From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Sun Aug 2 01:03:57 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 05:03:57 +0000 Subject: {news} Hector Lopez in New Canaan News Message-ID: The New Canaan News published a very nice profile of Hector Lopez this week. David Bedell http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/ci_12942840 Lopez continues to make his voice heard By Vinti Singh Updated: 07/30/2009 01:54:22 PM EDT var requestedWidth = 0; if(requestedWidth> 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } New Canaan resident Hector Lopez made a presentation on stopping U.S. intervention in Latin America, especially in Puerto Rico, at the Green Party's annual National Meeting at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., last weekend. His stance was adopted for consideration for the party's 2012 presidential platform. "Everybody applauded; nobody spoke against it," Lopez said. In 2002, Lopez circulated a petition through the Green Party that called for the U.S. Navy to stop using Vieques, Puerto Rico, as a site for military bomb training exercises. "Hector Lopez is a man of conscience," Richard Duffee, the Green candidate for the 4th District of Congress in 2006 and 2008, said in an e-mail. "He comes by his good-hearted, lifelong Puerto Rican patriotism more dramatically, and probably more honestly, than the way the Daughters of the American Revolution come by theirs. He is a committed member of the Green Party. He gives freely of his time and energy in collecting signatures for nominating petitions; there are fewer than 10 activists in the state who collect as many signatures." Lopez is also an advocate for the environment and minority rights, but is most passionate about Puerto Rico's sovereignty. "Puerto Rico is in my heart," Lopez said. "I read the Declaration of Independence and realized that was not meant only for the 13 colonies, it was meant for humanity. That alone gives me a reason to feel the way I feel for Puerto Rico." The retired subway mechanic visits his home country every year and said Puerto Rican culture is on the decline. "Our language is deteriorating and were very oppressed because we're a colony," Lopez said. "Pollution, drugs, weapons, extreme taxation, oppression of all sorts, a false democracy. We're governed by a foreign corporation that we do not even elect. What we need is our own factories, our own federal government, our own congress and own senate." Puerto Rican roots Lopez was born in 1942. As a child growing up in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Lopez remembers his family gathered around the table at mealtime while his father told stories about Puerto Rican history and great national figures like Simon Bolivar and Jose Marti. "The motherland is valor and sacrifice," he would say to them, quoting the national heroes. "To take away our country they must take away our lives." Along with childhood memories of pulling sugar canes off of trucks and collecting grass to feed the chickens, Lopez remembers the armed rebellion against the United States on the island. Puerto Ricans revolted mainly in Jayuya and Utuado, but Lopez heard about the uprising on the radio. Lopez's father had a business selling sewing materials and shoes from door-to-door. As U.S. businesses arrived in Puerto Rico, they pushed out local merchants, like his father, "since we have no means of establishing laws or putting taxes on foreign products." His family sold their house and moved to Waterbury, Conn., hoping to find a job. They lived in the Long Hill Projects alongside Italians, blacks and a few other Puerto Ricans. Lopez got a job setting up pins in the bowling alley for about $15 a week. He was soon displaced by automated machines. Lopez picked up English quickly and was able to do his homework in six months. He read a lot, devouring any book about Puerto Rican history or foreign countries. His family stayed in Waterbury for a year-and-a-half, but everyone hated the weather. In 1958, his family returned to Puerto Rico. His father borrowed some money from a friend and tried to start another business, but failed again. They moved back to the United States, this time to New York City. Racism surfaced from time to time. Someone on the street once asked him, "why you people come here." "Even though we were forced to be citizens in 1917, people still looked at us like we weren't citizens," Lopez said. "In other words, they were saying go back to Puerto Rico. I was young, so I don't think I said much back." He apprenticed as a tool and die maker and then got a job in a machine shop. When he turned 21, he joined the army because he "didn't have anything else to do." He wanted to escape from the poorest areas of New York City. Combat was just beginning in Vietnam, but since Lopez failed a helicopter flying test, he was stationed in Germany. He was disappointed at the time, but now realizes he could have lost his life piloting in Vietnam. Speaking out Lopez's first foray into activism was a demonstration against the Vietnam War around 1969. "I felt that it was a waste of life in Vietnam, a waste of resources that should be used for the well being of people in the United States instead of being wasted to make profits for corporations." He also advocated to close Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in New York, which is 50 miles away from New Canaan. That campaign was unsuccessful. After returning from the war, Lopez got a job maintaining the underground subway system for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. After getting married and having two daughters, Lopez decided to move to New Canaan so his children could take advantage of the school system. He volunteered in the schools' libraries. His daughters, now 24 and 20, know the basics of Puerto Rican history and can read and write Spanish, but "they're like any other kid born in the U.S.," Lopez said. New Canaan is a "very nice, orderly town," Lopez said. "The school system is Class A. You have very, very good people here." About four years ago, Lopez stopped at an informational table for the New Canaan Green Party and was intrigued by its platform on social justice, non-violence and single-payer medical care. He also agreed with its views on the environment. "The environment is what sustains our life, the life of all species," Lopez said. "That includes human beings. We're no better than a microscopic living thing. We're not supposed to dominate the earth." In 2005 and 2007, he was elected as a constable for the town so the party could be represented in government. Lopez, who will run for the position again this year, is still active in his retirement. He goes to demonstrations in New York City, Washington and Puerto Rico. He attends political conferences and sends out educational e-mails. He always has a big stack of books on varying subjects by his bed. "I believe my work is making a difference in the conscience of people I come in contact with," he said. _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail?. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=PID23391::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HYGN_express:082009 From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Sun Aug 2 01:15:20 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 05:15:20 +0000 Subject: {news} Hector Lopez in New Canaan News In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry, here it is better formatted--from this week's New Canaan News. David Bedell http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/ci_12942840 Lopez continues to make his voice heard By Vinti Singh Updated: 07/30/2009 01:54:22 PM EDT New Canaan resident Hector Lopez made a presentation on stopping U.S. intervention in Latin America, especially in Puerto Rico, at the Green Party's annual National Meeting at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., last weekend. His stance was adopted for consideration for the party's 2012 presidential platform. "Everybody applauded; nobody spoke against it," Lopez said. In 2002, Lopez circulated a petition through the Green Party that called for the U.S. Navy to stop using Vieques, Puerto Rico, as a site for military bomb training exercises. "Hector Lopez is a man of conscience," Richard Duffee, the Green candidate for the 4th District of Congress in 2006 and 2008, said in an e-mail. "He comes by his good-hearted, lifelong Puerto Rican patriotism more dramatically, and probably more honestly, than the way the Daughters of the American Revolution come by theirs. He is a committed member of the Green Party. He gives freely of his time and energy in collecting signatures for nominating petitions; there are fewer than 10 activists in the state who collect as many signatures." Lopez is also an advocate for the environment and minority rights, but is most passionate about Puerto Rico's sovereignty. "Puerto Rico is in my heart," Lopez said. "I read the Declaration of Independence and realized that was not meant only for the 13 colonies, it was meant for humanity. That alone gives me a reason to feel the way I feel for Puerto Rico." The retired subway mechanic visits his home country every year and said Puerto Rican culture is on the decline. "Our language is deteriorating and were very oppressed because we're a colony," Lopez said. "Pollution, drugs, weapons, extreme taxation, oppression of all sorts, a false democracy. We're governed by a foreign corporation that we do not even elect. What we need is our own factories, our own federal government, our own congress and own senate." Puerto Rican roots Lopez was born in 1942. As a child growing up in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Lopez remembers his family gathered around the table at mealtime while his father told stories about Puerto Rican history and great national figures like Simon Bolivar and Jose Marti. "The motherland is valor and sacrifice," he would say to them, quoting the national heroes. "To take away our country they must take away our lives." Along with childhood memories of pulling sugar canes off of trucks and collecting grass to feed the chickens, Lopez remembers the armed rebellion against the United States on the island. Puerto Ricans revolted mainly in Jayuya and Utuado, but Lopez heard about the uprising on the radio. Lopez's father had a business selling sewing materials and shoes from door-to-door. As U.S. businesses arrived in Puerto Rico, they pushed out local merchants, like his father, "since we have no means of establishing laws or putting taxes on foreign products." His family sold their house and moved to Waterbury, Conn., hoping to find a job. They lived in the Long Hill Projects alongside Italians, blacks and a few other Puerto Ricans. Lopez got a job setting up pins in the bowling alley for about $15 a week. He was soon displaced by automated machines. Lopez picked up English quickly and was able to do his homework in six months. He read a lot, devouring any book about Puerto Rican history or foreign countries. His family stayed in Waterbury for a year-and-a-half, but everyone hated the weather. In 1958, his family returned to Puerto Rico. His father borrowed some money from a friend and tried to start another business, but failed again. They moved back to the United States, this time to New York City. Racism surfaced from time to time. Someone on the street once asked him, "why you people come here." "Even though we were forced to be citizens in 1917, people still looked at us like we weren't citizens," Lopez said. "In other words, they were saying go back to Puerto Rico. I was young, so I don't think I said much back." He apprenticed as a tool and die maker and then got a job in a machine shop. When he turned 21, he joined the army because he "didn't have anything else to do." He wanted to escape from the poorest areas of New York City. Combat was just beginning in Vietnam, but since Lopez failed a helicopter flying test, he was stationed in Germany. He was disappointed at the time, but now realizes he could have lost his life piloting in Vietnam. Speaking out Lopez's first foray into activism was a demonstration against the Vietnam War around 1969. "I felt that it was a waste of life in Vietnam, a waste of resources that should be used for the well being of people in the United States instead of being wasted to make profits for corporations." He also advocated to close Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in New York, which is 50 miles away from New Canaan. That campaign was unsuccessful. After returning from the war, Lopez got a job maintaining the underground subway system for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. After getting married and having two daughters, Lopez decided to move to New Canaan so his children could take advantage of the school system. He volunteered in the schools' libraries. His daughters, now 24 and 20, know the basics of Puerto Rican history and can read and write Spanish, but "they're like any other kid born in the U.S.," Lopez said. New Canaan is a "very nice, orderly town," Lopez said. "The school system is Class A. You have very, very good people here." About four years ago, Lopez stopped at an informational table for the New Canaan Green Party and was intrigued by its platform on social justice, non-violence and single-payer medical care. He also agreed with its views on the environment. "The environment is what sustains our life, the life of all species," Lopez said. "That includes human beings. We're no better than a microscopic living thing. We're not supposed to dominate the earth." In 2005 and 2007, he was elected as a constable for the town so the party could be represented in government. Lopez, who will run for the position again this year, is still active in his retirement. He goes to demonstrations in New York City, Washington and Puerto Rico. He attends political conferences and sends out educational e-mails. He always has a big stack of books on varying subjects by his bed. "I believe my work is making a difference in the conscience of people I come in contact with," he said. _________________________________________________________________ Get your vacation photos on your phone! http://windowsliveformobile.com/en-us/photos/default.aspx?&OCID=0809TL-HM From chapillsbury at gmail.com Sun Aug 2 17:06:54 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 17:06:54 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: Florida Green Party ad - Please feel free to use it if you like Message-ID: <10859a090908021406r626bfe48ja0404dc1406e2b0@mail.gmail.com> > POLITICS AFFECT YOU! > > You can ignore them...but guess what? You're INVOLVED. > Here's some of what "politics" control: > Prices - War Taxation - Transportation - Clean Energy (or not) > Jobs - Health care, Housing & Other Human Rights - Education > Laws: which are enforced and who gets a "pass" - Safety of Food > What toxins are in water(used for drinking, showers & ice cubes) > HONEY - "politics" control the VERY AIR THAT YOU BREATHE... > PAY ATTENTION- There's a new party that's been emerging. > > So what can YOU do? visit www.gp.org & REGISTER GREEN! > > Greens meet the last Sunday of each month from 4-5 pm at Cafe Hey 1540 N. > Franklin in Tampa & the first Sunday of the month from 1-2 pm at Nature's > Food Patch in Clearwater 1225 Cleveland St. Public invited! -- Charlie Pillsbury, CTGP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Sun Aug 2 17:15:12 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 17:15:12 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Brent McMillan - Executive Director Report from Durham In-Reply-To: <53458.63.254.111.17.1248820343.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> References: <53458.63.254.111.17.1248820343.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> Message-ID: <10859a090908021415y59ef2247p16db4aa9d9767acf@mail.gmail.com> submitted to the GP Annual Meeting -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive Director Report ? Green Party of the United States Thru the end of June 2009 - Submitted by Brent McMillan 1) Management 1.A.1. Committee Conference Calls I regularly attend: Steering Committee, Finance Committee. When the committees were still active: Coordinated Campaign Committee and Fundraising Committee. 1.A.2. Meetings: Staff Supervision: Generally a call once a week with SC Co-chair Jason Nabewaniec. 1.B. SC Strategic Planning Retreat: Washington, DC Feb. 17-18, 2009. Held at the national office with staff attending. See Appendix A: SC Strategic Planning Retreat Agenda 2) Personnel Relations I conduct staff meetings approximately every 2 weeks. 3) SC and NC Relations 3.A. Reporting to SC: I regularly send a weekly work report to the SC. Occasionally these have also been sent to the NC. 3.B. Reporting to NC: I send timely information to the NC on a daily basis. 4) New Projects 4.A. New Office ? On 2/16/2009 we received a 90-day notice to terminate our lease. After a long search and an earlier failed negotiation effort: 4/26/2009: Inquired about possible office space at 1623 Connecticut Ave. NW. The owner of the building, Jack, called me back and we set up an appointment for 3:15 pm. It is on the fourth floor of the building. There is no elevator. It?s a walk up. He wants $1,500 per month and that includes everything. I know Jack by reputation, he?s a good person. He will be there on Monday until 5:00 pm. I would like to arrange to have other staff look at the office and to get dimensions before we begin to discuss a possible lease. 4/30/2009: I determined that the 4th floor location at 1623 Connecticut Ave. NW is approximately 540 sq. ft. 5/18/2009: I contacted Jack Menase and notified him that the SC had given the go ahead on leasing the fourth floor. 5/20/2009: I met with Jack Menase. I gave him copies of the 2008 and 2007 990 forms, past financial statements, reference information concerning our current and most recent past landlords. I also signed a statement to authorize a credit check. 5/21/2009: Jack Menase called me to let me know that we passed the credit check and he is ready to move onto the next step of having his attorney draw up a lease. 5/26/2009: I received a draft of the lease from Jack Menase. 6/3/2009: I met with Jack Menase. We came to an agreement on the Resolution and the Lease. I received the keys for the new office. 6/8/2009: We moved the bulk of the office. 6/10/2009: I delivered the three signed copies of the lease to Jack Menase. 6/12/2009: The phone line was hooked up. We dropped the fax line, (202) 319-7193 and are now using only two lines: (202) 319-7191 and (202) 319-7192. There will be a slight cost savings. 6/15/2009: Did final walk thru at old office location and turned over keys. 6/17/2009: Set up public phone access thru intercom/security system. Basically someone from the public sphere dials #400 from the intercom in the lobby. 6/17/2009: Verizon tech identified that the modem was no longer working. He recommended that we purchase a new modem/router. Jody made arrangement to purchase a Verizon Model 7500 modem/router and to have it express shipped. 6/19/2009: The replacement modem/router arrived. We now have internet access! 4.B. Database 6/18/2009: I met with Tamar to begin to establish a schedule for transferring the main database from CiviCRM to DIA. The beginnings of a project management schedule: Action Owner Deadline ? Cleanup Tamar Ongoing ? Identify & Vet Reports Tamar July 1 ? Create Reports Tamar Aug 15 ? Matching Fields Kip Roberts? Sept. 7 Tamar ? Move Tamar Before Jan. 1, 2010 5) Finance I worked on negotiating property and liability insurance. The new property insurance policy began on May 29, 2009. The new liability insurance began on June 17, 2009. There is some cost savings and we will be receiving a refund. 6) Community Relations 6.A. Media 3/13/09: Worked with Greg Jocoy on article about Candidate Recruitment. With-in one hour of it being posted to Green Party Watch it was the number one Google Search for Green Party. 4/10/2009: I returned a call from Gaylon Ross who is working on a book about the electoral process. He wants to know about what the Democrats and Republicans do to keep third party candidates off the ballot. I sent him several leads by email in follow-up to the call. He has several titles on Amazon. 5/28/2009: I was contacted by Cynthia McKinney. She is in DC doing a TV show. She was looking for a guest to join her on the show. I recommended several local greens that I thought would be good. This may become a monthly event. 6.B.1. Transpartisan ? America Citizens? Summit. 2/11/09: Flew to Denver Wednesday morning for the American Citizens? Summit. 2/12/09: Press Event in Denver involving Cynthia McKinney. Cynthia flew into Denver earlier in the day for the event. She had recently come from Malaysia. Despite the fact that she was under the weather she did a great job that should make all greens proud. She left the following morning. Sam Ettaro, elected green officeholder from Pennsylvania worked on the webcast. 2/15/09: Returned to Washington, DC from the American Citizens? Summit. At the Denver Airport I had a great opportunity to talk with Barbara Marx Hubbard. http://www.barbaramarxhubbard.com/content/ 6.D. On the Hill 1/26/2009: At the invitation of Matt Zawisky I attended a talk by Ralph Nader at the University of California, Washington Center, ?Corporate Control and the Road to Serfdom?. 4/9/2009: I conducted my annual talk to a class at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. I was asked to address two topics: 1. Learning how to handle challenging grassroots situations. 2. Learning how to organize volunteers and prepare them for politically unpopular causes 5/8/2009: I attended the sendoff for Sam and Kathy Smith. Afterward Scott McLarty and I had a chance to speak with Ralph Nader and his aide Matt Zawisky. We focused on Single Payer and ?Clean Coal.? I informed Matt that candidate recruitment is going well. 6/16/2009: I attended the 17th Annual Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Lecture delivered by Sen. Pat Leahy at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law. It included a breakfast followed by the program. C-Span covered the event and you can view Sen. Leahy's speech at: http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/06/16/HP/A/19846/Sen+Patrick+Leahy+DVT+Address+on+Supreme+Court+Nominee+Judge+Sotomayor.aspx 6.E. International 2/3/09: Scott and I meet with Robert Habeck, party-leader/ speaker of the Greens in Schleswig-Holstien, a state in the very north portion of Germany, who is in the district as part of the Heinrich-B?ll team, which will blog on the first days of the Obama-government. 3/20/09: I attended, ?Prospects for a Two-State Solution: Understanding Challenges and Creating Opportunities? at the Center for American Progress. Featured panelists were Brigadier General (Ret.) Ilan Paz and Ghaith al-Omari. Paz is the former head of the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank (2002-2005) and Ghaith is a former senior advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Pakistan Green Party Co-Speaker, Liaquat Ali Shaikh visited DC April 21-24: 4/22/2009: He was available at the office for reporters to contact Wednesday afternoon. He gifted the party with a handsome plexiglas standing plaque that has the ?Green Prospects of Pakistan? printed on it in Urdu. These are similar to the 10 Key Values. 4/23/2009: There was a reception at La Orilla for Liaquat. He made a statement concerning the use of drones and the killing of civilians by the U.S. 4/27/2009: I received a call from Chris Angelos. He identified himself as a ?volunteer consultant? for the Bulgarian Green Party. He wants to pursue the possibility of establishing formal relations with the Green Party of the United States. He also wanted to know if we might do an endorsement. I referred him to the co-chairs of the International Committee. 6/19/2009: I met with US Environmental Institute scholars from Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore and PNG. We talked about how to mobilize their communities. There were more members of their delegation than I was aware. Our current office was too small so we met at a local coffee shop. The meeting went well. We were the last stop of a six week tour. The meeting was scheduled from 10: 45 to 11:30 it actually went on longer to about 12:15. 7) Electoral 7.A. CCC 7.A.1. Candidate Recruitment 5/9/2009: I served on a panel at the Maryland Green Party Annual Assembly along with Dan Robinson and Michael Cornell. I focused on the impact that locally elected Greens have and why it is important to run for office at this level. This took place at The Maryland Inn, Annapolis, MD. At the Maryland Green Party Annual Assembly, Mary Cook announced that she is an elected Green on the College Park City Council, Prince George?s County, MD. I am working with Brian Bittner and Rob Tufts on following up on this. If this is correct she is up for re-election this fall for one of two District 4 seats. Brian indicated that she does not appear on the latest voter roll acquired by the state party but there could be several explanations for this. He is following up with Mary on this. 7.A.2. Campaign Schools 5/30/2009 ? Green Party of Virginia meeting in Falls Church. I conducted a workshop on building locals and recruiting candidates 7.A.3. Elections Database The Election Database for 2009 currently stands at 132 candidates. Relative to past odd year elections: At the end of June in 2007 we had 97 candidates. At the end of June in 2005 we had 116 candidates. 7.A.4 Election Data and Analysis For the year we have won 18 out of 64 races for a win rate of 28 %. See Appendix B: Election Data and Analysis for a detailed list. 7.D. PCSC 6/3/2009: I participated in the State Volunteer Coordinator (SVC) Call Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern. 7.E. Ballot Access Summary: Currently at 16 ballot lines: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 3/20/09: I attended Oral Argument for Ralph Nader v. DNC at the U.S. Court of Appeals in DC. Ralph was there and sat at the attorneys table but did not speak. Oliver Hall argued the appeal on behalf of Ralph. 4/27/2009: New Mexico is no longer a question mark. According to the Ballot Access news, ?On April 27, the New Mexico Secretary of State?s office said that it recognizes the Independent Party and the Constitution Party as being ballot-qualified. It said the Green Party and the Libertarian Party are not ballot-qualified.? 5/9/2009: Richard Winger sent me an email that, ?The Hawaii Constitution Party is finally getting its blank party petitions for 2010 from the Hawaii Elections Office. If the Green Party wants to be on in Hawaii in 2010 and wants to get started, you can.? Louisiana: HB 776 Elections/Congressional will be reconsidered on Tuesday, May 26. It would eliminate the primary for three of the five qualified ballot access parties, including the Green Party. Also, it is my understanding that there was a hearing on May 19 in which none of the three ballot access qualified parties affected had representation. Also, The Green Party of Louisiana was referred to in a derogatory fashion which remains unchallenged. The source for my information is Richard Winger. I received a complimentary copy of Theresa Amoto?s new book, ?Grand Illusion? 7.F. Officeholders Network We began the year with 156 officeholders. Current Number of Officeholders: 160 Current Officeholders Schedule is linked to the Elections page located at: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml I am working with David Doonan on creating an officeholders database that I can access to change or add information. It would have both a public and a private side to it. The new officeholders database can be found at: http://www.gp.org/elections/officeholders/index.php 8) Fundraising 8.A. Major Donors Outstanding pledges at the end of June: $600 One time donations Year to Date: $48,710 (not including Green Party Card, Green Party Card: $72) Projected Sustainer Income year to date: $2,040 Prospecting: The total for one time donations includes 7 new donors for a total of $635 that were the result of 445 personalized prospect letters. A 1.6% return rate. Merchandise: 5/9/2009: I tabled at the Annual Assembly of the Maryland Green Party for a gross income of $111.25 5/30/2009: I sold merchandise at the Green Party of Virginia meeting in Falls Church for a gross income of $75 9) Issues 2/27/2009: I attended the USBIG Conference in New York City which took place Feb 27 ? Mar. 1. (US Basic Income Guarantee Network http://www.usbig.net/) The USBIG Conference was hosted as part of a larger conference of the Eastern Economic Association which took place at the NYC Sheraton. 2/28/2009: I participated in a Roundtable discussion: Campaigning for Basic Income moderated by Steven Shafarman (DC Statehood Green). Other participants included Jesse Johnson (Mountain Party of West Virginia), Dan O?Sullivan from the Change to Win Coalition of unions and Al Sheehan, co-author of ?The Tax Cut for the Rest of Us? Bill (he had worked with Joel Segal, legislative aide to John Conyers). I mentioned that we support steady state economics and not growth economics. I pointed out that one of the planks in our platform is a Livable Income which directly supports a Basic Income Guarantee (Item IV.D.1.). We have links to Income Security for All and USBIG on the homepage of our website. I indicated the need for issue papers (as approved by the NC) for adoption by our candidates. Running candidates can be an effective way to introduce issues and to foster discussion. Greens are champions of re-establishing the Public Commons. I gave two examples. The role of the Green Party of Seattle in heading off the clearcut of the Cedar River Watershed (where Seattle and surrounding areas get there drinking water) and the efforts of green officeholders Jim Harvey and Paul Perkovic of the Montara Water and Sanitary District in San Mateo California to buy back the privatized water supply and re-establish it in the public domain. I also talked about our Move the Money to Main Street campaign. I commended Gary Flomenfoht?s work in Burlington Vermont (Vermont Common Assets Trust Fund) as the kind of project that Greens would be excited to get involved with. Later, I got a lot of positive feedback by those attending the Roundtable Discussion. Attendees were very happy to see the Green Party represented at the Conference. 6/18/2009: I participated in a one hour phone conference/briefing that was set up by Jon Olsen in regards to the impact of the Food Safety Modernization Act (read power grab by Monsanto) and other bills coming before congress that impact our Food Security. Appendix A: SC Strategic Planning Retreat Agenda Agenda Saturday 9:00-10:00AM Ice-Breakers GOALS: Get to know one another; set a positive mood for the meeting DOCUMENTS NEEDED: None DECISIONS: None Two ice-breakers (as time allows): one silly, one serious. These will be presented by Josh Ruebner. 10:00AM-12:00PM Election Debrief & Strategizing for Future Elections GOALS: To analyze the performance of the Green Party and its candidates at the federal, state, and local levels in the 2008 elections; to strategize about goals for future elections DOCUMENTS NEEDED: Statistical analysis of Green Party contested races in 2008 (Brent), 2008 Ballot Access Report DECISIONS: None 60 minutes on: Analyzing the results of the 2008 Elections, with a statistical analysis of Green Party election results and his interpretation of what the numbers mean. Then open it up for people to provide their thoughts on the 2008 elections. What was positive, what could have been done more effectively for next time around? 60 minutes on: Looking ahead and strategizing about what the Green Party wants to accomplish in 2009 - 2012 elections. Identify 3-5 goals for the upcoming election cycles and begin discussion on reaching those goals. 12:00-1:30 Lunch break This is not a working lunch, each person is responsible for finding their own lunch, there are several local restaurants in the area. 1:30-3:00 Finances GOALS: To understand the Green Party?s year-to-date financial positions and agree upon a financial framework for the upcoming year DOCUMENTS NEEDED: Year-to-date income/expense report; current balance statement; draft 2009 budget (Tamar) DECISIONS: none It?s important to discuss finances towards the beginning of the meeting because we need to have a realistic appraisal of the party?s financial situation in order to make solid and realistic plans for the future. 3:00-3:30 Coffee break 3:30-6:00 Organizational Development GOALS: To come to a clearer working understanding of how staff, Steering Committee, and committees interact and function; to brainstorm how to grow the party and what the staff of an expanded party would look like DOCUMENTS NEEDED: GPUS Bylaws, Job descriptions (updated if needed); Committee structure and flow DECISIONS: none 90 minutes on: Clarify job roles and responsibilities, SC roles and responsibilities, and relations with committees; 60 minutes on: What would the GPUS staff look like if staff doubled or tripled? What roles are missing, what positions do we add next. What should the committee flow chart look like? How do we get there? 6:30PM Dinner Dinner at the Yager's home, with the Arlington Greens. Sunday 9:00-11:00AM Fundraising GOALS: Review 2008 fundraising efforts; review the fundraising plan for 2009; brainstorm ways to increase funds raised over the medium- to long-term DOCUMENTS NEEDED: Report on 2008 fundraising efforts; 2009 fundraising plan (Tamar) DECISIONS: Adopt 3-5 ways to increase fundraising efforts with 3-5 steps toward each goal 60 minutes on: Discuss the 2008 fundraising efforts, and results and discuss what was and was not successful in the 2008 fundraising plan. Discuss the 2009 fundraising plan and calendar. 60 minutes on: Discuss necessary improvements to the fundraising plan, long term fundraising, and prospecting. Fundraising at the GNC level, and state sharing programs. 11:00-11:15 Coffee break 11:15-12:45 Developing Positions Papers GOALS: To decide upon a procedure for the paper writing and distributing positions papers DOCUMENTS NEEDED: none DECISIONS: Adopt procedure for issuing policy papers Create and adopt a procedure for issuing policy papers. Discuss where and how they can be used in strengthening GPUS. 12:45-2:15PM Lunch break 2:15-3:15PM Activating the Grassroots GOALS: Brainstorm ideas on how to involve and activate the grassroots of the party DOCUMENTS NEEDED: None DECISIONS: Determine 3-5 medium- to long-term goals and 3-5 steps to implement each one. 3:15-4:00PM Return to the Parking Lot GOALS: Discuss ideas which were raised earlier in the meeting and postponed as being off-topic at the time DOCUMENTS NEEDED: None DECISIONS: Next steps on new ideas raised Address ideas that people raised during earlier discussion that were off-topic. This is where we return to them, discuss them, and decide on how we want to move forward with them. 4:00PM-4:15PM Coffee break 4:15-5:30PM Summary/Next Steps/Evaluation GOALS: Summarize major ideas/decisions of the weekend; determine next steps for developing strategic plan and implementing it; evaluate the meeting DOCUMENTS NEEDED: None DECISIONS: Determine next steps for developing strategic plan and assign responsibilities for creating it 6:30PM Dinner Dinner at Dave Bosserman's home with the DC Statehood Greens Monday 9:00AM Return to Parking lot As needed. Discuss ideas which were raised earlier in the meeting and postponed as being off-topic at the time. Leave as your travel plans dictate. Appendix B: Election Data and Analysis 2/17/09: Katrina Flores finished third of four candidates for Madison Common Council District 8 Alder with 110 votes or 20.71% for two positions on the April 7 Spring ballot and does not advance. 2/17/09: Brenda Konkel won her primary for Madison Common Council District 2 Alder and easily advances to the April 7, 2009 Spring Election. She finished 1/5 with 347 votes or 40.44%. 2/17/09: Tony Palmeri won his primary for Oshkosh Common Council At-Large and easily advances to the April 7, 2009 Spring Election. He finished 1/7 with 2,027 votes. 2/17/09: Bob Poeschl finished third of seven candidates with 1,385 votes for Oshkosh Common Council At-Large and advances to the April 7, 2009 Spring Election to compete for three seats. 2/17/09: Todd Price finished fourth of five candidates for Wisconsin State Superintendent of Schools with 25,507 votes or 11% and does not advance to the April 7 Spring Election. 3/3/09: Alan Augustson finished fourth of five candidates for the Green Party position on the 4/7/09 Special Election for U.S. House District 5, IL with 62 votes or 13% and does not advance. 3/309: Mark Arnold Fredrickson finished third of five candidates for the Green Party position on the 4/7/09 Special Election for U.S. House District 5, IL with 71 votes or 14% and does not advance. 3/3/09: Deb Gordils finished second of five candidates for the Green Party position on the 4/7/09 Special Election for U.S. House District 5, IL with 155 votes or 32% and does not advance. 3/3/09: Matt Reichel finished first of five candidates for the Green Party position on the 4/7/09 Special Election for U.S. House District 5, IL with 166 votes or 34% and advances. 3/3/09: Simon Ribeiro finished fifth of five candidates for the Green Party position on the 4/7/09 Special Election for U.S. House District 5, IL with 37 votes or 8%. 3/3/09 Steve Eckberg finished third of three candidates for one seat for Burlington City Council Ward 3, Chittenden County, VT with 34 votes or 3.42%. 3/3/09: Gregory Knops finished third of three candidates for one seat for Burlington City Council Ward 2, Chittenden County, VT with XX votes of XX%. 3/3/09: Jerri Kohl finished second of two candidates for one seat for Burlington City Council Ward 1, Chittenden County, VT with 94 votes or 12.89%. 3/3/09: Kim Mason finished second of two candidates for one seat for Burlington City Council Ward 6, Chittenden County, VT with 105 votes or 9.69%. 3/3/09: Lisa Ann Oberbrunner finished second of two candidates for one seat for Burlington City Council Ward 5, Chittenden County, VT with 245 votes or 18.01%. 3/3/09: James Simpson finished fifth of five candidates for Mayor of Burlington, VT with 35 votes or 0.39%. 3/18/09: Jim Sullivan won his race for Village of Victory, Saratoga County, NY. He finished first of two candidates with 71 votes 54.62%. 3/31/09: We had three candidates in Amherst, MA for Town Meeting Seat. Miriam Dayton was re-elected to Town Meeting Member Precinct 6 for a three year term. She finished eight of twelve candidates for eight seats with 118 votes. Frank Gatti was elected to Town Meeting Member Precinct 8 for a three year term. He finished fifth of eight candidates for eight seats with 203 votes. (He had been elected to Town Meeting Member before but lost his re-election in 2008.) Eleanor Manire-Gatti lost her race for Town Meeting Member Precinct 8, one year term. She finished second of two candidates for one seat with 103 votes or 28.69%. April 7, 2009: ILLINOIS Steve Alesch finished sixth of six candidates for four seats for Winfield Township Trustee, Dupage County, IL with 1,405 votes or 8.94%. Bob Braam won his re-election to Manhattan Library Board Trustee, Will County, IL. He finished second of four candidates for three seats with 1,302 votes or 30.8%. Paula Bradshaw finished fifth of five candidates for four seats for Carbondale Township Trustee, Jackson County, IL with 640 votes or 14.65%. Jesus Correa VII finished fourth of four candidates for Mayor of Rockford, Winnebago County, IL with 394 votes or 1.77%. Val Densmore finished second of two candidates for Rich Township Clerk, Cook County, IL with 2,621 votes or 31.47%. Mike Drennan finished third of three candidates for Evanston City Council Ward 9, Cook County, IL with 154 votes or 12.82%. Paul Jasinevicius lost his election to Park Forest Village Trustee, Cook County, IL. He finished fourth of five candidates for three seats with 522 votes or 15.9%. Paul Jasinevicius finished seventh of nine candidates for four seats on Rich 227 High School Board, Cook County, IL with 2,260 votes or 9.93%. Paul Jasinevicius finished second of two candidates for one seat for Rich Township Highway Commissioner, Cook County, IL with 2,015 votes or 23.76%. Bradley Kairis finished eleventh of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 588 votes or 1.91%. Dan Kairis finished third of three candidates for one seat for Elgin Township Supervisor, Kane County, IL with 631 votes or 8.19%. Durl Kruse finished third of four candidates for Mayor of Urbana, Champaign County, IL with 423 votes or 8.56%. Mark Mallon finished second of two candidates for Urbana Alderman Ward 2, Champaign County, IL with 75 votes or 39.27%. Chris Meredith lost his election to Watseka City Council Ward 1, Iroquois County, IL. He finished third of three candidates for one seat with 27 votes or 10.1%. Jon Murray won his re-election to Mount Morris Village Trustee, Ogle County, IL. He finished second of three candidates with 485 votes or 34.04%. Matt Reichel finished third of three candidates for U.S. House District 5 with approximately 2,380 votes or 7%. Joshua Rodgers finished second of two candidates for Mayor of Robinson, Crawford County, IL with 221 votes or 17.82%. Bruce Samuels won his race for Oak Park Village Library Board, Cook County, IL. He finished first of five candidates for four seats with 3,757 votes or 21.51%. Julie Samuels finished fifth of six candidates for three seats for Oak Park Village Trustee, Cook County, IL with 2,226 votes or 12.79%. Julie Schmitt finished ninth of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 917 votes or 2.97%. Dave Simone finished fifth of six candidates for three seats for Northbrook Village Trustee, Cook County, IL with 1,645 votes or 8.85%. Gary Storm finished third of three candidates for Urbana Alderman Ward 7, Champaign County with 220 votes or 16.64%. Dan Todd finished tenth of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 716 votes or 2.32%. Frank Wedig finished fifth of five candidates for four seats for Dorr Township Trustee, McHenry County, IL with 837 votes or 16.03%. WISONSIN Peter Blewett won his re-election to Milwaukee School Board District 6, WI. He finished first of two candidates with 2,957 votes or 60.96%. Peter switched to Green prior to running for re-election. Jo Ellen Gramling ran unopposed for Schleswig Town Clerk, Manitowoc County, WI. Bruce Hinkforth finished third of three candidates for Oconomowoc Alderperson District 3, Waukesha County, WI with 15 votes or 2.7%. Pete Karas finished sixth of eleven candidates for Racine Mayor and does not advance to the May 5 election. He received 852 votes or 8.41%. Brenda Konkel lost her re-election to Madison Common Council District 2, Dane County, WI. She finished second of two candidates with 900 votes or 48.0%. Tony Palmeri won his re-election to Oshkosh Common Council. He finished first of six candidates for three seats with 6,633 votes or 23.59%. Bob Poeschel won his election to Oshkosh Common Council. He finished third of six candidates for three seats with 4,717 votes or 16.78%. Satya Rhodes-Conway ran unopposed for Madison Common Council District 12, Dane County. Marsha Rummel ran unopposed for Madison Common Council District 6, Dane County. 4/14/2009: Michael Canney ran for Alachua City Commission Seat 4, Alachua County, FL. He finished second of two candidates for one seat with 238 votes or 35.84%. 4/20/2009: James Wilkinson was appointed to fill an open seat on the Berwyn Heights Town Council, Prince George?s County, MD. He will be up for re-election in May of 2010. 4/25/2009: Michael Cornell ran unopposed for re-election to City Council, Columbia Association, Village of River Hill, Howard County, MD. He received 92 votes or 94.85%. 5/11/2009: Lee Scott Laugenour lost his race for Lenox Selectman, Berkshire County, MA. He finished third of three candidates for two seats with 190 votes or 30%. 5/19/2009: George Gluck finished third of three candidates for an open seat in the Montgomery County Council District 4, MD Special General election with 372 votes or 3.55%. 5/19/2009: Susan Aufderheide finished second of three candidates for one seat for Rogue Valley Transportation District Position 7, Jackson County, OR with 2,954 votes or 26.31%. 5/19/2009 Matt Donohue won his re-election to Corvallis School Board Position 4, Benton County, OR. He finished first of two candidates for one seat with 3,675 votes or 58.71%. 6/9/2009: Ben Chipman won his race for Portland Charter Commission District 1, Cumberland County, ME. He finished first of two candidates with 314 votes or 62.18%. 6/9/2009: Dan Jenkins lost his race for Portland Charter Commission District 2, Cumberland County, ME. He finished second of two candidates with 252 votes or 45.49%. 6/9/2009: Anna Trevorrow won her race for Portland Charter Commission, At-Large, Cumberland County, ME. She finished fourth of eight candidates for four seats with 1,443 votes or 12.77%. 6/9/2009: Nat Fortune ran unopposed for re-election to Whately Elementary School Committee, Franklin County, MA. He received 101 votes. 6/9/2009: Nat?s wife, Joyce Palmer-Fortune ran unopposed for Whately Select Board, Franklin County, MA. She received 97 votes. Appendix C: Out of Pocket Expenses Summary: I had $1,396.37 in out of pocket expenses during this period which I did not seek reimbursement for. There were 32 items. _______________________________________________ Natlcomvotes mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomvotes If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ -- Charlie Pillsbury, CTGP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Sun Aug 2 17:16:43 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 17:16:43 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Brent McMillan - Grassroots Fundraisin In-Reply-To: <53491.63.254.111.17.1248820537.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> References: <53491.63.254.111.17.1248820537.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> Message-ID: <10859a090908021416r6e44653fmefbe2bf202513315@mail.gmail.com> good "how to" fundraise. Green Party of the United States 202-319-7191 brent at gp.org Grassroots Fundraising Grassroots fundraising is raising money from and by your constituency. If approached like an organizing campaign, grassroots fundraising 1) win real victories 2) give people a sense of their own power, and 3) change the relations of power. Grassroots fundraising wins real victories on two levels. First, you can successfully raise money with your constituency, particularly if you set specific and realistic fundraising goals. Second, you will also win real victories because the money raised from grassroots fundraising can be used for whatever your group chooses (the use of money obtained from foundation funds is usually restricted in some way). Grassroots fundraising gives people a sense of their own power. Leaders are developed and encouraged when they raise funds to support their organization. Members and leaders feel a great deal more power when they raise $10,000 through an event than when one person writes a grant proposal and a foundation contributes $10,000. While the latter way raises money, it does not give leaders a sense of their own power. Grassroots fundraising also changes the relations of power. If your group develops its own internal funding base via grassroots fundraising, you are seen as a much more powerful community player. Having a solid source of funds changes the relations of power between you and those in powerful positions, because you will be more difficult to get rid of or be bought off. There are many ways to raise funds for your organization, large-donor solicitations, direct mail appeals, canvassing, and grassroots fundraising. Most organizations find that they need a diversified funding base to sustain them over a period of time. It is risky to depend too heavily on any one type of fundraising, except internally generated funds and grassroots fundraising. Grassroots fundraising not only makes theoretical sense, it also makes statistical, economic sense. According to the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, 81 percent of U.S. contributions to charity come from individuals, 7 percent from bequests, and only 7 percent from foundations and 5 percent from corporations. Thus, 88 percent came from people, either living or deceased. Not only does most money come from individuals, but 85 percent of all money given comes from people with incomes of $50,000 or less. So groups can build a grassroots funding base from low- and moderate-income families. http://www.aafrc.org/ Set a Goal Sometimes when groups talk about grassroots fundraising, they think about small garage sales or bake sales. Grassroots fundraising certainly includes these, but they do not necessarily have to raise small amounts of money. In fact, if your organization's goal is to raise money, you should figure out how to work with your leaders to raise $20,000 instead of $2,000, especially if it will take comparable amounts of effort. Time, of both staff and volunteers, is a valuable resource and must be used wisely in grassroots fundraising. Make a Fundraising Calendar One of the benefits of grassroots fundraising is that you can control the timing on when you raise the funds. For many groups, the end of the summer is a tight financial time. If you know this, you can plan your grassroots fundraisers accordingly. You can also schedule special fundraising events at times of the year that are less hectic programmatically, although you may find that you raise the most money around the same time as your peak programmatic times. Make a calendar of the upcoming year. Fill in regularly scheduled events, special appeals, holidays, heavy programmatic periods, and other relevant information. You can also plan fundraising events for times when your constituency has the most money. For example, the end-of-the-year events are difficult for most poor and working class people because they are buying gifts. On the other hand, upper management types may have just received their year-end bonuses and be flush with cash. Then decide when you need money the most and when would be the best times for your organization to hold grassroots fundraising events. By planning well in advance, you can recruit a solid core of people to serve on your fundraising committee(s). Raise More Money Than You Spend! Just because another group made money on a certain project, don?t assume that your group can. Carefully analyze why and how another group made money. One of the biggest traps is assuming that groups can sell inexpensive items, such as candy, and make money. Raise Money for Your Issue Program It is much easier to raise money to support a campaign to eliminate a food tax or to increase security in a building, than to raise money to pay back debt or the electricity bill. By raising money around your program, you can publicize the issue and potentially recruit new volunteers. Have Fun Lots of projects will raise money. Let people use their own creativity. If the fundraising committee has fun planning and implementing their event, they are likely to get involved again and to draw others to work with them. Build on Past Successful Events Don?t skip from project to project. Once you identify a fundraising project that works, repeat it annually. Not only do you learn how to host the project more efficiently, but your group becomes identified with that annual event, making it easier to promote. (Example the silent auction at the ANM.) Stay in Line with Your Image A health organization can?t be selling junk food, nor can a clean air group sell cigarettes. Grassroots fundraising is part of your overall program and thus must meet the same high standards as your program. Maintain High Ethical Standards It is essential that your organization remain both rigorously honest in all of its fundraising and accountable to its constituents. If not, the group?s image could be tarnished and it?s overall political effectiveness diminished. Build Leaders Grassroots fundraising should not only raise money, it should also develop leaders. Joan Flanagan, author of the Grass Roots Fundraising Book, and one of the best trainers on grassroots fundraising, suggests selecting co-chairs for your fundraising committee. Have each co-chair recruit four or five people for his/her group. Keep careful, measurable records on each person?s contribution. The co-chair whose group raises the most money should be given greater responsibilities. Budget Money to Raise Money Devote Organizational Time to Fundraising All too often, groups treat fundraising like the ugly duckling, assuming no one will want to do it (at least no one in their right mind.) Grassroots fundraising requires excellent leadership skills. Give fundraising and those who lead the efforts their due respect. Grassroots Fundraising Ideas Ask at Every Opportunity Dance Auction Raffle House Party Food Tasting Phone-a-Thon Musical Event Dinners Rummage Sale Plant Sale Canvassing Contest Tabeling at Events Merchandise - Yard Signs - Bumber Stickers - Buttons - T-shirts - Hats ? Green Greeting Card On-line fundraising ? Social networking Membership Source: Organizing for Social Change _______________________________________________ Natlcomvotes mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomvotes If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ -- Charlie Pillsbury, CTGP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Sun Aug 2 17:17:56 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 17:17:56 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Brent McMillan - There Be Dragons In-Reply-To: <53617.63.254.111.17.1248821099.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> References: <53617.63.254.111.17.1248821099.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> Message-ID: <10859a090908021417l5e0596a1i21cf4c5eb42f9893@mail.gmail.com> the best of the three emails forwarded from the National Committee list. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Durham Plenary Address July 25, 2009 By Brent McMillan There Be Dragons In maps of old, where there was unknown, unexplored territory it was not uncommon for it to be indicated that? there be dragons. We know that we face a media blackout and have to work harder than others to get media coverage. Who makes the cultural map in the U.S.? Who decides that we reside where? there be dragons? How are people stigmatized? Who is behind the Green Scare? What are people scared of? We face greenwashing, infiltration, sabotage, provocation, libel, slander and defamation, etc. The Six Questions In 1992 I attended the most life changing lecture that I have ever experienced. It was delivered by Sam Keen at a writer?s conference in Crystal City Virginia on ?the Power of StoryTelling?. (You may remember him from the Men?s Movement as the author of ?Fire in the Belly.) There is a two cassette tape set of the lecture (The Power of Storytelling) in circulation if you can get a copy, I highly recommend it. In it he talked about how there are basic questions that we are always asking ourselves throughout our entire lives. 1) Where have I been? 2) Where am I now? 3) Where am I going? 4) Who are my people? 5) Where is my place? 6) What is my purpose? If you can help people answer these questions you will get their attention. Whether I am writing a fundraising appeal letter or delivering a speech I keep these questions in mind. Whatever you may think of Ronald Reagan in terms of his politics the fact of the matter is that he was a great communicator. He knew what he was doing. If you listen to his speeches closely you will see that he answers these basic questions for the intended audience. I have been working with journalist James Ridgeway. Many of you may remember him as the journalist that made Ralph Nader famous. He was the one that caught GM spying. In April of 2008 he put out an article in Mother Jones that got my attention: Black Ops, Green Groups http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2008/04/exclusive-cops-and-former-secret-service-agents-ran-black-ops-green-groups I noticed that there seemed to be a very high level of FBI entrapment and infiltration within the Green Party. It is a long list and includes such greens as Dean Zimmerman (MN), Chuck Turner (MA), Malik Rahim (LA), and others that have been targeted by State and local police. I met with James several times. I would present information and then he would ask questions. If you see this do you also see this? I would inquire, and sure enough, he would be right. He suggested that I work on a timeline. As he reviewed this work he shared with me that he thinks that the Ohio Recount was a trigger event: After evidence was presented to the U.S. Justice Department it was the Green Party that became the target, not the people who stole the election. He thinks that at that moment we became a threat. (Before that there may have been incidents involving individual greens such as Tre Arrow (OR) but not targeting of the Green Party per se.) In 2005 we conducted The national shared vision survey. (I have some copies with me for those delegates unfamiliar with the survey.) It was a stepping stone in developing a strategic plan for the party. Unfortunately we didn?t take the next step. You heard earlier this morning a report from the SC on the Strategic Planning Retreat that took place in DC earlier this year. It was at least something. Today we are going to do something more. We face an income crisis. Yet, in order fundraise we need to know what we are fundraising for. In a fictitious speech supposedly delivered by Edward R. Murro in the film Good Night and Good Luck , George Clooney explores the limits of broadcast television to both entertain and inform, but that instead it is being used to ? distract, delude, amuse and insulate us. What can we do about it? We experience this exclusion not just in media, but in ballot access and in access to candidate debates. What kind of messaging has the best chance of cutting through this barrier? Here is some of what we are up against: The Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary is a 140-page guidebook written by Frank Luntz. It includes such gems as: ?Don?t talk about religion Americans who see the bible as their sourcebook on foreign affairs are already supporters of Israel. Religious fundamentalists are Israel?s ?Amen Choir? and they make up approximately one-fourth of the American public and Israel?s strongest friends in the world. However, some of those who are most likely to believe that Israel is a religious state are most hostile towards Israel.? As a guerilla party we need to go where they can?t. Where are the No Go Zones? That is where our opportunity lies. In my opinion the best Political Essay ever written was ?No Go Zones? by Hakim Bey. I first read it in a publication called the ?Mad Farmers Jubilee Almanac? in Seattle. You can find it online. Read it. Understand what a No Go Zone is. That is where? There Be Dragons. No resources go in and no resources go out. It includes places like Gaza, Detroit, East LA, Bosnia, Cape Horn and Indian Reservations. Earlier this year we saw Cynthia significantly challenge this media blackout, within the first one-hundred days of the Obama administration on Gaza? a No Go Zone. ?On Tuesday, December 30, at 5 a.m., several Israeli gunboats intercepted the Dignity as she was heading on a mission of mercy to Gaza. One gunboat rammed into the boat on the port bow side, heavily damaging her. The reports from the passengers and journalists on board is that she is taking on water and appears to have engine problems. When attacked, the Dignity was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza.? ??has a passenger manifest that includes Representative Cynthia McKinney from the U.S.? www.freegaza.org I was amazed about how this story actually, to some degree, interrupted America?s honeymoon with Barack Obama. I didn?t think that anyone could do that in the first 100 days, yet Cynthia managed to. And more recently: JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli navy took control of a boat that violated an Israeli blockade and crossed into Gazan waters Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said, while a Gaza group said the ship was carrying humanitarian aid, a former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reportedly is asking the international community to demand the crew's release. The boat's crew included former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, according to the Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group that sent the boat it calls "Spirit of Humanity" from Cyprus. Along with McKinney, who served six terms in the House of Representatives from Georgia and was the Green Party's presidential nominee in 2008, Israeli authorities took 20 people into custody, the group said. Green Party Watch saw more hits on covering this story than anything else that they have been involved with. Craig Seeman, one of our media persons in New York said that the July 2 interview of Cynthia in an Israeli detention facility shot up the fastest and the highest on You Tube of any story that he has ever been involved with. It made the top 100 stories internationally. We even had a large number of hits from Israel. In an SVC (State Volunteer Coordinator) call earlier this year I asked, ?Does anyone still believe that we are talking about reform? Do you really believe that this system is reformable?? I challenge you, is it time for our rhetoric, our message to become more revolutionary in nature? (The SVC network was formed during the McKinney/Clemente campaign and chose not to disband. They have been holding a series of debriefing calls and are preparing for the next cycle.) If have been thinking on this of late, Mao Tse Tung said that, in essence, ?If you are going to effectively wage a revolution you will need to come from a place of redoubt.? Where is our place? of redoubt? Currently, at the national level? We are faced with continuing to tighten our belt, to cut expenses at the national level. We are the mouse that roared if you look at what our resources are versus our impact. We leverage for everything we can. We are a tiny office with a tiny staff in the overall scheme of things. Well? enough on that for now. Issues to consider for messaging: Gaza As I mentioned earlier Cynthia has been doing some great work on Gaza and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. She has shown some success in cutting through the media blackout. Single Payer I hope that you attended the Single Payer Forum yesterday afternoon. We, at the national office, have been very involved promoting Universal Health Care, and in particular Single Payer during the discussions about Health Care reform on the Hill. Scott, who is not able to be with us today has been showing leadership on this in our press releases and messaging including talking points and letters to the editor. One of the most vocal activists has been Russell Mokhiber, one of the founders of the Mountain Party in West Virginia, and founder of Single Payer Action. We currently have a link to Single Payer Action on the national website. www.singlepayeraction.org Food Security Our food is killing us. Americans are getting this in droves. The e-coli scare has had a lot to do with it. There is a major relocalization effort underway throughout the US today. This includes among other things food production. Gardening going gonzo?.by Richard Heinberg http://www.postcarbon.org/look_bright_side Many Summer Internships Are Going Organic 5/23/2009 The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/dining/24interns.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=College%20Interns%20Getting%20Back%20to%20Land&st=cse Back to the land 5/27/2009 The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2009/05/27/back_to_the_land/ Talking Points: Monsanto is responsible for 90 % of the GMO?s on the planet. Monsanto is working to head off the relocalization effort. (They are hiring PR firm(s ) ? within the beltway.) HR 875, or as I like to call it the Monsanto power grab act, and the other Food Safety Bills are very suspect. Rural America is up in arms, literally. I hear that the USDA is issuing body armor for the first time. ?Louisville, KY (May 22, 2009) The Community Farm Alliance today charged that the agenda for the upcoming listening tour for the National Animal Identification System is biased against small family farmers and will do nothing to improve animal health or food safety. Members of the Community Farm Alliance are especially outraged that the USDA's proposed system favors large corporate agri-business and factory farming. Ultimately, full implementation of NAIS would annihilate family scale farms, which are the majority of farms in Kentucky.? You should watch Food, Inc. http://www.foodincmovie.com/ I have seen it and it very graphically spells out the problems with our food production system today. One documentary that you won?t see in the U.S. is The World According to Monsanto. This French made documentary is a scathing indictment of Monsanto. You can view it online in English in its entirety for free. How do we build social capital? We are going to need it as we move into the Long Emergency. Currently I have begun working with Ed Burns - documentary film maker http://www.acceptablelevelsmovie.com Looking for vocal individuals. I recommended that he talk with Jon Olsen, among others. Global Warming On June 16, 2009 thirteen government agencies presented the findings from 10 years of study on Global Climate Change Impacts on the U.S. The study is available online in pdf format at: http://globalchange.gov In this region by region analysis they state that Global Warming is not a future event, it is already playing out and having major impacts on the U.S. Today! The study is being published by the Cambridge University Press ? Available in August I?ve got my order in. I hope that you availed yourself of the opportunity to view Coal Country last night. The beltway has been awash in coal money during the debate on the Waxman/Markey Global Warming Bill. It?s no secret that the Global Warming Bill was effectively gutted before it reached the House floor. The coal industry has been running full page ads, some with Barack Obama?s picture, promoting Clean Green Coal. (hold up example) after he was elected! Clean Green Coal my ass! When International Visitors come to the national office and I tell them about the Obama/Clean Coal Ads they don't believe it. Then I show them. They gasp and go silent. Then they photograph the Ad to take back to their own country. Many of these ads are being paid for by Peabody mining. Peabody Energy is the world?s largest private sector coal company. Peabody is developing the largest surface mine in the eastern U.S. - The Bear Run Mine located in Sullivan County, IN. Any one involved in the Environmental Justice movement can tell you that Peabody is one of the most egregious violators of human rights in the U.S. http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com/ Marriage Equality ?I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided,? Obama wrote in his memoir, The Audacity of Hope. ?But Obama?s audacity is not only his unwillingness to support the issue, but also his misunderstanding and misuse of the term ?gay marriage.? The terminology ?gay marriage? not only stigmatizes and stymies our efforts for marriage equality, but it also suggests that LGBT people?s marriages are or would be wholly different from those of heterosexuals, thus altering its landscape, if not annihilating the institution of marriage entirely.? http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid39485.asp Election Reform It can be very powerful when we form coalitions with representative from other third parties on election reform issues. For example: Recently Bill Redpath of the Libertarian Party and I testified at a Public Hearing in Washington, D.C. This made the media. We did such a good job of raising support for the issues that Councilmember Mary Cheh, (Chairperson of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment) announced at the beginning of the Public Hearing (on Bill 18-345, the "Omnibus Election Reform Act of 2009") that these sections (703. Advisory neighborhood commissioner elections, 901. Filing Fees and 902. Advisory neighborhood commission nominating petitions) had been entirely struck from the bill entirely before we even testified. People like it when we come together on an issue. In 2000 when we worked to stop the attack on the Blanket Primary in Washington State all of the third parties got together and spoke as one voice. Latter, then Secretary of State, Ralph Munro confided in me that we scared the hell out of the state leadership of the Democrats and the Republicans. They never thought that we would ever come together like that. We postponed the ending of the Blanket Primary for another cycle until they could regroup. Building our Ticket in 2010 So?.How can all of this translate into the work of running candidates? We can focus on developing educational materials ? pamphlets, letter to the editor, talking points, webinars, position papers (green papers)?so that our candidates don?t have to. I believe that we are going to have a big opportunity in 2010. History has not been kind to the party in power that sees double digit unemployment. Officially, it appears that this administration will accomplish that dubious distinction at the end of this month. Jobless Figures Pose Social, Political Threat for Obama, Dems The Nation ? John Nichols 07/05/2009 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448834/ There is great disappointment among progressives with Barack Obama?s leadership on the illegal wars, health care, global warming, gaza, the bailout of Wall Street not Main Street and marriage equality. This administration has basically given Israel a free pass to bomb Iran. On Illegal Wars? it?s the Democrats wars now! Leading our ticket - We have some great candidates for governor in Illinois and Maine, Lynne Williams and Rich Whitney (point out Lynne in the audience.) We have a big opportunity in Arkansas because of the Employee Free Choice Act. Will Unions Back a Green Candidate Against Blanche Lincoln? With the seating of Senator Franken (MN) this issue will heat back up. Illinois is currently leading the Green Party nationally on candidate recruitment. Ever since Rich Whitney?s campaign in 2006 they have been leading the country. I hope that many of you attended the workshop by Phil Huckelberry yesterday. You need to find out about what they are doing. In 2008 we got more votes for our U.S. House candidates than ever before. We set individual records both for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. 2006 was the second biggest mid-term for Independents and third parties since 1934 ?. And I think that 2010 could be even bigger. The American People are angry ?. More and more people are getting it. Washington DC is occupied territory? we need to take our country back. This message resonates across the political spectrum. Thank you for this opportunity. # # # # _______________________________________________ Natlcomvotes mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomvotes If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ -- Charlie Pillsbury, CTGP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Wed Aug 5 22:44:40 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 22:44:40 -0400 Subject: {news} Fwd: [usgp-nc] Let's take heart In-Reply-To: <38048472-EB39-4898-BAEE-55E8AD396086@suscom-maine.net> References: <38048472-EB39-4898-BAEE-55E8AD396086@suscom-maine.net> Message-ID: <10859a090908051944o211f5613k341e608ca9a22292@mail.gmail.com> the context for this inspirational email from one of the founders of the USGP is a very hotly contested election for the positions on the Steering Committee of the National Committee for 09-10. not only are positions on the SC contested, but there is a procedural challenge to the online voting process that the current SC is proposing to use for this election. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Rensenbrink Date: Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 3:16 PM Subject: [usgp-nc] Let's take heart To: "The natlcomvotes ((aka National Committee Votes)) listserv is for decision-making and management of GP-US affairs." < natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org> Hi everyone, Let's take heart. We had a superb ANM at NCCU in Durham. Very well organized, high spirits, a lot got done there and for the future. We repaired relationships, built new ones, celebrated ongoing ones. We showed that we are an up and coming party. Huge thanks to those who worked so hard to make it a success. Champagne everyone -- loft a toast to ourselves in cyber champagne! For me there were many high points. A personal high was the Workshop Kat Swift, George Martin and I did, with Jan Martell presiding, on "A Constructive Critique on the U.S. Green Party and Recommendations for Improvement." We expected about 20 to come. Well, there were over fifty, standing room only. I think this high number and the responsive atmosphere within the Workshop are also reasons for taking heart. After the short presentations, a vigorous and serious discussion followed. No recriminating innuendos, no b.s., no blaming, not even any inadvertent blaming. Talked a lot about leadership and about the SC. Three members of the SC were present. I say, we can do this. We CAN engage in soul searching without having to go through a lot of negative thrust and counterthrust. It also means that we do need these annual meetings, we need always to recall, together and face to face, why we are here as a political party, where we are going, and what we can do to get there -- things practical, wise, envisioning and pertinent to our situation as a very promising political party in the wasteland of American politics. I had jotted down notes of what I wanted to say before I spoke. When I got home I wrote the piece below from the notes and from memory. I figure I might as well append them to this post and you may read them -- or not, as the spirit goes and the wind blows. I make three points about how we hinder ourselves and then make eight recommendations. Be well, John Rensenbrink Maine *Presentation by John Rensenbrink at the Workshop on ?A Constructive Critique of the U.S. Green Party and Recommendations for Improvement.? July 24, 2009, at The Annual National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States held July 23-26, North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. First of all, congratulations to us all! We are still here! After 25 years we are still alive and kicking! Many new parties and would-be new parties have come and gone since 1984, but not only have we survived, we have grown and continue to grow. We?ve done this in the face of enormous obstacles. It?s no secret that we have been deliberately suppressed. Consider the deafening silence about us by the New York Times, or the vicious distortions of a Rush Limbaugh, or the patronizing put-downs of The Nation. Not to mention the tooth and nail efforts of the two dominant parties, especially the leadership echelons of the Democratic Party, to kick us out of the electoral process, and keep us out. I strongly recommend reading Theresa Amato?s book just out, ?Grand Illusion: the Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny.? It is a damning indictment, well written and thoroughly researched, of a corrupt and broken political system. We get that kind of treatment because we are doing the right thing. We threaten that corrupt and broken political system and the politicians who go to bat for the giant corporations and for the banks who pay their way and line their pockets. We challenge them at the core of their power, the power of public office. We are building a political party for resistance and transformation ? dedicated to taking power away from the oligarchy and placing it in the hands of the people in their communities. But have we done enough? No we haven?t. Could we do more? Yes, we could. Here are three ways in which we hinder ourselves. After that, I will pose eight recommendations for improvement. Three Ways We Hinder Ourselves First, we tend to accept a marginal status for ourselves. We buy into the culture of powerlessness that afflicts the public at large. We must define ourselves, not be defined. Second, we are way too much caught up, as a national party, in internal housekeeping matters and we exhibit a puzzling and almost lethal obsession with rules. Not that rules are not vital and important; there is always plenty to be concerned about in that regard. But rules are not first. Relationships are more important. Developing and projecting a focused, hard hitting, and holistic message is more important. Building and developing a conversation with the American people is more important. Third, we tend to act more like an NGO (non-governmental organization) than a political party. This is due, partly at least, by the fact that most of us come from and continue to be engaged in activism ? activism for this cause, that cause, the next cause, and so forth. That affects how we think about Message and Action. But a political party is a holistic venture and adventure. It aggregates the interests expressed by the various movement causes; it consolidates and coordinates those interests; and, extremely important, something the dominant parties never do, a political party educates the public. By education we don?t mean indoctrinate. We mean informing and inspiring public consciousness. We do it through our candidates, our media activities, the coalitions we build, and by our party work generally. Eight Recommendations (offered as illustrative of the kind of things we can do to help ourselves). We should strongly consider the use of mid-term party conventions to further develop our platform and thus help make that a living and timely document. Doing it every four years for a presidential election is not enough and the platform tends to get lost in the pressure of a presidential nominating convention. We can and should use the odd-years for regional meetings (2011, 2013, 2015, etc.). Both this point and the previous one are examples of structuring ourselves to spark, enable, inspire the building of relationships, so very necessary for our growth, confidence building, and trust of one another. I for one am very interested in the creation of an ongoing, though informal, group (a non-identity "caucus") devoted to evolving a holistic Green politics and policy. It seems to me that the Steering Committee can and should initiate a nation-wide process from the grass roots up devoted to developing our national message as a Green Party. We can, I firmly believe, if we put our minds to it, pick two Congressional candidates in each election cycle for whom the national party in conjunction with state parties provide resources with the intent of winning those races. I think we are ready now as a national party to come up with a political strategy that unites short term goals, intermediate goals, and long term goals. Scott McLarty has often urged each and all of us to cultivate our local media and for all of us to write letters and op-eds on the same timely issue of the day at approximately the same time? he points out how powerful that can be, if we did this nation-wide on a continuing basis. It may be a very good and necessary thing for us to conduct a national Green Party Constitutional Convention to take a hard look at the structure of our national party. My presentation was followed by presentations by Kat Swift and George Martin -- Janet Martell presiding. A lively discussion followed the presentations that focused mostly on leadership and the USGP Steering Committee.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Thu Aug 6 16:50:27 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 15:50:27 -0500 Subject: {news} N.H. Advocate writers thinks G.P. is for "CAVEMEN" ?? Message-ID: <20090806205027.C3275478024@ws1-5.us4.outblaze.com> In a crass Liberterian rant and cartoon about Single payer health, Mayin writes only??cavemen would support the type of?health.care stystem .Not sure if the cartoon of "Cavewoman registering as a Green Party supporter"??was just in the online version or both in print as well but we ALL should respond as well.?http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=14039 ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Fri Aug 7 03:18:06 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 03:18:06 -0400 Subject: {news} Connecticut's Nuclear Weapons Message-ID: In honor of Hiroshima-Nagasaki days, I've posted an article (with photos) about "Connecticut's Nuclear Weapons" to the Connecticut Green Times website (http://www.ctgreentimes.org ). It's based on research I did last summer. David Bedell From timmckee at mail.com Fri Aug 7 09:27:24 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 08:27:24 -0500 Subject: {news} GPUS Livestream - Green Fest starts Today at Noon Message-ID: <20090807132724.7E9E0326701@ws1-8.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Seeman" To: "GPUS DX" Subject: [usgp-dx] GPUS Livestream - Green Fest starts Today at Noon Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 23:38:20 -0400 Green Party US will be Video Livestreaming the NY Green Fest starting TODAY Friday August 7 at NOON from Alfred, New York and going through Sunday Aug 9. Tune in here to watch http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus See the exciting schedule here GreenFest Schedule http://nygreenfest.org/detailedschedule.html Workshops and Forums on Green Media Sustainability 9/11 Organizing for Peace the 48 hour Rap Marathon The Battle for Progressive Media Global Warming Gaza/Palestine 3rd Parties and the U.S. Experience Green Campaigns and many more depending on where our intrepid volunteer camera people are. Craig Seeman / Starlene Rankin Stream Producers _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roseberry3 at cox.net Fri Aug 7 13:35:19 2009 From: roseberry3 at cox.net (B Barry) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 13:35:19 -0400 Subject: {news} FW: Special Sale - One Week Only Message-ID: <20090807173514.USVI29503.eastrmmtao106.cox.net@eastrmimpo01.cox.net> _____ From: Green Party of the United States [mailto:gphq at gp.org] Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 9:24 AM To: roseberry3 at cox.net Subject: Special Sale - One Week Only Back to GP.org Green Party New Long Sleeve T-Shirt - Special Price Until August 15! It may be a hot August, but cooler days are just around the corner. The Green Party of the United States has your back with our new long-sleeve t-shirt. It has the same look as our white Earthflower logo shirts, but with long sleeves for late nights at concerts, picnics, and wrapping up fairs and festivals. FOR THE NEXT WEEK ONLY get the new long-sleeve t-shirt at a discount! Only $20 includes shipping - get yours now before the price increases to $25 on August 15th. Our classic kelly green and white earthflower logo shirts are re-stocked and ready for shipping. Need something a little more professional for candidate forums or petitioning? Try a Green Party logo polo shirt. Order now and Be Seen Being Green! As always, all of our merchandise is union-made in the USA. We value American workers and our rights to organize at work while the Green Party organizes for the next election. Don't forget, the Summer 2009 issue of Green Pages is now available! This 20-page edition has a number of stories that will be informative to current Greens and potential Greens all summer and into the fall. Order a bundle of 100 here for a low price today! And, check out our t-shirts, buttons, jar openers and other merchandise at our online store. Donate to GP Fund Remember, the Green Party takes no money from real estate companies, investment firms, or insurance companies. In fact, we don't take any corporate money because we think corporate money in politics is wrong. If you agree, please help us today with your donation. If you can only afford a little each month, you can become a monthly sustainer so your donation can be spread over time. Email: gpinfo at gp.org unsubscribe Office: PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037 202-319-7191 We are not the alternative - we are the imperative. Rosa Clemente No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.46/2288 - Release Date: 08/07/09 13:13:00 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Fri Aug 7 20:13:46 2009 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 20:13:46 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT U.S. State Dept. Drops Call to Restore Ousted HonduranLeader Message-ID: <81F00C87CDCF49D7A43CEB17C53A36F0@JUSTINE> ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Canney To: International Committee Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 1:05 PM Subject: Re: USGP-INT U.S. State Dept. Drops Call to Restore Ousted HonduranLeader This betrayal of democracy in Honduras by the Obama-Clinton regime will come as no surprise to those who understand the true role of the U.S. government in the coup. It provides an opportunity for Greens to address and expose the unprincipled and duplicitous nature of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. Read Eva Golinger's Washington & the Coup in Honduras: Here is the Evidence and her other writings on the coup for reference. Some of the items a GP statement could mention: * The Soto Mano Air Base (formerly known as Palmerola) is the largest U.S. base for military forces in the region and serves as headquarters for Joint Task Force Bravo. Zelaya's plan to convert the airport to commercial and civilian use, using funds from ALBA conflicts with Washington's plans for an expansion of U.S. military forces in Latin America. * Escalation of conflict justifies Washington war budget: By fomenting the conflict in Honduras, the U.S. creates the pretext for a larger U.S. military presence in the region, and the Obama administration will spend almost $1 billion in Latin American military operations this year, mostly in Colombia. * Training of Honduran military officers continues at the SOA/WHINSEC in Ft. Benning, and the Green Party supports the movement to shut down the "School of Assassins." * Public funds for bogus "pro-democracy" programs. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spends almost $50 million annually promoting programs that "promote democracy" in Honduras, in addition to multi-million dollar operations by groups like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). * Bipartisan support for the coup plotters. A top Washington lobbyist for the coup plotters worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign, and Obama's State Department is making common cause with right wing Republicans to continue Bush's militaristic, pro-intervention agenda in Latin America. * The reactivation of the U.S. Fourth Fleet, based in Jacksonville, as a platform for U.S. military threats and intervention in L.A. is another Bush policy that is being continued by Obama as part of a war buildup in the region. I can make time this weekend to help write/edit a GP statement on the Honduras coup. Has anyone begun work on a rough draft as yet? Michael Canney / FL http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/07-1 August 7, 2009 US Drops Call to Restore Ousted Honduran Leader by Tyler Bridges | McClatchy Newspapers TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - The Obama administration has backed away from its call to restore ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power and instead put the onus on him for taking "provocative actions" that polarized his country and led to his overthrow on June 28. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens to a question at a press conference in Phuket, Thailand on July 23, 2009. Clinton said last month that Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was "reckless" to try to return home to his country a month after being ousted. The Obama administration has backed away from its call to restore ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power and instead put the onus on him for taking "provocative actions" that polarized his country and led to his overthrow on June 28. (AFP/File/Romeo Gacad)The new position was contained in a letter this week to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., that also rejected calls by some of Zelaya's backers to impose harsh economic sanctions against Honduras. While condemning the coup, the letter pointedly failed to call for Zelaya's return. "Our policy and strategy for engagement is not based on supporting any particular politician or individual," said the letter to Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The new U.S. position is likely to undercut diplomatic efforts to bring about Zelaya's return, analysts said. It may in time help the administration win confirmation for three top State Department officials President Barack Obama has appointed to deal with the region. Senate Republicans have put their nominations on hold to protest U.S. policy in Honduras. Some 1,000 pro-Zelaya demonstrators protested outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Tegucigalpa, Thursday after the State Department letter was made public in the Honduran media. While condemning the overthrow of Zelaya and his pre-dawn expulsion, the Aug. 4 letter said that Zelaya, who's allied with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, was largely to blame for his plight. "We also recognize that President Zelaya's insistence on undertaking provocative actions contributed to the polarization of Honduran society and led to a confrontation that unleashed the events that led to his removal," said the letter, signed by Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Richard Verma. "I think this could open the door for an alternative option as president," said Jorge Yllesca, a political consultant based in Honduras, meaning that interim President Roberto Micheletti might try to end the political crisis by stepping aside, not for Zelaya but for the president of the Congress or the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The crisis began when Zelaya insisted on staging a June 28 referendum on a constitutional change to allow him to seek re-election. Zelaya had only six more months in office before a non-Chavez ally was likely to take over as Honduras' next president. Chavez and two of his South American allies, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, have won public approval for new constitutions that are allowing them to extend their terms in office. The Honduran Congress, the attorney general's office and the state prosecutor all advised Zelaya that Honduras' constitution didn't permit the referendum. He went ahead anyway and was ousted. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a conservative Republican congresswoman from Miami, applauded the State Department letter. "It seems that the U.S. is stepping a bit away from its unabashed support for Zelaya," Ros-Lehtinen said in a telephone interview. She'd prefer that the Obama administration break ranks with the rest of Latin America and Europe and drop its support for Zelaya. "To reinstate Zelaya to power would be the wrong message to send," Ros-Lehtinen said. "It would say you can violate the law, go against the Congress and get away with it, and the U.S. will stand with you." Republican senators angered by the administration's Honduras policy put a hold on Obama's nomination of Arturo Valenzuela to be assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, along with two key ambassadorial nominees. Lugar, in a July 30 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said he hoped that her explanation could "improve the prospects" of confirming Valenzuela this week. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said Wednesday that he was "glad to see the State Department is finally beginning to walk back its support for Manuel Zelaya," but an aide said that DeMint hadn't lifted his hold on Valenzuela's nomination because despite the policy shift, Obama still supports Zelaya's return to power. The Obama administration has taken a series of low-level steps to show its dissatisfaction with the Micheletti government. The U.S. has revoked diplomatic visas for five Hondurans associated with the Micheletti government. It's suspended anti-drug operations from the U.S. military base in Honduras, withheld $16 million in defense aid and warned that it might not disburse the final 10 percent of money for Honduras under a $250 million aid program. The U.S. also has strongly supported the mediation efforts of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who's proposed a compromise plan to reinstate Zelaya with limited powers. Micheletti has rejected the plan, while Zelaya has accepted it. The letter to Lugar said that U.S. officials wouldn't go much further. "We have rejected calls for crippling economic sanctions," it said. The letter comes at a time when Zelaya is expressing his unhappiness with the Obama administration. "The United States only needs to tighten its fist, and the coup will last five seconds," Zelaya said Tuesday in Mexico, adding that 70 percent of Honduras' economy depends on trade and remittances from the United States. Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said the Obama administration could seize the U.S. bank accounts of Hondurans associated with the coup and withdraw their tourist and diplomatic visas to the U.S. "These are steps that are very easy to take and would have an impact," Weisbrodt said. Dennis Jett, a former U.S. ambassador who now teaches at Pennsylvania State University, said the Obama administration has followed a middle course because it has competing goals. "On one hand, our interests are saved if this guy is not in power or allowed to violated the constitution and perpetuate himself in power," Jett said. "But we do have the obligation to be supportive of democracy." (James Rosen in Washington contributed to this article.) On the Web Read the State Department letters ? 2009 McClatchy Newspapers -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: honduras_clinton_0.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 8523 bytes Desc: not available URL: From timmckee at mail.com Sun Aug 9 19:04:33 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 18:04:33 -0500 Subject: {news} jean de Smet running for Mayor in Windham, CT Message-ID: <20090809230433.9BD56BE407E@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> I?m Jean de Smet, your First Selectman.? As Mayor, I will build on the progress we?ve made over the last two years and continue to move Windham forward.? ? I love Windham. We are the model of an ideal place to live; a very special community.? Together, we've set a new course on a journey that begins with citizen participation in government, responsive public service, and fiscal responsibility.? In this next term, I will execute our plans for economic growth, which are built on support for local businesses, energy efficiency, sustainable employment models, and revitalizing the historic downtown district.? I ask for your support in continuing this important work for Windham.? With my vision and experience, and building on our accomplishments, I will continue to deliver results.? We are just beginning. Windham is a very special place. Beautiful rivers, forests, and historic villages surround our small, friendly town. This is the ideal place to call home. We should be very proud of what we have, while recognizing the potential we have to be even better. Our greatest strength is our people. I first visited Willimantic right out of college, when I was invited to play softball. I discovered something I had never before experienced: community. I found a great group of people ? from my friends at RecPark to politicians; people raising their kids, teaching college or working at the Mills.One of the hallmarks of my administration has been to invite and engage citizens to participate in their government.? I know that to have a better-working government, we need the citizens of Windham to be directly involved and included.? Over the years, many of us have spent too many long hours on those hard benches, begging the selectmen to listen to us.? With the cooperation of the Board of Selectmen, ad-hoc Committees were formed to tackle specific tasks.? Their members researched and made solid recommendations.? Now, instead of coming in opposition, people attend to support the initiatives that they created. The ad-hoc committees have been very productive.? Once adopted, I strive to make sure their recommendations are implemented. This is what government by the people?democracy--looks like.? As mayor, I will continue to open our government by using the opportunities of that office to get out from behind a desk and reach into the community even more.? I recognize that I need to extend the invitation to people to participate in making Windham better.? Together we will work on solutions to our problems.? This is why I differ with those who would boycott elections.? Instead, we need more people empowered with the knowledge that they can effect change.? As an incentive, I recently contracted for cushions, made in Willimantic, as a gesture of my appreciation to the many people who come to the Board meetings.? It?s an invitation to participate.? Government without the voice of the people is hollow.? We?re just beginning.One great example of citizen participation is the Renewable Energy Committee.? From their recommendations, we changed the lights in all town buildings to reduce energy consumption and produce savings.? We insulated town hall.? We?ve purchased hybrid vehicles.? After hours of research, the Committee recommends we do a complete overhaul of town buildings, looking for a 10-year payback from the savings in energy used.? This helps the planet, helps our pocketbooks, and helps improve the quality of life of our community.? We?re just beginning.Another example of working together is our renewed relationship with ECSU, thanks to the leadership of President Nunez.? ECSU funded a Center for Community Engagement to work with Windham, incorporating students into the fabric of our community.? We will learn from and benefit from each other in many ways. ?We?re all excited with the idea of students living and shopping in the historic downtown.? I am working with others to bring together the coalition of stakeholders, including residents, to paint a vision of Willimantic in the future.?? You?re going to love what you see.? And we?re just beginning.The economy has wreaked havoc on many of our lives during these past few years.? We?ve slashed spending, and avoided virtually any tax increases in the budgets, despite revenue cuts.? When I released my budget this year, I made a commitment to no loss of jobs.? Increasing unemployment would further damage the local economy.? When asked, employees stepped forward and offered to share a cut in hours, rather than lay off any co-workers.? That was a very inspiring moment for all of us.? But this is how our local economy will grow stronger?by working together.In the past year, I?ve written ?Windham?s Plan for a Sustainable Future? and worked on the Community Revitalization Strategy and Capitol Improvement Plan to outline our vision of a new path to a vibrant economy.? We have a plan to bring Windham to energy independence.?? We?ve written grants and applied for earmarked funds to replace the Public Works garage, to install wind turbines and solar panels, to replace the lighting and enhance the streetscape of Main Street from the Mills to Friendly?s, to support community policing and traffic enforcement, and to create new employment opportunities.? I want to be there to make sure that the skateboard park is funded, the ash landfill is stopped, and the noise ordinance is enforced.? We?re just beginning.While we?re waiting for the big dollars, I will work to establish a community investment fund to allow the Town and the people in the Windham region, together, to focus our investment dollars, large or small, in support of the growth of existing business and the initiation of new, sustainable businesses.?? The economic downturn is actually an opportunity.? Many talented people, with exciting ideas, just need the opportunity to get re-started.? We can help. We?re just beginning.Windham is an incredible hub of talented, creative, problem-solving people from all walks of life and across party lines. ?There are great people running across the tickets, with a lot of new, welcome faces.? I look forward to working together with a new Town Council concentrating on the good of Windham.? Patrick McNally is running for Council in Windham with no party affiliation, and I welcome the opportunity to work with a hard-working, independent thinker.I?ve gained a new understanding of the dangers of partisan politics during the past two years.? Backroom meetings can breed uninformed decisions, game-playing and power struggles.? As First Selectwoman I was challenged, but stayed true to the course of open, transparent decision-making.? I will continue my efforts to have the Board meetings replayed on TV so that all citizens have the opportunity to watch their government in action.? I am convinced that allegiance to political parties inhibits progress, which is why most states do not have political parties on the local level.? I?m putting these words into action by again running independently.? We are what makes Windham special. I've been working with the Garden Club, 3rd Thursday Street Fests, the Arts Collaborative, ThreadCity Development there are too many organizations to even name.? It?s no accident that only in Windham do we celebrate the 4th of July with a Boom Box Parade.? Other towns and countries are enchanted to learn of Windham?s unique qualities.? We show off our Victorian homes, the FrogBridge, and wooded walks alike. And we always pitch in to help when we?re needed. I feel the passion and enthusiasm we have for both preserving our past and building a positive future.? We?re just beginning.With good, experienced leadership, we can continue to move Windham forward. I?ve proven that I have the courage, the energy, the strength and the passion to get the job done. I don?t quit when the going gets tough. I am proud to have served as your First Selectman for almost two years ? and I ask for your vote as Mayor this November. -- Jean Jean de Smet for Mayor 39 Davis Street Willimantic, CT ?06226 456-2188 VoteJean at gmail. com VoteJean.com Tom McNally, Treasurer ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Mon Aug 10 08:58:10 2009 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:58:10 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: Invitation to Sponsor! Journalist Dahr Jamail Speaking in Hartford!; ALSO OTHER "PEACE" INFO Message-ID: <6DD5C611A46747629138B5B6EB0A5B72@edgn2b574u14bi> Actually it appears Jamail will be speaking in Middletown, not Hartford. I've pasted in the flyer (a Word attachment) to the bottom of this post. --Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: Laura Lockwood To: [long list, deleted] Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 5:08 PM Subject: Invitation to Sponsor! Journalist Dahr Jamail Speaking in Hartford! 9/20 (again, w/attachment) Hello! I am writing to alert you to the upcoming Connecticut 2009 book tour appearance of award-winning journalist Dahr Jamail, and his speaking at the September CTUP (Connecticut United for Peace) meeting on: Date: Sunday, September 20th Time: Location and time will be coordinated around the schedule of Hope Out Loud in Hartford,12-6pm. We are seeking sponsors for his talk, plus offering table space. Please see the attached flyer: "Call for Sponsors." If your organization is interested in sponsorship please fill out the attached flyer and either send it to the address on the flyer, with yorr check, or email to me if you cannot make a monetary contribution. If you are not interested or you are not a member of a particular organization that may be interested in sponsoring, please email me to let me know. We'd also like to make sure you've heard the call for the regional Anti-War action in Boston on October 17, 2009. This date was endorsed by the National Assembly in Pittsburgh last month, for nationally coordinated anti-war demonstrations. Thank you for your time and attention to this exciting event, and I look forward to speaking with you soon. In Peace and Solidarity, Laura Lockwood CTUP Trinity College Women & Gender Resource Action center (WGRAC) Hello! I am writing to alert you to the upcoming Connecticut 2009 book tour of award-winning journalist Dahr Jamail, and his speaking at the September CTUP (Connecticut United for Peace) meeting on: Date: Sunday, September 20th Time: 2pm - 4pm Place: Church of the Holy Trinity 381 Main Street, Middletown, CT ** ** Location and time subject to change because Hope Out Loud in Hartford is scheudled from 12-6pm that day. We are seeking sponsors for his talk, plus offering table space. Please see the attached flyer: "Call for Sponsors." I will be following up this letter with a phone call in the next couple of days. If you are not interested or you are not a member of a particular organization that may be interested in sponsoring, just email me to let me know. We'd also like to make sure you've heard the call for the regional Anti-War action in Boston on October 17, 2009. This date was endorsed by the National Assembly in Pittsburgh last month, as a date for nationally coordinated anti-war demonstrations. Thank you for your time and attention to this exciting event, and I look forward to speaking with you soon. In Peace and Solidarity, Laura Lockwood --------------------------------- JOURNALIST DAHR JAMAIL IN MIDDLETOWN, 9/20 - CALL FOR SPONSORS ! Journalist Dahr Jamail will be in Connecticut for his 2009 Book Tour the week of September 20th. Dahr will be speaking at the CTUP (CT United for Peace) meeting on September 20th, 2-4pm, Church of the Holy Trinity, 381 Main street, Middletown, CT. Bio:US Journalist Dahr Jamail is the author of, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, published by Haymarket Books. He was the winner, with Mohammed Omar, of the 2008 Martha Gelhorn Prize for Journalism. He has also been awarded the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, the Joe A.Callaway Award for Civic Courage, as well as the Lannan Foundation Writing Residency Fellowship. He was honored by Project Censored several times and his celebrated 2007 book tour offered many Americans a first detailed look at the impact of the 2003 Iraq War and occupation on civilians. In addition to countering Pentagon disinformation about the Iraq War, Dahr Jamail reported from Lebanon during the 2006 war. He covered the millions of displaced Iraqis living in tents within Iraq and the millions of others that had fled to Syria and Jordan. During six years of writing about Iraq, Afghanistan, and other topics, his reports have typically included analyses of US policies contrasted with what he has witnessed on the ground. Ultimately, Dahr Jamail provided detailed reports on a wide variety of topics: The growing Iraqi resistance, the increasing number of IED weapons attacks against US soldiers and Iraqi civlians, the damage caused by US bombing, the use of DU, Depleted Uranium, and torture at US run prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. He covered the rise of death squads in Iraq, and their ties to Iraqi ministries, as well as many other topics. During the six years since he first reported on Iraq, Dahr Jamail has been an inspiration for Indy media reporters. He was working as a mountain rescue guide in Alaska in 2003 when he became frustrated with US press coverage, making his first trip to Iraq as a self funded independent reporter determined to send the truth home. His web site www.dahrjamailiraq.com notes that his coverage focused on, "The everyday violence and terror, the deterioration of the healthcare system, the shortages of clean water and the resulting rise in sickness, the lack of jobs and economic opportunity, the refugee crisis, and the detention and torture of civilians and resistance fighters. Through his uncompromised reporting and news photos, Dahr reveals a map of Iraq's misery and resistance, politics and everyday survival in the face of overwhelming military destruction. His website offers a forum where readers discover realities of the war not found in the conventional press." The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dahr Jamail, Haymarket Books, 2009. For his 2009 book, also published by Haymarket, Dahr Jamail has carefully documented the impact of the Iraq and Afghan wars on US and coalition soldiers. The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, features the voices of soldiers telling their stories of resistance in their own words. Retired US Army Reserves Colonel and US Diplomat Ann Wright said of the book: "Based on his experiences as an investigative reporter in Iraq and in his frequent conversations with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, Jamail vividly portrays issues of conscience for military personnel during wartime. As a woman veteran, I thank him for exposing sexual assault and rape in the military--including the warning that of women seeking help from the Veterans Affairs, one in three has been sexually assaulted while in the military. Jamail's work provides indespensible help in our understanding of the costs of war to our own military as well as to countries the United States occupies." The Will to Resist is about US soldiers that have gone AWOL or resisted while deployed in some other way. There are chapters on the crisis of suicide within the ranks, cyber resistance, Art as Resistance, and on various ways US soldiers are "standing up" to the Iraq and Afghan wars. Dahr Jamail's new book offers details about soldiers organizing resistance to war and becoming spokespersons for peace. Other soldiers have engaged in more quiet acts of refusal and resistance, and within these stories we find surprising reactions from fellow soldiers who have begun to accept and even defend the war resisters. The book was released at the start of the summer and Dahr Jamail's 2009 book tour will bring him to Connecticut in September with talks already planned for the 20th and 21st to mark the International Day of Peace. He will speak at ECSU, Eastern Connecticut State University, UCONN, the University of Connecticut, and at a meeting organized by the Connecticut Coalition for Peace and Justice. These and several other educational events with Dahr Jamail, will foster greater awareness about US soldiers and veterans who have taken great personal risk to reach out to Americans and share their true reactions to the Iraq and Afghan wars. In his forward to, The Will to Resist, author and journalist Chris Hedges writes: "Dahr Jamail's human portrait of the men and women who turned away from the project of empire should serve as a beacon. These returning veterans know the essence of war, which is death, and have been maimed by the trauma of industrial warfare. They have found, despite their pain, the moral courage to recover their conscience. The truth they tell demands that we find the courage to make our nation accountable for the crimes committed in our name." Dahr Jamail's books have also been praised by other noted scholars and journalists including, Amy Goodman, John Pilger, Jeremy Scahill, Howard Zinn, Seymour Hersh, Norman Soloman, Naomi Klein, Chalmers Johnson, Stephen Kinzer, Laura Flanders, and many more. His work was noted for its excellence early on in a career he began on the internet. He has since become a writer for Inter Press Service, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Truthout.org. His work has also appeared in, The Nation Magazine, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online, Asia Times, The Guardian, The Independent, and many other publications. His coverage of two US assaults on the Iraqi city of Falluja in 2004 stands in sharp contrast to the pro-war, Hollywood film-style reports, offered by US corporate networks. Dahr Jamail's initial reports on Falluja were about events leading up to the murder of the four US Blackwater military contractors there in April, 2004. Unlike other members of the press, he reported on the growing rage of Iraqis when US soldiers in Falluja began opening fire on peaceful demonstraters. Then, when US forces moved in, Dahr Jamail was there to report on the destruction of most of the city. The US launched massive bombs, artillery rounds and unconventional weapons until in the end, the devastation served to prompt more Iraqis to support the resistance. Dahr Jamail has called this and other US tactics used in Iraq, 'war crimes'. Dahr Jamail has appeared on Pacifica's flagship TV and radio shows Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News, and he has been interviewed by NPR, National Public Radio, (Michele Norris, 2006 and On Point Radio, January 2, 2009) as well as Link TV's Mosaic, BBC's Newsweek, Al Jazeera, and many other US and international press outlets. In 2007 he testified about what he witnessed in Iraq at the The BRussells Tribunal:http://www.brusselstribunal.org/ Despite growing success at this new field, Dahr Jamail has also shared his time generously with community radio and indy reporters who have no budgets. When giving interviews to college stations like WHUS Radio at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, he took added risks by standing on roof tops in Baghad to get better reception. He did this despite ongoing US air strikes, and on at least one occasion this nearly cost him his life. True to form, Jamail continued with the interview after a US rocket flew past his head and created a deafening explosion nearby. Links of interest: http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com Dahr Jamail's web page SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS (check one) * Full Sponsor: $ 50 contribution to costs (includes table)______ * Sponsor: $ 15 for table ______ * Endorser: Name of organization listed ______ * Reserve table only: _____ Please make check out to CTUP, and send to: CTUP, c/o Laura Lockwood, 158 Pierremount Avenue, New Britain, CT 06053 Please Complete the Following: Name of Organization: __________________________________________ Contact Person:_________________________________________________ Email Address:_________________________________________________ Cell Phone/Home Phone:________________________________________ * Thank you for your sponsorship of this important event! For more information please contact Laura Lockwood at: justice4all200960 at yahoo.com, or (860)-827-9142. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Mon Aug 10 09:12:30 2009 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:12:30 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: March and Rally in East in East Haven Against Racial Profiling [AND FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS] Message-ID: <5C373789E49D4049836532BF07CA963C@edgn2b574u14bi> 6-Story Newsletter Template + Images ----- Original Message ----- From: AFSC Connecticut To: edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 12:00 AM Subject: March and Rally in East in East Haven Against Racial Profiling American Friends Service Committee Connecticut In This Issue: August 9, 2009 . Sat Aug 15: March & Rally East Haven against racial profiling & supporting immigrant rights Sat Aug 15: March & Rally East Haven against racial profiling & supporting immigrant rights Friends, Unidad Latina en Accion, a member of the Ct state-wide immigrant rights coalition is organizing an important rally against racial profiling for Saturday August 15th. AFSC-CT has endorsed the event. Please attend this important event. Please read about the event below. You can contact Unidad Latina at 203-606-3484 or via Email: ulaccion at gmail.com or ulaccion at yahoo.com to endorse or get more information Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009 Time: 12:00am - 2:00pm Location: outside of Mc.Donalds at 687 Main St East Haven, CT Facebook Event listing: http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=107981267347 Yours in peace and solidarity, David Amdur ******************* Friends, Aug 15, Stop Racial Profiling in East Haven. On Monday July 13, two people from New Haven were detained in East Haven. One was coming from My Country Store, an Ecuadorian owned business on Main Street. The other was coming visiting his girlfriend. Both were taken to jail and turned over to immigration authorities. Since the incident on Monday we have learned of at least five other cases where people were stopped for no other reason than the color of their skin and the streets they were traveling on, then pushed through the inhumane process of deportation. Other cities, such as New Haven and Hartford, have created policies that prevent police from racially profiling Latino, particularly from asking about legal status. All we ask is that East Haven adopt a similar policy. Mayor April Capone Almon says she is meeting with the community to resolve these issues. What she has actually done is meet with business owners and officials from the justice department. Capone Almon says she does not have the luxury of choosing which federal laws to enforce and which ones not to. New Haven and Hartford's policies have proven that mayors do have control over their police departments, and can decide how to handle immigration issues on a local level. By saying her hands are tied she is choosing to turn her back on Latino residents as they are carted off to deportation centers. In 1997, Malik Jones, a New Haven resident, was shot and killed by an East Haven police officer crossing into the city. Jones was unarmed, and committed a mere traffic violation. A federal court ruled Malik's death a violation of his civil rights, but the police officer was cleared of wrongdoing and remained on the force for nine years after the shooting, and even received a promotion before retiring early with full benefits. On August 15 we are going to march into East Haven to say No to attacks on the immigrant community, no to racial profiling, and no to deportation. Contact Unidad Latina en Acion at: 2036063484 Email: ulaccion at gmail.com or ulaccion at yahoo.com http://ulaccion.blogspot.com/ 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 timmckee at mail.com Mon Aug 10 16:13:08 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:13:08 -0500 Subject: {news} Nader, McKinney, Greens were right: Obama & Dems are going nowhere (Chris Hedges) Message-ID: <20090810201309.09635BE4082@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott McLarty" To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org Subject: [usgp-dx] Nader, McKinney, Greens were right: Obama & Dems are going nowhere (Chris Hedges) Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:35:45 +0000 Nader Was Right: Liberals Are Going Nowhere With Obama By Chris Hedges Truthdig, August 10, 2009 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090810_nader_was_right_liberals_are_going_nowhere_with_obama/ The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. It will not give us universal health care, abolish the Bush secrecy laws, end torture or ?extraordinary rendition,? restore habeas corpus or halt the warrantless wiretapping and monitoring of citizens. It will not push through significant environmental reform, regulate Wall Street or end our relationship with private contractors that provide mercenary armies to fight our imperial wars and produce useless and costly weapons systems. The sad reality is that all the well-meaning groups and individuals who challenge our permanent war economy and the doctrine of pre-emptive war, who care about sustainable energy, fight for civil liberties and want corporate malfeasance to end, were once again suckered by the Democratic Party. They were had. It is not a new story. The Democrats have been doing this to us since Bill Clinton. It is the same old merry-go-round, only with Obama branding. And if we have not learned by now that the system is broken, that as citizens we do not matter to our political elite, that we live in a corporate state where our welfare and our interests are irrelevant, we are in serious trouble. Our last hope is to step outside of the two-party system and build movements that defy the Democrats and the Republicans. If we fail to do this, we will continue to undergo a corporate coup d?etat in slow motion that will end in feudalism. We owe Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney and the Green Party an apology. They were right. If a few million of us had had the temerity to stand behind our ideals rather than our illusions and the empty slogans peddled by the Obama campaign, we would have a platform. We forgot that social reform never comes from accommodating the power structure but from frightening it. The Liberty Party, which fought slavery, the suffragists who battled for women?s rights, the labor movement, and the civil rights movement knew that the question was not how do we get good people to rule?those attracted to power tend to be venal mediocrities?but how do we limit the damage the powerful do to us. These mass movements were the engines for social reform, the correctives to our democracy and the true protectors of the rights of citizens. We have surrendered this power. It is vital to reclaim it. Where is the foreclosure movement? Where is the robust universal health care or anti-war movement? Where is the militant movement for sustainable energy? ?Something is broken,? Nader said when I reached him at his family home in Connecticut. ?We are not at the Bangladesh level in terms of passivity, but we are getting there. No one sees anything changing. There is no new political party to give people a choice. The progressive forces have no hammer. When they abandoned our campaign, they told the Democrats we have nowhere to go and will take whatever you give us. The Democrats are under no heat in the electoral arena from the left. ?There comes a point when the public imbibes the ultimatum of the plutocracy,? Nader said when asked about public apathy. ?They have bought into the belief that if it protests, it will be brutalized by the police. If they have Muslim names, they will be subjected to Patriot Act treatment. This has scared the hell out of the underclass. They will be called terrorists. ?This is the third television generation,? Nader said. ?They have grown up watching screens. They have not gone to rallies. Those are history now. They hear their parents and grandparents talk about marches and rallies. They have little toys and gizmos that they hold in their hands. They have no idea of any public protest or activity. It is a tapestry of passivity. ?They have been broken,? Nader said of the working class. ?How many times have their employers threatened them with going abroad? How many times have they threatened the workers with outsourcing? The polls on job insecurity are record-high by those who have employment. And the liberal intelligentsia have failed them. They [the intellectuals] have bought into carping and making lecture fees as the senior fellow at the institute of so-and-so. Look at the top 50 intelligentsia?not one of them supported our campaign, not one of them has urged for street action and marches.? Our task is to build movements that can act as a counterweight to the corporate rape of America. We must opt out of the mainstream. We must articulate and stand behind a viable and uncompromising socialism, one that is firmly and unequivocally on the side of working men and women. We must give up the self-delusion that we can influence the power elite from the inside. We must become as militant as those who are seeking our enslavement. If we remain passive as we undergo the largest transference of wealth upward in American history, our open society will die. The working class is being plunged into desperation that will soon rival the misery endured by the working class in China and India. And the Democratic Party, including Obama, is a willing accomplice. ?Obama is squandering his positive response around the world,? Nader said. ?In terms of foreign and military policy, it is a distinct continuity with Bush. Iraq, Afghanistan, the militarization of foreign policy, the continued expansion of the Pentagon budget and pursuing more globalized trade agreements are the same.? This is an assessment that neoconservatives now gleefully share. Eliot A. Cohen, writing in The Wall Street Journal, made the same pronouncement. ?Mostly, though, the underlying structure of the policy remains the same,? Cohen wrote in an Aug. 2 opinion piece titled ?What?s Different About the Obama Foreign Policy.? ?Nor should this surprise us: The United States has interests dictated by its physical location, its economy, its alliances, and above all, its values. Naive realists, a large tribe, fail to understand that ideals will inevitably guide American foreign policy, even if they do not always determine it. Moreover, because the Obama foreign and defense policy senior team consists of centrist experts from the Democratic Party, it is unlikely to make radically different judgments about the world, and about American interests in it, than its predecessors.? Nader said that Obama should gradually steer the country away from imperial and corporate tyranny. ?You don?t just put out policy statements of congeniality, but statements of gradual redirection,? Nader said. ?You incorporate in that statement not just demilitarization, not just ascension of smart diplomacy, but the enlargement of the U.S. as a humanitarian superpower, and cut out these Soviet-era weapons systems and start rapid response for disaster like earthquakes and tsunamis. You expand infectious disease programs, which the U.N. Developmental Commission says can be done for $50 billion a year in Third World countries on nutrition, minimal health care and minimal shelter.? Obama has expanded the assistance to our class of Wall Street extortionists through subsidies, loan guarantees and backup declarations to banks such as Citigroup. His stimulus package does not address the crisis in our public works infrastructure; instead it doles out funds to Medicaid and unemployment compensation. There will be no huge public works program to remodel the country. The president refuses to acknowledge the obvious?we can no longer afford our empire. ?Obama could raise a call to come home, America, from the military budget abroad,? Nader suggested. ?He could create a new constituency that does not exist because everything is so fragmented, scattered, haphazard and slapdash with the stimulus. He could get the local labor unions, the local Chambers of Commerce and the mayors to say the more we cut the military budget, the more you get in terms of public works.? ?They [administration leaders] don?t see the distinction between public power and corporate power,? Nader said. ?This is their time in history to reassert public values represented by workers, consumers, taxpayers and communities. They are creating a jobless recovery, the worst of the worst, with the clear specter of inflation on the horizon. We are heading for deep water.? The massive borrowing acts as an anesthetic. It prevents us from facing the new limitations we must learn to cope with domestically and abroad. It allows us to live in the illusion that we are not in a state of irrevocable crisis, that our decline is not real and that catastrophe has been averted. But running up the national debt can work only so long. ?No one can predict the future,? Nader added hopefully. ?No one knows the variables. No one predicted the move on tobacco. No one predicted gay rights. No one predicted the Berkeley student rebellion. The students were supine. You never know what will light the fire. You have to keep the pressure on. I know only one thing for sure: The whole liberal-progressive constituency is going nowhere.? _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail?. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=PID23391::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HYGN_express:082009 _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Tue Aug 11 12:45:15 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:45:15 +0000 Subject: {news} FW: notice of party meeting In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yesterday I emailed and sent hard copies of the following notice. (The SOTS office tells me that it was not necessary to notify them, only the Town Clerks, for municipal nominating meetings.) We encourage all Fairfield County chapter Green Party members to attend and vote. Others are welcome as observers. David Bedell > From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com > To: lead at po.state.ct.us > CC: dloglisci at ci.stamford.ct.us; claudia.weber at ci.new-canaan.ct.us; townclerk at townofreddingct.org > Subject: notice of party meeting > Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:46:52 +0000 > > > > August 10, 2009 > > > Legislation and Elections Administration Division > Secretary of the State > PO Box 150470 > Hartford CT 06115-0470 > > To Whom It May Concern: > > Pursuant to CT General Statutes Sec. 9-452a, as Secretary of the Fairfield County > chapter of the CT Green Party, I hereby provide statutory notice of a Party > nominating meeting to be held: > > Date: Monday, August 24, 2009 > Time: 7:00 PM > Location: 6 Rushmore Circle, Stamford > Purpose: Nominate candidates for municipal offices in Fairfield County, > including Stamford, New Canaan, and Redding. > > Nominations shall be accepted from the floor. Anyone who meets the requirements of > membership as defined by the rules of the Fairfield County Green Party, who > resides within Fairfield County and is present at the meeting is eligible to > vote. The nominees must receive support from a simple majority of those who > actually vote. If there is more than one person nominated for the same office, > instant runoff voting will be used and abstentions will not be counted as > votes. > > Respectfully submitted, > > > > David Bedell, Secretary > Fairfield County Chapter, CT Green Party > 203-977-8106 > > > cc: Donna Loglisci, Stamford Town Clerk > Claudia Weber, New Canaan Town Clerk > Michele Grande, Redding Town Clerk > _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail?. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=PID23391::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HYGN_express:082009 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Tue Aug 11 16:42:30 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:42:30 -0500 Subject: {news} please forward-- Candidate Recruitment Update Message-ID: <20090811204230.D99DABE407E@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brent McMillan" To: "national comm affairs" Subject: [usgp-dx] Candidate Recruitment Update Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:29:21 -0400 Dear NC Delegate: Candidate Recruitment continues to go well. We are currently at 144 candidates for the year. Compared to past odd year election cycles: On Aug. 12, 2007 we had 100 candidates. On Aug. 8, 2005 we had 135 candidates. Some of the most recent candidates to declare include: Dana Silvernale for Northern Humboldt Union High School District Board, Humboldt County, CA. David Bedell for Stamford Board of Representatives District 12, Fairfield County, CT. Jean de Smet for Mayor of Windham, Windham County, CT. Rolf Maurer for Mayor of Stamford, Fairfield County, CT. Vaughn Stull for Mill Township Trustee, Tuscarawas County, OH. Martin Boksenbaum for Lehigh Township Supervisor, Northampton County, PA. Juanita Carra-Budzek for Lehigh Township Supervisor, Northampton County, PA. In service: Brent McMillan, Executive Director Green Party of the United States 202-319-7191 brent at gp.org _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Wed Aug 12 16:39:39 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:39:39 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: GP RELEASE Greens: Dems' town hall meetings & phony health reform deserve civil protest Message-ID: <20090812203939.417AABE407D@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Green News DC" To: dcsgpnews2 at yahoo.com Subject: GP RELEASE Greens: Dems' town hall meetings & phony health reform deserve civil protest Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:34:24 -0400 GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 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: Democrats' town meetings on health care reform deserve debate and civil protest, not disruption and mob violence ? Serving the health insurance lobby, both Republicans and Democrats have tried to shut down open discussion on single-payer, promote phony reform, and spread disinformation; whether Democrats or Republicans win the health care debate, Americans will lose, say Greens ? Greens urge Americans who support real health reform to contact Congress members in support of single-payer (HR 676) ? Greens mourn the deaths of two single-payer heroes: Marilyn Clement and Nick Skala WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders spoke out today against the violent disruptions taking place throughout the US at town hall meetings on health care reform. But Greens said that both Democratic and Republican leaders deserve blame for obstructing the public debate on health care reform. Greens pointed to various attempts to silence discussion of single-payer national health care in public forums and the media, as well as spread misinformation about single-payer and the Canadian health-care system. The Green Party is urging supporters of real universal health care to lobby their US Representatives in advance of a promised vote on the single-payer bill (http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/08/05-8). Greens have called for a nationally televised debate on the merits of single-payer and for GAO and Congressional Budget Office studies on single-payer. Analyses from these offices in the 1990s showed that single-payer will reduce health care spending by billions (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=226). ? Candace Caveny, Michigan Green candidate for the US House, 10th district (http://www.candacecaveny.org): "While storm troops egged on by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and other shills for the insurance industry are disrupting town hall meetings, the Democrats running these events are also squashing open debate on health care. Democrats in Congress have blocked discussion of the single-payer plan, keeping it 'off the table,' to use Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus's words. Both the disruptors in the audience and the Democrats and certain union leaders on stage are defending the right of insurance companies to maintain their profits and control over health care, while hundreds of thousands of Americans are going into financial ruin because of illness and injury. The only real solution is the single-payer plan, represented by John Conyers' House bill 676 and supported in Michigan by UAW Local 599 and the Steelworkers Union, as well as the Green Party." ? Lisa Green, Green candidate for the California State Assembly, 53rd District, in the 2010 election (http://www.votelisagreen.net): "In May, physicians, nurses, Greens, and other single-payer advocates were arrested after peacefully standing up to protest the exclusion of single-payer experts during Senate Finance Committee roundtables on health care reform. If fearmongering Republican leaders, front groups, and public personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck are urging mobs of their supporters to break up town hall meetings, they should be investigated and prosecuted, just as the nonviolent single-payer protesters were arrested." (Leaked memo on disruption from insurance industry front groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/31/recess-harassment-memo/) ? Alfred Molison, Green candidate for Houston City Council, District C (http://www.votealfred.com): "Americans are receiving mountains of disinformation about health care reform from Democratic and Republican leaders alike, as well as from TV, radio, and the Internet. Democrats keep telling us that single-payer is not possible or desirable, despite polls showing majority support for guaranteed national health care. Republicans, media shills, and groups like Conservatives for Patients' Rights are equating Obamacare with the Canadian single-payer system -- an outright lie, since the Democrats' reform plan favors the health insurance industry. As in 1993, Democratic front groups like Health Care for America Now! and Citizen Action and many union leaders believe it's more important to declare victory for the Democrats than to provide real health care reform." (Video of Mr. Molison and other Green candidates: press conference at the Green Party's 2009 National Meeting in Durham, North Carolina, July 24: http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus/ondemand/flv_8f77dfc8-b911-4950-902c-346c35ca3b90) ? Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States: "Rick Scott, head of Conservatives for Patients' Rights and an inspirer of the town hall disruptions, is a welfare cheat. Mr. Scott was fired from his position as CEO of Columbia/HCA in 1997 after he was caught trying to defraud the government for hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars in false Medicare and Medicaid payments, the largest Medicare-Medicaid swindle in history (http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/22-4). The company had to pay back $1.7 billion, but Rick Scott, instead of facing prosecution, received $10 million in severance pay and $300 million worth of stock. In reality, insurance companies have no objection to health reform or government intervention if it means they'll receive huge taxpayer-funded subsidies to inflate their profit margins and CEO salaries. The enraged mobs storming town hall meetings and the liberals swallowing the Democrats' 'public option' and 'mandate' schemes have all been manipulated in a game played by and for the health insurance industry. Whether the Democrats or the Republicans win the health care debate, the American people will lose." SIDEBAR... Greens mourn the recent passing of two leaders in the movement for single-payer universal health care: Marilyn Clement, 74, founder and national coordinator of Healthcare Now! (http://www.healthcare-now.org); and Nick Skala, 27, staff member of Physicians for a National Health Program (http://www.pnhp.org) and a member of the Green Party in Texas and Illinois. MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193 ? Green candidate database and 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 ? Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus "Internal RNC Memo: 'Engage In Every Activity' To Slow Down Health Care Reform" Huffington Post, July 21, 2009 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/internal-rnc-memo-engage_n_241940.html "Top Ten Ways To Tell Your President & His Party Aren't Fighting For Health Care For Everybody" By Bruce A. Dixon, Black Agenda Report, July 29, 2009 http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/top-ten-ways-tell-your-president-his\-party-arent-fighting-health-care-everybody "Inside Story on Town Hall Riots: Right-Wing Shock Troops Do Corporate America's Dirty Work" By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet, August 10, 2009. http://www.alternet.org/story/141860 "My 1933 Nightmare" By David Michael Green, Common Dreams, August 11, 2009 http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/11 Single-Payer Frequently Asked Questions http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States Summer 2009 issue now online http://gp.org/greenpages-blog ~ END ~ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richard.duffee at gmail.com Mon Aug 17 01:00:06 2009 From: richard.duffee at gmail.com (Richard Duffee) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:00:06 -0400 Subject: {news} Smedley Butler Maj. Gen. USMC In-Reply-To: <4A875E59.1090902@comcast.net> References: <4A875E59.1090902@comcast.net> Message-ID: <21f4f7390908162200q1c05e4dk755b750771265f04@mail.gmail.com> Bob Smith of the New Broom Coalition forwards this, commenting "Nothing has changed since he retired. I go and revisit his accomplishments and words every so often to remind me." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler *War Is A Racket * A speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC. *Smedley Butler* WAR is a racket. It always has been It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes. In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows. How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle? Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few ? the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill. And what is this bill? This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations. For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out. Again they are choosing sides. France and Russia met and agreed to stand side by side. Italy and Austria hurried to make a similar agreement. Poland and Germany cast sheep's eyes at each other, forgetting for the nonce [one unique occasion], their dispute over the Polish Corridor. The assassination of King Alexander of Jugoslavia [Yugoslavia] complicated matters. Jugoslavia and Hungary, long bitter enemies, were almost at each other's throats. Italy was ready to jump in. But France was waiting. So was Czechoslovakia. All of them are looking ahead to war. Not the people ? not those who fight and pay and die ? only those who foment wars and remain safely at home to profit. There are 40,000,000 men under arms in the world today, and our statesmen and diplomats have the temerity to say that war is not in the making. Hell's bells! Are these 40,000,000 men being trained to be dancers? Not in Italy, to be sure. Premier Mussolini knows what they are being trained for. He, at least, is frank enough to speak out. Only the other day, Il Duce in "International Conciliation," the publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: * "And above all, Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace... War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the people who have the courage to meet it." * Undoubtedly Mussolini means exactly what he says. His well-trained army, his great fleet of planes, and even his navy are ready for war ? anxious for it, apparently. His recent stand at the side of Hungary in the latter's dispute with Jugoslavia showed that. And the hurried mobilization of his troops on the Austrian border after the assassination of Dollfuss showed it too. There are others in Europe too whose sabre rattling presages war, sooner or later. Herr Hitler, with his rearming Germany and his constant demands for more and more arms, is an equal if not greater menace to peace. France only recently increased the term of military service for its youth from a year to eighteen months. Yes, all over, nations are camping in their arms. The mad dogs of Europe are on the loose. In the Orient the maneuvering is more adroit. Back in 1904, when Russia and Japan fought, we kicked out our old friends the Russians and backed Japan. Then our very generous international bankers were financing Japan. Now the trend is to poison us against the Japanese. What does the "open door" policy to China mean to us? Our trade with China is about $90,000,000 a year. Or the Philippine Islands? We have spent about $600,000,000 in the Philippines in thirty-five years and we (our bankers and industrialists and speculators) have private investments there of less than $200,000,000. Then, to save that China trade of about $90,000,000, or to protect these private investments of less than $200,000,000 in the Philippines, we would be all stirred up to hate Japan and go to war ? a war that might well cost us tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives of Americans, and many more hundreds of thousands of physically maimed and mentally unbalanced men. Of course, for this loss, there would be a compensating profit ? fortunes would be made. Millions and billions of dollars would be piled up. By a few. Munitions makers. Bankers. Ship builders. Manufacturers. Meat packers. Speculators. They would fare well. Yes, they are getting ready for another war. Why shouldn't they? It pays high dividends. But what does it profit the men who are killed? What does it profit their mothers and sisters, their wives and their sweethearts? What does it profit their children? What does it profit anyone except the very few to whom war means huge profits? Yes, and what does it profit the nation? Take our own case. Until 1898 we didn't own a bit of territory outside the mainland of North America. At that time our national debt was a little more than $1,000,000,000. Then we became "internationally minded." We forgot, or shunted aside, the advice of the Father of our country. We forgot George Washington's warning about "entangling alliances." We went to war. We acquired outside territory. At the end of the World War period, as a direct result of our fiddling in international affairs, our national debt had jumped to over $25,000,000,000. Our total favorable trade balance during the twenty-five-year period was about $24,000,000,000. Therefore, on a purely bookkeeping basis, we ran a little behind year for year, and that foreign trade might well have been ours without the wars. It would have been far cheaper (not to say safer) for the average American who pays the bills to stay out of foreign entanglements. For a very few this racket, like bootlegging and other underworld rackets, brings fancy profits, but the cost of operations is always transferred to the people ? who do not profit. *CHAPTER TWO* *WHO MAKES THE PROFITS?* The World War, rather our brief participation in it, has cost the United States some $52,000,000,000. Figure it out. That means $400 to every American man, woman, and child. And we haven't paid the debt yet. We are paying it, our children will pay it, and our children's children probably still will be paying the cost of that war. The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits ? ah! that is another matter ? twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent ? the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it. Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket ? and are safely pocketed. Let's just take a few examples: Take our friends the du Ponts, the powder people ? didn't one of them testify before a Senate committee recently that their powder won the war? Or saved the world for democracy? Or something? How did they do in the war? They were a patriotic corporation. Well, the average earnings of the du Ponts for the period 1910 to 1914 were $6,000,000 a year. It wasn't much, but the du Ponts managed to get along on it. Now let's look at their average yearly profit during the war years, 1914 to 1918. Fifty-eight million dollars a year profit we find! Nearly ten times that of normal times, and the profits of normal times were pretty good. An increase in profits of more than 950 per cent. Take one of our little steel companies that patriotically shunted aside the making of rails and girders and bridges to manufacture war materials. Well, their 1910-1914 yearly earnings averaged $6,000,000. Then came the war. And, like loyal citizens, Bethlehem Steel promptly turned to munitions making. Did their profits jump ? or did they let Uncle Sam in for a bargain? Well, their 1914-1918 average was $49,000,000 a year! Or, let's take United States Steel. The normal earnings during the five-year period prior to the war were $105,000,000 a year. Not bad. Then along came the war and up went the profits. The average yearly profit for the period 1914-1918 was $240,000,000. Not bad. There you have some of the steel and powder earnings. Let's look at something else. A little copper, perhaps. That always does well in war times. Anaconda, for instance. Average yearly earnings during the pre-war years 1910-1914 of $10,000,000. During the war years 1914-1918 profits leaped to $34,000,000 per year. Or Utah Copper. Average of $5,000,000 per year during the 1910-1914 period. Jumped to an average of $21,000,000 yearly profits for the war period. Let's group these five, with three smaller companies. The total yearly average profits of the pre-war period 1910-1914 were $137,480,000. Then along came the war. The average yearly profits for this group skyrocketed to $408,300,000. A little increase in profits of approximately 200 per cent. Does war pay? It paid them. But they aren't the only ones. There are still others. Let's take leather. For the three-year period before the war the total profits of Central Leather Company were $3,500,000. That was approximately $1,167,000 a year. Well, in 1916 Central Leather returned a profit of $15,000,000, a small increase of 1,100 per cent. That's all. The General Chemical Company averaged a profit for the three years before the war of a little over $800,000 a year. Came the war, and the profits jumped to $12,000,000. a leap of 1,400 per cent. International Nickel Company ? and you can't have a war without nickel ? showed an increase in profits from a mere average of $4,000,000 a year to $73,000,000 yearly. Not bad? An increase of more than 1,700 per cent. American Sugar Refining Company averaged $2,000,000 a year for the three years before the war. In 1916 a profit of $6,000,000 was recorded. Listen to Senate Document No. 259. The Sixty-Fifth Congress, reporting on corporate earnings and government revenues. Considering the profits of 122 meat packers, 153 cotton manufacturers, 299 garment makers, 49 steel plants, and 340 coal producers during the war. Profits under 25 per cent were exceptional. For instance the coal companies made between 100 per cent and 7,856 per cent on their capital stock during the war. The Chicago packers doubled and tripled their earnings. And let us not forget the bankers who financed the great war. If anyone had the cream of the profits it was the bankers. Being partnerships rather than incorporated organizations, they do not have to report to stockholders. And their profits were as secret as they were immense. How the bankers made their millions and their billions I do not know, because those little secrets never become public ? even before a Senate investigatory body. But here's how some of the other patriotic industrialists and speculators chiseled their way into war profits. Take the shoe people. They like war. It brings business with abnormal profits. They made huge profits on sales abroad to our allies. Perhaps, like the munitions manufacturers and armament makers, they also sold to the enemy. For a dollar is a dollar whether it comes from Germany or from France. But they did well by Uncle Sam too. For instance, they sold Uncle Sam 35,000,000 pairs of hobnailed service shoes. There were 4,000,000 soldiers. Eight pairs, and more, to a soldier. My regiment during the war had only one pair to a soldier. Some of these shoes probably are still in existence. They were good shoes. But when the war was over Uncle Sam has a matter of 25,000,000 pairs left over. Bought ? and paid for. Profits recorded and pocketed. There was still lots of leather left. So the leather people sold your Uncle Sam hundreds of thousands of McClellan saddles for the cavalry. But there wasn't any American cavalry overseas! Somebody had to get rid of this leather, however. Somebody had to make a profit in it ? so we had a lot of McClellan saddles. And we probably have those yet. Also somebody had a lot of mosquito netting. They sold your Uncle Sam 20,000,000 mosquito nets for the use of the soldiers overseas. I suppose the boys were expected to put it over them as they tried to sleep in muddy trenches ? one hand scratching cooties on their backs and the other making passes at scurrying rats. Well, not one of these mosquito nets ever got to France! Anyhow, these thoughtful manufacturers wanted to make sure that no soldier would be without his mosquito net, so 40,000,000 additional yards of mosquito netting were sold to Uncle Sam. There were pretty good profits in mosquito netting in those days, even if there were no mosquitoes in France. I suppose, if the war had lasted just a little longer, the enterprising mosquito netting manufacturers would have sold your Uncle Sam a couple of consignments of mosquitoes to plant in France so that more mosquito netting would be in order. Airplane and engine manufacturers felt they, too, should get their just profits out of this war. Why not? Everybody else was getting theirs. So $1,000,000,000 ? count them if you live long enough ? was spent by Uncle Sam in building airplane engines that never left the ground! Not one plane, or motor, out of the billion dollars worth ordered, ever got into a battle in France. Just the same the manufacturers made their little profit of 30, 100, or perhaps 300 per cent. Undershirts for soldiers cost 14? [cents] to make and uncle Sam paid 30? to 40? each for them ? a nice little profit for the undershirt manufacturer. And the stocking manufacturer and the uniform manufacturers and the cap manufacturers and the steel helmet manufacturers ? all got theirs. Why, when the war was over some 4,000,000 sets of equipment ? knapsacks and the things that go to fill them ? crammed warehouses on this side. Now they are being scrapped because the regulations have changed the contents. But the manufacturers collected their wartime profits on them ? and they will do it all over again the next time. There were lots of brilliant ideas for profit making during the war. One very versatile patriot sold Uncle Sam twelve dozen 48-inch wrenches. Oh, they were very nice wrenches. The only trouble was that there was only one nut ever made that was large enough for these wrenches. That is the one that holds the turbines at Niagara Falls. Well, after Uncle Sam had bought them and the manufacturer had pocketed the profit, the wrenches were put on freight cars and shunted all around the United States in an effort to find a use for them. When the Armistice was signed it was indeed a sad blow to the wrench manufacturer. He was just about to make some nuts to fit the wrenches. Then he planned to sell these, too, to your Uncle Sam. Still another had the brilliant idea that colonels shouldn't ride in automobiles, nor should they even ride on horseback. One has probably seen a picture of Andy Jackson riding in a buckboard. Well, some 6,000 buckboards were sold to Uncle Sam for the use of colonels! Not one of them was used. But the buckboard manufacturer got his war profit. The shipbuilders felt they should come in on some of it, too. They built a lot of ships that made a lot of profit. More than $3,000,000,000 worth. Some of the ships were all right. But $635,000,000 worth of them were made of wood and wouldn't float! The seams opened up ? and they sank. We paid for them, though. And somebody pocketed the profits. It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war itself. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000 profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few. The Senate (Nye) committee probe of the munitions industry and its wartime profits, despite its sensational disclosures, hardly has scratched the surface. Even so, it has had some effect. The State Department has been studying "for some time" methods of keeping out of war. The War Department suddenly decides it has a wonderful plan to spring. The Administration names a committee ? with the War and Navy Departments ably represented under the chairmanship of a Wall Street speculator ? to limit profits in war time. To what extent isn't suggested. Hmmm. Possibly the profits of 300 and 600 and 1,600 per cent of those who turned blood into gold in the World War would be limited to some smaller figure. Apparently, however, the plan does not call for any limitation of losses ? that is, the losses of those who fight the war. As far as I have been able to ascertain there is nothing in the scheme to limit a soldier to the loss of but one eye, or one arm, or to limit his wounds to one or two or three. Or to limit the loss of life. There is nothing in this scheme, apparently, that says not more than 12 per cent of a regiment shall be wounded in battle, or that not more than 7 per cent in a division shall be killed. Of course, the committee cannot be bothered with such trifling matters. *CHAPTER THREE* *WHO PAYS THE BILLS?* Who provides the profits ? these nice little profits of 20, 100, 300, 1,500 and 1,800 per cent? We all pay them ? in taxation. We paid the bankers their profits when we bought Liberty Bonds at $100.00 and sold them back at $84 or $86 to the bankers. These bankers collected $100 plus. It was a simple manipulation. The bankers control the security marts. It was easy for them to depress the price of these bonds. Then all of us ? the people ? got frightened and sold the bonds at $84 or $86. The bankers bought them. Then these same bankers stimulated a boom and government bonds went to par ? and above. Then the bankers collected their profits. But the soldier pays the biggest part of the bill. If you don't believe this, visit the American cemeteries on the battlefields abroad. Or visit any of the veteran's hospitals in the United States. On a tour of the country, in the midst of which I am at the time of this writing, I have visited eighteen government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men ? men who were the pick of the nation eighteen years ago. The very able chief surgeon at the government hospital; at Milwaukee, where there are 3,800 of the living dead, told me that mortality among veterans is three times as great as among those who stayed at home. Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken out of the fields and offices and factories and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded; they were made over; they were made to "about face"; to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder and, through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used them for a couple of years and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed. Then, suddenly, we discharged them and told them to make another "about face" ! This time they had to do their own readjustment, sans [without] mass psychology, sans officers' aid and advice and sans nation-wide propaganda. We didn't need them any more. So we scattered them about without any "three-minute" or "Liberty Loan" speeches or parades. Many, too many, of these fine young boys are eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not make that final "about face" alone. In the government hospital in Marion, Indiana, 1,800 of these boys are in pens! Five hundred of them in a barracks with steel bars and wires all around outside the buildings and on the porches. These already have been mentally destroyed. These boys don't even look like human beings. Oh, the looks on their faces! Physically, they are in good shape; mentally, they are gone. There are thousands and thousands of these cases, and more and more are coming in all the time. The tremendous excitement of the war, the sudden cutting off of that excitement ? the young boys couldn't stand it. That's a part of the bill. So much for the dead ? they have paid their part of the war profits. So much for the mentally and physically wounded ? they are paying now their share of the war profits. But the others paid, too ? they paid with heartbreaks when they tore themselves away from their firesides and their families to don the uniform of Uncle Sam ? on which a profit had been made. They paid another part in the training camps where they were regimented and drilled while others took their jobs and their places in the lives of their communities. The paid for it in the trenches where they shot and were shot; where they were hungry for days at a time; where they slept in the mud and the cold and in the rain ? with the moans and shrieks of the dying for a horrible lullaby. But don't forget ? the soldier paid part of the dollars and cents bill too. Up to and including the Spanish-American War, we had a prize system, and soldiers and sailors fought for money. During the Civil War they were paid bonuses, in many instances, before they went into service. The government, or states, paid as high as $1,200 for an enlistment. In the Spanish-American War they gave prize money. When we captured any vessels, the soldiers all got their share ? at least, they were supposed to. Then it was found that we could reduce the cost of wars by taking all the prize money and keeping it, but conscripting [drafting] the soldier anyway. Then soldiers couldn't bargain for their labor, Everyone else could bargain, but the soldier couldn't. Napoleon once said, "All men are enamored of decorations...they positively hunger for them." So by developing the Napoleonic system ? the medal business ? the government learned it could get soldiers for less money, because the boys liked to be decorated. Until the Civil War there were no medals. Then the Congressional Medal of Honor was handed out. It made enlistments easier. After the Civil War no new medals were issued until the Spanish-American War. In the World War, we used propaganda to make the boys accept conscription. They were made to feel ashamed if they didn't join the army. So vicious was this war propaganda that even God was brought into it. With few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor to kill, kill, kill. To kill the Germans. God is on our side...it is His will that the Germans be killed. And in Germany, the good pastors called upon the Germans to kill the allies...to please the same God. That was a part of the general propaganda, built up to make people war conscious and murder conscious. Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the "war to end all wars." This was the "war to make the world safe for democracy." No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United States patents. They were just told it was to be a "glorious adventure." Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month. All they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill...and be killed. But wait! Half of that wage (just a little more than a riveter in a shipyard or a laborer in a munitions factory safe at home made in a day) was promptly taken from him to support his dependents, so that they would not become a charge upon his community. Then we made him pay what amounted to accident insurance ? something the employer pays for in an enlightened state ? and that cost him $6 a month. He had less than $9 a month left. Then, the most crowning insolence of all ? he was virtually blackjacked into paying for his own ammunition, clothing, and food by being made to buy Liberty Bonds. Most soldiers got no money at all on pay days. We made them buy Liberty Bonds at $100 and then we bought them back ? when they came back from the war and couldn't find work ? at $84 and $86. And the soldiers bought about $2,000,000,000 worth of these bonds! Yes, the soldier pays the greater part of the bill. His family pays too. They pay it in the same heart-break that he does. As he suffers, they suffer. At nights, as he lay in the trenches and watched shrapnel burst about him, they lay home in their beds and tossed sleeplessly ? his father, his mother, his wife, his sisters, his brothers, his sons, and his daughters. When he returned home minus an eye, or minus a leg or with his mind broken, they suffered too ? as much as and even sometimes more than he. Yes, and they, too, contributed their dollars to the profits of the munitions makers and bankers and shipbuilders and the manufacturers and the speculators made. They, too, bought Liberty Bonds and contributed to the profit of the bankers after the Armistice in the hocus-pocus of manipulated Liberty Bond prices. And even now the families of the wounded men and of the mentally broken and those who never were able to readjust themselves are still suffering and still paying. *CHAPTER FOUR* * HOW TO SMASH THIS RACKET! * WELL, it's a racket, all right. A few profit ? and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war. The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labor before the nations manhood can be conscripted. One month before the Government can conscript the young men of the nation ? it must conscript capital and industry and labor. Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our munitions makers and our shipbuilders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all the other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted ? to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get. Let the workers in these plants get the same wages ? all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers ? yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders ? everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches! Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and majors pay half of their monthly $30 wage to their families and pay war risk insurance and buy Liberty Bonds. Why shouldn't they? They aren't running any risk of being killed or of having their bodies mangled or their minds shattered. They aren't sleeping in muddy trenches. They aren't hungry. The soldiers are! Give capital and industry and labor thirty days to think it over and you will find, by that time, there will be no war. That will smash the war racket ? that and nothing else. Maybe I am a little too optimistic. Capital still has some say. So capital won't permit the taking of the profit out of war until the people ? those who do the suffering and still pay the price ? make up their minds that those they elect to office shall do their bidding, and not that of the profiteers. Another step necessary in this fight to smash the war racket is the limited plebiscite to determine whether a war should be declared. A plebiscite not of all the voters but merely of those who would be called upon to do the fighting and dying. There wouldn't be very much sense in having a 76-year-old president of a munitions factory or the flat-footed head of an international banking firm or the cross-eyed manager of a uniform manufacturing plant ? all of whom see visions of tremendous profits in the event of war ? voting on whether the nation should go to war or not. They never would be called upon to shoulder arms ? to sleep in a trench and to be shot. Only those who would be called upon to risk their lives for their country should have the privilege of voting to determine whether the nation should go to war. There is ample precedent for restricting the voting to those affected. Many of our states have restrictions on those permitted to vote. In most, it is necessary to be able to read and write before you may vote. In some, you must own property. It would be a simple matter each year for the men coming of military age to register in their communities as they did in the draft during the World War and be examined physically. Those who could pass and who would therefore be called upon to bear arms in the event of war would be eligible to vote in a limited plebiscite. They should be the ones to have the power to decide ? and not a Congress few of whose members are within the age limit and fewer still of whom are in physical condition to bear arms. Only those who must suffer should have the right to vote. A third step in this business of smashing the war racket is to make certain that our military forces are truly forces for defense only. At each session of Congress the question of further naval appropriations comes up. The swivel-chair admirals of Washington (and there are always a lot of them) are very adroit lobbyists. And they are smart. They don't shout that "We need a lot of battleships to war on this nation or that nation." Oh no. First of all, they let it be known that America is menaced by a great naval power. Almost any day, these admirals will tell you, the great fleet of this supposed enemy will strike suddenly and annihilate 125,000,000 people. Just like that. Then they begin to cry for a larger navy. For what? To fight the enemy? Oh my, no. Oh, no. For defense purposes only. Then, incidentally, they announce maneuvers in the Pacific. For defense. Uh, huh. The Pacific is a great big ocean. We have a tremendous coastline on the Pacific. Will the maneuvers be off the coast, two or three hundred miles? Oh, no. The maneuvers will be two thousand, yes, perhaps even thirty-five hundred miles, off the coast. The Japanese, a proud people, of course will be pleased beyond expression to see the united States fleet so close to Nippon's shores. Even as pleased as would be the residents of California were they to dimly discern through the morning mist, the Japanese fleet playing at war games off Los Angeles. The ships of our navy, it can be seen, should be specifically limited, by law, to within 200 miles of our coastline. Had that been the law in 1898 the Maine would never have gone to Havana Harbor. She never would have been blown up. There would have been no war with Spain with its attendant loss of life. Two hundred miles is ample, in the opinion of experts, for defense purposes. Our nation cannot start an offensive war if its ships can't go further than 200 miles from the coastline. Planes might be permitted to go as far as 500 miles from the coast for purposes of reconnaissance. And the army should never leave the territorial limits of our nation. To summarize: Three steps must be taken to smash the war racket. We must take the profit out of war. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes. *CHAPTER FIVE* * TO HELL WITH WAR! * I am not a fool as to believe that war is a thing of the past. I know the people do not want war, but there is no use in saying we cannot be pushed into another war. Looking back, Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president in 1916 on a platform that he had "kept us out of war" and on the implied promise that he would "keep us out of war." Yet, five months later he asked Congress to declare war on Germany. In that five-month interval the people had not been asked whether they had changed their minds. The 4,000,000 young men who put on uniforms and marched or sailed away were not asked whether they wanted to go forth to suffer and die. Then what caused our government to change its mind so suddenly? Money. An allied commission, it may be recalled, came over shortly before the war declaration and called on the President. The President summoned a group of advisers. The head of the commission spoke. Stripped of its diplomatic language, this is what he told the President and his group: "There is no use kidding ourselves any longer. The cause of the allies is lost. We now owe you (American bankers, American munitions makers, American manufacturers, American speculators, American exporters) five or six billion dollars. If we lose (and without the help of the United States we must lose) we, England, France and Italy, cannot pay back this money...and Germany won't. So..." Had secrecy been outlawed as far as war negotiations were concerned, and had the press been invited to be present at that conference, or had radio been available to broadcast the proceedings, America never would have entered the World War. But this conference, like all war discussions, was shrouded in utmost secrecy. When our boys were sent off to war they were told it was a "war to make the world safe for democracy" and a "war to end all wars." Well, eighteen years after, the world has less of democracy than it had then. Besides, what business is it of ours whether Russia or Germany or England or France or Italy or Austria live under democracies or monarchies? Whether they are Fascists or Communists? Our problem is to preserve our own democracy. And very little, if anything, has been accomplished to assure us that the World War was really the war to end all wars. Yes, we have had disarmament conferences and limitations of arms conferences. They don't mean a thing. One has just failed; the results of another have been nullified. We send our professional soldiers and our sailors and our politicians and our diplomats to these conferences. And what happens? The professional soldiers and sailors don't want to disarm. No admiral wants to be without a ship. No general wants to be without a command. Both mean men without jobs. They are not for disarmament. They cannot be for limitations of arms. And at all these conferences, lurking in the background but all-powerful, just the same, are the sinister agents of those who profit by war. They see to it that these conferences do not disarm or seriously limit armaments. The chief aim of any power at any of these conferences has not been to achieve disarmament to prevent war but rather to get more armament for itself and less for any potential foe. There is only one way to disarm with any semblance of practicability. That is for all nations to get together and scrap every ship, every gun, every rifle, every tank, every war plane. Even this, if it were possible, would not be enough. The next war, according to experts, will be fought not with battleships, not by artillery, not with rifles and not with machine guns. It will be fought with deadly chemicals and gases. Secretly each nation is studying and perfecting newer and ghastlier means of annihilating its foes wholesale. Yes, ships will continue to be built, for the shipbuilders must make their profits. And guns still will be manufactured and powder and rifles will be made, for the munitions makers must make their huge profits. And the soldiers, of course, must wear uniforms, for the manufacturer must make their war profits too. But victory or defeat will be determined by the skill and ingenuity of our scientists. If we put them to work making poison gas and more and more fiendish mechanical and explosive instruments of destruction, they will have no time for the constructive job of building greater prosperity for all peoples. By putting them to this useful job, we can all make more money out of peace than we can out of war ? even the munitions makers. So...I say, *TO HELL WITH WAR.* *Click here to purchase "War Is A Racket"* * Smedley Darlington Butler * Major General - United States Marine Corps [Retired] Born West Chester, Pa., July 30, 1881 Educated Haverford School Married Ethel C. Peters, of Philadelphia, June 30, 1905 Awarded two congressional medals of honor, for capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1914, and for capture of Ft. Riviere, Haiti, 1917 Distinguished service medal, 1919 Retired Oct. 1, 1931 On leave of absence to act as director of Department of Safety, Philadelphia, 1932 Lecturer - 1930's Republican Candidate for Senate, 1932 Died at Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, June 21, 1940 For more information about Major General Smedley Butler, contact the United States Marine Corps. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages| Files| Photos| Links| Database| Polls| Members| Calendar [image: Yahoo! Groups] Change settings via the Web(Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest| Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity Visit Your Group Give Back Yahoo! for Good Get inspired by a good cause. Y! Toolbar Get it Free! easy 1-click access to your groups. Yahoo! Groups Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From edubrule at sbcglobal.net Sun Aug 16 05:31:05 2009 From: edubrule at sbcglobal.net (edubrule) Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:31:05 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: Reminder to send your state and caucus reports to Green Pages Message-ID: <491E55719F284904B3CFB7198496EDD5@edgn2b574u14bi> ----- Original Message ----- From: [e-mail deleted for e-mail security reasons--if you need it contact Ed DuBrule] To: [deleted] Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 2:12 PM Subject: Reminder to send your state and caucus reports to Green Pages Hi Friends, This is a reminder to send in your state and caucus reports. To date I have reports from Florida and Maine. We do want to know what's going on in your state. If not much is going on, a paragraph will be sufficient. But please let us hear. If you have recently elected new officers and delegates, we'd like to know. Thanks and Peace, Barbara Rodgers-Hendricks Editor, Reports for Green Pages -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Wed Aug 19 18:53:20 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:53:20 -0500 Subject: {news} Feed back sought*** Payment of SC State Sharing, Forgiveness of ND State Sharing Message-ID: <20090819225321.A78FB1BF28D@ws1-10.us4.outblaze.com> please respond to this thur the?FORUM email list only!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jody Grage" To: natlcomaffairs Subject: [usgp-dx] Payment of SC State Sharing, Forgiveness of ND State Sharing Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:18:59 -0700 TO: The State Green Parties FROM: The Finance Committee of the Green Party of the United States RE:Announcement of Payment of State-Driven State-Sharing for 2008 and Request for Forgiveness of Nationally-driven State-sharing for 2008 GPUS is a decentralized political party made up of state parties, caucuses, and committees. We finance a small national party and its staff to provide that minimum level of support and coordination that all organizations require. For several years we have cut spending and overhead to the bone. Any further cuts would cripple the functioning of GPUS as we know it. Fundraising continues to be our biggest problem in these difficult times. Fortunately our annual meeting made a profit. This is only the third time in seven years and it was three times the previous high. We view this as a small yet significant turning point in our fortunes for the future. However, GPUS is in deep financial trouble and runs the risk of not being able to fulfill its minimum obligations to all of us. Each of us will suffer if we allow this to continue. We aim to assist our members and the American citizenry as the Big Box parties simply do not and will not. Part of the funds received by GPUS is shared with the states. State-driven state sharing is money raised by the state?s efforts, with GPUS administering the transactions. Six states have earmarked funds totaling $1063 from state-driven state sharing from January 2008 through June 2009: Arizona ? $237, California - $63, DC - $381, Florida - $70, Nevada - $51, and New York - $261. Those checks were mailed this week. Now we are asking each state to forgive its 2008 national-driven state-sharing money raised through the efforts of the national office. Seven states ? WI, WA, MS, DE, IN, plus IL & ME for the first three quarters - have already agreed to do this. These seven states have netted the national party a total of $3222 savings. Should all states agree, the national party will have an additional $13, 000 - money that it sorely needs. Donor intent to benefit the state can be honored by supporting GPUS as it serves all state Green Parties or through a smaller percentage of contributions being retained by the state. And let it be clear that we are only asking for the nationally-driven state sharing, not the state-driven sharing raised by each state?s own efforts. In fact, we are determined to make prompt payment of state-driven state sharing from now on. We are in the first year of the 2010 election cycle and we must build the party this year in order to assist candidates effectively next year. Local and state issues, along with a lower general turnout, give Green Party candidates our best chance to make real inroads into the nation?s electorate. The opportunities are there, but we must be able to make use of them. We ask you to please forgive your nationally-driven state sharing for the year 2008. Your agreeing to do so will help the GPUS move forward to a sound financial footing in the near future. Respectfully submitted, Jody Grage and Bill Kreml, for the GPUS Finance Committee ***** 2008 National-Driven State Sharing ? Current Totals $ 50.40 ? Alaska $ 78.80 ? Alabama $ 28.80 ? Arkansas $ 238.00 ? Arizona $2427.00 ? California $ 491.60 ? Colorado $ 422.80 ? Connecticut $1270.80 ? DC Statehood $ 684.20 ? Florida $ 72.80 ? Georgia $ 120.40 ? Hawaii $ 52.80 ? Iowa $ 187.20 ? Illinois (4^th Qtr) $ 28.80 ? Kansas $ 50.40 ? Louisiana $ 542.00 ? Massachusetts $ 857.20 ? Maryland $ 42.00 ? Maine (4^th Qtr) $ 280.50 ? Michigan $ 264.80 ? Minnesota $ 150.80 ? Missouri $ 14.40 ? Montana $ 270.00 ? North Carolina $ 132.00 ? Nebraska $ 258.80 ? New Jersey $ 133.20 ? New Mexico $ 103.20 ? Nevada $1493.60 ? New York $ 530.40 ? Ohio $ 58.80 ? Oklahoma $ 198.80 ? Oregon $ 61.86 ? Pennsylvania $ 106.40 ? South Carolina $ 103.60 ? Tennessee $ 591.20 ? Texas $ 80.80 ? Utah $ 665.50 ? Virginia $ 18.40 ? Vermont _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Aug 20 10:54:48 2009 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:54:48 -0400 Subject: {news} Feed back sought*** Payment of SC State Sharing, Forgiveness of ND State Sharing References: <20090819225321.A78FB1BF28D@ws1-10.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: <0ED3E92231404C1CA34057AE8CF0D118@JUSTINE> Dear Tim, I'm not subscribed to the forum list. However, I urge that we forgive the GPCT state-sharing money as Jody asks. GPUS is in terrible financial straits and does need money for campaigns, a major way that we grow the party. Peace, Justine McCabe ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim McKee To: CT Greens News Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 6:53 PM Subject: {news} Feed back sought*** Payment of SC State Sharing, Forgiveness of ND State Sharing 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ please respond to this thur the FORUM email list only!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jody Grage" To: natlcomaffairs Subject: [usgp-dx] Payment of SC State Sharing, Forgiveness of ND State Sharing Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:18:59 -0700 TO: The State Green Parties FROM: The Finance Committee of the Green Party of the United States RE:Announcement of Payment of State-Driven State-Sharing for 2008 and Request for Forgiveness of Nationally-driven State-sharing for 2008 GPUS is a decentralized political party made up of state parties, caucuses, and committees. We finance a small national party and its staff to provide that minimum level of support and coordination that all organizations require. For several years we have cut spending and overhead to the bone. Any further cuts would cripple the functioning of GPUS as we know it. Fundraising continues to be our biggest problem in these difficult times. Fortunately our annual meeting made a profit. This is only the third time in seven years and it was three times the previous high. We view this as a small yet significant turning point in our fortunes for the future. However, GPUS is in deep financial trouble and runs the risk of not being able to fulfill its minimum obligations to all of us. Each of us will suffer if we allow this to continue. We aim to assist our members and the American citizenry as the Big Box parties simply do not and will not. Part of the funds received by GPUS is shared with the states. State-driven state sharing is money raised by the state's efforts, with GPUS administering the transactions. Six states have earmarked funds totaling $1063 from state-driven state sharing from January 2008 through June 2009: Arizona - $237, California - $63, DC - $381, Florida - $70, Nevada - $51, and New York - $261. Those checks were mailed this week. Now we are asking each state to forgive its 2008 national-driven state-sharing money raised through the efforts of the national office. Seven states - WI, WA, MS, DE, IN, plus IL & ME for the first three quarters - have already agreed to do this. These seven states have netted the national party a total of $3222 savings. Should all states agree, the national party will have an additional $13, 000 - money that it sorely needs. Donor intent to benefit the state can be honored by supporting GPUS as it serves all state Green Parties or through a smaller percentage of contributions being retained by the state. And let it be clear that we are only asking for the nationally-driven state sharing, not the state-driven sharing raised by each state's own efforts. In fact, we are determined to make prompt payment of state-driven state sharing from now on. We are in the first year of the 2010 election cycle and we must build the party this year in order to assist candidates effectively next year. Local and state issues, along with a lower general turnout, give Green Party candidates our best chance to make real inroads into the nation's electorate. The opportunities are there, but we must be able to make use of them. We ask you to please forgive your nationally-driven state sharing for the year 2008. Your agreeing to do so will help the GPUS move forward to a sound financial footing in the near future. Respectfully submitted, Jody Grage and Bill Kreml, for the GPUS Finance Committee ***** 2008 National-Driven State Sharing - Current Totals $ 50.40 - Alaska $ 78.80 - Alabama $ 28.80 - Arkansas $ 238.00 - Arizona $2427.00 - California $ 491.60 - Colorado $ 422.80 - Connecticut $1270.80 - DC Statehood $ 684.20 - Florida $ 72.80 - Georgia $ 120.40 - Hawaii $ 52.80 - Iowa $ 187.20 - Illinois (4^th Qtr) $ 28.80 - Kansas $ 50.40 - Louisiana $ 542.00 - Massachusetts $ 857.20 - Maryland $ 42.00 - Maine (4^th Qtr) $ 280.50 - Michigan $ 264.80 - Minnesota $ 150.80 - Missouri $ 14.40 - Montana $ 270.00 - North Carolina $ 132.00 - Nebraska $ 258.80 - New Jersey $ 133.20 - New Mexico $ 103.20 - Nevada $1493.60 - New York $ 530.40 - Ohio $ 58.80 - Oklahoma $ 198.80 - Oregon $ 61.86 - Pennsylvania $ 106.40 - South Carolina $ 103.60 - Tennessee $ 591.20 - Texas $ 80.80 - Utah $ 665.50 - Virginia $ 18.40 - Vermont _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. 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URL: From timmckee at mail.com Thu Aug 20 13:22:02 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:22:02 -0500 Subject: {news} Pa. Green candidate Romanelli will fight state court ruling (Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre) Message-ID: <20090820172202.B91AE11581F@ws1-7.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott McLarty" To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org Subject: [usgp-dx] Pa. Green candidate Romanelli will fight state court ruling (Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:59:25 +0000 Green Party candidate will fight court ruling Carl Romanelli blasts rejection of his appeal of a decision that he must pay more than $80,000. By Steve Mocarsky Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania), August 20, 2009 http://www.timesleader.com/news/Green_Party_candidate_will_fight_court_ruling_08-20-2009.html Days after the state Supreme Court denied his appeal, Carl Romanelli ? a 2006 Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate ? says he will continue to fight a Commonwealth Court decision directing him to pay more than $80,000 to the parties that challenged his nomination petition. ?I am dismayed because we presented some very serious new information to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ? information coming out of the attorney general?s presentation regarding the Bonusgate scandal. We raised the issue of the challenge itself being part of the poison fruit of the ? scandal,? Romanelli, 49, of Wilkes-Barre, said in a phone interview on Wednesday. In a two-sentence order issued Monday, the state Supreme Court affirmed Commonwealth Court?s decision that directed Romanelli and his attorney, Lawrence M. Otter, of Doylestown, to pay $80,407.56 to the petition challengers. The order also denied Romanelli?s motion for oral argument in the case. ?Not only did (the state Supreme Court) uphold a lower court ruling that in my opinion was not intent on looking at the facts, they failed to issue a written opinion. ? If it?s OK to have a conspiracy by the state against a citizen, fine. But say it,? Romanelli said. State Attorney General Tom Corbett?s presentation on Bonusgate describes how 12 people involved in the state House Democratic Caucus were charged with illegally giving state-funded bonuses to state employees for performing partisan political work, such as campaigning and challenging nomination petitions. Corbett specifically drew attention to Romanelli?s case, which he called one of ?two outstanding examples of misappropriation of taxpayers? resources.? The day Romanelli filed his nominating petitions, which included 94,544 signatures ? well over the 67,070 required ? a caucus employee obtained copies of the petitions from the Department of State, and an army of caucus staffers went to work trying to find signatures to challenge, according to Corbett?s presentation. The goal was to enhance the election chances of the Democratic nominee, Robert Casey, by removing from the ballot a challenger whose vote tally would likely come at the expense of the Democratic candidate. The effort resulted in a challenge of at least 69,000 signatures and successfully knocked Romanelli off the ballot. ?If they allow this to become settled law, it will allow a precedent to be set,? Romanelli said of the state Supreme Court?s decision. ?The next time a third-party candidate?s nomination petition is challenged, they can look at this case and say, ?We know crimes were committed against the candidate, but that didn?t stop Democrats from collecting court costs in the Romanelli case.? ? Romanelli can either petition the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said he will most likely file a petition. Shawn Gallagher, an attorney representing the challengers of the nomination petition, said the court ruled appropriately. Gallagher said Commonwealth Court found that Romanelli and his attorney acted in bad faith during the proceedings. The costs imposed ? other than the attorney fees that amounted to about $48,000 ? were so high ?based on Mr. Romanelli?s conduct and his attorney?s conduct during all these weeks when they reviewed the signatures. There was a court order that set forth the procedure for review, and the costs were a result of Mr. Romanelli?s and his attorney?s defiance of the order,? Gallagher said. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail? is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=PID23391::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HYGN_faster:082009 _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Fri Aug 21 15:44:28 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:44:28 -0500 Subject: {news} CT national Delegates- only 3 of 5 voted for important election? Message-ID: <20090821194428.80B84BE407E@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> Dear State Greens?recently we had an important NationalCo chair election..ONLy 3 of our 5 delegates voted.C.Pillsbury, M.Derosa and my slef.. For Months? now,, our other two delegets have not voted over and over..?please let us know off line what u want us to do..?pressure then to get active or get off?do nothing?or something elese???we need all 5 of our delegates to work for theoffice they sought.?please repsond to forum or priavet email..not on the news listeverve please//?TimMcKee? ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-505-8454 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. /www.ctgreentimes.org BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chapillsbury at gmail.com Sat Aug 22 17:48:16 2009 From: chapillsbury at gmail.com (Charlie Pillsbury) Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:48:16 -0400 Subject: {news} Green Party of Ohio seeking CTGP support for Oct. 17th Peace Actions? Message-ID: <10859a090908221448r21c9c11dhd42adddf32ecaeab@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:45 AM, Logan Martinez wrote: > Dear Connecticut Greens, > The *Green Party of Ohio* has passed a resolution endorsing > the October 17th peace actions being called by the National Assembly to End > the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations. (see below) We are looking > for other states to co-sponsor a resolution for endorsement by the Green > National Committee. Anti war actions are being planned across the country > and it is important that the Green Party has a visible presence. These > actions have the potential to revitalize the peace movement. If you can > help with this effort please let me know. Thanks, Logan Martinez > 937-275-7259 > > These members of the Green Party of Ohio? Coordinating Committee voted to > endorse the October 17, 2009 peace actions. > > Dayton: Tim Bruce, Tiki Kai-Krismano, Logan Martinez > Cleveland: David Berenson > Cincinnati: Josh Krekeler, Dorsey Stebbins > Warsaw/Coshocton Tim Kettler > Toledo: Anita Rios > Mahoning Valley Greens / Youngstown: Dennis Spisak > > Columbus: Donald Gibson, Paul Dumouchelle > > Action Proposal October 17 Local and Regional Actions ( > www.NatAssembly.org) > > October has several dates with significance for the peace movement. > October, 2009 will mark the eighth year of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and > seven years since Congress passed the resolution authorizing war against > Iraq. In addition, October commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam > Moratorium that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets to protest > the war. > > Designate October 17 as a day for mass rallies, marches, coordinated local > and regional demonstrations and other forms of protest with unequivocal > antiwar demands: > > - Immediately and unconditionally withdrawal all U.S. troops, > military personnel, bases, contractors and mercenaries from Iraq, > Afghanistan and Pakistan! > - End U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine! End to the > siege against Gaza! > - U.S. hands off Iran and North Korea! > - Self-determination for all oppressed nations and peoples! > - End war crimes, including > torture! > > > > Action Proposal ? Motivation > > We insist on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. > troops, military personnel, bases, contractors and mercenaries from Iraq, > Afghanistan and Pakistan. We demand an immediate end to all U.S. support for > the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing siege against Gaza and > the Palestinian people. We oppose sanctions,threats of war, and attacks > against Iran, North Korea, Somalia, or any other nation, whose right to > self-determination is under assault by Washington?s aggressive drive for > hegemony. We strongly oppose interference in the internal affairs of these > countries, as well as Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and any other nation targeted > by the U.S. government for political destabilization. > > The lopsided vote by the U.S. House of Representatives ? 368-60 ? on May > 14, 2009 approving the Obama administration?s request for $97 billion for > U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Senate?s > follow-up vote on June 18, 2009 approving by a 91-5 majority $105.9 billion > for the same purpose make clear the bipartisan support for continuation of > the wars and occupations. It also underscores why an independent, unified, > mass action antiwar movement is needed now more than ever. > > We support without equivocation the right of all oppressed nations and > peoples to self-determination, whether in the Middle East or in other > parts of the world, such as Haiti. > > We stand in solidarity with working people, their unions and allies, and > so we demand that the trillions being spent on wars and the military be > diverted to the support of homeowners, the opening of plants to create new > green jobs instead of seeing them shut down, and preventing the slashing of > urgently needed social programs > > > > ------------------------------ > Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. Find > out more. > -- Charlie Pillsbury, CTGP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Mon Aug 24 16:31:34 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:31:34 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [usgp-dx] Cynthia McKinney: Did the FBI pay ''journalist' Hal Turner to say I should be lynched? Message-ID: <20090824203134.046A01BF28D@ws1-10.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott McLarty" To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org Subject: [usgp-dx] Cynthia McKinney: Did the FBI pay ''journalist' Hal Turner to say I should be lynched? Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:58:58 +0000 > From Cynthia McKinney, Sunday, August 23, 2009... Friends, I am in the Bay Area and rocking with the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. But something quite insidious is happening and I think you should know immediately how it involves my friends and me. Hot on the heels of my learning that the Georgia Green Party might have been described by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist organiztion," it has just now come to my attention that a "journalist" who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI's payroll? Interesting that charges stem from his comments against Connecticut lawmakers and Illinois judges, but not from the threat made against me, a sitting Member of Congress at the time! I wonder why. To whom can I or any other innocent citizen turn when the government, itself, is the instigator? John Judge, my Congressional staffer, is the one who reported the threat. Here is what John just wrote, along with the article that reports that Turner was on the FBI payroll at the time the threat was made against me, according to Turner's attorney. See the green highlights below: John Judge wrote: This is the guy who announced a program topic suggesting that Cynthia McKinney be lynched on her way to the polls to vote in 2006 and published her campaign office address on the website. He asked how she would look swinging at the end of a rope and what message it would send to other "uppity" Blacks. I called NJ Homeland Security and FBI at the time sincee related to it as a death threat. The FBI agent I spoke to said "We know all about Mr. Turner". Looks like they did. Now they say he was trained as an agent provocateur by the FBI to get others to participate in illegal acts. As Jim Garrison says in the movie JFK after interviewing Clay Shaw, "I think we got one". Here is an excerpt _ JJ "Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die. "*But if you compare anything that he did say when he was operating, there was no difference. No difference whatsoever,*" Orozco said." [Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Turner] Harold Charles "Hal" Turner is an American white nationalist and white supremacist from North Bergen, New Jersey. He was arrested in June 2009 over alleged threats to politicians, and is currently jailed without bail. Prior to Turner's arrest his program, The Hal Turner Show, was a webcast from his home once a week, and it depended on listener donations. Turner promotes antisemitism (including the rounding up and killing of Jews)[1], he opposes the existence of the state of Israel[1] and he denies the Holocaust.[2] According to the Associated Press Hal Turner has exposed through his attorney that he worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an "agent provocateur" and "his job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest" [3] Threats against judges and political figures You can find more info. on Hal Turner go to search engines, google.com or ixquick.com Attorney: FBI trained NJ blogger to incite others By KATIE NELSON (AP) ? 1 day ago Associated Press, August 18, 2009 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gn42Q8Vm5jjobEmzYXatzWxnm4XQD9A5G9HG0 HARTFORD, Conn. ? A New Jersey blogger facing charges in two states for allegedly making threats against lawmakers and judges was trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative, his attorney said Tuesday. Hal Turner worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an "agent provocateur" and was taught by the agency "what he could say that wouldn't be crossing the line," defense attorney Michael Orozco said. "His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest," Orozco said. Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die. "But if you compare anything that he did say when he was operating, there was no difference. No difference whatsoever," Orozco said. Special Agent Ross Rice, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago, said he would not comment on or even confirm Turner's relationship with the FBI. Orozco spoke to reporters after a court hearing in Hartford on Tuesday. Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., did not appear, because he is in federal custody in Illinois. His arraignment on the Connecticut charges was rescheduled to Oct. 19. In June, Turner urged his readers to "take up arms" against Connecticut lawmakers and suggested government officials should "obey the Constitution or die," because he was angry over legislation ? later withdrawn ? that would have given lay members of Roman Catholic churches more control over their parish's finances. He wrote in Internet postings the same month that the Illinois federal appeals judges "deserve to be killed" because they issued a ruling that upheld ordinances in Chicago and suburban Oak Park banning handguns. He included their photos and the room numbers of their chambers at the courthouse. Orozco officially joined Turner's defense team in the Connecticut case on Tuesday, with approval from Superior Court Judge David Gold. Orozco said his Newark, N.J.-based firm has been representing Turner for the past five years, including during his FBI informant years. Turner's Connecticut attorney, Matthew R. Potter, said it's too early to tell which trial will move forward first. Orozco said he plans First Amendment defenses in both cases. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, said the office would not comment on Orozco's statements. -- http://www.livestream.com/dignity http://dignity.ning.com/ http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. http://windowslive.com/Campaign/SocialNetworking?ocid=PID23285::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:SI_SB_online:082009 _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. CT GREEN TIMES The blog-journal of the CT Green Party is now online! Visit http://www.ctgreentimes.org CT GREEN PARTY ON FACEBOOK Please join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105209184665 -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Wed Aug 26 17:53:48 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:53:48 -0400 Subject: {news} John Mertens for U.S. Senate Kickoff event Sept. 9 Message-ID: Got this press release from John Mertens. He's not a Green, but he's interested in courting our support. Steve Fournier will be at the press conference, and I know Mertens has talked with Cliff Thornton. I think he's an interesting alternative, and worth supporting if we don't find an actual Green candidate to run. He has a website at http://www.mertens2010.com David Bedell A Campaign for Honest, Responsible, and Responsive Government West Hartford Resident John Mertens Announces Candidacy for 2010 U.S. Senate Race Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off Event: Scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, 2071 Park St., Hartford. West Hartford Resident John Mertens will publicly announce his candidacy for the 2010 U.S. Senate Race during a campaign kick-off event & press conference scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, at 271 Park Road, Hartford (the outdoor stage at Lena's Pizzeria). The event will be followed by music and food. Dr. Mertens is seeking the nominations of four political parties: the Independent Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Connecticut for Lieberman Party. Dr. Mertens was the Independent Party candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006. Dr. Mertens has been the chair of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party since March, 2008. (http://www.ctforlieberman.org ) Accompanying Dr. Mertens at the event will be Mike Telesca, State Agent of the Independent Party, Stephen Fournier, State Co-Chair of the Green Party, and Richard Lion, State Chair of the Libertarian Party. A tenured Professor of Engineering at Trinity College in Hartford, Dr. Mertens also teaches environmental science and public policy, and conducts research in combustion and air pollution. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from California State University, Chico, graduating summa cum laude, and earned a Masters and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He began teaching at Trinity College in 1990. He has done volunteer work with Hartford public schools for over eighteen years, and is well informed about public school and urban issues. He has lived in West Hartford since 1996, where he has raised four children. They will join him on the stage on September 9th. Dr. Mertens' campaign will focus on solutions to long-term problems, using non-partisan, analysis-based public policies. According to Dr. Mertens, "The country is facing huge long-term problems: an $11 trillion national debt, a giant budget deficit, a $12 trillion social security shortfall this century, prisons that are bursting at the seams, urban schools that are struggling, a wounded economy with rising unemployment, a health care system that needs major reform, the lack of a coherent national energy policy that will protect our economy and the environment, and a government that has been encroaching on our civil liberties. The solutions exist. But we need to elect non-partisan problem-solvers who will fight for them. For decades we have lived with irresponsible public policies from career politicians in Congress who care more about increasing their party's power and getting re-elected than they care about solving long-term problems. They haven't been honest with us, and they have been lousy public servants." The Sept. 9th Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off event at Lena's Outdoor Stage in Hartford is free and open to the public. Dr. Mertens is holding the event in Connecticut's capital city and New England's 'Rising Star' to emphasize the need for coordination of federal and state policies to address issues such as education, health care, urban revitalization, and economic recovery. Press photos and campaign materials can be requested in advance by contacting event coordinator Anne Marie Krupski at (860) 707-2800 or john@ mertens2010.com ### From rstuller at snet.net Wed Aug 26 19:20:19 2009 From: rstuller at snet.net (Ronna Stuller) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:20:19 -0400 Subject: {news} Notice of Nominating Meeting Message-ID: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: nlgreens2009b.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 486678 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Aug 27 11:57:33 2009 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:57:33 -0400 Subject: {news} John Mertens for U.S. Senate Kickoff event Sept. 9 References: Message-ID: <3D94AE723A994287996EB0AD462CBB74@JUSTINE> David, According to his website, Mertens endorses a Massachusetts health care-like plan, the former having shown to be a failure (spiking up costs and even encouraging scamming); he also endorsed the invasion of Afghanistan and appears to support US troops there. When Mertens actually endorses GP policies--single payer health insurance, getting US military out of Afghanistan, ending occupation in Palestine and supporting boycott/divestment/ and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel--then he'd at least get my attention. I appreciate Merten's support for third parties but why would we need to endorse him: he doesn't help grow our party while we would be supporting opposition to some of our own policies? As it is, I urge others to oppose this endorsement. Justine McCabe ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Bedell" To: Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 5:53 PM Subject: {news} John Mertens for U.S. Senate Kickoff event Sept. 9 > 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 > Got this press release from John Mertens. He's not a Green, but he's > interested in courting our support. Steve Fournier will be at the press > conference, and I know Mertens has talked with Cliff Thornton. I think > he's > an interesting alternative, and worth supporting if we don't find an > actual > Green candidate to run. He has a website at http://www.mertens2010.com > > > David Bedell > > > A Campaign for Honest, > Responsible, and Responsive > Government > > West Hartford Resident John Mertens Announces Candidacy for 2010 U.S. > Senate > Race > > Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off Event: > Scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, 2071 Park St., Hartford. > > West Hartford Resident John Mertens will publicly announce his candidacy > for > the 2010 U.S. Senate Race during a campaign kick-off event & press > conference scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, at 271 Park Road, > Hartford (the outdoor stage at Lena's Pizzeria). The event will be > followed > by music and food. > > Dr. Mertens is seeking the nominations of four political parties: the > Independent Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the > Connecticut for Lieberman Party. Dr. Mertens was the Independent Party > candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006. Dr. Mertens has been the chair of the > Connecticut for Lieberman Party since March, 2008. > (http://www.ctforlieberman.org ) > > Accompanying Dr. Mertens at the event will be Mike Telesca, State Agent of > the Independent Party, Stephen Fournier, State Co-Chair of the Green > Party, > and Richard Lion, State Chair of the Libertarian Party. > > A tenured Professor of Engineering at Trinity College in Hartford, Dr. > Mertens also teaches environmental science and public policy, and conducts > research in combustion and air pollution. He earned a B.S. in mechanical > engineering from California State University, Chico, graduating summa cum > laude, and earned a Masters and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from > Stanford University. He began teaching at Trinity College in 1990. He has > done volunteer work with Hartford public schools for over eighteen years, > and is well informed about public school and urban issues. He has lived in > West Hartford since 1996, where he has raised four children. They will > join > him on the stage on September 9th. > > Dr. Mertens' campaign will focus on solutions to long-term problems, using > non-partisan, analysis-based public policies. According to Dr. Mertens, > "The > country is facing huge long-term problems: an $11 trillion national debt, > a > giant budget deficit, a $12 trillion social security shortfall this > century, > prisons that are bursting at the seams, urban schools that are struggling, > a > wounded economy with rising unemployment, a health care system that needs > major reform, the lack of a coherent national energy policy that will > protect our economy and the environment, and a government that has been > encroaching on our civil liberties. The solutions exist. But we need to > elect non-partisan problem-solvers who will fight for them. For decades we > have lived with irresponsible public policies from career politicians in > Congress who care more about increasing their party's power and getting > re-elected than they care about solving long-term problems. They haven't > been honest with us, and they have been lousy public servants." > > The Sept. 9th Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off event at Lena's Outdoor > Stage in Hartford is free and open to the public. Dr. Mertens is holding > the > event in Connecticut's capital city and New England's 'Rising Star' to > emphasize the need for coordination of federal and state policies to > address > issues such as education, health care, urban revitalization, and economic > recovery. > > Press photos and campaign materials can be requested in advance by > contacting event coordinator Anne Marie Krupski at (860) 707-2800 or john@ > mertens2010.com > ### > > > 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.67/2326 - Release Date: 08/25/09 18:07:00 From vogel at ct.metrocast.net Thu Aug 27 22:39:13 2009 From: vogel at ct.metrocast.net (vogel at ct.metrocast.net) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:39:13 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: We're hiring Message-ID: <8E489BB127144D459D6C0CC29E1D23B7@JUNKNAME> Democracy for America ----- Original Message ----- From: Adam Quinn, Democracy for America To: info at seconnecticut.com Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 12:10 PM Subject: We're hiring George - Democracy for America is hiring state-level Public Option Field Organizers for an intense three-month pressure campaign to pass a public option as part of healthcare reform. We're upping the ante and are looking to put full-time, hired, grassroots field organizers, on the ground to pressure elected leaders to pass healthcare reform with a public option in your state. You can see the entire job description here: DemocracyForAmerica.com/PublicOptionApply You know your state better than anyone and you have better contacts. We need your help to get the word out because time is critical and we have a very tight timeline to hire additional staff. Can you pass this position onto anyone you think might be a good fit? Can you post this on a local blog? Send it to a local email list? Public Option Field Organizers will have their work cut out for them. They need to hit the ground running to build grassroots pressure and get Senators and Representatives off the fence in support of the public option. If you know anyone interested in joining this intense three-month campaign to get a public option passed, please send them this link: DemocracyForAmerica.com/PublicOptionApply Thank you for all that you do, -AQ Adam Quinn, Field Director Democracy for America P.S. Questions? As always, feel free to contact me and the rest of the DFA Field Team at field at democracyforamerica.com. Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission. Paid for by Democracy for America, http://democracyforamerica.com/ and not authorized by any candidate. Contributions to Democracy for America are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. This message was sent to info at seconnecticut.com. Visit your subscription management page to modify email preferences or to unsubscribe from further communications. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Fri Aug 28 14:23:03 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:23:03 -0500 Subject: {news} Big win in Connecticut lawsuit! Message-ID: <20090828182303.F14A6326701@ws1-8.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Huckelberry" To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org Subject: [usgp-dx] Big win in Connecticut lawsuit! Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:34:02 -0500 This is from Ballot Access News. The ACLU filed this suit on behalf of the Connecticut Green Party. This is a huge victory - and one which could very easily be spun against us. Don't be surprised to see Greens accused of killing public financing. If you see it, tell people the truth - that public financing is supposed to be about making elections fairer and more democratic, not about propping up the corporate parties! Phil Huckelberry Delegate, Illinois http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/27/connecticut-public-funding-law-held-unconstitutional-because-it-discriminates-severely-against-minor-parties-independent-candidates/ Connecticut Public Funding Law Held Unconstitutional Because it Discriminates Severely Against Minor Parties & Independent Candidates August 27th, 2009 On August 27, U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill, a Clinton appointee, held that Connecticut?s public funding law for candidates is so discriminatory in favor of the two major parties, and against all other parties and candidates, that it is unconstitutional in its entirety. The opinion is 138 pages long. A link to the decision is found in this news story from Connecticut News Junkie. Thanks to Ken Krayeske for this news. Connecticut?s public funding law was passed in 2006 and used for the first time in 2008. Members of parties that polled 20% of the vote in the last election are entitled to public funding if they receive a certain number of qualifying contributions. Others must also obtain the qualifying contributions, but they need to submit a very large number of signatures, in addition. The decision summarizes the problems with the law on page 71: ?The CEP (Citizens Election Program) enhances the relative strength of major party candidates in ways that represent a severe burden on the political opportunity of minor party candidates for the following reasons: (1) it provides participating major party candidates public funding at windfall levels, well beyond what most major party candidates would typically be able to raise on their own from private fundraising sources; (2) it permits major party candidates who are as equally ?hopeless? as minor party candidates in many districts to become eligible for full funding without first requiring such hopeless major party candidates to make the same threshold showing of public support required of minor party candidates through the additional qualifying criteria; (3) the additional qualifying criteria for minor party candidates are nearly impossible to achieve, thus ensuring that minor party candidates will only very rarely qualify for the ?enhancing? benefits made available by CEP participation; and (4) in the event a minor party candidate does qualify for partial CEP funding, it handicaps that participating minor party candidate by automatically granting full funding to his or her participating major party opponent, and by prohibiting the partially-funded minor party candidate from raising private contributions, up to the full grant amount, in increments greater than $100.? _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. CT GREEN TIMES The blog-journal of the CT Green Party is now online! Visit http://www.ctgreentimes.org CT GREEN PARTY ON FACEBOOK Please join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105209184665 -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timmckee at mail.com Fri Aug 28 15:42:17 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:42:17 -0500 Subject: {news} The New London Day- State off. to challenge ruling Message-ID: <20090828194218.2ADD21CE917@ws1-6.us4.outblaze.com> State officials to challenge campaign finance ruling [IMAGE] By Ted Mann ??? Published on 8/28/2009 Hartford ? A federal judge's order to freeze Connecticut's public financing system for political campaigns could throw the electoral system into chaos, state officials said Friday, announcing they would seek to keep the system functioning while they appeal the ruling. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and Jeffrey Garfield, the executive director of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, all decried the ruling by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill, which held that provisions of the 2005 campaign finance reform law imposing higher qualification requirements for minor party candidates are unconstitutional. ?What's at stake here is really the integrity and viability of the entire campaign finance reform system,? said Blumenthal, who held a press conference with Bysiewicz and Garfield to announce that he would seek a stay of Underhill's ruling while his office appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. ?This law, in my view, is defensible, permissible, Constitutional, as-is,? Blumenthal said. In a written statement released by her press office, Rell called the law ?a model in the nation.? ?It was, and will remain, the means to keep special interest and lobbyist dollars out of our election process,? the governor said. ?I will do everything possible to keep this program intact and will support an immediate appeal of the decision.? And Bysiewicz, whose office oversees most state election procedures, warned of chaos if current or potential candidates for office under the voluntary public finance system ? including, in her current exploratory consideration of a run for governor, Bysiewicz herself ? see the rules changed mid-race. Underhill's decision as issued would ?permanently enjoin? Blumenthal and Garfield from operating the Citizens Election Fund, which administers grants to participating candidates to fund their campaigns, in exchange for abiding by spending limits and restrictions on contributions from state-connected individuals and industries. But other groups rejoiced at the ruling, including Rell's Republican allies, who have long opposed publicly financed campaigns. ?The Connecticut Citizen's Election Program has been a taxpayer-financed incumbency protection program from the start,? said Chris Healy, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party. ?It unfairly excluded third-party efforts and punished those candidates who would choose to not burden the taxpayers by subsidizing those who did and were unable to match private sector support.? ?The ruling today is a great victory for people disenfranchised by the system," said Heath W. Fahle, the public policy director of the Yankee Institute think tank. ?The Citizens' Election Program unfairly burdened minor party and petitioning candidates while giving significant advantages to Republicans and Democrats.? Campaign finance reform advocates, meanwhile, said they were confident that either Underhill himself or the appeals court would grant a stay of the decision, and said they believed the Connecticut system would be vindicated in the higher court.[IMAGE] POST COMMENT ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. CT GREEN TIMES The blog-journal of the CT Green Party is now online! Visit http://www.ctgreentimes.org CT GREEN PARTY ON FACEBOOK Please join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105209184665 -- Be Yourself @ mail.com! Choose From 200+ Email Addresses Get a Free Account at www.mail.com! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dbedellgreen at hotmail.com Sat Aug 29 16:48:05 2009 From: dbedellgreen at hotmail.com (David Bedell) Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:48:05 -0400 Subject: {news} Big win in Connecticut lawsuit! Message-ID: And here's the story from the Hartford Courant. Thanks especially to Mike DeRosa for his perseverance on this issue! At least Gov. Rell says, "If necessary, we can amend the law to address the concerns of minor parties," and apparently SOTS Bysiewicz agrees with her. Atty. General Blumenthal is flat-out wrong in wanting to defend the law in its present form. (See last couple paragraphs below.) David Bedell http://courant.com/news/politics/hc-campaign_finances0829.artaug29,0,3702527.story CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM Federal Judge Throws Out Connecticut's Landmark Campaign Finance Law By EDMUND H. MAHONY The Hartford Courant August 29, 2009 Connecticut election officials reacted with sharp criticism and promised an all-out legal fight Friday after a federal judge threw out the state's landmark campaign finance law, saying it puts minor party office seekers at an unconstitutional disadvantage when they challenge traditionally better-financed major party candidates. U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill said the state's cutting-edge campaign finance reforms, known as the 2005 Citizens' Election Program, were built on good intentions and inspired by "a regrettable legacy of corruption that has pervaded all levels of elected office in recent decades." But he said the reform law, the product of months of legislative effort, "imposes an unconstitutional, discriminatory burden" on minor party candidates. That burden is created, he said, because the reforms enhance the ability of Republicans and Democrats to raise money without imposing spending limits on major party candidates who take advantage of public financing. Specifically, Underhill said: The reforms provide funding to participating candidates at levels "well beyond" historic spending levels. Those funding levels amount to "an impermissible subsidy" for major party candidates rather than a substitute for traditional sources of funding. The new public financing scheme "artificially enhances" the political strength of many major party legislative candidates by ignoring actual support for those candidates in their districts. By doing so, it permits any major party candidate to qualify for full public financing without the demonstration of support that minor party candidates must show before becoming eligible for full financing. The qualifying criteria for minor party candidates are so difficult to achieve that most will never become eligible for even reduced levels of public financing. The procedures enacted for distribution of public financing could tend to discourage minor party candidates from even trying to participate. That is because the law triggers release of additional money to major party candidates when their minor party challengers achieve even minimal fundraising milestones. The Green Party of Connecticut, lead plaintiff in the suit upon which Underhill's decision is based, praised the opinion. "It is a very important victory," said David McGuire, a Connecticut ACLU lawyer who represented the Green Party. "It is a victory for free speech and a victory for all political candidates. It really does level the playing field now." The response from state political figures of all major party stripes, however, was strong, if respectful, condemnation. "My office will appeal and seek an immediate stay of this decision, which misapplies constitutional doctrine to strike down our state's campaign finance reform system," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. "This decision is only one ruling by one lower-court judge, but it could create significant legal obstacles to campaign finance reform efforts here and around the country. It deserves and needs review by an appellate court." Blumenthal said he will appear in Bridgeport before Underhill next week to seek an immediate stay of the order, a measure that would indefinitely postpone the order from taking effect. If Underhill denies a stay, Blumenthal said, he will apply to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. In any event, Blumenthal, a Democrat, said he will ask the appellate court to reverse Underhill's decision. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, another supporter of the campaign reforms, was equally critical. When the legislature adjourned without passing reforms in the spring of 2005, she pushed the leadership to create a blue ribbon panel to craft a bill. Later that year, she convened a special legislative session, which enacted the law in December. "Connecticut's Campaign Finance Reform Act is a model in the nation," said Rell, a Republican. "I will do everything possible to keep this program intact and will support an immediate appeal of the decision. I cannot, and will not, let Connecticut return to the days of unfettered special interests controlling our electoral process. If necessary, we can amend the law to address the concerns of minor parties." Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, the state's chief elections regulator and a Democrat, said Underhill's ruling, if left in force, could create "chaos" in the 2010 election cycle for legislative and statewide officeholders. Candidates already budgeting for campaigns could have their efforts upended if faced with a loss of public financing, she said. Candidates considering runs may demur if forced to forgo public financing. Bysiewicz said the new laws "worked extremely well" when they took effect for the first time during the 2008 election cycle. She said 83 percent of candidates for state Senate and 74 percent of those running for the state House took advantage of the public financing. She said money was provided to a total of 236 candidates: 135 Democrats, 96 Republicans, 3 independents and 2 Working Families party candidates. "Judge Underhill's decision is very unfortunate and it comes at a very inopportune time in our election process," she said. "I think it is important that we keep this law in place. If there are imperfections, if there are flaws, I think we should fix them. We should not throw out the entire law." Jeffrey B. Garfield, executive director and general counsel for the State Elections Enforcement Commission, who worked with legislators in crafting the law before retiring a month ago, was equally critical. "Judge Underhill will not have the final say on how Connecticut shall serve it citizens," Garfield said. "In 2008 we saw a glimpse of the promise that public campaign financing holds. Three-quarters of the legislators sitting in office came to office using the citizen election program." The small but vocal Green Party said Underhill's major party detractors were missing the point. Regardless of how many office-seekers took advantage of public financing last year, minor parties - less organized, operating without staffs that can circulate petitions, and the infrequent beneficiaries of large contributions - were put at a disadvantage, party officials said. "It may have been well-intentioned," McGuire said. "It probably was well-intentioned. But the truth is it made the playing field less level. It created substantial obstacles for the third party candidates. And Judge Underhill said himself it is virtually impossible for a candidate who is not a Republican or a Democrat to get around." The minor parties charged in their suit that the reforms arbitrarily provided major party candidates with incentives and resources to run well-heeled campaigns, while making it more difficult for minor party candidates to obtain the same resources. At one point in his decision, Underhill said steps should be taken to preserve the ability of minor party candidates to serve as checks on their major party opponents and their representatives in government. "We're very pleased the court ruled that real campaign finance reform requires a level playing field," said Michael DeRosa, co-chairman of the state Green Party. Blumenthal said he is confident Underhill's decision will be reversed. "We believe that this ruling substantially conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and principle because the minor party candidates, very simply, have failed to demonstrate that they bear an unconstitutional burden as a result of this law," he said. "In fact, they are no worse off than without campaign finance assistance." Blumenthal disagreed with political figures such as Rell and Bysiewicz who expressed hope that flaws in the law identified by Underhill could be remedied while preserving the larger package of reforms. He said the various components of the law interlock to such a degree that changing one aspect could cause the entire package to collapse. "This truly craters the whole framework of reform," Blumenthal said. Copyright ? 2009, The Hartford Courant From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Aug 30 14:43:45 2009 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:43:45 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Mexico Legalizes Drugs! Message-ID: <6A20E849E3BA4797A505E6580DCF718D@JUSTINE> See also: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iP1GlMCOzYSi8kbAUY1lLDdqc4vAD9A763HO0 ----- Original Message ----- From: Rocky Neptun To: usgp-int at gp-us.org Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 2:38 PM Subject: USGP-INT Mexico Legalizes Drugs! Mexico Legalizes Drugs: Is U.S. Youth Liberation Therapy Possible? By Rocky Neptun Tijuana, Mexico??..Deep within the cavernous Fiesta Bar; blubberous, bald-headed men sat with their young, dark-skinned, street girls, while Mexican college students mingle with shoe shine boys and laborers from a nearby street project. Layers of thick marijuana smoke swirled about the room, spinning grey webs under the fluorescent bulbs in the dim light. Alternating between drinking Tecate beer from quart bottles and shooting down shots of heavy tequila, everyone seemed to have a joint in their hand. This was my third visit to the bar, just off First Avenue, near the Plaza Santa Cecilia, where Tijuana?s red light district, The Cahuilla, begins. My lady friend?s oldest son, Miguel, has been smoking pot since he was 12 years-old, when he began working at a nearby restaurant as a bus boy. After 10 years, now a waiter at the restaurant, still hanging out with friends at the Fiesta; we watch as his wife, a back-up bar maid, reaches under the counter and hands a bag of marijuana to a well dressed businessman, who quickly stuffs it in his briefcase and makes for the massive stairs that lead up to the street. Mexico last week, in an historic, enlightened, humane move, legalized personal drug use throughout the country. The government also announced that drug addiction would be treated as a medical problem rather than a criminal offense. Citizens will now be allowed to carry and use 5 grams of marijuana (about four joints) as well as half a gram of cocaine (approx. 4 lines), 50 milligrams of heroin (about three ?fire-ups?), 40 milligrams of methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams of LSD. When I talk with the Fiesta Bar patrons about Mexico?s recent legalization of drugs, they laugh uproariously at either my stupidity or naivet?, reminding me that they have been smoking pot in this bar for generations. They point to the two huffing, overweight policemen who just lugged their fat-asses down those tremendous steps to collect their ?hands-off? money. The mordita, the bite, that every bar and restaurant in the central district pays not to have their establishment ?set up? with an under-age plant; just like in the strip joints, the hooker bars, the Gay discos, the heroin ?shooting gallery? backrooms of the pool halls. As the policemen walk past two 15 year-old boys and an even younger girl, who were half dancing, half swaying, while taking deep totes; several patrons announced my stupid question. A professor from a nearby Secundaria school slid into our both. ?That law is for you Gringos, not us,? he smiled. ?The police have always allowed the decriminalization of drug use, otherwise the jails would be full, the city treasury bankrupt from having to feed them and the courts clogged with meaningless cases. They only used it when they needed to bust someone, similar to how your cops use vagrancy laws, or when our officers want to shake down an obviously wealthy, arrogant, young North American college student for a few dollars.? ? Look at your stupid state of California,? he seemed to announce, like a lecture, ?no money to pay for services because of the billions of dollars you spend locking young kids up for having a good time.? ?You people are hysterical about drug use, a kind of obsessive paranoia that borders on madness,? he continues, while taking a hit off Miguel?s joint. ?I truly feel sorry for your intense jealously that someone else might be enjoying themselves.? ?Porque?? Miguel asks. ?Why are the nortenos so afraid?? The teacher took a deep drag, sipped the pale beer, fondling the EZLN button on his shirt pocket, beginning slowly, enunciating clearly, ?just like 80 percent of our country?s economy is owned by 10 wealthy families, the government of the U.S. is owned by very wealthy corporations, including the powerful pharmaceutical cartels. Here the drug cartels use guns and violence to gain control, in your country, the drug cartels, like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxcoSmithKline and Bayer, use politicians who pass laws that say only the artificial, manufactured drugs, with their dangerous side-effects and addictive nature, are the only permitted medication because wealthy investors and CEO?s need to make millions to finance their lifestyles.? ?Recreational use of drugs, for pleasure or mind-enhancement, is taken out of the hands of individuals as a freedom, a liberty that is far too dangerous for the corporate-owned system that dominates the anti-democratic system you have in your country,? he said. ?The hypocrisy of claiming rugged individualism as a mantle; while denying it, is blatantly apparent to the rest of the world. That is why Mexico and much of the rest of the civilized world is legalizing personal drug use.? As I stumble up the stairs, into the bright sun, the second-hand smoke of a hundred joints still addles my brain, seemingly clinging to my clothes like wet fog. I see my acquaintance Carl at a nearby taco stand. A primitivist, anarchist, he lives deep within the empty southern hills of Baja and, rumor has it, makes his living helping the old Mexican families smuggle a few kilos into the U.S. The Mexican mafia in the late 70?s and 80?s, before the massive cartels, started out with small amounts of high-quality meth. My friend and former roommate Bobby, had an uncle who was a family member, and in those days he used to carry around gorgeous ?rocks? that led to many active days and crystal nights. When the dangerous, violent cartels began moving into Tijuana; the Mexican mafia kept a low-profile, a kind of mom-and-pop operation that didn?t compete with the cocaine trade. They tell me that the family uses human ?mules? to carry sealed cylinders of the meth inside their bowels. The plastic tubes are soaked in dog urine because apparently the Border Dogs are trained to overlook their fellow canine?s smells, especially from Tijuana where there are few fire hydrants (and even fewer trees) which makes tires the object of choice for the thousands of roaming male dogs in the city. Carl tells me the local family members are going to branch out and open coffee shops where bongs for marijuana and glass pipes for cocaine will be available along with wireless hook-ups. They expect tourism, especially from the oppressed youth of North America to increase one-hundred fold. Like the old days, in the 50?s and 60?s, when women from all over the U.S. came to Tijuana for abortions, youth will flock to the city to sample the tremendously unique experience of having sex while high on quality drugs . What he calls their ?liberation therapy?. I told him that San Diego?s Police Chief William Lansdowne almost came unglued when he learned of the new law, saying North American will go south because they can get drugs. ?For a country that has experienced thousands of deaths from warring drug cartels for many years, it defies logic why they pass a law that clearly will encourage drug use,? the Chief ranted to the San Diego Union-Tribune in a recent interview. ?In that totalitarian cesspool I was born in,? Carl almost shouted at me, ?justice is pre-emptive; poor kids go to prison, rich kids go to college. Lansdowne is a glorified warden who has allowed his officers to gun down innocent kids, daily brutalizes the homeless and makes his living protecting the wealthy from the poor. That clich? spouting Capitalist goon can?t seem to understand that legalizing drugs takes the profit out of the equation and actually undermines the power and control of the cartels.? ?Like my family, the old Mexican mafia, mom-and-pop operations will spring up around the country as people safely, legally make personal decisions about medicinal, recreational and experimental uses,? he said, smilingly. ?U.S. Empire has lost another round.? ?The insanity of America?s war on drugs is finally being realized in Latin America as a correlation of their move away from the brutal, anti-human domination of market-based economic principles,? he told me. ?In Mexico, while President Caledron spends millions in U.S. anti-drug money to increase his party?s control over the government and economy, personal drug use has increased over 50 percent between 2002 and 2008. What started out as an effort to impress their American benefactors with sheer numbers of arrests has turned into a fiscal nightmare with prisons overflowing with Mexican youth.? ?I read on the internet recently that Ricardo Soberon, Director of the Drug Research and Human Rights Center in Lima, Peru said that Latin America was ?disappointed? with the results of the current drug policies, imperially demanded by the north, and is exploring alternatives,? Carl added as we walked toward Revolution Avenue. ?That is why Brazil, Argentina and most of the rest are moving to both decriminalize and legalize personal drug use.? As we parted near the boom-boom club, a young Mexican hugged his North American amiga, handing her a large joint before they disappeared into the club. He looked a lot like my young friend Bill, handsome, carefree, generous, decades ago, who?s cocaine snorting girlfriend got him prison time. He returned broken, angry, a trained criminal in every respect who didn?t live to see 25 years-of-age. Such a tragic waste; collateral damage of an insane war we wage against our own children. Like deranged hamsters who eat their newborn; we allow the fear-mongers from the editors of the Union-Tribune to the Police Chief of San Diego to the drug company boardrooms to create panic in our minds and callousness in our hearts. Let us hope the rest of the world can help us cure our addiction to fear before we sacrifice yet another generation of youth. And cheers to Mexico. It may be a third-world country?..but, unlike the United States, it has a 21st Century mentality. Rocky Neptun is director of the San Diego Renters Union and writes for the website Media Left. He lives part of the week with his lover, a Mexican national, at their home in Tijuana, Mexico. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ usgp-int mailing list usgp-int at gp-us.org http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.71/2335 - Release Date: 08/30/09 06:36:00 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efficacy at msn.com Sun Aug 30 19:08:48 2009 From: efficacy at msn.com (Clifford Thornton) Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:08:48 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Mexico Legalizes Drugs! In-Reply-To: <6A20E849E3BA4797A505E6580DCF718D@JUSTINE> References: <6A20E849E3BA4797A505E6580DCF718D@JUSTINE> Message-ID: This is false and terribly misleading. Mexico did enact decriminalization last week but that is far different from legalization. Please view this video. it explains the difference of all three concepts, legalization, medicalization and decriminalization. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd_3HowvKlA Clifford Thornton - Efficacy Board of Directors Efficacy PO Box 1234 860 657 8438 Hartford, CT 06143 efficacy at msn.com www.Efficacy-online.org 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 ----- Original Message ----- From: Justine McCabe To: CTGP-NEWS ; CTGP Women's Caucus Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 2:43 PM Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Mexico Legalizes Drugs! 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 See also: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iP1GlMCOzYSi8kbAUY1lLDdqc4vAD9A763HO0 ----- Original Message ----- From: Rocky Neptun To: usgp-int at gp-us.org Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 2:38 PM Subject: USGP-INT Mexico Legalizes Drugs! Mexico Legalizes Drugs: Is U.S. Youth Liberation Therapy Possible? By Rocky Neptun Tijuana, Mexico....Deep within the cavernous Fiesta Bar; blubberous, bald-headed men sat with their young, dark-skinned, street girls, while Mexican college students mingle with shoe shine boys and laborers from a nearby street project. Layers of thick marijuana smoke swirled about the room, spinning grey webs under the fluorescent bulbs in the dim light. Alternating between drinking Tecate beer from quart bottles and shooting down shots of heavy tequila, everyone seemed to have a joint in their hand. This was my third visit to the bar, just off First Avenue, near the Plaza Santa Cecilia, where Tijuana's red light district, The Cahuilla, begins. My lady friend's oldest son, Miguel, has been smoking pot since he was 12 years-old, when he began working at a nearby restaurant as a bus boy. After 10 years, now a waiter at the restaurant, still hanging out with friends at the Fiesta; we watch as his wife, a back-up bar maid, reaches under the counter and hands a bag of marijuana to a well dressed businessman, who quickly stuffs it in his briefcase and makes for the massive stairs that lead up to the street. Mexico last week, in an historic, enlightened, humane move, legalized personal drug use throughout the country. The government also announced that drug addiction would be treated as a medical problem rather than a criminal offense. Citizens will now be allowed to carry and use 5 grams of marijuana (about four joints) as well as half a gram of cocaine (approx. 4 lines), 50 milligrams of heroin (about three "fire-ups"), 40 milligrams of methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams of LSD. When I talk with the Fiesta Bar patrons about Mexico's recent legalization of drugs, they laugh uproariously at either my stupidity or naivet?, reminding me that they have been smoking pot in this bar for generations. They point to the two huffing, overweight policemen who just lugged their fat-asses down those tremendous steps to collect their "hands-off" money. The mordita, the bite, that every bar and restaurant in the central district pays not to have their establishment "set up" with an under-age plant; just like in the strip joints, the hooker bars, the Gay discos, the heroin "shooting gallery" backrooms of the pool halls. As the policemen walk past two 15 year-old boys and an even younger girl, who were half dancing, half swaying, while taking deep totes; several patrons announced my stupid question. A professor from a nearby Secundaria school slid into our both. "That law is for you Gringos, not us," he smiled. "The police have always allowed the decriminalization of drug use, otherwise the jails would be full, the city treasury bankrupt from having to feed them and the courts clogged with meaningless cases. They only used it when they needed to bust someone, similar to how your cops use vagrancy laws, or when our officers want to shake down an obviously wealthy, arrogant, young North American college student for a few dollars." " Look at your stupid state of California," he seemed to announce, like a lecture, "no money to pay for services because of the billions of dollars you spend locking young kids up for having a good time." "You people are hysterical about drug use, a kind of obsessive paranoia that borders on madness," he continues, while taking a hit off Miguel's joint. "I truly feel sorry for your intense jealously that someone else might be enjoying themselves." "Porque?" Miguel asks. "Why are the nortenos so afraid?" The teacher took a deep drag, sipped the pale beer, fondling the EZLN button on his shirt pocket, beginning slowly, enunciating clearly, "just like 80 percent of our country's economy is owned by 10 wealthy families, the government of the U.S. is owned by very wealthy corporations, including the powerful pharmaceutical cartels. Here the drug cartels use guns and violence to gain control, in your country, the drug cartels, like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxcoSmithKline and Bayer, use politicians who pass laws that say only the artificial, manufactured drugs, with their dangerous side-effects and addictive nature, are the only permitted medication because wealthy investors and CEO's need to make millions to finance their lifestyles." "Recreational use of drugs, for pleasure or mind-enhancement, is taken out of the hands of individuals as a freedom, a liberty that is far too dangerous for the corporate-owned system that dominates the anti-democratic system you have in your country," he said. "The hypocrisy of claiming rugged individualism as a mantle; while denying it, is blatantly apparent to the rest of the world. That is why Mexico and much of the rest of the civilized world is legalizing personal drug use." As I stumble up the stairs, into the bright sun, the second-hand smoke of a hundred joints still addles my brain, seemingly clinging to my clothes like wet fog. I see my acquaintance Carl at a nearby taco stand. A primitivist, anarchist, he lives deep within the empty southern hills of Baja and, rumor has it, makes his living helping the old Mexican families smuggle a few kilos into the U.S. The Mexican mafia in the late 70's and 80"s, before the massive cartels, started out with small amounts of high-quality meth. My friend and former roommate Bobby, had an uncle who was a family member, and in those days he used to carry around gorgeous "rocks" that led to many active days and crystal nights. When the dangerous, violent cartels began moving into Tijuana; the Mexican mafia kept a low-profile, a kind of mom-and-pop operation that didn't compete with the cocaine trade. They tell me that the family uses human "mules" to carry sealed cylinders of the meth inside their bowels. The plastic tubes are soaked in dog urine because apparently the Border Dogs are trained to overlook their fellow canine's smells, especially from Tijuana where there are few fire hydrants (and even fewer trees) which makes tires the object of choice for the thousands of roaming male dogs in the city. Carl tells me the local family members are going to branch out and open coffee shops where bongs for marijuana and glass pipes for cocaine will be available along with wireless hook-ups. They expect tourism, especially from the oppressed youth of North America to increase one-hundred fold. Like the old days, in the 50's and 60's, when women from all over the U.S. came to Tijuana for abortions, youth will flock to the city to sample the tremendously unique experience of having sex while high on quality drugs . What he calls their "liberation therapy". I told him that San Diego's Police Chief William Lansdowne almost came unglued when he learned of the new law, saying North American will go south because they can get drugs. "For a country that has experienced thousands of deaths from warring drug cartels for many years, it defies logic why they pass a law that clearly will encourage drug use," the Chief ranted to the San Diego Union-Tribune in a recent interview. "In that totalitarian cesspool I was born in," Carl almost shouted at me, "justice is pre-emptive; poor kids go to prison, rich kids go to college. Lansdowne is a glorified warden who has allowed his officers to gun down innocent kids, daily brutalizes the homeless and makes his living protecting the wealthy from the poor. That clich? spouting Capitalist goon can't seem to understand that legalizing drugs takes the profit out of the equation and actually undermines the power and control of the cartels." "Like my family, the old Mexican mafia, mom-and-pop operations will spring up around the country as people safely, legally make personal decisions about medicinal, recreational and experimental uses," he said, smilingly. "U.S. Empire has lost another round." "The insanity of America's war on drugs is finally being realized in Latin America as a correlation of their move away from the brutal, anti-human domination of market-based economic principles," he told me. "In Mexico, while President Caledron spends millions in U.S. anti-drug money to increase his party's control over the government and economy, personal drug use has increased over 50 percent between 2002 and 2008. What started out as an effort to impress their American benefactors with sheer numbers of arrests has turned into a fiscal nightmare with prisons overflowing with Mexican youth." "I read on the internet recently that Ricardo Soberon, Director of the Drug Research and Human Rights Center in Lima, Peru said that Latin America was 'disappointed' with the results of the current drug policies, imperially demanded by the north, and is exploring alternatives," Carl added as we walked toward Revolution Avenue. "That is why Brazil, Argentina and most of the rest are moving to both decriminalize and legalize personal drug use." As we parted near the boom-boom club, a young Mexican hugged his North American amiga, handing her a large joint before they disappeared into the club. He looked a lot like my young friend Bill, handsome, carefree, generous, decades ago, who's cocaine snorting girlfriend got him prison time. He returned broken, angry, a trained criminal in every respect who didn't live to see 25 years-of-age. Such a tragic waste; collateral damage of an insane war we wage against our own children. Like deranged hamsters who eat their newborn; we allow the fear-mongers from the editors of the Union-Tribune to the Police Chief of San Diego to the drug company boardrooms to create panic in our minds and callousness in our hearts. Let us hope the rest of the world can help us cure our addiction to fear before we sacrifice yet another generation of youth. And cheers to Mexico. It may be a third-world country...but, unlike the United States, it has a 21st Century mentality. Rocky Neptun is director of the San Diego Renters Union and writes for the website Media Left. He lives part of the week with his lover, a Mexican national, at their home in Tijuana, Mexico. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ usgp-int mailing list usgp-int at gp-us.org http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.71/2335 - Release Date: 08/30/09 06:36:00 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. 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Name: clip_image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 17143 bytes Desc: not available URL: From timmckee at mail.com Mon Aug 31 11:42:29 2009 From: timmckee at mail.com (Tim McKee) Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:42:29 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [usgp-dx] Election reform in IL and MASS Message-ID: <20090831154229.3F00FBE407F@ws1-9.us4.outblaze.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "T Yager" To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org Subject: [usgp-dx] Election reform in IL and MA Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:41:08 -0400 When I visited FairVote's website recently, I found out that there will be attempts to get statewide IRV on the ballot in MA and cumulative voting in IL: Statewide ballot measure drives for voter choice in Massachusetts, Illinois A broad coalition of reformers in Massachusetts have a launched a campaign to put instant runoff voting for statewide offices on the 2010 ballot. Proponents aim to collect 100,000 signatures this fall The Voter Choice initiative will be the first statewide implementation of IRV, giving all of Massachusetts? voters the chance to rank their preferences and to be free of worries over the spoiler effect in elections for state offices. This development comes on the heels of the petition drive launched by David Winters, candidate lieutenant governor of Illinois. Winters, currently a Republican state senator from Rockford, has launched a referendum campaign that would restore cumulative voting (a form of proportional voting) to the Illinois House, a move which would make the legislature more competitive and more reflective of the state?s voters ? and encourage more transparency in a state noted for corruption in recent years. http://www.fairvote.org/ -- Tom Yager Co-chair, PCSC _______________________________________________ Natlcomaffairs mailing list To send a message to the list, write to: Natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomaffairs You must know your password to do this. If you can't figure out how to unsubscribe, as a last resort only, send a message OFF LIST to steveh at olypen.com If your state delegation changes, please see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers at lists.gp-us.org For other information about the National Committee, see: http://gp.org/committees/nc/ ****************************************** Tim McKee, New Britian, CT, main number cell-860-778-1304 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT. CT GREEN TIMES The blog-journal of the CT Green Party is now online! Visit http://www.ctgreentimes.org CT GREEN PARTY ON FACEBOOK Please join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105209184665 -- An Excellent Credit Score is 750 See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: