[Shasta-plus] FW: [usgp-coo] U.S. Green Party News Circulator for 11/10/03-11/17/03
Peggy Lewis
pegola@greens.org
Mon, 17 Nov 2003 22:18:11 -0800
U.S. Green Party News Circulator for 11/10/03-11/17/03
For more Green Party news go to http://web.greens.org/news/
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1) AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS COALITION MAY HAVE
UNDERESTIMATED THE "LOSERS" IN IRAQ WAR
2) IRELAND:FARMERS SHOULD NOT FOOT BILL FOR PESTICIDE WASTE
3) CALIFORNIA: POLL SHOWS SF MAYOR AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY RACES WILL BE
CLOSE
4) GERMANY: GERMANY STARTS HISTORIC NUCLEAR-POWER SHUTDOWN AS FIRST
PLANT SWITCHES OFF
5) CANADA: CANDYMAN FACES B.C. TAX BITE
6) GERMANY: GERMANY 2004 GOVT BORROW GOAL CUT TO E29.3BN VS E30.8BN:
OFFL
7) NEW ZEALAND: ROUGH WINDS FOR TURBINE FIRM
8) IRELAND: ELECTION TRAIL: ENERGY TO BURN, IN AN ECO-FRIENDLY WAY, OF
COURSE
9) ENGLAND: BUILDING ON GREEN POLICIES
10) ENGLAND: COUNCILLOR PAYS HEAVY PRICE FOR TRUTH
11) FLORIDA: CALENDAR OF FTAA EVENTS
12) PENNSYLVANIA: HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN POLITICAL CROSSFIRE; GROUP'S
WAIVER REQUEST TABLED UNTIL ZOWNIRIW TAKES OFFICE.
13) ENGLAND: HOME BUILDERS CHALLENGE PLANS BLOCK
14) CROATIA: GREEN COALITION SET ON "ENCOURAGING" RURAL TOURISM IN
CROATIA
15) PENNSYLVANIA: PARTY ROOTS GROW GREEN; THE GREEN PARTY ACHIEVED A
GOAL OF SMALL VICTORIES IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
16) CALIFORNIA: GREEN PARTY ACTIVIST GOES AFTER MATSUI; PATRICK DRISCOLL
SAYS HE'LL TRY TO WREST AWAY CONGRESSIONAL SEAT.
17) PENNSYLVANIA: GREEN BANNER PREVAILS; PORT CLINTON VOTERS SPUR A
COUNTY 1ST
18) GREENS TAKE A STICK TO CARROTS OFFERED UP BY THE AETHNIC PARTIES
19) WISCONSIN CORRECTION
20) CZECH REPUBLIC: GREEN PARTY WANT TO IMPROVE DEMOCRATIC MECHANISMS
21) ENGLAND: SUFFOLK GREEN PARTY HAS CALLED FOR THE COUNTY COUNCIL TO
DEVOTE MORE MONEY AND RESOURCES TO PROMOTING THE USE OF SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT.
22) NEW ZEALAND: AWATERE HUATA'S MOVE SENDS ACT DOWN RANKS
23) AUSTRALIA: DRIVEN TO PROTEST
24) WALES: GREENS IN THE FIGHT
25) ENGLAND: LETTER: GREEN POLICY IS RADICAL SOLUTION
26) ENGLAND: LETTER: NOT SUCH A RED KEN
27) CALIFORNIA: S.F. CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK
28) WALES: WARNING ON 'GAG' DECISION
29) MINNESOTA: ATTORNEYS DROP PROBE OF PAWLENTY
30) ENGLAND: CHEERS FOR LABOUR REBEL GALLOWAY
31) WISCONSIN: NADER SAYS FLORIDA STOLEN FROM DEMOCRATS
32) RUSSIA: COURT UPHOLDS CEC DECISION TO DENY FREE AIRTIME TO GREENS
33) ENGLAND: PARTY BITES BACK AT DENTAL SPIN
34) PENNSYLVANIA: SOGGS PLAYED MILD SPOILER IN RACE
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1) Associated Press Worldstream; November 15, 2003
AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS COALITION MAY HAVE
UNDERESTIMATED THE "LOSERS" IN IRAQ WAR
Sydney -- Australia's defense minister said the U.S.-led coalition may
have underestimated the desire of fighters loyal to deposed leader
Saddam Hussein to fight back in postwar Iraq, Australian media reported
Saturday.
The comments by Defense Minister Robert Hill came as U.S. allies
including Japan were rethinking their commitments to send troops to Iraq
following Wednesday's bombing of an Italian paramilitary base in the
southern city of Nasariyah, which killed 32 people....
...In Australia, opposition Green Party Sen. Bob Brown attacked Hill's
decision to extend the troops' stay.
"The Greens call for the prime minister to honor his government's pledge
to bring our Australians home when the mission was accomplished," Brown
told reporters Saturday....
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2) Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland); November 15, 2003
IRELAND:FARMERS SHOULD NOT FOOT BILL FOR PESTICIDE WASTE
The pesticide industry, not hard-pressed farmers, should be made to pay
for the safe disposal of obsolete pesticides, Green Party leader Dr John
Barry said yesterday.
His call came as Friends of the Earth warned that passing the costs of
disposal on to farmers, even at a discounted rate, may be a
disincentive.
The Green Party is also backing Friends of the Earth in calling for a
significant increase in Government funding for research and development
into safer alternatives to the most hazardous pesticides and changes to
the regulatory process to ensure that non-chemical alternatives can
reach UK farmers.
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3) The Associated Press State & Local Wire; November 14, 2003
CALIFORNIA: POLL SHOWS SF MAYOR AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY RACES WILL BE
CLOSE
San Francisco -- A Friday poll showed that the races for mayor and
district attorney in this city are starting to heat up.
A poll conducted by local station CBS 5 Eyewitness News showed Green
Party candidate Matt Gonzales leading with 49 percent of the vote, while
Democrat Gavin Newsom was close behind with 47 percent. Four percent of
voters were undecided.
In the Nov. 4 election, Newsom led with 41 percent of the votes over
Gonzales, who received 20 percent. A run-off election, scheduled for
Dec. 9, became necessary because neither candidate received the majority
of the vote.
Gonzales is vying to become the Green Party's only mayor of a major U.S.
city. Newsom, known for his get-tough approach to the city's panhandling
problem, has been endorsed by current mayor Willie Brown...
...The polls were based on responses gathered between Nov. 11 and 15
from about 500 registered voters.
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4) Associated Press Worldstream; November 14, 2003
GERMANY: GERMANY STARTS HISTORIC NUCLEAR-POWER SHUTDOWN AS FIRST PLANT
SWITCHES OFF
by Stephen Graham, Associated PressWriter
Stade, Germany -- Germany disconnected the first of its 19 nuclear power
stations Friday, beginning an unprecedented phase-out that underlines
differences between Europe and the United States on how to secure future
energy supplies.
Technicians at a 32-year-old nuclear plant at Stade near Hamburg
switched it off forever, sparking celebrations among the
environmentalist Greens, the junior party in Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder's government.
"The Stade nuclear power plant was an expensive dead end," Environment
Minister Juergen Trittin said before Greens party colleagues at a
champagne reception in a Berlin art museum. "Nuclear energy has no
future in Germany."
Germany is the first major industrialized nation to renounce the
technology. Under a deal negotiated after years of wrangling between the
government and power company bosses, all Germany's nuclear reactors are
to close by 2020....
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5) The Daily Herald-Tribune (Grande Prairie, Alberta); November 14, 2003
CANADA: CANDYMAN FACES B.C. TAX BITE
by CP
Vancouver -- The leader of the B.C. Green party wants the taxman to put
the bite on the candyman in British Columbia.
Adriane Carr said British Columbia should copy several American states
by imposing a new tax on junk food and directing the proceeds to school
programs.
She said right now it's a double whammy against kids and parents - the
cost of the food, then the cost of paying to deal with adverse health
effects.
Carr said cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer are among the
diseases linked to the amount of junk food people eat.
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6) The Main Wire; November 14, 2003
GERMANY: GERMANY 2004 GOVT BORROW GOAL CUT TO E29.3BN VS E30.8BN: OFFL
Germany Govt Borrowing Cut In Budget Cmte; Bundestag To Pass
Berlin -- The German government's 2004 net new borrowing goal was
lowered late Thursday by the parliamentary budget committee to E29.3
billion from a previous E30.8 billion, SPD budget spokesman Walter
Schoeler told Market News International Friday.
On Thursday, the Green Party budget spokeswoman Antje Hermenau, told MNI
that she was confident that federal net new borrowing could be limited
to between E29 to E29.5 billion in 2004.
The new borrowing goal is part of the revised 2004 budget bill that must
still be approved by the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament
controlled by Schroeder's SPD-Green government coalition. Given that the
lowering of the borrowing goal was passed jointly by its approval by the
Bundestag later this month is assured...
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7) The National Business Review (New Zealand); November 14, 2003
NEW ZEALAND: ROUGH WINDS FOR TURBINE FIRM
by Chris Hutching
Christchurch -- Christchurch-based Windflow Technology successfully
raised $5 million in a rights issue with about two-thirds of it coming
from its committed shareholders but it has many hurdles to go before it
can report significant progress.
Windflow is the life's work of wind turbine engineer Geoff Henderson and
his float of the company last year caught the imagination of high-
profile figures, such as Greens Party co-leader Jeannette Fitzimons, who
want to invest in clean fuels for the future and took part in the
initial $2.5 million capital raising that has been spent on initial
trials....
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8) Global News Wire - Europe Intelligence Wire; November 14, 2003
IRELAND: ELECTION TRAIL: ENERGY TO BURN, IN AN ECO-FRIENDLY WAY, OF
COURSE
by Geoff Hill
John Barry drew up in a huge Bentley, handed out a plastic bin- liner
filled with radioactive waste and said: "Here, you wouldn't dump this in
the hedge for me, would you? I'm just on my way to knock down a bunch of
listed buildings to make way for a car park."
Oh, all right, only joking: he was on foot, in a pair of revolutionary
purple Doc Marten's and, in spite of the fresh winter morning, dressed
in a light tropical suit.
"More in hope than expectation," he said, which may well sum up his
party's election hopes in a country dominated by really important issues
like tribal identities and marches, rather than really petty ones like
the future of the world.
For a start, with a name like the Green Party, they won't get any
Orangemen voting for them. John, a 36-year-old reader in politics at
Queen's, has been involved in environmental issues since he was a
political science student at UCD, and is the author of the award-winning
book, Rethinking Green Politics.
He's also a black belt in karate, which makes sense, since killing
someone with your bare hands is much more environmentally friendly than
shooting them.
"Northern Ireland is the only place in Europe where the Green Party is
not involved in government, but I feel that the permafrost of one-issue
politics here is finally melting, which allows in other issues like the
quality of life," was how he put it.
His day on the campaign trail began at the Steiner School in Holywood,
which is based on principles like integration and the value of art and
play, rather than the traditional educational principles of cold showers
and a damned good thrashing before a plate of frozen gruel.
Although it was the first integrated school in the Province when it
opened 25 years ago, it still gets no official funding, partly because
the Government will only hand out money to integrated schools who know
what the religious balance of the pupils is, and the Steiner has never
thought it important to ask what religion its pupils are.
Now there's a remarkable principle for the Province to consider.
And so, off around the leafy avenues of Holywood, an area so comfortable
that only half of its residents normally emerge from behind the
hydrangeas to vote.
Everywhere, the people who opened their heavy mahogany doors were the
same: well-to-do women of a certain age, whose husbands were at work
stalking the corridors of power, shuffling papers on large desks or
passing judgment on indolent youths who had been caught driving cars not
their own through the lawless streets of Belfast.
The response John got was invariably the same, too: the old dears
listened politely to John's spiel about an alternative future, took his
leaflets and closed the door with a baffled look, as if they had heard
of Northern Ireland politics, but couldn't quite remember what they had
done with it.
Perhaps it was in the cupboard under the stairs, where you put things
you plan to get around to one of these days.
At one house, the only occupant was a large, black cat on the
windowsill, who greeted John with a mildly malevolent look which
suggested that the Greens would only get its vote if they could
guarantee an unlimited supply of free mice, thus saving the world by
expending no feline energy whatsoever.
Finally, we found a convert: Peter, a retired civil servant who now
makes furniture from reclaimed timber.
"I'm with you," said Peter. "Charge people for plastic bags in shops,
like they did down south and cut usage 90 per cent. And give us domestic
recycling bins. But what about normal waste?"
"Well, paper, tins, glass and plastic bottles can all be recycled, and
the rest composted. There's wealth in waste: the US has a huge industry
making things from recycled materials, like fleeces from plastic
bottles," said John.
Heavens, look at the time: we were late for a meeting with Friends of
the Earth, who were all up a treehouse near Hillsborough, wearing
sandals and moth-eaten pullovers.
Ha, got you again. You really must stop believing everything you read in
newspapers. They were, in fact, in airy offices off Belfast's Donegall
Street, ready for a discussion about much stronger penalties for those
who flout pollution and planning laws, like the Armagh businessmen who
illegally demolished a row of listed Georgian houses and were fined
peanuts.
Not to mention the fact that the good citizens of Belfast use their cars
more than anyone in Europe.
And the possibility of using all the highly skilled former Shorts and
shipyard engineers currently twiddling their thumbs on the dole to build
the city a tram system to match Amsterdam or Prague.
Or turning our cities and towns into leafy, pedestrianized spaces where
people could walk to work and school, shop and eat at pavement cafs.
It was only lunchtime, but John had already met dozens of people and had
several meetings, and had several more and a full evening of canvassing
ahead of him.
As he explained his thinking with a breadth of vision often all too
lacking in Ulster's blinkered politics, it was impossible not to admire
his intelligence, vision, innovation and, most of all, energy.
In fact, the best option of all for our environment, and for the Green
Party's future, may be not to make him First Minister just yet, but to
somehow find a way to wire him up to the Province's electrical grid.
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9) UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Local London; November 14, 2003
ENGLAND: BUILDING ON GREEN POLICIES
The Green Party is calling for Sutton to get tough with developers and
make sure all new buildings generate renewable energy.
Darren Johnson leader of the Green Party on the London Assembly is
asking for solar panels to be fitted to all new buildings if developers
want to gain planning permission.
The party's demands come after a landmark decision by the Government
which ruled local councils can now set renewable energy targets for new
buildings in their local planning policies.
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10) Lancaster Guardian; November 13, 2003
ENGLAND: COUNCILLOR PAYS HEAVY PRICE FOR TRUTH
Councillor Gina Dowding of the Green Party has been suspended from
council duties for three months. She has been made an example of. She
did a public service by telling the press that Lancaster City Council
was deferring British Energy rate payments with the potential loss of £
18,000 interest to council tax payers. Her reward? An official
suspension. It was a subject which should never have been debated behind
closed doors in the first place. Coun Dowding made a stand against that
secrecy. Paul
Clones and drones need only apply.
That was the blunt message for prospective councillors this week after
Green party member Gina Dowding received a three-month suspension for
whistleblowing.
The stark warning was issued by the Greens after a Standards Board
Commission ruled that Coun Dowding had acted improperly in revealing
details of an exempt item at a council meeting last October.
At a tribunal held on Friday at Lancaster House Hotel, she was suspended
from all council meetings and from all meetings outside the chambers
such as those of the Community Safety Partnership.
The ruling centred around a request from British Energy to defer £ 1.7
million of business rates for Heysham Power Stations during a period of
financial difficulty - a request that councillors agreed to.
I felt that this was such an important decision that the public should
know about it, said Coun Dowding after the adjudication.
Personally, I voted against the decision to allow the deferral because I
felt we shouldn't be propping up what is basically a bankrupt industry,
not to mention the huge amount in interest we could be accumulating from
these funds.
I could have leaked this information totally anonymously but I believe
that people should know how their elected representatives are voting.
A clause in the original code of conduct states our overriding duty
should be to the good of the whole community, a sentence that has now
been removed.
The chairperson even admitted this had been taken out to stop people
like me using it as a defence. I argued that it is the spirit of the new
code that is at fault and that we should be working towards open
government and greater transparency.
Coun Dowding rejects the argument put forward by other councillors that
the deferral was in the best interests of safeguarding the jobs of the
plants' 1,000 workers.
The fact is that the industry is on its knees financially and everybody
knows it is only a matter of time before the site is decommissioned. Why
are we pouring taxpayers money down a black hole?
The tribunal heard that British Energy had successfully petitioned six
other local authorities in England for a rate deferral, despite the fact
that the European Commission ruled that such assistance amounted to
'illegal state aid'.
However, the adjudication panel refused to accept this argument in
mitigation, claiming that Coun Dowding was unaware of the ruling at the
time she provided details to the press.
In reaching their verdict, the panel of three ruled that the Duke's
councillor had breached the code of conduct laid out in the Local
Government Act 2000 which governs councillors' behaviour.
Coun Dowding admits she feels no rancour towards her colleagues.
Unfortunately, if it is discovered that councillors have failed to
report a possible breach of conduct they can be held accountable
themselves for breaching the code.
The hearing was also told that the rate deferral had been proposed at
the original meeting as 'urgent business' by the then council leader,
Tricia Heath.
Defending Coun Dowding, barrister Hugo Charlton argued that as Mrs
Heath's husband was employed by Heysham Power Station, then this
represented a significant conflict of interest that should have been
declared.
Since the tribunal, many constituents have offered messages of support -
even those who agreed with the Heysham decision but felt that the public
still had a right to know about it.
This was an excessively harsh ruling considering that nobody was
actually harmed by Gina's actions, said council leader Ian Barker.
My view is that the original decision should have been made in the
public domain to start with and shouldn't have been an exempt item.
The panel's ruling was all the more galling for Coun Dowding after the
vindication of seeing British Energy repay £ 27,500 in lost interest
last month just as the council was about to make a demand for this
money.
The 41-year-old mother of two, who left a job in the health service to
become a councillor, will now forego all her expenses over the next
three months.
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11) Miami New Times (Florida); November 13, 2003
FLORIDA: CALENDAR OF FTAA EVENTS
by Maya Ibars
The arrival of the FTAA ministerial meetings brings not only a rush of
official representatives, but a rush of activists, radicals, and
protesters from all corners of the country as well as all around the
hemisphere. Buses, vans, and charter planes will debark onto Miami soil
starting this weekend, the 14th and 15th. The highlight of the
unofficial participants is a rally on Thursday afternoon, where groups
like the Green Party, the Communist Party, industrial workers unions
from the U.S., rural workers groups from South and Central America, and
even animal-rights groups dressed as dolphins will march through
downtown displaying thousands of reasons why the FTAA will ruin the
lives of thousands of people in the Western Hemisphere. High-profile
musical acts chime in Wednesday night at the People's Gala for Global
Justice at Bayfront Park, which could be dubbed "Protest Central."....
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12) Morning Call (Allentown, PA); November 13, 2003
PENNSYLVANIA: HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN POLITICAL CROSSFIRE; GROUP'S WAIVER
REQUEST TABLED UNTIL ZOWNIRIW TAKES OFFICE.
by Steve Wartenberg
It seemed like a simple request: a subdivision and land development
waiver to build a $25,000 addition to the barn behind the Richland
Historical Society's main building.
"It's the type of request we get from nonprofits, and in the past we've
been very generous with them," said Richland Supervisor Chairman Steve
Tamburri on Wednesday.
But at Monday night's supervisors meeting, members of the historical
society found themselves caught in the middle of a political battle
between the three Republican supervisors and newly elected Mike Zowniriw
of the Green Party, who beat incumbent Patricia Keller on Nov. 4.
Tamburri tabled the request until Zowniriw's first meeting in January,
when he joins Tamburri and Rick Orloff on the three-member board.
The supervisors said they did so to give Zowniriw a chance to live up to
his campaign promise to vote against waivers and variances. The waiver
could save the historical society several hundred dollars in fees and
expenses.
"Now the shoe is on the other foot, and we feel we should give him the
opportunity to vote on the waivers he criticized," Tamburri said.
Zowniriw said the decision was political payback aimed at him and Victor
Stevens, the president of the society and a Zowniriw supporter.
The decision to table the waiver and the raucous nature of Monday's
meeting, in which accusations flew back and forth and the crowd became
unruly at times, could be a harbinger of things to come in Richland.
"This isn't the type of civil government we've run in previous years,"
Tamburri said. "I read in the paper that Mr. Zowniriw wants to extend
the olive branch, but so far his actions, and his supporters' [actions],
have been to the contrary."
"I'm not going to tolerate people shouting out of order and turning this
into mob rule," Orloff said Wednesday. "I was going to make a statement
recognizing [Zowniriw] and his win, but given the tenor of the meeting I
held back."
Zowniriw called on township residents to attend meetings and make their
feelings known, but to "do it in an intellectual way and not let their
feelings turn it into a mob."
He said the supervisors are trying to make his first meeting difficult.
"They're intentionally letting all the waivers pile up until I come into
office, so my first duty will be to grant waivers," he said. "There are
good waivers and bad waivers, and it will be my pleasure to grant the
waiver to the historical society."
The waivers and variances he said he is against are those given to
developers building homes that will bring in more school-age children
and raise the school tax.
Zowniriw said an inkling of what lay ahead came on Election Day.
"Tamburri told [Stevens] that for supporting me, the historical society
will get nothing," Zowniriw said.
According to Tamburri, "I said to Vic, win or lose, the historical
society should lose its subsidy that Richland Township is paying it."
Stevens said the township has given the historical society $500 a year
in the past and paid its security bill.
Tamburri also said the waiver request from the historical society is
similar to the one the supervisors granted to the proposed Upper Bucks
YMCA, which will be built on township land and leased for $1 a year.
Zowniriw is against the YMCA, saying it is not appropriate to use
township open space for that project.
"We're not against the YMCA or giving the waiver to the YMCA," Stevens
said. "We're against putting it on township-owned property that belongs
to the people."
He added: "I'm the reason they tabled [the waiver]. I supported
Zowniriw, and they're making sure they get me and are taking it out on
the historical society."
Orloff suggested Zowniriw is in for a rude awakening when he becomes a
supervisor and tries to live up to his campaign promise to reduce
development.
"There appears to be an incongruity between our approach and his
just-say-no approach," Orloff said. "If you just say no, you'll end up
in court and lose and cost the township thousands and have nothing to
show for it. We negotiated with developers and gained concessions and
open space."
Richland, he said, has a commitment of $2.1 million in contributions to
the township from approved, but uncompleted, developments, and the total
doesn't include land donations and traffic improvements made by
developers.
Plus, Orloff said, the developments in the works represent the "crest
and from here on in we're in the downslope of what can be developed in
the township."
At one point, with a piece of paper in his hand, Zowniriw stood up at
Monday's meeting and said he had proof the supervisors would spend $6
million on a trails project -- not the $1.3 million the supervisors have
budgeted over 10 years -- and would soon make his evidence public.
The proof, Zowniriw said, comes from a December 2002 newspaper article.
In the article, Keller said the trails could cost $6 million but that
much of the money will come from developer concessions in the form of
donating the land for the trail, as well as building it.
"All I did was say they said $6 million," said Zowniriw, defending his
claim. "And even if the developers put up the money, that's money they
could have put up for something the community wants."
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13) UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Lancashire; November 13, 2003
ENGLAND: HOME BUILDERS CHALLENGE PLANS BLOCK
Housing developers are set to go to the High Court next week in a last
ditch bid to win consent for a huge new housing development south of
Lancaster.
Countryside Properties want to overturn a planning inspector's
recommendation - accepted by the Government - that a proposed 535 new
homes should not be built at Whinney Carr Farm.
Residents backed by the Green Party fought a six-year battle to block
the planned homes and Green County Cllr Jonathan Sear says: "The
unacceptable impact this development would have on local people has
already been heard at public inquiries on three occasions. Now the
developer is challenging the decision on a legal technicality. The High
Court will only hear one side of the story and it will be a travesty if
the conclusion is turned on its head."
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14) HINA News Agency; November 12, 2003
CROATIA: GREEN COALITION SET ON "ENCOURAGING" RURAL TOURISM IN CROATIA
Jagodno -- A coalition comprised of the Green Party, the Greens - Party
of the New Age and the Party of the New Alternative - Green Movement on
Wednesday (12 November) presented its platform and candidates for
upcoming parliamentary elections in eight constituencies.
The coalition offers projects focusing on the production of ecologically
healthy food, a healthy environment and disease prevention and the
establishment of cooperatives which will encourage rural tourism, Green
Party leader Zoran Pisl told a news conference in Jagodno near Velika
Gorica.
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15) York Daily Record; November 12, 2003
PENNSYLVANIA: PARTY ROOTS GROW GREEN; THE GREEN PARTY ACHIEVED A GOAL OF
SMALL VICTORIES IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
by Tom Joyce
Perspective counts for a lot. In last week's general election, the Green
Party of York County had a total of two official and one apparent
candidates in office - all in uncontested races for township auditor.
Results like that would have county Republican or Democratic chairs
reaching for the antacids.
But at the Greens' victory party at a York City restaurant that night,
county Green Party chairman Stephen Baker described the mood as
"jubilant."
"We thought this would be our first time to elect a Green in York
County, and we were able to do so," Baker said Monday.
Green Party members throughout the state and nation had set a goal this
year: Get members in any public office, no matter how small. Let people
get used to the idea of Greens in government. And build from there.
The new auditors are April Sullivan of Hellam Township and Edward Gately
of Manheim Township. Marylou Alsentzer of Codorus Township, a write-in
candidate, said she's still awaiting final word of her victory. But she
received five write-in votes, and nobody else received any, so she's
pretty certain the office is hers.
The party also ran three candidates who were defeated in contested
elections: One for district justice in York City, one for York City
school board and one for township supervisor in Peach Bottom Township.
The Green Party, according to the national party's Web site, promotes
values that include environmental protection, feminism, nonviolence,
grassroots democracy and social justice. Pennsylvania state law
recognizes political parties on the basis of how many votes their
candidate for governor gets. The candidate must get at least 2 percent
of the winner's vote. According to those standards, the only official
political parties in Pennsylvania - aside from Republicans and Democrats
- are Libertarians and Greens. Other groups, such as Pennsylvania's
Constitution Party, get the official status of "political body."
According to the York County office of elections, the Greens are the
smallest of the official parties, with 440 members. Below the Greens are
political organizations such as Constitution/Constitutional, Reform and
a bewildering array of one-and-two-digit-membership affiliations ranging
from "Socialist" to "Bull Moose."
Baker's happy with those numbers, though, because York County had
roughly half that number of registered Greens last year. Given the
difficulty of convincing people to run for office, six candidates for an
organization the size of his isn't bad. And as more voters become
disillusioned with the role of big campaign contributions in mainstream
politics, Baker expects that number to grow.
"I think the Greens are being seen as an alternative to that whole
system," Baker said.
Karl Spangler of Dover ran uncontested as a Libertarian for township
auditor in Dover – the only Libertarian candidate in York County. He was
first appointed to that position two years ago, and was simply going for
another term, he said.
Spangler serves as chair of the York County Libertarian Party, which has
a philosophy of
keeping government involvement in citizens' lives to a bare minimum. He
said the local Libertarians aren't aggressively pursuing any available
offices like the Greens are.
"My thing is, don't get involved if you're not going to do a good job at
what you're doing," he said. "We're just trying to grow incrementally
instead of going over our heads."
Doug McConatha, chairman of the Green Party of Pennsylvania, said the
party had 18 people elected to offices statewide this year, and 54
nationwide.
So what exactly do the township auditors do?
Not much, admits Sullivan, a 32-year-old massage therapist. She said the
local party contacted her, and asked her to run.
The auditors ostensibly review the finances of their municipalities. But
most of the nuts-and-bolts work is done by professional accounting
firms.
Sullivan said she's required to attend only one meeting a year, at which
she and two other auditors will help decide on the salary for township
supervisors.
But she says that one advantage to her position, other than the sheer
principle of having Greens in office, is that her new post enables her
to learn more about how township government works.
"I'm interested in understanding what's going on in the community," she
said. "I'm finding it's vast. There's a lot to learn."
************************************************************************
16) Sacramento Bee; November 12, 2003
CALIFORNIA: GREEN PARTY ACTIVIST GOES AFTER MATSUI; PATRICK DRISCOLL
SAYS HE'LL TRY TO WREST AWAY CONGRESSIONAL SEAT.
by Ed Fletcher-
Accusing Rep. Robert Matsui of a "lack of leadership opposing the war in
Iraq," a Green Party activist announced plans Tuesday to contest the
longtime congressman's re-election bid next year.
Patrick Driscoll, a 51-year-old Navy veteran, said his campaign would
seek a symbolic recall of Matsui, D-Sacramento, in the 5th Congressional
District. Members of Congress are not subject to recall.
Driscoll said Matsui should have played a more active role opposing the
war and criticized him for casting pro-military votes.
The congressman's support for free-trade agreements and the Patriot Act,
a controversial law passed in 2001 that significantly expanded the
federal government's investigative authority, are also grounds for
recalling him, Driscoll said. In Washington, Matsui disputed Driscoll's
claim about his role and said Tuesday that he was among 87 members of
Congress who voted against the resolution authorizing the use of force
in Iraq.
"I don't know what he is talking about," Matsui said.
Matsui acknowledged he voted for the Patriot Act, saying authorities in
the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks need the power to
speed investigations. But he added that a "balance between security and
individual rights" is important.
"I think at the time we all hoped (the act) would be modified," said
Matsui. "I still think we need to make modifications."
Matsui is expected to begin his run for another term in the March 2
primary election.
So far, only John Reiger of the Peace and Freedom Party has taken out
papers to run for election in the Democratic-leaning district. The
deadline to enter the race is Dec. 5.
Driscoll, who joined the Navy in 1972, said he chose Veterans Day to
announce his candidacy to highlight the sacrifices made by soldiers in
service to their country and the lives being lost in Iraq. At a news
conference Tuesday, his supporters displayed a memorial with the faces
of the hundreds of U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraqi conflict.
"Our most important duty to our soldiers is to not waste their lives,"
Driscoll said, adding that soldiers are dying in a far-off place
"because our country has been hijacked by radical neo-conservatives and
war-profiteering corporations."
Driscoll, who heads the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, has been an
outspoken critic of the war.
He was arrested twice and cited in March during protests outside the
Sacramento federal building.
Rather than rushing to send troops to war, Driscoll said, he would have
allowed United Nations weapons inspections to continue in Iraq.
Peter Camejo, a two-time Green Party candidate for California governor,
endorsed Driscoll at Tuesday's press conference. Democrats have failed
to provide sufficient opposition to President Bush's "war for oil,"
Camejo said.
"I think the Green Party has an enormous obligation to go to the
American people and to fight George Bush's policies," Camejo said.
************************************************************************
17) Pottsville Republican and Evening Herald; November 12, 2003
PENNSYLVANIA: GREEN BANNER PREVAILS; PORT CLINTON VOTERS SPUR A COUNTY
1ST
by Kimm R. Montone
PORT CLINTON - Thomas J. Davidock took on Republicans and Democrats and
ended up making county history in the process.
Port Clinton borough voters elected Davidock, 26, the county's first
Green Party candidate, to office in the Nov. 4 general election.
He won one of three seats that were up for grabs on the borough council.
With 61 votes, Davidock finished second among the four candidates,
according to the unofficial results from the Schuylkill County
Registration/Election Bureau. Democrat Tammy L. Behun was first with 69
votes, incumbent Republican Eugene Bound garnered 48 votes and Democrat
Michele Fisher, 19.
It is the first time any Green Party candidate has ever won an election
in the county, according to Elizabeth J. Dries, director of the
Schuylkill County Registration/Election Bureau.
Davidock said it wasn't easy to convince the residents in the former
Schuylkill County canal community located just north of the Berks County
line.
"When people asked me about the Green Party ticket, I had to explain the
values, and they were very receptive," he said. "Port Clinton definitely
has a lot of Republicans and (I had to) overcome that barrier and try to
change what they might have done for the last ... 30 years."
The Green Party is associated with environmental protection causes and
Davidock's campaign focused on smart growth, improving the community
park with the addition of canoe and boat launches and enacting new
permitting procedures that will have a minimal impact on the
environment.
According to the master list at the county election bureau, 69 people
are registered as Green Party voters; however, that's but a fragment of
the county's voting population, which includes 34,234 people registered
as Democrats and 45,878 as Republicans.
The Green Party is the sixth largest party in the county. Following the
Republicans and Democrats are Independents, Constitutional and
Libertarian voters. And 1,303 voters are registered as nonpartisan.
However, signs indicate the Greens may be gaining membership.
In November 2000, there were three registered Green Party voters. Two
years later, that grew to 39 and a year after that, 30 more people
signed on as Green Party supporters.
Mark J. Linkhorst, 28, of Tamaqua, who worked on organizing a
county-based Green Party, said a lack of interest has slowed the
process.
"We need to get the Green Party to take hold at the local level," he
said. "I'd love to see the Green Party materialize. That is something
this area needs, cause it is so repressed and has been for the last
hundred years."
He said he remains optimistic about the Greens organizing on the county
level for the 2004 election.
As for Davidock, he said he'll help other party members run and win
public office.
"If a Green Party candidate can win in Port Clinton, it's proof they can
win anywhere in Schuylkill County," he said.
************************************************************************
18) Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland); November 12, 2003, Wednesday
GREENS TAKE A STICK TO CARROTS OFFERED UP BY THE AETHNIC PARTIES
The Greens yesterday accused other parties of lacking vision and
imagination in their economic policies.
Dr John Barry, the party’s co-leader in Northern Ireland, said: Today in
Northern Ireland, quality of life is suffering. Despite economic growth,
we still have great poverty, inequalities in access to education and
healthcare, illiteracy, homelessness and a sharp deterioration in our
living space.
This is the 21st century and we need to develop Northern Irelands
economy to the realities and potentials of the modern world economy.
Sadly, the ethnic parties, stuck as they are in point- scoring and
banging their tribal drums, as well as being rooted in 19th-century
notions of nation and state, cannot be expected to present innovative,
creative economic proposals for Northern Ireland.
The DUP’s slash and burn tactics is a case in point. The DUP’s economic
policy seems largely to be based on a number of proposals.
The first is cutting red tape and bureaucracy which, it claims, is as a
result of the Agreement.
The second is cutting and slashing MORE red tape etc, and, finally,
slashing the Agreement itself.
Yet, as the majority of leading business representatives, including the
CBI, agree, the very precondition for any economic revival within
Northern Ireland is dependent upon successful implementation of the
Agreement and devolved institutions.
So, the DUP’s slash and burn tactics are rather like the story of the
individual sawing the branch upon which they are sitting.
Dr Barry said that the bottom line for the Green Party was that the
economy was a means to an end that end being improved quality of life
for everyone.
It is not an end in itself. Measuring the amounts of money being spent
in the form of gross national product and gross domestic product fails
to differentiate between money spent on improving life and money spent
repairing damage.
New tracking measurements to monitor changes in quality of life,
community development and environmental well-being are essential, he
said.
It is time for the Assemblys Department of Finance and Personnel to make
green accounting a cornerstone of the delivery of the Programme for
Government.
************************************************************************
19) Capital Times (Madison, WI); November 12, 2003
WISCONSIN CORRECTION
Manski: Friday's story on the UW trust fund investment forum incorrectly
quoted Green Party co-chairman Ben Manski as saying: "I think it's time
to achieve some balance between fiduciary and fiscal responsibility." He
actually said "fiduciary and social responsibility."
************************************************************************
20) Czech News Agency; November 12, 2003
CZECH REPUBLIC: GREEN PARTY WANT TO IMPROVE DEMOCRATIC MECHANISMS
Prague -- The consistency in solving environmental problems and efforts
in improving the functioning of democratic mechanisms are the main
points in the new political programme presented by the Green Party
today.
The programme entitled "The Vision of Ecological Democracy," should
become an impulse for a discussion not only within the party but also
for a public discussion, Jakub Patocka, one of the authors of the new
programme, told journalists. "We want the Green Party to become a
respected and equal alternative to the current parliamentary parties,"
he said.
He said that the most serious problem of the current political scene in
the Czech Republic is the "emptiness of party programmes which have been
reduced to gaining advantages for politicians."
The public should therefore have an opportunity to widely participate in
the decision-making concerning the most important questions, he said.
The Greens would welcome the reinforcement of the powers of the
environment minister in the future so that he also occupy the post of
deputy premier.
Their new programme, which the party intends to present in towns and
villages across the country, focuses, apart from environmental
questions, also on the social, security and media policy.
The Greens have proposed introducing the index of quality of life, which
would be published along with the results of economic growth.
"It has long not been true that economic growth is connected with how
people actually live," Patocka said.
In last year's elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the Green Party
gained 2.36 percent of votes. According to the Centre for Public Opinion
Research (CVVM) it was supported by 1.5 percent of Czechs this October.
According to its chairman Jan Beranek, the party now has 700 members.
************************************************************************
21) Eastern Daily Press; November 12, 2003
ENGLAND: SUFFOLK GREEN PARTY HAS CALLED FOR THE COUNTY COUNCIL TO DEVOTE
MORE MONEY AND RESOURCES TO PROMOTING THE USE OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT.
by Smitha
Suffolk Green Party has called for the county council to devote more
money and resources to promoting the use of sustainable transport.
The group has published a critique of the authority's transport policy,
questioning its strategic direction in view of Government targets for a
dramatic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The document was
unveiled yesterday to coincide with the county council's Tran-sport
Conference, attended by local councillors, representatives from bus
companies and other organisations.
John Matthissen, Suffolk Green Party's representative at the conference,
said the council's strategy had led to new cycling routes being
developed in Ipswich, Lowestoft and Bury. However, the authority only
had two part-time dedicated cycling officers and other schemes had been
in the pipeline for years.
He said: "The council has to take money over drastically across to the
sustainable forms of transport for five to 10 years to achieve a real
shift out of cars into buses and cycling."
Mr Matthissen said the council's annual progress report looked
reasonable measured against a "business as usual" scenario.
But, he added: "The picture is starkly different in light of Government
aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions 60 per cent by 2050, and 20 per
cent from 1990 to 2010."
************************************************************************
22) The New Zealand Herald; November 12, 2003
NEW ZEALAND: AWATERE HUATA'S MOVE SENDS ACT DOWN RANKS
by Ruth Berry
Donna Awatere Huata was yesterday declared an independent MP, relegating
Act to fifth largest party in Parliament.
Act will be forced to swap seats with the Green Party in the House today
and is set to lose $77,000 in funding and a host of other privileges
associated with becoming a party with eight members, not nine.
The Greens have nine MPs but got fewer votes at the last election,
causing them to lose their initial bid for the better seats they will
now inhabit as they become Parliament's fourth biggest party...
************************************************************************
23) Northern District Times (Australia); November 12, 2003
AUSTRALIA: DRIVEN TO PROTEST
Commuters and the Greens party staged a protest near Epping railway
station on Thursday in a bid to rescue the shelved Parramatta-to-Epping
rail link.
The missing 3.5km section of the 27km-long line was scrapped in June
when Transport Minister Michael Costa told Parliament "alternative
routes" would be considered.
About 30 protesters, waving various placards, marched north on Epping Rd
to convey their message last week.
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said the protest aimed to lobby the State
Government to redirect funds used for motoring projects into public
transport.
Ms Rhiannon said money from the overhaul earmarked for Epping station
signalled adequate funds were available to save the project.
In October, Parramatta Rail Link announced it could demolish a heritage
building for the new station.
"They should be keeping the 1927 building and putting the money into the
Parramatta-to-Epping link," Ms Rhiannon said.
Carlingford resident Robert Moore said he would have used the shelved
service each weekday to go to work at Fairfield.
"Because there's no rail link I use my car every day to get to work," Mr
Moore, 35, said.
Hornsby Councillor and Epping resident Matthew Benson said the decision
to review the line was "undermining democracy".
************************************************************************
24) South Wales Evening Post; November 12, 2003
WALES: GREENS IN THE FIGHT
The Green Party is to target council seats in Neath and Port Talbot next
year - 15 seats have already been identified in the neighbouring towns.
And the Greens are to put their push for power in Neath on a more formal
footing by establishing a constituency party there next week.
A special meeting is to be held in the Borough Arms, Melin, on Wednesday
when the guest speaker will be a candidate in the European elections,
also being held next year, Martyn Shrewsbury.
He told the Post the Greens were heartened by polling more than 1,000
votes in Neath in the Assembly elections in May.
"The Greens will be contesting some 15 seats in Neath and Port Talbot in
next year's council elections,'' he said.
"Among our target seats are Cimla and Central Neath, Margam, Coedffranc
and Baglan." At next week's inaugural meeting of the Neath Greens, local
activist Miranda Lavey is expected to be selected to contest Cimla next
year.
************************************************************************
25) Birmingham Post; November 11, 2003
ENGLAND: LETTER: GREEN POLICY IS RADICAL SOLUTION
by Chris Lennard
Dear Editor, -Is it any wonder that this Labour government fails to take
transport seriously when, out of a total of 48 West Midlands MPs of all
political colours who could have turned up at an important meeting with
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to discuss the region's transport
problems, only four could be confirmed by The Birmingham Post as having
attended?
When MPs use the 'cock-up in my diary' excuse, or openly admit they
preferred watching a football match to lobbying for better rail
investment in Birmingham, what hope is there for this gridlocked region?
There are not many issues more important than transport in the West
Midlands. The daily lives of millions are blighted by the noise, danger
and pollution associated with this heavily trafficked region.
Millions of hours are lost every year by businesses and commuters as a
result of gridlock or poor quality train services. It is a traffic
nightmare made worse every year because of political myopia and
short-term thinking. As Phil Bateman, of Travel West Midlands, rightly
says: 'In politics in the UK everyone is looking to the next election,
and that causes great problems. We have to get away from being
frightened to make radical change.'
There is one political party that is not afraid of -indeed, has been
advocating for many years -radical change in our transport policy. The
Green Party wants the pounds 7 billion a year in tax breaks and hidden
subsidies to the aviation industry and the pounds 30 billion put aside
for yet more road building over the next decade to be used instead to
properly invest in walking, cycling and public transport.
The West Midlands region cannot hope to provide a good quality of life
for its citizens or a competitive base for its economic activities if it
can't match the public transport, multi-modal freight, walking and
cycling facilities in the larger regions around Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris
and Amsterdam.
The only obstacle to real progress on these issues is a lack of
political will by the other three main parties. The Birmingham Post is
to be congratulated on its Get Moving campaign; thinking is at last
being crystalised on a number of issues. But one big solution may be to
change our politicians. The European Elections next June provide local
people with the opportunity to vote for a radical transport agenda for
the West Midlands -and a strong Green voice for the region.
Chris Lennard
Green Party European Parliamentary Candidate
West Midlands Region
************************************************************************
26) The Guardian - Final Edition; November 11, 2003
ENGLAND: LETTER: NOT SUCH A RED KEN
by Darren Johnson, Ged Peck and Ginny Tapley
In many ways Ken Livingstone is ideally suited to Tony Blair's Labour
party (Blair wants Livingstone back in fold, November 10). Both are
backing major road-building projects in spite of pre-election promises,
both are supporting airport expansion yet are being disingenuous about
the environmental consequences, and both continue to put big business
before local communities.
Although I admired the mayor's courage in going ahead with congestion
charging, his development plan for London, with its emphasis on the
City, is probably more Blairite than anything Blair has ever come up
with.
Darren Johnson
Green party candidate for mayor of London
************************************************************************
27) The San Francisco Chronicle; November 11, 2003
CALIFORNIA: S.F. CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK
by Rachel Gordon, John Wildermuth
At a campaign rally at his Mission District headquarters over the
weekend, Matt Gonzalez accused his rival in the mayor's race of "a kind
of McCarthyism" when it comes to hammering away at his Green Party
affiliation.
"I'm a member of the Green Party," Gonzalez said. "I'm proud of that.
But I also want to say that I would not be a member of the Board of
Supervisors had I not been elected by Democrats. And I would not have
been president of the Board of Supervisors if I had not been elected by
Democrats. And I would not be in a runoff in this race for mayor if
Democrats had not voted for me.
"We don't want to cast this race as simply Greens vs. Democrats,"
Gonzalez added. "We're also trying to undermine the efforts of the other
side in casting the race in that way because we think they are appealing
to a certain type of red-baiting of the old days, a certain kind of
McCarthyism almost, this idea that, oh my God, if you're associated with
the Green Party, there's something different about you."
Having Agnos around is an important symbol for the Gonzalez camp.
Sixteen years ago, Agnos found himself in a similar position as
Gonzalez. The former social worker and assemblyman was losing badly in
the polls to then-Supervisor John Molinari in the 1987 mayor's race. But
Agnos, who worked diligently to build neighborhood support and win the
backing of tenants, environmentalists and other progressive groups,
surged just before the election and overtook Molinari to win the mayor's
job.
Four years later, however, Agnos lost to the more conservative former
police chief Frank Jordan. The big issue of the day was the same one
that Gonzalez's competitor has built his campaign around in 2003:
homelessness.
************************************************************************
28) South Wales Evening Post; November 11, 2003
WALES: WARNING ON 'GAG' DECISION
The role of all Welsh councillors is threatened by a gagging decision, a
Green Euro candidate has warned. Swansea's Martyn Shrewsbury says all
councillors are now at risk of being sacked if they reveal any alleged
dodgy dealings involving their local authority.
His call comes in the wake of a tribunal decision in which a Green Party
councillor in England was suspended for three months for revealing a
secret, allegedly unlawful, misuse of funds agreed by her council's
cabinet.
************************************************************************
29) Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); November 11, 2003
MINNESOTA: ATTORNEYS DROP PROBE OF PAWLENTY
by Patricia Lopez; Dane Smith; Staff Writers
The Anoka, Dakota and Ramsey county attorneys teamed up on Monday to say
they have dropped a monthslong investigation into a campaign finance
complaint against Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The attorneys said there was "no
legal basis" to DFL and Green Party allegations that he had received an
illegal corporate campaign contribution while working as a legal
consultant in 2001-02 for friend and political supporter Elam Baer.
They said they also were closing their investigation into a retaliatory
complaint filed by state Republican Party chairman Ron Eibensteiner, who
made similar allegations against three DFL senators.
As with Pawlenty, they said, there was "no probable cause" to show that
nonpolitical work done for pay by Sens. Mee Moua or Dick Cohen, both of
St. Paul, or Steve Kelley, of Hopkins, constituted illegal corporate
contributions....
...Pawlenty said Monday that he was "grateful that we got a fair and
thoughtful review of those matters and that the outcome is what we said
it would be from the beginning. I just hope now the DFL and Green Party
can get back to facing and addressing the real issues in Minnesota." He
also said he supports changing state law so that county attorneys no
longer would be obliged to investigate every campaign finance complaint
filed with their offices. There should be, he said, "a basis for
complaint before somebody can set everybody off on a wild goose chase."
************************************************************************
30) UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Brighton and Hove; November
11, 2003
ENGLAND: CHEERS FOR LABOUR REBEL GALLOWAY
by Aidan Radnedge
New Labour outcast George Galloway was cheered in Brighton last night as
he urged people to "hammer a final nail in Tony Blair's coffin".
Mr Galloway opening a UK-wide speaking tour remained defiant over the
pro-Iraq views which last week led to his expulsion from the Labour
Party.
He rallied Brighton and Hove activists to sabotage George Bush's state
visit to the UK later this month and also to vote for his newly-formed
Unity Coalition in next year's European elections.
And he rejected overtures from the city's Green Party to join them now
he has been thrown out of Labour for urging Iraqi forces to fight back
against US and UK forces....
...Brighton and Hove city councillor Keith Taylor convenor for the Green
Party told Mr Galloway: "George if you want to talk to us we're ready
and waiting to talk to you."
Mr Galloway said: "I'd feel better about the Green Party if their
national leadership hadn't last week put out a Press release denouncing
the Stop The War Coalition as a loony-left Marxist front. They kindly
sent me a copy too. This is not a good week to ask me for dialogue with
the Green Party."
************************************************************************
31) Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee); November 10, 2003
WISCONSIN: NADER SAYS FLORIDA STOLEN FROM DEMOCRATS
Madison, Wis. -- Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader
called Democrats "chronic whiners" for continuing to accuse him of
spoiling the 2000 presidential election for Al Gore.
"They should realize that the retrospect on Florida concluded Gore won
Florida," the consumer activist told the Wisconsin State Journal on
Saturday. "It was stolen from the Democrats. And they should concentrate
on the thieves and the blunderers in Florida, not on the Green Party."
A media-sponsored review of more than 175,000 disputed ballots found
that Gore would have won by a small margin if there had been a complete
statewide recount. President Bush won Florida, and thus the White House,
by 537 votes out of more than 6 million cast.
Nader, in town for a speech at the National Conference on Media Reform
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted that 300,000 registered
Democrats in Florida voted for Bush.
During his speech, Nader reiterated that he would decide by the end of
the year if he's running for the White House in 2004.
************************************************************************
32) TASS; November 10, 2003
RUSSIA: COURT UPHOLDS CEC DECISION TO DENY FREE AIRTIME TO GREENS
by Natalia Panshina
Moscow -- The Russian Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Central
Election Commission's decision denying free airtime and printing space
to the Greens party in the Duma election campaign.
The commission explained its decision by the fact that the party had
failed to pay for the services rendered to its by mass media in the
previous elections in 1999. According to the law, parties that failed to
overcome the 2 percent barrier or that were eliminated from the race for
other reasons are deemed debtors.
A week before the 1999 elections, the ecological party Kedr, of which
the Greens party is the legal successor, was barred from participation
in the election campaign after two of its leading candidates had been
removed from the federal list. In April 2000, the Constitutional Court
ruled that this clause ran counter to the Constitution but warned that
this should not lead to a revision of the results of elections.
The Greens party may appeal the Supreme Court's decision within 10 days.
Party head Anatoly Panfilov said the Greens will continue the litigation
with the Central Election Commission.
************************************************************************
33) The Western Mail; November 10, 2003
ENGLAND: PARTY BITES BACK AT DENTAL SPIN
The British Dental Association was yesterday accused of using spin to
force the introduction of fluoride into tap water.
The Wales Green Party was angered that the British Dental Journal
published a pro-fluoride report just days before today's Commons vote on
water fluoridation. The report warned that children who only drank
bottled water may be putting their teeth at risk because they are
missing out on fluoride in tap water. This has been denounced by the
party as 'media manipulation'.
Campaigner Martyn Shrewsbury said, 'The timing and spin on this report
is a transparent attempt at media manipulation from an organisation that
already earns hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from accrediting
fluoride products.
'The report was disingenuous in the extreme, with its blind presumption
that fluoride is safe and effective, when the pro-fluoridation
government's own York Review itself failed to conclude fluoridation is
safe.'
************************************************************************
34) Erie Times-News; November 06. 2003
PENNSYLVANIA: SOGGS PLAYED MILD SPOILER IN RACE
by John Guerriero
Green Party candidate Tim Soggs siphoned votes from Democrat Bob Attalla
in the Millcreek Township supervisor's race.
But Republican Larry Curtis' campaign had too much gas for Soggs to be a
complete spoiler in the race.
Local political observers offered that analysis on the day after Curtis
won the supervisor's race in Erie County's second-largest community.
Curtis defeated Attalla by 1,762 votes Tuesday. Soggs captured 1,988
votes to finish third in the three-man race.
Generally speaking, the Green Party is closer ideologically to Democrats
than to Republicans, said Robert Speel, associate professor of political
science at Penn State Behrend. By that reasoning, Soggs gained some of
the votes that otherwise would have gone to Attalla in a two-person
race, he said.
But Curtis put his own stamp on the race with his sound victory, said
Speel and political
analyst Michael Federici.
Speel said, "(Soggs) could have taken away some votes, but the margin
was so large. My own personal opinion is, that even without him in the
race, the Republican still would have won.''
Added Federici: "If the margin of victory was significantly smaller, say
between 250 and 500 votes, then it would be easier to say the Democrat
would have won had the Green Party candidate not been in the race.
"It would have been a closer race between the Democrat and the
Republican without the Green Party, but I don't think it would have
changed the outcome,'' said Federici, associate professor of political
science at Mercyhurst College.
Without Soggs on the ballot, nearly all of his votes would have had to
transfer to Attalla for the Democrat to win, Federici said. But that
scenario is flawed because some of Soggs' votes would have gone to
Curtis, and some people voted for supervisor only because a Green Party
candidate was on the ballot, he said.
But the unknown factor in the race is whether the Green Party's absence
from the race would have changed the tone of the election or the voters'
perception of the candidates, Federici said. "You don't know that, which
could have had some bearing on the final vote numbers,'' he said.
At Attalla's election headquarters Tuesday night, Tiffany Skovron, a
campaign co-manager, said that Soggs took away a lot of potential votes
from Attalla. "He got a lot more than was expected,'' she said.
Attalla agreed Wednesday.
"I thought he'd pull 600 to 800 votes. He's an intelligent person. He
ran a hell of a campaign,'' he said.
"I think there were a lot of undecided people who didn't want to vote
for any particular party, but took the best way out and that was Tim
Soggs,'' he said.
Curtis said that Soggs, aided by the Erie Times-News' endorsement, took
"quite a few'' votes from Attalla, but he said he thinks that he would
have won with or without the presence of a third-party candidate.
Soggs said a combination of factors led to his stronger-than-expected
showing, including some voter dissatisfaction with the two major
parties.
"But the biggest votes that were lost by all of us were the people who
didn't vote, and those are the people that are turned off altogether (by
politics),'' Soggs said.
************************************************************************
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
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For more Green Party news go to http://web.greens.org/news/
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