[NV Greens] Fwd: [usgp-dx] U.S. Green Party News Circulator for 3/14/05- 3/21/05

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>
>
>U.S. Green Party News Circulator for 3/14/05- 3/21/05
>
>For more Green Party news go to http://web.greens.org/news/
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>1) NEW ZEALAND: NZ SHOULD LEARN FROM NORWAY, GREENS SAY
>2) NEW ZEALAND: MAORI PARTY AND GREENS HAIL UN REPORT
>3) ENGLAND: VEGGIE JUDE GETS A TASTE FOR GREENS
>4) WALES: OBJECTION REVEALS TOLERANCE DROPPING
>5) ENGLAND: INTERNATIONAL ROUNDUP: EUROPE: UK URGED TO TURN TO WIND
>POWER
>6) ENGLAND: GREEN KEITH - I WANT TO BE YOUR MP
>7) WALES: HUMPS 'CUT ROAD DEATHS'
>8) GERMANY: GERMANY GOVT MEMBERS: NO CONSENSUS SOON ON CORPORATE TAXES
>9) IRELAND: SARGENT WARNS LABOUR AND FG ABOUT POLICIES
>10) IRELAND: 'FIREBALL RISK' FROM PIPELINE
>11) CANADA: PRESSURE ON TORY TO COME THROUGH
>12) ENGLAND: GREEN CHOICE
>13) NEW ZEALAND:  DIOXIN MEETING
>14) AUSTRALIA: HEALTH MINISTER SAYS AUSTRALIA ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR
>BIRD FLU
>15) ENGLAND: GREENS DISAPPOINTED AT INFLATION-ONLY RISE ON ROAD FUELS
>16) ENGLAND: WELCOME FOR COUNCIL SCRAP CAR POLICY
>17) ENGLAND: GREEN CANDIDATE JOINS HAYLE BEACH CLEARING PARTY
>18) OHIO: RECOUNT BILL: PAY THE ENTIRE COST
>19) CANADA: PROVINCIAL CONSERVATIVE LEADER JOHN TORY WINS
>20) ENGLAND: GREENS NAME CANDIDATE FOR ELECTION
>21) CANADA: GREEN PARTY PAINTS UTOPIAN PICTURE, PROVIDES FEW DETAILS
>22) ENGLAND: GREENS URGE NON-AGGRESSION PACTS AND IRAQ WITHDRAWAL
>23) NEW ZEALAND: FLEXIBLE HOURS ON CARDS FOR PARENTS
>24) NEW ZEALAND: WEBSITE HELPS STUDENTS TO GRASP JUSTICE
>25) IRELAND: FG POLICY ON DEFENCE 'FLAWED'
>26) IRELAND: MARTIN TO ESCAPE DAIL VOTE ON CARE FEE FIASCO
>27) MAINE: INDEPENDENT MAKES BID; TO UNSEAT BALDACCI IN '06; LONGTIME
>GREEN AIMS TO UPROOT 'OLD RETREADS'
>28) GEORGIA: MISGUIDED OR MALEVOLENT?
>29) GERMANY: GERMANY UNITES IN FACE OF JOB CRISIS
>30) NEW ZEALAND: CORRECTION
>31) IRELAND: PARTIES CALL FOR MOVES TO CUT YOUTH DRINKING
>32) MAINE: PORTLAND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PROPOSE "INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S
>DAY"
>33) MAINE: SOME ASK: WHY NOT 'INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY?'
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>1) New Zealand Press Association; March 13, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND: NZ SHOULD LEARN FROM NORWAY, GREENS SAY
>
>Wellington, March 13 - As Norway's prime minister starts a visit to New
>Zealand, the Green Party is urging the Government to learn from the
>Scandinavian country's example as a foreign aid donor.
>
>Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik is due to meet Prime Minister Helen
>Clark in Wellington tomorrow and they will hold a joint press conference
>after formal talks.
>
>The Green Party's foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, said today New
>Zealand should take a lead from Norway.
>
>  With a population not much bigger than ours, it is leading the world in
>the delivery of aid to poorer countries, the promotion of human rights,
>and peacemaking,'' Mr Locke said in a statement.
>
>  Norway's aid level is currently four times our miserly contribution of
>0.24 percent of Gross National Income, and we should aspire to matching
>its commitment.''
>
>Mr Bondevik, who was due to arrive just before midnight tonight, is
>scheduled to deliver a lecture at Victoria University tomorrow night
>before attending a dinner hosted by Miss Clark.
>
>He leaves for Australia on Tuesday.
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>2) New Zealand Press Association; March 13, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND: MAORI PARTY AND GREENS HAIL UN REPORT
>
>Wellington, March 13 - The Maori Party and the Greens today called for
>the Foreshore and Seabed Act to be repealed after a United Nations
>committee said it appeared to be discriminatory.
>
>The UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in a
>report released on Saturday the legislation was complex but appeared, on
>balance, to contain discriminatory aspects.
>
>The report referred to extinguishment of the possibility of establishing
>Maori customary title over the foreshore and seabed'' and failure to
>provide a guaranteed right of redress.
>
>Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen reacted to the report on Saturday,
>urging caution in interpreting it.
>
>He said it ran to only nine paragraphs and did not provide much
>commentary on the committee's reasons for reaching its conclusions.
>
>  I would point out, however, that the committee did not find the Act was
>a breach of the (UN) Convention,'' he said.
>
>Dr Cullen said the committee had indicated satisfaction with the
>Government's co-operation and its intention to provide an update on the
>implementation of the Act by the end of the year.
>
>  We are happy to comply with this request and hope to be in a position
>by then to include positive information from the negotiations currently
>under way with Ngati Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui in relation to their
>customary rights to the foreshore and seabed within their traditional
>rohe,'' he said.
>
>The Maori Party, which was formed mainly as a result of the legislation,
>said it was delighted'' with the report, which it saw as a vindication
>of the position that thousands of tangata whenua and others took in
>challenging the Crown''.
>
>Party co-leader Tariana Turia said it would take up the contents of the
>report with the Government.
>
>  The actions of the Crown in confiscating our lands, and removing our
>rights to due process before the courts, will never be forgotten by our
>people,'' she said.
>
>The Green Party's Maori affairs spokeswoman, Metiria Turei, said New
>Zealand's international reputation had been sullied.
>
>  The Government has passed into law racist legislation that has now been
>criticised not just by thousands of New Zealanders but also by the UN
>Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination,'' she said.
>
>  The Government should repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act and reinstate
>the opportunity to seek customary title.''
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>3) Mail on Sunday (London); March 13, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: VEGGIE JUDE GETS A TASTE FOR GREENS
>
>by Katie Nicholl
>
>SIENNA MILLER'S trademark Bohemian style is rubbing off on her fiance
>Jude Law.
>
>The A-list couple, left, who spend holistic weekends camping in the
>countryside and buy groceries in London's finest organic delis, are now
>thinking of joining the Green Party.
>
>Layer Cake star Sienna and vegetarian Law have been asked to be the new
>faces of the Greens for the General Election.
>
>Party chair Hugo Charlton tells me Jude and Sienna are good chums with
>Glyndebourne Opera chief and Green enthusiast Hector Christie, adding:
>'We are in talks with them and keeping our fingers crossed.' Other
>prominent Greens include TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and actress
>Joanna Lumley.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>4) South Wales Evening Post; March 14, 2005
>
>WALES: OBJECTION REVEALS TOLERANCE DROPPING
>
>by Leon Watson
>
>Fears that a new Buddhist meditation centre will cause too much noise
>reveal an increasing trend of intolerance in Swansea, it was claimed
>today. Green Party Wales leader Martyn Shrewsbury said the city is
>undergoing a worrying shift towards prejudice and race politics.
>
>He claims a recent objection by neighbouring residents to plans by a
>Buddhist group to move to the Windsor Lodge Hotel in Mount Pleasant is
>the latest example.
>
>Members of the Windsor Court Residents' Association claimed that many
>events held by the group will involve "loud chanting for prolonged
>times".
>
>A decision has yet to be made on the application lodged by the
>Dharmavajra Centre in Uplands....
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>5) The Guardian (London) - Final Edition; March 15, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: INTERNATIONAL ROUNDUP: EUROPE: UK URGED TO TURN TO WIND POWER
>
>by Luke Harding
>
>Germany's Green party environment minister said yesterday that Britain
>should emulate Germany's example and build thousands more wind turbines
>if it wanted to prevent climate change.
>
>Speaking in an interview with the Guardian ahead of a meeting in London
>today of the G8's environment ministers, Jurgen Trittin said that
>Britain should consider expanding its wind farm programme.
>
>"This would be a good way for Britain to build up its so far very
>marginal use of wind energy," he said. Asked whether wind farms wrecked
>the environment, he replied: "Landscapes have always been affected by
>changing demands, like the erection of electricity pylons or the
>building of motorways . . . It is important to have the support of the
>population before you proceed."
>
>Mr Trittin's remarks are likely to fuel the growing debate over how far
>Britain should adopt the German model of building thousands of new wind
>farms in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past 15
>years Germany has constructed more than 15,000 turbines - a number which
>is set to double again by the end of the decade.
>
>Britain has agreed to increase dramatically its own wind farm programme,
>as a means of achieving 10% of energy needs from renewable sources by
>2010.
>
>Yesterday Mr Trittin, whose Green party governs in coalition with the
>Social Democrats, said that he supported Tony Blair's decision to put
>climate change at the top of the agenda during Britain's presidency of
>the G8 this year.
>
>  Full transcript at guardian.co.uk/renewable
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>6) Gloucestershire Echo; March 15, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREEN KEITH - I WANT TO BE YOUR MP
>
>Keith Bessant will stand for the Cheltenham Green Party at the next
>General Election. Born and raised in Cheltenham, he attended Cheltenham
>Grammar School and studied at the University of Gloucestershire.
>
>He works as a health care assistant and is training to be a nurse with
>the University of West of England.
>
>A member of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Cycle Campaign, Mr
>Bessant (pictured) has been active in green issues for many years.
>
>He also runs a campaign against urban 4x4s.
>
>He said: "Britain needs real change now on the pressing issues that face
>our society, such as climate change and the power of big business.
>
>"We need a politics and economics that puts people first and delivers
>real quality of life." Mr Bessant will campaign for sustainable
>transport and support renewable energies.
>
>The party is against the sale of public services and tuition fees for
>university students.
>
>  Mr Bessant said: "The Green Party received over a million votes in the
>European Elections and every single green vote sends a message that the
>business as usual politics of Westminster is no longer good enough." The
>Labour candidate for the election is Chris Evans. Vanessa Gearson is
>standing for the Conservative Party and Martin Horwood in the Liberal
>Democrat candidate.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>7) South Wales Evening Post; March 16, 2005
>
>WALES: HUMPS 'CUT ROAD DEATHS'
>
>Speed humps are saving, not costing lives, according to one Swansea
>politician. The Green Party's leader in Wales, Martyn Shrewsbury, has
>dismissed claims about road humps costing lives by slowing down
>emergency vehicles.
>
>  He says congested roads are the real problem and pointed to a recent
>report which showed that 20mph zones had cut casualties by half and that
>humps were often used to enforce speed limits in these areas.
>
>  Mr Shrewsbury said: "We know that road safety measures in Swansea work
>and that the investment in road humps and other forms of engineering has
>led to a reduction in the number of people who are killed or seriously
>injured every year." He added that road humps were a cheap and effective
>way of reducing speeds on residential roads.
>
>  Mr Shrewsbury said: "If you really want to do something to speed up
>ambulances and save lives, introduce congestion charges."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>8) The Main Wire; March 16, 2005
>
>GERMANY: GERMANY GOVT MEMBERS: NO CONSENSUS SOON ON CORPORATE TAXES
>
>by Thomas Widder.
>
>BERLIN -- Leading members of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's
>SPD-Greens government coalition said Wednesday they are skeptical that a
>deal on a swift cut of corporate taxes could be reached with the
>opposition at tomorrow's meeting.
>
>Joachim Poss, vice head and financial expert of the SPD parliamentary
>faction, told reporters here that while a cut of corporate tax rates to
>19% from 25% "is thinkable," it hinged on the condition that the tax
>base be broadened to counterfinance the cut.
>
>But recent remarks by opposition head Angela Merkel "give no reason to
>be optimistic" that a deal on broadening the tax base could be reached
>with the opposition tomorrow, Poss said.
>
>His remarks were echoed by Christine Scheel, financial speaker of the
>junior coalition partner, the Greens.
>
>"I see a big problem in that there will be no agreement with the
>opposition on broadening the tax base, on [tightening] conditions for
>tax-write offs and on subsidy cuts," Scheel told reporters.
>
>Scheel said an understanding on such measures to counterfinance any tax
>cuts was indispensable. "Otherwise, federal and state budgets would be
>significantly derailed," she warned.
>
>Scheel also signalled that the Greens would not support a tax cut for
>reinvested business profits. She noted that more reinvested profits
>would not automatically bring the desired effect of creating more jobs,
>but rather, could also be used to buy up other companies, for example.
>
>Chancellor Schroeder and Vice-Chancellor Joschka Fischer of the Greens
>Party are to meet Thursday afternoon with CDU head Merkel and Edmund
>Stoiber, head of the CDU's Bavarian sister party CSU, to discuss
>measures to boost job growth in the country. Schroeder will outline his
>proposals Thursday morning in a speech in parliament.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>9) The Irish Times; March 16, 2005
>
>IRELAND: SARGENT WARNS LABOUR AND FG ABOUT POLICIES
>
>by Joe Humphreys
>
>Green Party leader Trevor Sargent has warned Fine Gael and Labour that
>his party would "walk away" from any potential coalition unless they
>agreed to a radical change in policy.
>
>"I don't want any position in a government that will just be rearranging
>the deckchairs on the Titanic," said Mr Sargent in an interview in the
>latest edition of Magill magazine.
>
>"I think we're certainly serious about having our policies implemented.
>But any presumption that we would settle for a role in government that
>would not deliver on the serious policy areas we've been outlining for
>years is quite wrong. There wouldn't be any point in us being in
>government in that case."
>
>He noted that Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny had yet to discuss with him a
>potential coalition, adding: "Our policies are quite different from what
>we hear from all other parties at the moment.
>
>"If the other parties don't appreciate the need for serious change in
>this country then I'm quite prepared to walk away, let them think it
>over and come back to me."
>
>Asked what the Greens had in common with Fine Gael, Mr Sargent replied:
>"I regard Fine Gael as a broad church, and I'm sure there are people
>within it who see the need for radical change.
>
>"I haven't had an opportunity yet to find out if Enda Kenny is one of
>them. But I'm an eternal optimist. And I like Enda; he is someone who
>listens. He doesn't have the airs and graces associated with some people
>in politics."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>10) Irish Independent; March 16, 2005
>
>IRELAND: 'FIREBALL RISK' FROM PIPELINE
>
>BOG movement at the landfall site of a high-pressure gas pipeline could
>cause a devastating rupture and fireball, the Green Party warned
>yesterday.
>
>It welcomed the reported plans of Minister for Communications, Marine
>and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey to order a review of the proposed
>Corrib gas pipeline on public safety grounds. The pipeline is to come
>ashore at Rossport, Co Mayo.
>
>Senan Molony
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>11) Guelph Mercury (Ontario, Canada); March 16, 2005
>
>CANADA: PRESSURE ON TORY TO COME THROUGH
>
>by Brian Whitwham
>
>WELLINGTON -- An eight-candidate race in a provincial byelection ends
>tomorrow, as Conservative Leader John Tory aims to win his first
>front-row seat at Queen's Park.
>
>Thursday is voting day in the provincial byelection in
>Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey. With eight registered candidates -- some
>of whom are party leaders -- there's a lot at stake, says William
>Christian, a political scientist at the University of Guelph.
>
>For Tory, it's a must-win seat, Christian said. And for Green Party
>Leader Frank de Jong, the results will be a strong indication of the
>party's mainstream popularity, he said.
>
>But media coverage outside the riding has been sparse, and Christian
>said there is one simple reason.
>
>"It's such a Conservative riding, I think people take it for granted
>that Tory is going to win," he said. "I don't think there's any more
>mystery to it than that.
>
>"I think it probably seems boring to everybody."
>
>Conservative candidates have won by a margin of about 30 per cent in
>many of the area's recent elections, Christian said.
>
>"There was a difference of 15,000 votes between (former premier) Ernie
>Eves and the Liberal candidate in the last election," he said. "There
>would have to be a hell of a lot of angry people to change that."
>
>For his part, Tory said he isn't taking anything for granted.
>
>"I don't think there's any such thing as a safe seat," Tory said.
>"Anyone who assumes they have a safe seat is headed for trouble and I
>have made no such assumption."
>
>This is the third provincial byelection in the riding in three years.
>
>"You would think people would be tired of elections but it doesn't seem
>to be the case," said Peter Criscione, who has been covering the
>campaign for the Orangeville Banner.
>
>"There were at least 200 people at the candidates' debate last week,"
>said the Orangeville Banner reporter.
>
>Criscione said he believes Tory will win, but it won't be the rollover
>some have predicted because many don't like seeing the riding used as a
>Conservative safe haven.
>
>Eves was elected in the riding in a May 2002 byelection after another
>Conservative stepped aside to let him run as the new party leader. Eves
>was re-elected in the 2003 general election won by Dalton McGuinty's
>Liberals.
>
>Eves resigned from the provincial legislature last month, allowing Tory
>to run for the seat even though he lives in Toronto.
>
>But a lot of people are tired of the same thing happening over and over,
>Criscione said.
>
>"We've been getting a lot of letters to the editor from people who
>traditionally vote Conservative, saying that they're not going to vote
>Conservative this time because they feel the place has been a doormat,"
>he said. "The big story in my opinion is that not many of the candidates
>are from the riding."
>
>With de Jong also living in Toronto and Liberal candidate Bob Duncanson
>owning a house there, Criscione said, the issue of who lives where has
>been a contentious topic.
>
>But Tory said it hasn't factored into any of his dealings with
>constituents.
>
>"I can assure you that after knocking on thousands of doors, that people
>are looking more to who can do the job effectively as opposed to what
>they did before, or where they live," he said.
>
>De Jong said everything in the campaign has been hotly contested because
>all the larger parties have something on the line.
>
>"Winning is our objective of course, but my other objective is to raise
>my profile and raise my party's profile," he said. "We're setting the
>stage for the provincial election in 2007."
>
>Aside from the Conservatives needing the seat for their leader, the
>Liberals see the election as a benchmark of their government's
>popularity, de Jong said. And the New Democrats, who lost to the Green
>Party in the last election, don't want that to happen again, he noted.
>
>"So in a sense all of the political parties are using the byelection as
>their theatre piece," he said.
>
>Elections Ontario said 3,860 ballots were cast in advance polls, just
>shy of the 4,010 advance votes marked in the 2003 election. There are
>more than 90,000 voters in the riding.
>
>GRAPHIC: Photo: GUELPH MERCURY FILE PHOTO; Ontario Conservative Leader
>John Tory is one of eight candidates vying for a seat in tomorrow's
>Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey byelection.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>12) Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, UK); March 16, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREEN CHOICE
>
>An environmental campaigner has been picked to represent the Green Party
>at the General Election.
>
>Joe Hulm, who will stand for Newcastle Central, is to campaign on
>climate change, peace and public services.
>
>The 31-year-old, of Sandyford, Newcastle, is qualified as a Merchant
>Navy officer at South Tyneside College and is a graduate in offshore
>engineering at the University of Newcastle.
>
>Mr Hulm is founder and operations director of Switched-on GenerationTM,
>a social enterprise in energy and environment.
>
>UK Greens now have two members of the European Parliament and two
>members in the London Assembly.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>13) The Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand); March 16, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND:  DIOXIN MEETING
>
>New Plymouth: The Green Party will hold a public meeting in New Plymouth
>tonight to discuss the next steps after last week's dioxin blood test
>results on Paritutu residents. Results showed people who lived near the
>former Ivon Watkins-Dow chemical plant had levels of dioxin four to six
>times that of the average New Zealander.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>14) BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific – Political; March 16, 2005
>
>AUSTRALIA: HEALTH MINISTER SAYS AUSTRALIA ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR BIRD
>FLU
>
>SOURCE: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 0300 gmt 16 Mar 05
>
>Text of report by Radio Australia on 16 March
>
>Newsreader: The Australian government has rejected calls by the minority
>Greens party for a parliamentary inquiry into the nation's preparedness
>for a possible outbreak of the deadly bird flu. Health experts are
>increasingly worried that there could be a bird flu pandemic and Greens
>leader Bob Brown wants an inquiry to consider whether the government
>should stockpile large quantities of anti-viral drugs. But the health
>minister, Tony Abbott, says the inquiry isn't necessary because it would
>be a distraction for health experts and Australia has already built up a
>large anti-viral stockpile.
>
>  Abbott We now have the world's largest stockpile on a per capita basis.
>Not only that, we've got a very large stockpile of masks, we are in the
>process of acquiring a very large stockpile of syringes for vaccine
>distribution, we've got agreements with two of the world's largest
>vaccine manufacturers to get guaranteed access to any pandemic vaccine.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>15) The Journal (Newcastle, UK); March 17, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREENS DISAPPOINTED AT INFLATION-ONLY RISE ON ROAD FUELS
>
>The Government is not grasping the nettle when it comes to the part
>played by road traffic in climate change, the green lobby said last
>night.
>
>Since 2000, duty on main road fuels used in the UK has fallen in real
>terms by nearly 12pc, while the cost of motoring has also fallen to
>below 1990 levels, in part owing to increasing fuel efficiency.
>
>The Budget included an inflation-only increase of 1.22p per litre for
>main road fuel duties but owing to the sustained volatility in the oil
>market, the changes in rates will be deferred until September.
>
>Dr Nic Best, prospective parliamentary Green Party candidate for
>Wansbeck, said the deferral was another example of drivers getting off
>lightly.
>
>He said that motoring was as cheap as it was in the early 1970s in real
>terms but the costs of travelling by train was six times greater and
>three times greater for buses.
>
>"But 30pc of carbon dioxide emissions are caused by road traffic yet the
>Government is doing nothing to encourage drivers to switch to public
>transport."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>16) The Gloucester Citizen; March 17, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: WELCOME FOR COUNCIL SCRAP CAR POLICY
>
>The county council's policy on abandoned cars has received backing from
>Gloucester Green Party. Bryan Meloy, Green parliamentary candidate for
>the city, has congratulated Shire Hall on its "vehicle amnesty", which
>has seen 300 dumped cars removed countywide in the last six weeks.
>
>But he insists the council should not be footing the bill for such
>large-scale operations.
>
>He said: "This amnesty scheme is a good thing, but our councils should
>not be paying for it. We also oppose EU plans to introduce a fee of up
>to £70 for car owners to get scrapyards to take their cars.
>
>"The answer is that the manufacturers should be responsible for dealing
>with the waste that their product ultimately becomes." The Government's
>new End of Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulations, which came into force on
>March 3, place greater emphasis on manufacturers to keep tabs on cars.
>
>***************************************************************************
>
>17) The Cornishman; March 17, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREEN CANDIDATE JOINS HAYLE BEACH CLEARING PARTY
>
>In a week in which Greenpeace declared a 'Dolphin War' on controversial
>pair trawling off the coast of Cornwall and the publication of a report
>by Defra into the shocking state of Britain's coast, Katrina Slack, the
>Green Party's parliamentary candidate for St Ives, has drawn attention
>to the state of Penwith's beaches - which she says are increasingly
>festooned with the remains of fishing nets and other rubbish. "It's
>impossible to walk along many beaches in Penwith without encountering
>numerous items of fishing equipment and other rubbish," she said.
>
>  "We need to encourage everyone to dispose of their waste appropriately.
>Fishermen and boat owners should be encouraged to bag up their rubbish
>and store it on board for responsible disposal on return to port and we
>should use biodegradable products wherever possible." Katrina and
>several other volunteers spent Sunday morning on Hayle Towans collecting
>up all manner of rubbish that had been swept ashore.
>
>  "There were boxes of stuff," said Katrina.
>
>  "It would have easily have filled a large builders skip." Volunteer Ged
>Egan, of Bay View House, Hayle, said: "I've never seen it quite so bad
>and I am often here picking up rubbish." One of the findings of the
>Defra report shows that beach litter has increased by 50 per cent since
>1994.
>
>  The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, which runs local 'Green
>Gyms', and members of Friends of The Earth have regular beach and
>harbour clearing parties.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>18) The Associated Press State & Local Wire; March 17, 2005
>
>OHIO: RECOUNT BILL: PAY THE ENTIRE COST
>
>by John McCarthy
>
>COLUMBUS -- A spokesman for the Green Party ticket on the 2004 Ohio
>presidential ballot says he only has himself to blame for a bill that
>would make losing candidates who demand a recount that isn't required by
>state law pay for the cost.
>
>The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kevin DeWine, would change a variety of
>state election rules, including the current cost of $10 per precinct for
>candidates wanting a recount in races where the state does not mandate
>one. The bill would require the candidate or party that requested it to
>pay the full cost of recounting the votes unless the recount changes the
>outcome of the election.
>
>Recounts are automatic - and paid for by the state - if the margin of
>victory is less than one-half of 1 percent in a local or county election
>or one-fourth of 1 percent in a statewide election.
>
>President Bush beat John Kerry in Ohio by 118,000 votes, or 2 percentage
>points, on Nov. 2. But the Green and Libertarian parties, whose
>candidates drew 0.3 percent of the vote, asked the state for a recount.
>Their cost, based on the number of precincts statewide, was about
>$113,000. The actual cost, according to elections officials, was closer
>to $1.5 million.
>
>Blair Bobier, spokesman for Green Party candidate David Cobb, said
>recount costs was a matter for lawmakers to consider when he heard
>arguments that his campaign was getting off cheap for the recount.
>
>"The Legislature and the people have every right to examine the recount
>process and the amount charged for it. When this came up during the
>recount, we said this is an issue for the Legislature to take up. Power
>to them for taking it up," Bobier said. "I would urge them to consider
>the effects on ordinary citizens and grass roots."
>
>DeWine, a Fairborn Republican, said the $10-per-precinct fee was set in
>the 1950s and isn't fair to county boards of elections that must absorb
>the cost.
>
>The two parties requested the recount not because they thought Kerry or
>their candidates had a chance to win, but to ensure the votes were
>accurate in light of reports of voting machine glitches, uncounted
>punch-card and provisional ballots and voters being dissuaded by long
>lines at polling places.
>
>The recount shaved only a few hundred votes off Bush's margin. However,
>John Bonifaz, general counsel for the National Voting Rights Institute,
>said recounts are a good way to expose election fraud.
>
>"It very well may have prevented the recount from happening. It seems
>like a very anti-democratic move," Bonifaz said. "Recounts are critical
>for ensuring that every citizen's vote is counted."
>
>Rep. Steve Driehaus, a Cincinnati Democrat, said he's concerned about
>the cost of recounts to counties but that there are times when a request
>for a non-mandatory recount is legitimate.
>
>"We do appreciate the fact that if one is going to ask for a recount,
>there has to be substance behind that and they have to bear a certain
>portion of the cost. However, we don't want to make recounts so
>prohibitively expensive that someone with a legitimate concern can't
>move forward with a recount," Driehaus said.
>
>Driehaus, a member of the House Elections & Ethics Committee, which is
>holding hearings on the bill, said Democrats are offering a compromise
>that would affix a $20 per-precinct-fee and add more precincts to a
>recount in its initial stages.
>
>DeWine said he expects an overhaul of his bill, including adjustments in
>the election calendar, after the House returns next month. "I don't have
>a problem coming back and putting a number in. I'm not sure $20 is high
>enough," he said.
>
>The single highest cost involves the election workers who have to count
>the votes, said Matt Damschroder, elections director for Franklin
>County. He suggested an increase to $50 per precinct for a recount.
>
>Also on Wednesday, Damschroder announced that the Franklin County Board
>of Elections had formed a partnership with the San Francisco-based
>Election Science Institute, a nonprofit election study group formerly
>known as Votewatch.
>
>The partnership, the first of its kind in the country, will study how to
>improve elections in the county with better assignment of voting
>machines, more attentive responses to public records requests and
>communication with the public, Damschroder said.
>
>On the Net:
>
>Ohio House of Representatives: http://www.house.state.oh.us/
>
>Franklin County Board of Elections: http://www.co.franklin.oh.us/boe
>
>Election Science Institute: http://www.electionscience.org
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>19) Windsor Star (Ontario); March 18, 2005
>
>CANADA: PROVINCIAL CONSERVATIVE LEADER JOHN TORY WINS
>
>ORANGEVILLE -- Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory easily won a
>byelection Thursday that gives him his first seat in the legislature and
>sets the stage for a showdown with Premier Dalton McGuinty in the 2007
>election....
>
>...Tory beat Liberal Bob Duncanson, New Democrat Lynda McDougall and
>Green Party Leader Frank de Jong for the legislature seat.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>20) UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Local London; March 18, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREENS NAME CANDIDATE FOR ELECTION
>
>Hounslow Green Party has selected an Isleworth man as its candidate in
>the Brentford and Isleworth constituency for the next general election.
>
>  John Hunt is a 52-year-old who recently retrained as a nurse after
>working in software development for decades and has lived in the
>constituency since 1987. He has a long history of campaigning on a wide
>range of Green issues.
>
>  Last year he became a member of the newly-created body the Patient and
>Public Involvement Forum for the West Middlesex Hospital.
>
>  He campaigned against Heathrow terminal 5 with special reference to air
>quality.
>
>  In 1999 he was involved with other members of OutRage! in the attempt
>to arrest Robert Mugabe for torture and other human rights violations.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>21) The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario); March 18, 2005
>
>CANADA: GREEN PARTY PAINTS UTOPIAN PICTURE, PROVIDES FEW DETAILS
>
>by Bob Burtt
>
>WATERLOO -- The promise of free university education sounded good to the
>small crowd that turned up to listen to Green Party Leader Frank deJong
>at the University of Waterloo this week.
>
>If that didn't catch them, the promise of no personal income tax would.
>
>The 30 predominantly young people liked what they heard but questioned
>how de Jong and his party planned to deliver.
>
>De Jong painted a vision of Ontario that would include 100 per cent of
>the province's energy coming from renewable sources and all of its food
>grown locally on organic farms.
>
>It would be a province that included walkable communities linked by
>light rail, where there was no poverty and where all production mimicked
>nature and produced no garbage.
>
>Ontario needs to return to organic farming "so once again we can trust
>the food source," de Jong said.
>
>He described Kitchener as a place with horrific urban sprawl.
>
>"If Kitchener were reorganized into about 20 communities linked by rail
>it would be a good place to live."
>
>Suburban neighbourhoods are isolated, have poor transit and cycling is
>suicide, he said.
>
>"Toronto is fantastic," he added. "You can walk to 100 restaurants,
>cinemas, cafes, galleries and parks. You can't do that in Kitchener."
>
>De Jong, an elementary school teacher in Toronto, recalled growing up on
>a farm in Arthur at a time when the town was served by both rail and
>passenger service.
>
>Those rails have since been ripped out and are now used as walking
>trails.
>
>"We went from rails to trails, but now it is time to go from trails back
>to rails," he said.
>
>De Jong favours charging the full cost of electricity as a means of
>encouraging the use of wind turbines and other forms of renewable
>energy.
>
>He said he would scrap personal income tax and business tax and replace
>it with what he called an eco-tax.
>
>Just as governments make use of so-called sin taxes to penalize smokers
>and drinkers, de Jong would tax companies that use natural resources and
>fossil fuels.
>
>"The cost of health care, smog and climate change should all be built
>into the cost of a barrel of oil."
>
>Describing urban sprawl as the biggest problem facing North America, de
>Jong said people should pay a kind of rent for the property they own.
>
>That, he said, would force developers to build on smaller parcels of
>land and farmers to turn to organic farming on smaller farms.
>
>This would be different from property tax, which is essentially a fee
>for service. The eco-tax would be used to redistribute wealth in the
>community.
>
>De Jong was asked how he could manage free post-secondary education when
>the World Trade Organization would consider that a subsidy.
>
>Trade agreements can be cancelled or rewritten, he said.
>
>Some students suggested the party had great goals, but people would need
>to know how it planned on achieving them.
>
>De Jong admitted the grand plan remains a work in progress.
>
>"First, you have to paint the picture and then you figure out how to get
>there. I don't have all the answers."
>
>The shift to sustainable development would be gradual, he said.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>22) Press Association; March 18, 2005
>
>ENGLAND: GREENS URGE NON-AGGRESSION PACTS AND IRAQ WITHDRAWAL
>
>by Jon Smith
>
>The Green Party today called for Britain to sign non-aggression pacts
>with Middle East countries and urged a timetable for the withdrawal of
>UK troops from Iraq.
>
>The party launched its "peace manifesto" outside parliament with a
>billboard advert saying: "The pen is mightier than the sword".
>
>The Greens' Principal Speaker, Keith Taylor, said: "The pen is mightier
>than the sword, and Tony Blair should be signing guarantees of Western
>non-aggression with the countries of the Middle East.
>
>"Only by giving the Middle East that security can Blair expect to
>contribute towards stability in the region.
>
>"Likewise, he should be busy signing contracts with Iran for the
>transfer of renewable energy technologies, if he wants to undermine
>Iran's nuclear energy programme.
>
>"And he needs to sign himself and George Bush up to a timetable for the
>immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
>
>"But judging by his past performances, he won't do any of these things,
>and that's why we need a strong Green voice in parliament to challenge
>the 'big business as usual' politics of the big three parties.
>
>"The Green Party, unlike the Liberal Democrats, was unequivocal from the
>start in our opposition to the immoral, destructive and illegal war on
>Iraq."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>23) The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand); March 18, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND: FLEXIBLE HOURS ON CARDS FOR PARENTS
>
>by Kristi Gray
>
>Life for working parents could get a little easier if a Private Member's
>Bill, selected from the parliamentary ballot yesterday, is passed.
>
>The Employment Relations (Flexible Working Hours) Amendment Bill,
>drafted by the Green Party, would guarantee parents could work flexibly
>or part- time without financial penalty while their children were under
>five.
>
>"There's a lot of talk about work-life balance and the strains on
>working parents," Green health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said. "This bill
>is a practical way of making life a little easier for parents of young
>children who work in paid employment."
>
>Kedgley said the bill was based on British legislation which had been
>extremely successful in changing work culture and employers' attitudes
>towards allowing more flexible working arrangements
>
>"The pressure of trying to work full-time and care for young children at
>the same time is putting a huge strain on parents and young children,"
>Kedgley said.
>
>"It is in everyone's interests that we help parents with young children
>to live more balanced lives."
>
>If the bill was passed, employers would have a legal duty to seriously
>consider parents' requests for flexible work and would have to
>demonstrate good reasons for a refusal.
>
>It would not only make life better and more enriching for parents and
>children but would also benefit employers, Kedgley said.
>
>Overseas studies showed that family-friendly strategies in the workplace
>reduce staff turnover and recruitment costs.
>
>They also reduced absentee rates, and improved morale, employee loyalty
>and workplace productivity.
>
>If an employer turned down a request, their decision could be challenged
>through an appeals procedure, mediation and arbitration, or the
>Employment Tribunal.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>24) The New Zealand Herald; March 18, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND: WEBSITE HELPS STUDENTS TO GRASP JUSTICE
>
>A new civics education website aims to demystify the justice system for
>secondary school students.
>
>Courts Minister Rick Barker yesterday launched the website - called
>Access to Justice - which was developed as part of a new civics
>education programme.
>
>The site uses cartoons and scenarios to explore the criminal and civil
>justice systems.
>
>One of the cartoons follows 20-year-old Oliver Fender on his trip
>through the criminal court system after he kills two people, including
>his girlfriend, in a car accident.
>
>The website, which can be accessed by the public, is not a compulsory
>part of the school curriculum, but is a resource for teachers and is
>designed to complement secondary school subjects such as social studies.
>
>Mr Barker said the courts played a vital role in a democratic society
>and it was important people understood them.
>
>He said people often told him they had got into trouble because they did
>not understand how the system worked and ended up with a conviction as a
>consequence.
>
>Thomas Johnson, a social studies teacher at Onslow College in Wellington
>where the website was launched yesterday, said it was a good research
>tool for students and was useful for teachers because it included
>suggestions of how it could be used to complement existing courses.
>
>But the Green Party has criticised the Government for not going far
>enough with the civics education programme.
>
>Co-leader Rod Donald said that while it did provide a useful description
>of the justice system, it was "hardly a beginning" for civics education.
>
>"What New Zealand desperately needs is a proper programme of civics
>education that is embedded in the education system so that young people
>leave school not only knowing how to read, write and do arithmetic, but
>what their rights and responsibilities are as citizens."
>
>The Greens have succeeded in getting recommendations about civics
>education passed by a number of committees, including the MMP review
>committee.
>
>"The fundamental problem we have is declining voter turnout among
>younger voters."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>25) The Irish Times; March 18, 2005
>
>IRELAND: FG POLICY ON DEFENCE 'FLAWED'
>
>The Green Party has rejected a Fine Gael proposal that Ireland join an
>EU common defence on a case-by-case basis.
>
>Green Party chairman John Gormley said yesterday that Fine Gael's
>argument, put forward by Gay Mitchell MEP, contained "fundamental
>flaws".
>
>However, he welcomed Mr Mitchell's directness and contrasted it to the
>usual "fudge and double-speak we have had to tolerate from establishment
>political parties in this country".
>
>While Mr Mitchell proposed greater Irish involvement in common EU
>defence, Mr Gormley said:
>
>"If it's the new threat of global terrorism, then surely investing in
>new military hardware makes little sense."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>26) Irish Independent; March 18, 2005
>
>IRELAND: MARTIN TO ESCAPE DAIL VOTE ON CARE FEE FIASCO
>
>EMBATTLED Minister Micheal Martin will escape a motion of no confidence
>next week after opposition parties were unable to work out a deal on
>sharing limited Dail time.
>
>Instead, the three main opposition parties are gearing up to pursue
>Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Tanaiste Mary Harney with more questions
>about Mr Martin's knowledge of the nursing homes charges scandal.
>
>They will also seek more information about Attorney General Rory Brady's
>decision to block the release of ministerial briefing papers that were
>sent to Mr Martin and his two junior ministerial colleagues, Ivor
>Callely and Tim O'Malley, in December 2003.
>
>Last night Green Party TD Dan Boyle confirmed it had not been possible
>to work out arrangements to allow a motion of no confidence in Mr Martin
>to be moved next week.
>
>Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte, in a letter to Fine Gael and the Green
>Party, proposed the move last week.
>
>Last night Mr Boyle said his party has private members' time next week
>but this was limited because it was shared with independents and Sinn
>Fein.
>
>"It is primarily a logistics problem. We could not work out alternative
>arrangements for private members' time slots with Fine Gael and Labour,"
>he said.
>
>However, Mr Boyle insisted the issue of a no confidence motion was not
>off the agenda.
>
>On Wednesday night the Attorney General decided against the release of
>two ministerial briefing documents because they contained legal opinions
>on issues not covered by the scope of the Travers Report. Their release
>could therefore prejudice the State's interests in future legal actions.
>
>His decision was challenged again by Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam
>Twomey yesterday, who said the Travers Report had already quoted
>extensively from one of the documents.
>
>That document was the opinion of a senior counsel given to the South
>Eastern Health Board that advised that the imposition of charges on
>people over 70 years of age in possession of a medical card was illegal.
>
>Yesterday, Dr Twomey reiterated his accusation that the Government was
>engaging in a political cover-up to protect former health minister Mr
>Martin.
>
>He said the opinion of the senior counsel and the other document, an
>internal memo from the SEHB arising from the legal advice, had been sent
>to Mr Martin, although he claims not to have read them.
>
>The Fine Gael health spokesman said he believes the release of the
>document could fatally undermine Mr Martin's claim that he was never
>provided with a proper brief on the seriousness of the charges issue.
>
>The Labour Party and the Green Party also questioned the decision of the
>Attorney General. A spokesman for the Labour Party said there were
>several precedents for the Attorney General releasing legal opinions; in
>this instance they had yet to be convinced of the merits of blocking the
>release.
>
>Green Party health spokesman John Gormley said he could not understand
>the reasoning behind the decision to block the release of the documents.
>
>"There are several questions still to be fully answered in relation to
>what Mr Martin knew about this scandal when he was minister for health
>between 2001 and 2004.
>
>"These documents would have helped establish some of the facts. We will
>pursue answers from the Tanaiste, Mary Harney," Mr Gormley said.
>
>Brian Dowling Political Correspondent
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>27) Bangor Daily News (Maine); March 18, 2005
>
>MAINE: INDEPENDENT MAKES BID; TO UNSEAT BALDACCI IN '06; LONGTIME GREEN
>AIMS TO UPROOT 'OLD RETREADS'
>
>by Jeff Tuttle
>
>AUGUSTA -- Environmental activist Nancy Oden became the first candidate
>to launch a challenge to Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, declaring
>Thursday her intention to run for the Blaine House in 2006.
>
>The Jonesboro woman, long affiliated with the Green Party, will instead
>run as an independent. She said her campaign would provide an
>alternative to the "tired old retreads in office."
>
>"You can't do the same thing time after time and expect things to
>change," Oden, 65, told reporters before enrolling in the state's Clean
>Elections program, which provides taxpayer dollars to qualified
>candidates. "We need some real change here, and I know a lot of people
>who are going to help."
>
>Under the state's Clean Elections law, Oden will indeed need some
>assistance.
>
>To qualify for public funding, she must collect 2,500 donations of $5
>each between Nov. 1, 2005, and April 15, 2006. Oden must also earn a
>spot on the Maine ballot by submitting 4,000 valid signatures to the
>Secretary of State's Office by June 1, 2006.
>
>If she meets those requirements - an arduous task, public financing
>advocates say - she could qualify for a minimum of $600,000. Oden could
>then receive much more in matching funds for the general election should
>she - as expected - face privately funded candidates who spend above and
>beyond that mark.
>
>L. Sandy Maisel, a Colby College government professor and expert on
>third parties, said the thresholds to qualify for the Maine ballot are
>too low, especially considering the large amounts of campaign cash being
>provided by the public.
>
>"What you should have to do is demonstrate a significant level of
>support," Maisel said. "Right now, we're going to give a lot of money to
>a person who doesn't have a lot of appeal to the public."
>
>Oden may not be well known outside of Washington County, but she is no
>stranger to politics.
>
>She helped run Ralph Nader's independent presidential campaign in Maine
>in 2004. She ran as a write-in candidate for governor in 1990 against
>Democrat Joe Brennan and Republican John McKernan. That year, write-in
>candidates, including Oden, received a combined 311 votes, or just 0.1
>percent of the statewide vote.
>
>Oden's announcement comes just days after a legislative committee voted
>to ease restrictions on minor political parties in Maine.
>
>On Monday, the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously
>supported a bill that would remove a requirement that third-party
>candidates receive 5 percent of the statewide vote in the gubernatorial
>or presidential race to maintain the party's official status.
>
>Under the proposed changes, which will go before the House later this
>session, a party could keep its status by maintaining a membership equal
>to 1 percent of enrolled voters. In Maine, that's about 10,000 people.
>
>As of Jan. 1, 2005, the Maine Green Independent Party, the state's only
>official third party, had 19,006 members.
>
>While the change would remove the necessity for the Greens to field a
>top-tier candidate - an expensive endeavor that proved a hardship in the
>party's early years - Green officials say times have changed. A run for
>the Blaine House, they said, is now manageable - and all but certain.
>
>"We've evolved to a point where we have a much wider footprint across
>the state and can focus on a statewide race," said Matt Tilley,
>co-chairman of the Greens. "I assume someone will pick up the torch in
>2006."
>
>Oden's campaign Web site is www.cleanearth.net.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>28) The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia); March 18, 2005
>
>GEORGIA: MISGUIDED OR MALEVOLENT?
>
>Could the United States have a volunteer military if the armed services
>weren't allowed to recruit young people? Of course not. How could young
>people be recruited if recruiters aren't allowed to go where young
>people are - such as in the nation's high schools?
>
>Yet there are people - perhaps well-meaning, perhaps not - who seek to
>ban military recruiters from high schools. One of them is Denice Traina,
>mother of two and co-chairwoman of Georgia's Green Party. Last week, she
>was in Augusta urging the Richmond County Board of Education not to let
>recruiters into schools until equal access is granted to the Peace
>Corps, AmeriCorps and other such organizations.
>
>Traina didn't do her homework. Those organizations are not barred from
>the schools - they're just not as aggressive as the military in seeking
>access. A Peace Corps official in Atlanta, for instance, said her group
>has never had a problem getting into Georgia public schools. All they
>have to do is ask.
>
>Traina also seems to think that the Peace Corps and like groups are the
>antithesis of the military - rivals, if you will, in competition with
>one another. Well, that's not how it works. The programs offer different
>incentives and opportunities. Young people who sign up for the military
>are looking for an entirely different kind of fulfillment and lifestyle
>than Peace Corps volunteers - and vice-versa. Incidentally, both are
>huge assets for our country.
>
>Further evidence that Traina didn't do her homework was her complaint
>that school officials violate students' privacy rights by releasing
>personal information - names, addresses, phone numbers - to recruiters.
>Actually, if schools didn't open up this information, they would be in
>violation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which grants the
>Pentagon access to all public school directories.
>
>We don't know if Denice Traina is simply nave - i.e., a misguided
>peacenik - or if there's something malevolent at work in her Green
>Party's harass-recruitment campaign, which - intentional or not -
>undermines the United States in a time of war. That smacks of
>anti-Americanism.
>
>Loyal Americans should try to help military recruiters, not hinder them.
>Who does the Green Party think will protect their constitutional rights
>to anti-American advocacy if recruiting efforts fail? Would they then
>back a military draft? No way!
>
>Greenies, like many on the far left, hate the military; their actions
>indicate they want to destroy it just as much as al-Qaida does. Shutting
>down recruiting programs is one way to accomplish that from within.
>
>We are confident most Americans are too patriotic and have too much
>common sense to ever let that happen. Yet it's still painful to watch
>the hate-America groups try.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>29) The Weekend Australian; March 19, 2005
>
>GERMANY: GERMANY UNITES IN FACE OF JOB CRISIS
>
>by Roger Boyes
>
>THE job crisis ripping through Germany has forced Gerhard Schroeder into
>the reluctant embrace of the conservative opposition.
>
>In a dramatic appeal to the Christian Democrats, the German Chancellor
>has asked for their help in pushing through an emergency package of
>measures aimed at bringing down unemployment from its record level of
>5.2million.
>
>"I appeal to you to work together on this important project," Mr
>Schroeder said. "Unemployment is the most serious challenge to our
>society."
>
>It was, those watching him in parliament said, a critical moment in the
>life of the Chancellor, who has ruled, sometimes with wafer-thin
>majorities, for almost seven years without resort to collaboration with
>the Christian Democrats.
>
>Now, there is strong speculation in Berlin that the talks between Mr
>Schroeder and the opposition were a test run for a future government
>coalition between the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats...
>
>...Mr Schroeder's Social Democrats are currently in alliance with the
>Green Party, but the Greens have been seriously weakened by a scandal
>over lax visa regulations that has engulfed party leader Joschka
>Fischer. Public opinion is swinging behind a solution that would see Mr
>Schroeder dumping the Greens and forming a temporary "reform government"
>with Ms Merkel.
>
>In Schleswig-Holstein yesterday, the Social Democrat-Green Government of
>Heide Simonis lurched close to collapse after she failed to win three
>successive votes of confidence. There, too, a coalition with the
>Christian Democrats committed to creating jobs could be the outcome.
>
>"We are generous, we are brave, but we are not completely stupid," Ms
>Merkel said before the meeting, warning Mr Schroeder that she would not
>be co-opted into a deal that simply allowed him to look good.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>30) Waikato Times (Hamilton, New Zealand); March 19, 2005
>
>NEW ZEALAND: CORRECTION
>
>Thursday's editorial in the Waikato Times contained an error when
>referring to the Green Party's parliamentary representation. It
>suggested the Greens had relied on Jeanette Fitzsimons winning an
>electorate seat to get back in at the 2002 election. In fact, the Greens
>passed the five per cent threshold under MMP.
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>31) The Irish Times; March 19, 2005
>
>IRELAND: PARTIES CALL FOR MOVES TO CUT YOUTH DRINKING
>
>by Mark Brennock
>
>Political reaction: Fine Gael and the Green Party have called for the
>provision of alternative activities to drinking alcohol for young people
>in order to reduce the high level of alcohol-related public disorder.
>
>Labour and Fine Gael also renewed calls yesterday for off-licences in
>Dublin to be closed until 6pm on public holidays including St Patrick's
>Day.
>
>They were speaking in light of the arrest of 714 people around the State
>- mostly in Dublin - for public order offences on the national
>holiday...
>
>...Green Party justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe said the festival in
>Dublin should provide more alternatives to drinking for young people.
>
>He said the Ceili Mor and the funfair at Merrion Square were
>alternatives, but there should be more. He said it was a privilege for
>those running pubs and off-licences to be given licences, and yet some
>of them did not appear to be paying much attention to the law.
>
>"The law is clear: bars and off-licences should not be serving people
>who are drunk and they should pay more attention to the law."
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>32) The Associated Press State & Local Wire; March 19, 2005
>
>MAINE: PORTLAND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PROPOSE "INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY"
>
>PORTLAND -- The three Green Party members on the Portland School
>Committee would like to see students celebrate "Indigenous People's Day"
>instead of Columbus Day.
>
>Jason Toothaker, who's leading the effort for the name change, said
>Christopher Columbus exploited Native Americans, and many of them today
>view his voyage to the New World as a tragic event.
>
>But other school committee members say the panel has no authority over
>federal holidays and shouldn't get involved in trying to change them.
>
>Toothaker describes himself as one-sixteenth Indian. His father's
>grandmother was a member of the Penobscot tribe, he said, and he
>remembers that when he was a child, his father's side of the family
>didn't like Columbus.
>
>"He opened the way for the slave trade," Toothaker said. "Because of the
>way he interacted with the natives, he should not be heralded as much as
>we are heralding him today."
>
>At Toothaker's request, the School Department last week circulated a
>survey about the holiday name change to city teachers. Toothaker
>proposed the change to the Professional Development Committee, which is
>in the process of drawing up next year's calendar.
>
>School committee members Benjamin Meiklejohn and Stephen Spring, who are
>also Green Party members, also support the holiday name change. They
>said celebrating a "double" holiday, "Columbus/Indigenous Day," that
>honors both Columbus and Native Americans would be a good compromise.
>
>But school committee member Jim DiMillo said the idea is absurd, and
>serves as an example of symbolic politics that distracts the board from
>doing its job.
>
>"I think the people who run the schools should make sure the kids get
>the best education possible," DiMillo said. "We have better things to
>worry about than what we call Columbus Day."
>
>Committee Chairman Jonathan Radtke says he's not sure if the committee
>will even take up the matter. "It's a federal holiday," he said. "It's
>not our issue."
>
>Camillo Breggia, former president of the Italian Heritage Center, said
>Columbus was a great explorer and navigator whose actions more than 500
>years ago are being unfairly judged according to the values of modern
>society.
>
>Breggia said Columbus Day should be celebrated if only because the
>discovery of America was a turning point in world history.
>
>"What was done to the Indians was not very nice," he said. "You can't
>change history. But you can accept it for what it is."
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>33) Portland Press Herald: March 19, 2005
>
>MAINE: SOME ASK: WHY NOT 'INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY?'
>
>by Tom Bell
>
>Portland children would celebrate "Indigenous People's Day" rather than
>Columbus Day if the three Green Party members on the Portland School
>Committee had their way.
>
>But other committee members say the board lacks authority over federal
>holidays and shouldn't even consider the issue.
>
>Committee member Jason Toothaker is leading the effort to change the
>holiday's name. He says Christopher Columbus exploited Native American
>people and robbed and enslaved them. Many Native Americans view
>Columbus's 1492 voyage as a tragic event that launched the European
>colonization of the New World, he says.
>
>Toothaker describes himself as one-sixteenth Indian. His father's
>grandmother was a member of the Penobscot tribe, he says, and he
>remembers that when he was a child, his father's side of the family
>didn't like Columbus.
>
>"He opened the way for the slave trade," Toothaker said. "Because of the
>way he interacted with the natives, he should not be heralded as much as
>we are heralding him today."
>
>At Toothaker's request, the School Department this week circulated a
>survey about the holiday name change to city teachers. School officials
>have yet to release the survey results.
>
>Toothaker proposed the change to the Professional Development Committee,
>which is in the process of drawing up next year's calendar.
>
>Pqiptes Dana, a research assistant at the Sipayik Museum at the Pleasant
>Point Indian Reservation in Perry, says the name change is a great idea.
>She says children in the reservation school celebrate Indian Day in
>September and go to school on Columbus Day, ignoring the holiday
>altogether.
>
>"It's not one of our holidays," she said.
>
>Portland School Committee members Benjamin Meiklejohn and Stephen Spring
>also support the holiday name change.
>
>"I long have thought that this was the most hypocritical holiday we
>celebrated," Meiklejohn said. "It should be changed to acknowledge the
>people who were originally here."
>
>Spring said the San Francisco United School Department, where he was a
>teacher, celebrated "Columbus/ Indigenous Day." Both he and Toothaker
>believe that celebrating a "double" holiday that honors both Columbus
>and Native Americans would be a good compromise.
>
>But School Committee member Jim DiMillo says the idea is absurd, an
>example of symbolic politics that distracts the board from doing its
>job.
>
>"I think the people who run the schools should make sure the kids get
>the best education possible," DiMillo said. "We have better things to
>worry about than what we call Columbus Day."
>
>Camillo Breggia, former president of the Italian Heritage Center, says
>Columbus was a great explorer and navigator. Breggia says his actions
>more than 500 years ago are being unfairly judged according to the
>values of modern society.
>
>"They kind of give Columbus a bad rap," said Breggia, 66, who in the
>1980s and early 1990s led an effort to erect a statue of the Genoese
>explorer on Munjoy Hill. The statue was never built.
>
>Breggia says Columbus Day should be celebrated if only because the
>discovery of America was a turning point in world history.
>
>"What was done to the Indians was not very nice," he said. "You can't
>change history. But you can accept it for what it is."
>
>School Committee Chairman Jonathan Radtke says he's not sure if the
>committee will even take up the matter.
>
>"It's a federal holiday," he said. "It's not our issue."
>
>READER POLL
>
>DO YOU SUPPORT the idea of changing Columbus Day to Indigenous
>Day? Tell us at www.MaineToday.com.
>
>****************************************************************************
>
>NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
>distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
>in receiving the included information for research and educational
>purposes.
>
>For more Green Party news go to http://web.greens.org/news/
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand