Shadowboxing with power

by: eli_beckerman

Mon May 27, 2013 at 17:23:59 PM EDT

On behalf of all Americans who seek a new direction, who yearn for a new birth of freedom to build the just society, who see justice as the great work of human beings on Earth, who understand that community and human fulfillment are mutually reinforcing, who respect the urgent necessity to wage peace, to protect the environment, to end poverty and to preserve values of the spirit for future generations, who wish to build a deep democracy by working hard for a regenerative progressive politics, as if people mattered - to all these citizens and the Green vanguard, I welcome and am honored to accept the Green Party nomination for President of the United States.

--Ralph Nader's acceptance statement, June, 2000

Despite "pwogressive" criticisms from William Kaufman and Mitchel Cohen in CounterPunch, I think the Green Shadow Cabinet launched earlier this year represents the single most-inspired initiative from Greens in the past decade. Running for office is a boilerplate third-party tactic -- critical for building a credible and independent political party, but tired, temporary, constricting, and, too often, distracting. And while Ralph Nader made the case for the Green Party as a vehicle for an independent progressive force in American politics for a few years starting in the late nineties, he quickly changed his tune, muddling his message in the process. What vehicle were we left to organize around, for genuine grassroots democracy? His campaign? His non-profits that had been forced to distance themselves from Nader-the-politician? In his 2000 campaign, Nader made the point that politics -- and power -- isn't about what happens on election day, but what happens in between elections, what happens in our communities day in and day out.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship toward 'a new birth of freedom.' - Ralph Nader

Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day?

by: eli_beckerman

Mon May 27, 2013 at 13:40:15 PM EDT

Memorial Day will be celebrated ... by the usual betrayal of the dead, by the hypocritical patriotism of the politicians and contractors preparing for more wars, more graves to receive more flowers on future Memorial Days. The memory of the dead deserves a different dedication. To peace, to defiance of governments.

In 1974, I was invited by Tom Winship, the editor of the Boston Globe, who had been bold enough in 1971 to print part of the top secret Pentagon Papers on the history of the Vietnam War, to write a bi-weekly column for the op-ed page of the newspaper. I did that for about a year and a half. The column below appeared June 2, 1976, in connection with that year's Memorial Day. After it appeared, my column was canceled.

* * * * *

Memorial Day will be celebrated as usual, by high-speed collisions of automobiles and bodies strewn on highways and the sound of ambulance sirens throughout the land.

It will also be celebrated by the display of flags, the sound of bugles and drums, by parades and speeches and unthinking applause.

It will be celebrated by giant corporations, which make guns, bombs, fighter planes, aircraft carriers and an endless assortment of military junk and which await the $100 billion in contracts to be approved soon by Congress and the President.

Opposing restrictions on future democracy

by: scott_laugenour

Mon May 06, 2013 at 07:22:53 AM EDT

By having adopted the ill-conceived Consrvation Restriction, a super-majority in Lenox today has removed opportunity for the super-majority of tomorrow to make their own decisions on what to do on their land.  Not only is the vote an arrogant lack of trust it may also be harmful.

Because the land is owned by the Town of Lenox, a 2/3 super-majority would always have been needed for any project.  This fact, along with existing environmental laws, was strong and sufficient protection.

The opportunity costs of this vote will be revealed in the future and the next generations will resent this year's town meeting action.  There will be missed opportunities resulting from future technologies and future needs that we have removed from future generations' town meeting supermajorities.

The momentum for adopting of the conservation restriction was fueled by those who last year opposed the development of any wind energy proposal whatsoever.  With classic fear-mongering, it offered as examples many projects around the country that were harmful or had been approved by small boards.  None of the 'bad' projects the group offered as evidence, though, had required the approval of a supermajority of a town meeting.  They were private projects, not public ones, and not subject to the rigors and public vetting of a town meeting.  None of the 'bad' projects that were included in the propaganda would have been accepted by a town meeting supermajority.

A two-third majority today effectively took away the rights of the next generations' two-thirds majorities.  What a travesty this is for grass-roots democracy.

The conservation restriction was unnecessary.

What follows is the prepared text of the speech I gave at Lenox Town Meeting.  (It must be noted that some Green-Rainbow Party members whose opinion and activism I respect voted in favor of the restriction.)

Citizens' Appeal for Openness, Transparency, and Integrity

by: scott_laugenour

Sat May 04, 2013 at 09:33:34 AM EDT

Here is the prepared text that I prepared for the town meeting.  The actual speech delivered may be slightly different by a few words or clause changes made during verbal delivery but the message is the same.

Designating a Party

by: scott_laugenour

Sun Feb 10, 2013 at 22:53:56 PM EST

I suggest ignoring the postcard.  Despite the obtuse wording there is no change at all for how Green-Rainbow Party members will vote in elections.  We just won't have our own primaries, as we did in 2011 and 2012 until we grow more.  We're still here and you are still registered to vote in the Green-Rainbow Party!

So let's grow rather than be intimidated.

The post card is misleading.  It was mailed to you by the Massachusetts Elections Division, which is under the control of a partisan Democrat.

The Answer

by: eli_beckerman

Fri Dec 21, 2012 at 00:00:00 AM EST

{ via The Dark Mountain Project }

Voting For Green Change in Egremont

by: scott_laugenour

Sun Nov 11, 2012 at 17:59:19 PM EST

It establishes the global and local imperative for change pretty well, I think, as local Greens in the Berkshires mobilize to grow politically larger and stronger.

Occupy Sandy

by: gmoke

Sat Nov 03, 2012 at 16:53:29 PM EDT

A group of people from the Occupy Wall Street movement is collaborating with the climate change advocacy group 350.org and a new online toolkit for disaster recovery, recovers.org, to organize a grassroots relief effort in New York City.

Occupy Sandy:  http://occupywallst.org/articl...

Boston TEDX talk by Recovers.org http://www.ted.com/talks/caitr...

The combination of the jobs and economic focus of Occupy with the climate change and energy transition ideas of 350.org along with the disaster recovery systems of Recovers.org is a model that can build resilience and preparedness quickly if continued.  Add Solar IS Civil Defense, set the Maker Culture loose, and it just might shade over into Solar Swadeshi, Gandhian economics, a non-violent and restorative open source peer-to-peer economic system where we plan for 100% success for all humanity, to paraphrase R Buckminster Fuller.

Building Resilient Communities: John Robb at the NYC Maker Faire

by: gmoke

Wed Oct 17, 2012 at 16:14:12 PM EDT

In the last few years, Robb has changed his focus to the concept of resilience.  Looking at the failure of international, national, and regional governmental, economic, and social systems to confront the challenges of climate change and institutionalized as well as ad hoc criminality, he has started an initiative to relocalize our basic systems of survival as  we watch the slow decline and collapse of the overarching social machinery that currently exists.

The solution is to build resilience, is to build resilience at the local level... You take control of the things you can have influence over, the things in front of you, the things that are human scale.... and strangely, when you start looking at building resilience, building local viable communities, it solves all the problems at the global level, economically, environmentally, and in terms of quality of life...

Here is his lecture at the recent NYC Maker Faire.  The video starts about 8 minutes in and his description of a resilient community ends around 15:40 when he begins to take questions.  These seven or eight minutes are a useful introduction to a reasonable way forward.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/g...

The Cambridge, MA Solar Tool

by: gmoke

Sun Oct 07, 2012 at 13:13:43 PM EDT

The estimated savings per year for such a PV system are $9,081. The total cost  is $101,720.  With the Federal tax credit of $30,516 and a MA state tax credit of $1,000, the final cost to the owner would be $70,204.  In addition, the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) of 27¢/kWh could produce $6,212 per year (at least that's my reading of the MA SREC program, but I could be wrong).  Such an investment would pay for itself in about 8 years with a return on investment (ROI) of 12.93%, a better return than gold (10.19%) or the stock market (Dow Jones average:  5.50%).  The solar electricity would replace other fuels that now spew 12 tons per year of carbon into the atmosphere.

If the owner did not want to put any money down, they could opt for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), buying electricity from a third party which owns, installs, maintains, insures, and monitors a PV system on the roof of our double triple decker at a long term, generally 20 years, fixed and lower cost than what is paid now for power.

Mass DOT Testimony

by: scott_laugenour

Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 13:05:56 PM EDT

Andy McKeever of iBerkshires gave a very good report the next day.

While my fellow Berkshire Regional Transit Authority board members were testifying strongly about the unmet needs and the unfair funding mechanisms that create injustice and inequality I couldn't help but take a brief moment to tweet with my smart phone how proud I was to be serving the community with them.

My own testimony was sent via e-mail on October 5, 2012, after having listened to my fellow board members and public the night before.

There are clear and compelling economic justice, economic development, and environmental reasons to invest our tax dollars into quality public transportation, even in the Berkshires.

My testimony follows.  I encourage others from the Berkshires to submit their own testimony on our transportation infrastructure needs and to share it with me.

Combatting Election Theft: Some Resources

by: gmoke

Sun Sep 16, 2012 at 00:31:43 AM EDT

Here are some resources to stop them in their tracks and rebuild our ability to vote for every single citizen.  It is not an exhaustive list but it is a start.

Protect your own vote and those of all your fellow citizens.

My Opponent's Campaign Finance Gaffe

by: scott_laugenour

Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 12:44:28 PM EDT

In response to several media inquiries for a statement from me I released the following:

I would not want to be found in violation of campaign finance laws.  I'm surprised that Representative Pignatelli stated to the Berkshire Eagle that he was not aware of the matter until OCPF did its investigation.  I can reasonably assume that the town of Lenox had notified his treasurer, Ms. Pero about the matter in August 2011.  It should have been an easy matter to research and take appropriate action then.  I have high praise for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.  OCPF staff and its web site have always been extremely helpful in assisting candidates like Rep. Pignatelli and me to comply with the campaign finance laws of Massachusetts when a modest effort is made by such candidates to learn the rules.

GRP Primary Day 2012

by: scott_laugenour

Thu Sep 06, 2012 at 08:48:34 AM EDT

---------

Today the Commonwealth runs primary elections for all parties in Massachusetts for a number of offices.  Polls opened at 7am and stay open until 8pm.

If you are given the Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot today you will see that only write-in votes are possible with the exception of State Representative in the 4th Berkshire District, where I am a ballot-qualified candidate.

If you reside in the 4th Berkshire District please consider voting for me.  The winner will appear on the general election ballot on the Green-Rainbow Party line.  In other districts and for other offices please use the write-in spaces available on the ballot to send a message.

Need a link to Recent SteinTax Returns

by: michael horan

Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 22:35:49 PM EDT

Noted, in today's Boston Metro, that Dr Stein refers to herself as part of the 99%. I'm assuming she's already released her returns for the past few years (detaiing all financial holdings, investments, etc . Does the campaign have a link?