For our growing progressive community in Brevard
and
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SCPA
eNews / May 15, 2008 /
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CALENDAR:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/phpEventCalendar/index.php
Submit
YOUR listing to Progressive Calendar at
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/
Seeta Begui
Sign Waving! - May 15, 2008
Natural
Cleaning for a Healthy Home Talk - May 15, 2008
Dem
Congressional Candidates talk to Hispanic Chbr - May 15, 2008
Endangered
Species Day - May 16, 2008
Humanists of
Brevard Monthly Meeting - May 17, 2008
Maritime
Hammock hike - May 17, 2008
Education
Visioning Workshop
Steve Blythe
Speaks to Dem Women's Club VERO BCH - May 17, 2008
English Country
Dance - May 20, 2008
Seeta Begui
Sign Waving! - May 22, 2008
Rep. Sasso
Speaks at
Indian Mound
Sanctuary Cleanup in Mims - May 24, 2008
Vegan Dining
Out - May 24, 2008
MONTH-AT-A-GLANCE
CALENDAR:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/phpEventCalendar/index.php
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
1)
Action! ATTN:
2)
Why I believe in the EEL program, by Chelle Woods
3)
Candidate Rupe petition deadline is Monday -- five days to collect...
4)
ACLU report: Top ten abuses of power since 9/11
5)
Bill Moyers:
6)
Question: What's the cure for dysfunctional democracy? Can you guess the
answer?
7)
Young activists conference in D.C. is great
opportunity
8)
Legislature 'hostile' to
9)
Will GW Bush be out looking for a job?
10)
Blue Gal says, confidentially: If he were my bush...
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NEWS
& INFORMATION
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1)
SAY
NO TO
On
Tuesday, May 20 at 9am the Indian River County Commissioners will decide
whether to approve a subdivision outside the Urban Service Line. The Vero Beach
Press-Journal newspaper called approving this subdivision “Madness.”
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TWO
WAYS TO HELP:
ACTION #1. PLEASE WRITE AND/OR CALL the Indian River County Commissioners to
let them know how you feel about more sprawl outside the Urban Service Area.
Contact info is below.
THE
BEST ARGUMENT
During
elections, candidate commissioners professed: “I will never vote to approve a
subdivision outside the Urban Service Boundary!” Now is the test to see if they
will honor their words. This is one of those defining moments. We do not need
to develop outside the Urban Service Area at this time with all the empty homes
and unfinished developments still available.
Now
we have a test to see if those elected -- Sandra Bowden, Wesley Davis, Joe
Flescher, Peter O’Bryan, and Gary Wheeler -- will honor their words.
Please
call 772-567-8000 ext 1490 and/or write them:
Sandra
Bowden sbowden@ircgov.com
Wesley
Davis wdavis@ircgov.com
Joe
Flescher jflescher@ircgov.com
Peter
O'Bryan pobryan@ircgov.com
Gary
Wheeler gwheeler@ircgov.com
...and
ask them to stick to their commitment by voting NO to
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ACTION #2. ALSO, MOST IMPORTANT: please show up on Tuesday, May 20th at 9 am
at the Indian River County Commission Meeting and just tell them in one
sentence:
*“Please
Honor Your Commitment by Voting NO to
*The
more the crowd, the more the impact.*
LOCATION
of
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PLEASE
FORWARD this email to your friends who are concerned about our environment._*
Thank
you
Richard
Baker
President,
http://www.pelicanislandaudubon.org/
BACKGROUND:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/environment/enviro_entry.php?thisID=159
(Thanks
to Dr. Richard Baker)
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2)
WHY I AM A BELIEVER IN
Chelle
Woods reminds us why the county's EEL program is deserving of continued
widespread support. Please share this information with friends and neighbors.
Chelle
Woods is a member of Citizens’ Coalition of South Mainland.
MORE:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/environment/enviro_entry.php?thisID=158
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3)
CANDIDATE RUPE COLLECTING PETITIONS, DEADLINE MON. MAY 19TH
Maureen
Rupe, candidate for Brevard County Commissioner District 1, is collecting signature
petitions from voters in north Brevard's District 1. Deadline is Monday!
Download petitions at her website. Contact Maureen at
ElectMaureenRupe@earthlink.net or phone (321) 639-6839.
MORE:
http://www.maureenrupe.com/
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4)
TOP TEN ABUSES OF POWER SINCE 9/11
1.
WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING
In
December 2005, the New York Times reported the National Security Agency was
tapping into telephone calls of Americans without a warrant, in violation of
federal statutes and the Constitution. Furthermore, the agency had also gained
direct access to the telecommunications infrastructure through some of
2.
Torture, Kidnapping and Detention
3.
The Growing Surveillance Society
4.
Abuse of the Patriot Act
5.
Government Secrecy
6.
Real ID
7.
No Fly and Selectee Lists
8.
Political Spying
9.
Abuse of Material Witness Statute
10.
Attacks on Academic Freedom
MORE:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/26684res20060906.html
(Thanks
to Kevin Aplin)
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5)
BILL MOYERS: WE HAVE A FUNDAMENTALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY
Interview
with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
May
7, 2008
Excerpt:
BILL
MOYERS: ...democracy is always a story of narrow escapes, and we may be running
out of luck, because we’ve ...generally thought the present was better than the
past and the future will be better than the present. All bets are off now...
our politics can create problems our policies can then not solve. Start a war,
can’t finish it. Spend $2 trillion on healthcare, but can’t fix it.
Infrastructure crumbling, highways full of potholes, can’t do anything about
it.
These
fundamental structural issues of American democracy are not being addressed by
this (current political) campaign... they’re not taking on the large issue...
none of these three (Obama, Clinton or McCain) seem to me to be grasping what’s
fundamentally at stake in this country, which is a system that is now
dysfunctional. AND SO MANY POWERFUL INTERESTS HAVE A STAKE IN MAINTAINING THE
DYSFUNCTION THAT IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE IT. (Editor's
emphasis.)
MORE
INTERVIEW:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/7/broadcasting_legend_bill_moyers_on_the
ABOUT
MOYERS' NEW BOOK, "Moyers on Democracy:"
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?show=HARDCOVER:NEW:9780385523806:26.95
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6)
IMPORTANT QUESTION: WHAT'S THE CURE FOR DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY?
WHAT'S
THE ANSWER? CAN YOU GUESS IT?
Clean
Elections, aka public campaign financing, appears to be the single best way --
perhaps the ONLY way -- to remove the stranglehold of powerful financial
interests from our corrupt government. Clean Elections changes who can afford
to run for office, who runs for office, how they
campaign for office, and, once in office, how they behave. It's working in two
states. We NEED Clean Elections in
FIRST
STEP: Each of us must learn about Clean Elections, and begin to educate our
friends and neighbors. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. People of
ALL political inclination recognize that our political system is failing. We
NEED Clean Elections. But don't expect financial interests or corporate news
media to even discuss this subject. It will happen from the grassroots up -- or
not at all.
What
can YOU do about it? Learn about Clean Elections, and educate your neighbors.
You can do this. We have begun moving forward, from the ground up.
MORE:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/elections/
(Thanks
to Fred Markham, Clean Elections Chair, SCPA)
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7)
YOUNG ACTIVISTS CONFERENCE
The
2008 ACLU Members Conference is being held in
CONTACT:
Kristen Beems
Email:
irukandjiandme@gmail.com
Phone:
321-745-7232
Organization:
American Civil Liberties
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8)
Florida Hometown Democracy news...
LEGISLATURE
'HOSTILE' TO
Editorial
Published
May 2, 2008
The
Republican
legislators thought that they could limit citizen petitions by making it hard
for any but the best-financed efforts to get constitutional amendments on the
ballot. Doing so meant violating the Florida Constitution but that didn't stop
them, until last week.
The
1st District Court of Appeal blocked one of the worst surviving
"reforms," the revocation of signatures from petitions.
MORE,
RELATED NEWS ITEMS: http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/press.html
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9)
WILL GW BUSH BE OUT LOOKIN' FOR A JOB? (Soon, but not soon enough, right?)
A
FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RESUME HE'S CERTAIN TO USE
Available in January 2009. Willing to relocate.
I
began my career in the oil business in
I
changed
I
cut taxes and bankrupted the
I set
the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
I
spent the
I
shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in
I
have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation
or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica
Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest
corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis
in
I
presided over the highest gasoline prices in
I
changed the
I
appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President
in
I've
broken more international treaties than any President in
All
records of my tenure as governor of
All
records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt
companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All
records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended
regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for
public review. I specified that my sealed documents will not be
available for 50 years.
THE
WHOLE DURN RESUME:
http://www.spacecoastprogressivealliance.org/commentary/itempage.php?thisID=128
(Thanks
to George Patterson)
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10)
BLUE GAL SAYS, CONFIDENTIALLY:
if
he were my bush I'd shave him off
BLUE
GAL BLOG: http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com/
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