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Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. II, No. 27 -- August 10, 2002
(This newsletter distributed to 2,850)
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FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
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11)
NOW REGISTER ONLINE FOR STATE PARTY CONVENTION
12)
JOIN THE GREEN PARTY: OHIO MEMBERSHIP AT 556
13)
$3,000 NEEDED FOR PARTY SUPREME COURT CASE
14)
PRESIDENTIAL SURVEY REVISED
15) UPCOMING GREEN
PARTY MEETINGS AROUND OHIO
16) BOWLING GREEN
WAL-MART DROPS MT. OLIVE PICKLES
17) CALL FOR
BINDING CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
18) FIRSTENERGY
CANCELS SALE OF FOUR PLANTS
19) UNIONS FEAR WAR
ON TERROR WILL AFFECT STRIKING
10) MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS***************************************************
Join the Green Party of Ohio:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/register.html
List of current Green Party members:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/. ***************************************************
11) NOW REGISTER ONLINE FOR STATE PARTY CONVENTION
***************************************************
Register for the Green
Party of Ohio's First
Statewide Convention -- Saturday, August 24, 2002!
You can now register online with your credit card
for this event. But hurry!
The deadline to get a FREE
Green Party T-shirt with your registration is Mon.,
Aug. 12. Delegate registration deadline is Aug. 17.
Complete information
on the convention can be found
at http://www.ohiogreens.org/convention/.
The online registration
form is located at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/convention/register_online.html
***************************************************
12)
JOIN THE GREEN PARTY: OHIO MEMBERSHIP AT 556
***************************************************
556 Ohio citizens have registered as members of the
Green Party of Ohio (GPO)
during the first 24 weeks
of registration. Add your name to the list at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/. Join
the Green Party of Ohio today by completing the
form at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/register.html
OR
Print a registration form and mail it in:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/membership.pdf
or
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/membership.doc ***************************************************
13) $3,000 NEEDED FOR PARTY SUPREME COURT CASE
***************************************************
Late in the summer of
2000, the Nader/LaDuke campaign,
along with the Green Party, filed suit in
the U.S.
District Court in Columbus, Ohio in order to challenge
Ohio’s
ballot cue statute (Nader, et al v. Blackwell).
Although Nader won this suit
on October 13, 2000,
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell received a stay
from a panel of the 6th Circuit Court before the election,
and on January
30, 2001, the same panel found Nader’s
case to be without merit. A subsequent
effort to get
the entire 6th Circuit Court to rehear the case was
denied
on March 28, 2002. However, in late June, Terry
Lodge, attorney for the Green
Party of Ohio, petitioned
the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The
Green Party of Ohio needs to raise $3,000 for this
case. Please send your
$35, $50, $100 or more contribution
today to the Green Party of Ohio Federal
PAC, Paul
Dumouchelle, Treasurer, 8832 Nairn Ct., Dublin OH 43017.
Contributions
to the Green Party of Ohio Federal PAC
are not deductible for federal tax
purposes. ***************************************************
14) PRESIDENTIAL SURVEY REVISED
***************************************************
As mentioned last week, the Green Party of the United
States has chartered
the Presidential Exploratory
Committee (PEC) for the 2004 election. In
the first week, we received over 40 surveys from
party members and non-members.
For those who may have
tried the form and had some difficulty or only parti-
ally completed the survey before it was submitted
prematurely, please try
again. The survey form has
been updated for better performance. We would like
to hear from you! Each
member state is to complete a survey providing
information to the PEC by Sept.
22, 2002. The Green
Party of Ohio would like to hear from you in order
to complete our survey to the national party. The
survey can be found at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/pecsurvey/ ***************************************************
15) UPCOMING GREEN PARTY MEETINGS AROUND OHIO
***************************************************
MID-OHIO GREEN PARTY
August 12, 2002 -- Monday -- 7:00 PM
Buy The Cup Coffee Shop
1531 Lexington
Ave., Mansfield SOUTHWEST
OHIO GREEN PARTY
http://www.swohgp.org
August 13, 2002 -- Tuesday
7:00 PM -- Dinner
7:30 PM -- Meeting
The
Comet, 4579 Hamilton Ave., Northside
(Revised meeting location from one posted
last week.) SOUTHEASTERN
OHIO GREEN PARTY (Athens County)
http://frognet.net/~seogreens/
August 14, 2002 -- Wednesday -- 6:30 PM
Athens Public Library Meeting Room,
Athens GREEN PARTY
OF PORTAGE COUNTY
August 15, 2002 -- Thursday -- 7:00 PM
6193 Cox, Ravenna
(Brady Lake)
More information: 330-678-3269 CENTRAL
OHIO GREEN PARTY
http://www.centralohiogreens.org
September 5, 2002 -- Thursday
Social 6:30 PM
Coordinating Committee 7:00
PM
General Membership 7:30 PM
Parsons Branch Library, 845 Parsons Rd.,
Columbus ***************************************************
16) BOWLING GREEN WAL-MART DROPS MT. OLIVE PICKLES
***************************************************
In 2000, the Green Party
of Ohio announced its support
of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC)
boycott
of Mt. Olive Pickles (see
http://www.ohiogreens.org/endorsements/floc.html).
Thursday FLOC announced a major victory in getting the
Wal-Mart in Bowling
Green to honor the boycott and stop
carrying Mt. Olive Pickle products. On
Monday afternoon, FLOC supporters Jason and Sheri
Wells-Jensen oversaw the
removal of the last Mt. Olive
pickle jars from the Wal-Mart shelves by manager
Tom
Kerekes. On Tuesday afternoon, supporter Jim Litwin found
a sign in
the former Mt. Olive section saying the product
was "permanently out
of stock." Wednesday morning, FLOC
Communications Director Morgan Guyton
found Wal-Mart
employees rearranging products on the pickle aisle to
fill
the vacant shelf space. A Thursday morning phone
call to Wal-Mart general
manager Tom Kerekes confirmed
the store's official decision. "I
feel empowered that Wal-Mart responded to us," said
Mary Ellen Newport,
who lives in Bowling Green and teaches
biology at Maumee Valley Country Day
School. "You really
can make a difference when you go to bat for people.
This
successful action made me feel connected with the North
Carolina
farmworkers. We can actually use the global nature
of the market to fight
for their justice." FLOC
Co-Director of Organizing Leticia Zavala remarked
that the victory was a pleasant
surprise. "Admittedly we
thought it would be a lot harder to get Wal-Mart
to move
on this. The fact that a single store pulled Mt. Olive
without
a consensus throughout the region sets an enormous
precedent for our future
dialogue with local Wal-Marts." FLOC
supporter and University of Toledo student Anjilina
Melendez had this to say:
"It is huge for Wal-Mart which
markets itself as a store that sells what's
cheap to make
a sales decision based on human rights. When somebody
listens,
it inspires us to believe that we really can help
North Carolina farmworkers
win the contract they deserve." By
dropping Mt. Olive pickles, the Bowling Green Wal-Mart
has joined every other
known store in Toledo and Bowling
Green in respecting the national Mt. Olive
Pickle boycott
that FLOC will maintain until Mt. Olive sits down with
the farmers and farm workers to negotiate a fair contract.
After this success,
FLOC feels more confident about its
boycott campaign at other Wal-Marts across
the country. ***************************************************
17) CALL FOR BINDING CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
***************************************************
Over the past decade,
transnational corporations have
exerted an ever-increasing impact on the world.
Foreign
direct investment has exceeded US $1.3 trillion, driven
by 60,000
transnationals and their 800,000 affiliates.
Two hundred corporations control
a quarter of world
economic activity. The
social and environmental impacts of these corpora-
tions have been substantial,
and corporate practices
have often impeded sustainable development - including
abuses of human rights, environmental degradation,
ecological debt, promotion
of unsustainable consumption
patterns and lifestyles and economic inequity.
Twenty-two organizations
have issued a call on govern-
ments to act by committing themselves to start
negoti-
ations on legally enforceable corporate accountability
and liability
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
***More: http://www.foei.org/corporates/signon.html ***************************************************
18) FIRSTENERGY CANCELS SALE OF FOUR PLANTS
***************************************************
FirstEnergy Corp.’s deal to sell Bay Shore and three
other power plants
to NRG for nearly $1.5 billion has
been canceled, which is likely to worsen
the electric
utility’s bond ratings and create a serious snag in
paying off its staggering debt. The
news came less than a week after The Blade (Toledo)
reported that national
bond raters questioned whether
NRG, which was on the brink of default, had
the financial
means to complete the deal. The sale involved the Bay
Shore
plant in Oregon, with 185 employees, and three
other coal-fired power plants
in the Cleveland area. The
canceled deal means FirstEnergy, with $14.3 billion
in debts, will have trouble
reaching its planned $4 billion
in repayments this year. The company expected
the power
plant sale to produce an after-tax gain of $1 billion it
could
use to pay bills. ***More:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TO&Date=20020809&Category=BUSINESS03&ArtNo=108090085&Ref=AR ***************************************************
19) UNIONS FEAR WAR ON TERROR WILL AFFECT STRIKING
***************************************************
A labor war looming on
west coast U.S. docks could
become the defining union conflict of the Bush
era.
But the traditional bargaining issues - wages, bene-
fits and working
conditions - have been pre-empted
by a much more basic one: do dockers have
the right
to strike at all?
***More: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0810-02.htm ***************************************************
10) MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
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Mystery street blobs spark concern
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/02/camden.blobs.ap/index.html Groups
Shocked as Officials Urge Judge to Back ExxonMobil
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0808-01.htm Federal
Appeals Panel Upholds Vermont Limits on Campaign Spending
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/politics/08ELEC.html?ex=1029803846&ei=1&en=681f07d78e8add01 Neediest
Schools Receive Less Money, Report Finds
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/09/education/09FUND.html WorldCom
Finds $3.3 Billion More in Irregularities
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/09/technology/09TELE.html Earth
Summit Agenda 'Hijacked':
Big Business is Wielding Its Influence to Water
Down
Plans for Tighter Regulation, Says Aid Group
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4478468,00.html Iraq
War Could Engulf Region, Britain Warns US
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=322769 Detailed
War Plan Handed to Bush:
UN Critic Says Attack Decision Has Been Made
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4476914,00.html Amid
the Clouds of Deception, US Speeds Along Road to War
http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0804-01.htm Bush
loyalists not happy with Iraq attack plan
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/09/1028158017107.html In
Scenic Norway, Fearful Death Scene of Addicts
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/international/08OSLO.html?ex=1029803394&ei=1&en=3bddcdc654275ce1 Amtrak
Subsidy Support Strong, Survey Shows
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43767-2002Aug4.html ***************************************************
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.
***************************************************
To join the
Green Party of Ohio, complete the form at
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/register.html.
To see the membership list of the GPO, see
http://www.ohiogreens.org/membership/.
***************************************************
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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weekly (with some
exceptions) to keep you informed about events,
activities,
and news of interest to the Green Party
of Ohio -- http://www.ohiogreens.org. We
invite you to review our party Web site
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They can be added to our mailing list by submitting
the form at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletter/register.html. Copyright
© 2002, 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
deductible for federal tax purposes. This newsletter
is not authorized by
any candidate or candidate
authorized committee. ***************************************************
Green Party of Ohio
PO Box 851, Kent OH 44240
Email: secretary@ohiogreens.org
Web: http://www.ohiogreens.org |