May meeting - Thursday, May 15 at 6:30 PM

The next meeting of the Plymouth Democratic Town Committee will be:

Thursday, May 15
6:30 PM
China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 So. Meadow Road
(Near the airport)

Bring $10 if you'd like to share fried rice and appetizers.

Next PCTC meeting - Thursday April 17th

The next Plymouth Democratic Town Committee meeting will be held on:

DATE: Thursday, April 17th
TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 South Meadow Road

This will be a reorganization meeting. New officers will be elected. If you would like to nominate a member or would like to serve as an officer yourself, please send an email to plimothdtc@yahoo.com or call Bill Keohan at 508-789-5012.

Bring $10 for Chinese food.

For more information on meeting or the committee, please e-mail plimothdtc@yahoo.com

IMPORTANT: 3/13 MEETING CANCELED

The meeting this coming Thursday at the China Pilgrim Restaurant has been canceled until further notice. Chairman Bill Keohan's father passed away last Saturday morning. Visitation hours will be at the Cartmell Funeral Home on Thursday, March 13th from 4 PM to 7 PM. Charles E. Keohan is an elected member of the Plymouth Democratic Town Committee. For more information about funeral arrangements, go to the Cartmell Funeral Home website.

Golf tourney planning meeting March 15th

There will be a meeting to plan for the golf tournament at the Hearth & Kettle Restaurant (inside the Governor Carver on South Street), at 10:30 AM on Saturday, March 15th. All members are welcome to attend.

Next PDTC meeting moved up to Thursday, March 13th

In order to have a meeting during the annual "Reorganization" window, the next Plymouth Democratic Town Committee meeting will be held:

DATE: Thursday, March 13th
TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 So. Meadow Road


During a reorganization, new officers for the town committee are elected. If you would like to become an officer yourself or nominate someone else for Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, or Treasurer, please email plimothdtc@yahoo.com with your nominations. Voting for new officers will take place at the March 13th meeting.

Next PCTC meeting - Thursday Feb. 21st

DATE: Thursday, February 21
TIME: 6:30 PM
PLACE: China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 South Meadow Road

Meeting is held in the back restaurant and those who wish to may stay and share some Chinese food after the business is finished. Please bring $10 to contribute towards appetizers, rice and tip if you wish to eat.

Plymouth Democratic Town Caucus - Saturday, Feb. 9th

Saturday morning, February 9th Plymouth Democrats will hold their town caucus at 11 North Street (the old Plymouth Library/Quincy College building). All registered Democrats may take part in the caucus which will elect delegates to the state convention in May of 2008 in Lowell. Doors open at 10:30 AM and the caucus will begin at 11 AM. No one will be admitted after 11 AM. All those who wish to run as delegates must be in attendance and all registered Democrats from Plymouth are qualified to run as delegates.

DATE: Saturday, Feb. 9th
TIME: 11 AM
PLACE: 11 North Street

Next PDTC meeting - January 17th

Plymouth Democratic Town Committee meeting

DATE: Thursday, Jan. 17th
TIME: 6:30 pm
PLACE: China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 So. Meadow Road


Lots to discuss. The upcoming caucus and primary and the golf tournament.

Bring $10 for appetizers and food after meeting. Come and bring your Democratic friends.

Remind everyone: Register by Jan. 16th to vote

The deadline to register to vote in the Massachusetts Primary on February 5th is January 16th. Check with family and friends to make sure they can vote to have a say in who the Democratic Party nominates for president. Below is photo taken of presidential candidate John Edwards at a town hall meeting in Derry, NH.

Plymouth caucus set for February 9th

Democrats in Plymouth will caucus on Saturday, February 9th at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, 11 North Street at 10:30 A.M. to elect delegates to the state convention. All registered Democrats in Plymouth are allowed to vote for and run as delegates. Everyone must be in the caucus room by 10:30 AM when the doors will be closed to latecomers. Plymouth will be electing 23 delegates, 11 men and 11 women plus one of either sex. The town committee chair is a non-elected delegate.

Next PDTC Meeting - November 15

The next Plymouth Democratic Town Committee meeting is set for Thursday, November 15th at 6:30 PM at the China Pilgrim Restaurant (204 South Meadow Road).

Please bring $10 to share appetizers and rice.

The Main Web Site...under construction.

If you're concerned that our main site, PlymouthDemocrats.org, is not available - don't be. The State Dem's decided to change some of the technical underpinnings of the web services they provide, and in so doing made it necessary for local town committees to republish their sites. We're doing that now - and hope to have the main site 'visible' again, soon.

Meeting at China Pilgrim on Thursday Oct. 18

time
6:30 PM
place
China Pilgrim Restaurant
204 So. Meadow Road
date
Thursday, Oct. 18

Next PDTC meeting - Sept. 20

WHEN: Thursday, September 20
TIME: 6:30 PM
WHERE: China Pilgrim
204 South Meadow Road

At the last meeting, Jon Graham announced that he would have to step down as Chair because of the demands of his new job. Anyone interested in taking over the chairmanship position should contact Jon at (508) 888-9445 to have their name put forward at the next meeting. The election of a new chair will be held at the September 20th meeting.

NEXT PDTC MEETING - AUG. 16

It was decided at the July PDTC meeting to change our regular meeting day to the third Thursday of the month. We will still be meeting at the China Pilgrim on South Meadow Road at 6:30 P.M.

Our next meeting is scheduled for August 16 at 6:30 PM at the China Pilgrim. We will work on some of this year's goals that we discussed at the July meeting.

Call Chair Jon Graham at 508-888-9445 for more information.

Plymouth Democratic Town Committee Meeting

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, July 11th
6:30 PM
China Pilgrim Restaurant
Airport Plaza – 204 So. Meadow Road

TOPIC: Strategy/planning session for coming year

Next Meeting: Wed., June 13th, 6:30 p.m.

Regular meetings of the Plymouth Democratic Town Committee are now held at the China Pilgrim Restaurant, 204 South Meadow Road (near the airport) beginning at 6:30 p.m. The agenda usually includes a platter of appetizers (contributions welcome!) and a guest speaker. This week we're focusing on the 'web', with appearances by our alleged webmaster, Frank Mand, and long-time Democratic activitist and techie, Phil Edmundson.

Next Meeting, Wednesday, March 14th: 6:30 p.m.

The next meeting of the Plymouth Democratic Town Committee will take place Wednesday, March 14th, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in the Community Building of the Plymouth Airport, off South Meadow Road

-all our welcome!

The PDTC has recently embarked on a drive to recruit new members, especially active members, and have formed an adhoc committee to that end, chaired by Janet Alfieri. If you are interested in being a part of this effort, contact janet at 508 746-9437.

A good sign of the committee's vitality, was seen in the turnout for the committee's annual caucus. Attendance numbered in the seventies, and from that group 24 members were selected as delegates to the annual issues convention, which will take place this May 19th in Amherst.

For any questions about the committee or its work, contact Chairman Jon Graham at 508 888-9445.

Darfur Vigil, April 30

For years, many of us have read reports of the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, and wondered why world leaders have failed to step in. As many as 400,000 civilians have died1 and over 2 million have been driven from their homes,2 and yet the United States and other leading nations won't intervene and stop the killing.

This week, we may have the best chance since the genocide began to capture national media attention and give our leaders a mandate to act. On Sunday, April 30th, tens of thousands of concerned Americans, organized by the Save Darfur coalition, will gather in Washington to demand a real multi-national peacekeeping force to protect civilians in Darfur and end the genocide—now.

To support this urgent call, we're launching a "virtual march" to end the genocide in Darfur. We'll announce the total number of virtual marchers and read some of your comments at the big rally in DC (with the national media looking on) and then we'll deliver every signature to Congress and the President. We're aiming to sign up 100,000 virtual marchers in time for the rally—can you help us get there?

You can join the virtual march against genocide by clicking here:

http://political.moveon.org/darfur?id=7381-5663936-kax4yUXWT2jf340FzBzapA&t=2

Town Committee to ReOrganize April 11

The Plymouth Democratic Town Committee will meet on Tuesday, April 11th, in the Otto Fehlow room of the Main Library on South Street -beginning at 7 p.m.. The main purpose of the meeting will to choose a new chairperson, and members of the Executive Committee. If you are interested in serving the committee as Chair, or Exec Board member, please contact Committee Chair Jon Graham at JonGrahamEsq@Aol.com

Troops Support Withdrawal from Iraq

BY DREW BROWN
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Nearly three out of four American troops serving in Iraq think U.S. forces should withdraw within a year, and more than one in four say the United States should leave immediately, according to a new poll published Tuesday.
The poll, conducted by Zogby International and the Center for Peace and Global Studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., was a rare effort to determine the views of American troops serving in a ground war.
Twenty-nine percent of the troops surveyed said U.S. forces should leave Iraq immediately, another 22 percent said they should leave within the next six months and 21 percent said within six to 12 months. Twenty-three percent agreed with President Bush's call for troops to stay "as long as they are needed" and 5 percent were unsure.
David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland, said that while most service members were more conservative than society as a whole, it wasn't surprising to see them reflect attitudes similar to civilians, who increasingly oppose the war.
Those views aren't necessarily an indication that troops are losing faith in the war, Segal said.
"One could argue that troops are saying, `Hey, we've accomplished a great deal. It's time to get out,' which is what you hear a lot of people in Washington saying," he said.

Add-On Delegate Process Meeting

Please join members of the Minority Caucus for an information session about the add-on delegate process for the nominating convention to be held

June 2 and 3 2006
in
Worcester MA

WHEN: Saturday, March 4, 2006

WHERE: The Senior Center-Lowell, MA
276 Broadway Street

TIME: 1:00 PM

Who is eligible to be an add-on delegate? There are three categories available: 1. Minority delegates which are Hispanic, African American, Cape Verdian, Native American, and Asian as defined by the EEOC, per the DSC charter. 2. Handicapped individuals. 3. Youth, age 18-35. All applicants must have been registered Democrats by December 3, 2005.

We will have applications available at this meeting; all applications must be received by the DSC no later than 5:00 PM, March 18th. You do not have to be committed to a candidate to participate.

Please RSVP to this meeting by Thursday March 2nd so we can ensure proper room set up. You can RSVP to Faye Morrison via email fayem01852@yahoo.com or by phone 978-772-4629. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me by either method mentioned above.

Please send this information out to everyone you know, however this event is not an outreach opportunity for campaigns, and any such work will have to be done outside of the meeting room. Directions provided upon request.

January Meeting/Convention Caucus

The first 2006 meeting of the Democratic Town Committee will take place Tuesday, January 24th at 7:30 p.m., in the upstairs conference center at the Main Library on South Street.

One subject to be discussed is the upcoming Democratic Convention in June, at which candidates for governor will seek to win the support of the delegates.

Registered Democrats interested in attending the convention as a delegate, must attend the local Caucus, which will take place approximately ten days after this month's PDTC meeting, (on Saturday, February 4) in the Conference Room of the Cedarville Fire Station beginning at 10 a.m.

No Meeting in December

We are still trying to work out a stable, convenient location for our regular monthly meetings.. if you have a location in mind, don't hesitate to suggest it to chairman Jon Graham. Because of the holidays there will be no December meeting.

Note that Gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick, will be in Plymouth on January 4th, to speak with local residents about his candidacy. If you'd like to meet with, and ask questions of Mr. Patrick, the meeting will take place at the Radisson, beginning at 6 p.m.

Pillar Fight

Georgie is at it again: I suppose we should be happy that at least he's come out of his hole, even if its only so that he could tell us how hard he's been working.

And what has he been working on - why Victory in Iraq, don't you know: a detailed (as far as he will go at least), three-pronged strategy for defeating the terrorists, re-building the country, and spreading democracy. Kind of like a series of fertilizer treatments, to kill the crab grass, encourage the good grass to grow, and make the lawn nice and green so it fits in with the neighbor's lawns.

The 38 page report that they distributed today, concludes with several pages of what they call "The Strategic Pillars":

The first pillar is "Defeat the Terrorists and Neutralize the Insurgency", which even I think is an improvement on their previous strategy of attracting terrorists and ignoring the insurgency. Of course they just kind of ignore their past mistakes, and hope no one notices. "Heck," their spokesmen say, "this has been the plan all along. Honest!".

The second pillar is "Transition Iraq to Security Self-Reliance", which is a hoot: kind of like saying, 'transition the junkie to a drug-free mobile home park'. Easier said than done. And what happened to those hordes of well wishers that were going to greet our troops like Jesus on his way into Jerusalem? And you know how that turned out.

The third pillar is "Help Iraqis Form a National Compact for Democratic Government", which is awkwardly put, but I think means that we are going to lead the horse to water, and then make him drink, as soon that is, as we get the water running again, and the oil, and electricity. Once the lights stay on, Democracy is a cinch.

Pillar Five is "Help Iraq Strengthen its Economy", which is something I think we should have thought of before we bombed the crap out of every major city in Iraq. But hey, its kind of what the new owners of a sports franchise would do after paying the big bucks for the team: raise ticket prices, knock down the old stadium, and build a new one with taxpayers money, being sure to add plenty of sky boxes for rich sponsors. Right now they're negotiating with a major corporation for naming rights: not for a stadium, for the whole country. They were all set to go with Enronia, but that pillar of society had its own problems.

Pillar Six is "Help Iraq Strengthen the Rule of Law and Promote Civil Rights" and after they're sure that this pillar is up, they're going to try and do the same here in America. It's going to be difficult though, what with the way George has been dissing the Geneva Convention, arguing for the right to torture prisoners, laughing at the world court, hiding prisoners all around the world and letting the local Taliban screw with everybody.

And then on the same day that they offer up Pillar Seven -"Increase International Support for Iraq", it's revealed they've been paying millions to a contractor who pays Iraqi journalists to slip in propaganda pieces into Iraqi newspapers. Oh well, at least they're trying. And anyway, after Abu Ghraib and the discovery of the secret torture prisons run by our favorite Iraqis, I don't think they are really serious, or care, about their reputations.

And this was always, the report insists, part of their master plan all along. Even that 'Mission Accomplished" banner and George posing in San Diego harbor, were part of their brilliant plan for victory in Iraq.

"You see I was pretendin," George seems to be saying, winking and grinnin, and squinting at the teleprompter. "I was pretendin we had already won, to fool the terrorists in to thinkin they had already lost, to lull them into a false sense of security, so we could sneak up on em and hit them with this big plan here, and these pillars.."

"And lord knows in a pillar fight -at least the kind like me and Condi have down in Crawford after the misses is asleep, the guy with the biggest pillar wins every time.