[SFGP] San Francisco Green Party Weekly

[announce at sfgreens.org]

*** Coming soon***
World Environmental Day and International Conference of Mayors, June 1-5.
See next week's updates for a list of events, or go to our website:
www.sfgreenparty.org

This Week:
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News:
5/25: Plastic Bags Are Suffocating Us
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Events:
- 5/26: Politics and Jazz
Announcements:
- Formation of Animal Rights Working Group  
- Formation of Youth Working Group
- Become A Sustainer!

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Plastic Bags Are Suffocating Us!     
Charles Kalish

The Plastic Bag Industry has begun an intensive public relations
campaign.  They want to stop legislation that would eliminate the
plastic bag problem in San Francisco. They are clever, crafty, and, of
course, well-funded.  The truth is that plastic bags are a worldwide
environmental disaster. The second truth is that countries around the
world are successfully eliminating plastic bags from their shopping
cultures.  Plastic bags are a lot worse than we ever could have
imagined. It's hard to believe that they only arrived on the shopping
scene about 25 years ago.  Now, between 500 billion and 1 trillion
plastic bags are used worldwide every year according to Vincent Cobb,
founder of reuseablebags.com.

Read the whole article at http://www.sfgreenparty.org/

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"Politics and Music"
Thursday, May 26
7-9 p.m.
Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St.             

Join Jazz Musician & Jazz Historian Marcus Shelby with SF School Board
President and Jazz Fan Eric Mar in a discussion on how music impact
U.S.  politics.  Thursday, May 26 from 7-9 p.m., Bliss Bar at 4026 24th
Street (Noe).  Free. For more information, call Kim Knox at (415) 290-2706.            

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Announcements:

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ATTENTION ANIMAL-LOVING GREEN PARTY MEMBERS

I am seeking people to start an animal working group with in the San
Francisco Green Party. The mission of this group would be to become a
voice for animals in the Green Party, and support, work with, and
represent animal advocacy groups such as In Defense of Animals
(www.idausa.org).  Ecological wisdom is one of the Green Party's Ten
Key Values. According to the Green Party of California's platform on
ecology and earth stewardship, this also includes treating animals
well and respecting their needs      
(http://cagreens.org/platform/ecology.htm#ethical). Let's live up to this
promise!
Of course, I'm open any kind of ideas and suggestions on how we can make  
this happen. To contact me, I can be emailed at rclord at seaserpent.com
- Rosalind Lord

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STUDENTS, TEENS, ALL YOUNG PEOPLE!

Under 30?
Feeling left out of the decision-making process?
Have some really cool ideas?
Want to talk about issues that matter to you?
Want to have fun and be heard?

Now is your chance!  Did you know that one of the Green Party's goals
is *promoting* youth empowerment?  It's time to speak up and tell us
what *you* want!  We are looking for more young people to take part in
active membership in the San Francisco Green Party.  Not 18 yet?  Not
a problem- all you need to do is say that you identify with us, and
you're in!  We plan to meet one night a month somewhere in the city,
hang out, have fun, and talk about issues important to youth today.
We're still looking for people, so e-mail your suggestions to Nicole
Walter (ladypest at hotmail.com) with the subject "Youth WG" in the
title.

This week's topics:
Event Ideas for World Environment Day
Newcomer "Pizza and Movie Night" at local colleges

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Become a Green Party sustainer!

As you may already know, the SFGP is supported by our wonderful 175
and growing sustaining donors. In the next 12 months we plan to double
that figure, and you can help us achieve our goal by signing up to
make a regular contribution to the Green Party.  As a sustainer, we
will add you to our list of donors who make recurring credit/debit
card contributions averaging $10 per person per month. Already 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 thereby freeing us up
to do what we're really here for - to pursue Green values through the
democratic system. This program also ensures that we are able to keep
our office, which has hosted numerous campaigns' headquarters
including the successful Prop A, Instant Runoff Voting initiative.
You can become a sustainer online or call (415) 701-7090 for more info
on how to become a sustainer.

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For more info on our activities, please see our website,
http://www.sfgreenparty.org.  You can also email us questions at
info at sfgreens.org.  To send us news items (short blurb please, plain
text only) for possible inclusion in the newsletter, email
news at sfgreens.org.  Please don't put these addresses on mailing lists; 
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