Chlorophyll

He rules his country, but the country is divided in its opinions about his policies. Critics berate him for arrogance combined with incompetence. He believes has a higher calling not only to enforce religious policy in his country, but to spread it beyond his borders. He's done nothing to help the poor, but his failures are so obvious that even some conservatives are starting to distance themselves from him.

Am I talking about President Bush, or Iran's President Ahmadinejad?

Ehren Watada, a first lieutenant, went on trial today for disobeying orders. He stands by his position that the war is illegal, but the judge in the case refuses to allow his counsel to pursue that defense. That doesn't leave him much to go on.

Can Republicans care about the environment? At a certain level, yes -- as Teddy Roosevelt did. It's not the most profound of understandings of ecology, but it does count for something. And if they actually want to do something about global climate change, I'm all for it. There is actually a small (but well-funded) organization called Republicans for Environmental Protection.

I take this as a good sign. A serious commitment to the environment has gone from being a hobby in the '70s to a fringy issue in the '80s, to a growing concern in the '90s, and now is moving toward center stage across the political spectrum. As on so many other issues, everyone will eventually know that the Greens were right all along.

Specifically, that humans are causing, or at the very least accelerating, global climate change. If ever there was any doubt that there is scientific consensus on this, it should be conclusively laid to rest now.

But, no! Not everyone is convinced. In fact, if you're a scientist willing to shoehorn evidence into Exxon Mobil (and the W administration)'s foregone conclusions, you stand to make a nice bundle of money.

In 2003, the Green Party of Maryland won a court case that changed ballot access laws for the better in the state, and got attorney's fees awarded to boot. However, the State Board of Elections has refused to pay up. It claims the fact the party's attorney is also a college librarian means that first, his fees should be far lower than if he were a full-time lawyer, and second, that attorney-client privilege is automatically waived. It is trying to subpoena his work records and all the email on his work computer. The ACLU is on the case.

Ivins was a national treasure. Here are some memorable quotes from her.

The two leading contenders for the Democratic Party nomination for president are both ground breaking in their own way. One (Hillary Clinton) is a woman and the other (Barack Obama) is black.

If either wins the nomination it would be the first time it wasn't a white male leading one of the major parties in a presidential election.

So what do the Greens do to counter that? Well, the obvious answer is not to nominate a white male. And for the past couple of years it seems that Greens are determined that their 2008 presidential candidate be a woman.

So someone please explain this poll I started a couple of weeks ago.

Read all about it. In short, Vista will require additional computing power, which means spending money replacing perfectly good parts so you can send money to Microsoft. In return, you get an updated OS with the same old security flaws and which may or may not run your current software.

Do yourself a favor: stick to XP, or better still, upgrade to Linux.

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator

Friday, January 26, 2007

Green Party to hold rally in D.C. on Saturday, January 27 calling for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq

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Greens assemble on McPherson Square in D.C. at 10 a.m., then join hundreds of other groups on the Mall at 11 a.m. for the 'March on Washington' against the Iraq War

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States will hold a rally against the Iraq War, calling for an immediate end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 27.

This is a reaction to a bitterly-anti-Green-Party meeting in Eureka, CA. Those of you who have hung out with David will recognize a lot of this.