Greensweek: The Green Bulletin

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Vol. 1, No. 15
Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Green news
Upcoming events
Green Action: call Congress; write a letter
Good reads

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GREEN NEWS

CAMPAIGN ALERT: In less than 2 weeks, San Francisco voters will decide who will be their next mayor. Greens can help candidate Matt Gonzalez beat the Democratic machine: (1) Make a contribution: visit http://www.mattgonzalez.com, or mail a check to Gonzalez for Mayor, 168 Seville St, San Francisco, CA 94112. The more, the better: the donation limit is $250. (2) Throw a house party: invite people over to raise money for Matt. Get materials and information on the website. (3) Come to San Francisco and volunteer to get-out-the-vote. Call Leslie B at the San Francisco Green Party office at 415-701-7090 or contact Matt's campaign directly at 415-734-9340. Latest news: Gonzalez was endorsed by San Franciscan actor and activist Danny Glover and Anamaria Loya, executive director of La Raza Central Legal.
More:
http://www.mattgonzalez.com
http://www.gp.org/makemattmayor.html

Two articles about Matt Gonzalez's strong positions on environmental justice and his resistance to San Francisco's big business political machine, in the San Francisco Bay View:
http://www.sfbayview.com/112603/environmental112603.shtml
http://www.sfbayview.com/112603/notbeholden112603.shtml
Read an interview with Matt at
http://www.artsandmedia.net , or
listen to it on KUSF (90.3 FM in San Francisco, http://www.kusf.org/ on the web) on Sunday, December 7, 4-6 pm.

GREAT LAKES REGION: Last chance to register.... The Green Party of Kenosha/Racine will host the Great Lakes Campaign School to help progressive candidates and campaign staff prepare for the 2004 elections, December 5-7. See the listing under Upcoming Events below.

CHESAPEAKE REGION: The national Coordinated Campaign Committee and Greens in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are organizing a two-day Campaign School in Baltimore, at the University of Baltimore on January 31 and February 1, 2004. See the listing under Upcoming Events below.

CALIFORNIA: See photos of Green Party members from Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties marching in the famous Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena, the 27th annual wacky spoof of the Rose Parade, http://www.losangelesgreens.org/photosdoodah.html. The theme was 'Fellowship of the Greens,' a take-off on Lord of the Rings, featuring spectacular Ent (talking tree) costumes.

CALIFORNIA: Tom Hutchings, Green candidate for the 33rd Assembly District, condemned Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget cuts, accusing the governor of "chopping life-saving funds from our most vulnerable residents" such as the developmentally disabled and their caregivers, doctors who care for our needy, children who need health care, and people with AIDS. Hutchings noted that "California's General Fund spending has only increased an annual average of 1.0% in the past 14 years after adjusting for inflation. These figures, taken from the California Budget Project's analysis of California's Department of Finance, aren't being discussed. Why? Because Schwarzenegger wants to keep the facts from us and appease political insiders from Pete Wilson's administration and Jeb Bush's cronies from Florida. By increasing the tax rate for corporations and the top 1% of Californians we can get out of this budget crisis, without doing it on the frail backs of our citizens." More: http://www.votetom.org

FLORIDA: Green organizers ask all Greens & friends who attended or supported the FTAA protests to contribute at least $5 -- and more if you can -- to the Miami-Dade Greens. Make check payable to the 'Green Party of Miami-Dade County,' and mail it to Miami-Dade Green Party, PO Box 560325, Miami, FL 33256. Visit http://www.stopftaa.org/. For Miami officials' phone numbers to complain about police abuses; call local media and members of Congress immediately to protest the police attacks: US Congress Switchboard, 202-224-3121. More: http://www.gp.org/ftaa2003.html http://www.miamidadegreenparty.org/Issues/WTO/wto.html
Here are two photos from the FTAA protests in Miami in mid November:
Global Greens Charter Presentation
http://www.sullboat.com/MEPJ/Global_Greens_Miami2.jpg;
Green Party banner during the march
http://www.sullboat.com/MEPJ/FTAA-Miami_Greens_Banner.jpg

IDAHO: The Idaho Green Party has re-designed the "Who Spoiled in 2000?" pamphlet. Nipping the spoiler myth is more important than ever, and this very useful tri-fold is now available in an easier-to-read style and also includes Winona LaDuke's recent commentary on the subject. More: http://www.idahogreens.org.

IDAHO: The Idaho Green Party is helping high school students in Idaho and nationwide remove their names from military recruiter lists. Under federal legislation passed last year, secondary school are required to provide military recruiters with a complete list of students and their contact information -- unless a student (or parent) opts-out. Download the opt-out form. Make copies and distribute it to high school students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. Show high school students how they can exercise their federal right to opt out - and show their support for nonviolence. Edit or attach information about your local Green Party to the flier. More: www.idahogreens.org

MARYLAND: The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland, a group led by Maryland Green activists, praised a California decision announced requiring all electronic voting machines to have a voter verified paper trail for the purpose of random audits and recounts. The Campaign noted that the decision in California will create a market for voter verified machines, reduce the price and make voting without voter verification unacceptable. The order from California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly had halted certification of Diebold voting machines, the same manufacturer used in Maryland, when it was discovered that they had put in new software without the knowledge or certification of California election officials, a violation of federal law. There have been allegations the Diebold did the same thing in Georgia before the 2002 election. Maryland Green Linda Schade, a director of the Maryland Campaign, asked, "Are the votes of Californians more valuable than the votes of Marylanders?" More: www.TrueVoteMD.org

MICHIGAN: The Green Party of Michigan praised the 49th Judicial Circuit Court and the Honorable Judge Lawrence Root > for ordering Nestlé to shut down their Ice Mountain pumping operations at Sanctuary Springs in Mecosta County within 21 days. Michigan Greens also thanked Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation http://www.savemiwater.org/, two local families, and lead plaintiffs' attorney James Olson and his co-counsels in the case for bringing the lawsuit against Ice Mountain parent corporation Nestlé Waters North America Inc. in September 2001 to block the conglomerate's extraction of the water. The suit challenged Nestlé's claim that it had the right to take 400 gallons per minute (210 millions gallons a year) of spring water away from feeding a stream that is a tributary to the Little Muskegon River, which in turn flows to Lake Michigan, for its own usage. More: http://www.migreens.org

NEW YORK: On November 20, Lorna Salzman, member of the New York State Green Party's State Committee and a candidate for the national Green Party presidential nomination, testified in favor of carbon taxes (taxes on fossil fuels scaled according to their carbon content). The hearing was in response to state assembly legislation that would create a working group to conduct an insurance risk assessment of the potential consequences of climate change in New York, including a rise of sea level off Long Island by 20 to 30 feet, causing the disappearance of LI wetlands and developed coastal zones, and damage to the aquifer underlying the central moraine of LI. A resolution on carbon taxes will be introduced to the NY State Green Party's State Committee on December 5. More: 718-522-0253

PENNSYLVANIA: For the first time in US history, the 7th District of Pennsylvania will have a three-person race for representative to the US House in November 2004, thanks to the campaign of Green candidate Samuel Krakow. Krakow called the race a referendum on the most contested national issue since the Vietnam War, the ongoing occupation of Iraq.
More: http://www.greensam.tripod.com
http://www.zwire.com/

NATIONAL: Congress passed the Medicare bill, but the Energy bill was blocked in the Senate by a close vote. Greens opposed both, calling them Bush Administration gifts to the HMO-insurance and fossil fuel lobbies, respectively. Several Democrats voted yea along with Republicans on both bills. Read Green Party releases: "Greens Urge Defeat of GOP Medicare Bill, Call Single-Payer the Only Solution to the Health Care Crisis"
and "Greens Urge Senators to Reject Energy Bill." Greens nationally also praised a Massachusetts court ruling that favored same-sex marriage rights and condemned a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that would outlaw same-sex marriage.

NATIONAL: Greens with disabilities are organizing an identity caucus. There now is a mailing list for Greens with disabilities, also welcome to Green disability advocates, professionals and parents of people with disabilities; visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disabledgreens or send a message to disabledgreens-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Members plan to organize a system to ensure that members with limited or no e-mail access can also be included. More: contact Cyndi Norman at cyndi@tikvah.com

INTERNATIONAL: The Green Party of the United States and Australian Greens issued a joint statement on December 1 condemning the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The text of the statement will be posted at http://www.gp.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4: Alternatives to the current Israeli /Palestinian policy: Robyn Lundy, the National Organizor for the Tikkun Community, will present proposals for a middle path to peace that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. 7 pm at St Paul and St Andrew Church, 263 West 86th Street in New York City.
More: NYTikkun@well.com

DECEMBER 5-7: Calling all Great Lakes Greens! The Green Party of Kenosha/Racine will host the Great Lakes Campaign School to help progressive candidates and campaign staff prepare for the 2004 elections. Kenosha/Racine Greens are planning a weekend of training sessions for folks from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. The event will be held at the DeKoven Center in Racine, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Suggested fee to attend, including tuition and food, is $50. No one will be turned away for inability to pay. Carpools are being planned. The Green Party of the United States is co-sponsoring the Campaign School, to make it more affordable to aspiring candidates. Speakers, including elected Greens and those with extensive Green campaign experience, will be announced soon. Sessions will include how to develop a campaign plan, raise funds, attract volunteers, develop a 'Green" message, and work with the media.
More: 262-633-7133,
info@GreatLakesGreens.org
petekaras@yahoo.com
http://www.GreatLakesGreens.org (visit the web site to register as soon as possible)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GLCS/ (transportation and carpooling)

JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 1, 2004: The national Coordinated Campaign Committee and Greens in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are organizing a two-day Campaign School in Baltimore. Intensive workshops, classes and training exercises will be held at the University of Baltimore. Who should attend: any Greens, anywhere, planning to run for office or serve as a campaign manager, press secretary, fundraiser, volunteer coordinator or other campaign principal in 2004. There will be a fee for materials, but no Greens with serious plans to be involved in a 2004 campaign will be turned away for lack of funds. Save the dates and stay tuned for more information. To subscribe to a weekly announcement list or to sign up for overnight homestays with local Greens, contact Ann Forno, annforno@jhu.edu.

GREEN ACTION

CALL CONGRESS

Call, fax, write a letter, or pay a visit.
Contact information: Congressional switchboard:
(202) 224-3121
US House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/
US Senate: http://www.senate.gov/
Write a letter to the editor, a guest op-ed column, essay, or article

Tell your Senators to reject Bush's Energy Bill, which already passed in the House. The bill will weaken the Clean Air Act; enable widespread drilling for gas and oil on public lands, including lands on which drilling is currently banned; grant billion-dollar giveaways to the nuclear and coal industries; grant $22 billion in tax breaks to oil and gas companies; provide $18 billion in loan guarantees to private corporations to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska; exempt polluting energy corporations from the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts; impose $29 billion in clean-up costs on the public instead of charging industry for environmental damage caused by MTBE, a gas additive that taints drinking water; and increase U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear power rather than on safe, clean, renewal energy sources. Stop legislated pillage of the environment!
More: http://www.gp.org/press/pr_11_20_03.html
Urge your Senators and Reps to do all they can to block the Republican Medicare prescription drug bill that emerged from a House-Senate conference last weekend. The bill is a swindle of all Americans who need medicine and medical treatment and a move towards total privatization of public health care. Tell them also that the bill advanced by Sen. Ted Kennedy and moderates in Congress and all corporate-based managed care reforms are also unacceptable. The only solution to the health care crisis is single-payer national health insurance, which guarantees quality coverage for all, regardless of income, job status, residence, age, or prior medical condition, as well as choice of health care provider, under a tax plan in which the overwhelming majority of Americans would pay less than they do now for private coverage. More: Physicians for a National Health Program, http://www.pnhp.org/
Tell your Senators to keep student information private! Under a little known provision of the 'No Child Left Behind' Act, schools are required to turn over their entire student rolls, including confidential contact information, to military recruiters. This is unnecessary -- all branches of the military have hit their recruitment targets for the last two years. The only way to prevent military recruiters from getting this student information is if a parent 'opts-out' -- but the unfunded No Child Left Behind Act has no allocated budget to tell parents about this option. Urge your Senators to use their influence to remove this section of No Child Left Behind.

Repeated from earlier Greensweeks but still current....

Tell your Senators to protect retiree benefits by eliminating Section 631 of the Senate Prescription Drug Bill, which would allow employers to eliminate ALL retiree health benefits (not just prescription drugs) for retirees eligible for Medicare or state health plans. More: http://capwiz.com/aarp/issues/alert/?alertid=3629616 or call legislators at 1-800-580-5739.
Tell your Senator to vote NO on the Senate's version of HR 1904, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 and instead to support efforts that protect communities from forest fires without weakening environmental protections. More: http://wildforests.com/wildforests.asp?id=181&id3=wildforests&id4=ES&
House Republican leaders are trying to block a resolution overturning the FCC's media deregulation plan from reach the floor for a vote. Urge Reps to force the vote and pass the resolution. More: http://www.mediareform.net/ http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1010-13.htm
Tell Congress to support paper records for electronic voting machines. More: http://www.verifiedvoting.com/fair_elections.asp
Tell Congress to support a $215 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). More: The Save ADAP Committee, a working group of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC) http://www.atac-usa.org/

GOOD READS