SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 1/3/07-1/9/07 HAPPY NEW YEAR! NEWS: - CODEPINK Arrested and In Jail, Cameraman Assaulted and Injured http://tinyurl.com/y45p98 - New College of California Hosts Green Party Panel Discussion http://tinyurl.com/yff6kr - Local Green Party Wraps-Up a Successful Year in 2006 http://tinyurl.com/yag2e9 EVENTS: This week: - 1/4: Voters for Peace Rally - 1/4: Banner Drops with World Can't Wait - 1/4: Tell Nancy Pelosi to Support Impeachment! - 1/4: Support Lieutenant Watada, Refuse Illegal War! - 1/4: Swearing-In Ceremony of John Rizzo - 1/4: Animal Advocacy Working Group - 1/5: Swearing-In Ceremony of Jane Kim - 1/6: Beach Impeach Flashmob at Ocean Beach - 1/8: Campaigns and Issues Working Group Next week: - 1/11: Feminist Issues Group Meeting, Postponed to January 11, 2007 - 1/13: Demand Living Wage Jobs, Picket Gavin Newsom's Town Hall Meeting Save the date: - 1/27: Workshop on Designing Leaflets - 2/17: San Francisco Green Party's Annual Celebration ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: - Car-Free Talk with Green Party Activist Sue Vaughan IN EVERY ISSUE: - Discuss Instant Runoff Voting in Green Party Activist Jim Dorenkott's Blog (http://tinyurl.com/y2j2gs) - Take Action! - Earn A Living Making San Francisco A More Green and Progressive City! - Support the San Francisco Green Party by Becoming a Sustainer JOKE OF THE WEEK: - Germans Not Amused (http://tinyurl.com/yflr53) Editor's Note: This article is not political, but hey, it's the New Year. I thought this was hysterically funny. ************************************************************ EVENTS: 1/4: Voters for Peace Rally WHEN: Thursday, January 4, 2007 12:00 noon WHERE: Federal Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco DETAILS: In just one week, Congress begins the 2007 session with new leadership ready to take the reigns. The problem is, the new Congress doesn't look very different than the old Congress that we supposedly voted out of office. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is promoting a troop increase, Nancy Pelosi said that she won't defund the war, and now President Bush is asking for at least $127 billion more to waste on our failed venture in Iraq. Although voters expressed a clear mandate to end the war in Iraq, Democratic Congressional leaders are already on record promising to continue the violence in our name and with our tax dollars. We think this is an unacceptable betrayal of American voters, so on January 4th, VotersForPeace is working with several peace organizations to remind the new Congress that we will no longer tolerate destroying lives and wasting money for war. We will congratulate them for their win and then demand that they defund Bush's war effort. --------- 1/4: Banner Drops with World Can't Wait WHEN: Thursday, January 4, 2007 Morning and evening rush hour WHERE: Highways 101 & 280, near San Francisco CONTACT: Call Don at 415-724-1479 Call World Can't Wait SF Office at 415-864-5153, or email sfwcwmedia@gmail.com INFORMATION: www.worldcantwait.org DETAILS: World Can’t Wait will also be doing “banner drops” aimed at AM & PM rush hour traffic on Highways 101 & 280. They will focus on a demand for impeachment based on War Crimes, Torture, and Crimes Against Humanity. Nationally, The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime will be ushering in 2007 with mass demonstrations at the opening of Congress in Washington, DC. Featured speakers include Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Gore Vidal, and others. --------- 1/4: Tell Nancy Pelosi to Support Impeachment! WHEN: Thursday, January 4, 2007 2:00PM-5:00PM WHERE: Nancy Pelosi’s Office, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco CONTACT: Call Don at 415-724-1479 Call World Can't Wait SF Office at 415-864-5153, or email sfwcwmedia@gmail.com INFORMATION: www.worldcantwait.org DETAILS: On January 4th, as the new congress opens, World Cant Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime! will be rallying in front of the Nancy Pelosis office to demand impeachment for War Crimes, Torture, and Crimes Against Humanity. We will be putting large block letters to spell IMPEACH on a table in front of her office. Reasons, and demands for impeachment in order to repudiate the policies of the Bush Administration will be read. Participants are also encouraged to bring other items to be put on the table. Nancy Pelosi has continually said impeachment is off the table. The Democrats have pledged to work with the Bush Administration. We will voice our opposition to endless war, torture, crimes against humanity, and a possible bi-partisan war escalation. --------- 1/4: Support Lieutenant Watada, Refuse Illegal War! WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, January 4, 2007 11:15 gather at J-town Peace Plaza (Post & Buchanan) 11:45 procession to meet up with Unitarian Universalist contingent @ Franklin & Geary 12:15 joint procession to peace vigil at Federal Building 12:30 vigil 01:00 die-in program--MC David Hartsough, Declaration for Peace; speakers include Unitarian Universalist, WSC/APIsR!, & IVAW [not confirmed] 01:30 die-in commences--those who wish not to risk arrest can stand and bear witness/lend their solidarity. There is a nonviolent cd training scheduled for Tues, 2 Jan @ UUC, 1187 Franklin @ Geary, SF, from 7-9 pm, for anyone interested. INFORMATION: Email watadasupport@mac.com DETAILS: Please join the Watada Support Committee and APIs Resist! in a show of solidarity with this brave, young man refusing to obey orders to fight this illegal war... I-sho-ni Na-re-ba Ke-sh'-te ma-ke-nai [The People, united, will never be defeated] --------- 1/4: Swearing-In Ceremony of John Rizzo WHEN: Thursday, January 4, 2007 5:00PM WHERE: State Building, Milton Marks Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco DETAILS: Come support John Rizzo, first Green elected to the SF Community College, as he is officially sworn into the College Board! --------- 1/4: Animal Advocacy Working Group WHEN: Thursday, January 4, 2007 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant, 832 Clement Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues, San Francisco DETAILS: The Animal Advocacy Working Group is involved in animal issues in San Francisco. The Ten Key Values apply to protecting the welfare of non- human animals. Of course, all are welcome. For more information, email Rosalind Lord at rclord@seaserpent.com --------- 1/5: Swearing-In Ceremony of Jane Kim WHEN: Friday, January 5, 2007 6:00PM WHERE: Tenderloin Community School, 627 Turk Street, San Francisco DETAILS: Come support Jane Kim, first-place finisher in the SF School Board race, as she is officially sworn into the School Board! --------- 1/6: Beach Impeach Flashmob at Ocean Beach WHEN: Saturday, January 6, 2007 10:30AM - noon WHERE: Ocean Beach, San Francisco Near 48th Avenue and Lincoln Way, next to Golden Gate Park, directly across the Great Highway from the Beach Chalet DETAILS: See http://www.beachimpeach.org, also register at this site to help out. --------- 1/8: Campaigns and Issues Working Group WHEN: Monday, January 8, 2007 7:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party, 1028A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco, CA 94103 DETAILS: Please note the date is moved from the first Monday to the second, to accommodate the New Year's Day holiday. Feb meeting is on the first Monday, Feb 5. --------- 1/11: Feminist Issues Group Meeting, Postponed to January 11, 2007 WHEN: Thursday, January 11, 2007 6:30PM WHERE: Wild Awakenings, 142 McAllister, San Francisco, CA DETAILS: Due to the number of inaugural activities this week, the FIG meeting, which normally meets every first Thursday of the month, will be postponed one week later. Agenda for this meeting: - Time to elect new chair(s) - Prioritize our objectives for the new year - Plan and prepare for future electoral opportunities and challenges. --------- 1/13: Demand Living Wage Jobs, Picket Gavin Newsom's Town Hall Meeting WHEN: Saturday, January 13, 2007 9:00AM WHERE: Richmond Recreation Center, 251 – 18th Avenue (between Clement and California), San Francisco, CA DIRECTIONS: Public transit: – Near 1 California and 2 Clement, one-and-a-half blocks from 38 Geary. Carpool leaves at 8:30 a.m. from Redstone Building, 2940-16th Street, between Mission and South Van Ness, near 16th Street BART. INFORMATION, RSVP: Call 415-863-1225 DETAILS: Newsom, You Can Run but You Can’t Hide: Low-wage Workers Take Message to Mayor as He Dodges Question Time Session with Board of Supervisors The City’s social infrastructure is in a state of crisis. City-funded non-profit agencies cannot retain experienced workers as they are pushed out of San Francisco by the rising cost-of-living. High turn- over is threatening the quality of services that San Franciscans expect and need. The wage required under the Minimum Compensation Ordinance for non-profit workers working on a city service contract has fallen below the city-wide minimum wage. Homecare workers only received a 1.6 percent wage increase last year and the inflation rate was 2.8 percent. Join us for an informational picket and leafleting of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s town-hall meeting We demand that the Mayor: * Meet with low-wage non-profit workers who are providing valuable services to residents of the City * Support the Ammiano/McGoldrick amendments to the living wage law * Budget wage increases for non-profit workers, homecare workers and parents working for a CalWORKs grant --------- 1/27: Workshop on Designing Leaflets WHEN: Saturday, January 27, 2007 2:00PM-6:00PM WHERE: 2940 – 16th St. Room 204 (between Mission and South Van Ness), San Francisco, CA INFORMATION: Call the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition at 513-5393 or email sflivingwage@riseup.net DETAILS: Workshop on Designing Leaflets with Russell Kilday-Hicks Russell is editor-in-chief of a statewide union paper for staff working on the 23 campuses of the California State University system, and production editor for “Green Focus,” the California Green Party newspaper. He has taught newspaper production at Laney and is a teaching assistant in Workplace Ethics and Environmental Ethics courses. He is statewide chair of the communication committee of CSEA Local 1000, SEIU, and chair of the City of Berkeley’s Commission on Labor. --------- 2/17: San Francisco Green Party's Annual Celebration WHEN: Saturday, February 17, 2007 7:00PM-10:00PM WHERE: Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th Street, San Francisco (across from 24th St BART) DETAILS: Join host Krissy Keefer as we welcome our elected Green and progressive representatives in our annual bash featuring music, guest speakers, performances and more! ============================== ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: Car-Free Talk with Green Party Activist Sue Vaughan Keep an eye out for "Car-Free Talk" on San Francisco's public access tv station, Channel 29. In the next show, David Fridley, staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley and member of San Francisco Oil Awareness, discusses the myth of biofuels. Date and time to be announced. ============================== IN EVERY ISSUE: Take Action! Find out about opportunities to help our elected Greens (writing letters, attending hearings, etc) -- subscribe to the SF Green Party Action list! The Action list is a low-traffic list (approximately one message per week in addition to our newsletter) telling you what you can do to help: https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ action --------- Earn A Living Making San Francisco A More Green and Progressive City! Three years ago, former organizers for the Matt Gonzalez for Mayor campaign decided it was time to stop getting 'close but not close enough' to progressive victories like public power and Matt as Mayor, and to begin a city wide, year round, grassroots campaign that would start helping us win such victories! So in January 2004, the organization Our City was born. Since then we have helped to: - Pass the ban on old polluting diesel buses - Pass Matt Gonzalez's anti chain store law - Get the downtown hotel workers back on the job, and - Get the Police and Planning Commissions put back on SF Government TV after the City tried to pull them off. Now we are campaigning to end PG&E's monopoly and run the City on renewable energy like solar and wind power, and to stop corporations from taking private monopoly control of the new public internet and cable system being built for San Francisco. We have just begun hiring and training new grassroots organizers to help us win these campaigns. No experience necessary. Earn $280 to $400 each four day work week learning to be a strong progressive organizer. To apply, call Eric at 415-756-8844 from noon to 2pm any weekday, or send an email to jobs@our-city.org For more information, see our web site at http://our-city.org --------- Support the San Francisco Green Party by Becoming a Sustainer The San Francisco Green Party needs donations for rent on the office, mailings, signs, and many other expenditures in order to wage effective political campaigns. We are especially interested in building up our base of "sustaining members," those who agree to contribute a certain amount each month by credit card. By becoming a sustaining member you save us money and time that we can then devote to our political work. It is a method of donation that is perfect for a grassroots organization like the Green Party as it allows us to thrive off of many, many small and medium size donations instead of depending on a few large donors. For more information, please visit the MAKE A DONATION page on the website at http://www.sfgreenparty.org/makeadonation/makeadonation.html For questions about the sustaining member program contact treasurer@sfgreens.org To make a one-time donation by mail please send a check made out to The San Francisco Green Party to: San Francisco Green Party 1028A Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94103 ************************************************************ For more info on our activities, please see our website, http://www.sfgreenparty.org. You can also email us questions at info@sfgreens.org. To send us news items (short blurb please, plain text only) for possible inclusion in the newsletter, email news@sfgreens.org. Please don't put these addresses on mailing lists; messages not specifically addressed to us won't go through.