Greenfield and Green Party of Utah

Today I sent a few posts on the GPUS Steering Committee Impeachment issue. I made a mistake when I incorrectly made use of the word “impeach” because I was not thinking clearly and used it in terms of actual removal when, in fact, the word “impeach”, as quickly pointed out by various delegates on the list serve, refers to accusations and filing of charges.

I admitted my mistake on the list and let it go.

I also sign all my posts with my position and affiliation (Alternate Delegate, Green Party of Utah).

Steve Greenfield later decided to post the letter from the Utah Elections Office sent to our filing officer regarding our ballot status. He had no introductory remarks. He simply posted the letter.

Complete with typos, as he typed it into the email post instead of providing an official copy.

Now, one has to wonder how Steve Greenfield obtained a copy of this letter…..
Further, Greenfield did not provide the letter on any official letterhead or in an image. Instead, it was typed into the email post. Additionally, he did not put it into context. He did not provide the letter to Mr. Cragun pointing out how the elections office is violating Utah state commerce law.

Well, here is the official document (not the one Greenfield typed into an email), along with others that speak for themselves (the first one being the initial letter sent to Mr. Cragun by our filing officer):

Below are the following documents:

– Letter sent to Mr. Cragun
– Letter received by GPUT to Mr. Cragun
– Steve Greenfield’s post of the letter received by MR. Cragun, complete with typos.
– Image of Affiliated Green Party of Utah Incorporation
– Image of Affiliated Green Party of Utah Trademark

Image of letter sent to Mr. Cragun:

Letter to Mr. Cragun

Mr. Cragun’s response after receiving the letter and talking with the GPUT filing officer in person:

Post to GPUS Delegate Discussion List by Steve Greenfield, delegate from New York:
[usgp-dx] Letter from Utah Elections Division Steve Greenfield bicyclesax at earthlink.net Tue Sep 27 14:01:08 EDT 2005

State of Utah
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Elections Division

September 12, 2005

Thomas King
(address deleted)
Layton, Utah

Dear Mr. King:

I am writing in response to your letter that I received August 24, 2005 and to review our conversation this afternoon in my office. The Lieutenant Governor’s office maintains the position that only one Green Party of Utah exists. As of August 26, 2006 the Green Party of Utah is a registered political party. Any disputes as to leadership must be resolved among the party’s members.

You inquired whether or not you can continue to collect petition signatures.
While you may collect signatures, the party that you seek to register must have a name and emblem distinguishable from other registered political parties. Utah Cod Annotate section 20A-8-103(1) defines distinguishable as “a reasonable person of average intelligence will be able to perceived a difference between the proposed name or emblem and any name or emblem currently being used by another registered political party.”:

Please notify us when you have completed collecting signatures. After receiving your complete petition, we will review the petition to ensure that you have collected the required number of signatures. Wee will also review your proposed party name and emblem. If the name and emblem are not distinguishable from other registered parties, you will have seven days to submit a new name and emblem.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,
Michael J. Cragun
Director
——————————————————————————–

Frederick, Maryland and Greens

I’m always interested in Green activity in Maryland, particularly Frederick, since that is the county I was born, raised, and lived in until 1997. I am originally from Middletown, Maryland, a historic town about 6 miles west of Frederick.

I had learned through my father (who is a republican but always interested in Greens and is very proud of my involvement in the Green Party) that Joanne Ivancic was successful in getting herself on the ballot for Frederick City Alderman/Alderwoman. Apparently a student at Hood College in Frederick revived the Greens in the area (who had gone stagnant and had been inactive for quite some time) and inspired Joanne to run.

Here are some links to articles:
Candidate forum focuses on social issues (scroll down to that part of the article).
Gazette.net
MARYLAND GREEN PARTY NEWSLETTER-September 2005
DC Indymedia
Google gave me: Joanne Ivancic, who lives down the road from the facility and is running as A
Green Party candidate for alderman, says residents should take advantage of …
but I cannot find it at that link.

Two’s a Crowd Already, but Third Party Aims for Office
The above article came out in the Washington Post before the the city of Frederick adopted Doug McNeil’s charter amendments that remove the high obstacles for Joanne Ivancic to be on the ballot. Joanne is running for city alderman and her name will appear on the ballot with party affiliation.

Cindy Sheehan’s arrest false???

In the Common Dreams article,Last Weekend Karl Rove Said I Was a Clown, Cindy Sheehan states that reports of her arrest were false.

Please reply if you have any other info on this.

Counterpunch and the Green Party

I am very disappointed to see some Green Blogs posting the Counterpunch article Which Way Forward for the Green Party?, especially without any commentary attached to the posting, de facto advocating the contents of the article. The Counterpunch editorial team is not a friend of Greens and has never published one positive thing about the Green Party and so it dismays me to see fellow Greens advocating this article which has many untruths in it about the party and its affiliates.

Read what Ken Sain says about this article in Beating Dead Horses.

Mass Civil Resistance in D.C. today

Today was the third day of action to demand that the U.S. Government withdraw troops from Iraq and end the war. The day’s events in D.C. centered around United for Peace and Justice’s mass nonviolent civil resistance action. Among those arrested today was Cindy Sheehan.

Police arrest Cindy Sheehan, the Calif. woman who has used her son’s death in Iraq to spur the antiwar movement, during a demonstration outside the White House. (AP)
See Video of the arrest.
Other updates that I have found on the mass civil resistance action:
Anti-War Mother Cindy Sheehan Arrested Outside White House
D.C. Indy Media
WRYR-LP Radio Live Stream
Civil Resistance at White House

The 2003 split in the Green Party of Utah and Cargill

Before the 2004 Green Party of Utah split, there was 2003.

A faction in the GPUT at that time attempted to kick 6 people out of the party without going through the process (as outlined in the bylaws) for reasons that had not been brought forth to the membership and also of which were falsehoods in themselves. Secret meetings were held and letters were sent out to the 6 (inlcuding myself) telling them they were no longer GPUT members and containing the $10 dues check (I never cashed mine). This faction also claimed that the GPUT had no place in activism and that we were way out of line to incorporate activist activities with politics. Huh?

This action resulted in the 6 of us, along with one other member, filing a civil suit which was dropped because the faction decided to drop out and form the Progressive Democrats of Utah. (Ironically, we have all been working together in recent months on peace demonstrations….) –

– except for one of those people who has dropped out of sight of the political scene in Utah.

That person and his wife joined the GPUT about the time I did and had “moved here” from another state. This person ended up being one of the most vocal about kicking people out of the party for no substantiated reason. He kept a dossier on the 6 of us that he waved around at us when things started getting ugly.

This person had a high ranking position with the Utah Health Department(I’m not sure if he is still in this position)and ended up advocating that our water be flouridated! This was a shock to Greens in this state, needless to say.

Come to find out, an anonymous source has informed me – just within the past few days – that this person was planted by the company Cargill to disrupt the GPUT and keep us from progressing. One of Cargill’s campaigns is to flouridate water – it’s a big money maker for them.

Sound familiar?

As I have stated in previous posts, there is this move a-foot to disrupt progressive organizations everywhere. Our values are being compromised and violated. While we need to stick to our values and live by them, including being accepting of anyone who wants to join us, we need to always also stick to our process and watch for poor behavior and address it right away. As I was once taught by a self-proclaimed non-violence expert (who is now one of the suspended GPUT members for violating her own principles in the GPUT….), “Bullshit has no place in our movement. Call people on it.”

The more I am involved in progressive efforts, the more I realize that we do need to be firm when people “act up” and not allow them to be disruptive. To not do so is a disservice to the work we need to accomplish.

Here are some articles that I found about or that refer to Cargill:
Hydrofluosilicic Acid!
The Phosphate Fertilizer Industry: An Environmental Overview
Junk Water
Critique of the ADA’s Promotion of Fluoridation
Truth Decay? (1995 article)
GENERAL ELECTRIC-They also bring bad things to life!
Will new World Bank CEO, Paul Wolfowitz, continue the Rape and Pillage of Poor Nations?

September 24 Protests around our country and abroad

Check back on this post for updates of more articles.

Common Dreams
‘End This War’: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Iraq War
Local War Protesters Find Reception Growing Warmer
Thousands March Through London in Iraq War Protest
Antiwar Bus Tour Rolls Into Capital for Protests

Ken Sain
No more war
More DC photos
Nader at the Rally

September 24 Event, part 3

Part 3 of my September 24 photo essay:












Andrey & Olga Filippovs,Photographers















September 24 Event, part 2

Here is part 2 of my photo essay.

The march was awesome. The Radical Cheerleaders made their first cheerleading stop along the route in a grassy area between the marchers and the street. A police officer approached us after we had performed two cheers and told us we were obstructing the pedestrian traffic and people had to move around us (????). When we pointed out to him that we were out of the way and no one had to move around us (which they didn’t) he replied “yes they do.”. So we just moved on.

Even though there was a peacekeeping team leading the march, the march was taken over by a group of anarchists who ventured into the street. This group remained on a corner outside the rally plaza, beating bucket drums and chanting and waving their signs and flags. One person ended up being arrested. The story is that his flag accidentally rubbed against an officer’s shoulders and the officer took the flag and arrested the participant. We ended up loaning his friends some money to help get him bailed out.























































September 24 Event, part 1

Here is part 1 of my photo essay of the rallies and march yesterday, September 24, in Salt Lake City. Between 2,000 anbd 3,000 people turned out!

You can see more photos at:

Protest Photos
and
The Cause

The first gathering was in Pioneer Park (about 4 blocks west of the site of the bigger rally following the march), followed by the march.

PHOTOS:
Deanna Taylor and Tom King, Photographers
Autumn Killpack-Havey, Radical Cheerleader photographer