Vol. 3, No. 1
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
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Green News
Upcoming Events
Green Wave: Stop Social Security Heist
Green Action
Good Reads
CALIFORNIA The Green Party of California is urging
quick passage of a bill (AB1147), introduced in the state assembly this
past week, to license industrial hemp growers. California Greens called
hemp cultivation environmentally sound and renewable, citing hemp's
advantage over cotton for clothing, since current cotton cultivation
methods cause it to be one of the most polluting crops, requiring
defoliants and biocides, while industrial hemp has a natural resistance to
pests and weeds. According to a 2005 Congressional Resource Service
report, the US is the only developed nation that does not cultivate
industrial hemp as an economic crop.
http://www.cagreens.org
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=7091631&type=ST
CALIFORNIA Green Party congressional candidate Pat
Driscoll criticized many in the field of 12 running for a vacant 5th
Congressional District seat formerly held by the late Rep. Robert Matsui
(D) for not calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of US forces
in Iraq. Matsui died on January 1, forcing a March 8 special election.
Driscoll, 52, a Vietnam-era veteran and Sacramento software designer, is
calling for an immediate end to the war on Iraq. He also challenged
Matsui's wife, Doris, who decided to run for the seat and is the
frontrunner. "There are 1,370 reasons, the number of US war dead,
that I am running. The longer we keep our military forces in Iraq, the
worse the quagmire will get. It is time to call for a cease-fire and
immediately begin the process of withdrawing our military forces."
http://www.driscollforcongress.org
COLORADO The Campus Greens club at Western State
College of Colorado, a branch of the national Campus Greens, has been
revived and will meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. Among the
club's goals is running a Green Party candidate elected in Gunnison or
Crested Butte in the next election, working closely with the
Sustainability Coalition, writing a constitution, and receiving official
approval from WSC.
http://www.campusgreens.org
http://www.greens.org/colorado/
ILLINOIS Over 20 members of the Prairie Green Party of
East Central Illinois were appointed to Precinct Committeeperson positions
on February 25 at the Champaign County Clerk's Office by Green Party
officers and former Green Party county board candidates. Following the
November 2004 elections in Champaign County, the Green Party has achieved
established party status in County Board Districts 7, 8, and 9. Green
Party County Board candidates Susan Rodgers, Ken Urban, and Zach Miller,
who ran in the 2004 General Election, garnered 19%, 17%, and 14% of the
vote in their respective races, far more than the 5% necessary to become
an established party. Illinois Green Party candidates for 8th, 88th, and
115th State Representative, Union County State's Attorney, and Fayette
County Board also established their districts.
http://www.prairiegreens.org
MAINE Greens and others in Maine are working to
prevent an anti-democratic bill that would restrict voters who wish to
collect signatures for referendums from working its way through the Maine
Legislature. LD 374 (SP 121), "An Act To Create a Protected Zone
around the Voting Place", would restrict signature collection to 25
feet outside polling places. The bill was voted favorably out of committee
and received very little public attention. Greens called it another
attempt by the Maine Legislature to restrict voters who wish to collect
signatures for referendums, and have been instrumental in coalitions to
prevent this type of bad bill from being passed in previous legislatures.
Get more info on the bill by typing the LD number 374 into this address:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills
MICHIGAN The Green Party of Michigan held its
quarterly State Membership Meeting February 19-20 in Kalamazoo. At the
meeting, party members agreed unanimously to a resolution offering $100
and support for the Rebuilding Alliance, which works to rebuild homes in
occupied Palestine and to stop the Israeli army's bulldozing of more
homes. Executive director Donna Baranski-Walker showed a short film,
"On the Ground", documenting the Alliance's efforts to rebuild
the home American peace volunteer Rachel Corrie was living in and
defending when she was killed by a US-made bulldozers. Kalamazoo City
Commissioner Don Cooney spoke about 'Being Green in Office.' Michigan
Greens also appointed Aimée Smith the state's first representative to the
Green Party's national Peace Action Committee (Smith already co-chairs the
committee); signined on to sponsor the Huntington Woods Peace, Citizenship
and Education Project's 'Community Teach-In on Iraq' on April 9; recruited
candidates and campaigners for elections in 2005 and 2006; discussed
involvement in statewide initiatives and assistance for Greens in other
states seeking to win or regain ballot access; unanimously appointed John
La Pietra of Marshall to serve in that city's referendum election on the
22nd; passed a resolution urging the national party to invite Dr. Wangari
Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, to the US for a speaking
tour; heard a presentation by Linda Cree and Aimée Dunn of Marquette on
the national party's new Rural Caucus and from several other speakers. On
Sunday afternoon, February 20, Greens joined other peace activists in
their weekly rally at the Federal Building.
http://www.migreens.org
MISSISSIPPI In response to Entergy's attempt to get an
early site permit for a new reactor at its Port Gibson station in the
southwest part of the state, the Green Party of Mississippi called for a
phase-out of existing nuclear power plants, no new site permits for
construction or expansion, and an intensive, focused program to bring
Mississippi forward from dependence on foreign oil to reliance on
renewable energy.
http://www.greenpartyms.org/
NEW YORK Misdemeanor charges have been reinstated
against New Paltz Mayor Jason West for solemnizing more than two dozen
same-sex marriages. Mayor West, a member of the Green Party, faces up to a
year in jail if convicted. A 2004 New Paltz court ruled it
unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry in the
charges against Jason West and two Unitarian Universalist ministers.
Greens said that the reinstated charges weren't just a blow to equal
rights, but to home rule, and called for national support for Mayor West.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_03.html
NEW YORK On February 21, Mayor Jason West addressed
the Ulster County Charter Commission at Ulster County Community College,
and called for major democratic reforms in the county: Proportional
Representation, Instant Runoff Voting, and an elected County Executive.
http://www.gpnys.org/IRV.php
http://www.gpnys.org/IRVinfo.php
http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/chartercommission/agenda/0205ag.pdf
More on electoral reforms: http://www.fairvote.org
SOUTH CAROLINA Members of the Richland County Green
Party Black Caucus and Midlands Green Party are organizing a grassroots
campaign to overturn the recently adopted Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), a
measure which passed last November after being defeated on several
previous attempts. Preston Holston, organizer of the NO LOST VALUES
campaign, noted that, "Richland County's own numbers clearly show
that people making less than $10,000 will pay a higher percentage [under
LOST] than those making more than $100,000."
http://scgreens.org
WISCONSIN In Madison's city council primary election
on February 15, two Green-Progressive incumbents won their primaries with
79% and 56% of the vote against two other opponents each. Progressive Dane
candidates won another two primaries. Greens expect to run five or six
Green-Progressives in the general election for a city council of 20.
Madison Council President Brenda Konkel (Green) is unopposed in her race
for reelection. All of the Green candidates have received endorsements
from the American Federation of Teachers, and in some cases, from other
unions. Most have also received the backing of the Sierra Club and the
Affordable Housing Action Alliance. No Democrat running against a Green
has received an endorsement from any of these organizations, or from the
local labor council.
http://www.fourlakesgreenparty.org/
http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org/
NATIONAL Citing frustrations, Gray Newman resigned on
February 27 from his seat on the national Steering Committee of the Green
Party of the United States. Gray currently serves as Soil & Water
District Commissioner in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, to which he was
elected in 2002.
NATIONAL In an effort to support democracy in Haiti
and promote national assistance for the Haitian people, the Green Party
announced a formal resolution and established a Task Force on Haiti to be
led by members of the Green Party's Peace Action Committee, Black Caucus,
and International Committee. The Task Force is currently seeking members.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_07.html
Contact Logan Martinez, loganmartinez@hotmail.com
NATIONAL See pictures and read news of the
counter-inaugural protests and related events on and around January 21,
including 2004 Green presidential nominee David Cobb's speech in Malcolm X
Park in Washington, DC.
http://www.votecobb.org/lib/archive/home2005-01-24.php
Updates on the Ohio and New Mexico recounts, led by the David Cobb/Pat
LaMarche 2004 campaign
http://www.votecobb.org
NATIONAL The Green Institute, the first policy
institute in the US based explicitly on Green values, plans to host
Democracy Schools designed by the Community Environmental Legal Defense
Fund <http://www.celdf.org> and
the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy <http://www.poclad.org>.
The Democracy Schools will look at the history of corporate power and
governance in the US and how court decisions have given corporations
constitutional rights ('corporate personhood'). The Green Institute is
also getting involved in the growing voting rights movement which came out
of the Ohio recount in 2004. Because it is structured under US law, the
Green Institute is a non-partisan organization and cannot endorse any
candidates or political parties, but it can educate about issues. Its
projects range from commissioning papers on innovative and progressive
local policy to analysing the transatlantic relationship between the US
and Europe.
http://www.greeninstitute.net
NATIONAL Ralph Nader, in a February 24 press
conference, announced Democracy Rising's 'Stop the War' Campaign and
called for a probe of the insider deals allowing the Bush family and its
political allies to profiteer from the invasion and occupation. Maryland
Green Kevin Zeese is directing the campaign.
http://www.DemocracyRising.US
NATIONAL Recent Green press releases covered the
following topics...
-- Greens called on the EPA to dump its waste blending
proposal, and instead urged greater investment in infrastructure and more
comprehensive steps to protect the nation's water supply.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_10.html
-- Greens called the February 10 verdict in the Lynne
Stewart case a severe blow to the US Constitution's guarantee of due
process (6th Amendment).
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_16b.html
-- Greens marked February 16, the day the Kyoto
protocols went into effect, with a call for the U.S. to sign on and press
for more far-reaching steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions and curb
global warming, especially in the wake of scientists' warnings of a
10-year 'timebomb.'.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_16.html
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_01_27.html
-- Greens oppose President Bush's plan to privatize
Social Security, and claim that his real purpose is to fulfill the
Republicans' longtime goal of dismantling Social Security.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_22.html
-- Greens published comments on President Bush's 2005
State of the Union speech, and also asked Congress not to confirm Alberto
Gonzales, who was nominated for Attorney General.
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_02_02.html
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_01_31.html
READ ABOUT and get involved in your state Green Party http://www.gp.org/states.html
Read about and get involved in a national Green Party caucus
Lavender Greens Caucus (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and
intersex Greens) http://www.lavendergreens.org/
Women's Caucus http://www.gp.org/committees/women/index.html
Black Caucus http://www.gpblackcaucus.us/
Youth Caucus discussion list http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youth-caucus
Latino Caucus (site to be announced)
Disability Caucus http://immuneweb.org/dg/
INTERNATIONAL Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004
Nobel Peace Prize, founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, and
organizer of the Kenyan Green Party, delivered an address in Kyoto, Japan
on February 16, on the occasion of the first day of the Kyoto Protocols to
curb global warming.
Text of Dr. Maathai's speech http://www.gbmna.org/a.php?id=65
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 Green Party political director
Brent McMillan will speak on a panel, along with former Democratic Party
chair Terry McAuliffe and others, on absentee ballots and other electoral
topics at Howard University in Washington, DC. DC Statehood Greens will
also attend and participate in an expo to promote the local and national
party.
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
MARCH 17-19 Greens across the US plan to participate
in the Global Day of Protest on Saturday, March 19, the 2-year anniversary
of the US invasion of Iraq, with numerous local events across the US and a
major demonstration in Fayetteville, NC (near Fort Bragg). Military
Families Speak Out, Bring Them Home Now, Iraq Veterans Against the War,
Veterans For Peace, Quaker House, Fayetteville Peace with Justice, the NC
Peace and Justice Coalition, and the NC Council of Churches are leading
the Fayetteville protests. Also, the National Campaign of Nonviolent
Resistance, joined by military families, veterans, religious and peace
groups, and many others have issued a National Call for Nonviolent
Resistance to the Continuing War in Iraq, with actions planned for March
17 in Washington, DC. The actions will include both legal, permitted
activity and civil disobedience.
United for Peace & Justice
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2688
Endorse the March 19 Global Day of Protest
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/m19endorse
National Call for Nonviolent Resistance
http://www.iraqpledge.org
DC Anti-War Network
http://www.dawndc.net/
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Write a letter to the editor, article, or guest op-ed
column submission -- and show Green leadership on important issues!
Below is a list of talking points that can be adapted
into a letter, column, or article. Use your own words, and omit the links,
which we included below for your own reference. If you write a letter,
keep it focused and concise (five or six sentences is good) to increase
its chance of publication. Be sure to mention the Green Party or identify
yourself as a Green.
Post your letter, column, etc. on e-mail discussion
lists for other Greens to read. Notify the Media Committee <mclarty@greens.org>
if your submission gets published, so we can circulate and archive
it.
Green Wave topic: Stop President Bush's Social Security Heist!
Here's an excellent web page on Social Security and
the Bush plan: http://prorev.com/socsec.htm
TALKING POINTS / SAMPLE LETTER
(Use just a few of the talking points if you write a letter; use more if
you write an op-ed column submission or article)
To the Editor,
==> Social Security has been one of the most successful programs in
history. Before Social Security, tens of millions of working Americans
faced poverty in their senior years. This will happen again if President
Bush's privatization scheme destroys Social Security. We in the Green
Party favor measures to prevent future shortfalls, but we strongly oppose
the Bush plan.
==> President Bush claims the current system will go broke by 2042. In
fact, the Congressional Budget Office predicts that, unless the economy
tanks, the current system will be able to pay 73% of benefits in 2042 and
remain solvent until 2052. Social Security actuaries forecast that,
without any changes, the system will remain in the black and providing
full benefits through 2042. After 2042, its liabilities will amount to
less than 1% of the national income.
==> Some steps that could easily reverse a possible future shortfall:
lifting the current cap on Social Security, which right now only taxes the
first $90,000 of wages; means testing, according to which those who have a
retirement income above a certain level would not be eligible for Social
Security. Lowering payments to the rich is consistent with Social
Security's role as insurance for the elderly and other people in need.
==> In promoting his privatization plan, President Bush is deceiving
the American people about Social Security, just as his administration
deceived the American people with allegations about Iraqi WMDs, Saddam
Hussein's collusion with al-Qaeda, nuclear weapons materials, and an
'imminent threat' to the US in order to justify invading Iraq.
==> President Bush claims that, under his plan, younger Americans would
be able to divert some of their Social Security payments into private
accounts "so you can build a nest egg for your own future" --
but doesn't mention that their Social Security benefit checks would thus
be smaller.
==> President Bush claims that investments in privatized retirement
accounts are guaranteed to increase. But the stock market is a risk, and
Wall Street investments are neither guaranteed to increase nor insured
against losses.
==> The Bush plan is a multi-billion-dollar gift to his financial
corporation supporters. It doesn't transfer 'ownership' from the US
government to private citizens, but to Wall Street -- to whichever
brokerage the citizen is investing through, with all the related fees and
risks.
==> President Bush claims that African Americans are getting shafted
under the current Social Security system, because black men have a shorter
average life span and therefore receive fewer benefits. But the shorter
life span is a result of higher infant mortality rates and more death in
early years (an argument for national health insurance). In fact, African
Americans receive on average more from Social Security, and will face
greater economic hardship if the system is privatized. According to the
Social Security Administration, African Americans comprise 12% of the
population, while 17% of Americans who receive Social Security disability
benefits are African American.
==> The goal of privatization is not to fix Social Security but to
destroy it. Dismantling Social Security has been a Republican dream for
six decades <http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1394301,00.html>;
former House leader Dick Armey (R.-Tex.) recently endorsed ending the
program. Think tanks with clout in the White House, like the Heritage
Foundation and Cato Institute, have published papers on why and how Social
Security should be abolished -- recommending privatization to achieve this
goal <http://www.cato.org/...'>.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Member of the [your state] Green Party gp.org
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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
==> Say NO to Rep. James R. Sensenbrenner's (R-WI)
'REAL ID Act', which would expand the government's ability to label people
terrorists, create a massive, linked federal database out of state
driver's license databases, and target refugees with new asylum
restrictions. The bill passed easily in the House and a sneaky rider was
added to grease its passage in the Senate. It's critical to mobilize now
to stop the REAL ID from coming to the Senate floor. As the USA Patriot
Act proved, once Congress approves an expansion of federal policing
powers, it's extremely difficult to roll them back.
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17402&c=206
immigrationforum.org/documents/PolicyWire/Legislation/Analysis_REALIDPassed.pdf
Text of the bill http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.418
==> Tell Congress to repeal the Drug Provision of
the Higher Education Act, a 1998 law that delays or denies federal
financial aid to anyone convicted of a drug offense. Since 2000, more than
160,500 students have been denied aid under the act. Young people who have
already been punished for their offenses are now dropping out or reducing
their course loads because they can't afford the high cost of tuition. On
March 10, a bill to repeal the act will be introduced to the 109th
Congress.
Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/
==> Tell Congress, once again, to leave Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge alone! The House and Senate plan to attach Arctic
Refuge drilling to the upcoming budget bill. Tell them there's not enough
oil in ANWR to affect either America's dependence on oil or high oil
prices. It would take ten years to bring what little there is into
production. And oil exploration and exploitation would have dismal
consequences for wildlife in the Arctic. The Administration is willing to
do anything to allow oil companies to make more profit.
Online letter and more information http://www.savebiogems.org/arctic/takeaction.asp?ms=RR0501
==> Tell Congress to stop FBI spying! Without
notifying Congress, Attorney General John Ashcroft expanded FBI guidelines
to allow agents to spy on people in churches, synagogues, and
organizations even when there is no evidence of wrongdoing. This practice
is apparently spreading to police forces, which are generally
investigating environmental, political, and faith- based groups. Tell
Congress to pass legislation early in 2005 that will stop these abuses of
American civil liberties and require that the FBI and police forces act
only when they can present clear evidence to a court authority.
http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=17205&c=42
==> Urge Congress members to oppose President
Bush's plan to privatize Social Security: see Green Wave (above).
-
Support Amnesty International's call for
independent investigations into torture allegations in Iraq. Urge
President Bush and Congress to support a thorough, independent and
public investigation to hold accountable all who have committed acts
of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and also those who
have contributed to a command culture that condones such abuses.
More: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/...
-
Let your state legislators know that laws and
policies like the Conscientious Objector Policy Act passed in the
Michigan House are discriminatory, murderous, and damaging to public
health. The Michigan law allows physicians and other health care
professionals who object to homosexuality to deny treatment or
prescription drugs on the basis of sexual orientation. Similar laws
are now being considered in six states.
More: http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/04/042904mob.htm
-
Tell Congress to stop the transfer of Catepillar
bulldozers to Israel. In Bethlehem, and throughout the West Bank and
Gaza, Israel has used Caterpillar bulldozers to raze the homes of
nearly 13,000 Palestinians. The US government buys Caterpillar
bulldozers and sends them to Israel as part of its annual foreign
military assistance package.
More: http://go.sojo.net/campaign/bulldozers...
(Sojourners and Jewish Voice for Peace)
TOP
Recommended articles, books, web sites:
Green Pages: The Newspaper of the Green Party of the United States.
Winter, 2004-2005
http://www.gp.org/greenpages/content/volume8/issue4/index_8-4.php
"The Green Party in 2004: More Than Party Survival" by
Ted Glick, in ZNet, February 07, 2005. An account of the David Cobb/Pat
LaMarche 2004 Green Party campaign for the White House. Ted Glick is
former National Coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics
Network and author of a twice-monthly Future Hope column.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=90&ItemID=7186
Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian
Struggle. Book by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Pluto Press, 2004, 236 pp. List:
$22.95, AET: $17. Dr. Qumsiyeh is a member of the Connecticut Green Party
and Associate Professor of Genetics and Yale University. Read a review by
Sara Powell in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2005,
page 74.
http://wrmea.com/archives/March_2005/0503074.html
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