Democrats Abroad Munich - U.S. politics

With the deepest respect Darkknight, and not wanting to get drawn into the political fray (I have to go on a long business trip so I won't be around to answer), but am I correct in thinking that all US military personnel, and especially commissioned officers, have another piece of paper to sign... you know... the one about The Conventions of Geneva, the rule of law?

AFAIK The Geneva Convention only covers the treatment of Prisoners of war and
what is expected from the prisioneer (Name/Rank/Service#)

As an enlisted person, I never saw/signed anything about the Geneva contention.
Perhaps it's covered under the OCS training..UPDATE: Depending on the
BOS the officer may recieve a further and longer Training class concerning many
other types of Military law/USMJ/Geneva Convention/High seas law/etc. after OCS

For an overview of the Conventions Provisions go HERE

And if you thought the UCMJ sucked, if you were a POW and found to have violated any parts of the Geneva Convention (Deals to receive favorable treatment/etc.) Not only would you have to go thru the whole POW part, but you could also be brought up on charges under the UCMJ, and if found Guilty of a severe violation during wartimes you could be executed...

This is great. For all the Andy Rooney fans, check this out. Andy Rooney Rails Against Iraq War & Military Spending

Now that Andy has spoken what a majority of Americans are thinking, maybe some people at the top will start to listen up.

A Resolution to Bring Home the Troops.

Look for indictments coming down here.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Special Counsel
The Special Counsel has set up a website and the thought is that it will be used to announce indictments in the Plame cover up, but not the leaking of the name.

The speculation on what is about to happen.


This is gonna be fun!

What's that old saying?

"The cover-up is often worse than the original crime" or something like that... ask Nixon.

And they're calling it Hurricane Fitzgerald in DC apparently.

I should mention that our resolution was passed by the DPCA after some rework. I will post the actual resolution that is based on the one below and above later.
Thanks to you brave Americans that signed the petition. That really helped to convince the more conservative voters at the meeting.

http://www.petitiononline.com/PCDARes1

Last week, Joe Lieberman told critics of the war in Iraq to keep quiet. According to Joe, by exercising your right of free speech, you "undermine the president's credibility."

Senator Lieberman wants you to be quiet while the Bush administration continues the same strategy that has led to almost three years of conflict with no end in sight. But Democracy for America Chair Jim Dean isn't going to be quiet. And neither should you.

Please co-sign Jim Dean's open letter to Senator Lieberman today:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/telljoe/

Over 40,000 Democracy for America members have already signed the letter. We just need 10,000 more signatures to send Senator Lieberman the message loud and clear that we need debate in this country. Can you help us get there?

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/telljoe/

Jim Dean will join Connecticut DFA leaders to deliver the letter, with your personal post script, to Senator Lieberman's office in Hartford tomorrow. Our goal is to persuade Senator Lieberman that he was right two years ago when he said:

"In our democracy, a president does not rule, he governs. He remains always answerable to us, the people. And right now, the president's conduct of our foreign policy is giving the country too many reasons to question his leadership."

Unfortunately, Senator Lieberman has forgotten his own words. If he wants to play cheerleader-in-chief for President Bush, that's his right. But as President Theodore Roosevelt said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

I already added my name to this as I think Lieberman was dead wrong on what he said last week and should apologize to the people he insulted.

Add your voice to Conyers' letter.

DA Munich Meeting Reminder - The next meeting will be January 11th at 7PM in the Foyer Room of the Eine Welt Haus – Schwanthalerstr 80 (U4/U5 to Theresienwiese stop – one stop from Hauptbahnhof). We will have Dr. Rainer Stinner speaking to us about the German perspective of American politics. You can view his website – http://www.rainer-stinner.de/. This should be an interesting discussion. Please let me know if you plan to attend.

U.S. Consulate Round Table on Avian Flu – Announcement from Consulate General: The U.S. Consulate invites U.S. citizens living in Bavaria to attend a Town Hall meeting on the topic of avian influenza on Wednesday, January 11 at 5PM. The meeting will consist of a presentation by a U.S. medical practitioner and an opportunity to ask questions. The Town Hall meeting will take place at the Consulate, Koeniginstrasse 5, in Munich. Please bring your U.S. passport as identification and arrive by 4:30PM to allow time for security procedures. We look forward to seeing you on January 11 and to a lively discussion. (Should be over in time to make the DA meeting.)

DA Germany Annual Meeting – The annual DA Germany meeting will be held on Saturday February 18 in Frankfurt. The meeting will be in the afternoon followed by a dinner. PM for more details.

Reminder for the Wednesday night meeting: This should be a very interesting look at American politics from a German politician's perspective. If you ever thought about attending a DA Munich meeting, this should be on your calendar.

Message To DA from Howard Dean.wmv
or Flash player.

The DPCA Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 2-5 will be held at:

L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
480 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024
USA

Contact me for more info.

NEXT MEETING...WEDNESDAY February 8th at 7 pm.

Our chapter will watch and discuss the new documentary, "Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price"

Meeting held at EineWeltHaus, Schwanthalerstr. 80. (take U4 or U5 to Theresienwiese (one stop past Hauptbahnhof).

MIDTERM ELECTIONS: UPCOMING PRIMARIES

March 7: Texas (Registration Deadline February 28)

March 21: Illinois (Registration Deadline March 11)

April 11: California Special Primary to fill the seat vacated by Randy Cunningham. (Registration Deadline March 27)

May 2: Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio

May 9: Nebraska, West Virginia

May 15: Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania

May 23: Arkansas, Idaho

Follow-up info:

VOTER REGISTRATION:

TEXAS voters: Download the Federal Postcard Application http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.pdf to register to vote and request your absentee ballot. Get your state-specific instructions and the mailing address for your local election official at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/vag/textvag/tx.html Provide a valid TX driver’s license number. If you do not have one, provide the last four digits of your social security number. You must provide your party affiliation to vote in the upcoming primary. Remember to sign, date, and mail the form to your local election official. Make sure the form is mailed with sufficient time to be received by February 28.

ILLINOIS voters: If you are already registered to vote in Illinois, you should received the form automatically. If you have not received it, download the Federal Postcard Application http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.pdf to register to vote and request your absentee ballot. Get your state-specific instructions and the mailing address for your local election official at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/vag/textvag/il.html Provide a valid IL driver’s license number OR the last four digits of your social security number. You must provide your party affiliation to vote in the upcoming primary. Remember to sign, date, and mail the form to your local election official. If you last lived in Cook County, use the City of Chicago address if you lived within the City of Chicago and use the Cook County address if you lived outside the City limits. Make sure the form is mailed with sufficient time to be received by March 11.

Notary Changes:
No longer required by MS, RI, SD
Still required by MI
Still required by MN if no passport or military ID

Offspring Voting:
* Adult Children can vote in 17 states: AZ, DE, GA, HI, IA, MA, MI, MT, NE, NY, ND, OK OR, RI, TN, WV, WI
* Adult Children can NOT vote in VA.
* All other states are silent.

State oddities to highlight:
AZ – requires proof of citizenship (copy of passport or birth certificate)
VT –only will send ballot for one election unless you specify that you want all ballots in the remarks
VA – still wants the address of your employer if you are overseas by reason of employment and wants date of last residency and voter registration information.

thanks eurovol

California to Hold a Special Primary Election on April 11, 2006 for Representative in Congress from the 50th District (this is to replace the crook Cunningham).

On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, there will be a special primary election in the California 50th Congressional District to fill the seat of Congressman Randy Cunningham. All members of the U.S. Uniformed Services, their family members and citizens residing outside the U.S. who are California residents from the 50th District should request a ballot for this special primary election by completing and submitting a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), SF-76, as soon as possible, if you have not done so already in calendar year 2006.

To determine whether you are in the above Congressional District, you can click on Communicating With Your Elected Officials, then "Who is my Representative?" at the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website, www.fvap.gov. The Registrar of Voters must receive applications for registration and request for absentee ballot not later than Monday, March 29, 2006. If you are already registered, the Registrar of Voters must receive your absentee ballot request not later than Tuesday, April 4, 2006. The Registrar of Voters must receive voted ballots by close of polls on Election Day.

The online version of the FPCA is available from the FVAP website at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.html.

Chapter 3 of the 2006-07 Voting Assistance Guide contains further instructions. The California state pages are available at: http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/vag/pdfvag/ca.pdf. The Registrar of Voters must receive voted ballots by close of polls on Election Day. You may submit the completed FPCA by fax using the following toll-free fax numbers for the U.S. and Canada: 1-800-368-8683, (703) 693-5527 or DSN 223-5527 (military). Also, at http://www.fvap.gov/services/faxing.html, there is a list of toll-free fax numbers from overseas countries for use by U.S. citizens. Citizens may receive the blank ballot via fax and return the voted ballot by fax. Citizens who desire to receive their absentee ballot by fax should provide their county election official with their complete commercial or DSN (military) fax number, including country codes necessary when dialing from the U.S.

A citizen returning the voted ballot by fax which was either received by mail or by fax should refer to Appendix C of the 2006-07 Voting Assistance Guide (located at http://www.fvap.gov/services/faxing.html for instructions and a cover sheet for use when transmitting the voted ballot by fax. Citizens should be sure to fax the entire ballot including any oath or signature required on the ballot-mailing envelope. After faxing, the ballot should also be returned by mail.

Questions regarding the above may also be referred to the Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program, Department of Defense, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-1155, vote@fvap.ncr.gov and on the World Wide Web at http://www.fvap.gov.

Reminder:
The documentary "Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price" will be shown tonight at the meeting. This should be a very interesting meeting and discussion. Hope to see you there.

@Eurovol: How was the movie? Couldn't make it because of my work schedule.

how many people are usually at the meetings? can people just show up and go?

You can show up, but you can't go until you fillout your absentee ballot for 2008!

hahahha okay!

Hey Mere - Of course you can just show up...its Dems Abroad!!!

Usually there are around 20 people, give or take. The numbers always start going up as It gets closer to an election.

Shari (the chair) has been doing a great job putting together interesting topics.

And of course EUROVOL is alwas there to add his multiple 2-cents

cool. well, hopefully i'll have off sometime and can make a meeting- i'm curious to see/hear what is said.
thanks Gemini!

We had some technical difficulties at first with a region 1 video (wouldn't play on the DVD player there) and with some hidden code that would not allow the movie to be projected from a computer. It was the wierdest thing. Everything on the desktop was projected including the player, but not the movie.
The movie was very interesting, but perhaps a bit over the top as to what all is Walmart's fault. There were 30 people in attendance and with the technical difficulties, we didn't have time afterwards to really discuss anything. We will probably discuss some at the next meeting. The two things that really bother me is the fact that Walmart (as well as the food service industry and others) use federal programs to subsidize their industry and totally ignore employee's rights.

DA meetings are public and open to all who want to attend.

okay, people will probably laugh at this comment, but...

shouldn't private business (esp 'big' business) be separate from gov't? esp when gov't is cutting programs left and right? why should Walmart and others be fed subsidized when programs such as NYSP are cut?

Even Badbob?

Yes, even him. However, with every right comes responsibility and there are unacceptable forms of behavior that will not be tolerated. Meetings have a purpose and to attend with the sole intent of disrupting that purpose is not allowed.

The problem with big businesses that supply low wage jobs is that they get huge incentives from local communities ie tax breaks, re-zoning, infrastructure expenditures and so forth that for the most part they simply cannot on a cost-benefit analysis put back into the community more than they get. The other problem is that these companies are under no obligation to supply basic benefit packages. A company as large as Walmart should be forced to pay wages and benefits that take their employees off the tax subsidized programs that they are forced and encouraged to use. We have minimum wages and now what we need is minimum health care coverage. Employees of the Walmarts of the world should not be on Medicare and Medicaid and should not have to get food stamps in order to survive. The one thing that would help immediately is to force Walmart to allow Unions to approach their employees with no possible retribution by the company. Employees everywhere should have that right by law. If we have the right of peaceful assembly and redress against the government, then we should have those rights with companies as well.

Off subject, but have you read the book Nickel and Dimes by Barbara Ehrenreich book

talks about life working low wage jobs (she also worked at walmart). although, i do not believe this is a true portrait of the life since she had money to fall back on and only did it for short periods of time (i won't get into my other opinions of the book)

hummm...No need to single out the Repubs, as there are a few Dems at the meeting who could fit the above description well too

That book came up at the meeting Wednesday and no I haven't read it. It probably would have been included in the discussion if we had had time to have one.

hmm... if this discussion is going to continue at the next meeting perhaps i should go!
i'd offer the book to you, but i think it may be back in Wisconsin. i'll check.
another good book is Robbert Egger's Begging for Change.
(he's the dude that started DC Central Kitchen and now has the spin off programs Campus Kitchens w/ Sodexho Food Service)

March Primaries – TX IL

April Primaries – none

May Primaries – AR ID IN KY NE NC OH OR PA WV

June Primaries – AL CA IA ME MS MT NJ NM ND SC SD UT VA

July Primaries – GA OK

August Primaries – AK CO CT KS MI MO NV TN WY

September Primaries – AZ DE DC FL GU HI MD MA MN NH NY RI VT VI WA WI

October Primaries – none

November Primaries – LA

November Election – Nov 7

Request to see if you have been spyed on!

Find out more Progressive political information.

Oh say can you see? Parody Video

Here it is! Small enough for email 1.8mb

Or the larger better quality version. 8.6mb

These are at a free download site that requires you to click on the link StarMangledBanner and then wait some seconds before you see a download button that you click on to actually download the files. Hey, what do you want for free?!?

PoliticsTV: A new site for sore eyes.

March 2006 Newsletter

April Meeting
GOTV
2006 Primaries
March Meeting Notes
2006 Democratic Vision
Miscellaneous Announcements
2006 Meeting Dates

Dear D.A. Munich Member,

Please note there are several requests for responses.

1. April Meeting:
The next meeting will be April 12th at 7PM in the Foyer Room of the Eine Welt Haus – Schwanthalerstr 80 (U4/U5 to Theresienwiese stop – one stop from Hauptbahnhof).

Agenda
Howard Dean video
DNC training – how to win in 2006
DA Voter Registration Website

Following the meeting, we will be conducting our first voter registration training for 2006.

2. GOTV

It’s now GOTV time. For those that think this is a new TV show, it’s not. It’s Get Out The Vote. Overseas voters can make a difference. Here’s a quote from the Republicans Abroad website:

During the 2000 election, President George W. Bush carried the state of Florida by 537 votes from Republicans overseas thanks to a massive international advertising campaign and strong grassroots leadership on the part of Republicans Abroad. In addition, Republicans won two Senate seats and six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives because of Republican absentee ballots cast from overseas.

We have an opportunity to have even more impressive numbers on the DA website after the 2006 election. However, it will require help from all of you. First of all, each of you needs to register to vote and then vote. Each of you can also help to encouraging your overseas American friends to sign up for Democrats Abroad – www.democratsabroad.org.

DA Munich will be holding several voter registration events. We need Volunteers that are willing to help with these events. If you are interested in volunteering to help register Americans to vote, please let me know. We will be holding various training sessions so you know how. There will be several events over the next months where we will need people. The first 2 are:

Voter Registration Day – May 2
Democrats Abroad is scheduling a Voter Registration Day event on May 2 worldwide. We will be setting up registration locations around Munich. Please let me know if you would be interested and available to help.

Munich Newcomer’s Festival – May 7
We would like to have a booth at the Munich Newcomer’s Festival - www.newcomers-festival.de/bavaria. The cost is €69. The registration deadline is March 24. We need to make sure we have volunteers before signing up. Please let me know by March 22 if you would be interested and available to help.

3. 2006 Primaries

April – none

May – AR ID IN KY NE NC OH OR PA WV

June – AL CA IA ME MS MT NJ NM ND SC SD UT VA

July – GA OK

August – AK CO CT KS MI MO NV TN WY

September – AZ DE DC FL GU HI MD MA MN NH NY RI VT VI WA WI

October – none

November – LA

November Election – Nov 7

4. March Meeting Notes:

We had a small group – probably due to the inclement weather. We saw the video of Howard Dean presenting to the Democrats Abroad meeting in Washington DC. We also saw the presentation from the training sessions held in DC.

We saw the resolution passed by Democrats Abroad calling for Congress to investigate whether impeachable offenses have been committed by Bush and Cheney. To read the press release including the resolution, go to http://www.democratsabroad.org/newsroom/pr...3/08/002434.php

5. 2006 Democratic Vision

Here are the 6 key points for Democrats in 2006:

Honest Leadership, Open Government
Real Security
Energy Independence
Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence
A Health Care System That Works for Everyone
Retirement Security

We will be covering these in some more detail during the April meeting.

6. Miscellaneous Announcements

1ST Quarter Social Event
Ann Skea has organized a dinner on March 25 at 7PM

Cohen's Restaurant
Telephone: 089 / 280 95 45
Theresienstraße 31
80333 München
www.cohens.de

The food is a mixture of east-European Jewish, Oriental and Israeli dishes with a selection of Israeli wines.

Please RSVP by March 22 if you plan to attend (feel free to bring non-DA members).

7. 2006 Meeting Dates

The DA Munich meetings will be the second Wednesday of each month at 7PM at the Eine Welt Haus. Please mark your calendars for:

Apr 12 – May 10 – Jun 14

Best Regards,
Shari

Chair - Democrats Abroad Munich
chair_democratsabroadmunich@yahoo.com

I love Howard Dean videos.

http://www.all-encompassingly.com/crazy_dean.php

Thanks for the contribution. I love that video too. The overboard reaction to it showed just how scared the Republicans were that Dean would win the nomination.

911 Loose Change.

Al Gore as he really is.

The Star Mangled Banner video.

At You Tube

At the ZippyVideo site

Be sure to go to both sites and vote. You can also leave a comment.

Hey, it says here that Hillary Clinton served on the Board of Directors of Walmart for 6 years. I thought you guys hated Walmart?
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0021,harkavy,15052,5.html

Oh, I love walmart. Can't wait to go shopping there.

Would it not be easier here just to get organised crime to employ an "emotionally disturbed", "Cuban sympathiser" type of person to shoot Bush with some magic bullets, then get a gay night club owner in a bad wig to shoot the "emotionally disturbed" person?

Edit: sorry for this post just realised it had been done before so not a valid solution to the Bush problem

Why would you want to employ eurovol and then get Sin to shoot him?

DA Munich April Meeting Reminder
The next meeting will be April 12th at 7PM in the Foyer Room of the Eine Welt Haus – Schwanthalerstr 80 (U4/U5 to Theresienwiese stop – one stop from Hauptbahnhof).

Agenda
Howard Dean video
DNC training – how to win in 2006
New DA Voter Registration Website

Please let me know if you plan to attend.

Voter Registration Volunteer Training
Ann Skea will be conducting voter registration training before the meeting – from 6PM – 7PM in the same location. We need about 25 trained volunteers to help from now until election time to help with voter registration. This is an excellent way to have a direct impact on the federal election – ensuring that Americans abroad are exercising their right to vote.

Please let me know if you plan to participate – we need to make sure we have enough voter registration books. If you are interested in being trained but cannot attend this training session, also let me know so we can schedule additional sessions.

Voter Registration Event – May 7
The originally planned May 2 voter registration event will now be combined with the May 7 voter registration event. We will have a table at the Fourth Annual Munich Newcomer’s Festival at the Praterinsel – see www.newcomers-festival.de/bavaria. We still need a couple of volunteers to help with the registration. Also, if you need to register to vote, here’s an opportunity to go to the Democrats Abroad booth and get registered.

Please let me know if you are available to help with the event.

Additional Voter Registration Events
If you have suggestions for other events where we could have a voter registration booth, please let me know.

Thank you,

Shari

Shari Temple
Chair - Democrats Abroad Munich
chair_democratsabroadmunich@yahoo.com

Hilary would be great - a blast of fresh air
i dont know much american politics, but my ignorant opinions seem to view american politicians as business men than men of the people, but then i guess thats in every country, does one have to be american to get involved in this group? as i said before im ignorant and would therefore like to know more

Guests are welcome, but to actually be a part of the group and to work for change back home, you have to be American. We're funny that way.

Not necessarily, my (british) step-father was very active in US politics when my parents still lived in the states. He couldn't vote, but he donated his time and money.