February 27, 2009For Immediate ReleaseLocal Community Member to Report to Prison for Act of Conscience Richmond community member Al Simmons will report to Butner FederalCorrectional Institution on Monday, March 9, to begin his sentence fortrespassing on Fort Benning, Georgia. Simmons was arrested when heentered Fort Benning, the site of the training facility commonly known asthe “School of the Americas,” along with five others in an act of protestin November. The School of the Americas, recently renamed the WesternHemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, trains Latin Americanmilitary and militia leaders.  Human rights groups have long linked theinstitute and its graduates with incidents of torture, political murderand other rights violations throughout Central and South America. Simmons points out that although the Obama administration states that itopposes torture, it has made no public commitment to closing the trainingfacility. The prison where Simmons will serve his sentence is in North Carolina.“Whatever discomfort I experience during my sentence I expect to be smallcompared to the pain that people have suffered at hands of the School ofthe Americas. It’s not about my time. It’s about their lives,” he says.His release date is expected to be in May. On Sunday, March 15, there will be a discussion about the School of theAmericas held at the Richmond Friends Meeting, 4500 Kensington Avenue. The program is free and open to the public. The March 15 panel willfeature Nancy Gowan, Tom Cleary and Dave Depp—other Richmonders who havepreviously committed civil disobedience at the school’s gates.  Astatement from Al Simmons will be read. The program’s moderator, KathleenKenney, will provide an overview of the school’s history its role inhemispheric politics.  There will also be opportunity for questions anddiscussion from the audience. The program is jointly sponsored by Richmond and Midlothian FriendsMeetings and the Richmond Peace Education Center.  For more information,contact Marcia Dickinson at (804) 355-0936.What:  School of the Americas Panel DiscussionWhere:  Richmond Friends Meeting, 4500 Kensington Ave.When:  Sunday, March 15, 2009, 1 p.m.

Hey friends,      I wanted to tell you all about an important VICTORY we have had in the fight for immigrant rights. Because of the brave efforts of prisoners in Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, VA, the truth behind Guido Newborough’s death has been exposed and pushed to the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post! Immigration and Customs Enforcement has responded by removing hundreds of immigrant detainees from this violent jail, cutting the jail’s operating revenues down significantly. This is a strong statement toward other prisons to ensure their inmates receive proper medical care and are treated with humanity.     The Next challenge is to stop the proposal for a new 1000 bed immigrant detention center to be constructed also in Farmville VA. This for-profit prison is one company’s effort to jump into the lucrative prison industry. From where I stand, No part of the criminal justice system should not be run for profit. In those cases, the prison industry and society have a conflict of interest, in which the prison has an interest in more incarcerations, and the society has an interest in the decrease of crime). Case in point: A few weeks ago two judges in Pennsylvania were found guilty for giving thousands of maximum sentences to juveniles in exchange for more than $1,000,000.00 in kick backs from the for-profit prison the kids were sent to. Anyway, there are ALOT of reasons to oppose this prison, but i want to encourage you all to COME TO THE PROTEST IN FARMVILLE ON SATURDAY MARCH 7. It starts at noon and it is about an hour and a half south-west. we are expecting a few busloads from immigrant organizations in Northern Virginia and Harrisonburg, members of the Virginia Immigrant People’s Coalition and Mexicans Without Borders, as well as groups from Charlottesville, Winchester, Tidewater, Lynchburg and Fredericksburg. 

No More Detentions!Rally and March in Farmville Saturday March 7th 12 - 5    Come to Farmville as people across the region converge and raise our voices against the proposed new detention center. The event is safe, permitted and will be interpreted in English and Spanish. Gather at Riverside Park, 5th and Main st Farmville, VA.

(Distributed by the Green Party of the United States, http://www.gp.org)

Green Party of New York State http://www.web.gpnys.comFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 25, 2009Contacts:Peter LaVenia, chair2@gpnys.org, 518-463-8653Eric Jones, chair@gpnys.org, 716-908-5226Accuses College of Dismissing Kovel for Writings on Zionism and Israel The Green Party of New York State condemns the recent termination of Dr. Joel Kovel by Bard College after 20 years on its faculty. We agree with Dr. Kovel, a former Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate from New York, that this termination appears to be motivated by political considerations, notably his outspoken criticism in recent years of Zionism and Israeli policy. This incident is part of an escalating attack in America on academics who are critical of Israel’s behavior in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Party calls on Bard College to immediately reinstate Dr. Kovel and restore its reputation as one of the most open and intellectually diverse campuses in the nation. ”A fundamental principle of mine is that the educator must criticize the injustices of the world, whether or not this involves him or her in conflict with the powers that be,” noted Dr. Kovel. “The systematic failure of the academy to do so plays no small role in the perpetuation of injustice and state violence. In no sphere of political action does this principle apply more vigorously than with the question of Zionism; and in no country is this issue more strategically important than in the United States, given the fact that United States support is necessary for Israel’s behavior.” Dr. Kovel, who is Jewish, practiced psychiatry and psychoanalysis for twenty-four years. In 1988 he was appointed to the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies at Bard College. He has published over a hundred articles and essays and nine books, including White Racism, which was nominated for a National Book Award in 1972. More recently, he has obtained national attention for his writings on ecosocialism, including the acclaimed book, The Enemy of Nature. While Bard defends its action on the grounds of budgetary constraints, Dr. Kovel said that his problems with the Bard administration began shortly after he published an article in 2002 entitled “Zionism’s Bad Conscience.” In 2003, after the publication of another article on the “one-state solution” in Israel/Palestine — which would grant full equal rights to all residents, whether Israeli or Palestinian — he was informed by the Dean and Executive Vice-President of the college that he would henceforth be employed half-time. In 2007, after publication by The University of Michigan of his book Overcoming Zionism, Dr. Kovel came under attack by various pro-Israeli groups and the book was pulled from distribution. Bard College did nothing during this period to defend or protect his rights as a faculty member — a highly unusual act by any institution of higher learning. Only public outcry forced the publisher to reinstate the work. Finally, the committee to review his contract this year included the campus’ Protestant chaplain, Professor Bruce Chilton, an outspoken member of pro-Zionist circles. ”This is an act that has disturbing implications for any scholar that questions the orthodoxy on Zionism,” said Green Party of New York State co-chair Peter LaVenia. “Professor Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul University in 2007 because of his numerous works questioning Zionism and Israeli policies. Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt — both hardly political radicals — have been shunned from numerous speaking engagements because of their book, The Israel Lobby. ”The academy is supposed to be a place where controversial ideas are welcomed as contributing to knowledge, debate, and discussion: the foundation of any involved democratic citizenry,” continued Mr. LaVenia. “This is a systematic attempt by disapproving members of the public and academic administrations to silence a point of view with which they disagree.” ”I take the view that Israeli human rights abuses are deeply engrained in a culture of impunity, granted chiefly, though not exclusively, in the United States — which culture arises from suppression of debate and open inquiry within those institutions, such as colleges, whose social role it is to enlighten the public,” said Dr. Kovel. “Therefore, if the world stands outraged at Israeli aggression in Gaza, it should also be outraged at institutions in the United States that grant Israel impunity. In my view, Bard College is one such institution. It has suppressed critical engagement with Israel and Zionism, and therefore has enabled abuses such as have occurred and are occurring in Gaza.”~ END ~

http://www.truthout.org/022109AJason Straziuso, The Associated Press: “US military airstrikes in western Afghanistan killed 13 Afghan civilians and only three militants, the US said Saturday, three days after an American general traveled to the site to investigate. Civilian casualties have been a huge source of friction between the US and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has stepped up demands that US and NATO operations kill no civilians and that Afghan soldiers take part in the missions to help prevent unwanted deaths.”

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Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts http://www.massgreens.orgFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 20 February 2009Contact: Jill Stein, 617-852-4727, Eli Beckerman, 617-821-1453Co-chairs, Green-Rainbow Party, cochairs@green-rainbow.orgThe FBI’s “cooperating witness” who is the foundation of the FBI attempt to convict Chuck Turner and Dianne Wilkerson of extortion has announced that he is no longer cooperating with the FBI. In a front page article in Friday’s Boston Globe, Ronald Wilburn states that he “felt he had been used by the FBI to topple a pair of prominent black politicians”. Wilburn goes on to say “Dianne is a thief. Chuck isn’t. Dianne knew better. Chuck is a victim of circumstance.” Those circumstances, it should be noted, appear to have been fully engineered by the FBI informant. Importantly, the suspicious activities they suggest were initiated and carried out by the FBI informant, not by Chuck Turner. The unfolding facts thus appear not only to exonerate Turner, but also to raise serious concerns about the abuse of secret police powers by the FBI.While much of the Boston media presented the case against Turner as “damning”, and some even claimed that the presumption of innocence was “meaningless”, a more skeptical position was adopted by those who knew Turner well. An analysis of the FBI affidavit by John Andrews of the Green-Rainbow Party found the affidavit to be “a decidedly unconvincing document that fails to provide a legitimate law enforcement justification for the targeting of Turner.” Turner has steadfastly insisted that he is innocent, and his case has drawn support both from his own community and from nationally known figures such as Ramsey Clark.”The flimsy nature of the case against Turner underscores the need to investigate FBI bias in selecting public officials to be targets of sting operations” said Green-Rainbow Party co-chair Jill Stein. Stein noted that “Turner has been an outspoken critic of FBI infringements on civil liberties, and has clashed with the FBI on high profile cases such as the imprisonment of the American Indian Movement’s Leonard Peltier and the FBI killing of Puerto Rican separatist Filiberto Ojeda Rios. It is crucial that we get to the bottom of the question of whether Turner was targeted because he dared to criticize FBI behavior.”The Green-Rainbow Party’s initial request for a Department of Justice investigation was declined by the DOJ, who merely referred the matter to the FBI. According to Green-Rainbow co-chair Eli Beckerman, “The latest turn of events makes it more important than ever that an investigation of political motivations in FBI targeting be conducted by parties who are not part of the FBI hierarchy.” For his part, Turner has asked that all potential politically-motivated indictments that were initiated under the Bush Administration be examined.Green-Rainbow communications director Lloyd Smith added, “The charges against Turner should be dropped. But that alone isn’t enough. Until we get to the bottom of the targeting issue on a nationwide level, any public official who criticizes FBI misbehavior will have to worry about whether they’ll be the next target of a sting operation. If Attorney General Eric Holder wants to demonstrate the courage of his convictions, and that we’re not a ‘nation of cowards’, he should act upon former Attorney General Ramsey Clark’s request and investigate potentially racially and/or politically motivated FBI targeting.”#####

Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Green Party of Floridahttp://www.floridagreens.orgFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 14, 2009Contact: Michael Canney, 386-418-3791, alachuagreen@gmail.comGreen Party files Petition to Intervene in NRC licensing of Levy County Nuclear Plant,joins Nuclear Information and Resource Service to challenge deficiencies in Progress Energy Combined Operating License Application (COLA)Gainesville, FL — On February 6, 2009 the Green Party of Florida (GPF, http://www.floridagreens.org) joined with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS, http://www.nirs.org) and the Ecology Party to file a legal challenge to a new nuclear power plant proposed by Progress Energy Florida (PEF) for a site in Levy County, near Inglis, Florida.The filing is a formal Petition to Intervene in the NRC’s licensing process for nuclear power plants, the latest in a series of such actions taken by NIRS and other groups nationwide to protect the health and safety of the public and the natural resources that are placed at risk by this industry. The interventions by parties with standing, which must follow rules established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), are intended to stop these nuclear boondoggles before construction work starts and millions of dollars are wasted.PEF is seeking a license from the NRC to build the proposed Levy County Units 1 and 2 atomic reactors, on a site near the Gulf Coast that is the only “greenfield” site (no existing nuclear power facility) currently proposed east of the Mississippi River.Among the contentions asserted in this Petition to Intervene:Real options of energy efficiency and distributed generation with renewable energy options have not been adequately considered.Progress Energy Florida does not meet financial qualification requirements.Aquatic and radioactive waste impacts have not been adequately considered.The Levy County project licensing is premature since the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design remains incomplete.In all, 26 contentions challenging the Progress Energy Application were included, supported by four experts.The Green Party joins hundreds or organizations and thousands of individuals in endorsing the NIRS Statement on Climate and Nuclear Power, which states:”We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power.”The Green Party has always opposed nuclear fission technology as a means of generating electricity, and the abundance of clean, safe renewable alternatives in today’s energy marketplace makes nuclear power obsolete, from both an economic and ecological perspective. Investor Owned Utilities such as Progress Energy could not generate profits from nuclear power generation without federal loan guarantees, tax breaks, and massive subsidies that shift the costs of the nuclear industry to taxpayers.Greens call upon municipal utilities in Florida to explore all the available options for implementing aggressive conservation measures and investment in decentralized, renewable energy technologies. Merely by installing low-tech solar thermal water heaters on residential homes, electricity consumption could be reduced by 8-10%. The public should not be forced to subsidize nuclear power plants when proven solutions are available at far less risk and less cost as well. Gainesville Regional Utilities has rejected nuclear power as an alternative to coal, and instead of buying into the Levy Nuclear Plant, which will be located less than 50 miles from downtown Gainesville, GRU and the Gainesville City Commission opted to enact the nation’s first Solar Power Feed-In Tariff ordinance.PEF can’t count on private investors to finance the nuclear plant, so the company obtained permission from the Florida Public Service Commission to raise utility rates by 23%, about half of which will be used to cover the costs of development and construction of the Levy County Nuclear Plant. “The ‘Early Cost Recovery’ scam is little more than legalized theft from utility customers, and it should be immediately repealed by the Florida legislature,” said MIchael Canney, Alachua County Green Party co-chair and member of the GPF Green Energy Committee. “Progress Energy can’t get private investors to finance this $20 billion boondoggle, so they are forcing their customers to become investors.”In 2007, the GPF worked with the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition to draft a comprehensive “green paper” on energy policy, which has this to say about the radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants:”There is no safe method to dispose of or store the radioactive waste produced. All six of the ‘low-level’ nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. There are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, there is no such thing as nuclear waste ‘disposal.’ Current methods of underground storage are a danger to present and future generations. Any nuclear waste management strategies must be above ground, continuously monitored, and they must minimize transportation of wastes.”Green Paper on Climate Change and Energy Options for the State of Florida(http://pbcec.blogspot.com/search?q=Green+Paper+on+Climate+Change) by Green Party of Florida & Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition The design of the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors PRF plans to install in the Levy Nuclear Plant continues to undergo revisions, even as PEF and the NRC proceed with the licensing of this plant. The NRC can’t prove the proposed reactor designs are safe, but is allowing PEF to proceed with licensing anyway, which places the burden of proof on the public to demonstrate the potential problems with this technology.The proposed nuclear plant will need more than 20 million gallons of water daily to cool the reactors, and PEF is drilling a private well field on site to draw millions of gallons of fresh water from the aquifer, yet PEF claims this project will have no detrimental effect on the local aquatic system. In addition to participating in this Petition to Intervene in the NRC licensing process, Greens are joining with others concerned about climate change and energy policy to build a broad, community-based alliance to stop the Levy County Nuclear Plant and oppose subsidies for fossil fuels and the nuclear industry, while promoting investment in clean, safe, renewable and sustainable energy technologies.”We don’t see a push for solar energy here in the ’sunshine state’ even in the form of off-setting our energy needs, said Jennifer Sullivan, co-chair of the Hernando County Green Party. “Solar technology is working in less sunny climates and as far north as Scandinavia. Think how many jobs could be created by investing in solar equipment manufacturing firms and by putting solar panels on every roof in the state!”For more information:Green Party of Florida http://www.floridagreens.orgAlachua County Green Party http://gainesvillegreens.webs.comNuclear Information and Resource Service http://www.nirs.orgDocuments re PEF Levy County nuke plant:application on Florida DEP site:http://www.dep.state.fl.us/siting/Highlights/applications.htmReferences on nuclear power:Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy http://www.ieer.org/carbonfree/index.htmlInstitute for Energy and Environmental Research http://www.ieer.orgRocky Mountain Institute http://www.rmi.orgUnion of Concerned Scientists - Nuclear Power http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_powerPETITION TO INTERVENE AND REQUEST FOR HEARING In the Matter of PROGRESS ENERGY FLORIDA, Levy County Nuclear Station Units 1 & 2, Docket Nos. 52-029 COL & 52-030 COL Feburary 6, 2009http://www.nirs.org/nukerelapse/levy/levyhome.htmBusiness Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, a new study by CPA Craig Severance, finds that escalating reactor construction and operating costs could lead to electricity from new nukes as high as 25-30 cents per kw/h-significantly higher than industry estimates. http://www.nirs.org/neconomics/nuclearcosts2009.pdf# # #

[ . . .now if only we could convince the powers that be that discharging treated sewage and industrial wastes into surface waters that are used for drinking water sources, is also bad policy . . . . . ]   

Victory in Landmark Clean Water Act ChallengeLeague and Lake Residents Overturn Dominion Nuke Permit

Today a Virginia court in Richmond ruled that state agencies violated federal law and that the water quality permit for Dominion-Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear station is revoked. Judge Spencer ruled that Lake Anna water quality is governed by the federal Clean Water Act and that Virginia’s Attorney General was wrong in supporting the state’s water permit. This landmark decision favored the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and co-plaintiffs residing near Lake Anna by determining that the so-called hot side of the lake is “waters of the United States.” The Virginia State Water Control Board must now go back to the drawing board to evaluate the adverse impacts of hot water discharges to Lake Anna from the two nuclear reactors.Louis Zeller, Science Director of the League, said, “We and lakeside residents have long believed that Dominion is guilty of thermal pollution; however, we believe that the greatest impact of the Richmond court’s decision is that the Commonwealth and the people must reject the permitting of a third reactor at our endangered Lake Anna.” The League is conducting research to see how many other power plants will be affected by this decision.

-end-

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League’s Petition for Appeal was filed in Circuit Court for the City of Richmond on December 28, 2007 pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 62.1-44.29 and 2.2-4026 and Rule 2A:4 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The appeal sought judicial review of the October 29, 2007 decision by the Virginia State Water Control Board to re-issue Virginia Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit No. VA0052451 to Dominion-Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear power plant Units 1 and 2.

From Voters For Peace : 

Take Action to Stop Escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Send the letter below or write your own to President Obama at http://whitehouse.gov/contact

 In 2008, we elected 42 Greens to office in 14 states who will make a difference in promoting the Green message.

Richard Carroll, who was elected as the Green Party’s first state legislator in Arkansas in November, is already starting to make a difference.  He proposed two bills that will make ballot access easier in Arkansas.  One of the bills, which increases the period that a new party can petition from 60 to 90 days, has already passed the State House.

The hard work that the Illinois Green Party put into overcoming their state’s difficult ballot access laws and winning party status in 2006 is paying off.  For the first time, the Green Party is having a contested primary in Illinois.  Four Green candidates are running for their party’s nomination in the 5th Congressional District special election to replace Rahm Emanuel.  The candidates are Mark Arnold Fredrickson, who ran against Emanuel in the 2004 Democratic Primary; Deb Gordils, who ran against Alderman Dick Mell (33rd Ward) in 2003; and Matt Reichel and Simon Ribeiro who are making their first run for office.

In Wisconsin, Todd Price is running in the non-partisan election for Superintendent of Public Education.  The Green Party of Wisconsin collected 2,000 signatures to get Todd on the ballot in January.  The primary will be held on February 17.  If Todd comes in first or second in the primary, he will advance to the general election.  Pete Karas, former Green Racine Alderperson, is running for mayor of Racine this spring.  As John Nichols recently wrote, “If anyone can turn Racine Green — with a capital “G” — and establish some new models for politics at the municipal level in Wisconsin, it’s Pete Karas.”

Our Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates have continued their work after the election.  Cynthia McKinney made a valiant effort to bring medical supplies to Gaza during the Israeli invasion before her ship was rammed by the Israeli military and forced to turn away.  Rosa Clemente is starting a speaking tour to discuss the issues that Cynthia and she raised during the 2008 campaign.

So far, there are 74 Green candidates that have announced their intention to run for office this year.  At this time in 2005, only 23 candidates had declared. 

 This is an exciting time for us! The Green Party has never been as relevant as it is today.  Whether it is the economic crisis, global warming, energy, or healthcare - Green Party candidates and office-holders advocate for solutions that address on-the-ground reality on behalf of the citizens living today and those to come.