Why Are Green Party Candidates Better? from Tom Tresser on Vimeo. Articulate, this year's slate of Green Party candidates in Illinois demonstrate that the financially challenged party is not without commitment in the state. Rich Whitney, a civil rights lawyer, has suited up for his second attempt at the Governor's office. In 2006, he successfully gained ballot access for his state's part by winning 10.4 per cent of the vote. This year, he hopes to get 40 per cent and take the office. In a state and during this time in our nation when dirty politics and corporate influence has received concentrated exposure, a 40 per cent win may not be unrealistic. In this video Whitney, along with Illinois Green Party candidates Tom Tresser (Cook County Board President) and LeAlan Jones (U.S. Senate) are interviewed on Chicago Public Television. Articulate and on message, the candidates discuss the four pillars of the party's platform: social justice, environmental wisdom, non-violence, and grassroots democracy. When questioned about their lack of office experience, a rarely asked question of candidates of the two major parties, the candidates indicated that they have a lot of experience as community organizers (that seemed to work out well for Obama), that they are NOT beholding to corporate interests, and that they are prepared to enact good public policy to benefit the people.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Democracy NOW! showcased two very interesting segments last Wednesday, both intricately involved with victimization that occurs through violence. One segment discusses domestic violence and women's reproductive rights and the other, the practice of vulture funds stripping poor countries of Aid Money. The Cruel Rule of Womens' Rights through Domestic Violence and the Health Care Insurance Industry Follow this path to unreasonableness: Domestic violence is considered a pre-existing condition in eight states, allowing some health insurance companies to refuse all coverage. *If a pregnant woman is a victim of such battering and is in fear of losing her insurance, she will not disclose the abuse. Utah has just passed legislation that allows women who have, through planned or reckless behavior, terminated a fetus to be charged with infanticide or homicide. This is one state amongst others who are attempting to apply such laws. Continuing this logic, a loophole is opened that would allow a battered woman, afraid to leave her partner, who loses her fetus could be charged with attempted feticide or homicide.While decriers criticize women's rights activists as taking an extreme interpretation on the hemming of pro-choice values, the fact remains that cases are coming forward that have this negatively legal effect on pregnant women. For eg. a young pregnant woman in Iowa fell down some stairs and when she went to the hospital, she was arrested for attempted infanticide. Another case in Utah where a woman pregnant with twins refused a C-section and was charged with murder after one of her babies emerged stillborn. *Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming are amongst the states that allow insurance to deny coverage on the basis of domestic violence. Greg Palast Blows the Cover on Vulture Funds Preying on Poor African Nations (47 minutes into show) Over the last five years, Britain, the United States and o

The United Kingdom's Fair Trade Organization launched its annual campaign to change consumer behavior, inviting people to flex their consumer muscles for the good of people everywhere by swapping out their usual product purchases for certified fair trade ones for just two weeks to start. When you buy certified fair trade products, your purchases help local farmers and craftspeople earn a fair and stable income and thus allow communities to prosper and organize. Coffee, teas, chocolate, cotton, cosmetics, fruits, and ice cream - yes even ice cream can all be bought with the assurance that the community that produced its ingredients are building a sustainable future. And leading the delicious path to fair trade this month is Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, whose founders have committed to using all fair trade ingredients by 2013. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield said, “Fair Trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of Fair Trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.”Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Satire has overtaken the airwaves and this Breaking Superbowl Ad from Audi is a very ironic piece. Since its inception, the automobile has been a catalyst for status as well as a social equalizer. Early car ads described the car as manageable and were rather perfunctionary. As people became accustomed to driving, the commercials began to accelerate, literally. Now, the next favorable marketing niche is green. The fascist overtones amuse greenies, but decriers of eco-terrorism are pounding the blogosphere as if the green police were already on their doorstep.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

MoveOn socks Senator Joe Lieberman for his power play moves on healthcare insurance reform in this bit of amusing theater.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

A composting video from Nespresso Ecolaboration TM We could not resist this beautifully produced and incredibly ironic promotional video for Nespresso's composting coffee and recyling campaign. That said, Nespresso does make a delicious expresso and brings to light the question of our urge for enhanced experiences and the implications they have for our sustainable planet.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

In this video, it's good to see the Progressive Senators Frankin, Sanders and Brown fired up on all cylinders. Republicans, who have driven the conversation regarding just how the healthcare bill will be payed for, have also pushed for rules that would lay the burden of the costs on moderate to middle income earners receiving employer based health care, presumably in an attempt to inspire public fury to help defeat the bill or to insulate the wealthy from a progressive tax, all the while protecting the escalating profit margins of healthcare insurance providers. Senator Al Frankin (D-MN), along with Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are sponsoring an amendment that would remove the 40 per cent excise tax on employer based healthcare insurance currently written into the Senate bill and instead instate a progressive tax, aligning it closer to the House bill. A letter which the three Progressive Senators are circulating in the Halls states, "While we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the last thing the American middle class need right now is a tax on their health benefits." The letter also said: "99.98% of individuals and 99.92% of families would not see their taxes go up by one dime under the Sanders-Brown-Franken Amendment." In an attempt to derail the progressive Senators' agenda, Senator Thune (R-SouthDakota) had declared that Americans would see no benefits until 2016 while taxes would begin immediately, fueling the image of a bureaucracy unable to deliver. Frankin called out Thune, his "friend from across the aisle" for either not reading the healthcare bill or purposefully misrepresenting facts about when the benefits will begin. "Let's have an honest debate, for goodness sakes. Let's not put up charts that contend one thing that are just not true.” said Frankin. “You just can’t make up facts.” The Senators claim their amendment would raise $151 billion over ten years -- two billion

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has begun circulation of 2 privileged resolutions designed to retract powers lent to the Excutive Branch to fund wars in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Kucinich, a consistent anti-war Democrat, announced the drafting of the resolutions after President Hamid Karzai said his country would need US's military support for another 15 to 20 years, making the 2011 draw down that President Obama recently proposed impossible. My bills, which would trigger a timeline for a timely withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan, invoke the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and are intended to secure the Constitutional role of Congress, as directly elected representatives of the people, under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, to decide whether or not America enters into war, continues a war, or otherwise introduces armed forces or material into combat zones. Despite the president's assertion that previous congressional action gives him the authority to respond to the attacks of September 11, 2001, a careful reading of the Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) makes cleat that the AUMF did not supersede "any requirement of the War Powers Resolution" and therefore did not undermine Congress' ability to revisit the constitutional question of war powers at a later date.Kucinich will be speaking at an anti-war rally in Washington D.D. on December 12 sponsored by EndUSWars.org. Other speakers include Senator Mike Gravel, 2008 Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and World Can't Wait's Executive Director Debra Sweet. Privileged Resolutions PDF War Powers Act of 2001Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

The UK Telegraph provides a seriously amusing redux of the first day of the Climate Talks and is well worth a read. Private jets, private cars, a carbon footprint that displays no serious effort to contain itself - these are the earmarks of a great party. However both critics from the Left and Right wrangle with the Cap n' Trade of this junket. Will there be serious negotiations? The Obama Administration declared yesterday that, yes - greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people," thus empowering the agency to regulate a wide range of CO2-emitting industries under provisions of the Clean Air Act. President Obama intends to drop-in on the Climate Talks after receiving his Nobel Prize in Norway, a photo op which is likely to draw all sorts of praise and criticism. From Americans for Prosperity The provided video from Americans For Prosperity, critical of the Climate Talks and its impact on American capitalism, displays the mega-use of private cars carrying delegates while public transportation stands unused. Of course, there is the excuse that delegates must be concerned with security, but the irony is nonetheless delicious.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

The Story of Stuff meteored to international success and has fueled the next chapter in Annie Leonard's animated series on the environmental impact of our policies and practices, " The Story of Cap and Trade." Ironic and amusing, this animation points a finger at the troubles with using a market-based system to control the amount of carbon emissions we create because, as Leonard says, "there are a lot of devils in the details of the cap n' trade proposals on the table." Future chapters include more animated storytelling on the life cycle of Plastic Bottles and electronics. Check it out on The Story of Stuff website. Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Fun video by Polidoc featuring the Yes Men's Halliburton Survivaballs Escorted down Market Street by "Chevron Minions" during this San Francisco action on November 1, 2009. Serving up the message of corporate responsibility to San Ramon, CA based Chevron Oil, the YES Men marched down San Francisco streets after the premiere of their activist movie "The Yes Men Fix the World" on November 1, 2009. In conjunction with Global Exchange and other Bay Area environmental and human rights groups, the Yes Men hope to link Chevron's plan to expand its refinery in the East Bay to human and environmental rights abuses in other countries and part of the United States. In "The Yes Men Fix the World," the infamous pranksters, amongst them Andy Bichlbaum, heaps doses of irony to shine a light on the negligence of companies that place profit over people. Clever vignettes, something that crosses between "Ocean's Eleven" "Pink Panther" and "Get Smart" weave the documentary pieces of their actions together into a great piece of entertainment. This movie now showing across the nation serves up a hopeful and eviscerating commentary on the corporate players of our world.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Climate Activists Charge the Fence of a Coal Energy Plant in the United Kingdom in a series of protests leading up to the U.N. Climate Convention in Copenhagen in January, 2010.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Saturday marked a day of unprecedented international climate actions by activists in 170 countries who are building momentum to inspire political leaders to take substantial steps towards climate reform at the U.N. Climate Change Conference inCopenhagen this December. In the Bay Area of California, cyclists from as far away as Arcadia descended upon Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco in the culmination of the kickoff. City Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a consistent fighter for green legislation in one of the greenest cities in the country. Mirkarimi most notably initiated the anti-plastic bag initiative which has since spread internationally. However, he's also been a strong advocate for local control. In a speech Mirakrimi offered at the rally, he urged people to push their municipal and state legislatures to take aggressive action to reform climate regulation, regardless of what the international community does (or does not) do. The international day was spearheaded by the group 350.org and supported by numerous environmental activist groups, including GreenPeace. The number 350 represents the parts per million of carbon dioxide emissions that the atmosphere can bear if we want to avoid runaway global warming.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Heather Graham embodies an energized and healthy government sponsored public health insurance option in a race with health care insurance company execs who seem to have forgotten the benefits of competition. It's a very hopeful and funny ad campaign for public option.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

"This event is about the only sane thing for the US Chamber of Commerce to do." defended the bold and theatrical Hingo Sembra, one of the celebrated or notorious Yes Men, depending upon your position, at a Press Club event in Washington, D.C. this morning. The Chamber of Commerce has been criticized recently for holding out against Climate Bill efforts, though a growing number of business have pulled away. Sembra, a master of political hoaxes started his style of activism pretending to be a DOW chemical company executive and apologizing for the Bhopal disaster on the BBC. Based upon how nervous he appeared in this action, he might be suspecting his poser days are numbered. His new activist movie "The Yes Men Fix the World" premiered in NYC last week, introduced by the Reverend Billy, a political performance activist and Green Party candidate for Mayor of the city. And this last weekend, it had it's West Coast Premiere at the Bioneers 2009 convention where the audience responded with uproarious laughter and applause.Eco-Savvy Storytellers watching the greening of politics.

Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia has taken a lot of heat these days, all for the love of coal. Protesters in the state Capitol insisted that the two-time Governor could arrest the violent surface mining of Coal River Mountain, situated in the South-West of the state if he wanted to. However, the only thing arrested were the protesters. Our friend and fellow videographer, "FluxRostrum" posted this video today showing local and student activists squatting at the Governor's with a burning desire to speak truth to power. Manchin has said that he does not have the authority to overstep the federally granted rights of the out-of-state corporations who are conducting the surface mining. A legal opinion called Dillon's Law which instituted, the rights of property owners ( in this case corporations) over the right of individuals (read "communities"), provides the necessary veil behind which the Governor can defend himself. However, the opinon can be challenged and that would be a strong statement from the pro-death penalty, anti-choice Democratic Governor of West Virginia for his constituents. Where the Governor's pro-corporate cards may be more apparent is in the lack of prosecutionof errant coal and drug companies whose accidents have often cost local communities their survivability and have compromised the health of its residents. West Virginia residents concerned with demanding local rights within their state may have to model themselves after other communities seeking to dominate local control. In Spokane, WA, a town under the oligarchical control of a few families, a nexus of organization have created Envision Spokane. Guided by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), Envision Spokane has placed an initiative on their November ballot calling for a community bill of rights that could challenge Dillon's Law. Speaking at the 2009 Bioneers, CELDF spokesperson Breean Beggs said, "The game is up all over the country." It is perhaps time for