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GNN ISSUE 20: 14-April-2006 |
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GNN - GREEN NEWS NETWORK - ISSUE 20: 14-April-2006
A free monthly newsletter that provides green news and views from the Gloucestershire Green party so that together we can create a better world.
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
1. ELECTION TIME
2. NUCLEAR: OUR 'ACCLAIMED' WASTE SUBMISSION PAPER, NUCLEAR TRAINS IN GLOS, DECOM. COSTS UP AGAIN AND MORE
3. STROUD'S COHOUSING SCHEME IN THE INDEPENDENT
4. CLIMATE CHANGE: 'WEIRDBEARDS', GOVT. FAILURES, NOEL EDMUNDS AND TAXPAYERS £300 ANNUAL SUBSIDY TO AVIATION
5. GLOS ROADSIDE TREE VANDALISM
6. NO TO BADGER CULL, YES TO SUPPORT FOR FARMERS
7. GLOS GREEN REPORT ON BUDGETS BETRAYAL OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
8. GM: ACTION @ RODBOROUGH AND RETURN OF THE TERMINATOR?
9. GLOS RAPE PROSECUTION FIGURES: WORST IN COUNTRY
10. RESPONSE TO JUNK FOOD ADVERTISING ANNOUNCEMENT
11. GULF NEWS CONTACT GREENS OVER BOMBER SITINGS
12. RETHINK PARKWAY
13. LABOUR ARE DESTROYING THE POST OFFICE
14. STROUD DISTRICT SHOP LOCAL HYPOCRISY
15. WORST DROUGHT: STOP LEAKS THEN GO FOR METERING
16. FEAR OF MEGA-DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORT CHAOS AT ASTON DOWN
17. RIGHTS: GUANTANAMO, SLEAZE AND FREEDOM OF SPEACH
18. PLUS: STANDISH, UNISON STRIKE, MATERNITY HOSPITAL AND MORE
19. EMAIL ACTIONS: McDONALDS AND FREE TRADE MADNESS
20. NEW THIS MONTH ON 'BIG ISSUES' SECTION OF THE WEBSITE
21. WEBSITES THAT MIGHT INTEREST
22. NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"We must feel that we are supported by the same power that brought the Earth into being, that power that spun the galaxies into space, that lit the sun and brought the moon into its orbit."
Thomas Berry
"One cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the family, the community or the world."
Patch Adams
"War cannot be humanized, it can only be abolished."
Einstein
"I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."
"We have worked a lot. Only Napoleon did more than me - but I am certainly taller than him."
Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi (5ft 6in tall)
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1. ELECTION TIME
Stroud and Gloucester Green parties will be fighting seats for the District Council elections on 4th May - any help in leafletting, putting up posters or on the day itself would be most appreciated. We have a real chance to win more seats: we urgently need issues like climate change to be taken more seriously. Call the election hotline on 01453 751189
See some of our leaflets and details about candidates - more coming soon:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=4&Itemid=92
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2. NUCLEAR: OUR 'ACCLAIMED' WASTE SUBMISSION PAPER, NUCLEAR TRAINS IN GLOS, DECOM. COSTS UP AGAIN AND MORE
A terrorist attack on N-transport through Cam, Stonehouse and Gloucester could lead to 8,000 deaths. A new report by an internationally renowned nuclear engineer, released today will show that a terrorist attack using explosives on a routine transport of nuclear waste in Gloucestershire could produce a radioactive plume 60 miles long which could trigger 8,000 cancers.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1142&Itemid=115
And letter in response to rail chiefs calls to not worry:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1158&Itemid=2
Questions sent to Oldbury re safety:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1141&Itemid=116
The Gloucestershire Green party have made a submission to the Government's nuclear waste consultation which has just closed. The 35-page submission has been described by other environmentalists as 'one of the best' on the issue: "We have...miscalculated nuclear storage with some containers already completely disintegrating."
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1120&Itemid=115
The DTI launched a consultation on the Draft Nuclear Industries Security (Amendment) Regulations (i). This regulation aims to expand categories of restricted information and could very likely to lead in future to all advisors and consultants working outside the nuclear industry being included - even those independent advisers working for Greenpeace, FOE and the Green party.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1119&Itemid=115
Nuclear decommissioning up to £70 Billion:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1166&Itemid=2
Three Green Party representatives from Stroud joined others from around the South West, in Bath on Saturday to discuss ways to develop a nuclear-free energy future.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1109&Itemid=115
And just for fun read: We Must Expand Our Nuclear Power Program If We're To Realize Our Dream Of Superhero Mutants:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46035
Or try Alice in Nuclear Blunderland:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/alice-in-nuclear-blunderland080306
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3. STROUD'S COHOUSING SCHEME IN THE INDEPENDENT
David Pearson reports in The Independent: "They were 35 families, all wanting eco-friendly homes, community spirit - and some privacy. The result? Britain's first new-build cohousing scheme. Sarah Lunnon was living in a terraced house in Caerphilly and was looking to move her family somewhere more congenial. A historic-buildings surveyor (and now a local Green Party councillor), she was interested in environmental issues. So when she read that Springhill, the first new-build cohousing project, was under construction in Stroud, Gloucestershire, she made contact. Referred to as "the greenest town in the west", Stroud, a former wool-town, has a Green town council....." Read more:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
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4. CLIMATE CHANGE: 'WEIRDBEARDS', GOVT. FAILURES, NOEL EDMUNDS AND TAXPAYERS £300 ANNUAL SUBSIDY TO AVIATION
The Gloucestershire Green party's submission to the Energy Review will be on the website very soon.
Martin Kirby's repeated use of names like 'tree-huggers', 'Weirdbeards' or 'Happy-clappy' to describe environmentalists may make fun reading but does nothing to help debate serious issues:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1146&Itemid=116
Not a good week for tackling climate change:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1151&Itemid=116
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1149&Itemid=116
Some comments from Cllr. John Marjoram back from Scarborough: "Seaviews and plenty of fresh air rather than hot air. Once again it is plain that only Greens are serious about our future. It is only Greens who have been consistently making the case for a low-carbon future..."
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1131&Itemid=115
Television host Noel Edmonds is hoping to clinch a deal for Prince Michael of Kent's £8 million country mansion near Stroud. See Green comment:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1128&Itemid=115
Glos Greens criticize Tory sabotage of Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1108&Itemid=115
Taxpayers in Gloucestershire are effectively subsidising airlines to the tune of £300 per person every year, new research by Friends of the Earth reveals today.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1105&Itemid=115
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5. GLOS ROADSIDE TREE VANDALISM
80 trees between 20 and 30 years old have been cut to ground level on the road out of Whiteshill and along a lane to Haresfield Beacon and more trees along the road to Edge. Indeed trees have now been cut down across the County: read the arguments here and make up your mind:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1110&Itemid=115
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6. NO TO BADGER CULL, YES TO SUPPORT FOR FARMERS
Greens in Stroud are helping to put together a coalition of groups opposed to the cull. Anyone interested in helping please get in touch: press@glosgreenparty.ork.uk
Throughout Gloucestershire and the rest of the UK, the 25,000 people who responded to the Government’s proposals to kill badgers are now waiting with baited breath for the final decision. Apparently the figure has now reached 35,000 - 5 times the number who wrote re fox-hunting!! Read more about OFT proposals - although the consultation is now closed on this:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1107&Itemid=116
Greens call for public to badger their MP to support science and prevent a badger cull in Gloucestershire
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1127&Itemid=115
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7. GLOS GREEN REPORT ON BUDGETS BETRAYAL OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
Budget is a betrayal of our children and grandchildren's future. While there is some lip-service to environmental issues, nothing in this budget takes the bold steps needed to address climate chaos and energy security.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1129&Itemid=116
On the evidence of this budget, Blair and Brown seem to be the first dinosaurs without a backbone.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1130&Itemid=115
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8. GM: ACTION @ RODBOROUGH AND RETURN OF THE TERMINATOR?
Greens joined an action on Rodborough Common near the Fort overlooking Stroud to highlight the threat to the very existence of biodynamic, organic and non-GM agriculture. Across the country and indeed in many other countries, similar actions were taking place: many people lighting beacons on hilltops
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1157&Itemid=115
Martin Whiteside, Parliamentary spokesperson for Stroud District Green party, is urging people to write to their MPs about the return of 'terminator technology' accompanying Genetically Modified Organisms.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1137&Itemid=115
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9. GLOS RAPE PROSECUTION FIGURES: WORST IN COUNTRY
Over 50,000 rapes in the UK each year but only 600 rapists sent to jail. These rape prosecution figures are utterly shocking especially in Gloucestershire which has the least convictions in England and Wales.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1152&Itemid=116
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10. RESPONSE TO JUNK FOOD ADVERTISING ANNOUNCEMENT
Ofcom, the media regulator's long-awaited report into advertising junk food to children sets out new rules banning the use of celebrities to advertise junk food during television programmes designed to appeal to the under-10s - but campaigners say the measures don't go far enough.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1140&Itemid=115
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11. GULF NEWS CONTACT GREENS OVER BOMBER SITINGS
Greens fear we maybe witnessing the build up to an attack on Iran. Two B-2 Stealth Bombers and two B-1B multi-role bombers have been spotted at the Fairford RAF base over the last week (i). The base, in rural Gloucestershire, last saw action in 2003 when B-52 bombers flew from there to bomb Iraq. It is the largest USAF bomber base in Europe and the only one with maintenance facilities for the B-2.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1143&Itemid=115
Update: Greens contacted by Gulf News:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1163&Itemid=2
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12. RETHINK PARKWAY
Greens respond to Coun. Waddington's attack on their Parkway stance:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1144&Itemid=116
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13. LABOUR ARE DESTROYING THE POST OFFICE
Parmjit Dhanda MP and Shaun Shute rightly criticise the new Lib Dem leadership call to privatise the post office against the wishes of their members (Citizen 30/03/06). However this is exactly what their own party, Labour are doing and what the Tories hope to do.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1147&Itemid=116
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14. STROUD DISTRICT SHOP LOCAL HYPOCRISY
Shop Local campaign yet support for Sainsbury's in Dursley:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1169&Itemid=2
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1170&Itemid=2
Permission has been granted for the Costa Coffee branch at the former clothes shop at the end of the Shambles - despite huge protest that included a demonstration by Greens and others outside the store and over 70 letters which included local novelist Katie Fforde and Town Centre manager, Vicky Hancock - plus letters of opposition to the press:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1168&Itemid=2
Setting record straight re Costa Coffee:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1106&Itemid=116
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15. WORST DROUGHT: STOP LEAKS THEN GO FOR METERING
We have the worst drought in 75 years with many areas including parts of Gloucestershire facing hosepipe bans. The decaying infrastructure (i) of our water supplies means that despite recent improvements a staggering quarter of our water supply is lost before it ever reaches our taps!
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1133&Itemid=116
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16. FEAR OF MEGA-DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORT CHAOS AT ASTON DOWN
Stroud Green party have submitted a report criticising an Environmental Statement proposed by Leda properties, the owners of the former MOD airfield at Aston Down. They fear the report is trying to pave the way for massive planning applications that will lead to a 'transport nightmare'.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1154&Itemid=115
Greens write to EA and H&S Executive re Aston Down concerns:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1148&Itemid=115
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17. RIGHTS: GUANTANAMO, SLEAZE AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Political sleaze? Since the Electoral Commission's records began, of the 25 people to donate more than 100,000 to the Labour Party, 20 have been given an honour of one kind or another.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1155&Itemid=116
Hundreds of people of 35 nationalities have been held for over four years at Guantánamo, many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. Even the UN has called for it's closure after concluding that interrogation techniques authorized for use at the facility violate the Convention against Torture:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1126&Itemid=116
The cafe discussion evening in Stroud on 24th March 2006 with people of all ages and backgrounds was on freedom of speech.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1139&Itemid=115
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18. PLUS: STANDISH, UNISON STRIKE, MATERNITY HOSPITAL AND MORE
Standish Mutual Care (SMC) was supported by many, including Greens, in making a bid to provide a health centre at the Standish Hospital site. The Department of Health has announced they have sold the site not to SMC:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1167&Itemid=2
Greens support UNISON strike:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1135&Itemid=116
Stroud Maternity Hospital threat:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1145&Itemid=115
Greens express concern that two communities near Stroud could be joined up by new homes in a proposal put forward by developers Chelbury Homes
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1132&Itemid=115
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19. EMAIL ACTIONS: McDONALDS AND FREE TRADE MADNESS
Greens urge all to write to McDonalds to change their buying practices
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1164&Itemid=2
Help stop new free trade madness
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1165&Itemid=2
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20. NEW THIS MONTH ON 'BIG ISSUES' SECTION OF THE WEBSITE
Under Green economics you'll find the hippies were right all along and a top ten policies for sustainability. Under Climate change the Mayor of London comes out against nuclear, Amory Levins writes and a look at those arguments about tree planting to offset emissions. Under Peace there are 10 myths about the Iraq invasion, under Food 'Every Little Protest Helps' while under Education, Health and Housing we see the H & S Executive is getting less safe. More being added but browse now at: http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php
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21. WEBSITES THAT MIGHT INTEREST
Meatrix 2: the follow up to the excellent cartoon about factory farming:
http://www.themeatrix2.com/
The international renewable energy magazine:
http://www.re-focus.net/
Fancy a wind turbine on your house for approx £1500? Plugs into your housing wiring:
http://www.windsave.com/index.htm
Informative cartoon on climate change:
http://cartoonkate.gn.apc.org/funny%20weather/funnyweather01.htm
Spoof ID card site:
http://www.socialscrutiny.org/doss1er-index.php
Short cartoon about plug-in hybrid cars:
http://www.calcars.org/bettah/
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22. NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING
People Trafficking - What causes people to leave their home country? Why would a woman chose to be trafficked? Why is people trafficking the most profitable illegal activity in the UK today? Should people be free to live and work anywhere in the world? Friday 28th April between 7.30 and 9.30pm at Star Anise Arts Cafe at the Painswick Inn, Gloucester Street, Stroud. Click 'Read more' to find out more about this talk and previous talks.
Read more about the previous coffee house discussions at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=96
Details of other Gloucestershire Green party meetings can be got from John Marjoram on 01453 751189
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GNN has grown out of a Green news service first established on 13th November 2001. To contribute to this news service (or to subscribe or unsubscribe) - contact the editor Philip Booth on press@glosgreenparty.org.uk
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