anyone's First Amendment rights. A call was left seeking comment with the Green Party and ACLU. Deborah Goldberg, democracy project director at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, said Friday that Underhill set an important precedent for other states, such as Maine, Arizona, North Carolina and New Mexico, that have some type of public financing systems. "Most of the other states have these type of matching funds provisions," she said. "We're very concerned about upholding the precedents that sustain these systems." Underhill did determine that the plaintiffs have adequately alleged that Connecticut's public funding system includes "unfair and unnecessary burdens" on certain candidates, such as minor parties. He'll take up that matter at the end of April. To qualify for public funds, all candidates must raise a certain number of contributions in $100 or less increments from individuals. But minor party and petitioning candidates must satisfy at least two additional requirements -- obtaining signatures or having received a certain percentage of votes in the last general election. The plaintiffs claim the system unfairly benefits major party candidates. "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael DeRosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in 2006. Goldberg said the provision makes sense. "There are definitely different standards," she said. "Part of the concern when you have a public financing system, that you are fiscally responsible. You don't want frivolous candidacies." Meanwhile, the same federal court judge is considering claims from lobbyists at the state Capitol that rules banning them from making campaign contributions are unconstitutional. ? Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company _________________________________________________________________ In a rush? Get real-time answers with Windows Live Messenger. http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_realtime_042008 From smderosa at cox.net Sat Mar 22 20:01:01 2008 From: smderosa at cox.net (Mike DeRosa) Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:01:01 -0400 Subject: {news} A Victory for CT Green Party's Campaign Finance Lawsuit- Not Final- But Very Very Interesting! Message-ID: Dear Fellow Greens: Federal Judge Underhill has denied the defendants' in this case (the state of CT etc) summary judgment on most of our challenge to the No Democrat or Republican Left Behind Law (CT campaign finance law). This means that the judge is saying that our case has merit and then it can go forward to trial. If you take the time to read the document you will see that the judge (in my opinion) is making comments that are quite helpful to our case. What the final outcome will be is of course still up in the air. Find below Richard Winger's (Editor of Ballot Access News) take on this decision below. I agree with everything he is saying. I believe that we are close to victory but we will just have to wait and see. It's not over till it's over. Sincerely, Mike DeRosa Connecticut Ruling, Although Not Final, Is Very Helpful March 21st, 2008 As noted in a blog post below, on March 20, a U.S. District Court in Connecticut said that the lawsuit Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield must go to trial. However, the March 20 order is not just a simple procedural matter; it is a 49-page careful analysis of whether states can substantially discriminate against non-Democrats and non-Republicans, in the matter of public funding. Here is the decision. The substantive parts start on page 29. Noteworthy quotes are, "The Connecticut General Assembly had no obligation to pass a law that levels the playing field, but the legislature is not free to pass a law that further slants the playing field." Also, "The size of the 10%-15%-20% (petition) thresholds is not as problematic as the fact that thresholds (i.e., petitions) apply only to minor party candidates in the first instance. Plaintiffs argue that it is unfair to impose additional qualifying requirements only on minor party candidates because, in one-party-dominant districts, the minor party candidate's chances to win the general election as are good as, or better than, the token (or nonexistent) major party candidate, yet the token major party candidate is presumptively entitled to the full complement of public funds, whereas the minor party candidate must show additional 'modicums of support.' That argument is persuasive. Indeed, in those districts, major party candidates have proven to be just as capable of running hopeless candidacies, or no candidacies at all, as minor party candidates. Defendants have suggested no good reason why the legislature sought to protect the public fisc from hopeless minor party candidacies, on the one hand, while spending significant sums of money on hopeless major party candidacies, on the other." One Response to "Connecticut Ruling, Although Not Final, Is Very Helpful" 1. David Gaines Says: March 22nd, 2008 at 2:53 pm Very interesting indeed. I've brought up this point to people numerous times when they use the tired old wasted vote argument. Strangely, for people who are obsessed with only voting for candidates who have a chance of winning, it's not a waste to vote for candidates like George McGovern '72 or Walter Mondale '84, neither of whom had a prayer of winning most states' electoral votes, let alone the whole election. This is because they were major party nominees, and the psychology, bizarre though it may be, slants in their favor. In terms of the nuts and bolts of "wasting your vote on someone who isn't going to win," however, because of the current winner-take-all nature of electoral votes, McGovern/Mondale-type major party candidates have no more chance of winning the presidency than any given 3rd party candidate does, so there was no "additional waste" in voting for, say, Benjamin Spock in '72 or Sonia Johnson in '84. A fine piece of reasoning by this court. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 10561 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Opinion on MTD.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 279604 bytes Desc: not available URL: From apbrison at hotmail.com Sun Mar 23 11:20:20 2008 From: apbrison at hotmail.com (allan brison) Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:20:20 -0400 Subject: {news} FW: A Victory for CT Green Party's Campaign Finance Lawsuit- Not Final- But Very Very Int Message-ID: Unfortunately this article let stand uncontested Deborah Goldberg's foolish statement justifying the signature requirement for 3rd parties and independents as being necessary to prevent frivolous candidates. The answer to this is that frivolous candidates are eliminated by the fund-raising requirements already in the bill. There are already provisions that do just that in that any candidate who wants to qualify for public funding must meet certain fund-raising requirements, ie, raise a certain amount of money on their own, in order to qualify. This is where frivolous candidates are eliminated. The requirements make no distinction between major and minor party candidates or independents. It is an equal bar for all. There is no possible justification under the "frivolous candidate" argument to add the additional hoop to jump through applying only to 3rd party candidates, of obtaining signatures, especially one that can never be achieved. Allan > From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com> To: ctgp-news at ml.greens.org> Subject: RE: {news} FW: A Victory for CT Green Party's Campaign Finance Lawsuit- Not Final- But Very Very Int> Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:00:36 +0000> > 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> > And here's the AP story as run in the Boston Globe:> > http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2008/03/21/federal_judge_dismisses_part_of_campaign_finance_law_challenge/> > The Associated Press> Federal judge dismisses part of campaign finance law challenge> > By Susan Haigh, Associated Press Writer | March 21, 2008> > HARTFORD, Conn. --A federal judge has dismissed part of a challenge of Connecticut's new public financing law, but agreed to hear claims that the law is unfair to minor party and petitioning candidates.> > U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill said the plaintiffs did not prove that a part of the law concerning matching funds was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs include the state's Green and Libertarian parties and the Connecticut ACLU.> > Under the voluntary public financing system, which took affect for 2008 elections, a participant can get additional money if his or her opponent is not a participant and spends beyond the public financing limits. The participating candidate can also obtain more public funding if an independent group, such as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, exceeds the public program's spending limits.> > The plaintiffs claimed that the possibility of the participating candidate getting more public funds would discourage the non-participant from participating, essentially violating his free speech rights.> > But Underhill disagreed. In his ruling released late Thursday from Bridgepport federal court, Underhill said the provision did not stymie anyone's First Amendment rights. A call was left seeking comment with the Green Party and ACLU.> > Deborah Goldberg, democracy project director at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, said Friday that Underhill set an important precedent for other states, such as Maine, Arizona, North Carolina and New Mexico, that have some type of public financing systems.> > "Most of the other states have these type of matching funds provisions," she said. "We're very concerned about upholding the precedents that sustain these systems."> > Underhill did determine that the plaintiffs have adequately alleged that Connecticut's public funding system includes "unfair and unnecessary burdens" on certain candidates, such as minor parties. He'll take up that matter at the end of April.> > To qualify for public funds, all candidates must raise a certain number of contributions in $100 or less increments from individuals. But minor party and petitioning candidates must satisfy at least two additional requirements -- obtaining signatures or having received a certain percentage of votes in the last general election.> > The plaintiffs claim the system unfairly benefits major party candidates.> > "The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal," said S. Michael DeRosa, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in 2006.> > Goldberg said the provision makes sense.> > "There are definitely different standards," she said. "Part of the concern when you have a public financing system, that you are fiscally responsible. You don't want frivolous candidacies."> > Meanwhile, the same federal court judge is considering claims from lobbyists at the state Capitol that rules banning them from making campaign contributions are unconstitutional. > > ? Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company> > > _________________________________________________________________> In a rush? Get real-time answers with Windows Live Messenger.> http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_realtime_042008To be removed please mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org> _______________________________________________> CTGP-news mailing list> CTGP-news at ml.greens.org> http://ml.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/ctgp-news> > ATTENTION!> The information in this transmission is privileged and confidential and intended only for the recipient listed above. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email and delete the original message. The text of this email is similar to ordinary or face-to-face conversations and does not reflect the level of factual or legal inquiry or analysis which would be applied in the case of a formal legal opinion and does not constitute a representation of the opinions of the CT Green Party. The responsibility for any messages posted herein is solely that of the person who sent the message, and the CT Green Party hereby leaves this responsibility in the hands of it's members.> > NOTE: This is an inherently insecure forum, please do not post confidential messages and always realize that your address can be faked, and although a message may appear to be from a certain individual, it is always possible that it is fakemail. This is mail sent by a third party under an illegally assumed identity for purposes of coercion, misdirection, or general mischief.> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by e-mail at the address shown. This e-mail transmission may contain confidential information. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom it is intended even if addressed incorrectly. Please delete it from your files if you are not the intended recipient. Thank you for your compliance.> > To be removed please mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From todd at cynthiasquad.com Wed Mar 26 01:32:39 2008 From: todd at cynthiasquad.com (Cynthia Squad) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:32:39 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: [rcr08-updates] McKinney Campaign Weekly Update: Issue #3, 20060322 Message-ID: Issue #3 Highlights for Connecticut Supporters: (1) Cynthia is coming to Rutgers University in NJ on March 28 in Newark. Details Below. (2) Cynthia is looking for CT Volunteers. contact: volunteers at runcynthiarun.org (3) Reminder to approach CT local media & ask them to interview Cynthia. refer to: press-secretary at runcynthiarun.org Thank you. Todd todd at cynthiasquad.com ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:18 AM Subject: [rcr08-updates] McKinney Campaign Weekly Update: Issue #3, 20060322 > > Issue #3, March 22th, 2008 > The Power to the People Committee, > Cynthia McKinney for President Weekly Update. > --------------------------------------------- > > Hello Powerful People: > > Welcome to the third issue of the Power to the People Committee, > Cynthia McKinney for President Weekly Update. > > -- New Design for Website -- > > We want to thank James O'Hara, a Green Party activist from > Colorado, for his beautiful design for the campaign website, > which was launched last Monday, in celebration of Cynthia's > birthday. > > Among its features is a video channel permitting the user to > view one of five videos featuring Cynthia and aspects of her > work. Currently showing are (1) her campaign announcement of > December 2007, (2) Ian Innaba's feature length documentary on > election theft, American Blackout, (3) cspan coverage of then > Congresswoman McKinney grilling Donald Rumsfeld before the > House Armed Services Committee, (4) a personal conversation > with Cynthia about the roots of her political activism and > (5) her March 17th, 2007 speech before the Pentagon, declaring > her independence from the Democrat Party. > > Watch for new videos to be featured in this slot from time > to time. And watch as the features of this site continue to > expand and improve to better serve voters wishing to support > the McKinney Presidential campaign. > > -- Campaign Visibility -- > > When on the 18th, a Presidential candidate was afforded > coverage on the public's airwaves to address the nation on > the question of race in the Presidential campaign, Cynthia > McKinney responded within hours, > http://www.runcynthiarun.org/DiscussionOfRaceThatMatters > > acknowledging that candidate for acknowledging the disparities, > but then challenging him to put substance behind his rhetoric, > writing: > > Now it is time to address the public policies necessary > to resolve these disparities. Now it is time to have the > discussion on how we are going to come together and put > policies in effect that will provide real hope and real > opportunity to all in this country. > > Her statement kicked off a flurry of critical discussion in > blogs across the country. It was also picked up by Pravda > (with its 7 million English language readers), at: > > http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/22-03-2008/104628-discussionrace-0 > Pravda will be translating it into Portugese as well. > > On Wednesday, the 19th, Cynthia McKinney spoke at a rally > of tens of thousands in San Fransisco who had rallied in > opposition to the now five year old war. Her complete remarks > are reprinted at: > http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/294 > > Cynthia McKinney spoke at the annual Public Interest > Environmental Law Conference, held this year in Eugene Oregon. > An article on the subject is reprinted here: > http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/297 > > The Black Commentator this past week republished an article > comparing the programs offered by Cynthia McKinney and Barak > Obama/ Hillary Clinton, asking the question, Who is the real > progressive? It is reprinted here: > http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/297 > > Chris Hedges, in an article called: A Conscientious Objection, > drew a stark contrast between the policies advanced by > Cynthia McKinney and her two most likely Democrat opponents. > His complete thoughts appeared at CommonDreams and are > reprinted here: > http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/299 > > -- Calendar -- > > Friday, March 28th: > Cynthia Speaks at Rutgers University, Newark NJ > at the Annual Women's Month Symposium > > -- Building the Campaign State-by-State -- > > McKinney campaign supporters in both Maine and in Florida have > begun meeting to chart the course of their local campaign > efforts. Others in Illinois and elsewhere are now planning > similiar meetings. Meetings are also already underway in > New York. > > Work proceeds identifying volunteer coordinators on a > state-by-state basis to serve the campaign. A phone conference > scheduled for later this week is expected to involve folks > designated so far in about a third of the states. > > -- Ballot Access -- > > Greens in Hawaii face a deadline for delivering a ballot line > by April 3rd. Greens are petitioning and need support from > outside the state both in Texas (44k signatures in 75 days) > and Georgia (44k sigs by July 8th). Other state parties facing > draconian ballot access barriers include Ohio, Pennsylvania, > Indiana, Oklahoma and North Carolina. To learn more about how > you can support work to obtain a ballot line for the Green > Party in these and other states, and for Cynthia McKinney, > once she wins the Chicago Convention in July, please write: > ballotaccess at runcynthiarun.org, or use our volunteer form at: > > http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi?function=volunteer&process=1 > > -- Fundraising -- > > House Parties > > Invitations head out in the morning for the first weekly > conference call for supporters who want to host or help host > a local house party for Cynthia. If that is you, please use > our volunteer form to let us know that: > > http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi?function=volunteer&process=1 > > To make sure you get your invitation, please use our volunteer > form so we can get you the details as soon as they are > available. > > Five down, fifteen to go! > > Please make sure your state helps qualify us to double the > first $250 of every individual contribution! Make your > contribution today then let your friends know you've done > so and ask them to match or exceed your own contribution. > You can donate online at: > http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi > > Your contributions make this campaign possible, and prepares > the way for fifty-one ballot lines, seeing Cynthia in the > debates and giving her an opportunity to tell the American > people how a McKinney / Green / Reconstruction Transition Team > would differ from one organized by McCain, Clinton or Obama. > > To learn more about our efforts to qualify for the Federal > Matching Program, check out the details at: > http://www.runcynthiarun.org/node/1 > > -- Help Wanted -- > > * Help Us Build a Grassroots Driven Media Strategy > > We're asking supporters to help us identify important media > contacts we ought to communicate with in your community. There > are two ways you can help. Please communicate directly with > those members of the media with whom you have a relationship > or who cover the news in your community. Let them know you > support the McKinney campaign, what you are doing in support > of the campaign and urge them to contact us through the Media > Request form on the website to arrange for interviews, radio > call-ins and subscriptions to our VNR feed. > > Please also share your local media list with our press secretary > by sending it to him at press-secretary at runcynthiarun.org. > > * Join Our Production Department, > DTP and Graphic Art Skills Needed > > The Power to the People Committee, Cynthia McKinney for > President campaign is growing by leaps and bounds. We have an > immediate need to build a production department of volunteers > with desktop publishing, graphic design, page layout and > related skills. Already we have a small but growing team > of writers producing position papers and related written > materials. As these materials are vetted by the campaign, > we must be prepared to turn these documents into flyers, > leaflets, business cards and other printed materials ready > for the printer, and suitable for web distribution. > > Right now we need a team of people who have page layout skills > and graphic artist skills. In the interest of facilitating > work by a geographically dispersed volunteer team, we would > especially appreciate folks experienced and comfortable with the > cross-platform, free software Scribus (for Desk Top Publishing > tasks) and the GIMP (for image manipulation tasks) to work > with others to create finished literature ready for printing > and web distribution. (Each of these applications will install > on computers running Operating Systems published by Microsoft, > Apple and various Linux distributions). Don't worry if you > use QuarkExpress, PageMaker, Photoshop or Adbobe Illustrator, > instead. Your skills (and many of your files) will translate > and are welcome on this team. > > We hope to build a TEAM of folks sharing the load, communicating > by email and helping to deliver on a volunteer basis the sort > of campaign which no corporation can buy. > > If you are interested in volunteering your services, please > send an email to volunteers at runcynthiarun.org and let us know > of your interest. Thank you. > > -- Joining our Updates list -- > > Growth in subscriptions to this list has fallen off from 50% > last week to only 17% this week. Please do your part to spread > the good news of this campaign by sharing this weekly update > with your network and inviting them to subscribe themselves at: > http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi?function=subscribe > > Or simply send your friends to our website and ask them to > use the subscription form in the top right corner of the page. > > Until next week, > > -- The Campaign Team > > Paid for by the > Power to the People Committee, > Cynthia McKinney for President > http://www.RunCynthiaRun.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Updates mailing list > Updates at lists.runcynthiarun.org > http://lists.runcynthiarun.org/listinfo.cgi/updates-runcynthiarun.org > From efficacy at msn.com Wed Mar 26 06:32:05 2008 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:32:05 -0400 Subject: {news} MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ONLY HELPS GOVERNMENT Message-ID: Greg Pivarnik is a staunch reformer who has written many blistering columns about prohibition. I hope that this piece will generate interest at the campus for the SSDP conference next week. US CT: Edu: Column: Marijuana Prohibition Only Helps Government URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n321/a04.html Newshawk: Herb Votes: 0 Pubdate: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu) Copyright: 2008 ThesDaily Campus Contact: opinion at dailycampus.com Website: http://www.dailycampus.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778 Author: Greg Pivarnik MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ONLY HELPS GOVERNMENT The battle to legalize marijuana has always been an issue in American culture and politics. However, due to inherent hypocrisies and misconceptions in the American government and public at large, there has never been enough political capital to repeal the unjust laws governing the drug's use. Legalization is the last step in a long process that would allow for unrestrained recreational use of a drug that would not, as many people fear, lead to the downfall of American society. When people sift through all the propaganda, they will find that the only people who benefit from marijuana prohibition is the government and big business, while the average American citizen is burdened with the negative effects. From the first laws founded in racism against American immigrants, to the ignorance of scientific data that marijuana has legitimate medicinal uses, politicians and a drug prohibition lobby have been successful in perpetuating the fear of effects of marijuana, along with all other drugs, that the American public feeds on. However, this stance does not benefit the American public one iota. Instead of doing what is right, politicians fear the backlash and the stigma that coincide with the accusations of being soft on crime. Many states have begun to see the light and have passed laws allowing for medicinal marijuana uses, while others still seek to decriminalize its possession. This past week, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts stated on the HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher" that he would introduce a bill in Congress decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Instead of being arrested people who were caught with marijuana would instead pay a fine much like a traffic ticket. Unfortunately, there is not enough political capital to even pass this small bill in Congress. And even if it did pass, anything short of legalization is unjust. This recent attempt to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level demonstrates the first way legalization would benefit the average American citizen - it would save them money. There would no longer be a need to spend money on marijuana enforcement or related court fees associated with the victimless crime. Instead money could be reallocated so law enforcement could actually do some real police work by cutting down on violent crimes and ensuring the safety of residents, especially in the cities. Taxes could be decreased or possibly spent more efficiently. More importantly, marijuana could be a large source of revenue for state governments who are experiencing financial woes during the current economic downturn. Sales tax generated from people who purchase marijuana could generate significant sums of money and could be similar in statute to taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and gas. Yet again, despite the legitimate reasons for legalization, there are overriding forces at work that stifle this path, separate of scientific and moral inquiry ( if it was scientific and moral inquiry in anything, American society would be much different ). The first beneficiary of marijuana prohibition, whether people like to admit or not, is the federal government. The federal government employs thousands of people in agencies such as the FBI and DEA to enforce drug laws. The sole reason these jobs exist is because of the laws on the books. What happens to these jobs if marijuana or any other drugs are legalized or medicinalized? They go by the wayside. Fortunately for these people, the bureaucracy of the government saves their jobs. Despite scholarly research and popular opinions, the higher ups in these organizations will do anything to save their agencies, even if it means needless spending on drug enforcement. One unfortunate byproduct of bureaucracies is that it is ofte! n more important to create and save jobs than to run the government efficiently. And in the case of U.S. government agencies, millions of dollars of funding are at stake. By eliminating marijuana prohibition, there may be many people who would lose their jobs. However, despite their bad fortune, funding jobs at the expense of the American people is just unfair. If a company in the real world does not have a niche or a market they go out of business ( except for farmers who get subsidies ) and their employees have to find new jobs. In this case though, the agencies continue thrive, this time at the expense of the taxpayer, whose rights are being violated. The only reason these organizations exist is because the government has people's tax money and is the ultimate authority on how to spend it. Another important beneficiary of marijuana prohibition is the alcohol industry. All things considered marijuana is less harmful, less addictive and less painful ( for example, there are no hangovers ) than alcohol. The reason alcohol is legal is because it has been America's drug of choice for hundreds of years. The alcohol industry stands to lose millions, maybe billions of dollars from the repeal of marijuana prohibition. The high cost of marijuana is tied up in the fact that it takes an immense amount of risk to farm and distribute a substance which is still, though unfairly, a Schedule I drug. The moment marijuana is legalized, the price would shoot down and the alcohol industry lose out. Motivation for alcohol companies to support continued marijuana prohibition remains high ( that is unless they start to produce it themselves, but corporate control is another issue altogether ). Despite the unjustified moral qualms that people and the government have with regulating the substances that another person chooses to put in their body at their own expense, the one argument that has proven most effective at staving off a movement of marijuana legalization is that it is a "gateway drug." Yes, marijuana is a gateway drug in a sense, but not in the sense that is traditionally thought. Marijuana does not cause people to try other drugs. Instead an individual person's psychology is how their propensity to try other drugs should be evaluated. Yes, marijuana gets people comfortable with trying illegal substances, but that is it. Many people experiment with alcohol first, especially in high school yet, alcohol is not considered a gateway drug only for the reason that it is legal. Proponents still point to the fact, after ignoring alcohol, that people start with marijuana and work their way up to harder drugs, such as heroin. Of course, this should make sense. It is analogous to running a marathon. People don't start running 26 miles, they train their way up to it. They only progress if they want to. However, there are still people that prefer to only run maybe two or three miles. A simple SAT analogy - running short distances is not a "gateway" to running marathons as marijuana is not a "gateway" to harder drugs. In conclusion, supporting marijuana prohibition for the benefit of companies and the government at the expense of the people, literally and figuratively, is not right. As of this moment, people are forced to pay to taxes in the millions of dollars to fight a drug that is only considered harmful for many unjustified reasons. In a surprising twist, a conservative notion is that marijuana prohibition is not fiscally responsible. Americans should not have to pay to prohibit the actions of others for crimes which there are no victims. Once again, the American people lose out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP posted-by: Derek 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From efficacy at msn.com Wed Mar 26 06:39:27 2008 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:39:27 -0400 Subject: {news} Parents And Others Concerned About Addiction BandTogether To Share Their Stories Message-ID: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-soudrugs0323.artmar23,0,5257995.story The Other Victims Of Drug Abuse Parents And Others Concerned About Addiction BandTogether To Share Their Stories By KEN BYRON | Courant Staff Writer March 23, 2008 As Leona Hay sat through the memorial service for her son, one thing kept going through her mind. "I felt compelled to tell Shane's story," Hay said. "Pounding at the back of my brain was the question: 'What am I going to do with this?'" Hay, of Bristol, spent three years watching her son turn into a drug addict. She thought things had turned around when he stayed clean for eight months, but then he relapsed and died of a heroin overdose in March 2006. He was 26 and is survived by two young children of his own. Hay wanted to tell others about her experience to prevent them from going through the same nightmare. Hay searched but could not find an organization interested in hearing about Shane's death. Then she got a call from Mary Marcuccio. Marcuccio, of Southington, was just starting what would become a highly visible campaign to spread awareness about increasing heroin use among youth in Southington. And she needed people like Hay. "My goal all along was to bring forward families who've lost children," Marcuccio said. "Who has more credentials to speak about this than they do?" The vehicle for Marcuccio's campaign is a group she helped start last year, Parents 4 A Change. Its members include parents who have lost children to drugs and parents concerned about their young children. Marcuccio said her group plans on seeking reforms to state laws to help families of drug addicts. One priority is a law requiring some addicts to enter and stay in rehabilitation programs, whether they want to or not. She said many of the laws her group is pursuing are already in place in Massachusetts. Promoting possible treatments for addiction is another priority for Parents 4 A Change. Marcuccio said members recently visited a doctor in Massachusetts who is experimenting with a pill that is implanted in the body and slowly releases a drug that inhibits an addict's urge. But a key part of Marcuccio's agenda is publicizing heroin use in suburbia. For that she needed to get people like Hay and David Merrills of Farmington to talk about what they went through. Merrills' son, Andrew, died in 2002 from a heroin overdose after he injected the drug at a condo in Simsbury that police later described as an illicit drug store. "We have an enormous problem," Merrills said. "People think that these drugs are only in Hartford and that they don't come out to leafy suburbs like Farmington." Merrills had already done some public speaking about his son's death when he saw a newspaper article last year about Marcuccio and Parents 4 A Change. Interested in what she was doing, he asked to meet her. "I said to her, 'How can I help? All I have is a story to tell,'" Merrills said. Marcuccio hopes people like Hay and Merrills will show that the death of a child to drug abuse can happen to anyone and break down the stereotype of drug users. "Addicts are viewed as bad, and young addicts are seen as the products of bad parenting," Marcuccio said. "I want to get people to realize that these kids are often smart and come from upper middle-class families that pay taxes, live in nice homes and have raised their children right. Too many people don't understand that." Marcuccio is reluctant to discuss what prompted her to start Parents 4 A Change except to say that it is related to her experience with a family member's drug problem. But she has not lost a child to a drug overdose, and that makes it difficult to ask someone who has to talk about it. "I was nervous about doing it, for reasons that still make me nervous," Marcuccio said. "I don't feel qualified to ask them because unless you've been there, you can't really understand it. Am I qualified? I think that I have an interest and that I'm morally qualified. But I'm afraid that the person will say, 'Who are you to ask?'" But the people Marcuccio has recruited say they are grateful for what she has given them. They say Parents 4 A Change is essential to them as a support group and as a place to network with others who have been through what they have. They also have welcomed the opportunity to speak about their losses. 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cpr101 at hotmail.com Wed Mar 26 08:21:07 2008 From: cpr101 at hotmail.com (Christopher Reilly) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:21:07 -0400 Subject: {news} Candidates for CT/GP Positions Message-ID: Elections to State Green Offices will be held at the Annual Meeting to take place on Saturday April 26 at the Greater New Haven Central Labor Council, 267 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT. The deadline for nominations has now passed but nominations will be taken from the floor of the convention. The following candidates have declared for these one-year positions: 1. Three CO-CHAIRS. Both genders must be represented. Declared candidates: A. Phoebe Godfrey (declared on 3/13) B. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) C. Steve Fournier (declared on 3/25) 2. Five NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the GREEN PARTY of the UNITED STATES Declared candidates: A. Charles Pillsbury (declared on 3/13) B. Richard Duffee (declared on 3/14) C. Mike DeRosa (declared on 3/18) D. Tim McKee (declared on 3/18) E. Steve Fournier (declared on 3/25) 3. One SECRETARY Declared candidates: A. Barbara Barry (declared on 3/18) 4. One TREASURER Declared candidates: A. Christopher Reilly (declared on 3/13) --Christopher Reilly _________________________________________________________________ Test your Star IQ http://club.live.com/red_carpet_reveal.aspx?icid=redcarpet_HMTAGMAR -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Wed Mar 26 18:34:53 2008 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:34:53 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: student anti-war activism conference. Message-ID: <001101c88f91$d6ba42a0$46984c0c@edgn2b574u14bi> ----- Original Message ----- From: Nate Hinman To: greens at ctgreens.org Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 9:50 PM Subject: student anti-war activism conference. Sisters and Brothers: My name is Nate Hinman and I am contacting the CT Green Party as a member of the party, anti-war activist, and union organizer. I am helping to recruit participation for an anti-war activism conference taking place on Saturday, April 12 2008. The event will take place in Middletown, CT on the Wesleyan University campus from 10am - 5pm. The goals of the event are to better network existing activist groups to end the war in Iraq. Hosted by Connecticut Opposes the War (C.O.W.), a fun day of skills-sharing, interactive workshops, live music, and a keynote speaker by former Brig. General Janice Karpinski will cap off with a demonstration march on the Middletown military recruitment center. Given the stance of the Green Party on the war in Iraq and the commitment to grassroots politics I have already been in touch with old allies in the New London Green Party. I was hoping someone in the organization would be able to get the word out or perhaps suggest a way to better inform local Green Party groups! Please feel free to pass along my contact information to interested parties. And feel free to reply with inquiries. Solidarity! -Nate -- Nathan R. Hinman Organizer New England Health Care Employees Union - District 1199 cell:860.770.4033 office:860.251.6084 SOLIDARITY. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Thu Mar 27 10:41:56 2008 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:41:56 -0400 Subject: {news} Great video on the "war on drugs" Message-ID: This shows the shame of the drug war. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1009867437158383069&q=american+drug+war&total=522&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3 EFFICACY will present on Saturday March 29th at 11pm at Southern Connecticut State U in Engleman Hall in the B Wing. Later that day FROM 10:00 TO 3:00 P.M AT THE HALL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE - 52 GEORGE PIPKIN'S WAY, BRIDGEPORT. Efficacy will be part of a community conversation on many issues and I was asked to talk about victims of drug war malidies. On Tuesday, April 1st UCONN SSDP is taking the imitative and will be hosting a panel discussion The focus of the panel will be not only to discuss the racial inequalities and consequences associated with the War on Drugs, but also will seek to examine why more Black Americans do not see drug policy reform as a civil rights issue. The panel will be held at 7pm on April 1st in the African American Cultural Center in the UCONN Student Union. Please contact Dan Cornelious @ (860) 514-2835 or email: dcornelious2001 at yahoo.com Also The Ninth Annual White Privilege Conference in Springfield, MA, April 2-5, 2008 Eficacy will present "Reparations for Drug war Maladies througout the conference. Details can be found at The White Privilege Conference is April 2-5, 2008! Visit: www.uccs.edu/~wpc/ Efficacy will also do a ten day, fifteen stop tour of Illinois Universities and civic organizations sponsored by Greens and Drug policy reform groups. Clifford W. Thornton, Jr. 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Fri Mar 28 11:19:03 2008 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:19:03 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: Mckinney campaign in CT Message-ID: Mckinney campaign in CTCan someone please tell me what is going on with this or get back to Greg. Cliff ----- Original Message ----- From: Greg Gerritt To: clifford thornton Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 11:07 AM Subject: Mckinney campaign in CT Cliff, who is leading McKiney effort sin CT? Are you? Please let me know, I am trying to help the campaign establish its state coordinaors network. greg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From todd at cynthiasquad.com Fri Mar 28 18:31:10 2008 From: todd at cynthiasquad.com (Cynthia Squad) Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:31:10 -0400 Subject: {news} Meet Cynthia Saturday Night in Jersey! Message-ID: <3C5F68A09858426E8B19027CF81125B5@HTIPC> Start: 03/29/2008 - 19:30 End: 03/29/2008 - 22:30 Timezone: Meet and Greet Cynthia McKinney in NJ Saturday night [please forward this to others who might be interested] - - - - - - - - - - - After the New Jersey Green Party state convention on Saturday: Unwind, socialize, enjoy good music, and . . . ** MEET AND GREET CYNTHIA McKINNEY! ** There will be a house party for prospective Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney Saturday night in East Windsor. We'll show the video "American Blackout" and then Cynthia will lead a discussion about it. She'll also talk about her campaign to win the Green Party nomination, her platform, and her ideas for running a strong Green Party presidential campaign. Music by Tom Neilson and the Eco-Chorale 7:30pm to 10:30pm Saturday, March 29 58 Brooktree Road, East Windsor (just off the NJ Turnpike - Exit 8; detailed directions below; or take a NJ Transit train to Princeton Junction station and we'll pick you up from there if you let us know beforehand) Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public (But, of course, contributions to the McKinney campaign are welcome. Please bring your checkbooks and credit cards. Lets help add New Jersey to the list of states qualifying Cynthia's Campaign for Federal Matching Funds.) For more information or to RSVP, email: nj-houseparty at runcynthiarun.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Directions to: 58 Brooktree Road, East Windsor NJ 08520 After the GPNJ convention, drive south on the NJ Turnpike to Exit 8. The directions are essentially very easy: Turnpike to Rt. 33 West to Rt. 571 West to Rt. 130 South. But here are all the details: NJ Turnpike to Exit 8. Take the ramp toward Franklin St/RT-33 (toward Hightstown). Follow signs for RT-33 West/Hightstown/E Windsor and merge onto Franklin St/RT-33. Go about 1 mile on Franklin St/RT-33 West. In Hightstown, turn left at N Main St and go about 400 feet. Turn right at Stockton Street/Rt 571 going west. Continue to follow Stockton Street/Rt 571 about 1 mile to the intersection with Rt. 130. Turn left to go south on US-130. Go past a motel and then past Dutch Neck Road (you'll see a McDonald's on your right). Get into the righthand lane, and then SLOW DOWN because you'll need to look carefully for the next street where you can make a right turn. The street is MapleStream Road - it comes up quickly and is easy to miss if you're going too fast. Just before getting to MapleStream you will pass an Exxon station and then pass a Meineke auto service on your right; across the highway, on your left, you'll see a Sleepy's mattress store - if you pass the Sleepy's you've gone too far. As you turn right onto MapleStream Road you will see a "Chicken Holiday Plaza" sign if you look to your right. After making the right turn onto Maplestream, go about 1/4 mile (to the end of Maplestream), at which point you can only make a left turn onto Amy Road. Go about 1/4 mile on Amy to the end, at which point you can only make a right onto Brooktree. My house is 58 Brooktree, six houses down on the left - you will see a basketball poll in front. Phone: 609-443-6782 if lost in transit or for more information From vogel at ct.metrocast.net Fri Mar 28 22:23:14 2008 From: vogel at ct.metrocast.net (Robert Vogel) Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:23:14 -0400 Subject: {news} MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ONLY HELPS GOVERNMENT References: Message-ID: <000001c89145$4665b260$0200a8c0@JUNKNAME> Sasha Abramsky has written at least two books: one, I'm reading now is called American Furies subtitled Crime, Punishment and Vengeance in the Age of Mass Imprisonment, and the other is "Conned: How Millions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House". I think they explain a lot. Take a look. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: Clifford Thornton To: aro ; ctgp-news ; connlist Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 6:32 AM Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] {news} MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ONLY HELPS GOVERNMENT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Greg Pivarnik is a staunch reformer who has written many blistering columns about prohibition. I hope that this piece will generate interest at the campus for the SSDP conference next week. US CT: Edu: Column: Marijuana Prohibition Only Helps Government URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n321/a04.html Newshawk: Herb Votes: 0 Pubdate: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu) Copyright: 2008 ThesDaily Campus Contact: opinion at dailycampus.com Website: http://www.dailycampus.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778 Author: Greg Pivarnik MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ONLY HELPS GOVERNMENT The battle to legalize marijuana has always been an issue in American culture and politics. However, due to inherent hypocrisies and misconceptions in the American government and public at large, there has never been enough political capital to repeal the unjust laws governing the drug's use. Legalization is the last step in a long process that would allow for unrestrained recreational use of a drug that would not, as many people fear, lead to the downfall of American society. When people sift through all the propaganda, they will find that the only people who benefit from marijuana prohibition is the government and big business, while the average American citizen is burdened with the negative effects. From the first laws founded in racism against American immigrants, to the ignorance of scientific data that marijuana has legitimate medicinal uses, politicians and a drug prohibition lobby have been successful in perpetuating the fear of effects of marijuana, along with all other drugs, that the American public feeds on. However, this stance does not benefit the American public one iota. Instead of doing what is right, politicians fear the backlash and the stigma that coincide with the accusations of being soft on crime. Many states have begun to see the light and have passed laws allowing for medicinal marijuana uses, while others still seek to decriminalize its possession. This past week, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts stated on the HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher" that he would introduce a bill in Congress decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Instead of being arrested people who were caught with marijuana would instead pay a fine much like a traffic ticket. Unfortunately, there is not enough political capital to even pass this small bill in Congress. And even if it did pass, anything short of legalization is unjust. This recent attempt to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level demonstrates the first way legalization would benefit the average American citizen - it would save them money. There would no longer be a need to spend money on marijuana enforcement or related court fees associated with the victimless crime. Instead money could be reallocated so law enforcement could actually do some real police work by cutting down on violent crimes and ensuring the safety of residents, especially in the cities. Taxes could be decreased or possibly spent more efficiently. More importantly, marijuana could be a large source of revenue for state governments who are experiencing financial woes during the current economic downturn. Sales tax generated from people who purchase marijuana could generate significant sums of money and could be similar in statute to taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and gas. Yet again, despite the legitimate reasons for legalization, there are overriding forces at work that stifle this path, separate of scientific and moral inquiry ( if it was scientific and moral inquiry in anything, American society would be much different ). The first beneficiary of marijuana prohibition, whether people like to admit or not, is the federal government. The federal government employs thousands of people in agencies such as the FBI and DEA to enforce drug laws. The sole reason these jobs exist is because of the laws on the books. What happens to these jobs if marijuana or any other drugs are legalized or medicinalized? They go by the wayside. Fortunately for these people, the bureaucracy of the government saves their jobs. Despite scholarly research and popular opinions, the higher ups in these organizations will do anything to save their agencies, even if it means needless spending on drug enforcement. One unfortunate byproduct of bureaucracies is that it is ofte! n more important to create and save jobs than to run the government efficiently. And in the case of U.S. government agencies, millions of dollars of funding are at stake. By eliminating marijuana prohibition, there may be many people who would lose their jobs. However, despite their bad fortune, funding jobs at the expense of the American people is just unfair. If a company in the real world does not have a niche or a market they go out of business ( except for farmers who get subsidies ) and their employees have to find new jobs. In this case though, the agencies continue thrive, this time at the expense of the taxpayer, whose rights are being violated. The only reason these organizations exist is because the government has people's tax money and is the ultimate authority on how to spend it. Another important beneficiary of marijuana prohibition is the alcohol industry. All things considered marijuana is less harmful, less addictive and less painful ( for example, there are no hangovers ) than alcohol. The reason alcohol is legal is because it has been America's drug of choice for hundreds of years. The alcohol industry stands to lose millions, maybe billions of dollars from the repeal of marijuana prohibition. The high cost of marijuana is tied up in the fact that it takes an immense amount of risk to farm and distribute a substance which is still, though unfairly, a Schedule I drug. The moment marijuana is legalized, the price would shoot down and the alcohol industry lose out. Motivation for alcohol companies to support continued marijuana prohibition remains high ( that is unless they start to produce it themselves, but corporate control is another issue altogether ). Despite the unjustified moral qualms that people and the government have with regulating the substances that another person chooses to put in their body at their own expense, the one argument that has proven most effective at staving off a movement of marijuana legalization is that it is a "gateway drug." Yes, marijuana is a gateway drug in a sense, but not in the sense that is traditionally thought. Marijuana does not cause people to try other drugs. Instead an individual person's psychology is how their propensity to try other drugs should be evaluated. Yes, marijuana gets people comfortable with trying illegal substances, but that is it. Many people experiment with alcohol first, especially in high school yet, alcohol is not considered a gateway drug only for the reason that it is legal. Proponents still point to the fact, after ignoring alcohol, that people start with marijuana and work their way up to harder drugs, such as heroin. Of course, this should make sense. It is analogous to running a marathon. People don't start running 26 miles, they train their way up to it. They only progress if they want to. However, there are still people that prefer to only run maybe two or three miles. A simple SAT analogy - running short distances is not a "gateway" to running marathons as marijuana is not a "gateway" to harder drugs. In conclusion, supporting marijuana prohibition for the benefit of companies and the government at the expense of the people, literally and figuratively, is not right. As of this moment, people are forced to pay to taxes in the millions of dollars to fight a drug that is only considered harmful for many unjustified reasons. In a surprising twist, a conservative notion is that marijuana prohibition is not fiscally responsible. Americans should not have to pay to prohibit the actions of others for crimes which there are no victims. Once again, the American people lose out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MAP posted-by: Derek 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To be removed please mailto:ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org _______________________________________________ CTGP-news mailing list CTGP-news at ml.greens.org http://ml.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/ctgp-news ATTENTION! The information in this transmission is privileged and confidential and intended only for the recipient listed above. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email and delete the original message. The text of this email is similar to ordinary or face-to-face conversations and does not reflect the level of factual or legal inquiry or analysis which would be applied in the case of a formal legal opinion and does not constitute a representation of the opinions of the CT Green Party. The responsibility for any messages posted herein is solely that of the person who sent the message, and the CT Green Party hereby leaves this responsibility in the hands of it's members. NOTE: This is an inherently insecure forum, please do not post confidential messages and always realize that your address can be faked, and although a message may appear to be from a certain individual, it is always possible that it is fakemail. This is mail sent by a third party under an illegally assumed identity for purposes of coercion, misdirection, or general mischief. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by e-mail at the address shown. This e-mail transmission may contain confidential information. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom it is intended even if addressed incorrectly. Please delete it from your files if you are not the intended recipient. Thank you for your compliance. To be removed please mailto://ctgp-news-unsubscribe at ml.greens.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rate.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1720 bytes Desc: not available URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sun Mar 30 22:04:21 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:04:21 -0400 Subject: {news} Approved minutes of the 1-29-08 SCC meeting of CTGP Quorum was met. Message-ID: <20080331020415.OPQW880.eastrmmtao101.cox.net@eastrmimpo02.cox.net> Approved minutes of the 1-29-08 SCC meeting of CTGP Quorum was met. Portland's Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:000PM Voting Attendees by Chapters: Central: Vittorio E. Lancia; Fairfield: Paul Bassler, Richard Duffee; Greater Hartford: Barbara Barry, Secretary of CTGP; S. Michael DeRosa, Co-chairperson of CTGP; Christopher Reilly, Treasurer of CTGP; New Haven: Charlie Pillsbury, GPUS for CT;Jerry Martin, Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of CTGP; New London: Ronna Stuller; Northeast: Scott Deshefy; Tolland: Timothy McKee. Non-voting attendee: Harold Burbank from Northwest CT. Facilitator: Barbara Barry, Secretary of Green Party of CT. A. Preliminaries: 1. Introductions of voting attendees/non-voting attendees; chapters; quorum was met; timekeeper: Vic Lancia. 2. Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda. No deletions. Additions: summer intern. 3. Review and approval of minutes of 1-8-08 SCC meeting. 4. Review and acceptance of minutes from the 1-22-08 EC meeting. 5. Treasurer's report from Christopher Reilly. Balance of: $2639.99. Consensus: Treasurer is to remove the inactive chapters of: Hamden, Shoreline, Northwest, West, and the Women?s Caucus. B. Proposal from the Policies and Proposals Committee: Internal Election Procedures: The election of State Officers and USGP Representatives will be held at a meeting open to all Connecticut Green Party members in April of each year. Ballots will be distributed to all Connecticut Green Party members for their receipt at least 2 weeks before the Annual Meeting. Although nominations will be accepted from the floor at the Annual Meeting, anyone wishing to have their name printed on the ballot must submit their name and the name of the office they are seeking in writing, at the last State Central Committee meeting prior to the Annual Meeting of the GP of CT. Lots will be drawn at the last State Central Committee meeting prior to the Annual Meeting of the GP of CT, to decide name placement on the ballot. The candidate does not need to be present for the drawing. The ballot will be distributed with a cover letter and statements from any of the candidates who wish to submit one. Statements are limited to 200 words. The ballot should notify the voter that "None of the Above" should be used to indicate non-support of any of the candidates. For instance: if the voter can only support one candidate, the voter should list "None of the Above" as his/her second choice. In that way preventing election of other candidates from winning by default if the other voters leave their second choice blank. Voters may also be able to mark ?abstain? on the ballot i.e. the vote is not counted. Ballots are to be mailed to the CTGP Post Office box. The members should be told that the ballot must be postmarked no later than three (3) business days prior to the Annual Meeting. The members name and address must be shown on the outside of the envelope or on a separate inner envelope containing the ballot. The ballots should be kept in a secure location until they are turned over to the Membership List Committee and/or the Internal Elections Committee members at the Annual Meeting. Anyone who does not receive a ballot can request one from a designated clerk of the Membership List Committee or Internal Election Committee. A ballot will be provided if the requester has met the CTGP membership requirements. All ballots, whether mailed or voted in person at the election, have to be placed in a sealed envelope with the voter's name and address written on the outside. This is to ensure people only vote once and that only eligible voters participate. To save time mailed ballots may be verified against the membership list prior to the Annual Meeting. People voting in person at the convention are instructed to seal their ballots and write their name and address on the outside. A sealed box should be available for the members to depot their ballots. At least 3 election clerks will be appointed at the last SCC meeting prior to the Annual Meeting of the GP of CT. At the close of voting, the elections clerks will open the ballot box and separated all mailed ballots that had already been verified, ballots lacking names and addresses, and ballots that had not yet been verified. Clerks of the Internal Elections Committee will look up all ballots with names and addresses to verify they are from eligible voters. Clerks will note the number of ballots that either lacked names or were from people not on the mailing list. Clerks will open the former to see if there was any name inside the envelope. If not, the ballot is to be excluded as invalid. Then, clerks take the ballots from people not on our mailing list and check with the Membership List Committee to verify eligibility. All ballots must be numbered. For all contested races, enter the rankings from all the ballots into a program of the selected IRV (Instant Runoff Voting). The following data should be retained for five (5) years by the Secretary of the Green Party of CT for future use: the actual paper ballots, envelopes and other materials mailed back; scanned images of all the ballots; the rankings on the ballots that were entered; round-by-round results of the IRV standings and the data entry of the IRV standings with results. All the elections data shall be given to the Secretary of the GP of CT on or before the next SCC (State Central Committee) meeting after the Annual Meeting of the GP of CT. The Agenda for all general membership meeting of the Party must be mailed to each member with a notice of all resolutions that the SCC plans to bring before the membership. The notice must also include a caution that resolutions are subject to amendments from the floor. Amendments from the floor require two thirds (2/3 ) vote from those eligible GP of CT voters. A Convention Committee will suggest rules for the running of the Annual Meeting of the GP of CT to the membership as the first order of business. C. Reports: 1. Internal Elections Committee currently consists of Steve Fournier, Greater Hartford and Christopher Reilly. Scott Deshefy to assist with candidates talks; Vic Lancia to help with petitioning and registering voters; Barbara Barry to assist with campaign development committee. Potential candidates for CTGP internal elections must be provide to the Internal Elections Committee no later then the SCC meeting on the last Tuesday, March 25, 2008. The CTGP Annual Meeting will be Saturday, 4-26-08. Place and time to be determined. 2. Green Party of CT candidates. Harold Burbank of Canton has decided to run as a Green Party candidate for the 5th Congressional District. There is no current chapter in his area. Other CTGP Congressional candidates: 1st District: Steve Fournier of Hartford; 2nd District: Scott Deshefy, Coventry; 3rd District inclusive of New Haven and part of Middletown: none at this time. 4th District: Richard Duffee, Stamford. 3. GPUS reports from: Tim McKee GPUS Rep. had the co-chairpersons to sign the Presidential Party Designation Committee form for CT regulations. Tim also recommended that potential GPUS Presidential Candidates be invited to our GP of CT Annual Meeting. The date, time and place of it are not known at this time. The Secretary will extend an invitation to the known GPUS Presidential Candidates. Electors for the GPUS Presidential Candidate were determined by consensus to be: Tim McKee, Richard Duffee, Vic Lancia, Ronna Stuller, S. Michael DeRosa, Barbara Barry and Scott Deshefy. Tim recommends that the Green Party have 1000 candidates, nationwide in 2008. Charlie Pillsbury, GPUS Rep. advised that CT may have up to 20 delegates eligible to be voting members at the GPUS Presidential Convention in Chicago (7-10-08 through 7-13-08). Consensus for the criteria for the delegates to the 7-08 GPUS Presidential Convention: Delegates are: a) to be prorated based on the number of votes the GPUS presidential candidate gets at the GP of CT Annual Meeting in 4-08; b) the GPUS presidential candidate may pick their delegates from within the CTGP; and c) CTGP delegates will be free to vote for whomever they wish to starting on the 3rd ballot of the GPUS. Presidential Convention in 7-10-08. CP: Dates and deadlines which the GPUS presidential candidate must meet in order to meet CT Secretary of State regulations: 4pm Wednesday, 8-6-08 is the time and date that all presidential petitions must be handed in to the appropriate town register of voters or to the Secretary of State. For all other GP of CT candidates: a form endorsing the designated GP of CT candidates by the GP of CT co-chairpersons, must be submitted by the close of business on Wednesday, 9-10-08, to the Office of the Secretary of State of CT, Michael DeRosa, GPUS Ballot Access Committee: Arizona needs 20, 400 valid petition signatures to achieve ballot access for the GPUS presidential candidate. These are needed by 3-6-08 and they have about 10,000 at this time. GPUS has designated only $4,000 to be made available to all 50 states to gain ballot access, if needed. Mike requested that $100 from the GP of CT treasury be sent to the Arizona Green Party as a show of support for their petition drive. Consensus: agreed to this request. Media Contacts for the GPUS Presidential Convention and Campaign: Tim McKee, S. Michael DeRosa and Cliff Thornton. 4. GP of CT continues to address with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike. 5. Summer Intern for the GP of CT. SMD: was approached by Alexander Goldman, a Brandeis college student, to be a summer intern for the GP of CT for college credit. Consensus: SMD is authorized to accept him if he appears to be an appropriate candidate. Tim McKee, Christopher Reilly, Scott Deshefy are also willing to meet and vet this potential 2008 summer intern. 6. CT Green Times newspaper. SMD: send articles to Mike DeRosa. 7. Actual and potential GP of CT candidates: HB: the reasons to support me as a GP candidate for the 5th Congressional District: support impeachment of Cheney/Bush; anti-war activities; the criminality of the federal executive branch; climate change. As an assistant state prosecutor in ME, I have worked on: voter fraud and and human rights and I have supported Ralph Nader 8. ACLU lawsuit SMD: I will be deposed for 2-1-08. CT: and I will be deposed on 2-8-08. TMc: we could consider demonstrating in front of the Bridgeport Court House on the day of trial. 9. Chapter reports: see the above activities. 10. Next SCC meeting 2-26-08 to be at Portland Senior Center. Next EC meeting in 3-08: 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 equality. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1350 - Release Date: 3/30/2008 12:32 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sun Mar 30 22:07:35 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:07:35 -0400 Subject: {news} Accepted minutes from the 7PM 2-19-08 EC meeting of the Green Party of CT Message-ID: <20080331020729.OQUA880.eastrmmtao101.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net> Accepted minutes from the 7PM 2-19-08 EC meeting of the Green Party of CT Location: Ruby Tuesday Restaurant, 3240 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06111 P: 860-667-0282 Attendees: Barbara Barry, Secretary, S. Michael DeRosa, a Co-chairperson and Christopher Reilly, Treasurer Attendees developed the following agenda for 2-26-08 SCC meeting of CTGP at Portland?s Senior Center 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:00PM Facilitator: To Be Determined A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting attendees; 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 1-29-08 SCC meeting. 4. (2-4 minutes): Review and acceptance of minutes from the 2-19-08 EC meeting. 5. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly.(have $2561 as of 2-29-08) B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee e.g. Policies and Proposals; C. Reports: 1. (15 minutes): Development of Internal Elections Committee: at 2-25-08 SCC meeting notify members and chapters that people willing to be internal election monitors/clerks at the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting, will need to submit they names by the 3-25-08 SCC meeting. The attendees at the 3-25-08 SCC meeting will vote for whom are to be the internal elections monitor/clerk. These clerks need to be available for any active work as people arrive for the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting. 2. (15 minutes): Green Party of CT candidates: review what has been done and what needs to be done regarding CTGP petitioning for: the GPUS presidential candidate and for all CTGP candidates. 3. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Amy Vas Nunes and S. Michael DeRosa. 4. (5 minutes): Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike/universal health coverage. 5. (10 minutes): Summer Intern for the GP of CT: SMD had an initial meeting with Alexander Goldman, a Brandeis college student, to be a summer intern for the GP of CT for college credit. 6. (2 minutes): CT Green Times. 7. (5 minutes): Recruitment of potential candidates for state offices, Register of Voters. 8. (2 minutes): ACLU lawsuit. 9. (5 minutes): reactivate the By-law Committee; select committee members 10. (2-5 minutes, each): other Chapter reports. 11. Date, place and time for next SCC meeting 3-25-08 and date, place and time of next EC meeting in 3-08. 12. 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. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1350 - Release Date: 3/30/2008 12:32 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sun Mar 30 22:10:16 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:10:16 -0400 Subject: {news} Approved minutes from the 7PM 2-26-08 SCC meeting of CTGP, quorum was meet. Message-ID: <20080331021008.TPAO7068.eastrmmtao107.cox.net@eastrmimpo03.cox.net> Approved minutes from the 7PM 2-26-08 SCC meeting of CTGP, quorum was meet. Location: Portland?s Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Voting Attendees by chapter: Fairfield: Richard Duffee; Greater Hartford: Barbara Barry, Secretary of GP of CT, Christopher Reilly, and Treasurer of GP of CT; Michael DeRosa, a Co-chairperson of GP of CT; New Haven: Jerry Martin; Tolland: Tim McKee. Non-voting attendees: Greater Hartford: Steve Fournier; Central: John Killien Facilitator: Steve Fournier. No formally designated timekeeper. A. Preliminaries: 1. Introductions of voting attendees/non-voting attendees; chapters; quorum was met; ground rules. 2. Approval of tonight?s proposed agenda; no deletions; additions: state voter lists and email etiquette 3. Review and approval of minutes of 1-29-08 SCC meeting. 4. Review and acceptance of minutes from the 2-19-08 EC meeting. 5. Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly: a $1000 donation was received. 1-31-08 Balance:$2609.99 . B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee: 1. The EC proposes that this SCC body: consider accepting Alexander Goldman of West Hartford, who is a Brandeis college student, as a summer intern for the GP of CT for college credit. SMD has interviewed him and offered him the internship as per 1-29-08 SCC consensus. Alex indicated: My ambitions for this internship are to use my abilities as a writer and student of politics to help the Green Party of CT produce flyers and pamphlets, as well as to participate productively in discussions concerning upcoming political strategies and actions. By working directly under a specific individual within the party, or small set of individuals, I will be able to compartmentalize my time so that roughly half of my time will be spent distributing materials, or acting in similar volunteer-style occupations, while the remaining half of my time will be spent working on publications or in situations where policy and strategy or open to discussion, and my voice can be considered. I know very little about the nitty-gritty of day-to-day politics, local politics, and third party politics, and would use this opportunity to learn as much as possible, under the guidance of the Green Party, the nature of these things. The internship will last a month and a half, the beginning and ending dates to be determined at our meeting. I would work roughly four days a week, between 5-8 hours a day. After our meeting we will be able to better understand exactly what I will be doing, and under whose guidance I will be doing it. My schedule will be otherwise empty over this summer, and so depending on what we have worked out, the hours could be flexible. I am curious about whether the American political system can succeed in addressing the issues of environmental concern. I am interested in exploring the dynamics of the system in terms of public responsiveness to growing environmental concerns, and whether or not candidates can run for local offices in this suburban arena on a political platform highlighting environmental issues. I feel that my greatest asset is the ability to think outside the box pragmatically and work with others. I feel that these abilities could make me a valuable asset over the summer. Consensus for other job duties for Alex: develop template for literature for the Congressional candidates; help with the CTGP website, if appropriate; contact other colleges to enhance or develop CTGP chapters and contacts; help develop press releases; attend and help coordinate events for CTGP Candidates, chapters and CTGP. CTGP will consider mileage reimbursement for Alex if appropriate. Rate will be equal to current IRS mileage rate. SF: to provide CTGP with a job description for an intern with guidelines from the U.S. Dept. of Labor Job Descriptions. TMc will send the job description to Alex. Consensus: to all the above. C. Reports: 1. Internal Elections Committee: consensus: A) this SCC body advises members and chapters that people are still needed to be internal election monitors/clerks at the beginning of the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting; B) The site of the 4-26-08 Annual Meeting is yet to be determined. But consensus is for the New Haven area. C) any CTGP person who wishes to be a candidate for internal officers and five (5) GPUS National Committee Representatives must submit they names by the 3-25-08 SCC meeting for inclusion in the mailing. If any National Committee vacancy occurs, the SCC will fill it. D) The attendees at the 3-25-08 SCC meeting will vote for whom are to be the internal elections monitor/clerk. These clerks need to be available for any active work as people arrive for the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting. E) Secretary to contact the 4 announced GPUS Presidential Candidates and invite them to attend and speak at our 4-26-08 Annual Meeting. F) Ballots will be for voting for: internal officers and for the GPUS Presidential Candidate. G) Consensus: The Convention Committee of Jerry Martin and Barbara Barry will develop the agenda, be responsible for tables; if food may be purchased (and proceeds going to the GP of CT). Other volunteers are welcome to contact either BAB or JM. 2. Green Party of CT candidates: what is needed to be done regarding CTGP petitioning for the GPUS presidential candidate and for all CTGP candidates. Consensus: need state voter list or list of CTGP state voter list. If it can be purchased for less than $300, then the Treasurer is authorized to purchase it. 3. GPUS reports from CTGP representatives: A) Tim McKee, GPUS rep: the GPUS Presidential Support Committee has put the names of the known, legitimate candidates on the GPUS website. B) S. Michael DeRosa: GPUS Ballot Access Committee: GPUS gave all the GPUS moneys set aside for nation-wide ballot access ,to Arizona which also received $9000 from across the nation to assist in the AZ petitioning. Deadline is 3-6-08. The next state which needs to petition for ballot access is Texas. They need 50,000 valid signatures i.e. 800 valid signatures from each county. A Texas voter who voted in a Texas Primary is not a valid petition signature. Deadline: in about 2 months. They have $40,000. C) Richard Duffee: the GPUS PAX National Committee will have a workshop at the 7-08 Presidential Convention. (Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, and Charlie Pillsbury, GPUS Rep and National Committee Member: Amy Vas Nunes, were absent.) 4. Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike has presented resolutions to the CT Legislative committees. 5. CT Green Times: SMD: 400 more copies will be available for the 4-26-08 Annual Meeting. 6. Consensus: Recruitment of potential candidates for: 1st Congressional District, state offices, and Register of Voters is encouraged. 7. ACLU lawsuit: SMD: Cliff Thornton and myself have been deposed for this lawsuit. 8. Consensus: the By-law Committee is reactivated. Committee members: S.Michael DeRosa, Barbara Barry and Tim McKee. 9. Email etiquette: consensus: emails are to show respect for diverse thoughts and for the person without getting personal. This allows for freedom of speech and respect for diversity. 10. Other information about Chapter: deferred due to lack of time. 11. Next SCC meeting on 3-25-08 to be at Portland Senior Center at 7PM. Date, place and time of next EC meeting in 3-08: is 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 equality. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1350 - Release Date: 3/30/2008 12:32 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Sun Mar 30 22:11:33 2008 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:11:33 -0400 Subject: {news} Accepted minutes from the 7PM 3-19-08 EC Meeting of the GP of CT Message-ID: <20080331021125.TPOZ7068.eastrmmtao107.cox.net@eastrmimpo03.cox.net> Accepted minutes from the 7PM 3-19-08 EC Meeting of the GP of CT Location: Ruby Tuesday Restaurant, 3240 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06111 P: 860-667-0282 Attendees: Co-chairperson: S. Michael DeRosa, Treasurer: Christopher Reilly; Secretary: Barbara Barry Developed the following proposed agenda for the 3-25-08 SCC meeting of CTGP at Portland?s Senior Center 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760 Time: 7:000PM Facilitator: To Be Determined A. Preliminaries: 1. (1 minute): Introductions of voting attendees; 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 2-26-08 SCC meeting. 4. (2-4 minutes): Review and acceptance of minutes from the 3-19-08 EC meeting. 5. (2-4 minutes): Treasurer?s report from Christopher Reilly. B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters or committee. A) .Policies and Proposals Committee proposals about Chapters: Establishment of Chapters: Any group of five (5) or more individual, who reside in a cohesive geographic or a political area, may apply to form a regional chapter. Upon holding a minimum of one (1) monthly meeting over three (3 ) consecutive months with at least five (5) people in attendance, an application can be made for Chapter status. Minutes of all meetings and attendance must be submitted with the application. A representative of the Chapter must attend at least one (1) meeting of the SCC prior to being granted chapter status. Written by-laws and other documentation should be submitted with the chapter application. Criteria for chapter membership in the Green Party of Connecticut: Acceptance of the Ten Key Values as guiding principles. Chapter shall be organized and run in accordance with those values and with the utilization of GP of CT policies and procedures. A chapter is based on a town-wide or area-wide organization is open to and reflective of their defined geographic membership. The chapter agrees to support national and state candidates selected by GPUS and GP of CT conventions. Or GP candidates may be endorsed by the Executive Committee (EC) but these GP candidates must also endorsed by the State Central Committee (SCC). The chapter makes good faith effort to run state and local candidates/ presents written bylaws and other documentation with that application/ states an intention to network with other organizations which support one or more of Green Party Ten Key Values or legislation, goals or concepts. The chapter attests to a commitment to and makes good faith efforts to achieve gender balance in party leadership and representation. The chapter will identify and allay with other organizations, caucuses or individual(s,) who promote GP Values, concepts, goals and legislation. Chapter Responsibilities: members residing in all active chapters and their affiliated geographic areas, must receive all GP of CT mandated mailings. Members residing outside of active chapters and their affiliated geographic areas must also receive all GP of CT mandated mailings. Chapter membership meetings must be held at least every two (2) months within a rolling twelve (12) month period in order to maintain active chapter status within the GP of CT. The chapter must select representative(s) to attend each SCC meeting. The representative(s) would be responsible for all communication between the chapter and the SCC . A copy of all chapter minutes and attendance records must be sent to the SCC or Secretary of the GP of CT, within one (1) week of their acceptance by the chapter membership. Unapproved minutes may be submitted if approved minutes are not available. The chapter must reply, in a timely manner, to all requests from the SCC. The chapter must maintain a membership list of all registered Green Party voters or members within their borders, including updated town voter lists when available. The chapter is entitled to 30% of all CP of CT donations which are received from contributors residing in the chapter?s affiliated geographic area. Active Status: any chapter that is not represented at three (3) consecutive SCC will be placed in an inactive status and will lose its voting rights until reactivation. A chapter may have its SCC voting rights reactivated after it is represented at three (3) consecutive SCC meetings. Any chapter that does not hold a chapter meeting at least every two (2) months in a rolling twelve (12) month period, will be considered in an inactive status. The SCC has the right to contact chapter members. Any funds expended by the SCC to reactivate the chapter will be charged against the chapters reserved funds. Chapter Dissolution: The SCC can revoke the chapter status of any chapter that fails to hold chapter meetings for a period of one (1) year. Any treasury funds held for the chapter?s use can then be used for general expenses of the party. C. Reports: 1. (30 minutes): Update from the Internal Elections Committee: finalization of all candidates for GP of CT officers and GPUS Representatives; the order of candidates? placement on the ballot; names to be placed on the ballot for GPUS presidential candidate; Presidential candidate ballot is to include an option for ?write in? and an option for ?uncommitted?. 2. (15 minutes): 4-26-08 GP of CT Convention Committee: the working agenda at this time. Place: New Haven Central Labor Council, 267 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 3. (30 minutes): Endorsed or potential Green Party of CT candidates re: any candidate for 1st Congressional District; petitioning sheets for the petitioning candidates, campaign issues. 4. (10-15 minutes): GPUS reports from: Cliff Thornton, Co-chairperson of GPUS, CTGP representatives: Tim McKee and Charlie Pillsbury and National Committee Members: Amy Vas Nunes and S. Michael DeRosa. 5. (5 minutes): Political issues the GP of CT has addressed with legislators during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike/universal health coverage. 6. (2 minutes): CT Green Times. 7. (3 minutes): Summer Intern for GP of CT. 8. (3 minute): ACLU lawsuit. 9. (2-5 minutes, each): other Chapter reports. 10. Date, place and time for next SCC meeting to be either 4-29-08 or 5-27-08. Date, place and time of next EC meeting in 4-08: to be determined. 11. 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. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1350 - Release Date: 3/30/2008 12:32 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From apbrison at hotmail.com Sun Mar 30 22:45:01 2008 From: apbrison at hotmail.com (allan brison) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:45:01 -0400 Subject: {news} Newsletter - Solid Waste Authority and my opposition to it Message-ID: Greens, Here is news concerning my first major address before the Board of Alderman. The text of the address is below. It is contained in my ward 10 aldermanic newsletter. Allan ---------------------------------- Newsletter - March 30, 2008 Allan Brison, Alderman, Ward 10 ---------------------------------------------- Legislative Update This past Monday the Board of Alderman voted on the first two important ordinances of the 2008 legislative session: one which set a new pay range so that the City could offer a new Police Chief a salary of up to 160,000; and the other to create a new Trash Authority to take over the management of solid wastes. The new Authority would take out bonds to buy or lease the Transfer Station, thus giving the City an infusion of funds to plug the hole in the current fiscal year's budget. The administration argued the the new Authority would better manage solid waste disposal and would take advantage of several cost-saving and revenue-generating possibilities. I opposed it on several grounds: First, that all of the cost-saving and revenue-generating features could, and in fact would, be implemented under the present system. There was no need to create this authority to do these things. Second, that it was similar to the ploy done when the city sold off its trash incinerator a couple of years ago when the WPCA (Water Pollution Control Authority) was regionalized; also, seemingly to plug a short-term budget deficit. I felt that it would be better for the city to simply float its own bonds that to have this Authority do it. Either way, the taxpayers bear the ultimate responsibility to repay the bonds and the debt service. Third, authorities take control away from the Board of Alderman, thus weakening the checks and balances built into the city charter. Fourth, the new authority is going to cost taxpayers $500,000 per year to operate. The measure passed by 17-7 with several members absent or not voting. See below for the address that I delivered before the full board expressing my opposition. Also see the following links for media coverage: In last Wed.'s New Haven Register:http://www.nhregister.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/BigDaily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.content=%2FMAIN_REP%2FArticle%2F2008%2F03%2F26%2F1792313 And in recent stories in the New Haven Independent:http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/03/rob_smuts_expla.phpandhttp://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/03/trash_plan_will.php------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is my address as delivered before the Board of Aldermen on Monday, March 24: Solid Waste Transfer Station Agency Allan Brison (G-10)March 24, 2008 A few weeks ago I attended the finance committee meeting where the strategic plan for the creation of an Independent Authority for the City's solid waste system, what has become commonly known as a Trash Authority, was discussed. As a Green Party Alder I was particularly interested in the plans for increasing recycling. But I was also interested in the making sure that the City was not repeating the mistakes it made by selling off, through regionalization, the WPCA. As I'm sure you are aware there were many negative outcomes of the sale of the WPCA. First, the City's bond rating was lowered, making it more expensive for the City to borrow money. The reason given for the lower bond rating was that the City was selling off its assets to close an annual budget deficit - an unsound fiscal practice. Second, the sale resulted in higher WPCA bills for New Haven residents as we are, in effect, financing the sewage separation projects in Hamden and East Haven. Third, the new WPCA's aggressive mortgage foreclosure practices, and the City's inability to moderate these practices, has been in the news of late. And fourth, the City lost control of the use of its former assets, especially the sewage sludge incinerator, resulting in lower air quality for New Haven residents as more towns send their sewage to the New Haven incinerator.I've carefully examined the consultant's report prepared by Malcolm Pirnie on the Strategic Planning and Cost of Service Analysis for the Solid Waste System. It appears to be an excellent analysis of the present costs of the Solid Waste system, with a detailed projection of costs and income for the next five years, and a rough guesstimate for the fifteen years after that. However the report has left many questions unanswered about how creating an Independent Authority, by sale or by lease, would save the City money. In fact, I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say it hasn't answered that question at all.The report details several ways costs can potentially be cut for, or revenue generated by, the City's solid waste system. Some of these suggestions require capital investments, some of which seem long overdue. One idea, bringing a rail spur to New Haven to use for rail haul of trash, seems intriguing, but it is in a far more speculative stage, too early for a cost analysis. The other suggestions include:*Upgrading weight scales at the Transfer Station.*Increasing recycling by 20%, which could save up to $100,000/yr. *Using excess Transfer Station Capacity (@43%) by marketing it and by redirecting commercial waste to use it through enactment of a city ordinance.*Procuring new, more favorable, Transfer, Haul and Disposal contracts. This could save the City $800,000/yr.In addition, the report posits that City can attain an additional 20% to 30% in savings from the collection operation, which accounts for half the City's solid waste budget, if it does the following:a)negotiates new collective bargaining agreements.b)implements manage competition(?)c)implements programs to increase recyclable materials participation and/ord)contracts out one or more of the collection services Here's my problem. Some, perhaps all, of these proposals for increasing income and saving money may be both feasible and desirable. But if they are, the report gives us no explanation of why the City can't implement these proposals without creating an Independent Trash Authority. There may be an explanation. But if there is, it is not contained in the Malcolm Pirnie report. In fact the report says that additional administrative costs of the Independent Authority would add $500,000 a year to operating the trash service. That's an annual half million dollar increase that someone will have to pay for. Yet, despite not being given an explanation of why it is necessary to create an Independent Trash Authority to achieve the cost savings outlined in the report, we are being asked to vote tonight to establish it. I think it is fair to say that it is premature for the Board of Aldermen to take this step.What the report does tell us is how the City can plug a hole in this year's budget by establishing this Trash Authority. The plan is for the new Trash Authority to buy or lease the Transfer Station for $6 million. It would also pay the City $2.8 million for the debt that the City owes for the Transfer Station, giving the City $8.8 million up front. In addition, if the City sells the Independent Authority its collection equipment it will pay the City an additional $1.7 million, of which $1.2 million will go to paying off the debt associated with the collection system. So the total payment to the City can be as high as $10.5 million. That's a big budget deficit plug for New Haven.In order to raise the money to pay the City the new Trash Authority would issue revenue bonds. In assessing the cost of issuing these bonds the report assumes, and I quote, ??the new authority would hold a rating similar to the City, and will be financed at an assumed interest rate of $5.5% over a 20 year period.? This assumption may be reasonable, or unrealistic, depending on whom you talk to. But what I want to know is this: If the City can issue bonds at an assumed 5.5% interest rate, why does it need to go through the trouble of creating a new Trash Authority to do it? I think this question points to the nub of the confusion over this Trash Authority report, and why the Board of Alders, and the public, is having so much trouble figuring out what the important questions are. The Board of Aldermen are really being asked to decide on three separate issues tonight, and the three issues have been so entangled that it is hard to think clearly about them. Therefore I think we should go back and look at what the issues are.The first issue is how to do the City's trash collecting and recycling most effectively and economically, perhaps even profitably. The question here is who is in the best position to restore effective management; take advantage of revenue opportunities arising from the expiration of state mandated transfer, haul and disposal contracts; negotiate better labor contracts; achieve full use of the transfer station's capacity; explore future rail haul options; and increase recycling. Can the City do this best? Or would a newly created Trash Authority be more effective and produce more revenue? I would like to see a report that examines the pros and cons of both these options. As I have said before, this report does not do this.The second issue is relevant only if it can be shown that an independent authority would be a better option for managing the trash and recycling operation. Here the question is how would the new independent authority be structured. Would it buy the Transfer Station, or lease it? Once established, can the authority decide to regionalize itself, and if it does, what will be the effect on New Haven? What control will the City have over the rates the independent authority charges the City? What happens if the authority becomes insolvent?The third issue--and the one that seems to be behind the fast tracking of this complicated process--is whether we can use the sale of the Transfer Station and the creation of a Trash Authority to refinance part the City's debt and plug up the hole in the City's operating budget. And if we can, should we? Is this the real issue we are here to discuss tonight? If it is we need to talk about it directly. When I ran for Alderman, I promised to try to bring transparency and accountability to the Board's financial decisions before they are made. In order to do this there are questions we need to have answered before we can responsibly vote on the ordinance before us today: Is creating this independent authority the only way we can balance our budget this year? What would be the advantage of creating this authority over the City issuing its own bonds? What would be the disadvantage? What are the liabilities? If the Trash Authority gives us an infusion of money this year, then takes it back by charging New Haven higher trash fees in the coming years, are we gaining or losing? How much could we gain or lose? If there's a possibility, as the New Haven Register implies in last Wednesday's editorial, of long-term revenue from a well-run transfer station, wouldn't it be better if the revenue went into New Haven coffers?We so many unanswered questions, I don't see how anyone can vote for this proposal tonight. I propose that we table the vote and send the proposal back to committee for public hearings where we can begin to get the answers we need before making a decision with so many long term consequences. Allan BrisonAlderman, Ward 10Green Party -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Mar 31 11:38:32 2008 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:38:32 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: New Hamshire House of R to vote on Impeachment Message-ID: <017101c89345$473f5ae0$0402a8c0@JUSTINE> FYI for those of you who don't know about this movement for impeachment in the New Hampshire legislature. It was (great) news to me. See article below the GPAX message Best, Justine ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Dorenkott To: GPAX Committee Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 3:18 AM Subject: [GPUS-PAX] New Hamshire House of R to vote on Impeachment Hi Daniel Ellsberg spoke today at the War and Law League annual meeting here in San Francisco. www.warandlaw.org He mentioned that the New Hampshire HR is getting ready to vote on an impeachment resolution. If this should pass it would mandate a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. It would be a priviliged motion which means Pelosi couldn't block it. It would go directly to the floor without having to go through any committee hearings to slow it down. Hopefully, folks from there are mobilizing. Jim ---------------------------------- Baldasaro (R-Londonderry) tries to pervert HR24 Impeachment Resolution with illegal amendment NH Representative Baldasaro (r-Londonderry) attempts to derail HR24 with illegal amendment to impeach Carol Shea Porter...HELP NEEDED - ETERNAL VIGILANCE - HELP PASS HR24 Betty Hall will be on George Corrette's radio show this morning (Thursday) from 9-10am live streaming on this web site: www.WKNH.org George's program is called "Empire Watch" and it comes right out of Keene State College 91.3 FM (It comes right after Democracy Now! from 8-9am). What happened Wednesday was only the tip of the iceberg revealed right here in NH....we now see plainly the cards that Bush's supporters are mounting against Betty's petition calling for commencement of impeachment hearings of Bush/Cheney. We are shining the light of underhanded tactics.....meant to discredit and bring shame on the impeachment process and drag US Representative Carol Shea-Porter into this nefarious plot by introducing...like a toxic slug!....an illegal amendment onto Betty's petition. If they were giving out lemons, Betty has turned it into lemonade.........as was the case today. NH State Rep. Alfred Baldasaro from Londonderry started to hand an information sheet to any NH State Rep who happened to be going in and out of the Hall of Representatives this afternoon. This 'information sheet' concerned NH US Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter and it included many statements which were not true....Baldasaro wanted to attach an amendment onto Betty's petition which called for Congresswoman Shea-Porter to also be included in the impeachment inquiry along with Bush and Cheney! Just to let everyone know....Betty had at her seat on the House floor all those copied 1200+ letters of support from all over NH & other states far and wide..... We were able to get 2 independent opinions saying that it is illegal according to US Constitution for a State legislature to impeach a sitting federal US House Representative! (What is Baldasaro trying to pull over these NH State Reps???!!!) Ever alert bright-eyed Betty was able to get her petition taken off the floor for the moment & to be brought up at the discretion of the House Speaker in about 3 weeks (which rendered mute Baldasaro's attempt to usurp it through an added illegal amendment). In our attempts to contact the Shea-Porter office, we've discovered that Carol has now landed in Iraq for a visit...checking on troops, needs and the picture there....on behalf of her job with Veterans Affairs....and we were told that she would be kept informed about these developments at the State House today, and the effort on everyone's part to keep her name out of being used in this most disrespectful manner. We now have another few weeks of press and much needed contact with other NH State Reps to rally and inform themselves about Betty Hall's petition by YOU calling them---ESPECIALLY those State Reps in Carol Shea-Porter's district who have worked so very hard to help Carol get elected to the US House! AND contact those supporters as well in Carol's district & inform them of what the opposition has up their sleeve! NH Representative contacts here We need your help, folks, from Carol's district!!! BUT...simply folks....we need your help now more than ever before for Betty's HR24! 1. Call your NH State Reps (and more) and tell them that you support Betty's request to start an inquiry into this administration's activities: Support HR24! Tell them why you support impeachment of Bush and Cheney! AND LISTEN to them to see where THEIR objections are with this voice of the people! Take notes and let us know the objections. 2. Please listen to George's radio program this morning to hear Betty talk about what we can do. www.WKNH.org 3. Go to Betty's new website to listen to testimony given at the Feb 19 hearing! www.Hall4Impeachment.com 4. Write a letter of support for Betty's petition at this email address to Betty: I.support.HR24 at gmail.com 5. We surely could use some funds to help pay for all much needed correct information about impeachment, which we've had printed to hand out to NH State Reps as well as press! For the moment please send to: Nancy J.M. White, 12 Main Street, Amherst, NH 03031 6. Read this article about Betty in today's front page story in the Concord Monitor! www.concordmonitor.com... Ever vigilant on behalf of our precious freedom and rule of law, Nancy White By Nancy White at 03/20/2008 - 07:46 | Accountability | Action alerts | Civil rights | Corporations | Crime | Fair elections | Features | login or register to post comments Contact Us | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Fair Use Notice Copyright ? 2004-2006 Democracy for New Hampshire PO Box 717 | Concord, NH 03301 Contributions to DFNH are not deductible for federal -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: dfnhbanner.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 15457 bytes Desc: not available URL: