Remember your roots

Posted on April 13, 2006 | Leave a comment

John Saltas wrote in this week’s Salt Lake City Weeklyabout the demonstraton against immigration legislation that was held last weekend. He referenced the mass multitude of protestors and the handful of anti-protestors, a group of “minutemen” that advocates for illegal immigrants to be sent back to their countries. Saltas says:

Those protesting the marchers proclaimed that “illegals” want to steal our freedoms. Really? More than 10 percent of the United States war dead in Iraq have Hispanic surnames, including a Utah war casualty who had yet to gain U.S. citizenship. They claim “illegals” take money from the economy by working for cash pay at low wages. Is that so? Then throw the employers in jail for exploiting them. They shouted that the marchers should not wave the Mexican flag. Where were those patriots on St. Patrick’s Day?

Well said.

Stay tuned. May Day (May 1) may see more action.

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“Davey” wins in South Jordan

Posted on April 13, 2006 | Leave a comment

Sometimes Davey wins.

Goliath tumbled yesterday as residents in South Jordan rallied to protest the city’s possible action of selling a 4-acre Jordan River Park parcel to the LDS church or other developers. The city, made very aware of the loud opposition to this, basically “caved” and retracted their announcement of that possible decision-making action.

City officials tried to cover up by stating:
“I want to make it clear we were not poised to sell it to the church,” [Ricky]Horst[city manager] said. “If we did sell it, we would have to put it to the open market.”
Horst said the city is not disappointed to have dropped the idea.
“It was not a big deal to the city either way,” he said. “We just had a request from the church to look at it, so we said we’d look at it, and we did.”

Residents were ecstatic that their voices were heard. Democratic process in action. Chalk one up for Davey.

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Pentagon says “Divine Strake” test is environmentally safe

Posted on April 13, 2006 | 4 comments

Nevada has requested proof that the June 2 “Divine Strake” test meets all environmental standards. The Pentagon says it does and will provide that proof to the Nevada Governor’s office.

Despite the Nevada governor’s concerns, the pentagon has not postponed or cancelled the test.

First, a detonation of 700 tons of explosives above a tunnel cannot possibly be “safe”.

Second, this disturbed me even more: Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelly Berkley, had expressed concern about the test, but after a briefing with Pentagon officials both said they were reassured the test could be conducted safely.

And although Utah Representative Jim Matheson has voice his opposition to the test, he isn’t really taking any drastic measures to stop it. Instead, he states that he recognizes the test “can’t be stopped”, but he can help make it harder to provide proof that this isn’t in preparation for the development of a new line of nuclear weapons.

When will our representatives just plain put their foot down and lead a massive movement to stop this madness?

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“Tax Freedom” Day

Posted on April 13, 2006 | Leave a comment

The average Utahn has to work from January 1 to April 17 to pay taxes.

Utahns carry one of the higher tax burdens in the West. A per household measurement is a more accurate calculation, experts say, because Utahns have more children on average than any other state.

Here, again, is where more education is needed. (See my post yesterday on education in domestic violence.)
In a state where “abstinence only” can be taught in health classes, there is something wrong with this picture. Our tax burden could be gradually decreased if our educational efforts in various areas were revised….

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Today in history

Posted on April 13, 2006 | Leave a comment

April 13

Passover

1775
The first American society for the abolition of slavery is organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.

1919
Socialist, pacifist, and labor leader Eugene Debs was imprisoned for opposing U.S. entry into World War I. While in prison, he received nearly one million votes for President in 1920 (as he had in 1912).

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Green Dietary Habits

Posted on April 12, 2006 | Leave a comment

I became a vegetarian because of the impact that eating meat has on our planet. Consider this:

from Wikipeidia:
Environmental benefits of Vegetarianism

The production of meat and animal products at current and likely future levels is often considered as environmentally and ecologically unsustainable. It is also argued that even if sustainable, modern industrial agriculture is changing ecosystems faster than they can adapt. While vegetarian agriculture produces some of the same problems as animal production, the environmental impact of animal production is significantly greater. [1] Environmental vegetarians can be compared with economic vegetarians, who consider the meat industry economically unsound, and both citing the same efficiency concerns, many vegetarians see natural resources as being freed up by vegetarianism and veganism.

“The cost of mass-producing cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep and fish to feed our growing population… include highly inefficient use of freshwater and land, heavy pollution from livestock feces… and spreading destruction of the forests on which much of our planet’s life depends.” – Time Magazine 11/8/99

I guess I can call myself, then, an “economic vegetarian”.

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Service Learning

Posted on April 12, 2006 | Leave a comment

The students at the school where I teach organized a “Barnyard Festival” today, the proceeds of which went to Ching Farm Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. It was a social event for the school community that raised money for a good cause. The event generated $140.00 for the sanctuary. The students had a great time too!

This event was held in conjunction with National and Global Youth Services Day. Here are a few photos:



Ching Farm volunteers

One game gave away gold fish as a prize

Henna tatoos were offered

There was a whipped cream pie eating contest complete with gummy worms

The band Adietia played

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Iraqi Women’s Radio Station spokeswoman to speak in SLC

Posted on April 12, 2006 | 1 comment

I learned from today’s Deseret News that Salt Lake has a women’s radio station: KUTR AM-820. I never knew this! An article in today’s D-News about an Iraqui Women’s Radio Station revealed this.

The article is about the Iraqi women’s radio station seeking support. It’s spokeswoman, Bushra Jamil, a human rights officer in Baghdad, will speak the the Salt Lake City Main Library at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 19; at the University of Utah’s Women’s Resource Center on Thursday, April 20, at noon; and on Friday at the university’s Hinckley Institute of Politics at noon.

There’s a sense of urgency on Radio Al-Mahaba, Baghdad’s “Voice of Iraqi Women.” The station, which debuted a year ago, wants to educate women about their rights in a country where those rights are in a state of flux. It also gives Iraqi women a chance to express their opinions on everything from husbands to politics.

“We tell about their dreams, their suffering, their hopes,” explained Radio Al-Mahaba spokeswoman Bushra Jamil in a phone call from Baghdad. Jamil will be in Salt Lake City next week, where Utah friends she has never met are hoping to raise enough money to replace Al-Mahaba’s transmitter, destroyed by a bomb last fall.
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Bad news about domestic violence in Utah

Posted on April 12, 2006 | Leave a comment

According to an article in today’s Deseret News which quotes a statistical report released by the Utah Domestic Violence Council, Domestic Vioence in Utah is up.

Domestic violence-related deaths rose to 33 in 2005, an increase over the 23 reported in 2004.
“What this means for us as a council, we need to get our message out more clearly and loudly to end domestic violence,” said UDVC executive director Judy Kasten Bell.
Guns were used in 25 of the domestic violence-related fatalities in 2005 while knives were used in five others.
Just as tragic, at least 31 children either witnessed deaths or were nearby when a person died as a result of domestic violence.
On average, domestic violence-related deaths account for a third of all homicides in the state, Bell said. In 2004, 20 of the 33 domestic violence-related deaths were classified as homicides, according to statistics from the domestic violence council.

I have stated here before that I feel more of our tax dollars should be spent on educational programs for services such as education about domestic violence. These statistics are alarming to me and further confirms my belief that more education is needed. Domestic violence leads to other types of violence and filters into our schools where children think that it’s o.k. to bully others. It’s a vicious cycle.

It’s people we need to invest in. Not corporate interests. This means increased services for people who really need them.

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Gay Advocate Activists arrested at Brigham Young University

Posted on April 12, 2006 | Leave a comment

24 Gay Advocate Activists were arrested at BYU in Provo yesterday. The activists staged a march and demonstration and a die-in to protest the LDS church’s stance against gay LDS church members, a stance which is dubbed by some as “anti-Christ-like”.

The protestors carried lilies as they marched in rememberance of gay and lesbian LDS church members who have committed suicide.

from the Deseret News:
The marchers proceeded somberly and silently on a 42-minute walk past the LDS Missionary Training Center, the Marriott Center, Larry H. Miller Field and LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The procession ended at the campus entrance on the corner of Bulldog Boulevard and Canyon Road, where Soulforce conducted a rally to memorialize the deaths of 22 members of the LDS Church who committed suicide between 1965 and 2004.
Soulforce leaders read biographies of each of the gay men — 11 served LDS church missions and six were former BYU students or graduates. The rally included memorials for two other gay men who had ties to Utah or the LDS Church.
Each marcher represented one of the dead men and carried a lily. The rally lasted more than an hour, with each marcher waiting until a biography was read before walking from the street corner up onto campus and collapsing on the grass as if dead.
“People are dying, and we can’t ignore that any longer,” said Haven Herrin, a Soulforce organizer. “We offer the lilies to the university in honor of those who have killed themselves. They couldn’t reconcile their LDS faith and their sexual identity. We hope for a safer future.”
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