Green Imagination

Enron's Skilling Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison - washingtonpost.com

2006-10-23T20:28:00.000-05:00

So, there is a little justice after all. That said, I wonder if the $45 million Skilling will have to pay will even come close to the amount of damage done by Enron.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out 2005's The Smartest Guys in the Room. It's chilling how easily people bought into Enron's accounting scheme to declare profits before they were actually realized.

The real republican strategy behind electronic voting in MD

2006-09-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Ehrlich can point fingers all he wants, but I'd bet money that he secretly want faulty electronic voting. It's easy to say you want paper ballots (anyone who wants democracy wants paper ballots).

The truth is that Diebold, that highly trustworthy donor to the Republican party, is going to be "re-testing" the machines that failed in last week's primary. If they screwed it up once, who's to say that they won't screw it up again? And by screwed, I mean cheating the public of an honest election.

How To Steal an Election With a Diebold Machine - Gizmodo

2006-09-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

Like I said, 1984 is here and now.

Democracy in the US is now only a thing of the past. Contact your state senator, delegate, or US congressman/woman or senator to demand just elections. Electronic voting is not safe now, and is not likely to ever be safe.

There are just some things that should still be done with pen and paper.

1984 Is Here

2006-09-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

David Reimer over at Watchblog has posted this very good summary of some very scary bills coming up in the Senate. One will essentially allow the President to continue unwarrented wiretaps; one would literally allow Congress to trade campaign contributions for pork spending (earmark spending bills--you know the ones that voters love to hate and hate to love?); the third, which David points out is meeting with opposition, would allow the CIA to torture prisoners.

Check it out.

The Yes Men Strike Again

2006-08-28T18:56:00.000-05:00

From CNN, by way of TPM Muckraker, the prankster group The Yes Men have struck again in New Orleans, this time perpetrating a HUD official.

For those of you not familiar with The Yes Men, I highly recommend the 2003 documentary by the same name. Essentially, they go around impersonating officials from various "bad organizations," and say the things that's really on all our minds. For example, the documentary shows them impersonating WTO officials, spouting off the benefits of the slavery that occurs as a result of globalization.

In this particular stunt, the pranksters said what needed to be said--and what we would all like to see happen in New Orleans: Government and private companies actually spending money to fix the city.

iandanger.com

2006-08-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

Check out this blog from a college green in MD. I'm also adding Ian to my links.

Ian is a contributor over at WatchBlog, one of my favorite blogs.

Cheers, Ian. I hope to see you at a Baltimore County Greens meeting one of these days.

Time for Reflection

2006-08-22T20:45:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, I've just had a baby (well, my wife and I had her). Since becoming a dad, I've stepped down from all of my responsibilities for the Maryland Green Party. With time away from state party politics, I've had a chance to reflect on my experiences with the MGP over the past two years.

Recently, there's been a few comments on the Village Green, the MGP's main listserve. I've responded to them and am reposting the response here:

After 2 years of working w/in the MGP in various functions, I have to say that people are very quick to say "The MGP should do (insert action)" but very slow to say, "I can do (insert action) for the MGP." For those less involved in the state party, it's sometimes easy to have an inaccurate idea of what is or should be going on at the state level.

Just like some of our locals, the state party is strapped for cash. And, just like some of our locals, the state party is also strapped for human resources. In my 2 years of attending CC meetings almost every month, only a few times did Greens from Frederick or other outlying areas of MD attend (sorry Whitney).

The result is a real dearth of activism at the state level. The MGP has about 10 different committees. Sadly, only a few of them are active and the ones that are active are not fully staffed. Ideally, it'd be great to have at least one person from each local on each committee. Having convened a committee myself, it is next to impossible to get volunteers from locals to assist (for those who don't know me, I convened the Public Relations committee for approximately one year).

Not only are committees understaffed, but it makes it very difficult for the state Coordinating Committee to, well, coordinate. If locals are not reporting back to the CC, the CC cannot help locals grow. It's a symbiotic relationship (or should be IMO).

Another result of being short human resources is being short of fundraising. It takes time and energy to do this. We can spend plenty of time coming up with great fundraising ideas, but if no one takes the lead they are just thoughts going out into the ether of the universe.

So, the next time someone is tempted to say that the MGP should be doing fundraising, that person should instead be thinking, "How can I do fundraising for the MGP?"

This doesn't even touch on the issue of some members' attitudes about money or how the MGP can maintain its ethical beliefs about money and politics and still be a functional political organization. Frankly, it doesn't even matter which side of that debate you fall on. Why? Because there's not enough money coming into the MGP for it to really matter (at least, since my last CC several months ago--Beth, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

And on that note, I'd like to encourage everyone to make a donation of either time or money! With another record breaking year of candidates on the ballot and a monstrous amount of petitioning in front of us, the MGP needs YOUR HELP!

So, what are you waiting for? Donate time and/or money!

Talk about Class Warfare

2006-07-29T01:51:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty pathetic attempt to get voter support in an election year. Basically, working poor are being given a $2.15 raise over 3 years. That comes to barely more than a $1,000/year raise, which will still do nothing to keep people out of poverty. If the poverty line is CURRENTLY $20k/year for a family of 4, a single working mom with three children who makes minimum wage in 2009 will still fall shy of the 2006 poverty line by nearly $5k. It's also worth noting that the minimum wage has not been raised in this country for nearly a decade.

At the same time, the same bill cuts the estate tax. This is a piss-poor example of a compromise. I hate to sound like an echo chamber, but it's obvious that Democrats in Congress and the Senate have given up so much power that even their attempts to help the poor turn into half-steps and underfunded good thoughts.

This bill essentially shifts the burden onto businesses, despite the estate tax cut. And really, it's small businesses that will suffer the most because they have the highest overhead generally. Simultaneously, and perhaps ironically, small businesses also provide 90% of the jobs in this country. That's a fact that right-wingers like to throw around because it makes it look like supporting all business means supporting big business. Cutting the estate tax, of course, only affects the upper 1%, and most small business owners live quite shy of that percentile.

I truly hope that voters recognize this as a ploy and vote for the candidates that truly have their interests in heart (in other words...VOTE GREEN!).

Seriously, one of the issues that attracted me to the Green Party was their stance on a living wage. No person in this country should have to work 2-3 jobs to barely make it out of poverty. Period. Each job should pay enough to keep someone out of poverty. Granted, some people make poor living choices and do not know how to manage their money. My answer to that, as it is with everything, is to provide better education at all levels.

So, not only should we provide a living wage, but we should also provide job and life skills training to any one who wants/needs them.

It's not happening here but it is happening now

2006-06-25T19:17:00.000-05:00

This is a cleaver ad campaign by Amnesty International. I particularly like the immediacy of it. And the realism. Here's one that really hits home:

Political Literature

2006-06-24T23:34:00.000-05:00

I received a political brochure from a gentleman, presumably a democrat, whose running for some office in my district. Let me just say that it's a poor piece of political campaigning. I won't reveal the guy's name, but please take note of the design flaws I discuss below in case you're working on developing campaign literature for someone.

1) The brochure doesn't say what office they guy is running for. How am I supposed to even start considering the person presented in the brochure for an office when I don't know the office? How can I judge whether his experiences do indeed qualify him for office?

2) The picture on the front looks like it's 20 years old. Don't be cheap on this kind of thing. It's not worth it. Get a professional photographer to take your headshot. Or at least follow you to a campaign event to get an action shot.

3) The front of the brochure says "Welcome to Maryland." I've lived in Md. almost my entire life. I really don't need to be welcomed. I need to see what a candidate will do to improve it. I found this a bit presumptuous and almost condescending.

4) Make sure your literature matches with other campaign collateral. I actually new this guy was running for something, since I had seen a yard sign up a few days ago. Unfortunately, the two pieces of collateral don't match. The brochure I received today is red and white, while the yard sign I saw was blue and yellow (which appears to be a very popular color schemed for political materials). It might sound silly, but it goes a long way to integrate all your campaign materials. Consistency is key. Otherwise, you look unprofessional like this guy does.

ITMFA

2006-06-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

Impeach the Mother Fucker Already!

Dan Savage is one of my favorite columnists. Generally, he's not political. But when he is...watch out! Just google "Santorum" (as in the senator from Pennsylvania who will very likely loose come November). We can thank Dan Savage for #1.

Also, visit www.itmfa.com, buy a few buttons. Proceeds are going to select charities. While Dan has given to a few progressive, pro-gay democrats, he's also given to charities such as Planned Parenthood.

If you buy buttons, which you should, encourage him to donate to the GPUS. After all, we're the only political party to unequivocally support gay marriage and all accompanying gay rights (Dan's openly gay), and more to the ITMFA point...we're the only political party to unequivocally oppose the invasion and ocupation of Iraq.

So ITMFA!

Deleware Green Running for Congress

2006-06-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Here's two parts of an interview with Michael Berg.

First Part

Second Part

And here's Michael Bergs website.

And yes, for those of you asking, he's the father of Nick Berg. Nick was the American contractor who was beheaded in in 2004. Critics argue that Michael is being a traitor to what his son was doing in Iraq. I argue that he's standing up for what he knows is the lost cause that is Iraq.

Ironically, Berg was not fighting in the war. And indeed, when you read Michael's bio you'll see that he's been a lifelong war protestor. So, regardless of his son's role, Michael Berg is staying true to himself.

Maryland Green Party Candidate's websites

2006-06-19T22:04:00.000-05:00

While I don't have time right now to add these sites in my links, here's a few (just a sampling, really) websites of candidates:

Brian Bittner--Harford County Council

Kevin Zeese--U.S. Senate

Ed Boyd--Governor

As mentioned in my previous post, there's a whole slew of MGP candidates brewing. In fact, we discussed what to call the website for this group of anti-BGE candidates. Here's a few we came up with (none of these are official yet):

www.ScrewBGE.org
www.ProtectMyPower.org
www.TakeOnBGE.org

Got an idea for a website name? post it in the comments section.

Green Party Candidates Coming to a Polling Station Near Year

2006-06-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

I just received an email from one of the new Maryland Green Party co-chairs, Patsy Allen. She formally was the convener for the Electoral Committee, and has provided me with a preliminary list of all the Maryland Green Party candidates.

It's really amazing to see how many candidates we have so far, plus there's still more than a month left to file. All together, we have 18 candidates. That's two more than in 2004, for those of you who are counting.

So, without further ado here's the list (website will be added to this site shortly). Please note that some of these candidates have yet to file. Some may also need to obtain the nomination of the Maryland Green Party, or one or more local chapters.

Federal Offices

Steve Warner – Congress, District 5

Gerard – Congress, District 8 (sorry, the list didn't have his last name)

Kevin Zeese Senate

State Offices

Ed Boyd Governor

James Madigan Lt. Governor

Bob Auerbach – Comptroller

Chris Bush – legislative dist. 10

David Kiasi – legislative dist. 25

Brandy Baker – legislative dist. 43

Elsey Marquez - legislative dist. 39

Joseph Sanchez – legislative dist. 36

Dave Goldsmith – legislative dist. 11

Local Offices

Joe Horgan Montgomery County Council

Robb Tufts Anne Arundel County Council

Brian Bittner Harford County Council

Jeff Lambert Baltimore County Council

Judicial

Nick DelPizzo, Baltimore City
Arthur Frank, Baltimore County

BGE Rate Hikes and Baltimore Businesses

2006-06-12T22:54:00.000-05:00

It occurred to me yesterday that all we've seen (at least, all I've seen) in local media about the pending BGE rate hikes have to do with the price impact on consumers. Yet, won't businesses be affected by the rate hikes too? And most businesses use more energy than any single household. Why aren't we hearing them complain about rising energy costs? What does it take to light a Wal-Mart anyway?

If anyone out there has seen any articles to this effect, please leave a link in the comments field!

Bush Meets with Aides; Stresses Iraq Commitment

2006-06-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

I like the title that NPR currently has on it homepage for this article more than the title given when you click on it (Bush Huddles with Aides on Iraq Strategy).

Obviously, it's a great play on words, with "stresses" having a slang meaning.

Yeah, he's sweatin'.

Something that's also interesting is the photo they used, or rather the two photos:

Photo 1

Photo 2

There's always something very disturbing the way the Bush folks lay themselves out for photo ops. In the first photo, you've got the typical Bush cock of the head and arms and hands outstreached. You can almost see him pushing down his own hot air with his hands, as though he's trying to calm a situation.

As we all know, of course, they've been trying to fix their mess for several years now, and no arm waving is going to help.

What I like most about the second photo is how most of the people in the front line, including Cheney and the two men flanking the front row. You can't even see Don Rumsfeld's hands...which suggests to me that he's hiding something.

Google Ads

2006-06-11T15:05:00.000-05:00

I'm doing something some Greens might frown upon: I've added Google Ads to this blog.

I'm not sure why some Greens might frown upon this. Although Google is a HUGE company, they have a very Green outlook. Take their motto for example: "Don't Be Evil."

Now, I am certain that a lot of wealth and power concentrated in a private, somewhat centralized entity is a dangerous thing. That said, I'd rather be Google than Bill Gates. At least for the time being.

Iran in the World Cup

2006-06-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

I've been a soccer fan ever since I lived in Brazil over 10 years ago. And now that it's World Cup again, I'm trying to watch as much as I can (which isn't a lot since I don't have cable).

Today was the Mexico-Iran game. If there's one thing I learned from watching this game, it's that American sports commentators suck when it comes to the world's most popular sport. Not only do they know nothing about soccer, they kept making political statements about Iran.

For instance, the commentator at one point said something to the effect that Iran's team is not paying attention to the controversy (their word, not mine) caused by Iran's president Ahmadinejad's desire to watch the game. The commentator went on to say that the Iranian team is only there to play.

Well, DUH! What team isn't there to play?

What truly struck me as controversial about Iran participating in the world cup is the fact that they recently stopped allowing women to attend soccer games. Of course, the commentators said nothing about this inequality.

Another New Look

2006-06-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

Yet again, I've refreshed the Green Imagination look. Yes, it's still a canned template from blogger. I was just tired of seeing so many GREEN BLOGS with the same template!

Enjoy!

Republican Strategy

2006-06-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

With the Bush administration flailing for support for its policies, it's little surprise that congressional Republicans are trying to regain some of the power they've given up since 9-11. That said, its ironic that they feel they're on such shakey ground.

If you'll take a quick trip with me back to the 2004 elections, you might remember that Bush called his victory a "mandate" for conservative policies. Now, less than 2 years later and due to a large amount of bumbling policies, that mandate has proven to be nonexistent. Of course, much of this is political positioning for mid-term elections, now less than six months off.

One of the things Congressional Republicans are squaring off with Bush about is the raid on Rep. William J. Jefferson's office. He's a Democrat from Louisiana, and by all accounts, appears to be very guilty of the bribery charges being brought against him. And this couldn't be a better time or a better issue for Republicans, as their own Tom Delay heads into the thick of a major corruption court battle.

What makes this case particularly dangerous in the hands of Republicans is that, despite their own ethical failures, they can point to Jefferson and keep the media spotlight off their own corruption. And they can keep the corruption issue alive, possibly without endangering themselves.

It's really no secret that the two major parties are completely corrupt, and the two-party system is structure to keep it that way. It is, however, always surprising how voters will regularly forget this fact and keep the two parties in power.

Zarqawi Conspiracy Theory

2006-06-08T22:25:00.000-05:00

I'm usually not much of a conspiracy theorist, but this seems too obvious. There's some fishy business going on with the latest news of Zarqawi's death.

For example, how do you drop two 500 lbs bombs on someone and then later identify him "by fingerprints, 'facial recognition' and 'known scars.'" How does someone's body survive two huge bombs dropped on one small building? This seems highly dubious.

Now they've release a picture with his face--apparently they cleaned it up a bit before publishing it.

The NYT also mentions some facts that don't seem to square away. There seems to be a discrepancy as to whether US forces were on the ground prior to the attack and exchanged gunfire. The article also states something about a timeline not matching up, but it doesn't seem to elaborate on that point.

And as is typical of maintstream news, neither article mentions anything about the deaths of nearby innocents. They're not important apparently, and it doesn't matter to them if the main target is dead (however dubious that might be). Again, you drop two 500-lbs bombs and only a handful of people die?

I'm not a bomb or arms expert, but that seems like a stretch.

Spam

2006-06-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

I was about to post a little something about a Zarqawi-related conspiracy theory. Then I saw all the comments on the previous posts. "That's odd," I said to myself, knowing that I don't get a lot of traffic on this site.

As it turns out, the comments are all spam. I may need to purge this blog and start over :(

Jarhead

2006-03-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

That's what they call marines in the movie of the same title. Being an another activist, I'm always trying to understand what it is about war that attracts people. What is it in soldiers that makes them want to kill?

In Jarhead, it's sex. The movie makes a deep visual and psychological connection between killing and sex. With not just the absence of sex but also with the threat of cheating spouses and girlfriends looming over the characters, killing is a substitute, a surrogate for sex for soldiers in war. The irony encountered by Swofford, the main character, and his colleagues is that they never get to kill anyone. Instead, they only see the results of bombings...charred Iraqi remains (the movie takes place during the first Gulf War). In fact, Swofford only sees two actual, live soldiers throughout the film.

These soldiers are driven to madness with the desire to kill, with the semi-sexual tension often frequently bubbling over into the soldier's cohesion as a military unit. Yet, their lack of military encounters is strongly reminiscent of Baudrillard's writings on Desert Storm (Unfortunately, the book is still packed--I just moved a few months ago--and I'm too lazy too look it up online). In "The Reality Gulf," Baudrillard contends that the first Gulf war could have been entirely faked (and likely was).

So, how do we take the sex out of war? I don't mean taking the sexy out of it; I think there's been enough books and movies made on that theme. But how do we take the sex out of killing? Are sex and death, and therefore killing, inextricably linked?

The Mission Is Over

2005-12-09T23:14:00.000-05:00

It's a sad day for the Green Party. Ken Sain's blog, the number one Green blog in the nation, has closed his doors. We wish you the best of luck, Ken, in your new job (which is now a conflict of interest for Ken--hence the closing).

Ken's blog was, hands down, the most informative blog about the Green Party's national activities. Ken did a great job covering the internal workings of the Green Party, as well as providing quality commentary on national affairs. He even covered our Maryland Green Party Assembly in 2005!

Be still my beating heart...

2005-09-28T18:54:00.000-05:00

It's a day of reckoning for that slimeball Tom Delay: He's been indicted for criminal conspiracy according to the NY Times. Read 'em and weep. Delay's going down.

The face of the antiwar movement

2005-09-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Cindy Sheehan was arrested today for protesting without a permit. Good for her, but too bad only 370 people were arrested. It'd be great if about 1,000 could take the plunge and get arrested. No, 10,000. Let's inundate the system, shut it down, and really get a message across. If only I didn't have to work!

England Convicted

2005-09-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

Lynndie England, one of the soldiers caught torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, was convicted for her crimes. Unfortunately, this is probably as high up as the abuse investigation will go. That's not high--England was a private.

This is really a false attempt at accountability. It's pretty clear that orders had come from high up in the pentagon, likely from Rumsfeld himself. But he'll never be convicted. It's just sad.

More workers are choosing to hold down multiple jobs

2005-09-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

So, the guy described in this article leaves his house at 2:20 a.m. and works until 5:30 p.m. And he likes it.

Like Jay Hancock, the commentator, says: "Where else but America?" Hancock also argues that this is a sign of a healthy economy.

It's not necessarily a bad sign. Belying the perception of multiple jobholding as a token of hard times, history shows that moonlighting ebbs and flows with the larger business cycle. An expanding economy means not just that more people can work; it means more people can work multiple jobs, if they want.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather have one job that allows me to meet all my financial obligations.

Katrina

2005-09-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

How can a person not weigh in on Katrina's aftermath?? I just read a Salon article (link for those of you who have access), and Joan Walsh is right when she says that

The crisis unfolding before us -- dispossession, looting, people shooting at rescue workers, the president's dim response, and now, people dying in front of our eyes outside the Superdome -– rubs our noses in so much that's wrong in our country, it's excruciating to watch.

She's so right. Further down, Walsh is critical of Bush, as we all should be. He was probably so disappointed for having to cancel his vacation 2 days early. The federal government's general response has been so lackluster, the mayor of New Orleans was swearing a blue streak on the radio yesterday.

The most telling part of this story that Walsh's essay hits on is Bush's response. He flew over the disaster area. Compare that with his 9-11 response where he was supposedly on the bullhorn. Obviously, there's not enough political gain in helping the down and out.

Don't believe what they tell you, there's no compasion in this administration.

And there's been plenty of critical responses to the media's coverage and blantant racist biases. How dare they, or anyone, blame the victims for being victims? That's like telling a rape victim that she was raped because she is attractive.

At any rate, if this isn't a sign that the country needs Green Politics, I don't know what is. It's too bad that there's so much in-fighting now that we can't get anything done. It's a turnoff to voters and activists alike.

A Great Protest Story

2005-08-24T21:55:00.000-05:00

For the past several months, a group of brave souls have been holding regular protests down in DC, right outside the Smithsonian Metro station. And every week, one of the protestors sends a report to one of the Maryland Green Party listserves. Here's one that really hits home, and shows that being against the war doesn't mean you're against the troops. Indeed, the best way to support the troops is to bring them home.

“My sister graduated from the Naval Academy...”

The woman stared down at our anti-war placard spread out on PennsylvaniaAvenue in front of the White House.

“She got back from Iraq just a couple of months ago, but my brother is stillthere. And I myself am an officer in the military. We're a militaryfamily.”

She puzzled over the multi-colored placards aranged on the sidewalk, some in mysterious Asian scripts. She looked over at the Polish tourists taking turns with their cameras. The Poles held a placard in Polish that expresses a very rude sentiment against the criminals that have sent so many of this woman's colleagues off to die.

“My sister graduated from Annapolis...”

The woman continued:

“She was so very proud to be one of the first African-American women to graduate from the Naval Academy. She loved it.”

“But now she's back at Mom's house and she's a mental wreck. PTSD. She'squit the military, and had intended to stay in for life. She just sits at home now.”

Her voice was firm but still full of emotion.

She continued the story about her sister's involvement in a grenade attack in which many servicemen were killed. About having to order men on missions from which there was no return. I don't recall all the details, as tourists were snapping up our placards for their own White House protest photos.

But I do remember one thing she said:

“The worst part about it was the goddam propaganda. They bathe you in it day and night. Both my sister and my brother say that in Iraq, all day and all night, on the radio, on the TV, in the newspaper, in your eyes and in your ears every second, all you hear is a pack of lies, lies so blatant they insult your intelligence.”

And I remember her parting words:

“Keep up the good work!”

Another Innovative Green Idea

2005-08-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

Esteban at Chlorophyll has pointed out another great way that Green candidates can demonstrate their commitment to keeping Americans safe: Depleted Uranium testing for US soldiers.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Depleted Uranium, you can find a good explanation here. Basically, the army dips its bullets in radioactive materials to help them penetrate armor. It's been proven to be an environmental hazard, and it's been shown to increase cancer rates in Iraq.

As Esteban notes:

This harm comes not only from the Iraqi insurgents, but from their own
weapons.

And we're supposed to be the good guys. Yeah right.

Moyers on America

2005-08-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'm on vacation (and fortunately have free internet access--gotta love wireless) and I've been reading Moyers on America, a collection of essays by the retired TV journalist and former LBJ hack. I've always loved NOW, his last TV news show, and was saddened when it was cut down from 60 to 30 minutes when Moyers left.

At any rate, here's one of my favorite passages (so far):

What I can't explain is the rage of these counterrevolutionaries [i.e. neocons] to dismantle every last brink of the social contract. At this advanced age I accept the fact that the tension between haves and have-nots is built into human psychology and society itself--it's ever with us. However, I'm just as puzzled as to why, with right-wing wrecking crews blasting away at social benefits once considered invulnerable, Democrats are fearful of being branded "class warriors" in a war the other side started and is determined to win. I don't get why conceding your opponent's premises and fighting on his turf isn't a surefire prescription for irrelevance and ultimately obsolescence. But I confess as well that I don't know how to resolve the social issues that have driven wedges into the ranks of the working-and lower-middle-classes and divided them from the more affluent, upper-middle-class professionals and highly educated who were once their allies. Nor do I know how to reconfigure Progressive politics to fit into an age of sound bites and polling dominated by a media oligarchy whose corporate journalists are neutered and whose right-wing publicists have no shame.

From his writings, you'd think Moyers was registered Green. If he's not, he certainly should be. I don't know how to place my own politics into sound bites (although I'm getting good at it), and I don't know how to bridge that gap in understanding between what conservatives are doing to our country and those who continue to support them lock, stock and barrel

Is Karlgate Dead?

2005-07-31T19:50:00.000-05:00

While I don't claim to read every blog (I'd be here all day if I did), the Internet seems pretty quiet on Karlgate recently. The link in this post's title is the latest post I found that even mentions Rove, and it's already a few days old.

BushCo. got a real lucky break with the London bombings. They had already tried to change the subject by appointing Roberts to the Supreme Court, but the bombings really allowed them to shore up any attention the media was paying to the brewing scandal. Plus they got to remind Americans that they should be afraid.

Darn that Tim Willard

2005-07-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

This is why I dislike canned web designs. Nothing against Tim, of course. He's a stand-up fella (so I hear, we've never met).

All fixed with a new look

2005-07-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

I couldn't figure out what changed in the code on my old design, so I just picked a new one! Normally, I don't care much for canned designs, but this one looks pretty good and fits the Green theme.

something's wrong

2005-07-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

with that last post. I'll try to fix it later.

Big Win in Frederick

2005-07-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

Although this article came out before the change, it appears that the city of Frederick has adopted Doug McNeil's charter amendments that remove the high obstacles for Joanne Ivancic to be on the ballot. Joanne is running for city alderman and her name will appear on the ballot with party affiliation. Joanne could possibly win this race, so it's very exciting.

It's important to note that Frederick has done a lot in a very short amount of time. They've revived their local, attracted a large number of people, received great media coverage (like this WaPo article), and are already running a candidate.

Solar Energy Gaining Ground in U.S.

2005-07-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

There's a good article in today's Baltimore Sun about solar energy. Apparently, MD is the largest producer of solar panels (a good thing), but usage in the state is still relatively low (a bad thing). One reason is this:

Tom and Frances Yuhas are your everyday environmentalists. They recycle,
grow their own vegetables and drive a Honda hybrid. But they still like the
suburban comforts of central air and an outdoor pool.

So when it came time to replace their old oil furnace, the energy-conscious
couple made a natural choice. Four months ago, they outfitted their 1954
Pasadena ranch-style home with sleek new solar panels.

Now, their house on the Magothy River no longer smells of
oil fumes. Their $80-a-month electric bill has dropped almost in half. To help
make this happen, the state reimbursed $3,000 of their $30,000
installation.

A 10% tax rebate on something that costs that much is a joke. The article points out that MD is not aggressively pursuing a progressive plan to get more people to install solar energy. I would love to see both state and federal government doing more to encourage the solar energy installations. It would be even more appealing if money was put towards giving businesses & developers tax breaks for installing solar panels, since they use more energy than private individuals. Of course, that would make for strange bedfellows with the MD Green Party...one that I could get behind.

Dems in sticky position

2005-07-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

I rarely blog on issues at the national-level, but I can't resist commenting on the latest conundrum for Senate Democrats.

Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement from the Supreme Court helps to put Senate Democrats in yet another sticky position. It's the opportunity Bush Co. has been waiting for. Bush's prospective appointee is likely to be a fanatic right-winger. If the Dems filibuster they will be called obstructionists, while if they don't, they will once again disappoint their base.

Of course, they arrived in this position of their own feeble-minded accord. The "deal" they struck earlier in the year illustrated the Dems continual downward spiral of giving up their power. They've lost seats over the past 5 years and there's little doubt that the Bush Admin. will use this opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court Justice as a wedge to win more seats in 2006.

So, what should the Democrats do? And why should a Green care?

I'd like to say that Democrats need to have a knock-down, drag-out battle over this seat. I'd like to say that, but I suspect they won't. They're too afraid to lead.

Greens, on the other hand, would have little problem compromising on this important appointmet. While there aren't any Green senators (yet), we know that Bush's appointment, whoever it might be, will fall politically far from our own values. Alberto Gonzalez, for example, was the author of the "Torture Memo," which pushed the envolope on what constitutes legal torture.

If the Dems fail to put up a good fight, yet again disappointing their progressive base, the Greens should welcome those who are disappointed. Hey, elect Greens, fight the power and change the system! It's that simple.

One more note on McCarthy

2005-06-06T23:32:00.000-05:00

Myles Hoenig of Baltimore City asked McCarthy if he was registered Green. After all, he had praised the Green Party several times in his speech.

Surprisingly, McCarthy said he wasn't registered to vote. He said he would not want to vote for anyone sworn to uphold the Constitution as long as it contained the section about the government raising and maintaining a militia. Now that is an impressive stance.

After his speech, outgoing Maryland Green Party Membership Coordinator Mike Shea talked to him. By the end of the conversation, McCarthy said he'd register Green. (If you don't know Mike Shea, the guy's a wizard at getting people to register.)

Of course, for someone like McCarthy (and possibly a number of you out there as well), the obvious response is that even if you don't vote, you should register Green to show your support of Green ideals. I'd even go one step further by saying that you SHOULD vote if only to elect people that will change the Constitution to reflect your beliefs. After all, isn't that what the Christian Right are doing?

Colman McCarthy at the MGP Assembly

2005-06-06T23:24:00.000-05:00

Colman McCarthy knocked my socks off this weekend. He gave a riviting speech that held a bunch of political noise-makers in thrall. One person told me that the speech changed her life.

I have a very poor memory and didn't take notes during the speech, so a lot of it has already vanished into the nether-regions of my brain. (To be fair to myself, I was one of the Assembly organizers and was simultaneously listening to McCarthy's speech while doing other things.)

At any rate, McCarthy gave a great blend of humor and seriousness and two things really stuck with me. The first was towards the beginning of his speech. He called for a moment of silence to remember all the people who have been killed in war, all the people who have been the victims of violence, all the women who have been battered by their significant other, all the animals who have been slaughtered for food. He said to pray if that's what you're into, but it didn't matter if you were a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Aetheist, Agnostic, whatever...you didn't need to be religious or of a particular religion to pray or be spiritual.

That's something I've heard other speakers say, and it's something I hold true and dear.

The other thing that struck me (or stuck with me) was his comments that nonviolence starts in the home. He said that it didn't matter if you do good in the world if you treat your family poorly. He cited Martin Luther King, a known wife-beater, and Ghandi (of all people) who apparently had a very poor relationship with his son.

At the end of his talk, he received a standing ovation. And deserved it.

Maryland Greens Elect New Officers, National Delegates

2005-06-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

Not a very personalized post, but here's our release from this weekend's Synthesis 2005:

Registered Greens from across the state gathered in Baltimore last Saturday to elect new party officers. Offices up for election were two state party Co-Chairs, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Membership Coordinator, and two delegates to the Green National Committee (GNC).

Maryland Greens re-elected Michael Cornell (Columbia, Md.), who will serve a second term as Co-Chair. Also winning re-election for Treasurer was Beth Hufnagel (Elkridge, Md.). Hufnagel also ran for Maryland Comptroller in 2002.

Newly elected officers are Eileen Scott (Silver Spring, Md.) as the second Co-Chair position, Nathan Bahn (Silver Spring, Md.) as Recording Secretary, and Vo Cheng (Rosedale, Md.) as Membership Coordinator.

Winning the delegate seats to the GNC were Steve Kramer (Columbia, Md.) and Virginia Rodino (Baltimore, Md.). Kramer is serving his second term as delegate to the GNC and is also one of seven Co-Chairs on the national Green Party’s Steering Committee. Other candidates seeking election to Maryland’s delegation to the GNC were Brad Carlton (Baltimore, Md.) and Brandy Baker (Baltimore, Md.).

Saturday’s elections met the Maryland Green Party’s by-laws requirement of gender and minority balance for state party Co-Chairs.

Recent Pictures from the Fort Bragg Anti-War Demonstration

2005-03-28T20:39:00.000-05:00

Here's some great pictures from a recent anti-war demonstration at Fort Bragg. Notice the presence of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Some Local News

2005-03-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

Finally...a day off from my day job and I can post some updates.

First, this whole Terri Schiavo thing is a load of crap. That's why I was particularly surprised by my own wife's response that the pro-lifers actually have a case in this instance. Her argument is that because there's no living-will, and because Schiavo's not already dying, she should be allowed to live (or prevented from dying...whichever turn of phrase you prefer). What surprised me was that my wife is usually very strong in individual choice. But, she says, Terri Schaivo hadn't made that choice. She also thinks the husband stands to gain financially from her death.

At any rate, it's not a real news story. Thousands of inmates on death row aren't choosing to die, but that's their sentence. Few are up-in-arms about that.

On a more local note, the Baltimore City Council Green Party candidate in the 13th district had his day in court. This case of favoritism and unfair application of law was heard in Maryland's highest court. From what I hear, Carroll Holzer did a great job and was positive about the expected outcome. Glenn still needs money to cover legal fees, so if you'd like to chip in for a worthy electoral rights issue, contact Joan Floyd.

Speaking of raising money, the Maryland Green Party just threw a Party for the Party. It was a lot of fun...great music, a few beers, a silent auction. It really gave us a chance to recognize the hard work a lot of folks did during last year's election cycle...particularly the candidates and their staff. We even raised almost $1000! This money will be going to the Maryland Green Party's annual State Assembly (when we get together a large number of Greens and have a day of learning, workshopping, and voting on party officials).

I've been working hard on getting some great speakers for the MGP State Assembly, June 4th at University of Baltimore. Rumors abound, but we might even get Nader to headline an anti-war panel. Colman McCarthy, founder of the Center for Teaching Peace, will be our keynote speaker.

We can always use your help, both financially and in terms of volunteers. Only about 1% of registered Greens in Maryland are actively working to build the party. It's a lot of work for a small group of people, after all--we're grassroots! No support from corporations, PACs, unions...just people like you and me. If you'd like to contribute to the Maryland Green Party, send a check or money order to:

Maryland Green Party
P.O. Box 2230
Annapolis, MD 21404

Also, if you'd like to volunteer, email me.

Ehrlich Misses the Mark....Again

2005-01-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

This is becoming quite typical of Bob Ehrich's administration:

In his Senate remarks, Ehrlich said he would push a "child-centric" agenda this year with proposals to safeguard children's health, education and safety. He said he would push initiatives on lead paint, teen driving safety and improved services for children with mental health and substance abuse problems.

So, only those children whose parents have the money to give them a car to drive (or even to have one to lend to their teens), and the children with serious mental and drug problems are to be helped? He says he's willing to "push initiatives" on lead paint, which affects some of the state's poorest children, but that phrase is vague.

Why aren't we helping all Maryland's children, not just the sick or the priveledged? Why not institute some form of universal healthcare so the thousands of children without insurance can be healthy?

Don't get me wrong, helping the mentally ill and substance abusers is high on my list. I'm just skeptical about this language and am waiting to see what help means to the governor.

Proud to be Green because....

2005-01-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

The two candidates, who received less than 0.3 percent of the Ohio vote, paid $113,600 for a statewide recount after the vote was certified earlier this month by the secretary of state.

The two people being discussed here are none other than Green Part Presidential candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Michael Bednarik.

I knew I was proud of what Cobb was doing, fighting to ensure that we actually live in a democracy and not a farce of one, but I think this quote really puts things into perspective.

The two individuals who will be least affected by the outcome of an Ohio recount are the ones making all the efforts to support democracy there. While the individual who would most likely benefit from a recount, and the subsequent uncovereing of fraud, does not appear involved what so ever.

Don't tell me the Democratic Party is not failing. They can't stand up for their candidate, they can't stand up for what they claim to believe in, and they can't get anything done in government that doesn't fit into the right-wing's agenda.

Minority party politics (I'm no longer using the 3rd-party term because there's too many other parties in existence for any one of them to be a "3rd party") ...ahem, Minority party politics is the real meat of political movement and social change. Things have to move through waves, and we are riding the crest of a great political upheaval (in my opinion). We need to fight against entrenched interests.

Rumsfeld admits he's incompetent

2004-12-23T01:09:00.000-05:00

In a DOD press conference today:

Q: How does this one [political fight] over the past two weeks rate? And do you think it has affected your ability to do your job?

SEC. RUMSFELD: Well, you know, it is -- you get up in the morning and you think about what our troops are doing and I must say, if they can do what they're doing, I can do what I'm doing. [emphasis added]

In other words, they're fighting and dying in an unjust war, so he feels it's o.k. to be incompetent.

Maryland Green Party Endorses Lawsuit Against State Board of Elections

2004-12-21T23:48:00.000-05:00

Since I don't have much time or energy devoted to blogging, I'm just going to be posting press releases here for the time being. Here's one:

The Maryland Green Party (MGP) voted to endorse Glenn L. Ross’ lawsuit against the Maryland State Board of Elections at its December monthly state.

Ross filed his lawsuit on November 5, 2004, on the grounds that the defendants unlawfully allowed his opponent to be a candidate in Baltimore’s 13th City Council district race, despite missing campaign finance reports. Maryland election law prohibits the candidacy of any individual on whose behalf campaign finance reporting is delinquent.

“It’s not about who won the race, it’s about who is eligible to run in the race.” said Ross. “The state board needs to hold all candidates accountable equally and fairly according to law.” Ross noted that citizens and community groups in his district have contacted him to voice their complaints about the November 2 election results.

Baltimore City Circuit Court did not honor a recent request from Ross to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Branch’s swearing in.

Ross is receiving assistance from Joan Floyd, the 2004 Green Party candidate for City Council President and a civic advocate. Floyd states that the state Board of Elections discussed the eligibility issue during their October 26 meeting, but no ruling was made and no action was taken regarding Branch’s candidacy prior to election day.

Ross and Floyd expect initial hearings in this case will take place in January 2005.

So it's been a few weeks....

2004-12-09T01:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. I've been rather disconnected from the rest of the world at large lately.

Anyway, starting last week, there's been a big hubabaloo in this state (MD for your out-of-towners) about the governor banning two Baltimore Sun reporters from talking to ANYONE in "his government."

I put that in quotes because, in defending his actions on the radio last week, he said "That's my government" over and over again.

On one hand, it's great that we have a politician who is finally acknowledging that he is a huge part of a corrupt system and that democracy has been thrown out like a month old cabbage. On the other hand, it's a sad reminder that our elected officials like Ehrlich can simply walk all over the populace and get away with it (to some degree). Who does he think he is? GWB???

Have You Considered Moving North?

2004-11-26T01:03:00.000-05:00

With leaders like Canada's Paul Martin, who is now calling for a new international organization to protect human rights abuses, the call to many of us to move north is getting stronger everyday. I would love a leader that at the least appears to be calling for international solutions to major problems such as those in the Sudan.

On the one hand, his L-20 seems like a great idea. Take the G-8 and expand it to include 12 of the most developed nations like Brasil, India, South Korea, etc.

On the other hand, while the circle of power might be widening, it is still a circle of power elites.

This leads me to question what power would look like if it were truly equally distributed. The furthest extreme I can think of is the Borg from Star Trek. That's certainly not appealing, being a mindless shell of a human being.

Not sure where the happy medium is on this, but my guess would be that people the world over would need to tune their antennas more into politics than say...American Idol or futbol.

One more thing about the Ukraine situation

2004-11-24T23:41:00.000-05:00

Here's the kicker: They want a capitalist in power, not a stooge to the ever-growing facism that is Russia.

Are we headed towards another cold war? I doubt it, as Bush supports Putin's undemocratic reforms.

Ukraine Citizens Put Americans to Shame

2004-11-24T23:29:00.000-05:00

It's a sad statement about American democracy when the people in a rising democracy speak this loud against their government's obvious election fraud.

That's right, Ukrainians are making a mockery of American democracy by actually exercising their democratic rights! Something Americans hardly care to do, despite obvious fraudulent elections.

Check out this Washington Post video.

Then again...

2004-11-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

In considering my last post, there's obviously a price that consumers pay (at least in the current model) for their public sphere. That is, aside from cable and satellite, consumers still pay for a public sphere in respect to the prices they pay for consumable goods. This has been said before, but I'll repeat it again: advertising dollars spent to support the public sphere drives up consumer prices.

The converse argument of that is that not enough people would know about products to buy them without advertising. That's probably just a crock of shit, though. The larger the ad dollars, the wider the distribution of products (which is global), the smaller and harder it is to have strong local economies. I don't care how much "jobs" Wal-mart might provide...which are generally very poorly paid jobs with little to no benefits.

The point is that in an ideal world, the public sphere would be truly public without intrusion of advertisements. So, would a truly public sphere be supported solely by tax-payer dollars?

The one "benefit" (if we can call it that) to a somewhat private system is that there's no monolithic state-funded public sphere. In other words, no state propaganda system. Of course, what we have today is essentially a state propaganda system as the large media conglomerates that transmit over both the public and private spheres have highly vested interests in the workings of government. Just look at our past two presidential elections: The media is soooo good at simply acting as the president's loudspeaker.

Too bad we don't have a system like England, where the president has to defend himself at public hearings.

If you've never tuned in...

2004-11-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

Check out PBS' NOW with Bill Moyers. He's a classic political journalist and NOW is one of the best shows I've ever seen. I'm watching it now (jeez, I've been watching a little too much TV lately).

From the corruption of big-money politics to economic failures and other misdeeds of the Bush administration, NOW covers it all. It gives you all you need to fight the constant stream of lies. Sure, Moyers gets subjective quite frequently, but someone's got to.

Is this the End of Public Goods?

2004-11-19T01:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the rare occassion that I watched Letterman and Howard Stern was the guest. I've never been a huge fan of Stern, what he does is pretty low-brow and lame. But, like all die-hard believers in democracy, I want him to be able to use the public airwaves just as anyone else.

Stern announced that he was leaving the public airwaves to go to satellite radio. His reason was that he can't do what he wants to on "terrestrial" radio (as he called it). He's got millions of dollars in fines from the FCC. So, he's moving to something more private than privatized radio aired on public airwaves. He liked satellite radio to the early days of cable TV.

What bothers me about this is that the entire concept of a public good is being eliminated by private ventures like satellite radio and cable. In other words, people are paying more to global media conglomerates for something they already have a right to.

The argument has been made, of course, that these same conglomerates monopolize the public airwaves. Either way, then, it seems like the consumer is screwed.

This is no shock, but it needs to be said again and again: Privatized media systems like this are destroying our democracy. We need to pay to get information, and if we don't we get crappy information. Of course, you could argue that we get crappy information anyway.

What's at stake is the public sphere, if one even still exists. That means that those who cannot afford satellite radio or cable, or for that matter the Internet, cannot participate in our democracy. And by and large, these same people do not participate in democracy.

MD Taxpayers Buy Governor's Campaign Commercials

2004-11-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

Check out Michael Olesker's commentary in today's Sun. It addresses an issue I had commented on several months back.

And that issue is the Governor's misuse of taxpayer money to fund his own campaign commercials. Sure, they're not really campaign commercials, but who does he think he's kidding? Does he really think he's the reason why tourists come to MD?

Olesker rightly points out the obvious that:

He doesn't know about land deals, doesn't know about juvenile justice, can't get his prized slot machines past the legislature.
No wonder.
This guy's been too busy caulking voters' bathrooms.
Too busy raking voters' yards.
Too busy starring in TV commercials showing that no problem is too small for him to handle - while the big problems slip right past him.

NPR Misses Golden Opportunity

2004-11-10T21:06:00.000-05:00

I sent NPR this response to a lame story they did on complaints of voter fraud & disenfranchisement:

I was disappointed and troubled to hear Pam Fessler simply repeating the apology made by Diebold for their CEO’s remarks that it is his job to “deliver the voters of Ohio to the Republican Party.” The issue is not whether or not Diebold or its executives have made contributions to political campaigns or parties, but rather the security of their voting systems. Additionally, there is still the issue that electronic voting machines can be programmed to “cheat” by not counting votes correctly.

The fact that electronic voting is not hacker-proof, nor is its source code entirely public, clearly calls into question the integrity of our democracy. NPR missed a golden opportunity to explore the problems of electronic voting and instead opted to
reinforce the status quo that is threatening our voting system.

Moreover, the entire tone of the discussion was to diminish voters’ concerns about disenfranchisement by calling these issues “conspiracy theories.” This attitude berates the serious issues we face in regards to our democracy. Voter fraud and disenfranchisement is not just whining on the part of disappointed democrats, it is a public outcry to protect democracy.

The media should head this call and do some real investigative reporting.

Greens Measure Success in More Ways than One

2004-11-09T23:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since the election! I've been incredibly busy with all the post-election stuff, and I really haven't caught up on my sleep. Not to mention my dismay that Bush was re-elected. But who knows, maybe some voter-fraud cases will be brought to light. I doubt it, but I remain hopeful.

Maryland Greens did extraordinarily well. Our candidates received over 100,000 votes statewide, and our Baltimore City candidates did extremely well. Joan Floyd, who ran for City Council President, earned nearly 16% of the vote, which I believe is the highest percentage a Green has ever received in the state. The average percentage for this group of candidates was 12%.

On the federal level, Maria Allwine earned the expected 1%. I was hoping for more, but it's still 4 times the amount of registered Greens in the state. Theresa Dudley, in the 5th district, had a great showing at over 10,000 votes or 5%. Interestingly, Greg Hemmingway, whose district is dominated by a far-right religious zealot, received over 8,000 votes or about 3%. What's shocking about this is that Greg didn't have a strong campaign. He made a few appearances at civic groups and community forums, but aside from that he did not put out lawn signs, canvass, print up literature or do any of the other typical campaign activities.

On another note, DC Green Ken Sain has this interesting write-up on a PBS documentary that aired tonight. It was about marketing and advertising (not as much about PR as I would have liked), and included a segment on a key Republican marketer who does linguistic focus groups. This is the man responsible for implementing terms like "death tax" and "war on terror."

From a professional perspective, the work and methodology is incredibly interesting. From a political point of view, he's sold his soul.

Today is the DAY! VOTE GREEN!

2004-11-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

All of our hard work these past few months comes down to this. I wanted to make this blog more of an archive of the steps of our many Green candidates here in MD, but other things have had to take priority. Like canvassing door to door, like passing out literature at the state fair, like writing & sending press releases, like talking to as many people as I can...

My final pitch (for this election cycle): If you believe in PEACE and not war, VOTE GREEN. If you are tired of voting for the lesser of two evils, VOTE GREEN. If you believe we are as responsible to our fellow citizens as we are to ourselves, VOTE GREEN.

If you want a world in which our children can live safely and comfortably, VOTE GREEN. If you want a government that is transparent and accountable to the PEOPLE, not coorporations, VOTE GREEN.

Get the picture? VOTE GREEN!

We'll be driving around in a big van later today, decked out with Green banners, passing out literature and yummy goodies. And tonight, we're having a big party in Baltimore to hopefully celebrate a few Green victories (Glenn Ross's campaign is looking good!). 1443 Gorsuch Ave. Baltimore 21218

Check us out!

Three Articles in Two Days...Not Bad!!!

2004-10-26T19:59:00.000-05:00

The sun has three articles just in the last two days, catch 'em while they're hot!

On Keith Salkowski

On Keith Again

On Patsy Allen

If you haven't gotten involved in a campaign or donated, what the hell are you waiting for? An invitation set in stone? Get involved already! Go HERE to learn more and get involved.

Some article highlights:

On Keith:

Ruppersberger and Brooks are joined in the race by Green Party candidate Keith
Salkowski, a Towson filmmaker who says his presence is part of an effort to
"give voters a lot more choices than they've ever had."
Salkowski: Says the U.S. has a responsibility to reconstruct a country it "broke," but should aim to withdraw troops from Iraq within a year and immediately turn control of the political transition over to the United Nations. He says the U.S. should adopt a multinational approach.
Salkowski: Calls for an end to tax incentives for companies that move jobs out of the U.S. and says that a longterm energy policy focusing on renewable energy sources will create new jobs and infrastructure. He also supports increasing the minimum wage and making sure Americans earn a living wage.

On Patsy:

Green Party candidate Patsy Allen says she's running for Maryland's 3rd District congressional seat because she is tired of seeing such offices held by career politicians who are supported by wealthy donors and partisan interest groups.
Allen expressed strong objections to many of the Bush administration's policies.
She said she protested the war in Iraq and hopes the United States will remove its troops as soon as possible, adding that the United States should try to persuade other countries to send troops.
She supports rolling back most of President Bush's tax cuts and offering government-supported health care to all Americans. She also favors raising the minimum wage.
She said the country has gone backward on most environmental issues. She criticized measures such as the North American Free Trade Agreement for being lax on environmental and worker safety standards.

Great News Coverage

2004-10-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

Following Thursday night's success, WaPo has a great article in today's Post.

Also, the Baltimore Sun had an article mostly about Matt Clark (although it did briefly mention Myles Hoenig as well).

Here are some excerpts:

From Washington Post:

To Maria Allwine, Maryland's Green Party candidate for the Senate, the 1 percent she drew in a recent League of Women Voters poll meant about 28,000 votes, or more than four times the number registered with the party.

"I would be very happy if I ended up with 1 percent," she said.
That Allwine even knows her poll numbers is a boost for the party, which is fielding its largest slate of candidates in Maryland, thanks to a 2003 court ruling that eased access to the ballot. In years past, the league hasn't always bothered to include the Greens in its polls.

This year, 15 Green Party candidates -- seven for Congress, eight for Baltimore City Council -- are carrying the party's banner of environmentalism, social justice and nonviolence.
The Greens offer a different perspective from Republicans and Democrats on a variety of issues. Their national platform calls for the legalization of gay marriage, monetary compensation for the descendants of slaves, stronger prosecution of polluters, and permanent border passes for Canadian and Mexican citizens whose identities can be verified.

...

The Greens are the largest minor party in Maryland and growing: Registration has gone from 3,700 in July 2002 to about 6,500 this year. The Greens won a significant victory last year when the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that because the party is recognized by the state, its candidates no longer have to collect signatures to get on the ballot.

...

At a fundraiser Thursday evening aboard the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, about 200 party members drank microbrewed beer and munched vegetarian finger food. They cheered for their candidates, even as many of them acknowledged that they have no chance of winning their races.

From the Baltimore Sun:

Clark, who's vying for the seat with Democrat James B. Kraft and Republican Roberto L. Marsili in the Nov. 2 election, faces daunting prospects. The roughly 1,300 people in town who have chosen the environmentally oriented Green Party live among more than 228,000 Democrats, 26,000 Republicans and 23,000 unaffiliated voters.

Though door-to-door campaigning is time-consuming, and as the beginning of Clark's evening demonstrates, often tedious, political veterans, academics and voters agree that it's the best way to reach people.

...

And as daylight fades, Clark hits pay dirt in Jim Reeb, a 42-year-old teacher with Living Classrooms, a nonprofit group that provides education and job training for at-risk children. Reeb says his "big issue," like Clark's, is a moratorium on waterfront development. And yes, he would gladly display a Clark sign in his front window. Actually, gimme two," Reeb says. "No, gimme three."

...

On Baltimore Street, it's dark now and Clark's working by the glow of street lamps.

A man comes to the door of one home as a woman peers out from an upstairs window. "I'm Matt Clark, I'm running for council. Just want to introduce myself."The man, in stocking feet and shorts, props his screen door open so it doesn't slam on Clark and listens intently as the candidate tries to explain the Green Party philosophy. The man, Kirk Robinson, 40, a railroad carman who just moved to the city from Baltimore County, promises to check out Clark's Web site.

As Clark continues down the street, Robinson says he's impressed with the candidate's initiative. "For people not all that active in politics," he says, "I think it's a great way to meet people and get his name out."

Md Green Party Fundraiser

2004-10-15T00:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight was great! Lot's of people showed up (about 100). We had some great entertainment and some press, including the Washington Post. They were mostly looking to talk with more Washington-based candidates...Theresa Dudley and Bob Auerbach. Unfortunately, neither showed up. But Dan Kulpinski and Joe Horigan (bless their soles) were represeting the Montgomery County Greens. They gave good info to the Post, whose reporter seemed to be taking notes.

It really made me jazzed about election night. I think we're going to do well, though it's possible that none of our candidates will win. That wont't be the disappointment. I think the unspoken goal of the campaigns is to get 1/4 of MD voters to vote Green. That's about 675,000 voters. It might be a long shot, but look at Maria Allwine's campaign. According to Gonzalez Research, she's polling at 1% in MD. That doesn't include undecides or margin of error. Factoring in those numbers (6% and 3% respectively), Maria has a chance to garner about 2-3% of the vote. That's 81,000 votes alone. And that's a lot of people. Just going by the poll, there are 4 times the number of voters who will vote for her as there are registered Greens in the state.

The real goal, of course, it to register more Greens. It's possibly the only way we can a) maintain party status (i.e. LEGAL) and b) expect to win some elections.

What's most important isn't money, it's person-power. This is, after all, grassroots democracy in its finest. We can't do any of the things we'd like to do (in addition to actually election someone) without people. We need people to volunteer for campaigns. We need people to network with their friends, family and civic groups. We need people! Period.

I really don't know what else to say except that getting involved in the Green Party is the best thing you, or anyone, can do for our democracy.

Starving the Needy, Bankrupting America

2004-10-12T08:06:00.000-05:00

They did it again. $143 billion tax breaks to corporations. It's good to know that welfare is alive and well in this country. Too bad it's going to the people that least need it.

What strikes me as really ironic about this bill is this:

The 69 to 17 vote, taken in a rare holiday session, belied the
acrimony underlying the measure, which includes $143 billion in tax
breaks over 10 years, offset by loophole closures and other revenue
raisers.

So, Congress gave money to companies that probably don't need it, just to keep them from exploiting the tax system. It's good to know that our private tax payer dollars are being used to bribe companies to obey the law.

What ever happened to enforcement?

This still begs the question, of course, what would a Green tax system look like?

Maria Allwine Polls at 1%

2004-10-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

In an election match-up, 58% say they’d vote for Mikulski if the election were held today, while 34% say they’ll vote for Republican State Senator E.J. Pipkin, with 1% each going to Maria Allwine, the Green Party candidate, and Thomas Trump, the Constitution Party candidate, and 6% are undecided.

Considering that less than 1% of Maryland voters are registered Green, I’d say that’s a sign that we’re making some impact. The Libertarian candidate isn’t even registering, while only the Constitution Party candidate matches Maria’s 1%. Moreover, 6% are undecided. Add in the 3.5% margin of error and Maria may actually do well!

Upcoming Maryland Green Party Events

2004-10-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

Lots of great stuff going on in the last 30 days of the election! I'm sooo excited. I heard on the radio today very positive feedback that Bill Barry has a shot at Baltimore City Council! Yay Bill!

Here's the skinny on a big fundraiser coming up in a week!

"CARNAVAL VERDE" SET FOR OCTOBER 14TH

The Baltimore Green Party is hosting a fundraising party aboard the historic Navy frigate USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor from 6:30-9:00 PM on Thursday, October 14. The "Carnaval" is to support the Party's 15 candidates--eight Baltimore City Council candidates, six candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, and one for the Senate.

Dragon Caravan, a local Tribal Fusion dance troupe, Johnny Fox the Amazing Sword Swallower, and the musical duo of Kristin Putchinski and Drew Vervan will provide the entertainment.

Ticket prices are affordable: $20 buys a "Green Curious" ticket, and $35 buys a "Green Solidarity" ticket for those who choose to give more. Non-alcoholic drinks and delicious food are included in the ticket price, and a cash bar will be available for beer and wine. The USS Constellation holds 250 people, so advanced ticket purchases are highly recommended.
To purchase a ticket, contact Ann Forno at 410-419-0411 or annforno@jhu.edu or send a check payable to the "Baltimore Green Party" to Baltimore Green Party / 1443 Gorsuch Ave. / Baltimore, MD, 21218. If you want your donation to support the Party's federal candidates, make your check payable to the "Maryland Green Party" and write "Joint Congressional Campaign" in the memo field.

As this is a fundraiser for a political party, all ticket purchases are political donations. As always, Greens accept donations only from individuals, not corporations, businesses or PACs. If you send $200 or more, please include your place of employment for FEC filing purposes.

Also, this Saturday (October 10), a bunch of Greens are going to be helping Keith Salkowski clean up Loch Raven Reservoir as part of an annual cleanup. It should be a good crowd. Of course, if you can't go, send Keith a donation!

Towards Sewing up the GP Schism

2004-10-01T00:25:00.000-05:00

My fellow Maryland Green posted this open letter a few days ago to several local, state and national GP listserves. It's times like these that make me proud to be Green:

Fellow Greens,

It is somewhat paradoxical that I begin an optimistic letter to you with a statement of pessimism...but as we are aware, Greens speak the truth--and the truth, however unfortunate it may be, is that it is extremely unlikely that the American people, on November 2nd of this year, will elect either Ralph Nader or David Cobb to the office of President of the United States.
Outside observers and pundits, who are used to the usual brands of American politics offered by the corporate parties, may assume that this means the end of Green campaigns "intruding" on their comfortable duopoly on power. However - again, as speakers of the truth - we can say without a doubt that they are wrong. Across the country, in the towns, cities, counties, and states where average Americans live, Greens are taking up the call to elected office...to act as agents of positive change driven by unique and principled shared beliefs. These beliefs and these candidacies are planting the seed of a non-violent revolution of the common people, who are weary of business-as-usual and of a lack of meaningful change in their government.

In Maryland, we are proud to say that this revolution is blossoming into full bloom. Last year, thanks to hard work and foresight on the part of our talented legal team, the Maryland Green Party won a case in the Appeals Court of Maryland which struck down as un-Constitutional the unreasonable hurdles which had barred our way to ballot access. In this election, we have capitalized on that victory: Baltimore Greens are challenging the entrenched one-party rule of the City Council in several districts, and all but two of Maryland's Congresspeople currently running for re-election are facing Green challengers.

At the top of our ticket, Marylanders are of differing opinions. A strong contingent of Greens favor the candidacy of David Cobb. Many of Ralph Nader's key organizers have their home here. And yet a third, yet sizable faction, as so eloquently typified by Fred Campbell's speech to his fellow delegates in Milwaukee, have taken a principled stand against running any Green candidate for the Presidency. Again, outside observers would write the epitaph of the Maryland Greens based on this information, believing us yet another failed "third party" in American electoral history. But those pundits would never take into account that our Ten Key Values are more than mere words to us, but statements of action which unite us in a common purpose that is greater than any single decision in any election.

I have spoken to our candidate in the 7th Congressional District, Virginia Rodino, about my hometown of Columbia. I have advised her on some local city concerns, and we have strategized together about how to get her message out to the people...we are, in short, about the business of campaigning. That she is the state coordinator for the Nader/Camejo campaign and I am the state coordinator for the Cobb/LaMarche campaign does not enter into that business. While these labels are reflective of our firmly-held beliefs, they do not overshadow those values to which we committed ourselves at the outset. We are Maryland Greens, and through that association, Greens of the United States. We are committed together to electoral action to stop the true scourges of our age: global climate change, an imperial foreign policy, governmental intrusion on our most private civil rights, and self-interested corporate control at all levels of government. Those scourges have no person within our ranks.
Though we may be marching out of step for the moment, we are guided by a strong compass to march towards a common destination. We understand that the path of progress in making the new world we envision lies in a single direction. And that direction, as the Wisconsin Green Party so profoundly stated at our national convention, is "Forward!"

November 2, 2004, is but one day, and the changes it will herald will last for four short years. We are, as Greens, thinking much farther into the future...envisioning a day when we, or our children, or theirs, may enjoy true democracy, freedom of thought, a healthy environment, justice regardless of their circumstances, and, once and for all, peace. As we prepare for that day, each in our own way, we ask that all Greens keep that flame of hope for that day kindled within us. May they be joined together soon in a mighty fire, which will, as the abolitionist Wendell Phillips said, thaw the mountains of ice before us that we must melt.

We are joined together in a sacred business, and the terms of that joining do not end on Election Day. Indeed, in so many ways, that is when they begin. Let us be about that business-together.
==
Steve
Kramer
Howard County Green Party
Maryland Delegate to the Coordinating
Committee, GPUS

Congress Bankrupts America

2004-09-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

That's right. $146 billion dollars in tax cuts were passed today (extended in some cases) gouging even more out of the federal budget. At this rate, our kids will have to learn how to read and write on their own, our urban streets will continue to rot at the hands of drugs, and our infrastructure will rust to the point of breaking (a la last year's major blackout).

As a Green, the question is not just whether these tax cuts are good--they're obviously not--but whether we would be good stewards of the country's purse strings. After all, we love our social programs.

Many Greens would probably agree that it's not just the social programs and tax code we need to reform, but also our energy system. Getting off our dependence of foreign oil and onto renewable energy sources/technology should be our prime target for fixing our economy.

Wrong Attitude

2004-09-24T00:19:00.000-05:00

"Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country — in some places you couldn't because the violence was too great," Rumsfeld said. "So be it. Nothing's perfect in life. You have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."

--Donald Rumsfeld

I don't normally discuss national issues on this blog, but I just couldn't resist this quote from Donald Rumsfeld.

So, some democracy is better than no democracy, eh? It makes perfect sense that this administration would back an undemocratic election when they themselves came to power undemocratically.

Maybe we can in fact tie this into a national, state and local issue, namely voter disenfranchisement. There was a recent story in the news (I don't have a link, but I believe it was on NPR) about a study that found that minorities, particularly African-Americans, experienced a higher percentage of voter disenfranchisement than other groups. Surprise, surprise. Apparently, this is due to the large number of AA males who are either in prison or were in prison at some point.

What this points to, of course, is the contradictory pattern of denying democracy while pursuing it. Voter disenfranchisement does not appear to be a problem for the Bush admin., but it's certainly our problem as citizens.

Cat Stevens Diverts Plane

2004-09-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

They say he was a supporter of Hamas. Hmmmmm....

More than One Game in Town

2004-09-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

I've heard continuously that this is the most important election of our lifetime. You hear this from both Repubs & Dems. This is obviously an incredible mis-statement: Each election is important. Period.

The current election cycle is possibly the most negative political environment we've witnessed. Both parties are feeding off of fear. The Repubs want us to be afraid of terrorists and the Dems want us to be afraid of the Repubs.

That's why I'm glad to mention that the presidential election isn't the only game in town. I held a fundraiser yesterday at my house. Four of Maryland's Green Party candidates attended and we raised over $200! That might not seem like a lot of money when compared to the insane amounts spent on election campaigns (I think a typical House race costs upwards of $2 million). But it will do a great deal towards raising awareness in Maryland of Green Party candidates!

Let's not stop there. Readers of this blog can continue to contribute to this grand effort of electing a Green to the US House or Senate, or to Baltimore City Council. There's so many great candidates, its actually nice to see we have a bevy of choices. I encourage anyone who reads this to continue to contribute either to individual candidates or to the Joint Congressional Campaign.

City candidates can be reached here: http://www.baltimoregreens.org/cands.php;
Congressional candidates can be reached: http://www.mdgreensforcongress.org.

You can also contribute to the Joint Congressional Campaign by mailing a check or money order to:

Maryland Green Party
P.O. Box 2230
Annapolis, MD 21404

Just remember, if you want to contribute to the joint campaign, you need to indicate that in the "Memo" field of your check.

But contributing money isn't enough. I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to VOLUNTEER. There's so much work to do, from canvassing to making phone calls to blogging to interacting with the media. After all, this is a grassroots movement and we can't accomplish anything with PEOPLE!

Our candidates offer voters a REAL choice. We have a politics of the positive: We want to help people grow economically; we want to ensure we live in a clean and healthy environment; we want to insure the 40 million plus people who don't have insurance; we want to reverse the trend of more people slipping into poverty!

Volunteer, donate, get involved! This is YOUR democracy, not theirs.

Being watched by the government

2004-09-17T00:57:00.000-05:00

Now, I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories very easily, but it appears this blog is being watched by the government.

I was checking my site statistics and found that I've had a visit from, of all places, the census bureau.

What they would want with me is beyond my green imagination.

Last Call!

2004-09-17T00:47:00.000-05:00

Don’t forget! I'm having a Wine, Cheese & Raffle to support the MD Green Party’s congressional candidates this Saturday from 4:30 to 7:30.

We’ve got a lot of great prizes to raffle off. This week, 3rd district candidate Patsy Allen informed me that she’s donating a pair of handmade earrings and a designer scarf! Add that to a few great DVDs (Outfoxed anyone?), a free French lesson, a home-cooked meal for 2 from yours truly…and you could walk away with a bunch of great prizes!

Here’s the address:

14 Gala Lane
Pikesville MD 21208
(410) 415-0450

See you Saturday!

Daniel

Congrats to Maria & Glenn!

2004-09-14T22:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've posted!

Anyway, a hearty congratulations should go out to Green Party Senate candidate Maria Allwine and Baltimore City Council Candidate Glenn Ross! They both appeared alongside David Cobb on today's Marc Steiner show.

If you're not from Baltimore, Marc Steiner is possibly the most important talk show host in town. WYPR is the NPR affiliate and for many years, Marc Steiner has been hosting an incredibly informative public affairs program that, I dare say, has helped me become the person I am today. Thanks to Marc also for hosting a few of our candidates. Hopefully we can get some more on as the election cycle progresses. And hopefully we'll get to talk to a few callers next time (today's show was pre-recorded)!

We've also been written about by the Capital News Service, which is done through the University of MD at College Park's Journalism School. It's not a bad article. Indeed, we've received very little negative coverage (you don't want me to go there), although one Baltimore City Green told me tonight that he thought the front page article made Bob Auerbach out to be a little kooky. But hey, kooky isn't bad. It's totally wacked-out off our rockers that's bad. I don't think it's any secret either within the MGP or without that Bob's campaign exists if only to raise the important issues. Besides, he looked great in his straw hat & the US flag waving behind him!

So, now that we're getting all this coverage, it's time to capitalize on our achievements! This is my plea to you: SUPPORT OUR CANDIDATES! Volunteer, make a donation, work the phones! There's plenty to be done, and we're grassroots...meaning if you want change, then it's in YOUR hands to start it. And while you're at it, go light a fire under someone else's butt!

Another Front Page Mention!

2004-09-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

Read it while it's hot!

Our city candidates have a front page mention in today's MD section of the Baltimore Sun! We're getting attention and people are learning about our candidates and their vision for a better world.

I can hardly contain my excitement!

Also, we're passing tons, and I mean TONS of joint literature at the MD State Fair. A special congrats go out to Keith Salkowski (2nd district) and Maria Allwine (senate) who appeared at the fair last night to talk directly with voters. The state fair is an incredibly important for both these candidates, particularly Keith, as many of the fair's attendees are in his district (I also passed out a bunch of his own literature). The state fair is a great way for constituents to meet their candidates.

Another great event to meet both congressional and city candidates will be on September 18th, when I'll be holding a fundraiser at my house. It's from 4:30 to 7:30 and we'll be raffling off some great prizes. Email me if you'd like more info.

Two Green Candidates to Appear on Marc Steiner

2004-09-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

On Monday, August 30th, Senate candidate Maria Allwine and Baltimore City Council candidate Glenn Ross recorded an interview for WYPR's The Marc Steiner Show. The interview will be a part of a two-hour program dedicated to the Green Party. The second part will be an interview with Green Party Presidential candidate David Cobb, who will also appear at the MD State Fair this Saturday (Sept. 4).

Although I was informed by Steiner Show staff that the interviews will air on Sept. 14th, the WYPR website says they will be doing a live broadcast from the Inner Harbor on that date. We'll see what happens. Anyway, you can listen online at http://www.wypr.org.

Tune in, Turn on, Vote GREEN.

Green Candidates Make a Splash!

2004-09-01T23:10:00.000-05:00

Front page of the Perspective section! Wow!!! While manning the MD Green Party display at the state fair the other night, Mike Cornell pointed out that this was the first article on the MGP that didn't include the phrase "it's not easy being green."

In fact, we've received a decent amount of coverage this election cycle and very little of it has been negative. Hirsh's article clearly points out the long way we've come as a result of the huge court victory we won last year. My only issue was that Hirsh didn't name each of the candidates, although it appears that he spoke with each of them. Maybe we can get the Sun to do a follow-up piece on each of the candidates?

And, as another Green in Harford County pointed out in this letter to the editor: "I would certainly consider the successful lawsuit challenging the state's discriminatory two-tier nominating system for third-party candidates a victory for democracy for all Marylanders. "

Victory for the MGP and its numerous candidates (15 in total throughout the state) is not only measured by winning the election (though that'd be nice too). Considering the long strides we've made in the past year, and will continue to make throughout this election cycle and the next, victory can be defined by how many people we reach, how many people at least stop and consider the serious problems with a two-party system, how many more people register green (according to Hirsh's article, we're currently at about 6500 in MD).

So, let's use the buddy system. For each one of us, let's recruit at least one other person to join a campaign (there's plenty to choose from), vote Green, register Green, register others Green, educate people and communities about how the choice is ours. We can either continue to elect Democrats and Republicans and only watch how our neighborhoods rot and our natural resources get sucked up by rampant industry and development; OR we can elect Greens who can ensure our government represents people and not corporate power, who will never vote for war, and who will work for education and healthcare for all.

Do protestors have a party

2004-08-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight during the "Brooks & Shields" portion of PBS' Jim Lehrer Newshour (my favorite TV news program), David Brooks commented that protestors against the war in Iraq have no party. By extension, they also have no candidate.

It's clear he's doubly wrong. Both David Cobb and Ralph Nader are, and have always been, against the war.

Land of Opportunity

2004-08-30T19:54:00.000-05:00

Many Americans are proud this week, having seen our Olympic athletes' proficiency and flair in the international competition. The swift runners and swimmers and the graceful gymnasts enhance our country’s image and our sense of well-being. The knowledge that these athletes have trained for years to achieve their goals only increases our esteem and awe of them. Then there’s the compassionate example of Michael Phelps, stepping aside to share the glory of gold with a teammate.

Can you imagine having political leaders of whom we can be equally proud? Leadership that is as focused, disciplined, and strong, that engenders as much admiration and respect, and sets the best possible example for all our citizens?

A disciplined and compassionate administration would take care of peoples’ needs first, before spending money on tax credits for its wealthiest citizens. Health care, housing, day care, food, and education for all Americans would be priorities. Deficit spending would be most unusual, occuring only in emergency situations. Planning for the future would include research into and incentives for sustainable energy sources, and conservation of limited fossil fuels.

Rich in the earth’s natural resources, and in our diverse mix of abilities, ideas and cultures, the United States could lead the world in tolerance and understanding, instead of weapons production. Our ingenuity is historical, and generations of new Americans have worked long and hard to give their families a better life than they lived. The American dream no longer seems possible, as only the most priviledged are advancing toward their goals, the rest of us struggling to maintain our standard of living, while our government spends billions of our dollars engaging in preemptive warfare.

America deserves a government that lives up to the Green ideals of democracy, equal opportunity, and environmental and economic sustainability. Making the most of our gifts and opportunities is the American dream.

Not the only game in town

2004-08-25T19:55:00.000-05:00

We have certainly hit the start of the presidential campaign season and it's already down and dirty. Well, whopdi-do. I'm so tired of hearing about swift boat veterans that my eyes are going to pop out.

Fortunately, although it's certainly important, the presidential election isn't the only game in town! At least, not here in MD. We've got a ton of great candidates just dying for some media exposure...and they should be getting it pretty soon! Keep an eye out for a big article about the Green congressional candidates in the Sun this weekend (hopefully). I'll link to it and discuss it once it's available.

Also, keep an eye out on this blog for some guest bloggers! Several of the congressional & city candidates will be appearing regularly throughout the next few months on this site (again hopefully--there's some technical kinks to work out).

Another Protest Worth Attending

2004-08-24T20:51:00.000-05:00

Here's another example of a protest that gives me hope. Last week, a man who worked at a Frederick ad agency was fired from his job for heckling Bush at a rally in W. VA. Interestingly, he says he understood why he was fired and then later asked the protestors not to protest directly in front of the business. He felt it was "unfair" to disrupt their business.

GIVE ME A BREAK! Isn't the goal of a protest to cause disruption so that people pay attention to an issue? Moreover, doesn't this guy seems not to value his freedoms, as he didn't mind being fired. Who knows, maybe he hates his job.

What this points to, of course, is not just our diminishing rights as US citizens, but the subjugation of our rights to corporations. Businesses aren't democratic, many of them try to avoid taking a political stance on issues (at least publicly--let's not go into lobbyists now). The point is that when people go to work, they are often expected to leave their politics at the door. Conversely, constitutionally protected rights are also left at the door. This is particularly true in terms of the first amendment. (In fact, I'm really glad people can't bring guns to work.)

However, is it fair, as in this case, for an employee to be simultaneously silenced and forced to attend a political rally? Isn't that essentially an attempt to indoctrinate by a supposedly non-political entity?

Of course, this was an ad agency, so they may have been hired by Bush Co. There's probably a number of details of this story that's not being shared. All the same, the fact that he was fired just for heckling the President, however inappropriate his timing might've been (according to his boss--I can't imagine a time when it would be inappropriate to heckle Bush), illustrates how much individual power we've given away to corporations. And the fact that this situation doesn't bother the victim at all is a true example of what Herbert Marcuse called "surplus repression."

The Future of Politics is GREEN

2004-08-18T22:22:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, a staunch Democrat, sent me this article from Steve Gillard's blog after a rather heated debate over this year's presidential election and the politics surrounding it.

I don't have to tell readers of this blog (bless your heart, the few of you regulars) that some of this material is just plain wrong:

The last vestiges of upper middle class radicalism, which values issues
over results. Just look at the energy of the Greens into IRV. Not wage
increases, not safer working conditions, not even a boycott of Wal-Mart, one of
America's evilest corporations, but IRV, which will change almost nothing for
most people. Not even weekend voting.

I'm sure many of you can point to several cases where IRV was indeed used successfully. More importantly, Gilliard characterizes what he calls "the new left" as "resolutely middle class and moderate." There's much in that tiny fragment to be picked apart. For one, he's calling anyone who is working for the Dems this year as a "new left." He particularly points to Deaniacs and the like who are using the Internet to effectively organize and raise money. Of course, organizing and raking in cash online have little to do with a person or group's politics. It has to do with their effectiveness and their re-investment of some funds into furthering their online presence and organizing mechanisms.

What's more, how can there be a "new left" if it is moderate? This implies what political commentators have been saying since Bush took office: the overall political attitudes of this country have shifted, or been dragged, to the right. If this is true, then people aren't become more politically polarized, their only being polarized in their loyalty to a particular candidate. It says nothing of their politics. After all, how can you be both "left" and "moderate?"

Indeed, Gilliard seems to miss the point of the entire Green Party and its movement:

What many on the Green left don't get is that Americans hate politics.

Isn't that why the Green Party exists? To reinvigorate politics? And here's a contradiction:

The Green left may never accept this as a model [the leader-centered model, as he calls it] of reform, but what have their methods gotten them? Candidates who can't get five percent of the vote in a national election, limited power, if any, in America's largest cities. We've tried their "everyone has a voice" model and it leads to petty politics and inaction because the loudest voice wins or bitches so much no one can do
anything. When you have an organization like Move On or ACT, with clear goals,
it is far easier to organize people to carry them out.

So, instead of having a single person to rally around, a Nader or Cobb for example, groups like Move On and ACT dictate the ways in which people get involved. Again, this is just effective organizing, not some wild uprising of the left that's about to storm the Whitehouse with Kerry. (I should point out that groups like Move On are generally funded by and lead by incredibly rich democrats like George Soros, and they are not an "open governing body" in any way that remotely resembles a democratic organization--a clear contrast with our own Coordinating Committee).

Gilliard clearly misunderstands the Green Party movement. Whether it's out of a lack of knowledge or an unwillingness to engage Greens is not for me to say. What's important, though, is his focus on the use of technology to better organize. Ironically, he calls ANSWER ineffective, although much of their organizing is structured very similarly to Move On's. That is, Gilliard emphasizes the form over content of Internet organizing, placing groups with which he is politically aligned on a higher level than those he is not. For Gilliard, the medium is the message.

What's the lesson here? I have urged it many times: Greens need to be more effective online. Simple as that. We need more sophisticated ways of reaching the key people who would naturally be attracted to our movement if a) they knew about us, b) it wasn't a presidential election year. Essentially, we need a stronger online community.

This begs the question of the digital divide, to which I have no answer, and which is also a different blog topic.

New Look

2004-08-14T00:31:00.000-05:00

By the way, check out the new mint-green look!

Fresh and effervescent!

Perfect...But

2004-08-14T00:19:00.000-05:00

Occasional readers of this blog will notice that my occasional postings have become severely less occasional. Alas, I've found a job! It's great: small company, lots of interesting things to learn and do, overall a bunch of great people to work with. It seems like this is the ideal job (at least for me).

BUT...

They don't recycle!!! This drives me nuts. My new company produces two magazines, one quarterly and one bi-monthly. Those of you who have worked in the magazine industry or know anything about publishing know that it takes a hell of a lot of paper to come up with a decent-looking final copy. Fine. But at least recycle! It's easy and I think (or at least hope) Baltimore City would provide curbside pickup even for businesses. To be sure, I'll be looking into this in more detail.

Anyway, with my new job, I have less energy and time. But fret not! Starting shortly, our great Baltimore City and Maryland Congressional Candidates will be posting here! That's right, Green Imagination will be the home to a host of new bloggers...all GREEN CANDIDATES.

So look out cyberspace, we're getting' serious.

A Story that Warms My Heart

2004-07-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

Normally on this blog, I only discuss general Green ideas and ideals. I tend to eschew direct discussions of national current events. But this story just warmed my heart and made me smile:

The streets around the Democratic National Convention site resembled an armed camp on Sunday - helicopters overhead, bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, police officers and soldiers lining the intersections, many kinds of barriers, and an officially designated "Free Speech Zone" sealed off with cyclone fencing and razor wire.

It looked like an empty cage.

Apparently, the 3000 protestors at the Democratic National Convention refused to use the ironically named "Free Speech Zone," which one protestor said looked like a concentration camp.
It was shocking and terrifying to see and hear that protestors were going to be "forced" into using this area. Free-speech my foot, right? As a symbol of the current political situation in this country, nothing could have spoke louder than a designated spot for conducting a protest. As if freedom was only limited to one geographic area.

Of course, this highlights the problem with a possible Kerry administration. Protect our rights? Yeah right. Repeal the Patriot Act? Yeah right. I'm sure the list could go on.

But what happened offers us (or at least me) a lot of hope: Freedom was not, could not, would not be confined. Protestors took their march around the Boston Commons and in front of the Fleet Center. And it went smoothly. No violence (well, just a little); no bigger disruptions to everyday Boston life (at least no more than the convention is itself).

I'd like to say this is a sign. I'd like to think we're on the cusp of something big. A large reshaping of American politics. Joe Trippi thinks so. I tend to agree with him. Imagine if it was 30,000 or even 1,000,000. I doubt the "Free Speech Area" is even big enough to imprison..er...accomodate that many people. They can't stop us even if they tried.

Speaking of Joe Trippi, there's a new feature on his website called "Your Story." There you can submit stories of how you are getting involved to make this country a better place. I encourage all Greens to submit their stories to this site and show the Democrats what real grassroots democracy looks like.

Post Press Conference Wrap-Up

2004-07-23T20:48:00.000-05:00

Whew! That was a lot of work, but clearly worth it. WBAL in Baltimore and WJLA picked up the AP story (the WBAL version is longer and more complete). WYPR also sent someone, so hopefully some time next week we'll get a piece done. The Sun hasn't picked it up yet, but we'll see what happens over the next 3 days. If they don't pick it up, we can always bombard them with letters and calls! We'll make sure they pay attention to us.

So, aside from the coverage, how did our candidates do? Like I was writing during some of the speeches, they did pretty good! Overall, they stated their points, their reasons for running, what they want to do if elected. (I hope I got everyone, but my apologies if I missed some candidate's speeches--it was really busy keeping time, taking pictures and blogging at the same time).

During the Q&A, the WYPR correspondent asked the candidates how they thought they'd do. Theresa gave a particularly good response, saying to ask her that on election night to see how much her campaign has grown between today and then. Maria boldly said, "I'm running to win." Damn straight she is.

Anyway, all the speeches were pretty good. There were a few nerves, but that's no surprise as this was the first public exposure for some of the candidates. But hey, it can only get better from here!

Several of the candidates thanked me for putting today's conference together. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the candidates for running. Without them, I wouldn't have had a press conference to put together! Congrats to all those candidates who are putting their faces and names into the public on behalf the Maryland Greens. It takes a lot of guts and I for one am proud to be working with so many brave folks.

It's time for Baltimore City's people.

2004-07-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Today we have Myles Hoenig & Glen Ross from the City. Nowhere else in MD does it make as much of a difference as it does in Baltimore. They represent a microcosm of what's going on in this country.

Myles is pointing out how Baltimore is a "well-oiled machine" as in impersonal, precise, and not open. He's tired of special interests taking over the council. He's not anti-development, but pro-smart-development.

Finally, we have Glenn! I'll be campaigning with him soon. He's a great candidate. He's been a community activist for 30 years. He's talking about being close to the people of his community, and he's involved with some projects in the city. He states he was actually fired from some jobs in the city because of his political activism.

I didn't know that he'd run for city council before as a democrat. That makes two candidates that have changed parties so that they can run. They're values are Green, and now their campaigns are Green too.

Theresa is SOOOO EXCITED!

2004-07-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

Theresa Dudley is the newest member of the Greens and she's proud. "If you don't play by their rules, you don't get to play!" she says.

She's a civic activist, who wants to improve the quality of life: overpopulated schools, failing infrastructure, shrinking police forces.

She's impassioned (the key word in today's blog). She wants to know how the current administration is "working" for the residents of the 4th district. She wants to represent the people of her district, in comparison to her opponent who takes PAC money, development money, corporate money.

Patsy's on

2004-07-23T13:52:00.000-05:00

Patsy's telling us about her experiences in the Green Party. She wants to restore the faith of voters in our democratic process. She's calling for Verifiable Voting! She's calling for IRV (www.fairvote.org)! She's calling for better representation! She's calling for public financing of campaigns! She's stressing getting money out of politics.

Her eyes are partially shut, which gives her presentation spirit, emotion, and passion. "We need to show that people are important." And she wants a living wage to do this. Way to go Patsy!

More on Keith

2004-07-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

Keith wants to get out of Iraq now. He wants to focus on real threats. He's also connecting it (smartly) to better energy policy, which includes renewable energy sources. He wants money out of politics, calling for real change. Be Bold, Vote Green is his message.

Live from Annapolis

2004-07-23T13:40:00.000-05:00

I'm blogging live from the Maryland Green Party Press Conference, announcing the candidates for congress. We have Keith, Maria, Patsy & Theresa. Also joining us is Myles Hoenig & Glenn Ross.

Fred just gave a great speech about the history of the progressive movement, stating how democratic it is.

marriage going now. She's doing fantastic. She's calm and her delivery is even, direct, and honestly concerned. She's going off on Iraq. She's upset, clearly, without going crazy. She's got ideas, and she's sounds very reasonable.

Now she's talking about terrorism at home. War on drugs, healthcare, you name she's going off.

Keith is now on. He's excited he said. He wants to provide a real progressive choice. He wants to end US dependence on oil. "We have no choice. We must transition..." He says and proudly. He's pushing for change in energy policy.

more to come.

Live from Annapolis

2004-07-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

Tune in tomorrow for live blog coverage of the Maryland Green Party press conference in which we will meet several of the candidates who are running for Congress in MD as well as some of our great Baltimore City Council Candidates.

Healthy Lifestyle Linked to Alzheimer Prevention

2004-07-21T21:02:00.000-05:00

This article in yesterday's Baltimore Sun states that leading a healthy lifestyle reduces individuals' risk for getting Alzheimer's. The article pulls together the results of several studies that link an active physical and social life to lower risk levels. But I ask, how can we possibly live healthy lives within the physical and social environments in which we live?

Most of us drive everywhere, particularly if we live in the suburbs. The average commute time to work is something like 1 hour one way. That's a lot of time in the car for just one day. Plus, many of us sit at desks to work. That's another 8-10 hours. When we come home we sit for dinner (not that we should eat standing up), we sit in front of computers and we sit or lie down to watch TV. This is nothing new--Americans generally live sedentary lifestyles.

I live in the suburbs and honestly, I don't find suburbia conducive to social engagement. That's not new either.

Not to mention the fact that the Baltimore-Washington metro area is one of the most polluted areas in the country.

How could we possibly live better lives in such a crappy environment? I'd say we need to make some serious structural changes to our lives, to our societies, to our environment. Here's what I suggest (and many of these aren't really new either, but I figure I'd put them out there):

Let's first stop suburban sprawl. Let's stop the developers from ripping up farmlands and woodlands and wetlands.

Let's better public transportation so we can get people to walk more (like from their house to the bus or metro stop).

Let's stop widening our roads!

Let's institute more public health programs that actually encourages people to GET OUTSIDE.

I'm sure there's plenty of ways we could restructure our society and even our culture (like banning McDonalds from advertising on TV). Share your ideas on this here.

The NAACP's Choices

2004-07-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

In this weekend's Sun, Kelly Brewington wrote "...the Republicans offer blacks little alternative" in summarizing Charleston, S.C.'s NAACP president Dot Scott's reaction to President Bush's refusal to engage the NAACP in dialogue.

While Scott notes that the Democratic Party "isn't all we need, it's just the closest," it's good to know that African American voters have several good alternatives to both the Republicans and the Democrats: the Green Party.

From environmental issues in urban communities to promoting a living wage and protecting voters from disenfranchisement at the hands of technology, Green Party candidates in Baltimore City, across Maryland and throughout the country are working to support issues that African Americans care about. More than any other party, Green candidates are working for a more just political and social system, something all voters care about regardless of their demographic.

And as Green Party Presidential candidate David Cobb says, if your conscious does not permit you to vote for him, you can always vote downticket. Contrary to Ms. Brewington's statement, there are in fact plenty of alternatives.

What an Ego

2004-07-15T23:29:00.000-05:00

So, because Ehrlich can't lull people to Maryland with slots, he instead uses...himself. This is truly sad. Does he really think spending $1.4 million plastering his mug over Maryland TV will get people to come here for tourism? I mean, have you seen his hair??

According to this editorial, the idea is to broadcast these commercials across MD in the hopes that people who live in other states but within local broadcasting reach will be enticed to come visit. It seems like a shady way of putting his face up before the public, using public money mind you, in advance of the 2006 governer's election.

$1.4 million buys a lot of school books, Uncle Bob. It could also help pay a few teacher's salaries for quite a while. But, instead, you'd rather be vain. Go figure.

Has anyone seen these commercials? If so, please comment!

10 Partisan Myths

2004-07-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting yet somewhat weakly written article. The author appears to be trying to debunk myths that Democrats and Republicans hold about government entitlements and tax cuts respectively.

For the Dems, he suggests that they come to terms that government entitlements don't help those who need them the most. For Repubs, he suggests that supply-side economics really doesn't work and that there's no way tax cuts will really be able to prevent congress from spending and overspending (as they've certainly done over the past few years).

This leads me to wonder what a Green tax/economic system would look like? Would it heavily tax SUV drivers & big polluters? Conversely, would we provide big tax breaks to people who recycle, compost, live ecologically, work towards bettering the community? Where does commerce fit into this puzzle?

I know the Baltimore City Greens have suggested coming up with a sound economic plan. I urge you all to take up this discussion on our new bulletin board system: http://www.baltimoregreens.org/phpbb/.

Congrats to TrueVoteMD.org

2004-07-13T23:09:00.000-05:00

There was a highly successful rally today in Annapolis for the voter-verified paper trail. This was a true display of non-partisan, grassroots democracy. To be sure, this issue will persist, and we should all thank Linda Schade for her hard work at bringing this issue to the forefront of this election season.

My one complaint about this Sun article is that it doesn't mention Theresa Dudley, a new Montgomery County Green who is running for US House of Representatives. It's possible that she wasn't mentioned as a candidate because she hasn't been approved by the CC. In any case, I'm glad to hear that she was there.

The Day After Tomorrow

2004-07-12T21:58:00.000-05:00

If there ever was a movie with a Green message it's this one. I saw it this weekend and although the acting and writing were only fair, the movie still had a prescient message: stop global warming or suffer the consequences. For those of you not familiar with the film, "The Day After Tomorrow" tells the story of a climatologist whose warnings of a possible massive, cataclysmic climate change caused by global warming go unheeded. His predictions come true sooner than expected and the northern hemisphere is deluged in a storm that ushers in a new ice age for half the globe. According to the film, global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt and break apart, disrupting the flow of the Atlantic current. I don't know if the science behind this film's premise is accurate, but the idea itself certainly is chilling. But that's just the main text.

There's also a subtext that requires a closer reading to uncover, and that is this film's cataclysmic events' subtle analogy with the events of 9-11. The characteristics are all there: New York city is utterly destroyed; a president seemingly incapable of making a decision relies on his VP to call the shots; the VP is proved utterly wrong in his assessment of the situation; families (including the main characters) are separated but searching desperately for each other; and finally at the end the glimmer of hope that society will be rebuilt.

I might be over-reaching in this analysis, but to me, the similarities are glaring. The only main difference is that the VP, who has assumed power because the president's helicopter crashed in the storm (possibly our own real-world nightmare) apologizes for his arrogance at the end. Imagine if Dick Cheney apologized!!

Anyway, with the reading of the sub-text, there still seems to be Green lessons to be learned aside from the obvious environmental concerns. Many, including myself, argue that 9-11 was the result of our government's own misguided foreign policies. The movie portrays a possible terrorist dream of wiping out 3/4 of the US wiped out. In fact, the movie seems to gloss over the fact that this storm-to-end-all-storms has utterly destroyed the US economy. For all intensive purposes, America is plunged into poverty (along with Europe), it's resources possibly unobtainable, leaving the "developing" countries in the southern hemisphere (Australia possibly excluded) the surprise reverse role of having direct power over American's lives. It begs the question of what this country would do if something so cataclysmic as a new Ice Age disrupted everything we take for granted in our way of life. Even though many of us are against the American brand of capitalism, we can't deny being a part of it or affected by it.

I'm not trying to be a doomsayer or a fear-monger, but it is a question that desperately needs to be asked and addressed in our foreign policy. So, what can Green policies could be put into place to "pre-empt" the 180 shift extolled in this film?

Who do we want to vote for us?

2004-07-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not posting in a few days. I've been pondering the paradox of grassroots democracy these past few days. Matt Gonzalez said something very interesting when he spoke at the BGP's nominating convention. He suggested Greens actually go after their opponents' voters rather than try to get draw new voters.

On the one hand, I really like his gall. This is politics in a somewhat unadulterated form. Gonzalez obviously has a lot of political capital in San Francisco and was able to mobilize a rather large electorate during his race. More power to him.

On the other hand, is this truly grassroots democracy? By going after a population that already votes, what are we doing to affect bottom-up democratic changes in our city, state, and country? Isn't grassroots democracy about mobilizing people in new ways, getting new people involved in politics and the larger society around them?

And herein lies the crux: Only about half the population that is eligible to vote actually exercises this right. While this should not surprise any of us, it does pose a challenge for us to define what we mean by grassroots democracy and exactly who we think we should be engaging. Let's face it, there's a certain portion of people who are eligible to vote but never will.

Get out the vote initiatives have been somewhat prevalent every election cycle for the past 15-20 years (at least that I can remember). This election cycle will hopefully draw out more voters than in the previous election; hopefully people will remember 2000's lessons that indeed every votes counts. Thanks to Bush's (mis)deeds, the electorate appears to be more charged and ready to move to keep him or boot him. Public relations practitioners call these people a "hot issue public," meaning that they are energized when a problem is in the news but their interest & enthusiasm fades once the news stops covering the issue.

While we might be able to locally catch a few rides into offices from this hot issue public, the question remains whether we can maintain their interest once the dust of national electoral politics settles.

Meanwhile, we need to identify and connect with like-minded individuals and voting blocs, people who are indeed truly Green and not only those hot issue publics who might swing in our direction. Sure, we might be able to capitalize on hot issue publics in the short-term, and maybe we should. However, true party growth (the goal of many of our campaigns) will come from finding like-minded voters.

A Waste of Water

2004-07-01T21:53:00.000-05:00

Richard recently suggested tying some of my posts more heavily into Green Values, so today's post has to do with Value #1: Ecological Wisdom.

My family and I had walked to a nearby park this evening. On the way back, I noticed one of my neighbors had turned a sprinkler on. It was past 7, so it wasn't the typical waste of water (you know, when it evaporates as fast as you can spray it on a hot summer day?). What was a waste was the area this neighbor was watering.

I live in a townhouse complex with only 17 units. In front of each house is a one-car driveway and a concrete walkway bordered by two garden areas about 3x7 feet or so. As you might imagine, using a sprinkler for this minute parcel of land is ridiculous. the sprinkler sprayed more water on the street, the driveway and the walkway than on the area that needed it the most: the gardens!

It gets me riled up when I see wasteful behaviors like this (I should add that my neighbor was nowhere in sight, and judging by the amount of water everywhere, the sprinkler had been left on for a considerable amount of time). Not only is it unecological and selfish for someone to abuse our water source like this, it's expensive. The cost of water in our area has risen pretty steadily over the last few years (something like 20-30%). Since our community association pays the water bill, I don't know exactly how this has affected my pocket.

Think about this: We now pay an average of $1.10 for a single 20 oz bottle of water at a convenience store (at least, by my estimates). Imagine if this was the only drinkable water available (putting aside home filtration systems); how much would that bottle cost? $10? $20? The more we waste now, the more we'll be dying of thirst tomorrow.

So, what practicle policy could the GP advocate that would possibly prevent people from wasting water like this? How about permanent water restrictions? We in Maryland have only just recovered from a draught. Places like Colorado have been in a drought for over 10 years! They're getting good rainy weather this year (leading some people to call for an end to their water restrictions), but that doesn't mean they're out of the clear yet. A friend in college once told me that in LA, the water restrictions are so serious that people can only shower at certain times of the day.

Surely this isn't freedom. Then again, I'd rather be able to shower when I want/need to and drink that vital fluid when needed than be able to water my garden whenever I want. Water restrictions, however, will not change the "lawn culture" in this country that drives my neighbor to over-water something that isn't even a lawn but mostly concrete.

Jason West & Green Party Celebrity

2004-06-29T17:52:00.000-05:00

According to this Washington Post article from yesterday, Jason West is becoming the new symbol for the national Green Party. The Post notes that Jason was recently written about in People magazine, and is essentially challenging (in a non-confrontational way) Matt Gonzalez for being one of the most recognizable faces in the Green Party. Despite what any of us might think about People magazine, Jason's face and information about the Green Party reached 30 million people, plus those who read the article in the Post! That's not bad publicity. This makes getting Jason down here to Baltimore and Maryland to help us campaign all the more appealing.

How does this tie into the numerous campaigns running in and around Baltimore? What could someone who lives nearly 300 miles away possibly contribute to a bunch of races in a city and region that has little to do with central New York State? In one word: Celebrity.

In today's hyper-media world, celebrity can play a key factor in a campaign's success. At a social science conference I attended last year, a young poli-sci grad presented a paper on what he termed the "megacampaign." The megacampaign is briefly defined by celebrities using name recognition to garner widespread support for their campaigns, as well as conduct massive fundraising and spending. Schwarzenager's campaign is probably the best recent example of this; indeed, his campaign unfolded as though this paper was its playbook. (I have an electronic version of this paper, if anyone would like to read it. Just email me). And perhaps it is celebrity that helps Ralph Nader garner continued support from many Greens nationwide.

Of course, Greens are generally opposed to or, at the very least, mistrust such manic cash flows. However, I think there are political lessons to be learned from campaigning in the "celebrity" style. Having someone like Jason down would certainly attract a great deal of media attention, not only locally but potentially nationally as well. Despite the fact that all politics are allegedly to be local, much of our constituencies only pay attention to national media. Moreover, much of our local media wants national recognition; they want to have that super-savy, cutting-edge look of national media.

Interestingly, I think this approach may also support the full-slate campaign strategy being formulated at the state level, at least in some combination. Jason could do for both the Baltimore City and congressional campaigns what Matt Gonzalez did for the nominating convention: help to put us on the map and in people's minds.

If the media can stand up and take notice that there is an immense political change going on in this state, as indicated by the sheer number of candidates running this electoral season, and that this political change is part of a national trend, ALL of our candidates have a better shot of making waves.