Arizona Green Party Now Has Over 5,000 Members; Unclear How Many Regarded as "Sham" Members by Party Leaders

According to Green Party Watch, The Arizona Green Party has increased party registration to over 5,000 voters, including the growing number of Pinal County Greens. As the Arizona Green Party notes, this is an increase of almost 500 Greens since last August, so it appears that the party was greatly helped by the large number of candidates it ran for office in 2010, including those it unsuccessfully sued and tried to remove from the ballot as "sham" candidates.

From the Arizona Green Party's press release:

2010 marked the 20 year anniversary of the Arizona Green Party and they look forward to broadening their base by educating voters on their progressive positions on local and national issues. “Most people have this notion that a stereotypical Green Party member is this hippie tree-hugging environmentalist, and that isn’t always the case,” says Luisa Evonne Valdez, who was recently elected as AZGP Co-Chair this month. “What people don’t see enough of is the social justice and economic reform that the Green Party fights for. We focus on 10 Key Values that encompass a wide variety of issues. We believe in Single-Payer Health Care for all, we have been against SB1070 from the beginning, we believe in Marriage Equality and Equal Rights/Protections for our LGBTQ communities, we want to Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, fight for fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget that is based on fair taxation and not dependent on sales tax or through slashing funding for our most vulnerable populations. We support conservation of our land and resources, protecting our parks and wildlife, as well issues like strengthening our middle class and increasing green jobs in Arizona through clean energy. The more we can create awareness for the diverse and all-encompassing issues we strive to achieve, the more people will understand that being Green is more than just hugging trees, it is about restoring civility and humanity through compassion and common sense.”

Pinal County Greens totally support Luisa's statement. Congratulations to all of us in the Arizona Green Party for this accomplishment.

Pinal County Greens Support Egyptian Green Party and the Egyptian People

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 29, 2011
Yesterday the Pinal County Greens, members of the Arizona Green Party in Pinal County, passed a resolution supporting the Egyptian Green Party الخضر..المستقبل..جريدة الوطن
and the struggle of the Egyptian people. We are reprinting this from Another Green World:

URGENT MESSAGE FROM EGYPT: (re-post if you can)

To all the people of world:

The people in Egypt are under governmental siege. Mubarak regime is banning Facebook, Twitter, and all other popular internet sites Now, the internet are completely blocked in Egypt. Tomorrow the government will block the 3 mobile phone network will be completely blocked. And there is news that even the phone landlines will be cut tomorrow, to prevent any news agency from following what will happen.

Suez city is already under siege now. The government cut the water supply and electricity, people, including, children and elderly are suffering there now. The patients in hospitals cannot get urgent medical care. The injured protesters are lying in the streets and the riot police are preventing people from helping them. The families of the killed protesters cannot get the bodies of their sons to bury them. This picture is the same in north Saini (El-Sheikh zoyad city) and in western Egypt (Al-salom). The riot police is cracking down on protesters in Ismailia, Alexandria, Fayoum, Shbin Elkoum, and Cairo, the capital, in many neighborhoods across the city.

The government is preparing to crackdown on the protesters in all Egyptian cities. They are using tear gas bombs, rubber and plastic pullets, chemicals like dilutes mustard gas against protesters. Several protesters today have been killed when the armored vehicles of the riot police hit them. Officials in plain clothes carrying blades and knives used to intimidate protesters. Thugs deployed by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior are roaming the streets of Cairo, setting fire on car-wheels as means of black propaganda to demonize protesters and justify police beatings and state torture.

All this has been taken place over the past three days during the peaceful demonstrations in Cairo and other cities. Now, with the suspicious silence of the local media and the lack of coverage from the international media, Mubarak and his gang are blocking all the channels that can tell the world about what is happening.

People who call for their freedom need your support and help. Will you give them a hand?

The activists are flooding the net (youtube and other sites) with thousands of pictures and videos showing the riot police firing on armless people. The police started to use ammunition against protesters. 15-year old girl has been injured and another 25 year old man has been shot in the mouth. While nothing of these has appeared in the media, there is more to happen tomorrow. Will you keep silent? Will you keep your mouth shut while seeing all these cruelty and inhumane actions?

We don’t ask for much, just broadcast what is happening

Written by: Mariam Hussien

Also, check out the solidarity statement at Green Eve. Thanks from the Pinal County Greens.

Pinal County Greens Call for Ouster of Belarus Strongman Lukashenko, Replacement by Puppet Government Headed by Kermit the Frog

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 15 -

The Pinal County Greens have passed a resolution calling on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to overthrow the repressive Lukashenko regime in Belarus and replace it with a puppet government headed by Kermit the Frog.

At their monthly meeting yesterday, the Pinal County Greens, a group of Arizona Green Party members in Pinal County, voted unanimously for the resolution. Richard Grayson, chair of the Pinal County Greens, said his family roots go back to Minsk, and that the party members didn't take this step lightly.

"We understand that is a difficult way to replace a brutal, controlling regime," Grayson said. "But as Kermit the Frog has said, 'It ain't easy being green.' Гэта не лёгка быць зялёным."

The Pinal County Greens' resolution also demanded the immediate release of over 20 political prisoners held in the remand cells of the KGB in Minsk, an investigation of the brutal beating of the opposition’s rally in Minsk on December 19,

an end to the repression of independent media in Belarus, and following the takeover by the interim puppet government headed by Kermit the Frog and his cabinet (including Lamb Chop, Topo Gigio and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Belarus.

As Marie-Luise Beck, Green Party member of the Bundestag from Bremen, said last week, we "must support the Belarusians in their legitimate quest for democratic change and the European future of the country, so that Belarusians could avoid being hostages of the dictator and his isolation policy."

Pinal County Greens Vote to Contribute $100 for Penis Enlargement Surgery for Gun Owners of America Director of Communications Erich Pratt

Apache Junction, Ariz., Jan. 14, 2011 -
At their monthly meeting today, the Pinal County Greens, an official group of members of the Arizona Green Party in Pinal County, voted unanimously to donate $100 to help Gun Owners of America Director of Communications Erich Pratt get surgery to enlarge his penis.

In the wake of the tragedy in Tucson, Mr. Pratt today told the New York Times:

These politicians need to remember that these [gun] rights aren't given to us by then. They come from God. They are God-given rights. They cant be infringed or limited in any way. What are they going to do: limit it to two or three rounds? Having lots of ammunition is critical...

Mr. Pratt had previously said:

If our government chooses to violate our unalienable rights; if our government chooses to pass unjust laws, contrary to the consent of the governed; if our government chooses to take despotic actions that reduce us to servitude of the government, or some political agenda – then we have a right and a duty according to the Declaration of Independence to throw off such Government.

With the hope that appropriate medical treatment will help Mr. Pratt recover, the Pinal County Greens voted to donate $100 to the fund established for the communications director for Gun Owners of America.

Tragedy in Tucson

The Arizona Green Party continues to advocate for non-violence after tragedy in Tucson


ARIZONA – The Arizona Green Party is both saddened and outraged in response to the acts of domestic terrorism that plagued not only the City of Tucson this weekend, but our whole nation. Our hearts go out to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as well as all the victims and their families, friends, and communities affected by this senseless tragedy. Our sincerest condolences to those lives that were lost devastatingly on Saturday and we hope for a speedy recovery to those beginning their healing process.

Nonviolence is one of The Ten Key Values of the Green Party. 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. Peace is not just the absence of violence; it is a willingness to resolve conflict in a constructive manner with a spirit of good will and respect.

Violence is never an answer. We, the Arizona Green Party, will continue to advocate for peace and non-violence in the wake of this tragedy in Tucson and everyday that bloodshed and brutality are replacements for compassionate dialogue and diplomatic action.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DATE: January 10, 2010


Marcus Bellamy, AZGP Media Outreach Coordinator, (602) 703-6243, trotmium@hotmail.com

Angel Torres, AZGP Co-Chair, (623) 202-3747, info@azgp.org

Luisa Evonne Valdez, AZGP Co-Chair, 602-413-3182, lehallvaldez@gmail.com

Celeste Castorena, AZGP at-large member, (602) 430-9714 (bilingual media contact)