[SFGP] SF Green Party Weekly 4/11-4/17
Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly
announce at sfgreens.org
Wed Apr 11 14:24:54 PDT 2007
SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 4/11/07-4/17/07
NEWS:
- 4/10: College Trustees Call for Inquiry Chronicle, prominently
mentions College Board Trustee John Rizzo
http://tinyurl.com/2r8465
- 4/2: 100 Billion Reasons for Ban, By Ross Mirkarimi
http://tinyurl.com/2jjulp
http://tinyurl.com/36vxtf
- 4/2: Where the "Invisible Hand" Doesn't Work, by Green Party
activist Marc Salomon, BeyondChron.org
http://tinyurl.com/2vlftz
- 3/29: Plastics of Evil, The Economist, UK
http://tinyurl.com/332c9n
- 3/29: SF Votes to ban plastic bags, Gulf Times, Qatar
http://tinyurl.com/2sl32s
- 3/28: Big Housing Lie, Guardian, mentions Marc Salomon
http://tinyurl.com/2fyfqp
- 3/28: SF to Ban Plastic Grocery Bags, Reuters via CNN, pictures Ross
http://tinyurl.com/29h3qr
- 3/28: SF Bans Traditional Plastic grocery bags, CBC News, Canada
http://tinyurl.com/yp94lo
- 3/28: SF Board Votes to Ban Some Plastic Bags, NY Times
http://tinyurl.com/2fsrgs
- 3/27: Plastic Bags are Suffocating Us, FogCityJournal, by Charles
Kalish
http://tinyurl.com/yre8mc
- 3/27: SF Leaders OK Plastic Grocery bag ban, AP via ABC News
(Pictures Ross handing out bags)
http://tinyurl.com/yvdzlx
- 3/14: SF Nears Ban on Plastic Grocery Bags, NPR Morning Edition
http://tinyurl.com/yo7g7t
EVENTS:
This week:
- 4/14: Protest No Child Left Behind with the Feminist Issues Group
- 4/15: Camp Pelosi Potluck, Discussion
- 4/15: WestSide Green Club Meeting
- 4/18: CA Green Party meeting planning
- 4/18: SF Green Party General Membership Meeting
- 4/22: Celebrate Earth Day at Green Apple Music and Arts Festival
Save the date:
- 5/25-26: California State Green Party Meeting
- 5/28: Bay Area Green Party Outing
ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS:
- Stop Peabody and Save Black Mesa! (http://www.stoppeabody.org/)
- URGENT: Help Get Conscientious Objector Agustin Aguayo Out of Jail!
See www.aguayodefense.org for details.
For details on how to write to Agustin, and donate to his legal
defense fund, see Helga Aguayo's letter below
IN EVERY ISSUE:
- Nancy Pelosi Watch, newly designed by Micheas Herman!
(www.pelosiwatch.us)
- Gavin Newsom Watch (http://tinyurl.com/23v3gp)
- Car-Free Talk with Green Party Activist Sue Vaughan
- 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
NOT SO MUCH OF A JOKE OF THE WEEK:
- Toy Soldiers: A PSA by Code Pink (http://www.bushflash.com/yt111.html)
************************************************************
EVENTS:
4/14: Protest No Child Left Behind with the Feminist Issues Group
WHEN:
Saturday, April 14
10:00AM - noon
WHERE:
National School Boards Association Meeting, Moscone Center North and
South
DETAILS:
No Child Left Behind is dismantling public education by forcing
standardized testing and myriad obstacles to academic development in
the absence of adequate education funding.
Gather outside the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Join teachers,
parents, administrators, school board members and students from the
south valley, the peninsula, Oakland, San Francisco and elsewhere
protesting the impact No Child Left Behind is having on education.
Information picket outside the National School Boards Association
annual meeting.
---------
4/15: Camp Pelosi Potluck, Discussion
WHEN:
Sunday, April 15
10:00AM-noon
WHERE:
Camp Pelosi, 2640 Broadway at Scott and Divisadero, Pacific Heights,
San Francisco
DETAILS:
Sanaz Meshkinpour, who will speak about Pelosi's visit to the Middle
East, the release of the British soldiers, the status of women in
Iran, and actions to prevent an attack on Iran.
Bring food (bagels, salad, cream cheese, quiche, crepes etc), bring
drinks but most importantly bring yourself for this morning talk.
Sanaz is an Iranian American activist of Jewish and Muslim parents.
She believes that sanctions or military intervention in Iran would
bring about dangerous consequences to the Iranian civil society and
populace, as well as for ongoing conflicts within the region. She has
family in Iran, Israel and the US - she regularly visits friends and
family in Iran.
---------
4/15: WestSide Green Club Meeting
WHEN:
Sunday, April 15
3:00AM-5:000PM
WHERE:
Home of Barry Hermanson, 2467 - 28th Avenue, between Taraval and
Ulloa, San Francisco
CONTACT:
Call Barry at 415-664-7754 or Nancy Lewis at 415-661-5713
---------
4/18: CA Green Party meeting planning
WHEN:
Wednesday, April 18
6:00PM-7:30PM, prior to General Membership Meeting
WHERE:
San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St.
and 7th St.), San Francisco 94103
DETAILS:
Discuss the roles and tasks for producing the statewide meeting in
SF. Tasks include outreach, workshop and presentation planning,
logistics, catering, lodging, Saturday night entertainment, keynote
speakers, press conference, press outreach, tabling coordination,
volunteers.
---------
4/18: SF Green Party General Membership Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday, April 18, 7:30-9:30
WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between
6th St.
and 7th St.), San Francisco 94103
DETAILS: Regular monthly meeting of the SFGP. This month: discussion
on Immigration with Renee Saucedo. Full agenda posted at
www.sfgreenparty.org
---------
4/22: Celebrate Earth Day at Green Apple Music and Arts Festival
WHEN:
Sunday, April 22
10:00AM-4:30PM
WHERE:
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
CONTACT:
Call Sue at (415) 668-3119 if you want to help table
DETAILS:
Celebrate Earth Day with a day of tabling in Golden Gate Park.
Promoters are expecting 30,000 people.
---------
5/25-26: California State Green Party Meetings
WHEN:
Saturday, May 25
Sunday, May 26
Meeting starts at 9:00AM
Lunch 12:30PM-1:30PM w/keynote speakers
WHERE:
To be announced
DETAILS:
Registration begins at 8:00 am both days
---------
5/28: Bay Area Green Party Outing
WHEN:
Monday, May 28
TIME:
To be announced
WHERE:
To be announced
==============================
ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS:
URGENT: Help Get Conscientious Objector Agustin Aguayo Out of Jail!
See letter from Helga Aguayo:
Dear Friends,
Some important dates for us:
January 13th, 2007 was Augie’s, original ETS (end term of service)
date. But instead he was stop-lossed ( "STOP LOSS" means preventing
a soldier leaving the military, even though the required term of
service is completed).
December 17th was Augie's 35th birthday, spent of course in military
prison. THANK YOU to everyone who sent him a card.
On December 12th, Augie had his Article 32 hearing (a formal
military hearing that determines if there is enough evidence to
conduct a court martial, similar to a grand jury investigation).
His arraignment is currently scheduled for January 22nd; according
to Dave Court, our new lawyer in Germany, this is "merely to
establish dates for trial, motions, exchange of witness lists, etc."
Nothing substantive will occur. Augie will be formally charged with
desertion and missing movement in a General Court Martial set to
occur in late February or March. A General Court-Martial is the most
serious criminal proceeding that can be brought against a member of
the military. A conviction by this Court is considered a federal
felony and creates a criminal record for life. FOR WHAT?! Not
wanting to kill, not wanting to contribute to the missions that kill,
for being against war! I feel SO SAD!
Meanwhile our case in civilian court is still pending. On November
21st, 2006 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard Augie’s petition.
The ruling can take between 6 weeks to 6 months. There is still hope
that he might get exonerated! Please keep Augie in your prayers.
Should the court martial go ahead, I wish to testify. I want the
court to realize that his family mourns Augie's absence every second
of every day. I hope the courtroom will be filled with supporters so
the Army will know the world is watching. For those of you based in
Europe, please consider attending if you can! Whatever happens, I
will carry your strength, support, and solidarity with me in my
heart. Our voices will unite. WE WILL BE HEARD!
Here in L.A., our twin daughters, Raquel and Rebecca have seen better
days. They are struggling in school and may not pass 6th grade.
Last year at the U.S. base school in Germany, the girls were on the
honor role! The turmoil has been hard on them. I tell them every
day, “this will pass”.
Money issues -- I just sent our German-based lawyer, David Court,
the next installment on his fees: 1000 €. I had to borrow some of
it. The next installment of 2000€ is due two weeks before the court-
martial.
Tax deductible donations to the Legal Defense Fund can be made via
<www.couragetoresist.org>. More direct donations (without a tax
deduction) can be made via <www.aguayodefense.org>. I need funds to
travel to Germany for the court martial too.
Right now I am fund-raising with Courage to Resist and Iraq Veteran's
Against the War. I hope to see results soon. I continue to do
interviews with various news organizations, including one today for
National Public Radio. I think it went well.
Next week I start speaking at California high schools about the OTHER
SIDE of enlisting in the military. It's called "counter-
recruitment". As far as I understand, California is the only state
that MANDATES high school seniors hear both sides of military
recruitment. This is a project that is dear to my heart! Los
Angeles is the Number ONE recruitment city of high school seniors. I
want to work to change that.
Meanwhile I attend rallies to publicize Augie's situation. Many of
Augie's family members take part.
Some good news: I have struggled to keep up the website:
<www.aguayodefense.org>. Now a PROFESSIONAL web designer has
volunteered to take over. Hurrah! Improvements should be visible soon.
I THANK YOU all for working so hard and diligently to support Augie
and the family!
With all my love,
Helga P. Aguayo
36838 57th Street East
Palmdale, CA 93552
USA
To write to Agustin:
SPC Agustín Aguayo
Unit 29723
Box LL
APO, AE 09028-3810
USA
---------
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 at 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 at 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
************************************************************
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