via truthdig.com
Global Greens Public Forum in Copenhagen
December 13th, 2009Copenhagen and beyond: delivering a meaningful deal on climate change – the Global Green perspective
Sunday 13th December
Stop Climate Change
Leading Green politicians from every corner of the globe will be in Copenhagen. This event is the only time they are speaking together on one stage, outlining their views on what a meaningful climate agreement is and how it can be achieved.
With the outcome of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen uncertain; this public event aims to give a Green perspective on how a meaningful and truly effective global deal on climate change can be reached before it is too late.The leading Green politicians taking part in this event are advocating a strong climate treaty, based on the best science and with binding pledges both on emission reduction targets and new and additional funding for the countries and communites worst affected by climate change. These green politicians have important roles to play in decision-making at all levels.
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Moderation and introduction: Monica Frassoni, Spokesperson of the European Green Party
- Marina Silva, Brazilian Green Party’s potential Presidential Candidate and former Environment Minister of Brazil
- Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate, Kenyan Green and former deputy Environment Minister of Kenya
- José Bové, Renowned global environmental activist, Green Member of the European Parliament and former Spokesperson of the French small farmers’ association
- Christine Milne, Australian Green Senator and Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens
- Elizabeth May, Canadian Green Party leader and former Director of the Canadian Sierra Club
Welcome: Villy Søvndal , Chairman, SF PartySummary of the latest state of play: Rebecca Harms, Co-President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament
Catherine Grèze, French Green MEP will facilitate a discussion with the audience.
Liberals Are Useless
December 9th, 2009[From TruthDig]
Liberals Are Useless
By Chris Hedges
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Liberals are a useless lot. They talk about peace and do nothing to challenge our permanent war economy. They claim to support the working class, and vote for candidates that glibly defend the North American Free Trade Agreement. They insist they believe in welfare, the right to organize, universal health care and a host of other socially progressive causes, and will not risk stepping out of the mainstream to fight for them. The only talent they seem to possess is the ability to write abject, cloying letters to Barack Obama—as if he reads them—asking the president to come back to his “true” self. This sterile moral posturing, which is not only useless but humiliating, has made America’s liberal class an object of public derision.
I am not disappointed in Obama. I don’t feel betrayed. I don’t wonder when he is going to be Obama. I did not vote for the man. I vote socialist, which in my case meant Ralph Nader, but could have meant Cynthia McKinney. How can an organization with the oxymoronic title Progressives for Obama even exist? Liberal groups like these make political satire obsolete. Obama was and is a brand. He is a product of the Chicago political machine. He has been skillfully packaged as the new face of the corporate state. I don’t dislike Obama—I would much rather listen to him than his smug and venal predecessor—though I expected nothing but a continuation of the corporate rape of the country. And that is what he has delivered.
“You have a tug of war with one side pulling,” Ralph Nader told me when we met Saturday afternoon. “The corporate interests pull on the Democratic Party the way they pull on the Republican Party. If you are a ‘least-worst’ voter you don’t want to disturb John Kerry on the war, so you call off the anti-war demonstrations in 2004. You don’t want to disturb Obama because McCain is worse. And every four years both parties get worse. There is no pull. That is the dilemma of The Nation and The Progressive and other similar publications. There is no breaking point. What is the breaking point? The criminal war of aggression in Iraq? The escalation of the war in Afghanistan? Forty-five thousand people dying a year because they can’t afford health insurance? The hollowing out of communities and sending the jobs to fascist and communist regimes overseas that know how to put the workers in their place? There is no breaking point. And when there is no breaking point you do not have a moral compass.”
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Canadian Green leader protests detention of American journalist Amy Goodman
December 5th, 2009[From On the Wilder Side]
KW: Sometimes when overzealous government law enforcement go too far, it becomes so comical, it is difficult to realize the travesty of justice that occurred. But, the victim was still harmed and the practices are still in place. So, we should acknowledge the violation of rights, try to learn from what happened, and use the teachable moment to try to fix something. [The Canadian Green Party is on top of it, see the readmore.]
It is amazing that armed Canadian border guards detained Amy Goodman, held her passport, and questioned her. Then, they stated she could only stay in Canada for 48 hours.
Even Keith Olbermann, on MSNBC, took notice. Olbermann said, “You guys might want to rethink your priorities and if you are that desperate to prevent criticism of some Olympic Games, you shouldn’t detain a noted commentator and write her scripts for her.”
And, now, Amy Goodman is actually going to report on the Olympics, and some of the injustices behind it.
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from Green Party Watch
Canadian Green leader protests detention of American journalist
December 4, 2009
From the Western Standard Shotgun blog:
Reports of the detention of an American journalist trying to cross into Canada for a speaking engagement have prompted outrage within the Green Party of Canada. Amy Goodman was kept at a British Columbia border crossing for over an hour, apparently because officials wanted to be sure she wasn’t coming to Canada to make negative comments about the Olympics.
“Are we turning into a police state?” wondered Green Leader Elizabeth May on hearing the report. “Canada is a free and democratic nation with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms protecting free speech. Why are our border guards being so overzealous concerning what visitors will speak about while they are here?”
“This incident raises concerns about the ongoing erosion of rights that needs to be addressed by the opposition parties,” said Jared Giesbrecht, Green Party Justice Critic. “Canadians’ value freedom of speech as a fundamental right. The Canadian Border Services Agency should be monitored by independent oversight mechanisms to ensure Canadian values are fully reflected in its operation.”
Ms. Goodman was planning to speak about American health care reform and to promote her new book, Breaking the Sound Barrier. Border guards eventually allowed her into Canada but only with a requirement that she leave within 48 hours.
Shame on Press Already Calling President Obama’s Plan an “Exit Strategy”
December 2nd, 2009A statement by Cynthia McKinney
Many in the special interest press are cynically reporting the President’s speech tonight as an “Afghanistan exit plan.” We have now reached the point where those who make and interpret current events think they can make us believe that war is for peace, ignorance is strength, slavery is freedom, and lies are the truth. Well, we know the truth, and we will not rest until every drone is stopped and no more bombs are dropped. We will not rest until peace is won. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said there comes a time when we do what we must because our ultimate measure is not where we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where we stand at times of challenge and controversy. At this time of challenge, we are clear: we will not give up and we will not stop.
Cynthia McKinney was the 2008 Green Party candidate for U.S. President.
You Get What you Vote For!
November 28th, 2009[From Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox]
By Cindy Sheehan
[Cindy Sheehan endorsed Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in 2008.]
The so-called anti-war movement currently finds itself in somewhat of a quagmire: What to do when the man you raised money for, volunteered for, and yes, even voted for, actually fulfills one of his most repulsive campaign promises?
First of all, I never understood why, or how, peace people could support someone who voted to pay for the wars while he was a Senator and was quite clear on the fact that he would increase violence in Afghanistan and perform a slow, painful and very incomplete withdrawal from Iraq. Principles that were proclaimed so loudly while Bush was president get shoved aside and buried now that a Democrat is president and how do you get your principles back from the dung-pile of selling out?
