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Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. IV, No. 1, Jan. 11, 2004
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Contents
1. State Party News – Voting Begins in 2004 Ohio Green Party Presidential
Primary, Coordinating Committee Meeting Notes, 1/31 State Convention Details,
Paypal Donations now Possible
2. National Party News – Draft Nader Effort, Anti-War Rally Planned
3. Special News Items of Interest – by Grant Lawrence
4. Opinion: Newsletter Editorial – by Rick Otten – Be; Vote;
Green
1. State Green Party News
A. Voting Begins in 2004 Ohio Green Party Presidential Primary
On January 4 we began voting in the first-ever Green Party of Ohio Presidential
Primary. Green Party Members can vote now at http://www.ohiogreens.org/elections/index.html
Note: Due to an error by the Party Secretary, the names of Peter Camejo
and Carol Miller appeared on the website ballot for approximately 48 hours
on January 4-6. Votes recorded for those individuals during that time
will be counted.
B. Coordinating Committee Meeting Notes
Highlights from the 1/10/04 meeting of the Green Party of Ohio Coordinating
Committee in Mansfield, Ohio:
- Membership in the Party has hit a new high, breaking the 1,000 mark
this past week.
- Ohio Candidates in 2004: Logan Martinez considering running for Ohio
House, Rich Stevenson gathering signatures for Congress (District 1),
Frank Doden gathering signatures to run for Congress, Rick Otten is gathering
signatures to run for State Representative. None of these candidates have
been endorsed. Chris Glassburn is gathering signatures for 16th House
District. Bob Fitrakis may run for Congress. We are still recruiting candidates.
- Approved letter to be sent to Secretary of State Ken Blackwell regarding
concerns about plans to implementing purchase of Direct Recording Electronic
voting machines
- Deborah Baker was designated as the Green Party representative to the
Central Ohio Earth Charter effort. More information available at www.earthcharter.org
- Details of the Annual Convention were approved (see below)
C. Convention Reminder
The annual Convention of the Green Party of Ohio will be held Saturday,
January 31, 2004, at the Unitarian/Universalist Church in Columbus, 93
West Weisheimer Rd., 43214.
The Coordinating Committee Agreed on the following plan for the Convention:
- Registration Fee: Suggested Fee $10.
- Lunch: Potluck and brown bag
- Childcare will be available if you request it in advance.
- Agenda:
8:30-Doors Open and Registration Begins
9:00-9:30 Welcome/Intro/Outline
9:30–10:30 Presidential Candidates
10:30-12:30 Meet local candidates & grassroots campaigning
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:00 – Presidential Poll Closes
1:30-Delegates to National Convention
2:00 Strategy Session Panel “Make Ohio Green”
3:00 Turn in Poll for Delegates Vote
4:00 – Presidential Poll Results& Delegate Vote Results
- Online registrations should be sent to Michael Renock Welker (ihere@earhtlink.net),
or call 888-453-6317.
D. Paypal Donation Setup – Support the Green Party’s Presidential
Effort
You can now donate via Paypal to the Green Party of Ohio Federal PAC.
All donations made in January will go to the winner of the Green Party
of Ohio Presidential Primary. Go to - http://ohiogreens.org/donate_pp1.html
2. National Party News
A. Selected Items from “GREENSWEEK”
http://www.gp.org/greensweek/index.html
Green Party of the United States: http://www.gp.org
An e-mail discussion list has been established for Greens interested
in drafting Ralph Nader as the Green Party candidate for President in
2004. Mr. Nader withdrew as a Green candidate in late December, and will
announce within the next month whether he will run as an independent.
groups.yahoo.com/group/RalphNader2004/
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 Bush’s
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: www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2136
3. News Items of Interest
by Grant Lawrence - grantlaw@buckeye-express.com
Protesters Arrested in Seattle without Cause at WTA
Seattle police who arrested World Trade Organization protesters four
years ago had no probable cause to do so, a federal judge has ruled, possibly
leaving the city vulnerable to damages from a class-action lawsuit.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001826811_wtolawsuit310.html
Police Committed Felonies Against Protesters in Miami at FTAA
A judge presiding over the cases of free trade protesters said in court
that he saw ''no less than 20 felonies committed by police officers''
during the November demonstrations, adding to a chorus of complaints about
police conduct.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1220-03.htm
Washington, DC, December 30, 2003 ---Portions of the USA PATRIOT Act
compromise the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and should be amended,
says a resolution recently passed by the National League of Cities at
its annual meeting. The National League of Cities called for amendments
to restore protections of the fundamental civil liberties of Americans.
The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization
for American cities. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000
cities, towns and villages of all sizes, from New York City to Bee Cave,
Texas, which collectively serve 225 million people. Visit www.nlc.org.
http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=A67738D3-53FA-4D79-BCDB0AFE3000B99E
"We need at least a million signatures for them to take it seriously."--Philadelphia
Attorney Philip J. Berg, who filed the suit against Bush on a widow's
behalf regarding 9/11, asking the public to put pressure on the Administration
for full disclosure on 9/11. http://www.911forthetruth.com
"If we had backed away from that, we would never have been able
to confront this threat in the other countries where it exists."
--Tony Blair, on how Iraq was a test case and how there is a need for
more testing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3367717.stm
"Dear Editor--I am 8 years old.....
Please tell me the truth, are their government conspiracies?"
Virginia
"Yes, Virginia there are government conspiracies.....Nobody lies
without reason. Nobody conspires with others to lie without reason. And
the purpose of this particular conspiracy to lie was to start a war that
nobody but a few rich and powerful leaders wanted, to spend our money
and to send forth our children to invade an impoverished and helpless
nation whose only worth was that it was, as a Defense Official described
it, "swimming in oil". There can be be no more vile a lie than
that used to send a nation to war, nor no more dark a war than that waged
for profit. This conspiracy committed both crimes."
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/virginia.html
Jobless or Bankrupt? That's your problem!
The Nation's jobless rate is just under 6% and we are officially in a
"recovery." But, we are in a jobless recovery and the unemployment
rate doesn't count the millions that are discouraged and have not looked
for a job within the last month. Also, the underemployed are not considered;
those that are forced to work part time because they are unable to find
a full time job.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid 26&e=2&u=/latimes_ts/joblesscountskipsmillions
And in Toledo, Ohio things are looking up and I suppose that is why the
bankruptcy rate for 2003 wasn't higher. Yet, more than 10,000 people and
businesses filed bankruptcy last year in northwest Ohio, smashing a previous
record by more than 1,500 cases.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040103/NEWS08/101030086
Supporting the Sex Trade Industry or Covering Up?
DynCorp, which does 95% of it's business with governments--usually in
a military support capacity, were found in court actions to have violated
2 employees' whistle blowing status when they were fired after revealing
that colleagues were involved in Bosnian forced-prostitution rings.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/08/06/dyncorp/index.html
A war has been waged on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for many
years and now it appears that there is not much breath in these wonderful
documents. As Saddam was pulled out of a hole, the president signed a
bill into law that contained much of Patriot Act 2. Much of this act was
hidden in an intelligence authorization bill, even though we were assured
that Patriot Act 2 was shelved. Initially, we were told the Act didn't
even exist. http://www.sacurrent.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10705756&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=482778&rfi=6
4. Opinion
BE; VOTE; GREEN
Editorial – by Rick Otten, rotten@windfish.net, Green Party candidate
for District 19 of the Ohio House of Representatives
On the front page of the Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, December 21st, 2003,
in an article covering the complete shutdown of a local grocery store
chain, they quote an employee who has learned that the CEO and management
team (in a now familiar story) were walking away with millions while booting
everyone else out onto the street: "Who's standing up for all the
good people losing their jobs?"
November 3rd, in the London Guardian, we learn 2 million people (out
of Ohio's 11 million population) resorted to food charities in 2002, up
18 percent from 2001.
The US has the worst child poverty and the lowest life expectancy of
any industrialized country.
Meanwhile, in 2001 the average CEO earned 411 times the pay of an average
worker. A difference that has been widening for more than a decade and
continues to do so.
Corporations appear to control our government. Most policy decisions,
most new legislation, most foreign policy, and most government activity
are focused on the basic question: "What is good for US Corporations?"
They are very effective at finding answers to that question. Our corporations
appear to be thriving. The stock market is back up, and the wealthy are
raking it in.
34.6 million Americans live below the poverty line. 1 in 8 Americans.
13 million of those are children.
The USDA reports 9 million children in the US suffer from 'real hunger'.
Here's what is evident:
What is good for our Corporations may not be good for you or me, the
regular folk out there in the real world.
Big corporations serve the purposes (usually financial) of the elite
few who occupy the very top echelon of the management ranks and those
few who own or control the bulk of the shares.
Big corporations serve no other purpose. Not the customer. Not their
products. Not their own employees. Nor anyone or anything else on the
planet.
Our country was founded on the principle that good government is organized
and run by the people. It should work first and foremost to serve their
best interests.
Instead, by focusing on the best interests of big corporations, our government
is no longer working in the best interests of the people.
Those who work to enrich and isolate the elite at the expense of everyone
else are decidedly un-American. It has always been our strength, not our
weakness, that we have been able to build on and work with diversity in
our communities for the benefit of all. (This is true for our party as
well as our country.)
The last of our public lands, the last of our privacy, and the last of
our freedoms are disappearing.
I dream. I dream of a society that works with each other for the common,
not the corporate good. I accept being called an idealist.
The Green Party is fighting to at least slow the erosion, minimize the
senseless killing, and to promote policies that help their neighbors in
need.
It is dreams which give purpose to our endless outspoken efforts and
regular defeats. Without them we might just give up.
Someone needs to be looking out for all the good people out there.
Be; Vote; Green.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (no letters this edition)
Publication Details
The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter is published by the Green Party of
Ohio. www.ohiogreens.org The Mission of the Newsletter is to aggressively
promote citizen involvement in making real the Green dream for Ohio and
America as stated in the GPOH Platform, the USGP Platform and those parties’
formal policy positions.
The Mission of the Green Party of Ohio is to focus the political power
of the people to:
1. preserve and restore viable ecosystems,
2. establish social justice and equity,
3. foster participatory democracy,
4. promote and practice nonviolence as a means of conflict resolution,
and
5. ensure the rights of a community-based economic system for all people.
Letters to the editor are accepted but please keep them brief and the
Editor reserves the right to publish or not publish any such letter and
edit them to fit the newsletter format. The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter
does not represent official GPOH policy unless specifically stated. The
Green Party of Ohio Newsletter operates under the guidance of the State
Coordinating Committee Media Committee, which can be contacted through
the State Party Website. Paid for by the Green Party of Ohio Political
Action Fund (OH1066) P.O. Box 112, Berkey, OH 43504
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