Lauren E. Spencer for MSU Board of Trustees!

Lauren E. Spencer, a student at MSU is running on the Stop the War Slate. She's put her campaign site on MySpace.com a social networking site popular with young folks.

Update: Here's an article on Lauren from MSU's State News

Another example of 'environmentalist is a terrorist' misrepresentation

in this case, a local newspaper put words in an activists mouth and he get investigated by the FBI for terrorism.

Poll results for Governor and Senate Races

This poll show support for Green Party candidates Douglas Campbell and David Sole at 1%. Looks like we have our work cut out for us.

Detroit Green and Green Party of Michigan chair...

Sylvia Inwood speaks out for abortion rights.

Rev Pinkney to speak on Benton Harbor in Detroit 8/12

Metro Detroit Labor Party presents
REV. EDWARD PINKNEY
BENTON HARBOR WARRIOR
Saturday, August 12, 5-9pm
Central United Methodist Church, Woodward and Adams (near Comerica Park)

Marian Kramer, Co-Chair of the Metro Detroit Labor Party and Co-President of the National Welfare Rights Union will be the emcee.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rev. Pinkney is facing 20 years in prison because of attacks by
Whirlpool Corporation and trumped up voter fraud charges.

Whirlpool's attempt to take land and to further its profits while laying off thousands was met with fierce opposition by Benton Harbor residents led by Rev. Pinkney. The opposition led to the recall of commissioners who supported Whirlpool. As a result, Whirlpool led the charge against Rev. Pinkney thinking it would stymie the citizens. The first trial ended in a hung jury. The next trial is set for September 19, 2006.

This case is similar to a vote fraud case in Alabama in the
mid-eighties when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the federal government charged many fighters with voter fraud. The TVA and the federal government were defeated and we intend to do the same in Benton Harbor!

Please join us and consider making a contribution to Rev. Pinkney's legal fund through BANCO, 1940 Union, benton Harbor, MI 49022

http://bhbanco.blogspot.com

"It is important to tell voters the Green Party is the only anti-war political party. The Green Party is the only peace party."

GPMI Chair Sylvia Inwood's Address to the State Nominating Convention in Shaftsburg MI on 8/5/06

4th Key Value of the Green Party of the United States

4. NON-VIOLENCE
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments. We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. Gandhi

My personal introduction to the creed of nonviolence came from two people in the late 1960’s. One was 20-year old woman who gave me a calendar from the War Resisters’ League. The other was my boyfriend who had just burned his draft card. He gave me a biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi. In 1969 I became one of three founders of the Detroit chapter of the WRL. (I was 15 and the
other two people were quite old, a Quaker couple in their early 30’s.) There were sit-ins at the draft board downtown. Someone mailed a dead fish to the draft board where all correspondence pertaining to the individual had to be kept on file. That November, I went to my first anti-war demonstration, riding to Washington DC with some Friends with a capital F, Quakers, that is. We marched on the Pentagon, got sprayed with tear-gas, heard Arlo Guthrie and others sing and speak, and crashed in somebody’s townhouse but committed no acts of violence. Six months later I joined a commune where we tried to follow the teachings of Gandhi. Gandhi became a great influence on my thinking.

When examined within the context of human history, non-violence is a truly radical idea. The history of human beings is a litany of bloody battles fought over religion, over land and other resources. It is a history of creatures murdering and oppressing their own kind and destroying their only home, the planet earth. Violence begets only violence. War begets more war.

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? Gandhi

While there are specific local issues for each candidate to address, I believe it is important, in this election cycle, to see the big picture, to keep making the connection between the wars being waged here at home and those waged abroad. While our government ignores or punishes the working poor, the unemployed, women, children, the elderly and the dispossessed, Bush and his cronies are waging corporate imperialist wars throughout the planet. State and city funds are tithed yearly to the federal government. These are funds urgently needed in our state and in our cities and rural areas to repair school buildings, to provide textbooks, for healthcare, for transportation, to create jobs, to feed and house people. Instead our money is going to Washington to fund Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; to provide military aid to Israel so they can murder Lebanese civilians; and to pay for all the other dirty little wars and dirty big wars this government has its blood-stained hands in.

It is important to tell voters the Green Party is the only anti-war political party. The Green Party is the only peace party.

I would also like to welcome those new members who are here to join in a coalition effort between the Green Party and other activists and groups. Some of these individuals are here seeking our nomination to un as anti-war candidates on the GPMI ballot-line this November. Others are here as supporters. They join the ranks of long-time GP members who also come from many different ideological directions.

I’d like to share a little family anecdote here. A few of you know that, despite my involvement in Green electoral politics, I am also a 4th-generation Italian anarchist. My grandpa the anarchist used to play cards regularly with some of my grandma’s brothers. One of these brothers was also an anarchist; the other was a socialist. At the last of these card games, my grandpa and the socialist brother-in-law got in a heated argument over the game and one accused the other of cheating. My grandpa stormed out. When he got home, he ranted at my grandma about her brother ending with, “Well, what can you expect from a Socialist?!” This happened around the late 1930’s. My grandfather never spoke to that brother-in-law again. So, sectarianism is nothing new to the Left. Though we have all arrived here today by traveling on many different paths, I believe we can work together to create positive social change. One way to work toward social change is to elect individuals to public office who truly speak for the people and who are committed to Green values. I urge all delegates here today to listen carefully to all those seeking nomination. Hear what they have to say, read their statements, consider their presence and choose the ones you think will best represent Green values and who will best be able to reach out beyond this small group assembled here to the great number of disaffected voters. We need to let Americans know they don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils. There is an alternative.

It’s called the Green Party.

Green Party of Michigan nominates state and federal candidates

Ecological Wisdom      *   Social Justice
Grassroots Democracy   *   Non-Violence


Green Party of Michigan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   www.migreens.org


**  News Release  **
**  ------------  **
   August 6, 2006


For More Information, Contact:
-----------------------------
John Anthony La Pietra, Elections Co-ordinator/GPMI
    jalp@triton.net



28 Michigan Greens Will Stand on the Ballot
November 7 for Peace, Jobs, and Justice
=======================================
20 Nominated Over the Weekend at GPMI State
Convention in Shaftsburg; 8 More in Caucuses

Party Renews Opposition to "Civil Rights" Scam MCRI,
Hunting of Michigan's Bird of Peace; Also Says "No"
to Hasty, Fiscally Irresponsible Repeal of SBT



The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) nominated a score of
candidates for this fall's general election, and took
positions on three statewide issues, at its 2006 state
convention at Woodhull Township Hall in Shaftsburg.

The twenty candidates from the convention join eight more
who were already nominated in local and county caucuses.
All will campaign on the party's central theme for 2006:
"Peace, Jobs, and Justice."

Several candidates nominated at the convention are members
of a "Stop the War" slate of peace activists from across
Michigan.  They joined with the Greens to give more voters
across Michigan more chances to voice their opposition to
the perpetual-conflict policies of politicians as usual.

GPMI Elections Co-ordinator John Anthony La Pietra noted
the significance of the convention's timing.  "Today is
the 61st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  It's
a day to remember that military might doesn't make us
right -- a day to think about choosing peace instead."

Michigan Greens also renewed their support for the state
bird of peace, voting unanimously to promote a "no" vote
in this fall's referendum on shooting mourning doves.
Governor Granholm and the Legislature struck a deal in
2004 to end the state's 99-year ban on dove-hunting,
but opponents turned in almost 300,000 signatures on
petitions to let the voters decide.

And GPMI continued its opposition to another statewide
ballot question, once again unanimously rejecting the
so-called "Michigan Civil Rights Initiative".  Misnamed
and misleading, MCRI would force state agencies to turn a
blind eye to institutionalized racism and discrimination.
It would end the collection of data showing the lingering
effects of institutionalized racism, and gut programs
like Affirmative Action that would "address and redress
discrimination", in the words of a 2004 GPMI resolution.

Both these votes repeated positions Michigan Greens had
taken at their last convention in 2004.  This year, they
added another "no" vote on a state issue which may or
may not be on the November ballot:  the proposal to dump
Michigan's Single Business Tax (SBT) all but immediately --
and without the financial discipline of stating how to
plug the hole SBT's departure would leave in the budget.

La Pietra and other Michigan Greens will finish the task
of getting GPMI's candidates on the November 7 ballot by
turning in required paperwork to the Bureau of Elections
and several county clerks on Monday.

State law requires Greens to nominate by caucuses and
conventions, rather than letting them take part in this
coming week's public primary votes.  "It's a bit ironic,"
said La Pietra.  "We're the party that supports clean
elections and public financing of campaigns, but we're
the ones shut out of the publicly financed and promoted
primary elections."

But Green candidates will be included on this fall's
general-election ballot, under the party's sunflower
symbol.  And well before then, they will be listed --
alongside the candidates of other parties kept out of
the August primaries -- on the State Bureau of Elections
Web page of candidates for Tuesday, November 7:

  http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/candlist/06GEN/06GEN_CL.HTM

GPMI's home page is at:

  http://www.migreens.org



#     #     #


           created/distributed using donated labor


Green Party of Michigan
548 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI  48104
    http://www.migreens.org
    734-663-3555

    GPMI was formed in 1987 to address environmental
issues in Michigan politics.  Greens are organized
in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Each
state Green Party sets its own goals and creates its
own structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:

  Ecological Wisdom
  Grassroots Democracy
  Social Justice
  Non-Violence
  Community Economics
  Decentralization
  Feminism
  Respect for Diversity
  Personal/Global Responsibility
  Future Focus/Sustainability



*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*
*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*



Candidates Nominated at GPMI 2006 State Convention
August 5-6, 2006 * Woodhull Township Hall, Shaftsburg
-----------------------------------------------------
Douglas Campbell
Governor

David Frank Skrbina
Lieutenant Governor

Lynn Meadows
Secretary of State

David Sole
US Senator

David J. Newland
US Representative/Congressional District 01

Rodger William Gurk
US Representative/Congressional District 03

Kenny R. Mathenia
US Representative/Congressional District 05

Aaron Stuttman
US Representative/Congressional District 08

Matthew Abel
US Representative/Congressional District 09  [Oakland County]

Candace Ruth Caveny
US Representative/Congressional District 10

Arthur William Myatt
US Representative/Congressional District 12

Aimee Smith
US Representative/Congressional District 15

Kevin Anthony Carey
statewide/State Board of Education

Jacob Woods
statewide/State Board of Education

Edward Arthur Morin
statewide/University of Michigan Board of Regents

Lauren Elizabeth Spencer
statewide/Michigan State University Board of Trustees

Margaret Guttshall
statewide/Wayne State University Board of Governors

Michael William Merriweather
statewide/Wayne State University Board of Governors

Lloyd Clarke
State Senator/District 32 [Gratiot & Saginaw Counties]

Pete Van Jr.
State Representative/District 088 [Allegan County]



Nominated Earlier at County Caucuses
------------------------------------
James Wolbrink
State Senator/District 05  [Wayne County]

Richard T. Kuszmar
State Senator/District 09  [Macomb County]

Kyle McBee
State Senator/District 13  [Oakland County]

William J. Opalicky
State Senator/District 14  [Oakland County]

Kristen Hamel
State Rep/District 001  [Wayne County]

Fred D. Vitale
State Rep/District 003  [Wayne County]

Derek M. Grigsby
State Rep/District 007  [Wayne County]

Pete Schermerhorn
Ann Arbor City Council/Ward 3  [Washtenaw County]