Detroit Greens a local of the Green Party of Michigan

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States honored Australian Senator Bob Brown today and praised him for his Green leadership in Australia and around the world.

Sen. Brown announced his retirement on Friday, telling fellow party members "It is now time for me to hand on leadership to the experience and talent of my colleagues" (http://greensmps.org.au/time-has-come).

There are now nine Greens in the Australian Senate and one in the House. US Greens have called Bob Brown an inspiration and a friend and consider the Australian Greens a model for what the Green Party of the United States can achieve in the coming years.

Sen. Brown, who represented the state of Tasmania, will be replaced as party leader by Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne. US Greens congratulated Ms. Milne on her new position as the leader of the Australian Greens party.

US Greens attend the meeting, which also passes "Rio+20 Summit" resolution in advance of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development

WASHINGTON, DC -- The third Global Greens Congress, meeting in Dakar, Senegal, last weekend, has adopted a statement of support for popular democratic movements around the world, including Arab Spring, the Spanish Indignants, and the Occupy Movement. The statement is appended below.

More than 400 Greens representing 76 countries including the US met in Dakar from March 29 to April 1 for the third Global Greens Congress (http://www.dakar2012.org). Dakar was chosen to highlight the growing presence of Green Parties in Africa and the strength of the Green Party (Fédération Démocratique des Ecologistes du Sénégal) in Senegal ("Congratulations to Senegalese Green Party Leader for becoming Senegal's Minister of Environment," African Greens, April 5, http://www.africangreens.org/news/congratulations-senegalese-green-party...).

The Green Party of the United States was represented by Bob Marsh (California). Jack Ailey (Illinois) and Mike Feinstein (California) attended as observers. The meeting was also attended by Eliza Diop, an African-American (California) and Senegalese young woman attending Oberlin College, class of 2014, who participated in the Global Young Greens Congress (http://www.globalyounggreens.org).

(Lansing) Stand Up for Democracy (http://standup4democracy.com/), a coalition against the Emergency Manager Law currently in effect in Michigan, brought its petition with 40% more than the required 161,305 signatures to Lansing on February 29 for review.

By law, the Board of State Canvassers has 60 days to review the signatures of a referendum petition for accuracy. They are meeting on Monday the 19th in Lansing to establish a deadline for challenging signatures on this petition.

The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) calls on the Board to get this petition reviewed and processed promptly, honestly, and -- most importantly -- openly for the public to view. According to its newly adopted 2012 platform, The Green Party of Michigan strongly urges repeal of the emergency-manager law, which destroys local democratic control of governments wherever it is applied (emphasis in original).

Greens promote sane justice system and security policies, including a halt to the War on Drugs and constitutional violations

WASHINGTON, DC -- As more and more Americans express alarm at the curtailment of rights and privacy and the increasing numbers of citizens locked up in prison, Green Party candidates and leaders are calling for rational security, law enforcement, and justice system policies.

"The US cannot be called a 'free country' as long as Prison Nation and Police State abuses are allowed to continue," said Darryl! Moch, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "The War on Drugs, privatized prisons, and other outrages have led to America's record-high incarceration rate, with the proportionally highest prison population in the world. Racial disparities in arrests and sentencing have devastated black and brown communities. Instead of providing safety and civic peace, these policies have eroded our freedoms, safety, and the rule of law."

Greens pointed to bipartisan landmarks in the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex and erosion of the US Constitution: President Reagan's efforts to criminalize the poor and people of color, beginning with the Drug War and rhetoric about 'welfare queens'; President Clinton's expansion of the War on Drugs, privatization of prisons, programs to train civilian police in military tactics, and the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act; and 9/11, which the Bush and Obama Administrations have used to justify attacks on constitutional rights in the name of the War on Terrorism.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Candidates and leaders of the Green Party of the United States expressed hope that the Supreme Court will strike down the 'individual mandate' section of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when the court issues a ruling on its constitutionality in late March.

Greens, who support single-payer national health care (Medicare For All), have called the passage of the ACA in 2010 a defeat for meaningful health care reform.

"A Supreme Court decision gutting the ACA's individual insurance mandate can bring us closer to real universal health care, because we already know that Social Security and Medicare are constitutional. Medicare For All is based on the same model as these successful programs," said Mayor David Doonan (Green) of Greenwich, New York.

The public is invited to attend one of two meetings with Dr. Jill Stein of Massachusetts who is vying for the Green Party’s nomination for president of the United States on Monday, March 5th. Come hear her speak about the Green New Deal and what it would mean for Michigan.

Dr. Jill Stein is a mother, housewife, physician, longtime teacher of internal medicine, and pioneering environmental-health advocate. Presenting herself as a positive option to the main two political parties, Dr. Stein’s campaign has centered around the Green New Deal which was created to help America regain its prosperity in four ways: securing jobs with living wages for all Americans able to work, adopting green technologies and production practices, revamping the financial sector and strengthening our democracy so that the people’s voice will be heard in Washington.

Dr. Stein will make two stops in Michigan as she makes her way through the Great Lakes region. First, she will be in Ann Arbor from 4pm to 6pm at Amer’s Deli on S. State Street. (map: http://g.co/maps/2u2bg)

After Ann Arbor, she will move on to Ferndale where she will be at AJ’s cafe on 9 Mile Rd from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. (map: http://g.co/maps/xjqt2)

US taxpayers to subsidize the high cost and high liability for the new units, while Southern Co. reaps the profits

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party candidates and leaders strongly criticized a Feb. 9 decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to issue the final license for two new reactors located at the currently operating Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, Georgia.

Greens said that the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with radioactive water and waste continuing to spill into the local environment, proves the need to put nuclear power on permanent hold. Green Party leaders noted that residents near Plant Vogtle claim that some cancers increased after 1987, when the Atlanta-based Southern Company opened the first of the two existing reactors.

"The energy companies know that nuclear energy is extremely expensive and a high risk for security, public health, and the environment. They saw what happened in Fukushima, as well as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Rather than gamble with their own money, energy companies have convinced President Obama to pass the cost and liability on to US taxpayers," said Denice Traina, Coordinating Council member and former co-chair of the Georgia Green Party (http://www.greens.org/georgia).

The Detroit Greens will be meeting this Thursday in Ferndale

Thursday February 16 at 6:30 pm
AJ's Cafe‎
240 West Nine Mile Road
Ferndale, MI 48220

Agenda:
Report on the Green Party of Michigan State Membership Meeting
Occupy Detroit speaker
Meet US Congressional candidate AJ O'neil
State and National Convention news

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Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 9:30am and Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 10:00am

1205 Washington Ave, Bay City, Michigan 48708

The State Membership Meeting of the Green Party of Michigan will be held on
February 11 & 12 in Bay City.

On Saturday, when we will cover party business, registration will begin at 9:30
AM and the meeting will run until 4:00 PM. Continental breakfast and buffet
lunch provided.

On Sunday the meeting will begin at 10:00 AM, with a continental breakfast. On
this day we will hold a Town Hall style meeting, open to the public, discussing
the Move to Amend, Medical Marijuana, the Occupy Movement and local water
issues.

A $10 suggested donation at the door will cover both days, $7 will cover the
costs for one.

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The Green presidential nominee will be chosen at the party's 2012 convention in Baltimore, Md., July 12-15

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States welcomes two candidates into the race for the 2012 Green presidential nomination, Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr. Ms. Barr and Dr. Stein submitted paperwork to meet the Green Party's requirements as of the evening of the Feb. 1 deadline.

"We are thrilled to have two strong women running for President as Greens," said Darryl! Moch, national co-chair of the Green Party. "We look forward to a race based on Green ideas and values, and to showing the Democrats and Republicans how to run without the corrupting influence of fat corporate campaign checks and corporate-funded attack ads."

"Anyone hopeful about the Occupy Wall Street's challenge to the status quo or disappointed by the Obama Administration's broken promises of change now has a pair of candidates to watch. Anyone bored or irritated with the Mitt Versus Newt Show by now will be relieved by the breath of fresh air -- maybe a Green gale force of righteousness -- that's about to come," said Tamar Yager, also a national co-chair of the Green Party.

For more information about the candidates, visit the following sites:

Jill Stein: http://www.jillstein.org

Roseanne Barr: http://www.roseanneforpresident.com

2012 Press Information for Green Candidates http://www.gp.org/candidates/index.php

The nominee will be chosen at the Green Party's national convention, July 12-15, in Baltimore, Maryland (http://www.gpconvention2012.com)