Truthout reports that while AIG, corporate welfare queen,  has pledged to forego bonuses for its top executives, it is paying those same executives “cash bonuses” to stay with the firm. Most egregious is a payment of $3 million to its retirement chief.

OTTAWA – The Green Party is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take steps to protect Omar Khadr, a Canadian and former child soldier who has been held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay since 2002.

Mr. Harper has consistently ignored evidence of inhumane treatment and torture at the facility despite Canada having this information since 2004. Canada has the shameful distinction of being the only western country not to have sought repatriation for a citizen held at Guantanamo.

“President-elect Barack Obama admits that torture occurs at Guantanamo Bay and plans to close the facility as soon as possible,” said Green Party leader Elizabeh May. “Mr. Harper has previously said that there is ‘no real alternative’ to allowing Mr. Khadr’s continued detention. Now that he is aware the facility will be closed, will Mr. Harper finally admit that Mr. Khadr was unlawfully detained and take action to repatriate this former child soldier?”

Mr. Khadr’s long-awaited trial is set for January 26th, 2009 – only six days after Barack Obama’s inauguration.

“Time is running out to bring Mr. Khadr home,” said Ms. May. “It is critical that Mr. Harper first recognizes the brutality that occurred at Guantanamo and next acts to prevent further harm from occurring to Mr. Khadr by seeking to have him returned to Canada immediately.”

Ms. May said that the Prime Minister’s demonstrable lack of concern for Canadians in trouble abroad is disturbing.

“Mr. Harper’s willingness to ignore the plight of Mr. Khadr and many other Canadians in trouble in foreign countries is not reassuring. Canadians deserve a leader who, instead of burying his head in the sand and disregarding serious evidence of torture, will fight to protect them.”

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATEShttp://www.gp.orgFor Immediate Release:Thursday, November 20, 2008Contacts:Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.orgStarlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.orgA Cabinet full of corporate honchos, lawyers, and shills will not “look like America,” say GreensWASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders called on President-elect Barack Obama to appoint a Cabinet that will pursue real reform, in accord with Mr. Obama’s promise of change in the new administration.”Democratic and Republican presidents alike have a record of naming industry chiefs, corporate board members and lawyers, and others loyal to wealthy, elite interests,” said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States. “If President Obama truly believes in ‘change we can believe in,’ he’ll appoint a Cabinet that looks like America — not just in ethnic and gender diversity, but in its dedication to the needs of working Americans and the goal of international peace and justice.”Greens called Mr. Obama’s choice of Rahm Emanuel for White House Chief of Staff especially unfortunate, citing Mr. Emanuel’s position as managing director of investment banks Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, earning him $18 million between 1999 and 2002 and his track record in Congress since 2003.The appointment of Mr. Emanuel confirms Mr. Obama’s pledge to AIPAC that he will maintain the same uncritical support for Israel as the Clinton and Bush administrations, whose policies resulted in increasing human rights violations against Palestinians and greater instability in the region. Mr. Emanuel was also one of the original drafters of NAFTA and now favors similar antidemocratic ‘free trade’ pacts with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which would cost more US jobs and suppress environmental and labor protections.Green Party leaders said that Rahm Emanuel’s appointment was consistent with Mr. Obama’s choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his Vice President. Despite his reputation in the media as a defender of working people, Mr. Biden helped draft a law signed by President Bush that relaxed regulations on financial institutions, giving them more power over Americans facing financial problems and transferring risk from predatory lenders to borrowers. As an architect of mandatory minimum drug laws (including the RAVE Act), Sen. Biden helped put the children of working families behind bars.Among the corporate-connected names on the list for the Obama Cabinet are Eric Holder, Jr. for Attorney General and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Holder is a partner at Covington & Burling, which represents the National Football League, Chiquita, and Merck, and Gov. Vilsack is an enthusiastic advocate of genetically engineered crops and corn- and soy-based biofuels, with ties to Monsanto, whose products and policies have destroyed independent and family farms around the world.”Barack Obama’s mantra of ‘change’ is already a lie. With Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff, and with Hillary Clinton rumored to be Secretary of State, the Obama White House is ready to pursue much of the same agenda as previous administrations,” said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. “It’s a twisted irony that some tried to tag Obama as a socialist, a perception that will make it that much easier for his administration to continue the practice of redistributing wealth from middle- and low-income Americans to America’s wealthiest. Bill Clinton was denounced as a liberal by the same right-wing pundits whose corporate buddies he was handing America over to. The same sell-out is going to happen all over again.”"Voters who elected Barack Obama because of his promise of change and the hope of a progressive administration need to wake up and realize they’re in for yet another fight. Only if the voters hold Obama to his promises can we avoid the same pro-corporate and warhawk policies that came out of the disastrous Clinton and Bush White Houses,” added Mr. Thornton.MORE INFORMATIONGreen Party of the United States http://www.gp.org202-319-7191, 866-41GREENFax 202-319-7193Running tally of Green election victories http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.htmlGreen candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.phpGreen candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtmlGreen Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtmlGreen Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakersGreen Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-electionsCynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente ‘Power to the People’ Campaign for the White Househttp://www.runcynthiarun.orghttp://votetruth08.comhttp://www.rosaclemente.com~ END ~

When you see the family this holiday season. Keep this article in mind. 

Good to see Mr. Rees the other night, but I don’t think we can retire from speaking truth to power. From Liberty Underground:   Antiwar.com reports that the Associated Press (AP) has lifted a ban on using photographs provided by the Pentagon upon the Pentagon’s promise not to use digitally altered photographs. But the military insists it did nothing wrong when it provided the same picture of two different dead soldiers slain  because it was not trying to misrepresent anything. The AP says that using altered photos hurts the credibility of the DOD pictures.Over at Salon.com Glen Greenwald  tells us the United States has joined the list of governments that persecute journalists. He refers to AP photojournalist Bilal Hussein, jailed in Iraq, and Al Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Haj, imprisoned at Guantanamo for two years.

First, the national socialists in power bail out banks, now automobile companies?It should be obvious that this is stupid, but if you need more convincing, Harvey Wasserman has this editorial:GM Must Re-Make the Mass Transit System it Murdered 

Virginia is a real center of the energy debates, whether it be offshore drilling, coal plants, solar technology, new nukes, mountain top removal, global warming sea rise, ’smart grid‘, wind turbine location, peak oil, transmission lines, etc.Personally, I think Virginia’s citizens, businesses, and government should do more to utilize the solar potential. But I am not so naive to think that will solve everything/is the only answer/stop debate. Regardless, it is good to see more discussion taking place.     

I did not make it, but I was glad to hear that others did, and got some great pictures.And yes, this should be part of the discussion on culture in Richmond. Brief local newspaper coverage of the local protest was in the national news story. Congratulations and keep it up! 

You think we are going to stop because Election Day is over? We are just getting started.Malik Rahim is running for Congress in a special election in Louisiana.  Please donate if you can (right now Virginia Greens are a top out of state source of funds).  

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

http://www.gp.orgFor Immediate Release:Tuesday, November 11, 2008Contacts:Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.orgStarlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.orgBrent McMillan, National Political Director, 202-319-7191, brent@gp.orgRichard Carroll elected to Arkansas statehouse; new Green records set in congressional races; third Green mayor elected in CaliforniaRunning tally of Green election victories: http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.htmlGreen candidate news: http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.phpGreen Party elections database: http://www.gp.org/elections/candidates/index.phpWASHINGTON, DC — The Green Party’s 2008 candidates for the US House doubled the number of votes they received collectively from the number received in 2006, while over one million US voters voted for at least one Green candidate in the 2008 election.The total number of votes for Green US House candidates (568,791 so far; compared to 252,550 in 2006) will rise further after the December 6 postponed election in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Green candidate Malik Rahim is running in District 2 (http://www.votemalik.com) for a seat currently held by William Jefferson, who is under federal indictment. The Green Party is still awaiting final vote counts in some races around the US.A new record was set for a Green candidate running for the US House, when Deb McFarland finished second in an Arkansas District 2 race with 64,622 votes or 23.33%. Rebekah Kennedy apparently set a new percentage record for a Green running for the US Senate, with 202,016 votes or 20.59% (results not official) in her Arkansas race. Along with Richard Carroll’s state legislature victory (see below), Arkansas Greens showed the most dramatic electoral growth of any state Green Party (http://www.arkgreens.org).The Illinois Green Party ran 54 candidates, the most of any state Green Party in 2008 (http://www.ilgp.org). 2008 is the first year in which the West Virginia Mountain Party (http://www.mtparty.org) competed in elections as an affiliate of the Green Party of the United States, with Jesse Johnson’s run for Governor (http://www.jesse4wvgov.org).Mr. Johnson’s 4.5% is the highest percentage for an alternative party candidate for Governor of West Virginia since 1912, when the Socialist Party polled 5.6% (http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/11/07/west-virginia-green-gubernatorial-showing-the-best-for-a-minor-party-since-1912/).Green Party leaders thanked and congratulated all 245 Green candidates who ran for public office in the November 4 general election, including the party’s presidential ticket, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente(http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=137).Some significant Green victories on Election Day, November 4, 2008:Richard Carroll was elected to the Arkansas State Legislature, representing District 39 (http://www.newmenu.org/richardcarroll).Bruce Delgado was elected Mayor of Marina City, Monterey County, California (pop. 25,000) (http://www.delgado4mayor.org). Mr. Delgado joins California Green mayors Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond and Craig Litwin of Sebastopol. The Green Party of California announced at least five victories statewide in 2008 (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-state.php?ID=135).Ross Mirkarimi was reelected to his District 5 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in California, with 77% of the vote. This is the seat that was occupied in 1978 by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.Art Goodtimes was reelected to his San Miguel County Commissioner seat in Colorado (District 3).Cara Jennings was reelected as Lake Worth Commissioner, Palm Beach, Florida.James Nicita was elected Oregon City Commissioner (Position 3) in Clackamas County, OregonMichael Beilstein was reelected to the Corvallis City Council (Ward 5) in Oregon.The District of Columbia had the greatest number of Green victories on November 4, with seven DC Statehood Green Party candidates elected to Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats:Philip Blair, Jr, Single Member District 5A10Dave Bosserman (incumbent), SMD 1D05Chris Otten, SMD 1C02Nancy Shia (incumbent), SMD 1C06Carolyn Steptoe, SMD 5A07Rick Tingling-Clemmons (incumbent), SMD 7D05Bryan Weaver (incumbent), SMD 1C03MORE INFORMATIONGreen Party of the United States http://www.gp.org202-319-7191, 866-41GREENFax 202-319-7193Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtmlGreen Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtmlGreen Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakersGreen Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections2008 Green candidates to watch http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.phpCynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente ‘Power to the People’ Campaign for the White Househttp://www.runcynthiarun.orghttp://votetruth08.comhttp://www.rosaclemente.com