SFGP WEEKLY For The Week of 9/30/05 - 10/6/05 This Week: ********************************************************** News: 9/23: Between Those With Autos and Those Without 9/24: The Black 911: Bush has declared war on Black people ********************************************************** Events: 9/30: Protest Arnold's Veto! 10/2: Castro Street Fair 10/2: Brava Theaters Presents Truthsayers: A Hurricane Katrina Benefit with Matt Gonzalez, Ross Mirkarimi, Lines in Analog Sound, Malik Rahim and *more*! 10/3: Campaigns and Issues Working Group Meeting ********************************************************** Announcements: Joke of the Week "Opt-Out" Deadline for High School Students Become A Sustainer! ********************************************************** News ********************* ********************************************************** 9/23: Between Those With Autos and Those Without Note: In China and elsewhere around the globe, the automobile is being attacked as a symbol of inequality. By Philip Cunningham BEIJING -- The world is quickly being split into two hostile camps: those with cars, and those without. Nowhere is this division more apparent than in this city of 14 million people, where cars are pushing bicycles onto the sidewalk and people up against the wall. In China, the last big country nominally dedicated to the idea of social and economic equality, the onslaught of the auto has been particularly vexing. If Chinese were to enjoy access to automobiles on par with Americans, it would deplete the world's known oil reserves while turning rice fields into parking lots. China Daily recently opined, "In Beijing, some 4 million bikes now compete for road space with more than 2 million cars, and a quick glance at the newly widened boulevards, overpasses and ring roads of the capital clearly shows which means of transport has been getting priority." For more, go to: http://news.ncmonline.com/ NCM Ethnic Media Nationwide ********************************************************** 9/24: The Black 911: Bush has declared war on Black people by Suncere Ali Ahakur There is total devastation in the Black community down here in New Orleans. All the stories you hear about FEMA and the Red Cross, man, they are slow getting to the people down here. If it wasn’t for the people on the ground, the grassroots folks getting supplies and water and things they need, they probably would just perish. I’m in Algiers (a neighborhood on the West Bank across the river from downtown New Orleans) with brother Malik Rahim. With the people he’s been able to organize, he’s been able to save about 70 percent of the community. You’ve got Homeland Security running up and down the streets; you’ve got private security running up and down the streets. The Army pulled in yesterday; now we’ve got the 82nd Airborne running up and down the streets. For more, go to: http://www.sfbayview.com/092105/theblack911092105.shtml ********************************************************** *********************************** Events *********************************** *********************************************************** 9/30: Protest Arnold's Veto Friday, September 30th 5pm Castro and Market Protest Gov. Schwarzenegger's veto of the Marriage Equality Bill with dozens of progressive groups atatewide. Meet at 5 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza (corner of Castro and Market) and then march to the LGBT Center (corner of Market and Octavia). Contact John Lewis at (415) 377 7924 or email sf@eqca.org. *********************************************************** 10/2: Castro Street Fair Sunday, October 2nd 12:00noon- 5:00pm Join the San Francisco Green Party for a fun time at the annual Castro Street Fair! Enjoy the booths, the events, and the sights, and help us register voters, collect donations, pass out literature, outreach to District 8 and the LGBT community, and let people know that, with our positive postion on same-sex marriage, queer rights, and pro-people policies, that it's *easy* being Green! Enjoy the afternoon at the Fair and then head over to the Brava Theater for Truthsayers (see below). This has been a tough year for registration - every event is critical for us so please step forward. For more information, contact Mark mwbsf@riseup.net *********************************************************** 10/2: Brava Theaters Presents Truthsayers: A Hurricane Katrina Benefit with Matt Gonzalez, Ross Mirkarimi, Lines in Analog Sound, Malik Rahim and *more*! Sunday, October 2nd 5pm- 8pm Brava Theater Center, 2729 24th Street (at York), San Francisco, CA $20 -$2000 Give Œtil it hurts (no one turned away for lack of funds) A Benefit to Rebuild Green in New Orleans www.rebuildgreen.org and the Vanguard Foundation¹s Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund. (Prioritizing Children) With Luisah Teish, Marga Gomez, Dance Brigade, Keith Hennessy, Matt Gonzalez, Will Durst, Anne Galjour, Amara Tabor-Smith of Urban Bush Women, Maurice Campbell, Ross Mirkarimi, Beth Custer Ensemble, Molotov Mouths, Ahimsa Sumchai, Thea Hillman, Medea Benjamin, Lines in Analog Sound, Loco Bloco, Lichi Fuentes With a Report from Malik Rahim of the Green Party, New Orleans For more information call 415 647-2822 or go to www.brava.org http://www.brava.org/Pages/CurrentPro.html#katrina http://www.rebuildgreen.org *********************************************************** 10/03: Campaigns and Issues Working Group Meeting Monday, October 3rd 7:00pm- 9:00pm 1028A Howard St. (SFGP Office) The Campaigns and Issues working group will be planning our slate card and discussing ways to support the campaigns we have endorsed. Other items TBA. Please contact Susan King (funking@mindspring.com), Marc Solomon (marc@cybre.net), or Charlene Smythe (info@sfgreens.org) if you have an item relevant to this working group that you would like to have on the agenda *********************************************************** ************************* Announcements: ************************* *********************************************************** Joke of the Week (Due to massive support for this section, our staff now presents *two* jokes each week! Enjoy! -ed.) What Is A Tragedy President Bush was visiting a primary school and he dropped in on one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked the President if he would like to lead the discussion on the word "tragedy". So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a "tragedy". One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him that would be a tragedy." "No," said Bush, "that would be an accident." A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy." "I'm afraid ! not," explained the president. "That's what we would call a great loss." The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Bush searched the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?" Finally at the back of the room a small boy raised his hand. In a quiet voice he said: "If Air Force One carrying you and Mrs. Bush was struck by a "friendly fire" missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy." "Fantastic!" exclaimed Bush. "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?" "Well," says the boy, "It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a fucking accident either." Ode To Tom DeLay (Sing to "To All The Girls I've Loved Before") By Madeleine Begun Kane A Rep whose name is Tom DeLay, He breaks the rules most ev'ry day. He don't respect the law, Thinks ethics are a bore. 'Tis time to show him crime don't pay. Tom practices dishonesty. Ignores the law with joy and glee. Misused the FBI, Golf junkets on the sly, How 'bout we stop his crim'nal spree... ( The entire Ode To Tom DeLay song parody is here: http://www.madkane.com/notable01_05a.html#03_30_05) *********************************************************** "Opt-Out" Deadline for High School Students Just a quick reminder to all parents of high school seniors that the deadline for turning in the paperwork that allows respective districts to deny military recruiters access to the name, address and telephone number of their child is Oct. 1. Most parents are still unaware that per No Child Left Behind unless parents submit necessary paperwork to "opt out", schools must provide access of students records to military recruiters. Michelle Crow Congressional District Aide U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-7) 810 E. 22nd St, Ste 102 Tucson, AZ 85713 Phone: (520) 622-6788 - Fax: (520) 622-0198 Michelle.Crow@mail.house.gov www.house.gov/grijalva *********************************************************** Become a Green Party Sustainer! As you may know, the SFGP is supported by our wonderful sustaining donors -- 175 and growing. In the next 12 months we hope to double that figure, and you can help us achieve our goal by signing up to make a regular contribution to the Green Party. Our sustainer program nearly pays all of our basic monthly operating expenses, including rent and utilities on the office, and drastically reduces the amount of work needed to raise money. Our sustainers free us up to do what we're really here for - to pursue Green values through the democratic system. Sustainers also ensure that we are able to keep our office, which has hosted numerous campaigns' headquarters including the successful Prop A, Instant Runoff Voting initiative. Becoming a Green Party sustainer is easy, fun, and secure! Online: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/makeadonation/makeadonation.html Phone: 415-701-7090 ************************************************************ For more info on our activities, please see our website, http://www.sfgreenparty.org. You can also email us questions, comments, Letters to the Editor, or fan mail, at info@sfgreens.org. To send us news items (short blurb please, plain text only), email news@sfgreens.org. Please don't put these addresses on mailing lists; messages not specifically addressed to us won't go through. Submissions for Joke of the Week are welcomed by the editor at ladypest@hotmail.com