From jims at greens.org Sat Feb 6 17:10:15 2010 From: jims at greens.org (Jim Stauffer) Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:10:15 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] The Green Party is Coming... Volunteers Needed Message-ID: <4B6E12F7.60303@greens.org> Santa Clara Greens: You may have heard that the Green Party of Santa Clara County is hosting the next state party General Assembly (GA) on March 6-7. A GA is held normally twice a year and is the primary decision body for the Green Party of California. It is the manifestation of our decentralized decision process where the county Locals send their delegates to the GA for collective decision making sessions. The GA is also the place where the various state committees have a chance to meet in person rather than on teleconferences. You are all invited to come take a look at the state party in action. The GA is mostly a business meeting so there aren't a lot of speakers or presentations, it's mostly proposals being debated and decided. But, since this GA is in San Jose, you have an opportunity to see how the state party works, and to meet Greens from around the state. One event of special interest will be the candidate forum currently scheduled for 3:15 Saturday afternoon. This will be a panel of several Green candidates from around the state running for local, state, and federal offices. And I believe they're planning something of a debate between our two candidates for Governor. You can find all the information about the meeting at http://cagreens.org/plenary/. If you are just coming for a few hours, you can drop in whenever you like. But if you want to stay for a breakfast or lunch, please register online for planning purposes. ---------------------------- In keeping with the all-volunteer nature of our party, we are also in need of some volunteers to staff the event. We have a number of people from the "regular crowd" that's actively involved in our Local, but this is a big event and we need more help. Please consider helping out with this event by volunteering: + Front Desk -- We need 2 or 3 people to staff the registration desk on both mornings. Registration occurs from 8 to 9 a.m. + Set Up -- Setting up the meeting rooms and the kitchen on Saturday morning is challenging. We have access to the rooms at 7:30. Registration opens at 8:00. The meeting starts at 9:00. So we have to have the table and chairs set up in the meeting room, and the kitchen and dinning room organized within a short timeframe on Saturday morning. Sunday morning should not be a big problem, but clean-up on Sunday afternoon (4:00) may need some help. + Videographer -- We would like to record the candidates forum on Saturday afternoon. + Note Taker -- This is a special position that comes with a $100 per day stipend. It is the official minutes of the meeting, and it requires adequate skills with a computer and the ability to accurately record the decisions, clarifications and concerns of the proceedings. Typically a person volunteers for a 1/2-day session, but hardier people take on a full day. There are guidelines at http://cagreens.org/gap/NoteTaker.rtf. They're old but still serve as a general guide for the task. + Homestay Hosts -- You may have seen Fred Duperrault's message recruiting homestay hosts. Most attendees stay in motels, but there are some on tight budgets who can attend only if they get free housing. In the current ecconomy many more Greens are in that later category. We could get anywhere from six to ten homestay requests. If you have a spare bed/sofa/floor-space, please contact Fred (fredd at freeshell.org). Reply to me personally or to the list if you can help with these tasks. Jim Stauffer From fredd at freeshell.org Mon Feb 8 09:22:05 2010 From: fredd at freeshell.org (fred) Date: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:22:05 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] Plenary Homestays Message-ID: <4B70483D.7020100@freeshell.org> Thanks to Caroline, Dana & Gerry, Jim & Monika, Andrea, and Tian for your offers to host overnighters at the GPCA Plenary, the first weekend in March. Lois & I wlll also have a bed or two for guests. (Have I omitted any offers?) We should have a few more offers. Fred From fredd at freeshell.org Wed Feb 10 11:58:57 2010 From: fredd at freeshell.org (fred) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:58:57 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] U.S. Military Aid to Israel Message-ID: <4B731001.2060004@freeshell.org> According to End the Occupation, $30 Billion in U. S. military aid to Israel is scheduled for 2009 - 2018. Based on 9 years, that is $3-1/3 Billion per year. (It's a good example of the tail wagging the dog.) See: www.aidtoisrael.org Fred D.