Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Greens Respond to 2006 State of the Union




Five Greens provide video responses to President Bush's State of the Union address. Greens discuss the failures of the Bush Administration, the GOP Congress and the Democratic Party on a range of issues: the Iraq War, Health Care, Energy Policy, Global Warming and Democracy.

Watch Video News Releases available Wed, Feb 01.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Join the State Committee of GPoNYS

Join the State Committee of the Green Party of New York State

There are still openings on the State Committee of the Green Party of New York State (GPNYS)in the following Counties and Assembly Districts:

Monroe (130/139, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135)
Livingston
Ontario
Wayne

Find out what Assembly Districts you are in.


You must be registered as a Green in the district to run for the seat. Our bylaws require you to obtain the signatures of 5% of all Greens in your district as determined by the 2004 Party Call. Petitions must be sent to the GPNYS Secretary by 30 days before the May 20, 2006 meeting. Please contact GPNYS co-chair Ian Wilder at wmblake7@yahoo.com or 631-422-4702 to obtain a petition and signature requirements for your district.

The Green Party of New York State is an all-volunteer organization, that meets about 3 times a year. Please consider petitioning for the State Committee.

Thumbs Up!

Vigilantes let air out of Europe's 4WD boom

It's always good to see hands-on activists with respect for the law and concern for fellow citizens.

Pennsylvania Activists Sue Over Voting Machines

PA activists sue to vote on machines
by Rady Ananda
January 20, 2006

Three cheers to activist Mary Beth Kuznik, and others, who recently filed suit against a Pennsylvania county (Westmorland) for violating Art. VII, Sec. 6 of the PA Constitution which "requires that the use of voting machines, or other mechanical devices for registering or recording and computing votes shall be used 'at the option of the electors of such county....'"

Since the BOE and Commissioners selected the voting system (ES&S iVotronic) without seeking the consent of the public, it appears the public has been damaged.

With California and North Carolina sending Diebold packing, this new lawsuit is another (hopefully successful) attack on these hackable voting systems, run by private for-profit corporations that refuse to reveal the source code, and that want us to simply trust their reported results.

Citizen oversight is the price we pay for democracy, and Mary Beth Kuznik exemplifies citizen engagement.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Help End Wegmans Cruelty

This Sunday join Compassionate Consumers for a demonstration at Wegmans East Avenue in Rochester.

Wegmans continues to deny the suffering endured by the 750,000 hens at its egg farm. Let them know it is time to change!

Date: Sunday, January 29, 2006
Time: 4:30 pm - 5:45 pm
Place: Wegmans East Ave., 1750 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

For more information: www.WegmansCruelty.com

Contact:
Ryan Merkley
Campaign Coordinator
Compassionate Consumers
585-410-0773

www.WegmansCruelty.com

Sign the Petition:
http://URVEG.org

If you haven't seen the movie yet make sure you ask them for a copy.

Greens, Run For Village Trustee!

And so it begins...election season. You probably think we're talkiing about November. How about March? Yep, March. There are village elections coming up and we plan on running Greens in as many as possible. So if you live in the villages of Brockport, Churchville, Webster, Scottsville, Hilton or Fairport we'll be contacting you soon
to run for office. Think about it...don't just talk about change - MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN!

Click "Read More" for more info...


Here are the Trustee seats that are open and when the elections are:


Churchville - 1 seat in March
Hilton - 2 seats in March
Scottsville - 1 seat in March
Webster - 1 seat in March
Brockport - 1 seat in June
Fairport - 2 seats in November

From Answer.com

Village

In New York State, a village is an incorporated area which is usually, but not always, within a single town. A village is a clearly defined municipality that provides the services closest to the residents, such as garbage collection, street and highway maintenance, street lighting and building codes. Some villages provide their own police and other optional services. Villages have less autonomy than cities. Those municipal services not provided by the village are provided by the town(s) that contain(s) the village. As of the 2000 census, there are 553 villages in New York.

The legislature of a village is the board of trustees, composed of a mayor and (usually) four trustees. The mayor may vote in business before the board and may break a tie. The mayor generally does not posses veto power, unless provided by local law. The mayor is also the executive of the village. A village may also have a full-time village manager, who performs administrative duties which would normally fall upon the mayor. A village must have a municipal building or village hall. Villages may also have a village justice.

To be incorporated as a village, a territory (i.e., given area) must have at least 500 inhabitants and be no more than 5 square miles (13 km²) in area (though there are exceptions to the area rule, such as if an entire town wishes to incorporate as a village). The process of incorporation begins with a petition by either 20% of residents or owners of 50% of assessed real property. It is then voted upon by those living in the territory. Currently, some villages have less than a 500 person population due to loss of inhabitants.

Villages often cross other political boundaries. More than 70 villages are located in two or more towns. Seven villages are divided between two counties. The village of Saranac Lake is in three towns and two counties.

A village in New York State is comparable to a town in certain other states. Villages in New York State are classified by the Census Bureau as incorporated places.

E-mail Co-Chair, Dave Atias or call (585) 966-9067 if you're interested.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Call Tom Reynolds About Voting Machines

Your representative, Thomas Reynolds, sits on the influential committee deciding whether to require paper records for all voting machines.

Can you call today and ask Rep. Reynolds to pass H.R. 550 immediately and without amendments?

Congressman Thomas Reynolds
Phone: 202-225-5265
District Offices:
Rochester: 585-663-5570
Williamsville: 716-634-2324

GreenLine to Begin Airing on RCTV

GreenLine, the Green's local cable access show will begin airing in the city on RCTV Channel 15 beginning Thursday, February 2nd at 9pm. The show will be on every Thursday from 9-10pm and Saturday from 2-3pm.

GreenLine, produced by Deborah Magone-Fragale has been airing on cable access in the western suburbs for a couple of months and had recently been written about in the Democrat and Chronicle.

If you live in a Monroe County Suburb that does not have GreenLine, or would like to volunteer, e-mail Deb at dmagone@gmail.com or call (585) 234-6470.

No experience is necessary - you will be trained in whatever aspect of the show you're interested in, whether it be in interviewing, camera operation, research, underwriting, marketing & publicity or other technical aspects.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Local resident receives nomination for co-chair of the national Green Party


Brighton, NY — Jason Nabewaniec, 28 and a resident of Brighton, has recently been nominated to serve as co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. Nabewaniec represents Greens in western New York on the Green National Committee (GNC) and is also a member of the By-Laws, Rules, Policies, and Procedure Committee and Merchandising Committee of the GNC.

Nabewaniec has served as liaison between the New York State Green Party and the Green Party of Monroe County for the past two years and is also a campaign and strategic planning advisor to the New York State Green Party.

Nabewaniec served as chair of the Green Party of Monroe County for eighteen months prior to his election. In January 2006, he accepted a position as co-vice chair of the Monroe County division. He intends to help lead the party’s focus on electoral reform and the implementation of the Help American Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, which includes the purchase of new voting machines in western New York.

The Green Party is the world’s largest unified political party. The Green Party of the United States formed in 2001 and is committed to environmentalism, non-violence, social justice, and grassroots organizing, without the support of corporate donors.

"Currently, the Green Party requires leadership with a calm demeanor and a steady hand,” said Greg Gerritt, former national secretary of the Green Party and current GNC delegate from Rhode Island. "I nominated Jason because he has shown a level head in stressful situations and an ability to help everyone work through their differences.”

In 2004, Nabewaniec introduced presidential candidates Ralph Nader and David Cobb at the Rochester area campaign visits. Nabewaniec and two other Green Party members are candidates for co-chair of America’s third largest political Party in an election to be held between January 30 and February 6.

Nabewaniec's national goals for 2006 include improving methods of communication to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the consensus building process, caucus empowerment, committee transparency, and a more dynamic approach to leadership on a national level. Locally, Nabewaniec has focused on coalition building around the issues of racism, violence, participatory democracy, and the right to marriage.

Nabewaniec is a civil engineer completing his Masters Degree in Environmental, Health and Safety Management at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His wife, Misty, also works at RIT as a sign language interpreter.

For more information, please contact David Atias at 585.966.9067 or visit www.gp.org

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Szewczyk to perform Classical Piano Concert Fundraiser

The Green Party of Monroe County cordially invites
you to a Classical Piano Concert Fundraiser.

Treat yourself and your family to an afternoon of live
beautiful music in a cozy atmosphere, surrounded by
friends and fellow progressives.

Zuzanna Szewczyk, graduate student at the Eastman
School of Music (who also happens to co-chair the
Green party of Monroe County), will be performing an
informal Classical Piano Concert featuring the music
of Mozart, Haydn and Chopin.

Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the Green Party
of Monroe County.

When: Sunday, January 22nd, 2pm.
Where: 548 South Goodman Street.
Parking on street and in rear of house.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Toste has early lead for Rhode Island Senate




Jeff Toste is a Green Party member who is running the same race (in a district smaller than that of the Chris Hilderbrant race) in his third consecutive election, his former opponents have since dropped out of the running leave Jeff Toste with the advantage of name recognition, and campaign resources.

JEFF TOSTE FOR STATE SENATE
Fifth District • Providence, Rhode Island
My friends and family,

I ran when it was needed. I ran when no one else would. I ran against an entrenched incumbent — in office over 10 years — from one of Rhode Island's most powerful political families, and I built an organization and base of support to win. After winning 30% of the vote in 2004 despite being outspent five to one, my former opponent has now chosen to run for another political office. In 2006, I am the front-runner for an open seat in RI's State Senate District 5.

I am now poised to win, so please take a few minutes to read why my campaign is about responsible government in Rhode Island, and nationwide. My campaign is for voters who are looking for leadership they can trust. Leadership to fight for responsible government when it is needed. Leadership to create opportunity in the face of difficult challenges. Leadership with a vision of local job creation, renewable energy, property tax relief and affordable housing. Leadership that is about building a political organization —a people's democratic party — that is growing in influence nationally and internationally.


Why I will win in 2006.

*My campaign has built a classic, street-level urban political organization, with dozens of key volunteers with two elections’ worth of experience in voter ID, registration drives, grassroots publicity, and get-out-the-vote.

*My official vote count in 2004 was 30% even with new district lines — drawn after my 2002 election — that eliminated much of my base. Within the same district lines I had a 114% voter increase - 40% of the vote!

*My base of support has increased steadily, so that now, with no incumbent in the race, my name recognition, experience, and organization make me the front-runner.

*I am the candidate of choice for Latino voters, as well as young artists and professionals — the district’s most important emergent constituencies — after receiving the nation’s first-ever endorsement of a Green Party candidate by a statewide Latino political organization.


Why I am the best candidate.

*I am not just getting votes, I am building community. I am active and visible in working to empower my neighbors. This has earned me the trust of voters who support me and will raise their voices when I speak out on issues in the legislature. This is the kind of person we need in elected office.

*As a Green Party Senator, I will not have to "step in line" with the existing political machine and will have greater freedom to address reforms in RI's nearly all-Democratic legislature. By being more vocal, I can negotiate better results to serve the voters.

*I am a member of the third largest political party in the US with over 220 officials in elected office. When elected next fall, I will be the first Green to hold office as State Senator in the US, demonstrating real growth to inspire and motivate nationwide. I have demonstrated vision and commitment to my neighbors and my state. My Portuguese heritage and large extended family have taught me patience, service and a strong work ethic. This background gives me a balanced perspective missing from many in elected office, and has earned me the respect of my neighbors and constituents.

Through my energy and dedication as a leader of the Green Party of Rhode Island— state party co-chair, Nader 2000 organizer, and delegate to the 2004 convention — my determined and practical approach to building community offers a real alternative to machine politics. And with Rhode Island's small size, it is an ideal environment for growing a real political alternative.


Why I need your financial help.

My campaign is poised to win, but no matter how many factors are in my favor, I can't win this race unless I build strong financial support. If you would please dig deep and make the largest contribution you can — I pledge to you, as State Senator, I will bring leadership of vision and trust to Rhode Island, and continue to plant the seeds to grow responsible government nationwide.

Please send whatever you can afford. It’s your very wise investment in the future!

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Toste
Candidate
RI State Senator


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Yes! I want to help Jeff Toste win. Here is my contribution of:
_$500 _$250 _$100 _$50 _other $
Name_____________________________________________
Address___________________________________________
City______________________ State____ Zip_____________
Phone email________________________________________
Employer name_____________________________________
Employer address____________________________________
Please make contributions payable and send to: Vote Toste • PO Box 29447 • Providence, RI 02909
Rhode Island state law requires that all contributors list place of employment. Only personal and PAC checks are acceptable
forms of contributions. The Toste campaign does not accept contributions from any PAC representing corporations. * Labor donated*

God Help...I mean Bless...America

This is from former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray:

CRAIG MURRAY: There is a fabric of deniability over the whole thing. They don't go actually into the torture chamber. They receive the intelligence that comes out of the torture chamber, but they don't enter it.

The C.I.A. will then process the material, so that when it actually arrives on the desk of Colin Powell, as it was then, or Condoleezza Rice or Donald Rumsfeld, or on the desk of a British minister, it just says this intelligence was got from an Uzbek prisoner related to al-Qaeda. It doesn't say who he was. It doesn't say his name. It doesn’t say when he was interrogated. So you can't trace it back, in order to say it was that individual and he was tortured in this way.

We know that they were being tortured. As I say, the United Nations did an investigation in which they said that torture in Uzbekistan was widespread and systemic, but the information is sanitized carefully. So when it arrives on the desk of, let's say, Condoleezza Rice, all she sees is it says, you know, this came from a terrorist detainee in Uzbekistan. So she can say, “I, to my knowledge, have never seen information obtained under torture.” And that's a fabric of deceit set up to enable her to say that, in effect.


The entire interview is here. [from Democracy Now.]

Our government is run by war criminals. Plain and simple. And they do this in our name.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Town Meeting to Stop Youth Violence

Nazareth & Baber A.M.E. Church Hold Town Meeting to Stop Youth Violence, Jan. 19

Nazareth College and the Baber African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church invite the residents of the Meigs-Pearl-Monroe-South Clinton neighborhood to a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19, at the Baber AME Church, 550 Meigs Street in Rochester. The meeting is the result of a new partnership between the College and the church that was created to address youth violence in this specific part of the Rochester community. A light meal will be served at 6 p.m., and at 7 p.m. the community conversation begins with Rev. Marlowe V.N. Washington of the Baber AME Church and President Daan Braveman of Nazareth College. If a weather emergency should occur, the event would be held on Jan. 26. For more information, please call Melanie Trotter-Jiggett of Baber AME Church at (585) 461-1395 or Jed Metzger of Nazareth College at (585) 395-8454.

War Debate at RIT

I had the opportunity to table at a debate on withdrawing troops from Iraq that was sponsored by RIT's Anti-War Group and the College Republicans. There really wasn't that much said that "informed" people haven't heard before. The College Republicans took most of their arguments straight from Fox News and at the end, they backed themselves into a corner, which most righty pundits would if they were allowed to be questioned.


The Anti-War Group pretty much used the same arguments you can read at Common Dreams or Alternet. Though they did make one point that I had not heard yet that stood out for me.

Bush and his minions continue to connect Iraq with 9/11 every chance possible. Many on the left have had a difficult time dealing with this because they don't want to look unpatriotic and/or wimpy. Well, one person on the Anti-War Group took it to the College Republicans before they had a chance to bring it up. She said that our feelings around 9/11 (fear, anger, etc), is just how Iraqi citizens feel now on a daily basis. Nice.

Both sides relied on polls. At times both were reaching trying to tie numbers with their points. As debaters, all six seemed a bit inexperienced, but they did well. One highlight was the College Republicans' president who continued to insist that Iraqi's love the fact that we're there. In fact, he used what he called "pop culture" when he said (more than once) "They're loving it. They're sucking (democracy) up."

Only later he admitted that of course they don't want us there, no one wants to be occupied. By the end, one really got the sense that it was the White Man's Burden all over again for them. Another of the CB's said, "they don't want us there, but they need us there."

I would attribute this to them being "kids" but many so-called adults think the same.

I did wonder if there were any spies in the room. Like I care. I wouldn't be surprised if I was already on a list or two. As our Fake President said, "Bring it on."

Monday, January 16, 2006

New Voting Machines According To The People

Read the transcript of the NYS BOE hearing on new voting machine regulations

http://www.elections.state.ny.us/HAVA/HAVAhearing-ROCH.pdf

Over 2 dozen people testified, my testimony over covered a small portion of the concerns raised.

Send your own comments to the NYS BOE before January 21, 2006.
Email: ldaghlian@elections.state.ny.us.
Phone: 518-474-1953
US Mail: NYS BOE, 40 Stuben ST, Albany NY 12207

Writing for Green Pages

Dear Green Party people:

Green Pages, our national quarterly publication of the Green Party, needs more people to maintain a quality production of our paper. We have a need for writers and for people to be part of the editorial staff.

If you are interested just in writing for Green Pages, you do not need to apply to the editorial board; instead, let us know if you have ideas for specific articles and/or your areas of interest and expertise.

If you are interested in applying to the editorial board, you should have skills and/or experience valuable to working on a publication, such as editing, production work or photography. If you haven't seen Green Pages before, the online version of our Winter 2006 edition is viewable at: http://www.gp.org/greenpages/content/volume9/issue4/index_9-4.php.

We have an application process which you can review at our web site:
http://gp.org/greenpages/business/edboardapp.php

It is not too complicated and helps us to find out how you can best fit in within the board. You will notice that your state or another caucus must vet you, so please be sure to contact your state/caucus to get that process started http://www.gp.org/states.shtml or toll-free 866-41GREEN). With your application please include details about whom you contacted (name, position); when contact was made; and phone/email contact info so that Green Pages can follow up as necessary.

Feel free to contact me any questions your may have.

Yours in building a Green Party,
David McCorquodale
Co-chair, Green Pages

Situation in Florida

Stumbled across this article from a few months ago and thought it would rile up the environmentalists among us... it sure got me going.

Who needs a python for a pet, anyway?!?!

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Democrat & Chronicle - Jingoistic Propaganda Machine

Here is the title of an Editorial from the D&C from Sunday, January 15th:

United States is vulnerable to South American dictator.

The United States tried to overthrow his government a year or so ago and Chavez has been fighting back. So Fakepresident Bush calls him a dictator, even though he's been democratically elected - in real elections. And the editors of our corporate-owned newspaper decide to just parrot this. What hard-hitting journalism.

Feel free to e-mail the two main editors:

James Lawrence: jlawrenc@democratandchronicle.com
Tom Tobin: ttobin@democratandchronicle.com

Saturday, January 14, 2006

The War Against The War on Feminism

The book Women Who Make the World Worse : and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports seems to be a bunch of crap. I only say "seems to be" because I haven't read it, though I did read the summary of it. But the review of it by "Gen. JC Christian, patriot" is beautiful. Click Read More to see a quote of it.

3859 of 3928 people found the following review helpful:

Mrs. O'Beirne avoids the most dangerous feminist myth of all, January 10, 2006
Reviewer: Gen. JC Christian, patriot (Tremonton, UT United States)

I found many truths in Mrs. O'Beirne's book, truths so self-evident that I have to wonder why no one has stated them until now. For instance, how could anyone argue with her assertion that feminists exploit female war casualties to "advance the feminist agenda of androgyny and abortion." Even I have to admit that every time I hear that another woman has been sacrificed in our glorious Iraq adventure, I'm tempted to tell my wife, Ofjoshua, to throw on a pair of jeans, head for the nearest women's health clinic, and help them slaughter a whole passel of blastocyst-Americans.

But I think it's her frequent attacks against the television show, "Sex in the City," that I value most about this book. By promoting the myth that women should enjoy sex, that show has done more to destroy the institution of marriage than even homosexual unions. I think most men will agree with me when I say that there isn't a woman alive who isn't thoroughly repulsed by sex. Telling them that it should be a pleasant experience rather than a vomit-inducing one only serves to cause them to resent their husbands when the impossible isn't delivered. Hopefully, this book will help destroy that myth.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I can't give it more than a single star because it has a fatal flaw. It promotes the most destructive myth of all, the existence of lesbianism. Mrs. O'Beirne discusses it throughout the book as if it is something that is real. She doesn't seem to be able to understand that women can't have sex with each other. They don't have little soldiers.


I love sarcasm & irony. They're just not used enough or correctly.

Greens Cross-Endorsing Former Greens?

I had an interesting conversation with someone today. It’s actually a topic that has been discussed within GPoMC’s steering committee before. This time it dealt with a situation that – as of right now – is hypothetical, but probably will come to fruition down the road. Just a warning: this is going to be long, so give yourself some time to read the whole thing.

The topic was that of cross-endorsing candidates. I blog on this to get reaction, not from just steering committee members but from other people as well. Folks in the "inner sanctum" guess as to what the voting population will think about decisions we make, but it’s best to actually hear for ourselves.


So let’s start with a bit of background. Many people in Monroe County think that the Greens do not cross-endorse candidates from other parties. There’s nothing in our bylaws that says we can’t. And we actually have in the past; unofficially with Bill Benet’s run for County Executive 6 years ago, and this past year with Samantha Golden’s run for Town Justice in Clarkson. We considered a number of people to cross-endorse in 2005.

We have turned down candidates for a few reasons. One is when candidates didn’t agree with our Ten Key Values. That’s pretty much a no-brainer. Personally, that’s one of the main reasons I am a Green, because we keep to our ideals. Another reason is the logistics of a specific campaign. Do we have the resources to affect this campaign? Is our cross-endorsing of a progressive candidate really necessary? Does it mesh with our electoral strategy? Last year’s mayoral race is a good example. So was Paul Haney’s run for County Legislature. He didn’t need us to win and we didn’t have the resources to get all the signatures needed to get him on the Green line. (Remember, without ballot status it is considerably more difficult to get on the ballot)

But now comes an interesting scenario. Again, as of this moment, it’s hypothetical, but it is bound to become a reality at some point. A former Green who still believes in Green ideals, but changes his/her party to run as a Democrat may want to be cross-endorsed by us.

Generally there are three schools of thought here. One is that GPoMC should put any candidate who is progressive on our line. We understand the situation in the City of Rochester; only Democrats win and what’s important is that the people we want in office get in office. The opposite school of thought says that, going to one of the corporate-sponsored parties will corrupt whatever a candidate is trying to achieve; he/she will have to make so many compromises that the progressiveness of his/her make-up will be wasted away. The candidate would be more useful to progressive ideals by running solely as a Green, helping the party grow and furthering ideas.

Then you have the middle school of thought, where you go back up to our current rationale about cross-endorsing. Does the candidate need our help? If he/she is the anointed Democrat in the city, then probably not. So why should we use our resources to get involved? The argument is to be on a winning campaign. But by doing so doesn’t that give legitimacy to the thought that being Green is nice, but you have to be a Democrat to win in the city? That is the undisputed reality right now. Republicans who want to serve in the City go Dem just to win. But will it ever change if we give in to this reality? How long should we wait for success? What is our purpose for remaining a political party in Monroe County? There are more questions than answers right now.

There are a number of smart, committed progressives in Rochester who have been Green and gone to the Democrats. Their reasoning has been pretty similar – they feel they can have more of an effect on what happens in government (as candidates or activists) by being on the inside. Personally, I respect their decision, but I definitely don’t agree with it.

So what do you think? Should the Greens cross-endorse former Greens? What message does that send to current and prospective Greens? Should we all just forget about it and go out for a beer?

Thursday, January 12, 2006

2006 Green Party Officers

At the Green Party of Monroe County’s Annual Meeting on Monday, the party officers for 2006 were elected. There were both old and new faces at the meeting and elected to office. We’re all very excited about this year’s crew.

Co-Chairs:

Zuzanna Szewczyk – Co-chair in 2005. Former Secretary of GPoMC and instrumental in a number of Green political campaigns. A grad student at the Eastman School of Music and independent piano teacher.

Dave Atias – Former City School Board candidate, and long-time steering committee member. Currently a Sociotherapist at Hillside Children’s Center and involved in a number of organizations committed to helping children.

Vice-Chairs:

Bonnie Cannan- Former City Council candidate and long-time Green. Is a committed activist for disablity rights, women’s rights, anti-racism and labor.

Jason Nabewaniec – Former Co-chair of party. A Civil Engineer completeing his Masters Degree in Environmental, Health and Safety Mangement at RIT. Jason has been a community leader improving citizen particapation in local government and
advocating for social equality in the Rochester area.

Treasurer:

Melissa Nicholson – an activist on issues of poverty and education.

Co-Secretaries:

Erin Caldwell - A graduate of SUNY Geneseo and is currently employed at Erdman, Anthony and Associates, Inc. She specializes in communication and public relations.

Elizabeth Comstock - An MCC student with a strong interest in environmental and local issues.

Greens Put Their Issues On Air

January 11, 2006 Democrat & Chronicle Article

Congrats, Deb & Marco!

Monday, January 09, 2006

Former Green Party candidate for governor to try out for the Pittsburgh Steelers

(HARRISBURG, PA)—Former Green Party candidate for governor, Michael Morrill, today declared his intention to try out for the position of wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Morrill admits he has no experience in organized football, has only a casual fan’s understanding of the game and at age 50 might be a little slow for the National Football League. When asked why he thought he might be qualified to be a wide receiver for the Steelers, Morrill said he was inspired by four-time Super Bowl Champion Lynn Swann. “If Lynn Swann can run for governor with absolutely no public policy experience, why shouldn’t I be able to try out for the Steelers?” Morrill responded. Morrill was also asked what he thought his chances were to make the Steelers. “About the same as Swann’s chances to be elected governor,” he replied.

Diversity Essay Winners Not Diverse

I'll start this off with the disclaimer that I'm not disparaging the kids who wrote these essays. Watching the local news last night, I saw a story on the winners of the James Rice Memorial Essay Contest, an essay contest about diversity. I noticed that just about everyone in the room was white. I chuckled a little.


But after seeing this article in the D&C on this it struck me that not only were the winner & semi-finalists white, but females from Webster. Talk about irony.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

ES&S Model 100 Precinct Ballot Counter with AutoMark Voter Assist Terminal




ES&S Model 100 Precinct Ballot Counter with AutoMark Voter Assist Terminal

Model 100 Precinct Ballot Counter with AutoMark Voter Assist Terminal
Optical Scan with Ballot Marker

This is an optical scanner voting machine that comes with an automated ballot marker, these are separate machines that would be purchased together. The optical scanner scans and counts paper ballots. The marking machines allows paper ballots to be filled out using audio voting, or sip and puff technology.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Voters mark their own vote
• Two paper trails (receipt, and the ballots)
• Ballot is automatically returned if voter marks lines for too many candidates
• Stores cast ballots in random order

Cons:
• Two step voting processes (filling in ballot, scanning ballot)
• Machine jams as easy as any photo coping machine
• Poll watcher, views voters as they insert there ballot (you can hide your ballot in an manila envelope if you ask for one)
• Poll watcher will see your ballot in the event of a paper jam
• Recount may have trouble telling voter intent if a voter marked more than one candidate
• If voter makes a mistake or changes there mind they must throw out old ballot and start again - old ballot is kept by poll watcher
• 8-1/2" x 11" full face ballot (very small print)
• Cost of the paper ballots (approximately 70 cents per ballot)(though salesman thinks it could drop to 30 cents a piece)
• Huge cost if there is a last minute change to the ballot or if a mistake is made
• Receipt very hard to read (small print, bad location, heat sensitive)

ES&S iVotronic



iVotronic
Full Face Touch Screen

This is an upright full face touch screen voting machine. The fully digitized screen is operated by the voting touching digitized buttons on the screen.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Color or Black and White Screen
• Can handle multiple primary ballots on one machine
• 14 Languages available
• Adjustable height
• Easy to change vote
• Battery back up
• On screen keyboard for write in candidates
• Audio Voting

Cons:
• Receipt not display long enough to read
• Confusing and long directions
• Many screens and options for voter to go through
• Can be intimidating for voter

Liberty Libertyvote



Libertyvote
Full Face DRE

This is a tabletop machine with a full face ballot that lies over illuminated buttons, folds up to the size of a large suitcase. Voting is done by touching the ballot where these buttons are and when you have made your selection a light will illuminate next to the candidates name. There is a keypad to type the name of write in candidates.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Easy to change selection
• Simple directions
• Small, easy to transport, store

Cons:
• Can not zoom
• No sip in puff technology for people with low dexterity
• No height adjustment
• No audio voting
• No paper receipt
• Small easy to walk away with or misplace at election site
• Data cartridges and memory easy to remove even when locked
• No cover to the mainframe of the machine

Danaher ELECTronic 1242




Danaher ELECTronic 1242
Full Face DRE

This is an upright machine with a ballot that lies over buttons. The full fall ballot will we in front of you with little square buttons for the voter to select there choice in the corner of the box for each candidate. Above each race, a little red light will be blinking until you have completed voting in that particular race. Voting is done by touching the ballot where these squares are and when you have made your selection a light will illuminate next to the candidates name.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Audio voting
• Adjustable height
• Built in receipt behind clear cover

Cons:
• Can not zoom
• Must deselect choice if you whish to can vote
• Vendor was extremely rude and unhelpful
• Vendor did not know how to write in candidates for more than one race
• Write in box hard to reach and very small
• Companies main business enterprise is gas pump receipts
• Heat sensitive receipts, smudge, fade, and are unreliable
• Ballot face difficult to change in the event of an error or change
• Entire vote count must be reset for hearing impaired voter
• Vote count for voters that used the audio vote options tallied separately (vote secrecy not upheld)
• Must deselect a choice before changing your vote
• Machine appeared to be unbalanced when set at a lower height (vendor unwilling to let go of the machine to allow it to stand alone at lower heights)
• No sip in puff technology for people with low dexterity
• Receipt does not show candidates party
• Receipt location difficult to see for wheelchair users
• Sample ballot included errors
• Vendor told me "I wouldn't know who the Green Party's candidate for President was in 2004" (sample ballot had Libertarian on the Green Party Line"

Sequoia AVC Advantage



Sequoia AVC Advantage
Full Faced DRE

This is an upright machine with a ballot that lies over illuminated buttons. Inside the booth the machine looks very similar to the traditional NYS voting machines, with lighted buttons instead of metal levers. Voting is done by touching the ballot where the buttons are and when you have made your selection the light will change from red to green (so everyone will be voting green even if there not voting Green).

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Audio voting
• Can do multiple election districts from one machine
• Touch screen keyboard for write-ins
• Double disk drives (provides back up and two vote counts)
• Looks the most like a traditional voting machine
• Adjustable height
• Being supported by local union print shop Phoenix Graphics (presumably they have a contract with Sequoia to print the ballot face for the machines)
• Built in battery back up

Cons:
• Can not zoom
• Does not yet have a receipt
• Must deselect choice if you whish to can vote
• Many practice voters missed the cast vote button and left the machine without there votes being counted
• Keyboard is in alphabetical order not in keyboard layout
• Lights behind the ballot are very dim
• Vendor stated Sequoia "would not make updates to the machine to meet NYS regulations because they felt the machine was not broken and thus not in need of changes"

A Brief Summarized History of 4 Voting Machine Company's

Sequoia

Accounts for 1/3 of voting machine market.

Up until 10 months ago was owned by Great Britain’s De La Rue printing company whose parent group “Madison Dearborn” is a partner of the Carlyle Group that employs George Bush Jr’s father, as well as members of the Bin Laden family.

Ten months ago Sequoia was purchased by Venezuelan business man Antonio Mujica who was recently refused entry into the US and whose visa was revoked by the US Embassy in Venezuela.

In 1999 the Justice Department filed federal charges against employees of Sequoia alleging that during a 10-year period, $8 million in bribes were paid out. Louisiana's Commissioner of Elections, Jerry Fowler was involved in the scheme. In all, 22 people were indicted, 9 plead guilty.

These machines were also used in past Palm Beach, Florida elections where serious errors occurred as well as in a county in New Mexico where there was an undervote error of approx 5,988 votes made by Sequoia machines . These errors in New Mexico along with Ohio & Florida, may possibly have cost John Kerry the presidency .

ES&S and Diebold Voting Machines

Is owned by Todd Urosevich, brother of Bob Urosevich, the owner of Diebold Voting Machines (who was just slapped with a class action lawsuit that alleges fraud, insider trading, manipulation of stock prices, concealment of known flaws in voting machines and company structural problems. The suit was filed Dec. 13, 2005 in US Federal District Court in Ohio.) Together, one family controls the counting of 80% of America’s votes.

ES&S is also a subsidiary of the McCarthy Group Inc, which is jointly held by the Omaha World-Herald Company, Nebraska’s largest and most ultra conservative newspaper & investor in ES&S.

Michael McCarthy, CEO of McCarthy Group was campaign treasurer for Republican Senator, Chuck Hagel’s campaign in Nebraska. 85% of Sen. Hagel’s election ballots were counted on ES&S machines.

ES&S has been the target of election reform advocates for their strong partisan support of Republican causes & candidates,

Liberty

An independent commission on electronic voting in Ireland has refused to use Liberty machines because of security and accuracy concerns.

They are now in storage at a cost of $800,000/yr.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Sequoia Touch Screen Voting

Sequoia Touch Screen Voting


This machine uses digital touch screen voting, the technology allows the voter to make selections by touching the screen in the location of a digitized image of a button or in this case and image of the ballot. The machine stands up like a tradition voting machine and will have a curtain attach to it. The screen is actually four screens a 3/4 inch boarder between the screens. Voting is done by touching the candidates name on one of the screens.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Zoom capability
• White on black or black on white coloring
• Audio voting options, although Sequoia claims to have forgot to bring this option to the demonstration
• Can have ballots in up to 8 languages
• Can do multiple election districts from one machine
• Touch screen keyboard for write-ins
• Double disk drives (provides back up and two vote counts)
• Confirmation screen of who you voted for
• Adjustable for height

Cons:
• Vendor said "machine changes daily and will not look the same when submitted for certification"
• Zoom in geographically, removes some candidates and races from the screen
• Very difficult (time consuming) to scroll
• Scrolling arrows are very small, hard to see
• Failed to scroll to the last two offices on the ballot
• Write-ins consistently froze the screen (vendor said you have to hit except about 12 times)
• Office heading did not stay on screen when scrolling down
• You must select which of the four screens you want the curser in prior to making any selection, this caused voter confusion and frustration
• I found it frustrating and difficult to change my vote (could touch the screens up to 4 times each)
• Slow responding to touch
• Curser did not enlarge when zooming in, if individual needed the screen zoomed in then they would also have trouble see the curser
• 4 screens segregate the ballot and the races
• Confirmation screen does not state party
• Does not yet have a receipt
• A lot of buttons on screen
• Can be more intimidating
• More technical screens for voter and polling volunteers to understand

Sequoia Optech Insight



Sequoia Optech Insight

This is an optical scan voting machine, a hand marked paper ballot is scanned (similar to a photo copy machine or a computer scanner) and the information is digitized and stored electronically. A voter enters a voting booth and using a pen (though the machine should work with any other writing implement) will fill out a paper ballot by drawing a line between two arrows, then take the ballot out of the booth and place it into the machine, which will take the ballot (like paper money goes into a vending machine) record your vote, keep you ballot and printout a receipt. The receipt feeds directly back into the machine.

Pros:
• Full face ballot
• Voters mark their own vote
• Two paper trails (receipt, and the ballots)
• Ballot is automatically returned if voter marks lines for too many candidates
• Durable plastic body - great for kicking when frustrated with your choices
• Write in option is well marked for each race
• Stores cast ballots in random order
• Similar models have been used in previous election in other states

Cons:
• Sequoia brought a marking machine but said it was not for demonstration
• With out a marking machine an optical scanner does not meet the needs of many people with disabilities
• Two step voting processes (filling in ballot, scanning ballot)
• Machine jams as easy as any photo coping machine
• Machine very easy to open and get to stored ballots (should be locked and watched, but doubtful will stay locked after a couple of paper jams)
• Poll watcher, views voters as they insert there ballot (you can hide your ballot in an manila envelope if you ask for one)
• Poll watcher will see your ballot in the event of a paper jam
• Recount may have trouble telling voter intent if a voter marked more than one candidate
• If voter makes a mistake or changes there mind they must throw out old ballot and start again - old ballot is kept by poll watcher
• Ballot is difficult to dislodge from machine if it is returned to the voter
• 8-1/2" x 11" full face ballot (very small print)
• Cost of the paper ballots (approximately 70 cents per ballot)(though salesman thinks it could drop to 30 cents a piece)
• Huge cost if there is a last minute change to the ballot or if a mistake is made
• Receipt very hard to read (small print, bad location)
• Heat sensitive receipts smudge, fade, and discolor
• Receipt does not track party of vote
• Receipt is not encased, easy for voter to take with them
• Lacks the ability for the voter to view receipt and then select weather or not that was their indented vote
• Concerns with privacy between filling out ballot and scanning
• Every instant I viewed a citizen practice a write in vote, they wrote in the candidate but failed to also connect the arrows to cast a vote for the write in candidate
• The company has been at the center of a number of voter fraud cases in the last couple of years
• Vender claims the company is completely based in New York State allow company is owned by a Venezuelan company and their North American operations are headquartered in Oakland California
• Salesman seemed more interested in selling their Touch Screen prototype

Cheer for Standardized Testing?

This article on Kids "cheering" standardized testing is appalling. This testing is child abuse, plain and simple.

Gosh, do I miss Heather Hare. At least she would have called Dan Drmicich or Bill Cala for a quote on the harmful effects of this kind of garbage on kids. If you'd like more info on how ridiculous this is, check out these sites:



I really wish parents understood what all this was really about, then they wouldn't let their kids be put through this. Hammering kids and teachers with standardized tests dumbs down education, it figuratively beats the creativity out of them and causes a ton of kids in the city to drop out of school.

The reasoning seems to be: Hey, some of our schools aren't working. So let's take what we're doing now and just do it more! And some of our schools ARE working. So we have to fix those schools.

Adults drive me crazy.

Upcoming RRCDC Events

"Reshaping Rochester! Planning for the Public Realm" lecture and activity schedule:

The Rochester Regional Community Design Center and AIA Rochester invite you to attend an exciting medley of lectures, exhibits, discussions and even a charrette centering on how Rochester can revitalize itself through good urban design.


Urban Design Lecture Series:
This stimulating, 6-part educational lecture series brings visionary Mayors, Urban Design practitioners, and stirring design critics from across the country to share their experiences, stories and wisdom. All lectures begin at 7 pm and will be held throughout the city to highlight a number of unique, architecturally significant venues. See below for information on obtaining tickets.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. of Charleston, SC
January 11, 2006 at 7 pm at the Harro East Ballroom, 155 N. Chestnut Street

Jeremy Harris, Mayor of Honolulu, HI 1994 to 2004
February 1, 2006 at 7 pm at the Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave.

Robert Gibbs, head of Gibbs Planning
March 8, 2006 at 7 pm at the Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue (venue pending)

John Norquist, President of Congress for the New Urbanism
March 22, 2006, at 7 pm at Christ Church, 141 East Avenue

James Howard Kunstler, author of Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency
April 11, 2006, at 7 pm at the German House, 315 Gregory Street

Norman Mintz, of 34th Street Partnership, Manhattan and co-author of Cities Back from the Edge
May 17, 2006 at7 pm at the First Universalist Church, 150 S. Clinton Ave.

TICKETS: Tickets cost $10 in advance, $15 at the door or $50 for a 6-lecture package. They can be purchased at all local Wegmans ticket outlets ($0.50/$1 service fees apply), at Parkleigh on Park Ave, AIA and RRCDC offices for no additional fee, or via mail from RRCDC (S&H = $1 for every order of up to six tickets). For mail orders, please send your check made out to the Rochester Regional Community Design Center, including $1 for every order of up to 6 tickets (example: fifteen tickets = $3 extra), for shipping and handling fees, and please include a written note of which lectures and how many tickets to each, or how many packets, you are requesting. Your full name should be printed clearly somewhere with your order. Tickets for orders that arrive less than 7 days before the first lecture ordered will be held at will-call. Call (585) 271-0520 or email astewart@rrcdc.org" for more info.

Other Spring Events and Activities:

January 27: "Communities: A National Perspective" Gallery Exhibit Opening – A traveling, public exhibit will open at the RRCDC’s Gallery Opening and Open House to kick off the rest of the season’s activities.

February 11: AIA Design Awards – Local firms will receive awards for outstanding design at the annual awards ceremony, and their works will be displayed in a traveling exhibit around the region.

March 23-26: Downtown Design Charrette – Professional designers from across the community will be invited to participate in creating a vision plan for the revitalization of Downtown, Rochester.

April 6: Panel discussion: The Future of Downtown – Experts in fields of development and design, including the RRCDC’s Executive Director and President, will participate in a discussion sponsored by the Memorial Art Gallery on how to revitalize Rochester’s downtown.

May 18-20: City Center, Village Center: Design Matters III Conference – This year’s multi-day, annual conference hosted by the RRCDC will feature numerous workshops and lectures on how to strengthen city, town and village cores.


Ongoing Public Realm Exhibit:

We have invited selected architecture and planning firms, schools of architecture and urban design, community design centers, municipalities and other design organizations from around the country to participate in our exhibit showcasing redevelopment projects with excellent public realm design. This exhibit is intended to be exciting and accessible for viewers from the general public, sharing the possibilities for a great public realm and exploring the potential for Rochester’s built environment. It will be shown at gallery space downtown, prominent urban and suburban shopping centers, libraries and other public venues to engage the broad community.


For more info about Reshaping Rochester! and the Rochester Regional Community Design Center, contact: Audrey Stewart, RRCDC, (585) 271-0520, astewart@rrcdc.org, or visit http://www.rrcdc.org

Friday, January 06, 2006

New York State Selects New Voting Machines for 2006

Yesterday, Green Party members viewed seven voting machines on display at the Monroe County Fair Grounds. Four venders brought prototypes of voting machines they hope to have certified and purchased by New York State to be used in this years election.

New York State is in the process of choosing new voting machines for the 2006 election year. New York State must have new voting machines in place for the 2006 elections in order to receive Federal funding under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. The New York State Senate,and Assembly and the New York State Board of Elections have been slow to start the process and has failed to act on community feedback thus far. Currently we are in the public comment period (ending January 23, 2006) in regards to proposed voting machines regulations to meet the HAVA requirements.


After the public comment period NYS will finalize the regulation and begin the certification process. Vendors will be allowed to submit any voting machine for certification, if the NYS BOE deems the submitted machine in compliance with the regulations they machines will be certified for use in NYS Elections.

Once NYS has certified a voting machine local BOE's may purchase the certified machines for NYS Elections. The 14 county Region 6 that makes up Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates) has deferred the decision for the entire region to the Monroe County Board of Elections Commissioners, Republican Commissioner Peter Quinn, and Democrat Commissioner Tom Ferrarese.

After a voting machine is selected and purchased for the region, the voting machines must be manufactured. Many of the companies hoping to have a machine certified have vowed to manufacture the voting machines in Western New York State, though none currently manufacture voting machines in upstate New York. After the voting machines are manufactured and distributed, each machine must be independently tested to ensure that every function on the machine works correctly.

All of this will have to be completed by mid-July to allow for an intense voter education program so that voters and poll workers will understand how to properly use the new machines prior to the September Primary.

Please send comments, questions and concerns to:

New York State Board of Elections
40 Steuben Street
Albany, New York 12207
Phone:(518)474-6220
TTY 1-800-533-8683
Email: ldaghlian@elections.state.ny.us

The Monroe County Board of Elections
39 West Main Street
Rochester, New York 14614
Phone: (585) 428-4550
TTY (585) 428-2390
Email: mcboe@monroecounty.gov

Jason Nabewaniec, Co-Chair of the Green Party of Monroe County attended the demonstration, as well as, Vice-Chair, Deborah Magone-Fragale (accompanied by two other generations of Magone's), and Steering Committee Members, Chris Hilderbrant, David Atias and Ariel White.

The 4 companies demonstrating machines were:

1. Sequoia

AVC Advantage
Full Faced DRE


INSIGHT
Optical Scan


You decide: does it look more like a trash can or the Power Droid from Star Wars?

They also offered a full Face touch screen voting machine, but no product information was given and no website has been developed yet.


2. Election Systems & Software

Model 100 Precinct Ballot Counter with AutoMark Voter Assisted Terminal
Optical Scan with Ballot Marker

iVotronic
Full Face Touch Screen


3. Liberty Election Systems

Libertyvote
Full Face DRE


4. Danaher

ELECTronic 1242
Full Face DRE

TO BE CONTINUED

Ten Things You Can Do To Win Marriage in New York State

http://www.prideagenda.org/briefingpackets/marriage/marriagealert.html

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Chris Hilderbrant's D&C Speaking Out Piece

This will take you to the Op-Ed Chris wrote with Sally Brown of the League of Women Voters on our role in choosing new voting machines.

Monday, January 02, 2006

Sequoia Exposed - Video Clip from Documentary

http://www.madcowprod.com/bigfix.mov

Sequoia Voting Machine Co. Rap Sheet a Mile Long !

In 1995 the Security and Exchange Commission filed charges against four employees of Sequoia, alleging that they inflated revenue and pre-tax profits. In 1999 the Justice Department filed federal charges against employees of Sequoia alleging that during a 10-year period $8 million in bribes were paid out. Louisiana's Commissioner of Elections Jerry Fowler had run up some big gambling debts in Atlantic City, according to reporter Daniel Hopsicker. In all, 22 people were indicted, 9 plead guilty. Fowler went to jail, but Pasquale "Rocco" Ricci of New Jersey got one year of home detention.

http://www.ecotalk.org/Sequoia.htm


Did you know that Sequoia Voting Systems is now owned by a Venezuelan business man who has been denied entry into the US ?
On October 14, 2005, Antonio Mujica, CEO of Smartmatic, was refused entry into the United States. His Visa was revoked by the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela.
Ten months ago, Smartmatic, a Venezuelan-owned company, purchased Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc. for $16 million (U.S.). Sequoia Voting Systems is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic voting systems purchased in the United States. Public access to the company’s vote-counting software is prohibited by trade secret laws.
"While U.S. law allows this Venezuelan man to control the secret counting of Americans’ votes, the U.S. State Department doesn’t consider him fit to enter the country, even temporarily,”
VotersUnite.Org’s Information Manager, John Gideon said.
The organization's Executive Director, Ellen Theisen, added
"..in our own country, vote-counting is in the form of electronic ballots and secret software controlled by a man our government has declared ineligible to set foot in the country.”


Voting Machine Companies Come Under Scrutiny
http://www.ecotalk.org/pressrelease.htm