Vol. 2, No. 6
Monday, February 9, 2004
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GREEN NEWS
ALASKA: Correction:
Contrary to the impression given in last week's Greensweek (February 3),
the Alaska Green Party has not taken a position on the recall of Gov.
Frank Murkowski and Lt. Gov. Loren Leman.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The DC Board of Elections and
Ethics has refused to release the names and to count the votes cast for
write-in Green candidates in the January 13 primary, prompting DC
Statehood Greens to charge that the Board is blocking the party from
selecting delegates for the national Green convention. As many as 3 of the
11 Statehood Green delegates could be determined by the write-ins (31% of
the total). Statehood Greens were told that the Board's rules direct
it not to count write-ins unless the count would modify the outcome of an
election (i.e., who the winner is). But Statehood Greens argue that
primaries are held not just to produce a winner, but to apportion
delegates, which requires a complete list of candidates, including
write-ins, and the numbers of votes they received. Statehood Greens say
that the Board has an obligation to comply with the party's presidential
primary plan to select delegates, which the Board approved in 2003. The DC
Statehood Green Party is mulling legal action.
More: http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
IOWA: The Iowa Green Party issued a statement opposing
the erosion of privacy that would result from Iowa's participation
in the 'anti-terrorism' Matrix computer data system, and urged Gov.
Vilsack to protect Iowans' traditional rights and liberties and to reject
calls for including Iowa in the Matrix system. Matrix (Multistate
Anti-terrorism Exchange), currently used by 6 states, is an online
quick-access information repository that combines state criminal and
correctional records with citizens' personal information such as voting
registration, US domain names, digitalized photos and directory assistance
listings. Iowa Greens also spoke out in defense of 4 Iowans who have been
subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury for participating in
publicly protesting the war on Iraq . The Drake University chapter of the
National Lawyers Guild is being investigated/harassed for its role in
organizing antiwar protests; employees of Drake are under a gag order to
refrain from commenting on a separate subpoena demanding Drake University
records. Greens called this a government attempt to stifle political
dissent and intimidate observers into silence.
More: http://www.gp.org/iowa
MARYLAND: The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in
Maryland, led by Greens Linda Schade and Kevin Zeese, issued a report www.truevotemd.org/2004-02-04_cant_trust_paperless.pdf
concluding that voter verified paper ballots are necessary for every vote
cast on electronic voting machines. The report notes that Diebold touch
screen voting machines have been technically evaluated three times by
Johns Hopkins University, the SAIC and Maryland's Department of
Legislative Services and were each time given a failing grade.
More: http://www.truevotemd.org/facts.asp#reports
SOUTH CAROLINA: The South Carolina Natural Law Party
decided on February 8 to change its name to the South Carolina Green
Party, combining the two parties. The members of the South Carolina Green
Party steering committee already include members of the former Natural Law
and Green Parties. All candidates endorsed at convention by the members of
the South Carolina Green Party will appear on the South Carolina ballot as
the nominees of the Green Party including our nominees for President, US
Senate and House, state legislature and county council.
More: http://www.scgreenparty.org
NATIONAL: Greens had sharp criticisms for Bush's budget
proposal, especially the increase for defense ($401.3 billion for FY2004)
and reckless cuts in funding for the social safety net. Greens
called for a different set of budget priorities: a progressive tax system,
with relief for working people and a guarantee that the wealthy and
corporations pay their share (overturning Bush's tax breaks for rich
people); a military budget at a level that meets the need to defend
US borders (i.e., without aggressive ventures like the invasion of Iraq)
and honors the pledge of benefits for veterans; investment in environment,
human services, and public education; maintenance of publicly owned Social
Security; a single-payer national health system; an end to corporate
loopholes, publicly financed executive bonuses and other handouts,
swindles such as Enron, offshore accounts, and war profiteering by firms
like Halliburton.
More: http://www.gp.org/press/pr_01_30_04.html
NATIONAL: 65 Green candidates in 16 states have
declared their candidacies as of February 1, 2004. In the last
presidential year (2000), 289 Green candidates ran (135 municipal/county;
154 state and federal ), winning 48 races. In the last even-numbered
year (2002), 559 Greens ran (259 municipal/county; 300 state and federal
), winning 79 races.
More: http://www.gp.org/patience.html
http://www.feinstein.org/greenparty/electionhistory.html
NATIONAL: According to Ballot Access News' new party
membership figures, the Green Party grew by 8.7% between October 2002 and
January 2004. Democrats, Republicans, and the independent category
lost membership, as did the Reform and Natural Law Parties. Green,
Libertarian, and Constitution gained. At our current pace, Green should
pass Constitution in the next year or two to be the largest third party in
number of registrants.
More: http://www.ballot-access.org
INTERNATIONAL (Germany): Anna L|hrmann, at 19, is now
the youngest Green Party representative in the German Parliament. As a
part of the Social-Democratic/Green coalition, she is the only
representative of the younger generation of Greens and is working among
her peers (mostly older men) on issues like social security, the pension
fund, labor market reforms, and poor people's access to universities.
More: http://www.anna-luehrmann.de/en/index.html
http://www.gruene.de
NATIONAL: Essential information about the Green Party's
2004 National Nominating Convention, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from June 23
to 28, 2004, and presidential candidates:
Reminder for all Greens running for public office: make
sure you're in the database at <http://www.gp.org/patience.html>.
E-mail your information and corrections using the form on the web or by
sending it to <juscha@greens.org>.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14: USC Green Network and the Unruh
Institute of Politics will host a debate between Green presidential
candidates David Cobb, Kent Mesplay, and Peter Camejo at 1 pm in the main
lecture hall of SGM at the University of Southern California. Recommended
donation: $2. The event marks the first time in California history
that Greens will debate for the primary, which is in March.
More: greennet@usc.edu
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16: The University of Minnesota
College Greens, the Green Party of Minnesota, and the 5th Congressional
District Greens will hold a debate for Green Party candidates for
President, on February 16 from 7 to 9 pm at the Coffman Union Theatre on
the University of Minnesota Campus, 300 Washington Avenue SE in
Minneapolis. Candidates David Cobb and Kent Mesplay have confirmed their
participation.
More: http://www.mngreens.org/
http://www.mngreens.org/locals/M5D/
MARCH 19-21: Prairie Region Campaign School, at
Concepcion Abbey, Concepcion, Missouri (near Kansas City). For Greens
interested in running for public office, working on a campaign, or
building electioneering skills is encouraged to attend. Cost to be
determined, probably around $80 for the weekend, including room, board and
tuition; some scholarships will also be available, based on need and
availability of funds. Pre-registration, questions: Phil Huckelberry at
309-268-9974 or <huckelberry@softhome.net>.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20: Global Day of Action: The World
Still Says No to War. On the one-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and
invasion of Iraq. Millions around the globe will take to the streets to
say YES to peace and NO to pre-emptive war and occupation. Joining with
growing numbers of military families and soldiers, United For Peace and
Justice and other groups will call for an end to the occupation of Iraq
and Bushs militaristic foreign policies. To endorse, e-mail m20endorse@unitedforpeace.org
or call UFPJ at 212-868-5545 to let UFPJ know your group is on board.
More: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2136
SATURDAY, APRIL 24: Organizers have put out a worldwide
call for action for Mumia Abu Jamal on April 24, the anniversary of the
signing of the notorious Effective Death Penalty Act which has eliminated
Habeas Corpus for death row inmates and made it nearly impossible for
innocent people on death row to prove their innocence. (It's also Mumia's
50th birthday.)
More: http://www.mumia.org 215-476-8812
http://www.freemumia.com
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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
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Greens who want to see Green presidential
candidates debate on TV should call or write to C-SPAN and encourage
them to air Green candidates' forums. Here are some C-SPAN phone
numbers for viewers' opinions:
Main Number: (202) 737-3220
Viewer Services: (765) 464-3080 (for programming questions)
Viewer Services: Questions about our schedule, how to buy videotapes,
and for any other general comments about C-SPAN - viewer@c-span.org
Suggest Events: Submit a public event that you think C-SPAN should
cover - events@c-span.org
Contact Page for C-SPAN: http://www.cspan.org/about/contact.asp?code=About
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Remember to be respectful and friendly.
Good: "I tuned into C-SPAN in the hope of seeing a broadcast
of the Green Party presidential forum at Harvard. Will you air the
forum? Do you plan to air future Green forums? I await your
response."
Not so good: "Hey, you corporate sellouts, why aren't you
running the Green presidential forum tonight? Direct orders from
Ashcroft? Payoff from the Democratic Leadership
Council?"
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Tell Senators to shelve the Bush space plan and to
focus instead on more urgent human problems at home and abroad.
President Bush says he will use tax dollars to send a nuclear-powered
space ship to Mars with American astronauts aboard. He is willing to
spend billions on a Mars mission despite serious unemployment, a
staggering national debt, international terrorism, and urgent human
needs in the US and around the world. More: http://www.space4peace.org/
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Tell Senators to oppose the disastrous Bush-Cheney
energy bill, which was virtually written by energy industry lobbyists
and was defeated by only two votes in the Senate in November. The
White House is ready to try again with no change at all in the serious
flaws in this bad bill. If passed, it would raise energy costs,
despoil the environment, pose real health dangers, add to global
warming, and provide no progress or vision toward a more secure energy
future. It serves the bottom line of the chief energy companies, not
the interests of the American people.
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Tell Congress not to allow Bush to cut overtime pay
for millions of Americans -- including 26 million veterans.
According to a paragraph buried in the proposed rule, "training
in the armed forces" could be the basis for an employer to deny
overtime pay. The Bush administration wants to see its 'Denial
of Overtime Pay' rule enacted by March 1. More: http://www.saveovertimepay.org
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Tell Congress to pass HR 2239 and S 1980, the
verified voting election machine bill. Widespread evidence shows that
electronic voting machines are prone to errors and vulnerable to
fraud. A paper trail must be created so that elections
supervisors can check for error and fraud. Both bills need more
co-sponsors; both need to be brought up for vote well before the 2004
elections. (See also the Maryland news item above.)
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GOOD READS
Recommended articles, books, web sites
Here are two recommendations from Charlie Cray of the
Center for Corporate Policy http://www.corporatepolicy.org,
both of them books by Carl Boggs.
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The End of Politics: Corporate Power and the
Decline of the Public Sphere. Book by Carl Boggs. "An eloquent
assessment of why so much of America is depoliticized and essential
reading. Boggs (an intellectual disciple of Gramsci -- who famously
believed in a pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will)
locates the problem within corporate power, describing how corporate
colonization has depoliticized American culture. Boggs explores
how movements like the New Left made the same mistake other
therapeutic and New Age tendencies did: locating the solution outside
the political arena. At the end he makes a pitch for the formation of
3rd Party politics (not just Green, but an alliance of a variety of
politics -- which we have not seen yet in the US, though the
germination of such goes back to the Rainbow Coalition)."
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Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era
of American Empire. Book by Carl Boggs. "Among the books on
Empire (a topic that's now as popular as globalization seemed to be
just a few years ago), this is one of the best. It is actually a
selection of essays by academics and activists, including Noam
Chomsky, Norman Solomon, Boggs and others less well known."
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