Green Party of Ohio Newsletter, Vol. I, No. 30, December 15, 2001

Green Party of Ohio Main Page
Newsletter Archive Index

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Weekly Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. I, No. 30 -- December 15, 2001
(This newsletter distributed to 2,867)
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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) NEW SEARCH FEATURE: GREEN PARTY WEB SITE
2) $10,000 MATCHING DONATION FOR NATIONAL PARTY
3) EPA RECONSIDERS HUMAN TEST OF PESTICIDES
4) GERMAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO PHASE OUT NUKES
5) FORMER REPUBLICAN TO RUN AS GREEN IN MARYLAND
6) PROTESTORS PICKET OVER NEBRASKA NUKE PLANT
7) SMEDLEY RUNNING FOR LT. GOV. IN PENNSYLVANIA
8) MAGIC LANTERN
9) AGRICULTURE DEPT. WON'T CLOSE BAD MEAT PLANTS
10) 75% OF YOUNG WEB USERS SEEK HEALTH INFO ONLINE
11) GLOBAL RESPONSE
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1) NEW SEARCH FEATURE: GREEN PARTY WEB SITE
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You can now search the Green Party of Ohio Web site
from the main page at http://www.ohiogreens.org.
An advanced search function is available at
http://www.ohiogreens.org/search.html.

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2) $10,000 MATCHING DONATION FOR NATIONAL PARTY
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The Green Party of the United States has an unnamed
donor who will match contributions to the Green Party
of the United States up to $10,000 for contributions
made through Dec. 31, 2001.

We hope this adds extra motivation for people to be
generous in helping to build our party, and motivation
for those out there soliciting donations to reach out
to their fellow Greens and Green supporters all the
more between now and December 31st.

This brings the party closer to opening a national
office in DC in January and putting 5 organizers in
the field next year to help our 34 (soon to be 36)
state Green Parties run successful electoral cam-
paigns and build strong state party organizations.

Contributions to the Green Party of the United States
can be made online at:
https://ic.paymentonline.com/greenpartyus/donate.

Or, send your contribution to:
Green Party of the United States
P.O. Box 10497
Houston, Texas 77206

To qualify for the match, after you have sent your
contribution, please then email party treasurer,
Robbie Franklin at rafaglobo@aol.com so he can track
your matching donation.

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3) EPA RECONSIDERS HUMAN TEST OF PESTICIDES
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"The Bush administration is backing off its earlier
inclination to consider the results of experimental
tests on people in regulatory decisions on toxic
pesticides."

To read the NY Times article of 12/14/01, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/15/politics/15PEST.html?todaysheadlines

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4) GERMAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO PHASE OUT NUKES
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Agence France Presse reported the following Friday:

"The German parliament on Friday voted to phase out
nuclear power over the next two decades, signaling
the end of what one deputy called an 'expensive and
dangerous mistake' in the country's energy policy.

"The decision will shut down all of Germany's 19
nuclear reactors by imposing a maximum length of
operations of 32 years. Because nearly all the reac-
tors are more than a decade old, Germany will have
stopped producing nuclear power in just over 20 years,
although no deadline has been set.

"The measure passed with the support of deputies from
the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens
which holds a majority in the Bundestag, the lower
house of parliament.

"Deputies from the conservative Christian Union
parties, the liberal Free Democrats and the ex-
communist Party of Democratic Socialism opposed
the measure.

"The bill does not require the approval of the
upper house.

"The new legislation also phases out the highly
disputed shipment of nuclear waste to reprocessing
centers in France and Britain, which are regularly
accompanied by massive protests by environmentalists.

"Under the new legislation, the final convoy will
roll by June 30, 2005.

"The end of nuclear power was one of the key planks
of the Greens party platform and was set down in the
coalition agreement when Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
took office in October 1998.

"The reform required several months of tough negotia-
tions with the energy industry, which agreed to the
legislation last summer."

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5) FORMER REPUBLICAN TO RUN AS GREEN IN MARYLAND
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George W. Murphy III, a Republican candidate for
Carroll County, MD, county commissioner in 1998, has
switched his affiliation to the Green Party and has
filed his intention to run next year on an environ-
mental platform. Murphy, 53, an instructional assistant,
must first gather a minimum of 250 signatures by
Aug. 28 since he is not running as a major party candidate.

To read the entire Baltimore Sun article, visit:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.murphy11dec11.story

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6) PROTESTORS PICKET OVER NEBRASKA NUKE PLANT
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About a dozen environmentalists and nuclear power
opponents picketed outside Omaha Public Power Dis-
trict's (OPPD) downtown headquarters Dec. 10 calling
on the utility to postpone a decision on extending
the life of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station.

Monday's pickets said they wanted the utility to
delay a decision at least 30 days to allow more
public comment and input. They said they were parti-
cularly concerned that OPPD has not considered the
increased threat to the public that would be posed by
a terrorist attack on the plant, which is 15 miles
north of Omaha. Frances Mendenhall, a leader in the
Nebraska Green Party, and other pickets urged the
utility to look at wind power.

Thursday president and CEO of the OPPD called comments
by Mendenhall a lie. Jeff Hanson, a spokesman for OPPD,
said OPPD is exploring wind power and is planning to
launch its first wind plant in Valley this month, but
that wind is not reliable enough to consider shutting
down a plant.

Protesters picket over Fort Calhoun nuclear plant:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=36&u_sid=259841

President & CEO of the Omaha Public Power District
says Green Party lied about Fort Calhoun:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=609&u_sid=260967

Later Thursday, the OPPD's board unanimously approved
to seek relicensing of the nuclear facility:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=36&u_sid=262083

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7) SMEDLEY RUNNING FOR LT. GOV. IN PENNSYLVANIA
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Vicki Smedley, 55, an environmental activist from
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania announced her candi-
dacy for the Green Party nomination for lieutenant
governor on Dec. 6.

Smedley said she wants the state to crack down on
environmental contamination by industry and favors
a statewide living wage law and more state funds for
child care and education. She said she supports
abortion rights and opposes the death penalty.

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8) MAGIC LANTERN
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The FBI on Wednesday confirmed the existence of
"Magic Lantern," a "keylogging" software that can
capture keystrokes typed on a suspect's computer
keyboard. "It is a workbench project" that has not
yet been deployed, said FBI spokesman Paul Bresson,
but Bresson refused to discuss the project further.
The admission came just a day after many anti-virus
vendors said they would not voluntarily create a hole
in their products through which Magic Lantern could
pass. But given the erosion of civil liberties since
Sept. 11, one has to wonder whether the FBI will soon
make security vendors an offer they can't refuse.

FBI software cracks encryption wall
‘Magic Lantern’ part of new ‘Enhanced Carnivore Project’:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/660096.asp?cp1=1

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9) AGRICULTURE DEPT. WON'T CLOSE BAD MEAT PLANTS
***************************************************
The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced it will
not close meat processing plants that violate its
salmonella safety standard, The Wall Street Journal
reported on Wednesday. The newspaper cited the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention as stating that
the bacteria makes at least 40,000 people sick a
year, killing about 1,000.

CBS News reported Aug. 30 that managers at Sara Lee's
Bil Mar plant in Michigan knew they were shipping
tainted meat later linked to 15 deaths and that the
plant may also have tried to cover it up.

To read the CBS report, visit:
http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,308890-412,00.shtml

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10) 75% OF YOUNG WEB USERS SEEK HEALTH INFO ONLINE
***************************************************
Three-fourths of American Internet users between the
ages of 15 and 24 have used the Internet to find
health or medical information, according to a survey
conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. ABCNEWS.com
reports that the only online activities in which more
young people have participated are e-mailing, school
research and finding news and entertainment information.
The survey, conducted between Sept. 24 and Oct. 31, is
the first in-depth look at how young people use the
Internet for health purposes. Almost half of survey
respondents reported using the Internet to find infor-
mation about sexual health, with the "vast majority"
rating issues such as pregnancy, AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases as "very important." "It may be
something they don't want their parents to know about,"
said Dr. Robert Johnson, director of adolescent and
young adult medicine at the New Jersey Medical School
in Newark, N.J. Many youths researching sexually
transmitted diseases and other sensitive issues
"would much rather go to the Internet than a parent,"
Johnson added. While nearly 40% of survey partici-
pants said they had changed their behavior based on
information they found online, only 17% said they
trust the information on the Internet "a lot." By
comparison, 85% said they trust the information they
get from their physicians. Almost all, however, said
the information they find online is useful.

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11) GLOBAL RESPONSE
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At the request of indigenous peoples and grassroots
organizations, Global Response organizes international
letter-writing campaigns to help communities prevent
environmental destruction. Global Response involves
young people as well as adults in these campaigns,
to develop in them the values and skills for global
citizen cooperation and earth stewardship.

Visit Global Response at:
http://www.globalresponse.org

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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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Miss an issue of our newsletter? You can now read
past newsletters of the Green Party of Ohio by
visiting the newsletter archives at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletters/
***************************************************
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Copyright © 2001, Green Party of Ohio.
All rights reserved.
Paid for by the Green Party of Ohio PAC (OH1066)
Gina Ficociello, Treasurer
1427 Northstar Rd., Columbus OH 43212
Contributions to the Green Party of Ohio are not
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is not authorized by any candidate or candidate
authorized committee.

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Green Party of Ohio
PO Box 851, Kent OH 44240
Email: secretary@ohiogreens.org
Web: http://www.ohiogreens.org