Keeping Score

The League of Conservation Voters, perhaps the preeminent enviro-political organization, has released its latest rendition of its Environmental Scorecard, in which it rates the voting record of each US Senator and Representative.

The Environmental Scorecard may be found here

Separate But Unequal

On October 25, 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court (Mark Lewis and Dennis Winslow, et al. v. Gwendolyn L. Harris, etc., et al. (A-68-05)) ruled that "every statutory right and benefit conferred to heterosexual couples through civil marriage must be made available to committed same-sex couples."

The Court held:

"Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married
heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The Court holds
that under the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, committed samesex
couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the
civil marriage statutes.

A victory for justice, right?! Well ...

The Court dropped the ball on the issue of whether gays or lesbians should be allowed to be "married". Instead the Court deferred the issue to the state legislature.

"The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to samesex
couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process."

So, equal rights, but not necessarily the same rights. Protection, but not Equal Protection. Hmmm... equal but separate, separate but equal. Where have I heard that before ...

You'll pardon me if this victory feels a little hollow.

"This Land Ain't Your Land ..."

From The Wilderness Society:

Stop the Public Lands Giveaway!

A little-known 19th Century statute is threatening to crisscross your public lands with a spider web of roads and development. The bill attempts to use an antiquated mining law loophole to allow the bulldozing and paving of thousands of miles of new roads through federal lands, and to open pristine areas to development and off-road vehicle use all across the West.

H.R. 6298 would re-interpret an obscure rights-of way law known as Revised Stature 2477, part of the 1866 Mining Law, to turn over a huge number of old rights-of-way claims on federal lands to state and local governments. Removing federal protections from these lands, which include national parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments, wilderness areas, and other sensitive federal lands, would have major consequences and serious environmental impacts throughout the West.

Even worse, the bill would hand over many lands that have little connection to legitimate transportation needs, and many that were never truly used as highways at all. Every place where there has ever been a cow trail, old mining track, dirt footpath, carriage way, off-road vehicle route, or even a river could be at risk. This bill has established such a low bar for proving a claim that essentially any line that has ever appeared on any map at some point in the last two centuries could be considered to be a "highway."

In addition, the bill would also waive the environmental review and public involvement requirements** of the federal National Environmental Policy Act, taking away the public's right to have a voice in the decisions affecting our public lands.

Lands at Risk

The bill jeopardizes millions of acres of public lands, including:

o Alaska: Thousands of miles of claims have been made, including areas within Denali National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and Katmai National Park, some of the world's most pristine wild lands;

o California: San Bernardino County has alleged more than 2,500 miles of routes in the Mojave National Preserve;

o Utah: There are an estimated 15,000 claims in the state, including jeep trails, cow paths, streambeds, and long-abandoned mining tracks, many within the proposed "America's Redrock Wilderness Act;"

o Colorado: Moffat County, Colorado has claimed 240 miles of trails through Dinosaur National Monument, including part of the Yampa River itself.



From The Revolution :
Get off your ass and do something! Write your congresspuppet http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/stop_RS2477



** Sound familiar?! Bush and his Republican Band of Eco-Butchers are at it again

All Bush is saying, is give War a chance

Concerning North Korea's recent apparent nuclear testing:

What do we expect? Do as we say, not as we do? You're part of the Axis of Evil, and we attack Axis of Evil countries preemptively, but don't defend yourself? We can violate the spirit and letter of the agreement, but you may not?

From United For Peace & Justice:

Dear friends,

North Korea's apparent nuclear test is chilling evidence of how the Bush administration's policy of shunning negotiations has failed. There is no doubt: People in the U.S. and around the world are far less safe than we were five years ago.

If North Korea did test a nuclear explosive device, it is a setback to the global efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms. It could destabilize northeast Asia, the wider Asian continent, and have negative repercussions around the world. As a supporter of the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide, starting here at home, United for Peace and Justice views this development with alarm.

But the primary blame for this situation lies with the Bush administration, not North Korea. The nuclear test is a direct reaction to the Bush administration’s policy of shunning negotiations and threatening North Korea with war and regime change.

In 1994 North Korea signed an agreement with the U.S. to suspend its nuclear weapons program and allow international inspections and monitoring of its nuclear facilities. In return, the U.S. agreed to not make military threats against North Korea, to supply fuel oil to replace the lost nuclear power, and to help build two modern atomic power plants.

But beginning in 2002, the Bush administration slowly gutted its part of the agreement. It branded North Korea as part of an “axis of evil,” threatened war, ended the shipments of fuel oil and the construction of nuclear power plants, tightened a long-standing economic embargo, and obstinately refused direct bilateral talks. The White House even threatened the limited use of nuclear weapons in a regional conflict with North Korea. All of this in a context that goes back more than 50 years. The U.S. has refused to sign a peace treaty that world formally end the Korean War and still maintains some 30,000 troops in South Korea.

As the Bush administration geared up to launch war on Iraq -- another country named as part of Bush's "axis of evil" -- North Korean officials had reason to worry that the U.S. might attack their country, too. Predictably, the North Korean government responded by withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, expelling atomic energy agency inspectors, and beginning to develop nuclear weapons.

For eight years (1994-2002) direct negotiations with the North Korean government reduced the threat of nuclear proliferation and war on the Korean peninsula. So why are Bush administration officials telling us it’s impossible to negotiate with North Korea?

They, and their neoconservative allies, are calling for sanctions, isolation, and even military threats to impose "regime behavior change." But this is the same recipe that brought us the disastrous Iraq war, and will only deepen North Korea’s resolve to develop nuclear weapons, potentially setting off a new nuclear arms race in the region.

There is only one way to address the current crisis: Direct negotiations with North Korea. The Bush administration must negotiate an agreement providing assurance it will not launch military attacks against North Korea, offering material aid, and taking steps towards normalizing relations in return for a commitment from North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. As even former Secretary of State James Baker said earlier this week, “It’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.”

In Cahoots?

I really hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist. I shy away from tales of secret deals between world giants and power giants. But this seems too coincidental to ignore.

Noticed that gas prices have dropped dramatically in the past few weeks? And why? Generally, gas prices are dependent on the stability of world oil supplies and the greed of Big Oil executives. Now we know the second factor hasn't changed. But the first factor, if anything, has gotten worse in the past months. So in theory, and following time-tested supply and demand economics, the price of gas should have RISEN recently.

Instead, we have seen a dramatic drop in gas prices in the past few weeks. The past few weeks, leading up to an election. The past few weeks, in which House and Senate seats thought to be solidly in Republican corners are hotly contested. The past few weeks, in which the Republicans' deathgrip on the US Congress appears to be in serious jeopardy.

How could this happen? Statistics consistently show that Big Oil contributes to political candidates at an astronomical amount and rate. They also show that Big Oil tends to contribute to Republican candidates over Democratic candidates at a rate of nearly 3 1/2 to 1. Clearly, Big Oil is solidly in the Republican camp.

We could write books about how the Republican leaders are Big Oil's bitches.

Big Oil has allies in the White House and Congress, who support more oil over alternative energy sources, support drilling efforts over conservation efforts, support tax breaks for the wealthy and big business over individuals and the middle class, and support deregulation of environmental standards over protecting the environment.

Big Oil remains Big Oil with a Republican congress. Big Oil can read polls and feel what we all feel, which is that the tide may be changing and the Republicans may be out on their asses. It's about fucking time. Big Oil knows that Americans are becoming more aware of the poor state of affairs, and the poor state of the economy, under Republican rule. All of which bodes very poorly for Big Oil's opportunity to continue to fleece the people, the country and the planet for trillions in profits.

They must keep the power status quo. So, the Powers-That-Be in Big Oil agree to drop prices, dramatically increasing that ever-elusive presidential "approval factor" by artificially manipulating public perception of the reality of the economy in favor of Republicans. Historically, the gas pump is one of the first places where the consumer forms their public opinion of the economy.

In other words, dramatically lower gas prices equates to a happier populus, which equates to less voter dissatisfaction, which leads to lower turnout at the polls and a decreased "throw-the-bums-out" attitude. All of which provides substantial assistance to the Republican hold on power.

But wait a minute, I'm suggesting that the Big Oil tycoons voluntarily lose profits. Hard to believe, right? Not if you consider the long term, the Big Picture, the stakes they hold in the Oil War Game. In the long run, keeping the Oil Whore Republican party in power tips the cost-benefit analysis so far in their favor, it's a wonder they don't engage in this type of abhorrent behavior more often.

...Or maybe they do ...

WWF is not a ridiculous pro wrestling league

From the World Wildlife Fund:

WWF Pledges Amazon Commitment at Clinton Global Initiative

At the Clinton Global Initiative in New York this September, WWF affirmed its commitment to the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) Program, which conserves 193,000 square miles of the Amazon's richest and most threatened habitats. Using conservative estimates, WWF calculates that ARPA will reduce deforestation by preventing 250 million tons of carbon from being released by the continued forest burning and clearing that would otherwise destroy these irreplaceable habitats, home to such gorgeous birds as the blue-fronted Amazon. That equates to keeping approximately 120 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year! WWF pledged to raise $70 million, on top of the $15 million already contributed, over the ten-year duration of the program.


P.S. Kudos to President Clinton for continuing his good work.

Power to the Sisters

The Revolution CAREs

Find out how CARE is empowering women around the world to be catalysts for change in their communities.

Read more about their work to fight global poverty or download their Annual Report.

Not Guilty

Another victory for Justice, from our friends at the Innocence Project:


http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/100706ManFreed.html

Brooklyn Man Free After Wrongfully Convicted 21 Years Ago

BROOKLYN--- DNA tests prove that Scott Fappiano did not commit a rape in Brooklyn for which he was convicted in 1985. Twenty one years after he was wrongly convicted of rape, Scott Fappiano was released from prison Friday.

Fappiano was convicted based on significantly flawed eyewitness identification procedures and his innocence was almost impossible to prove because New York City's trouble evidence preservation system lost items that could be subject to DNA testing, according to the Innocence Project. Ultimately, the Innocence Project located evidence at a private DNA lab which had merged with another private lab that had received two items of evidence from Fappiano's case in 1989 and kept it in storage. A wealth of other evidence that could have been tested years earlier was never located in the New York Police Department's storage facility.Fappiano was released from custody after the Innocence Project filed a motion to vacate his conviction.

In 1983, the NYPD officer and his wife were asleep when a man broke into their home, restrained the man and raped his wife. At trial, the only evidence against Fappiano was an eyewitness identification from the rape victim, the cop's wife--an identification that was made in lineups that the Innocence Project said were deeply flawed and unreliable. The victim's cop husband viewed the same lineup but did not select Fappiano who was five inches shorter than the 5'10" perpetrator described by the victim.

Despite blood-typing tests which excluded Fappiano as the source of what police initially believed was critical crime scene evidence left by the perpetrator (cigarettes and stained clothing), the prosecution twice took the case to trial. At his trial in 1984, the jury could not reach a verdict, voting 11-1 for acquittal, and he was retried in 1985, when the jury convicted him. He was sentenced to a term of 20 to 50 years in prison.

"Scott Fappiano's case is the starkest yet in a long line of New York cases where innocent people were convicted based on eyewitness misidentification. In case after case, we have proven that faulty eyewitness identification procedures in New York lead to wrongful convictions", Innocence Project attorney Nina Morrison said. "Nobody can look at these cases and say there isn't a serious problem---yet New York still hasn't taken problems with eyewitness identification seriously and implemented reforms". The Innocence Project also said that the NYPD's inability to locate evidence in Fappiano's case demonstrates the urgent need to reform the city's system of collecting, preserving and retrieving such evidence.

Earlier this summer, another Innocence Project client, Alan Newton, was exonerated a full 12 years after he initially requested DNA testing. In his case, the evidence was finally located in the NYPD Pearson Place Warehouse, in the exact location it was supposed to be in the first place. On Tuesday, Oct. 10, the New York State Assembly Committee on Codes is holding a public hearing in Manhattan on evidence preservation and retrieval problems. Newton is expected to attend the hearing. "Scott Fappiano could have been exonerated more than three years ago, when the Innocence Project began searching for the evidence in his case, if the NYPD had adequate policies and procedures for its evidence warehouse", Morrison said. "New Yorkers have to wonder have many innocent people are sitting in prison because the NYPD can't find evidence that could be subjected to DNA testing". Indeed, the DNA which established Fappiano's innocence, a 23-year-old pair of sweatpants, were only located because a portion of that material happened to have been preserved outside the NYPD's custody. Last year, Orchid Cellmark Inc, a DNA laboratory based in Princeton, NJ, discovered two vials of DNA material containing spermatozoa from the perpetrator of the rape for which Fappiano had been convicted. The material had been submitted to a now-defunct DAN laboratory, Lifecodes, for attempted, but unsuccessful, DNA testing in the case in 1989, and, following a corporate acquisition of the former Lifecodes lab, Orchid Cellmark obtained and diligently catalogued dozens of boxes of Lifecodes' old DNA materials. New DNA teting by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office scientifically confirmed that the evidence came from this case and that Fappiano was not the rapist.

In New York City, the Innocence Project has six open cases and 17 closed cases where evidence in NYPD custody has still not been found after years of searching. At Tuesday's legislative hearing, the Innocence Project will share details about some of those case and the organization's efforts to work with NYPD leadership to resolve the systemic problems.There have been 183 DNA exonerations nationwide. In 75% of these cases, eyewitness identification played a role in wrongful convictions, according to the Innocence Project which is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. 10-07-06
© 2006 North Country Gazette

That pesky Sixth Amendment ...

From People For The American Way :

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 – License to Torture?
S. 3930 PASSED

After a much-publicized disagreement between some prominent Senate Republicans and the White House over the president’s proposed bill on military detainees, the so-called “mavericks” on the Senate Armed Services Committee capitulated and allowed passage of a bill – The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (S. 3930) – that undermines Sixth Amendment rights granting the accused access to the prosecutorial evidence, leaves the Bush administration wide latitude in interpreting Geneva Convention mandates, and abandons Habeas Corpus rights that date back to the Magna Carta. This unconstitutional legislation comes as a response to Supreme Court decisions rebuking the Bush administration’s detainee and military tribunal policies, and legitimizes the un-American practices of indefinite detentions and the harsh mistreatment of detainees, more characteristic of oppressive dictatorships than a free society. The House had already passed similar legislation granting President Bush his requested expansion of executive power.

Wake up and Dissent

"The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people"
-- Louis Brandeis