[SFGP] SF Green Party Weekly 3/28-4/4

Wed Mar 28 02:06:31 PDT 2007

SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 3/28/07-4/4/07

NEWS:
- MoveOn Claims 84% of its Members Support Pelosi's Iraq Proposal.  
But Do They?
	http://tinyurl.com/ynv96u
- Another reason to vote Green: The Democrats continue to ignore the  
racist Drug War!
	http://tinyurl.com/2pnbdq

EVENTS:
This week:
- 4/5: Animal Advocacy Working Group
- 4/22: Celebrate Earth Day at Green Apple Music and Arts Festival

ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS:
- 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:
- Stop the Clash of Civilizations (http://tinyurl.com/26a882)

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EVENTS:

4/5: Animal Advocacy Working Group

WHEN:
Thursday, April 5, 2007
7:00PM - order dinner, if you're hungry
7:30PM-9:00PM - meeting

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 at seaserpent.com

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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.

==============================

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

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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

************************************************************

For more info on our activities, please see our website,
http://www.sfgreenparty.org. You can also email us questions at
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