Don't Lift the Sanctions Yet!
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512082158628.html

US Navy Leaves Vieques After 60 Years of Bombing
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512081546529.html

Greens Lead Takeover of New Paltz, NY
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512075302911.html

Arresting Protest
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509060824694.html

Bush's Malpractice Agenda Will Cause More Suffering
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509060424477.html

Letter to Registered Greens
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509055248862.html

Critic: Media Aids US War Propaganda
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508060050601.html

Greens oppose Theft of Michigan Water
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508055421771.html

Utah Greens Get Ballot Line
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508055005177.html

Greens Win in New Paltz!
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507062851395.html

A Different 2004 Campaign?
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507061758401.html

Did Vietnam-era protesters spit?
http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507061329819.html

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Don't Lift the Sanctions Yet!

by Rahul Mahajan

After five years spent working to end the sanctions on Iraq, I find myself in an odd position. I'm opposed to the current U.S. plans to end the sanctions.

The new situation is fascinating. For a dozen years, every time we in the anti-sanctions movement talked about the suffering caused by the sanctions (well over 500,000 children under the age of five dead and a society in ruins), the constant refrain from the Bush administration, the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration -- was that the suffering was not caused by sanctions but by the regime. Once the regime is destroyed, miraculously, the Bush administration realizes overnight that sanctions were actually harmful and that it's necessary to remove that burden from the Iraqi people in order to provide humanitarian aid and reconstruction.

Adding to the confusion, the two countries on the Security Council previously most against continuation of the sanctions, France and Russia, did an about-face and opposed the U.S. plans. Both (especially Russia) have insisted that sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. weapons inspectors certify that Iraq is disarmed of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This is true even though Vladimir Putin of Russia openly mocked Tony Blair about the dramatically unconfirmed claims by "coalition" members that Iraq possessed WMD that posed a threat to the world.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512082158628.html

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US Navy Leaves Vieques After 60 Years of Bombing

The US Navy bombing tests and military practice on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, has ended. On May 1, citizens in Vieques celebrated the first day in over 60 years without a US Navy bombing run.

Puerto Ricans of Vieques objected to the US Navy's presence across many other ideologically divisive issues regarding the US. Until recently, the US Navy owned over two-thirds of Vieques. When the US bought this land in the 1940s, many families and farmers were forced out of their homes and off their lands to make way for military exercises, which began in 1947.

Bush announced that the Navy would leave Vieques in June 2001, and it is widely accepted that it was the success of the protest movement that led to the this decision and to the US Navy's withdrawl.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512081546529.html

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Greens Lead Takeover of New Paltz, NY

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Six months after the Green Party of New York State lost ballot status, the Green Party led a progressive takeover of the Village of New Paltz in New York.

In an upset victory, Green Party of New York State committee member Jason West was elected Mayor of the Village of New Paltz. Green Party member Rebecca Rotzler was elected Trustee. State University of New York (SUNY-NP) student Julia Walsh was also elected Trustee. The three united in a progressive coalition titled "Innovation Campaign" with both the Green Party and Innovation Party listed on the ballot line.

"New York Greens lost ballot status in 2002 after failing to win at least 50,000 votes for their gubernatorial candidate, a requirement under New York's ballot access rules designed by the Democrats and Republicans in collusion," said Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Party of New York State. "New York Greens have filed a so far successful suit to retain the right of New York voters to enroll in the party. That's why we consider our victories in New Paltz so important for third parties. This is the first time Green politics and policies of clean government and ecological sustainability will be tried in New York at the municipal level. New York voters will see Greens in action."

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030512075302911.html

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Arresting Protest

April 28, 2003 -- The New York Civil Liberties Union today released a special report, entitled "Arresting Protest," about the City's and Police Department's actions with respect to the February 15 antiwar event. The 40 page report chronicles the actions surrounding New York City's decision to prohibit any march, reviews actions by the NYPD on February 15, provides detailed information about nearly eyewitness 350 accounts received by the NYCLU from people alleging police misconduct that day, and compares the actions of the NYPD with those of law-enforcement agencies in other cities where large protest events took place on February 15.

The report concludes specific recommendations, including a call for an end to the use of physical force against peaceful protesters. In a letter delivered today to Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly, the NYCLU urges the City to consider the report's recommendations with an eye toward the large demonstrations that are likely to take place at next year's Republican convention here in New York City.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509060824694.html

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Bush's Malpractice Agenda Will Cause More Suffering

Last month the nation watched with sadness as 17-year-old Jesica Santillan fought for her life, then died, at Duke University Medical Center after receiving a heart-lung transplant that didn’t match her blood type. The case threw a harsh spotlight on a health care system that is plagued by preventable mistakes that leave tens of thousands of patients horribly injured or dead each year.

But it did nothing to deter President Bush and his allies in the corporate world and the health care lobby from continuing their cruel campaign to quash the rights of injured patients and surviving families members.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509060424477.html

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Letter to Registered Greens

On May 5, Green Party member Jason West won the mayoral race in New Paltz, New York. With the election of Julia Walsh and Rebecca Rotzler, Jason's "Innovation Party" will have a majority on the village board.

Jason's win is good news in a dark time -- when the Democratic Party can't stop Bush's war against the Middle East, Bush's war against the environment or Bush's war against poor and working people. It proves that, on a local level, old-fashioned organizing can beat the power of big business.

Under the Cohen administration, Ithaca's fate was in the hands of big box corporations and out-of-town landlords. The mayoralty and every common council seat is up for grabs this year, so Greens have a special opportunity to not only elect a progressive mayor, but to run Green candidates and win one or more common council positions.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030509055248862.html

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Critic: Media Aids US War Propaganda

By David Morgan, Reuters

PHILADELPHIA - It is one of the most famous images of the war in Iraq: a U.S. soldier scaling a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and draping the Stars and Stripes over the black metal visage of the ousted despot.

But for Harper's magazine publisher John MacArthur, that same image of U.S. military victory is also indicative of a propaganda campaign being waged by the Bush administration.

"It was absolutely a photo-op created for (U.S. President George W.) Bush's re-election campaign commercials," MacArthur, a self-appointed authority on U.S. government propaganda, said in an interview. "CNN, MSNBC and Fox swallowed it whole."

In 1992, MacArthur wrote "Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War," a withering critique of government and media actions that he says misled the public after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

In MacArthur's opinion, little has changed during the latest Iraq war, prompting him to begin work on an updated edition of "Second Front." U.S. government public relations specialists are still concocting bogus stories to serve government interests, he says, and credulous journalists stand ready to scarf up the baloney.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508060050601.html

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Greens oppose Theft of Michigan Water

The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) is renewing its support for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) as that group takes its fight to keep Michigan water from being extracted and bottled by the Nestle/Perrier conglomerate to a long-delayed court hearing tomorrow in Big Rapids.

GPMI is also calling on Governor Jennifer Granholm to act immediately on her campaign promises -- and the legal position she took as Attorney General -- and stop the theft of Michigan water by Perrier.

Mecosta County Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Root will hold the opening court date for MCWC's suit against Nestlé/Perrier/Ice Mountain on Monday, May 5 in Room 101 of the county courthouse (at 400 Elm Street in Big Rapids.

Ice Mountain -- a subsidiary of Nestlé, and formerly in the conglomerate's Perrier Group until Nestlé Waters North America was reorganized into domestic and international divisions -- is diverting water from the Great Lakes and selling it for profit. The state has allowed this abduction of our natural resources -- and it gets no monetary return. Meanwhile, the surrounding Mecosta County community is being forced to cope with the aftereffects of groundwater/aquifer loss.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508055421771.html

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Utah Greens Get Ballot Line

by Rob Morrison GreenPages, Vol 6, No.4

This was a watershed year of success for the Green Party of Utah. The party ran candidates for 13 offices and received nearly 30,000 votes in an election that saw a low turnout (45 percent).

Although no candidates were elected, Greens are now a legally recognized continuing party with automatic ballot access in the 2004 general election.

The party earned its status with more than 14,000 votes garnered by one candidate in Salt Lake County. State law requires at least one candidate to receive 2 percent or more of the total votes cast in congressional races.

Greens learned important lessons from this campaign. For the first time in its seven-year existence, Utah Greens ran candidates at the county, legislative, and congressional levels, receiving between 1 and 17 percent of the vote.

Many candidates received positive media attention and participated in public debates. In 2004 the party plans to run even more candidates, especially at the local level. Utah Greens' plans include building the party and pursuing instant-runoff voting and clean election campaigns initiatives.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030508055005177.html

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Greens Win in New Paltz!

By Hallie Arnold, Freeman staff May 07, 2003

NEW PALTZ - The three-member Innovation Party ticket led by Green Party member Jason West swept the village elections Tuesday, unseating 16-year incumbent Mayor Thomas Nyquist, who finished almost dead even with challenger Robert Feldman.

West, 26, received 322 votes, according to unofficial election results released at the polls Tuesday night, easily defeating Nyquist, who garnered 258 votes in his fifth run for mayor, and Feldman, a village trustee who was a close third with 255. Trailing way behind was a fourth candidate, Carl Heissenbuttel, with 34 votes. Because Feldman's seat on the Village Board was not up for election, he will remain on the board. But the Innovation Party will hold a majority. West, a house painter and puppeteer, said his vision is to explore alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and use them in local government to "make New Paltz the cutting edge of environmentally sustainable practices within municipalities."

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507062851395.html

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A Different 2004 Campaign?

by Norman Solomon

Eighteen months from now, citizens will vote for president. If the 2004 campaign is anything like the last one, the election returns will mark the culmination of a depressing media spectacle.

For news watchers, the candidates and the coverage can be hard to take. Appearances on television are apt to become tedious, nauseating or worse. Campaign ads often push the limits of slick pandering. Journalists routinely seem fixated on "horseracing" the contest instead of reporting about the huge financial interests that candidates have served.

Media-driven campaigns now dominate every presidential race, badly skewed in favor of big money. And while millions of progressive-minded Americans are eager to have an impact on the political process, they often face what appears to be a choice between severe compromise and marginalization.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507061758401.html

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Did Vietnam-era protesters spit?

Curt Dunnam's April 14 letter, "Focus on debating the issues about Iraq," addresses the "ploys (that) don't usefully address issues of the day; they are all just attempts at intimidating debate."

The bulk of verbal intimidation comes from pro-war advocates, mostly Republicans, using variations on that party's long tradition of McCarthyism that has destroyed the reputations of countless American citizens and poisoned political debate in this country for more than half a century.

This right-wing propaganda force has been in high gear for months obscuring the political, economic and constitutional issues involved with George W. Bush's endless war on terrorism and the unprovoked military invasion of Iraq.

Instead of reasoned dialogue, today's McCarthyites berate antiwar activists and others who question the ruling agenda as "anti-American" and "disloyal" to U.S. troops in combat. The worst form of verbal intimidation pressures antiwar protesters to "support the troops," a type of loyalty oath meaning "support the policy." This ploy maintains the fiction that protesters must take responsibility for the deaths of soldiers who are placed in harm's way by warmongering presidents, Democrat and Republican alike.

http://www.tcgreens.org/gl/articles/20030507061329819.html

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