Message Board

Be a liaison--between your group and ours! Write to greens@unm.edu. Together we can make things happen.

Don't forget to check out the NM Progressive Calendar

2005.01.05

Hi,

I wanted to let you know about the upcoming United Students Against
Sweatshops National Conference-- I hope you can make it!


Jessica Rutter
National Organizer
United Students Against Sweatshops
www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org
202-667-9328 (office)
516-652-9772 (cell)

 
 
Register for the United Students Against Sweatshops National Conference!
 
"Fighting for the Right to Organize- *local-->global*"
 
http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org/register.php
 
February 10-13, 2005 University of Texas-Austin
 
 Workshops and strategy sessions around the following issues:
 
-- Campus/Community Solidarity Campaigns- Learn about how to run a living
wage campaign, what unions are and why they're important, the service worker
solidarity campaign (Aramark, Compass and Sodexho) and trends in
outsourcing!
 
-- Worker Rights Consortium Affiliation- What is the WRC and how can
affiliating help your school to becoming sweat-free?
 
-- Multi-Fiber Arrangement Phase-Out Solidarity- With the phase-out of
garment and textile quotas in January of 2005 we are seeing more and more
cutting and running...Strategize about wage disclosure, sweatfree clothing
and code strengthening!
 
-- Coca Cola Campaign, Taco Bell Campaign- Protest Taco Bell in Austin!
Learn more and network with other schools doing similar campaigns!
 
-- Ethical Contracting Code of Conduct- Use this new code that covers
purchasing and contracting as a tool in your campaign!
 
-- Immigrant worker rights- Learn more about the struggles of immigrant
workers!
 
***Also build your skills around media, organizing, fundraising, labor
history, anti-oppression training, networking and more!!***
 
The agenda will be posted to the website shortly.
 
 *Travel Scholarships will be considered if you register before January 8,
2005. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early!*
 
contact us at organize@usasnet.org or 202-667-9328 if you have questions or
if you would like to apply for workshop or tabling space
 
--------------
 
 United Students Against Sweatshops is a national organization of students
and community members, functioning as a network and a resource for student
labor activists around the country. We are part of a movement that supports
the struggles of working peoples at home and abroad, in factories, in
fields, and on our own campuses.
 
--------------
 
Travel
 
We are encouraging people to arrive Thursday night, as the conference starts
early Friday morning! By Plane... Please feel free to book through USAS's
travel agent, Leslie, at Universal Travel Services, (202) 667-3202, but keep
in mind you'll need your own credit card, unless you've been granted a
scholarship.
 
By Bus... Check out www.greyhound.com for information about getting to
Austin by bus.
 
By Car... www.mapquest.com for directions to the University of Texas-Austin.
You can also get directions at the UT-Austin website (www.utexas.edu). If
you plan on traveling by car and have extra room, please let us know!
Someone from your area might need a ride and could help out with gas money
too.
 
--------------
 
Housing for the conference
 
Housing for the USAS conference is included in the registration fee, and
will be assigned to you when you arrive on Thursday night or Friday morning.
We will be staying mostly in crash housing, as well as some limited hotel
space near campus (Days Inn Austin). If you are interested in crash housing,
please register as soon as possible! If you do get crash housing, you will
need to bring your sleeping bag and a pillow. In addition, no one will be
turned away for financial reasons, so check out our scholarships so you can
get to the conference!
USAS webpage: http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org
 
 

2005.01.05

Greetings to all Progressive-Activist-type-Students at UNM,

   I too am an activist-type student at UNM. I am helping out NARAL (Pro-Choice New Mexico) these days and I was just wondering if we could make an announcement at any of your meetings that might be coming up with regards to the rally discussed below. As you might very well imagine we sure could use all the help you can give with the impending replacement of possibly 4 supreme court justices over the next 4 years. If you have a meeting anytime over the next couple of weeks that we could drop by at and make an announcement that would be just great. Outside of that if you could forward this to anyone else who might be interested I sure would appreciate it. We are having a lot of planning meetings over the next few weeks for the rally and if you can make it to any of them that would be tremendous!

Thanks for all the work you do,

Daniel Mirell

dmirell@yahoo.com

Daniel Mirell
University of New Mexico, Physics and Astronomy Department
Lab: (505)-277-5662
Office: (505)-277-6397
Cell: (505)-259-2487

 

 

2005.01.03 APPEAL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS TSUNAMI RELIEF AND REHABILITATION

Date: 29 th December 2004

APPEAL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS TSUNAMI RELIEF AND REHABILITATION

As you all know, thousands of people have been affected by the Tsunami in South and South East Asia which by current estimates has let to the death of more than 60,000 people and affected millions.

Association for India 's Development, Inc. (AID) is a US-based voluntary non-profit development organization with over 40 chapters across the US . It is a reputed social service organization and has volunteers from all across the world with a strong grassroot presence in South India . AID is geared to maximize the impact of your contributions.

In Albuquerque , AID – New Mexico chapter has formed a Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Committee and is receiving updates from its office in Chennai, southern India . Over the next several days, AID New Mexico will continue to assess the disaster and assist relief and rehabilitation efforts.

So far, AID has raised nearly half a million dollars from donors across the US . But considering the magnitude of the catastrophe, we need a lot more money and support.

We are fortunate to have AID-India volunteers and close partner organizations who are active in some of the worst affected areas. AID India is undertaking massive rehabilitation work in three phases.

• Immediate Relief – Providing food, clothing, blankets, temporary shelter and medicines to prevent epidemics and organizing health camps for emergencies. AID has already sent $75,000 towards these efforts.
• Second Level Relief - Construction of houses and providing health care.
• Long Term Relief – Broader livelihood needs for the families affected.

Considering the massive scale of the disaster, which has wiped out entire costal villages and fishing communities, it is expected that long-term rehabilitation will require significant resources.

Contributions to AID can be made through secure on-line credit-card donations at AID's website (http://www.aidindia.org/CMS), where further details and updates are posted.

Checks payable to "AID" can be mailed to:

AID Zone 3
P.O. Box 4801
Mountain View , CA 94040-0801

(Please indicate "Relief and Rehabilitation Fund" in the check memo)

For additional information call: 1-888-TALK-2-AID or (301) 422-4441 or email: info@aidindia.org

OR

Association for India 's Development
Student Activities Center Box 117 ,
MSC 03 2210
1, University of New Mexico ,
Albuquerque , NM 87131

For further enquiries and if you would like to help in any part of the rehabilitation work, please contact:

Harsha Belludi (Relief Effort Coordinator)

Email: harshayb@yahoo.com

Phone: 505-262-0039

Sachin Patkar (Chapter Coordinator)

Email: sachin_patkar@yahoo.com

Phone: 505-385-2561

Websites:

http://aidnm.unm.edu

http://www.aidindia.org

2004.12.27 America, the Indifferent

It was with great fanfare that the United States and 188 other countries signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration, a manifesto to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger and disease among the one billion people in the world who subsist on barely anything. The project set a deadline of 2015 to achieve its goals. Chief among them was the goal for developed countries, like America, Britain and France, to work toward giving 0.7 percent of their national incomes for development aid for poor countries.

Almost a third of the way into the program, the latest available figures show that the percentage of United States income going to poor countries remains near rock bottom: 0.14 percent. Britain is at 0.34 percent, and France at 0.41 percent. (Norway and Sweden, to no one's surprise, are already exceeding the goal, at 0.92 percent and 0.79 percent.)

And we learned this week that in the last two months, the Bush administration has reduced its contributions to global food aid programs aimed at helping hungry nations become self-sufficient, and it has told charities like Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services that it won't honor earlier promises. Instead, administration officials said that most of the country's emergency food aid would go to places where there were
immediate crises.

Something's not right here. The United States is the world's richest nation. Washington is quick to say that it contributes more money to foreign aid than any other country. But no one is impressed when a billionaire writes a $50 check for a needy family. The test is the percentage of national income we give to the poor, and on that basis this country is the stingiest in the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

The administration has cited the federal budget deficit as the reason for its cutback in donations to help the hungry feed themselves. In fact, the amount involved is a pittance within the federal budget when compared with our $412 billion deficit, which has been fueled by war and tax cuts. The administration can conjure up $87 billion for the fighting in Iraq, but can it really not come up with more than $15.6 billion - our overall spending on development assistance in 2002 - to help stop an 8-year-old AIDS orphan in
Cameroon from drinking sewer water or to buy a mosquito net for an infant in Sierra Leone?

There is a very real belief abroad that the United States, which gave 2 percent of its national income to rebuild Europe after World War II, now engages with the rest of the world only when it perceives that its own immediate interests are at stake. If that is unfair, it's certainly true that American attention is mainly drawn to international hot spots. After the Sept. 11 bombings, Washington ratcheted up aid to Pakistan to help fight the war on terror. Just last week, it began talks aimed at contributing more aid to the Palestinians to encourage them to stop launching suicide bombers at Israel.

Here's a novel idea: how about giving aid before the explosion, not just after?

At the Monterey summit meeting on poverty in 2002, President Bush announced the Millennium Challenge Account, which was supposed to increase the United States' assistance to poor countries that are committed to policies promoting development. Mr. Bush said his government would donate $1.7 billion the first year, $3.3 billion the second and $5 billion the third. That $5 billion amount would have been just 0.04 percent of America's national income, but the administration still failed to match its promise
with action.

Back in Washington and away from the spotlight of the summit meeting, the administration didn't even ask Congress for the full $1.7 billion the first year; it asked for $1.3 billion, which Congress cut to $1 billion. The next year, the administration asked for $2.5 billion and got $1.5 billion.

Worst of all, the account has yet to disperse a single dollar, while every year in Africa, one in 16 pregnant women still die in childbirth, 2.2 million die of AIDS, and 2 million children die from malaria.

Jeffrey Sachs, the economist appointed by Kofi Annan to direct the Millennium Project, puts the gap between what America is capable of doing and what it actually does into stark relief.

The government spends $450 billion annually on the military, and $15 billion on development help for poor countries, a 30-to-1 ratio that, as Mr. Sachs puts it, shows how the nation has become "all war and no peace in our foreign policy." Next month, he will present his report on how America and the world can actually cut global poverty in half by 2015. He says that if the Millennium Project has any chance of success, America must lead the
donors.

Washington has to step up to the plate soon. At the risk of mixing metaphors, it is nowhere even near the table now, and the world knows it.

2004.12.23

Dear College Green Party Leaders:

Sorry for the mass email but you are many and we are few!

This is a chance for all College Greens to be nationally published in a
non-partisan political book. We are sending you this email with the hope that
you will forward the message at the end of the email onto you members.

I am a graduating senior at Gonzaga University. A friend, Dean Robbins and I
recently founded a small publishing company, College Tree Publishing. We are
editors of the nationally published "What We Think" series. Our first book, the
recently published, "What We Think: Young Voters Speak Out" was featured on CNN
and MSNBC and is penciled for discussion on CSPAN Book TV January 8th. We've
also been contacted by National Public Radio, Fox News, and having a running
dialogue with CNN and MSNBC.

We are on a continuing our mission to prove that our demographic, 18-
24-year-olds, is anything but apathetic. To do so, we are compiling two
additional books, comprised entirely of submissions by 17- to 25-year-olds.
Here is information about each of the books.

"WHAT WE THINK: II" - we are looking for essays, personal reflections, journal
entries, short screen plays, poems, and brief quips on any political or social
issue. These include, but are not limited to, the following: The War on Terror;
The War in Iraq; Bush; The candidates for 2008; God in Government; The
Electoral College; Abortion; Supreme Court Justice Appointment; Affirmative
Action; The Environment; Red vs. Blue state - what's it all about; Young Voter
Apathy (is it real); Celebrity and Politics; the Media; And any other issue you
or you members find compelling.

"WHAT WE THINK: ABOUT GOD" -- we are looking for essays, personal reflections,
journal entries, short screen plays, poems, and brief quips on any political or
social issue. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Does God
Exist; What is God; What gives your life meaning; What Is the Role of Religion;
What Is the net Effect of Religion; Are There Absolutes - What Are They? Please
write any theological issue you find compelling - this is too broad a topic for
us to really narrow down.

We have no length requirements because we don't wish to limit the scope and
profundity of any ideas. However, it's worth mentining that most submissions
are between 2-6 pages. The submission deadline is tentatively set for
mid-February.

These books, "What We Think: II" and "What We Think: About God", will be
released in late April. Interested students can submit through our website at:
http://www.collegetreepublishing.com

To submit students must go to the "To Submit" link and simply paste in their
submissions. This page won't be up until the 29th, so, students may also e-mail
their works directly to us at:
submissions@collegetreepublishing.com

If any of your members interested in purchasing "What We Think: Young Voters
Speak Out," it is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com for under
$12.00. This would be a great opportunity to see what your book will look like.
 It should also be in your University Bookstore or local Barnes and Noble and
if it is not ask them to order it, as it will be in there system - More
information is available at http://www.collegetreepublishing.com

Thank you for your time and please contact us with questions, comments, or
concerns.

Cheers and Friendly Regards,

Rob Grabow
509 499 2679
rob@collegetreepublishing.com
rgrabow@gonzaga.edu

2004.12.22 Protests

Also check out our archive page for upcoming protest flyers

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/22/pirate.radio/index.html

2004.12.22 Guild Nuclear Winter

Roy Durfee
P.O. Box 40219
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196-0219
rdurfee2003@yahoo.com

2004.12.22 Common Cause

Dear UNM ,

During the last election cycle special interests threatened to influence who sits on the bench in New Mexico.  You've read the stories about the skyrocketing costs of New Mexico Supreme Court races.  You've heard about special interests from outside of New Mexico attempting to influence our judicial elections by "educating" the public about our judiciary.  In this year's only contested race for a seat on the Supreme Court, the two candidates raised and spent over $400,000.  The independence of the judicial branch was one of the fundamental principles in the founding of our country and  is at risk in New Mexico.  We've got to put an end to these veiled attempts that allow big money special interests undue influence on the outcome of judicial elections.

www.commoncause.org/stopjudicialauctions

That's why Common Cause New Mexico has just launched a campaign to take the judiciary off the auction block by establishing publicly financed elections for the New Mexico Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.  But, to successfully push to take big money out of our elections we need your help!  Specifically, we need to put direct pressure on key state legislators and maintain a strong presence in the Roundhouse during the 2005 legislative session by hiring a reform advocate.  Can you help us raise $1,000 in the next two weeks so that we have the resources to work for this important reform?

www.commoncause.org/stopjudicialauctions

Common Cause New Mexico has been a leader in the fight to take our elections back from the special interests.  In 2003 we worked alongside a strong coalition  for passage of a law that took the elections of the members of the powerful Public Regulation Commission off the auction block .  We must act now to stop the influx of special interest money from outside of New Mexico and to stop the soaring costs of running judicial campaigns, before our courts lose their independence.    
    
Your generous contribution will help fund this next step in the important battle to get big money out of our elections.  Your contribution will also help to keep the judiciary independent of special interests bent on electing judges favorable to their agenda:

www.commoncause.org/stopjudicialauctions

Our judges are not elected to be responsive to special interest donors; they are elected to be responsive to the rule of law.  We intend to make sure that is the case.  This aggressive campaign to end the influence money has on our judicial elections is just another step towards limiting the influence of money in New Mexico politics.  To be successful, we must actively engage the media and opinion leaders of both political parties to educate the public about the importance of an independent judiciary, we must generate the grassroots pressure necessary to call on our elected officials to get special interest money out of our judicial elections and we must maintain a constant presence at the capitol in Santa Fe. 
Now is the time to take the next step to stop the influence of big money on our politics!  Please support our effort with a contribution of $25, $100, or more:

www.commoncause.org/stopjudicialauctions

Thank you for all you do for democracy in New Mexico!

Sincerely,

Matt Brix
Executive Director, Common Cause New Mexico

2004.12.22

I added this to our Upcoming Events listing and will feature the info as a blog post after the holidays. I can also publicize it at our January Meetup.

Barbara Wold 

 2004.12.22 from the counter-inaugural email discussion list comes this action item

On January 6, 2005, Congress will meet in joint session to certify the 2004 presidential election. On that day, if one member of the House and one member of the Senate object to the certification of the vote, then all members of Congress will finally discuss voting issues. On January 6, 2001, not a single Senator would join with the Representatives who demanded an inquiry into the Florida recount. This year, let’s make our Senators take a stand!
 
The following seven Senators are some of the most progressive members of the Senate. Please call them immediately, and urge them to defend democracy on January 6. *SPREAD THE WORD TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW TO KEEP DOING THE SAME UNTIL JANUARY 6.*

Senator Barbara Boxer, (202) 224-3553,
Senator Dick Durbin, (202) 224-2152,
Senator Russ Feingold, (202) 224-5323,
Senator Tom Harkin, (202) 224-3254,
Senator Jim Jeffords, (202) 224-5141,
Senator Edward Kennedy, 202/224-4543,
Senator Patrick Leahy, (202) 224-4242,

2004.12.22 Turn Your Back on Bush

This action might interest you ss part of the CampusActivism.org community:

Turn Your Back on Bush is a new kind of event in an old tradition: direct nonviolent action. In the past four years, Bush has made it clear that dissent is unwelcome in his America, and his policies have created an atmosphere where demonstrators are corralled and their messages marginalized. Polls show that the majority of Americans disagree with Bush on numerous issues, but by refusing to talk to anyone but the most
subservient press outlets and appearing only in highly staged events, he has cut himself off from all but his most ardent supporters.

We want our audience with our President.

On inauguration day, we will gather as citizens for the public events of the day and join the rest of the crowd. At a given signal, we will turn our backs. Until the moment we turn around, there will be nothing to distinguish us. By leaving our signs and buttons at home, we will avoid all of the obstacles that Bush and his supporters have used to keep anyone who disagrees with him out of sight.

One of the things that makes Turn Your Back on Bush a unique action is that we won't know who is participating until the moment it begins. This is a nonviolent, silent, and non-responsive action. We expect that our actions will cause some supporters of President Bush to confront us. In order to make this action as effective as possible, we will publish action guidelines and expect those people participating in the action to remain silent, refrain from escalating, and above all, keep this protest non-violent.

For this one moment the opposition to Bush will stand together.
www.turnyourbackonbush.org

My name is Sarah and I am the campus organizer for Turn Your Back on Bush.
If you are interested in this action and want to get a group of your fellow college students together then email me at sarah@turnyourbackonbush.org.

2004.12.22 Common Cause

Dear UNM ,

At the beginning of the New Year, we expect House leaders to make changes to House rules that will further erode an already inadequate ethics process.   The proposed changes are aimed at protecting members of Congress like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who has three times since last fall been admonished for by the House Ethics Committee for unethical behavior.  

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) wants to force ethics complaints to be vetted by the Rules Committee he chairs before they are sent to the bipartisan Ethics Committee.  He is also encouraging the adoption of a provision that would subject members to disciplinary action if they raise a complaint the committee finds to be frivolous.  This is a chilling attempt to discourage Members from filing ethics complaints. And it is even more troubling when coupled with the fact that under current House rules, only Members may file complaints against fellow Members. Outside groups and individuals are excluded from that process.  This  is nothing short of an attempt to discourage Members from filing ethics complaints like the one  by  Rep. Chris Bell (D-TX)  against Rep. DeLay that resulted in official action by the House Ethics Committee.   

These rules changes would threaten core democratic values, and we cannot let them go unnoticed. So we need your help today. 

On Jan. 3, Common Cause and the Congressional Ethics Coalition are holding a press conference to protest the rules changes. We want to make our protest a powerful statement of the public's displeasure with Rep. DeLay's unethical behavior, and by this effort to shield him and others from a functioning ethics review system in the House.   On Jan. 3, we want to deliver to Rep. DeLay's office more than  100,000 petitions calling on him to step down as majority leader because he is ethically unfit to lead.   We have already collected more than  26,000 of these signatures asking for Rep. DeLay to step down.  If you have not yet signed our petition please join our call for asking Tom DeLay to step down:

www.commoncause.org/stepdownDeLay

Once you have signed the petition please forward the petition to four of your family, friends or colleagues and urge them to join our cause as well.

We need to make certain that  the most powerful members in Congress understand that the public expects  Congress to conduct its business ethically.  The  only way they are going to hear us loud and clear is when they realize we are advocating on behalf of hundreds and thousands of outraged citizens who are sick and tired of powerful elected officials acting without any sense of responsibility to the people who elect them:

www.commoncause.org/stepdownDeLay

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President & CEO
Common Cause

Support Common Cause

 

2004.12.22 Subject: Letter from Fernando suarez del solar to Pablo Paredes

To my hero, Pablo Paredes (if you will permit me, to my son Pablo)

Thank you, my son. Thank you for your courageous stand, for your brave act of love and respect for human life, and above all thank you for being an example of strength and patriotism for the young people of your generation.

Why do I say this? Because you represent, as does my other son Camilo, hundreds perhaps thousands of other brave young people who are true soldiers, real heroes. Without any fear of unjust government repraisal, you insist on your truth with your conscience clear and free.
You reply "No" to the order of death that you have been given. You say no to death, to silent complicity, to the lack of free will that your training taught you.

And you declare in a loud voice your firm support of your military oath to defend the Constitution of this great nation and not the gang of bandits who have usurped the White House.

The true soldier defends the Constitution, life, liberty, and democracy, and does not exterminate a foreign land for economic gain.

And so you stand tall and proud against the depravity into which our brave soldiers have been led and you serve as a model that surely many others will follow. Camilo inspired you to make your courageous decision and you will inspire thousands more to oppose the madness.

Thank you Pablo, thank you my son, for giving your parents the honor of having a son who is brave, strong, and above all else human.

On December 6th, 3rd class Petty Officer Pablo Paredes stood resolutely on the pier of the 32nd street naval base in San Diego, as his ship the USS Bonhomme Richard, left for Iraq without him. Since refusing to
participate in this unjust and devastating war, Pablo will now have to face the uncertainty of military punishment for being a GI with a conscience that refuses to be silent.

To contribute to Pablo's support please go to http://www.sdmcp.org


POR UNA GENERACION LLENA DE PAZ Y AMOR!!

EL GUERRERO AZTECA

Que dios les bendiga.

Atentamente:
Fam. Suarez del Solar.
Padres del "GUERRERO AZTECA" Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar Navarro Lance Corporal USMC 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division


fernando@guerreroazteca.org
Fvsuarez2000@yahoo.com.mx
www.guerreroazteca.org
http://girights.objector.org
www.projectyano.org
http://mx.geocities.com/fvsuarez2000/guerreroazteca.html
http://cpeace.com/C/Iraq/fernando.htm
WWW.mfso.org
www.activistsandiego.com
www.globalexchange.org
http://www.occupationwatch.org

2004.12.17 Recount

2004.12.13

Dear New Mexico Progressives,
By now you've probably seen the flyers about the trip to D.C., and no, that isn't Alfred E. Newman in the background. I've put together this trip, not only because it's a great cause, but because I think that our side is far too complacent, and we don't get any media coverage on what we believe is right. When they have a book burning, we read about it in the paper. When they protest the removal of a statue from a courthouse, we see it on every news outlet in the nation. Where are the Progressives? Where are we?
We're complaining to ourselves, and our spouses that"these people are ridiculous!" Our protests consist of 10 to 12 people huddled together off Central by the University holding up big signs, with slogans on them like, "HONK IF YER PISSED!" We need action! The
Christian "Right" successfully pulled off a coup d'état, and we sat back, and read about it in the paper. We need to change this! And our first call to action is this trip to Washington, D.C. to show the righties how serious we are about taking back our
country. When they see a bus full of angry Liberals from New Mexico traveling 1900 miles across the country to voice our grievances, it might make them think, "Maybe they're serious". Now I realize it is a week off of work, but it's worth it. Thousands of people across the nation are making the trip, and we need to send our Delegation. We need to set an example! Who knows? Maybe in the future people will think of us when they see 30 Righties getting together to burn books, instead of watching it on the news,
we'll have 60 of us there to protest that burning. Instead of watching 50 right wing nut jobs protest a woman's right to choose on television, we'll have 100 progressives there at that clinic protecting that right. The government as it stands is not going to protect our rights and beliefs. We are. And on January 17th through 23rd of 2005, we are going to start our own Revolution, and it will be televised. And you know why? Because WE ARE THE MAJORITY AND THIS IS OUR COUNTRY! Join me on this journey and set an example
for what is about to be the new Progressive Movement! Who's coming with me?

Sincerely,
Thomas A. Prando II
tprando2@yahoo.com
(505)385-4938

P.S. I'm giving a $100 discount to everyone who responds to this e-mail.

P.P.S. If you can afford to go but can't get the 4 days off of work, sponsor someone who can go but can't afford it!!

2004.12.13 Common Cause

Dear UNM,
 
On November 29, Green and Libertarian Party presidential candidates from the recent election filed for a recount of votes cast for president in New Mexico.  Common Cause New Mexico views this recount request as an opportunity to introduce what we believe are the necessary steps to electoral reform.  Some of the necessary steps we recommend include:

• Allowing voters to cast a provisional ballot even if they have to vote in the wrong precinct.  Every provisional ballot cast by an eligible voter should be counted and there must be uniform standards for counting these ballots.  Providing every polling place with enough provisional ballots should be a top priority for elections officials.

• We ought to consider Election Day registration in New Mexico because of the numerous problems with registration and the inadequate implementation of the Motor Voter Act eleven years after its enactment.  Furthermore, there should be national guidelines for registration, not a hodge-podge of local and state requirements that often lead to the disenfranchisement of voters.

• Poll workers are the backbone of New Mexico's voting system.  One training system is necessary for all poll workers in every precinct throughout the state.  

Read more about our recommendations for electoral reform in New Mexico here.

2004.12.13 UNM Campus News

hi Guys,

Here are two interesting weblinks to add to our list for the site....

I would like to look into the corn bottles more and perhaps make it a campaign next semester to get UNM to start using corn-based containers instead of plastic.

corn-based bottles:

http://www.enn.com/biz_waste.html?id=17

This is a link about global warming and a book recently written by a Nobel prize winner about global warming. I think that Colin would like to write something about global warming for the webpage and alternative energy sources that don't contribute to it. It would be nice to have resources about global warming in connecting to our push for SVO and biodiesel as well as solar. It seems like a natural and logical progression to have this sort of background information for the projects that we are doing.

http://www.heatisonline.org

Claire Long

2004.12.10 LASG Canvassing

2004.12.10 Judges for Speech and Debate

On January 7th and 8th, UNM is hosting the largest Speech and Debate tournament in New Mexico. We desparately need help with judges. No experience is necessary and you will be given lots of free food! You will have fun watching high school students compete and will get to spend time with your friends during Winter Break. It's a good resume builder and there will be lots of good food. (did I say free food?)

Please open the attachment and follow the instructions! .doc
Thank you for your help.

2004.12.10 PROTEST Republican Vote FRAUD in the U.S. in 2004

(worse than in the Ukraine and they got a revote!!!)

Substantial evidence of massive election fraud in Ohio and other states in 2004 exists, but yet the national media has largely refused to report on the issue. The Green Party is paying over $100,000 for an official recount in Ohio. A few U.S. Congressmen have pushed the General Accounting Office (GAO) to begin an investigation.
Besides allegations of widespread voter intimidation and voting obstruction by Republicans, there is also evidence of outright rigging of voting machines by the Republicans. For instance, one area in Ohio reported over 4000 votes for Bush when there were less than 700 voters! In addition, paperless voting machines systematically recorded a significantly higher number of votes for Bush than exit polls and other evidence indicated actually occurred, although such discrepancies did not exist in precincts with paper ballots.

While a recount may not replace Mr. Bush with Mr. Kerry, it should show the fraud and manipulation that the Republican Party has utilized in order to maintain its grip on power and that the Democratic Party has refused to challenge. If we the People do not support the Greens in their efforts to have our votes counted, we are essentially condoning a fascist dictatorship. You don’t have to be a Green to recognize the fact that our right to have our votes counted has to be defended, so please pass this notice on to everyone you know and meet.

Demand a national recount from your Senators and ask them to join the Green Party, which does not have the Democratic Party’s own history of supporting slavery and vote suppression, and which advocates real social justice paid for by stopping the Bush war and by taxing pollution (for instance, given that dividing all the income in the U.S. by the number of people employed indicates over $80,000 pretax per worker, reduced military
spending and increased taxes on the polluters/rich would enable a national jobs office to guarantee everyone a job at a minimum of $30 per hour either working directly for the government or provided to firms bidding for government-subsidized labor). Or donate to the Green recount efforts at Cobb/LaMarche, Box 693, Eureka CA 95502-0693, or through the Green campaign web site http://www.votecobb.org through which the recount efforts have to be filed.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at Dr. Austin Murphy, 692
Kimberly, Lake Orion, MI 48362; 248-693-1740; amurphy09@comcast.net (or see 
http://www.legitgov.org for updates).

2004.12.09 Peace Camp

You are invited to come to a Peace Camp at the Truman Gate on Monday, Dec. 13, from 2-5pm.  The general thinking is that we might not have the peace camp in January or February and that we will return to the Truman Gate in March.  If there are folks out there who would like to be at the Truman Gate for a Peace Camp in Jan. and/or Feb., please contact StoptheWarMachine@comcast.net, and we will call a Peace Camp and join you there.

2004.12.09 Kiss the World Awake

 

2004.12.08 Stop the War Machine

Here is an emergency email regarding a Palestinian family here in NM, plus 3 more:

1a. Thurs, 12/9, 10am, ICE Office of Detention and Removal in Albuquerque
1b. Invitation to also write letters to help family
2. Wed, 12/8, 3-6pm, protest fraudulent elections at Fed. Courthouse bldg
3. Alibi and Crosswinds run articles on war research at UNM
4. The Yes Men!
5. Donna Rowe speaks out

2004.12.08 JSF

If any of you that are interested in gender relations,race and class in Mexico I have a very good class to recommend. I have taken a similar class before with the same professor (Patricia Lopategui) and all I can say it is one of the best classes I have ever taken here are UNM, specially because she is a professor from Mexico. So if you are interested the call number is 14543 ( a 379 class) Mondays and Wed. from 11:00 - 12:15 if you want more info about the class you can email the professor and she will be glad to tell you more about it. Her email is : Patricia@lopategui.com

Thank you!
Vanessa Galindo
President
Justicia sin Fronteras

2004.12.07 Common Cause

Dear UNM ,

Last week we invited you to attend our day-long event Tuesday, Dec. 7 on voting and election reform, "Voting in 2004:  A Report to the Nation on America's Election Process ."  As I mentioned earlier, the conference begins at 8:30 a.m. and continues til 5:00 p.m. on Capitol Hill, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-50.  We will hear from members of Congress, voting experts and others who monitored the presidential election, and will paint the clearest picture to date as to what happened on Nov. 2. All panel discussions will be followed by question and answer sessions.  Here is our agenda for the conference.

We are happy to inform you that your response and interest in tomorrow's event has been overwhelming.  So far more than 500 of you have already RSVP'd online. The event is  open to the public, press, Members of Congress, congressional staff and the academic community. 

We have also heard from many of you who do not live in the Washington D.C. metro area, but are interested in learning more about the event, and about what isgoing on in states like Ohio. 

To accommodate you, we are  setting up a nationwide conference call shortly after our conference ends on Tuesday. The call will begin at  8 pm ET. I will be on the call, along with John Bonifaz, founder and general counsel of the National Voting Rights Institute. Mr. Bonifaz is a  key leader in national election reform efforts, who is also trying to make sure all votes are counted as cast in the 2004 elections. 

If you would like to participate in this conference call, please sign up  to host a house party via our party host center .

We are using our online party center to distribute conference call codes to first 100 folks who sign up to host a party , because the number of lines we can make available for this conference call are limited.  We are encouraging you to set up this kind of community get together, using our online meeting tool at the grassroots level, because this allows us to get our message out to activists in greater numbers, and at the same time organize election activists at the local level.

Moreover, your house party can be simple--you'll probably already have holiday food on hand. Just invite some neighbors and friends for an informal and informative gathering.  These house parties will be a great opportunity for all of you to become leaders in the growing movement to work toward  meaningful election reform.  You'll have a chance to find out what we heard and learned in our Dec.7 conference, and the status of recounts of Ohio, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and elsewhere.

As always, if you have any comments and suggestions or would like to give us your feedback on our election reform agenda, please make sure to post them in the election related sections of our blog at http://www.commonblog.com/section/Elections

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President & CEO
Common Cause

2004.12.07 **PUBLIC HEARING for Toxic Waste Site Extended**

The public hearing for the Mixed Waste Landfill has been extended this week to Wednesday Dec. 8th and Thursday Dec. 9th. If you and/or your organization have not yet testified and would like to do so there is still time to do it! The state has been very accommodating in allowing members of the public to read their comments at any time during the day. However, we are urging those members of the public who would still like
to submit comments to attend the hearing on Wednesday Dec. 8th at 7 p.m. to testify as to what they think should be done with the dump. There is no time limit as to the length of your comments. The dump and its estimated 100,000 cubic ft. of radioactive and hazardous waste is sitting in unlined pits and trenches over Albuquerque's sole source
aquifer on Albuquerque's East Mesa adjacent to one of Albuquerque's fastest growing areas.

The public hearing begins at 9 a.m. each day and ends at 10 p.m., and is being held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 2500 Carlisle Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, just off I-40 and Carlisle Blvd. exit. There is plenty of parking. Once you're inside the hotel just follow the signs to the 'Cavalier Room.'

Citizen Action - and many other organizations and members of the public - supports a plan that calls for complete excavation and clean up of the dump to GUARANTEE that Albuquerque's groundwater is protected over the long-term. However, the plan proposed by Sandia/DOE that has received initial approval by the state calls for covering the dump with dirt and abandoning the waste in place without a financial assurance mechanism to
ensure continued monitoring. Sandia's plan proposes  monitoring of the dump for approximately 100 years - even though much of the radioactive and hazardous waste will remain hazardous essentially forever.

To date some of the organizations that have testified at the hearing in
support of clean up of the dump include the Sierra Club, the New Mexico
Public Health Association, the Albuquerque/Bernalillo Groundwater
Protection Advisory Board, the Rio Grande Community Development
Corporation, members of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association,
Citizens Against Radioactive Dumping, Gray Panthers of Albuquerque,
Unitarian Universalist Church. Please feel free to send this
announcement to your listserves. For more information call Sue Dayton,
Director, Citizen Action New Mexico: (505) 280-1844.

2004.12.06 Green Party of New Mexico lost Major & Minor Party Status

The Green Party of New Mexico lost Major Party Status and Minor Party Status due to lack of Green Party votes in the last election pursuant to New Mexico Statutes and Court Rules

Statutory Chapters in New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978

Section 1: Elections

Subsection 7: Political Parties

Subsubsection 2: Qualification; Removal; Requalification

Item C

 

To search statues yourself click

To help the Green Party of New Mexico regain Minor Party Status please down load the petition pdf and start getting signatures.

2004.12.06 from SWM

FYI: These programs can be seen on Channel 27 on the weekends after midnight. If anyone wishes to request that they be replayed at a specific time during daytime hours, please contact me, Steve Ranieri, or our Programming Coordinator, Zack Freeman so that you may sponsor their cablecasting.

----------
From: DeeDee Halleck <dhalleck@ucsd.edu>
Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:24:04 -0500
To: alliance-announce@lists.alliancecm.org
Subject: Transmission of Free Programs on the War and Occupation

Dear Alliance Members,
Next week Free Speech TV will be retransmitting the Deep Dish series, Shocking and Awful: a grassroots response to war and occupation. Since it looks like we are going to be in Iraq for a long time, we think it is important that people on a local level have a chance to see alternative views of the war and occupation. Our series is twelve half hours. Go to our web site www.deepdishtv.org for more details.

There will be two half hour programs back to back on each transmission. The first transmission is on December 13. The times are:
Mondays 8PM ET
11 PM ET

Thursdays 3:30 PM ET
Sundays 11AM ET
on FSTV 9415 on the Dish network.

This will continue for six weeks. On the last week, we will present the 13th program: the Iraq War Crimes Tribunal which will be a one hour program

We hope that these programs will stimulate local discussion in your communities. Perhaps local vets would want to program a counter (or confirming) view of the war. Please let us know the response in your community (positive and negative!) We know that Army News Watch is on many community channels. This series can provide an alternative view. We suggest you run the series either before or after Army News Watch as a"right of response".

Please let us know if you are running the series on your channel. Give us the times and we will post it on our web site.

Thank you!
DeeDee Halleck

PS. We will be making DVD's available for community channels, but it saves us time if you can down like it from the FSTV satellite.

Deep Dish programming is produced by independent and community producers. For this series over one hundred videomakers produced segments:

Patricia Ackerman ? Konrad Aderer ? Hamudi Jasim Al Jubouri ? Sabagh Amin ? Frances Anderson ? Elizabeth Atly ? Georgina Aymerich ? Baghdad IMC ? Liza Bear ? Chris Belcher ? Robin Bell ? Dario Bellini ? Greg Berger ? John Bertucci ? Big Noise Films ? Lee Buric ? Liz Canner ? Alejandro Cantu ? Paul Caro ? Gwendolyn Cates ? Lenny Charles ? Satya Colombo ? Norman Cowie ? Jason DaSilva ? Veronica Davidov ? Democracy Now! ? Zadi Diaz ? Brian Drolet ? Michael Eisenmenger ? Kareem Farooq ? Jennifer Fasulo ? Molly Snyder Fink ? Elsa First ? Flying Fishes ? Mike
Flugennock ? Freedom Fries Productions ? Free Speech TV ? Joe Friendly ? Emanuele Galoni ? Gmajna Films ? Jessica Glass ? Hugh Gran ? Gringoyo Productions ? DeeDee Halleck ? Urban Hamid ? Jens Hanssen ? Erinnisse Heuer ? Eric Hiltner ? Meredith Holch ? Hudson/Mohawk IMC ? Incounter Productions ? Iraqi Witness ? Jonfi Prods ? Brandon Jourdan ? Alisa Lebow ? Robin Lloyd ? LULOP ? Lucinda Luvaas ? Lorenzo Manes ? David Martinez ? Pino Mastrullio ? Edoward Meteme ? Branda Miller ? Liz Miller ? Billy Mitchell ? Carlos Pareja ? Lucila Moctezuma ? Gael Murphy ? Newsreel ? Megumi Nishikura ? Ali Oz ? Paper Tiger ? Matt Pascarella ? Jocelyn Selene Perry ? Radio Victoria Video ? Heather Raffo ? Mark Read ? Jon Rezin ? Arieh Rodriguez ? Sally Rubin ? SAALT ? Studioiscream Suzy Salamy ? Larilyn Sanchez ? Brendan Schwartz ? Bea Shaheed ? Shannon Service ? Jonathan Silberberg ? Jacquie Soohen ? Take Back the Media ? Jeff Taylor ? Pedro Valiente ? Persheng Vaziri ? Video Activist Network ? Wendy Wallas ? Whispered Media ? Asaf Zulah

2004.12.05 Old Town Missile update:

All who think that a Redstone missile/nuclear weapon does not belong in Old Town as a symbol of what the people of Albuquerque are about are invited to the Monday, 12/06, city council meeting, which begins at 5pm.  There will be a zoning council amendment, sponsored by Debbie O'Malley, that will be up for a vote this Monday.  This zoning amendment would create height limitations that would have prevented the Old Town Missile.  Our understanding is that the height limitations would also require that something be done with the Old Town Missile.  Hope to see you at city council on Monday night! 

2004.12.02 Protest Voting Irregularities Friday Dec 3rd

2004.12.01 Justicia sin Fronteras' Border Awareness Series

One last reminder about Justicia sin Fronteras' Border Awareness Series to take place today and tomorrow in the Southwest Film Center and Lobo Rooms in the SUB. Come join JSF as we explore issues that affect the US-Mexico border! All events are free and open to the public. FREE FOOD AT EVERY EVENT! Below is a complete schedule of events.

TODAY! Wednesday, December 1st
10 AM - 12 PM, Southwest Film Center Affirmative Action
-Documentary "Affirmative Action Here & Now"
-Dr. Cheo Torres, UNM Vice President
-Verónica Méndez, El Centro de la Raza

1 PM - 3 PM, Southwest Film Center
Water Rights Along the Rio Grande
-Dr. Bill Fleming, UNM Community and Regional Planning
-Matt Sneddon, Local Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker
-Documentary "Barely a Drop to Drink"

TOMORROW! Thursday, December 2nd
10 AM - 12 PM, Southwest Film Center
Femicides of Ciudad Juárez
-Vanessa Galindo, President, Justicia sin Fronteras
-Documentary "Señorita Extraviada" ("Missing Young Woman")

1 PM - 3 PM, Lobo Room, SUB 3rd Floor
Bilingual Education
-Dr. María Dolores Gonzales, UNM Spanish Professor
-Cynthia Challberg-Hale, Principal, Longfellow Elementary
-Gordon Douglass, Bilingual Coordinator Rio Grande High School

If you have any questions, shoot me an e-mail! Hope to see you there! :)

Cally Ingebritson
Secretary, Justicia sin Fronteras
ingcal@unm.edu

• november 2004 message board
• october 2004 message board