Saturday
Setting up the water and meeting tent; scenery; Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader, blesses the evening’s food.
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Friday, May 26
Arriving
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I will be offline for a few days.
The Green Party of the United States issued a press release today on the Stop the Divine Strake Action. I a m quoted in it:
“It’s obvious that Divine Strake is a show of force preceding an imminent attack on the people of Iran — which may include the use of nuclear weapons. It’s a test run for President Bush’s apparent attempt to set off a world war with Middle Eastern nations,” said Deanna Taylor, Desert Green candidate for Salt Lake County Council , who plans to participate in the protest. Desert Greens (Green Party of Utah) have led the Green Party of the United States in opposing the test.
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Here is the latest update of Stop the Divine Strake Actions.
Workshops:
(subject to change)
Teton Rainbows ~ Bennie LeBeau aka Blue Thunder
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May 25
1774
African slaves in Massachussetts Bay petition the government for freedom as their natural right.
1925
John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Scopes, a football coach and substitute biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, agreed to be arrested and put on trial to challenge a new state law against teaching evolution that had become law just four days prior.
May 24
1774
The Virginia House of Burgesses declared this a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer” in reaction to the British closure of the Port of Boston.
1906
British suffragist Dora Montefiore protests lack of women’s vote by refusing to pay taxes & barricading her house against bailiffs.
1943
In Bulgaria, a march against anti-Semitism leads to stop in Jewish deportations.
1964
Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona), running for the Republican Party nomination for president, gave an interview in which he said he would consider the use of low-yield atomic bombs in North Vietnam.
The Utah Special Legislative Session will begin Wednesday at 2pm.
According to today’s Salt Lake Tribune, these items will be up for proposal to be addressed following an address to the House and Senate by Mexican President Vicente Fox:
It is anticipated the much of the session will be spent debating the medicaid dental benefits.
I’d like to start this post by stating that I am not condoning not wearing seatbelts. I encourage people to wear seatbelts.
I am against the government telling me that I have to wear a seatbelt.
Yesterday the “Click it or Ticket” campaign was kicked off in Utah. Within four hours of the kickoff ceremony, 571 citations were issued to motorists not wearing seatbelts.
I truly understand the need for motorists to wear seatbelts, however, they are hurting no one but themselves by not wearing them. Why, then, are our tax dollars being spent enforcing something that doesn’t affect the safety of others by virtue of someone not wearing their seatbelt? In my opinion, this is an invasion of privacy and yet another attempt by authorities to dictate what people do to their own bodies.
I would like to know what me not wearing my seatbelt does to harm the driver in the lane next to me?
The article (click link above) quotes Traffic officers say that unfortunately, the threat of losing money causes people to react more than the threat of losing their lives.
“Maybe that will get people to catch on,” said Utah Highway Patrol Col. Scott Duncan.
Advocates of this law say that the state has to pay so much money in emergency medical care for those involved in injuries resulting from not wearing seatbelts.
So it’s not lives after all, it’s money. Bottom line.
I would like to see the statistics and compare the cost of emergency medical care resulting from people not wearing seatbelts to the cost of all the patrol officers issuing citations yesterday and also to the costs of those wearing seatbelts and still being injured. I would also like to see statistics that compare time periods where mass citations are issued and other crimes are committed (murder, rape, theft, etc.) during the same time period where law enforcement resources would have been better expended.
Again, I am not advocating not wearing seatbelts. Statistics show that people are more likely to die in accidents where people don’t wear seatbelts. I am against being told what I have to do to protect my own self. I want my tax dollars spent wisely, and, in my opinion, this is not the best use of my tax dollars.
May 23
1838
U.S. General Winfield Scott ordered the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians from the east to the “Indian Nation” (what is now Oklahoma).
Approximately one quarter of the 10,000 died on this march called “The Trail of Tears.”
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 