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Weekly Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. I, No. 28 -- December 1, 2001
(This newsletter distributed to 2,871)
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F E A T U R E D  I N  T H I S  I S S U E
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1) NADER IN TOLEDO DEC. 15TH
2) HELP STOP FAST TRACK LEGISLATION
3) BUSH AUTHORIZING HUMAN PESTICIDE TESTING
4) ASHCROFT SEEKING FBI SPYING ON GROUPS
5) WTO JEOPARDIZES WORLD'S CLEAN, SAFE WATER
6) FARM SUBSIDIES REVEALED
7) AIDS EPIDEMIC RAMPANT IN EASTERN EUROPE
8) IOWA GREENS TO NOMINATE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR
9) AMERICANS CONFUSED ABOUT THE UNINSURED
10) LOW INCOME HOUSING PROFILE
11) RAHIM ENTERS NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL RACE
12) BC GREENS PUSH FOR PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
13) GREENS CHALLENGE BALLOT ACCESS IN MARYLAND
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1) NADER IN TOLEDO DEC. 15TH
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Ralph Nader returns to Toledo on Dec. 15 at 7 PM at
the Stranahan Great Hall. Admission is $10 in advance
and $12 at the door. Topics for the event include the
health care crisis, protecting American jobs, improving
public education, worker safety and a living wage.
Invited guests include Michael Moore and local speakers.

Another event will be planned to benefit the Nader/
Enrich/Lodge constitutional challenge to corporate
welfare. Depending on flight times this may be a
lunch or dinner (estimated cost: $50).

Nader will be available for book signings at all
events as time allows. His new book due out in
January is titled: "Crashing the Party".

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2) HELP STOP FAST TRACK LEGISLATION
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Tues., Dec. 4 is a national call-in day to Congress
to stop Fast Track. A vote on Fast Track is scheduled
for Thurs., Dec. 6. Call your Congress person and ex-
press your opposition to Fast Track. Ask for the chief
of staff, legislative director or the trade aide. De-
mand to know the Representative’s position on HR 3005
(Fast Track) legislation coming for a vote on Dec. 6.

"Fast Track" is a procedure through which Congress
gives the president authority to negotiate trade
agreements and provides special rules for considering
those agreements. Fast Track transfers constitutionally
mandated powers of Congress to the Executive Branch.
The Bush Administration hopes to use Fast Track to
speed up negotiations on an expansion of NAFTA to the
rest of the Western Hemisphere through the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA) and to promote a new round
of trade negotiations at the next World Trade Organiza-
tion (WTO) ministerial. Fast Track will lead to more
trade deals that weaken health, human rights, consumer
and environmental protections.

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3) BUSH AUTHORIZING HUMAN PESTICIDE TESTING
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The Bush administration has reportedly informed the
pesticide industry that it plans to lift a Clinton-
era ban on using data from safety tests in which
humans ingest "small amounts" of insect-killing
chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency,
which sets allowable limits on toxic chemicals in
food, has not publicly announced the decision. The
policy change would fly in the face of recommendations
made in 1998 by a panel of scientists and bioethicists
who said human testing should be banned altogether or
severely limited and regulated. "The new policy could
have a significant impact because it comes as the
government is beginning to reassess about 9,000
pesticide safety levels to reflect their impact on
children," according to the Los Angeles Times. Unsur-
prisingly, the Times adds, leading pesticide makers
"welcome the shift." Industry officials say the alter-
native -- animal testing -- is inaccurate and results
in overly strict limits on pesticide use.

To read the LA Times article of 11/27/01, see:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-112701tests.story

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4) ASHCROFT SEEKING FBI SPYING ON GROUPS
***************************************************
Attorney General John Ashcroft is considering a plan
to relax restrictions on the FBI's spying on religious
and political organizations in the United States ac-
cording to senior government officials Friday. The
proposal would loosen one of the most fundamental re-
strictions on the conduct of the FBI and would be
another step by the Bush administration to modify
civil-liberties protections as a means of defending
the country against terrorists.

See the Nov. 30 NY Times article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/01/national/01BURE.html?todaysheadlines

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5) WTO JEOPARDIZES WORLD'S CLEAN, SAFE WATER
***************************************************
There was little major media coverage of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in
November in Doha, Qatar. What coverage there was
told of tense negotiations around such issues as
antidumping and agriculture subsidies. What didn't
get reported is that in the last-minute wrangling
over other issues, the European Union inserted a
clause into the final text that puts our fresh water
at risk, promotes the privatization of the world's
water resources and endangers international environ-
mental treaties.

To read the Nov. 30 Toronto Globe & Mail article, see:
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1130-03.htm

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6) FARM SUBSIDIES REVEALED
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See who wins and who loses in federal farm policy by
joining the 110,700 farmers, ranchers, journalists,
elected officials and taxpayers who have conducted
5.6 million searches on the EWG first-ever searchable
database of who really got federal farm program dollars
over the last five years. According to newspapers
across the country, the database "has created a buzz
throughout the agriculture world," is "commanding
attention" and is "hot as the coffee these days at
the Gettysburg [SD] coffee shop."

Search the EWG Farm Subsidy Database at:
http://www.ewg.org/farm/

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7) AIDS EPIDEMIC RAMPANT IN EASTERN EUROPE
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A new report released Nov. 28, "AIDS Epidemic Update
2001," says the number of HIV infections in Eastern
Europe is rising faster than anywhere else in the
world. The latest figures reveal there were more than
75,000 reported new infections in Russia by early
November, a 15-fold increase in just three years.

To read the UNAIDS Press Release, see:
http://www.unaids.org/whatsnew/press/eng/pressarc01/EPI_281101.html

To read the complete AIDS Epidemic Update report, see:
http://www.unaids.org/worldaidsday/2001/Epiupdate2001/Epiupdate2001_en.pdf

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8) IOWA GREENS TO NOMINATE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR
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The Iowa Green Party says it will nominate a candi-
date for governor in the 2002 election in hopes of
retaining its official status as a viable political
party in the state.

At the party convention today at the University of
Iowa Memorial Union, delegates from 14 counties voted
to have a candidate in next year's governor's election.
State law says the party must win at least 2 percent
of the vote in the 2002 Iowa governor's race to retain
official status.

Iowa voters gained the right to register their party
affiliation as Green when the party's presidential can-
didate, Ralph Nader, won 29,532 votes, or 2.3 percent
of the total vote in Iowa in the November 2000.
Currently, there are 14 active Green party county
chapters in Iowa.

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9) AMERICANS CONFUSED ABOUT THE UNINSURED
***************************************************
A recent report by the Institute of Medicine con-
cludes that popular myths cloud the public's under-
standing of the uninsured problem. Many Americans
believe that the uninsured get adequate healthcare
through emergency rooms or charity care at hospitals.
The report cites several studies to the contrary
including one showing that the uninsured are less
than half as likely as the insured to get needed
care for serious medical conditions. The study shows
that the public perceives the uninsured to be young,
healthy people of means who lack insurance by choice.
Only three million people fit that description and
eleven million more go without insurance because they
cannot afford the cost of participating in an employer
offered health plan.

To read a summary of the report, see:
http://www.iom.edu/iom/iomhome.nsf/WFiles/uninsuranceenglish/$file/uninsuranceenglish.pdf

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10) LOW INCOME HOUSING PROFILE
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"Low and very low income households face a broad
spectrum of housing problems. At one end is the most
visible problem, homelessness and/or households living
in shelters or in and out of temporary housing. Distri-
buted along the rest of the spectrum are millions of
others who have a place to call home, but who are pre-
cariously housed. Often, they do not have the employ-
ment stability or the necessary income to pay both for
their housing and other basic necessities, such as food
and clothing, or they do not have access to affordable
housing near work, or they have experienced discrimina-
tion. Their homes may be overcrowded, unsafe or physi-
cally inadequate. Some face all or a combination of
these problems. In addition, members of minority groups
suffer from persistent housing discrimination and the
resulting diminished choice and economic segregation.
Finally, although successful low income housing develop-
ments are increasing in number, most people who need
access to affordable housing still do not obtain it."

The "Low Income Housing Profile" presents a brief
profile of American households and their housing
situation, with particular attention to households
with severe or moderate housing problems.

Read the "Low Income Housing Profile" from the
National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) at:
http://www.nlihc.org/pubs/profile/

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11) RAHIM ENTERS NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL RACE
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Malik Rahim, a housing and prison activist, announced
his candidacy Friday for one of the New Orleans City
Council's two at-large seats in the Feb. 2 primary.

Rahim, 53, a member of the Green Party and founding
member of the Louisiana Black Panther Party, has never
sought political office. He decided to run for the seat
after becoming disgusted with the state of local politics.

Rahim faces stiff competition in the at-large race.
Announced candidates include three Democrats to date.
All at-large candidates run together, with the two top
vote-getters winning election, provided each gets at
least 25% of the vote. A runoff, if necessary, will
be March 2.

Rahim's platform centers around housing, workers
rights and criminal justice reform. He plans to advo-
cate strongly for the passage of a "living wage"
referendum that would raise the minimum wage in New
Orleans to $1 above the federal level. He would also
emphasize the diversification of the city's service-
based economy. He also plans to push for improved
conditions at New Orleans' public housing develop-
ments, more money for the New Orleans Recreation
Department as a means of keeping at-risk youths out
of trouble, and closer ties between the school system,
the juvenile-justice system and advocacy groups that
aid at-risk kids.

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12) BC GREENS PUSH FOR PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
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Greens in British Columbia, Canada, started an initi-
ative drive for 200,000 signatures on Nov. 26 to force
a referendum on proportional representation. The drive
has already drawn considerable media attention and
offers the party a chance to start building the foun-
dation needed for the 2005 election. The drive is to
involve 4,000 canvassers backed by a strong organization
in every riding since at least 10% of registered voters
in each riding are required. The campaign is important
because it will help the Greens build constituency organi-
zations in areas where they have been weak.

The Greens plan to ask the New Democratic Party (NDP)
to join the campaign. Working with the Greens -- especi-
ally in a supporting role -- will be difficult for New
Democrats, but not participating may be more difficult
since the NDP membership voted in favor of proportional
representation in their November convention and many
members are looking for a common front with the Greens.

Proportional representation in some form has the support
of about 75% of British Columbians.

Five initiatives have been launched since the act was
passed in 1995, all unsuccessful. Only one has achieved
credibility, a 1996 bid to force a law banning bear
hunting that won the support of 88,000 voters.

The Green Party of BC, founded in 1983, had a remark-
able showing in the recent provincial election increas-
ing its share of the popular vote by more than 500%
to win 12.4% of the popular vote.

To read the BC Greens press release on this story, see:
http://www.greenparty.bc.ca/newsroom/prelease/archive/press_release_May_24_2001.htm

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13) GREENS CHALLENGE BALLOT ACCESS IN MARYLAND
***************************************************
On Nov. 29 the Maryland Court of Appeals heard oral
arguments in Maryland Green Party, et al. v. Maryland
Board of Elections, et al., where the Greens argued
that alternative party candidates must jump through
too many hoops to get their names on non-presidential
ballots.

The Greens in Maryland are fighting the ballot access
law in Maryland because it places an unconstitutional
burden on third parties, making it too difficult to
get candidates on the ballot. While the Green Party
is recognized as an official party in Maryland, it
still has to collect signatures of registered voters
for any race where it wants to field a candidate, in-
cluding about 30,000 signatures for statewide offices.
(Republicans and Democrats do not have to conduct peti-
tion drives to get on the ballot for party primary
elections.)

When the Greens collected 10,000 signatures to qualify
as a party in Maryland in August 2000, they earned the
right to be listed on registration forms given to new
voters. Only six parties have qualified in Maryland.

For a more detailed report on the Maryland GP ballot
access story go to:
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/archives/2_117_statewide/legalnews/62632-1.html

Visit the Maryland Green Party at:
http://www.enviroweb.org/mdgreens

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The views expressed in this newsletter are those
of the author or organization noted and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Party
of Ohio.
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Copyright © 2001, Green Party of Ohio.
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Green Party of Ohio
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