Green Party Watch

From a Green Party US email entitled “Another World is Possible, the Green Party is Necessary”:

Join the Green Party in Detroit This June!

The Green Party of the United States will be holding its Annual National Meeting this June in Detroit.  Will you be there?

In order to spread the Green message as widely as possible, our meeting will be held in conjunction with the U.S. Social Forum, a gathering of tens of thousands of people working to build people’s solutions to economic and  ecological crisis.

The Green Party will be meeting from June 24-27, 2010, in downtown Detroit, Michigan.  We hope you can make it.

Yes, I would like to register now!

Sorry, I can’t make it. Let me support the Green Party by making a contribution now.

Here’s what to expect in Detroit: read more »

This year’s Annual National Meeting is set for June 24-27, 2010, in Detroit, Michigan. The first three days of the 2010 Green Party Annual National Meeting will run concurrently with the U.S. Social Forum, a gathering of thousands of activists organizing people’s solutions to economic and ecological crisis. When you register for the 2010 Green Party meeting, you will automatically be registered for the U.S. Social Forum.

The convention website can be found here. Registration costs range from $105 to $175.

Students at Northern Michigan University in Marquette have started a College Greens chapter. Their stated mission is to “promote Green Party ideas on campus including social justice, grassroots democracy and the dissatisfaction with the amount of influence corporations have in the political process.” To find out more and get in contact, check out NMU College Greens on facebook.

For more about College Greens and how to start a chapter at your college or university, check out the College Greens page on gp.org.

The Green Party of Michigan State Membership Meeting is Feb 27-28 in Lapeer, MI. Reverend Edward Pinkney will be speaking in Detroit on MLK day.

Information about both of these plus State and Local meetings and news below from the Green Party of Michigan:

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In a press release, the Michigan Green Party condemns the death of Imam Luqman A. Abdullah, a respected community and religious leader in Dearborn, Michigan.

The Green Party of Michigan is joining the call from Imam Abdullah’s family and others for an independent investigation into an FBI raid in Dearborn, MI on Oct. 28 that resulted in Imam Abdullah being shot 18 times and left to die.

The full press release can be found by clicking this article’s headline or the “Read more” link.
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The has endorsed six candidates, all in Minneapolis. These include Cam Gordon in the 2nd ward, Marcus Harcus in Ward 4, Jennine Estime in Ward 8, and Dave Bicking in Ward 9. Annie Young is running for re-election to the Park Board Commission.

Meanwhile, over in Michigan, two candidates appear on Tuesday’s ballot. Elena Herrada is running for Detroit’s Charter Commission, and Scott Klein is running for Hamtramck City Council.

Ohio’s Green Party is running four candidates. They include Anitra Brockman who is running for Cincinnati City Council, Dennis Spisak who is running for re-election to the Struthers Board of Education, Jason Happ who is running for Cincinnati Board of Education, and Vaughn Stull who is running for Township Trustee in Mill, OH.

From Detroit Greens:

from the AP at http://bit.ly/hs50F

Judges can restrict First Amendment rights as a condition of probation, but the order must be “narrowly drawn to protect the public from a situation that might lead to a repetition of the same crime,” the court said. In Pinkney’s case, the court said, a probation rule barring defamatory or demeaning statements against anyone went too far.

“This is a thrilling victory, one for the people,” Pinkney said from his home in Benton Harbor. “I’m so happy I don’t even know what to tell you.”
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From the Michigan Green Party:

Michigan and Detroit Green Party leaders are calling on the White House and US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of 21 human rights activists, including former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire, who were taken prisoner by the Israeli navy after gunboats surrounded and seized the Free Gaza Movement relief boat ‘Spirit of Humanity’ on Monday.
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The Wisconsin Green Party is excited to host the second annual Great River Green Gathering. Held at the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers, this gathering is an opportunity for regional Greens from the Upper Midwest to get together face to face. Think recreation and regionalism, not rigidity; camaraderie, not constitutions; activities, not agendas and you’ll have an idea of what this weekend is meant to do for Greens.

The gathering will be held at Wyalusing State Park near Prairie du Chien, WI and attendees will have the choice of staying in a group bunkhouse (with toilets and showers) near the lodge or reserving a campsite in the park (a WI state park sticker is required for admission to the park). Vegan breakfasts and lunches are provided with registration while dinners will be potluck, family style meals. Bonfires and grassroots entertainment in the evening. While there will be time to discuss issues important to Greens, there will be more time to play games, relax, explore the park and to sing and laugh together. This is a family event though pets are restricted from the lodge area.

To read more or register now, go to:

http://www.wigp.org/?q=GRGG2009

Early registration runs through July 1. (All registration fees will be used to pay for this gathering, this is not a fund raiser for the Wisconsin Green Party.)

ALL GREENS are welcome and encouraged to attend! Last year was a lot of fun – it is a great site, and everyone pitched in with the cooking, the cleaning up, the games, etc. There is both indoor group bunk houses or nearby campsites that you can reserve on your own. Register before July 1 to receive a discounted pricing.

Registration options range from $25-$50 and include vegan breakfasts & lunches Friday & Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. The higher registrations include lodging in the group bunk houses (with fully functional bathrooms) or take the low end and reserve your own camp site. Dinner meals are potluck / shared but someone will feed you if you come from afar.

Detroit Greens denounced the government-mandated bankruptcy of Chrysler.  Greens say that company should be nationalized and the resources given to and controlled by local communities.

“I am angry at the hedge fund hold outs. I don’t think the union should have agreed to give concessions while the speculators held out for more. Once again, the union has given another set of concessions, only to have them come back and demand more,” said Wendy Thompson, Detroit Green and retired former president, UAW Local 235, American Axle, Detroit Gear & Axle.

“The government should take control of Chrysler. It should create a public trust relying on the expertise of engineers, the workforce, the community and environmental leaders. An industry based on cars alone is not a viable future for the planet. Instead the government should be creating a transportation and alternative energy industry to expand immediately beyond fuel-efficient vehicles. We should produce renewable energy products including wind and water turbines and solar panels, and trains and buses for mass transit and light rail,” Thompson continued.
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Here are a handful of upcoming meetings of Local and State Green Parties, Candidates, etc.

Jan 15 (Thurs) Tony Palmeri For Oshkosh Common Council Kick-Off Party
Come help kick-off Tony Palmeri’s re-election campaign in Oshkosh. Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Todd Price will be there, along with Pete Karas, myself, and others. Party is at 6:30 p.m., 212 W. Parkway, Oshkosh, WI

Jan 15 (Thurs) Detroit Greens Third Thursday Meeting
7 pm at the Cynthia McKinney Office, 5922 Second, Detroit, MI

Jan 24 (Sat) Green Party of Minnesota Winter Meeting
9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. St. Paul Central High School, 275 Lexington Parkway N, St. Paul, MN
We’ll be holding workshops and forums on various green issues including Peak Oil, Universal Single Payer Health Care, Voting Rights, Acid Mining in Minnesota, Instant Runoff Voting, and more!

Jan 24 (Sat) Greater Milwaukee Green Party Annual Meeting
1 p.m., Milwaukee Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI
Featured Speaker Todd Price, candidate endorsements, coordinating council elections, more

Jan 23-25 (Fri-Sun) Green Party of Texas Planning Retreat
Contact txgreens at txgreens.org for more information

If your local or state Green Party has a meeting coming up, please let Green Party Watch know! e-mail gpw at greenpartywatch.org

The Co-Chair of the Michigan Green Party issued the below statement regarding the “Auto Industry Bailout”, stating “…Not one job saved, not one community protected…” by the bailout plan.

Statement of Fred Vitale, Chairperson, Green Party of Michigan

The Green Party of Michigan strenuously opposes the $17.4 billion bailout for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

The agreement by the Bush administration to use a small part of the $700 billion already promised to Wall Street bankers is no victory for working people in Michigan. The loans support the failed policies of the current corporate leaderships.

Not only have they systematically pressured the union to reduce the living standards, but they have undermined the construction of mass transportation, fought laws to reduce pollution, and refused to build ecologically friendly automobiles.

GM, Chrysler and Ford are not democratic institutions. Product choices and policy were and are made by boards of directors and top executives. Why are the workers and communities punished for decisions that weren’t theirs?
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This morning I woke up to this beautiful site after a night of snow fall in Eastern Iowa. I spent the Thanksgiving weekend with family on the lakes between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. One relative said she voted straight ticket Green Party, first time ever voting Green for her. She didn’t know anything about the candidates, but felt voting Green was the thing to do this year.
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Jay Sweeney of Falls Township, PA, has written a letter of thanks to local Green Party chapters and those who voted in the recent elections. Jay also thanks the LWV and local media for their efforts. Maybe other Greens should consider a similar letter.

The Riverside /Brookfield Landmark reports on a tax hike which died at the ballot box while all sorts of green initiatives won the voter’s approval. They also report on the success of local Green Party candidate Jerome Pohlen. We have the voters on the issues…now we need more effective and adequately funded local campaigns to make the voter’s wishes into reality.

Media Mouse, based in Grand Rapids, MI, picked up a GP press release and expanded on it for their readers.

The Day is reporting on efforts in Connecticut Greens to be sure all Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente’s votes are counted. They ran as write-in candidates in that state.

NewsBlaze reports on the Green Party in California, pointing to expected victories in San Francisco and several other races, including races from City Council to Congress.

The Rev Pickney is featured in this article in his race in Michigan for Congress. It was run in the Benton Spirit News and can also be found in the right hand column if the above link fails.

The Effingham Daily News covers Don Crawford’s race for Fayette County Board District 6 seat. His coverage is at the bottom of the page.

The Capital Times in Madison, WI carries a letter from Larry Dooley, encouraging folks to vote their hopes rather than their fears.

The FAMUAN covers Green races in Florida for students, faculty and staff at Florida A & M University.