Slamdance Film Festival

This year’s Slam Dance Film Festival, the “poorer” film festival that coincides with the larger and flashier Sundance, has begun. With over 90 films and loads of other entertaining activities, Slamdance has events in Park City and Salt Lake City.

Sugarhouse is a featured venue area for some of the films and events. Tonight at 7pm Slamdance is featuring a poetry slam at in Sugarhouse, the little retail activist shop, the owner (who is also one of my fellow cheerleaders!) of which opens the doors of her shop to activist groups for films, meetings and other events.

This is exciting for our little activist community here in Utah!

2006 Utah Legislative Session Resource Page

2006 General Session (January 16 – March 1)

2006 General Session Bill Documents Lists
By number
By sponsor, subject, or committee (Search Page)
Passed Bills

Calendars and Schedules
Significant Dates
Floor Calendars
Weekly Schedules

Etc.
House and Senate Journals
Key Issues

This information is also found on Dee’s 2006 Utah Legislature Resource page on the left sidebar.

Envirocare and Stephenson: Conflict of Interest????

I thought something was fishy.

Sen. Howard Stephenson (R-Draper), who introduced the bill (S.B. 70) that would change state law to make it easier for Envirocare to double the size of its radioactive waste dump, is under fire by a lawyers group that has called for an ethics investigation on Stephenson.

The group, Trial-lawyers Representing Utah’s Environment (TRUE), would need 3 state senators to write letters requesting the inquiry before the Senate Ethics Committee could initiate an investigation.

According to the Salt Lake Tribuen article, Stephenson is president and registered lobbyist of the Utah Taxpayers Association, a group of which Envirocare is a member.
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Yesterday’s Utah Legislative Report Summary

Articles in published in today’s Utah newspapers about the Yesterday’s Utah Legislature news:

Salt Lake Tribune
Evolution bill debate revolves around religion–Preliminary OK: Utah skeptics of Darwin’s theory won on an initial vote (includes links to other sources on this topic)
Groundwater management plan advances
Cross memorials for cops supported in resolution
Bill would restore beer tax money
Post-retirement medical: A similar bill hit state workers
Dirty campaigning–PACs may have to put names behind slurs
Legislature: Helping dentists–Sponsor worries bill is at risk to be pulled
Other legislative action
Senate OKs smoking ban–But whether it will clear the House is uncertain
Lawmakers hustle to alter diploma law–Bill would give the documents to seniors who fail exit exams

Deseret News
Senate gives initial OK to ‘origins’ bill
Legislature may seek repeal of No Child–Lawmakers to debate bill asking Congress to act
House bill defends UHP crosses–Lawmaker says they are ‘symbol of death, not a religious symbol’
Legislator seeking to give accident victims more help–Measure would raise state’s liability cap on personal injuries
Lawmakers may also feel sting of health-benefits cut
Ban on smoking in bars moves to House for vote
Measure would widen DNA-sample mandates
Measure would widen DNA-sample mandates
Language problems stall a property-tax resolution
Biskupski to hone, bring trafficking bill back later
Rehab programs may get $5 million boost with bill

Today in history

January 21

1661
The Quaker (Friends) Peace Testimony was presented to King Charles II of England.
The testimony begins: “We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever. And this is our testimony to the whole world…”

1938
Emma Tenayuca leads San Antonio pecan shellers on the largest labor walk-out held to date.

1961
Spanish, Portuguese & South American activists hijack Portuguese liner “Santa Maria” to protest the Franco & Salazar dictatorships.

1976
The Continental Walk for Disarmament & Social Justice began in Ukiah, California, headed for Washington, D.C.
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CODEPINK: Sign our Call for Peace

I received this letter today from Medea Benjamin. Please consider signing this call to action:

Dear local Green Party coordinator,

As Green Party members who hold non-violence and feminism as core values, we’d greatly appreciate it if you would sign and help us circulate this women-initiated Urgent Call for Peace in Iraq. We hope to gather over 100,000 signatures on the Call by March 8, International Women’s Day, when we will deliver them to U.S. embassies/consulates/federal offices all over the world.

You can help by signing the Call today at http://www.womensaynotowar.org/ , spreading the word to your friends, downloading a banner to put on your website (http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=698) and joining us in action on March 8. If you want more information about the campaign, email info@womensaynotowar.org.

With thanks,
Medea Benjamin
Green Party candidate for California Senate, 2000
CODEPINK: Women for Peace
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Anti-Bullying Resolution in Senate

My colleague Carla Kelly, Director of the Human Rights Education Office in Salt Lake (who also teaches with me) sent out this letter today:

Dear Friends,

Utah Senator Patrice Arent-D has authored an anti-bullying resolution, which will be introduced in this session!

It is critical that we show our support for this resolution immediately, because the Senate committee hearing could be scheduled any day.

Click here to REGISTER YOUR SUPPORT http://www.mybully.org//?p=8#respond or go to http://www.mybully.org or simply e-mail me your statement of support.

Please also pass this e-mail on to friends of kids!

To the surprise of many, bullying is a serious problem in many Utah schools, and this is an opportunity to address it head on.

Our kids deserve the right to a safe school environment. It is our job to protect the rights of our kids.
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Toll Roads

There is talk on The Hill of building a road in the western part of the Salt Lake Valley so that folks could bypass part of the I-15 corridor from I-80. This road would be a toll road.

I am against this, just as I am against the building of the Legacy Highway. We do not “need” more roads. When I drive at night, I cannot see the lines on our freeways – how sad! Where is the road maintenance money spent?

I think the idea of toll roads might be a good one – for existing roads. This would potentially decrease the amount of automobile drivers on our roads and drive up the demand for mass transportation. There are lots of possibilities.

Here is what we need:
– Better road maintenance of existing infrastructure
– Increased funding for increased mass transportation
– Long range goals for mass transportation, including high speed rail lines
– incentives for people who use mass transportation
– fee based parking lots at all rail stations

It puzzles me as to why our legislators continue to advocate funding for more roads. This only creates more development and more opportunities for more cars to be on the road. Our state is regressing in the area of environmental sustainability with regards to transportation.

No more roads!

Google

Several folks with Live Journal blogs (Syndicalist and Jen’s Green Journal)have posted the article about Google being subject to search by the Feds.
I posted an article in early January on Google and theTen things Google has found to be true from Google’s corporate page.

We must support businesses like this that aren’t afraid to stand up to Goliath. Google is a model of sound and reponsible business practices with the planet’s interests at heart. I don’t know what is so threateing and scary about that, but kudos to Google for not buckling under this pressure.

Radical Cheerleaders featured on local blog

Ethan of SLC Spin has a post about Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs (of which I am a member), by request, that has generated some comments. A lot of the comments made it apparent to me that folks don’t know about radical cheerleading as a movement, so I made these comments to his post:

I am wondering if any of your readers have gone to our website, Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs?
We are a group of very diverse individuals who decided to get our peace and justice messages out through cheerleading. We have been
featured in Salt Lake’s CATALYST, have an appearance in the movie “This Divided State”, and recently had our photo published in the Chicago Tribune.

Radical Cheerleading is an international movement, is fun and entertaining!

We appear in the St. Patrick’s Day and Pride Day Parades (our favorite parade chant is “To the Left! To the Left! Not to the righ, To the Left!”) and at all the rallies in town.

Here is a post about radical cheerleading that might possibly interest some of your readers.
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