Portland, Oregon, USA: David Cobb, 2004 Green Party Presidential Candidate announced that he would not seek the 2008 Green Party Nomination. Speaking exclusively to Scoop's conference correspondent, Cobb said: "I think that the Green Party should run a woman for president in 2008. Under the right circumstances, I'd be happy to be the Vice Presidential candidate of the right Green woman because the Greens take gender equality seriously."

This is a major announcement given Cobb's prominent role in the Green party. Cobb's leadership role has resulted in significant increases in Green Party membership, candidates, and "ballot" positions throughout the country. The Greens also made history in 2004 by aligning with the Libertarian Party to challenge the outcome of the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election.

David Cobb Denounces Partisan Manipulation of Ohio Election at hearing.

Cobb played a major role at the Summit to Save Our Elections. As keynote speaker, he outlined a comprehensive program to bring much broader participation the political system and fundamentally expand the democratic options of Americans. He strongly defended his decision to challenge 2004 Ohio, arguing that Kerry had abdicated his duty as the winning candidate. Cobb also engaged in "retail" dialog with numerous individuals at the meeting.

Cobb is currently working on model local initiatives for his new home, Eureka, CA. He's forwarding local ordinance that would limit contributions for local elections to firms and individuals within the locality. A large national retailer recently contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in a local election. This type of outside influence, Cobb argues, is offensive to the notion of local rule.

Cobb said that he will continue the litigation in Ohio. Many interviewed at the Summit see Cobb as a hero of the voting rights and election integrity movement. Some even cite Cobb's challenge in Ohio as the spark that ignited the growing election integrity movement. One attendee said, "With out Cobb, we'd have no means to challenge one of the greatest political crimes in American history."

END

Gordon Campbell: On The Law Commission Plan To Scrap Jury Trials

Chances are, scrapping the system of trial by jury is not the top priority for most New Zealanders. Not many of us woke up this morning and felt dead keen on dumping our centuries-old right to be tried by a jury of our peers, while yearning to adopt the French system of justice by a judge and a couple of court-appointed experts.

The French are admired for many things, but I haven’t heard many people acclaim their legal system as being so vastly superior to English law that we should quickly scrap one of the bulwarks of our legal system, in order to be more like the French... More>>