Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act Is Illegal
Does this really come as a suprise?
Camp Democracy Delivers War Crimes Indictment.
At first, when they arrived at the White House Gate, they were told they would have to mail them. But they ultimately accepted the hand delivered document.
New Air Pollution Laws have been developed for Utah, according to a Salt Lake Tribune article today.
Current standards allow communities a certain number of days when air exceeds 65 micrograms of these fine particles per cubic meter before the EPA requires added pollution cuts. The new standard would reduce the daily trigger to 35 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter of air.
Every Utah county meets the current standard. But, based on air-pollution data collected by the state over the past three years, 10 counties – Cache, Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Summit Tooele, Utah and Juab – would exceed the 35-microgram limit.
(The Tribune has nicely provided a context at the end of its article for PM2.5:
PM 2.5 PARTICLES are 1/40th the width of a human hair.
PM 2.5 is produced mainly from engines in cars and trucks.
FEDERAL OFFICIALS say tough new standards for the pollutant will prevent about 17,000 premature deaths each year.)
Many environmentalists, though, feel the standards need to be even more tough.
Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged alternative fuel, environment, light rail, mass transportation
Restraining Order against Bush Denied
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a former Republican congressional candidate’s request for a restraining order barring President Bush or Vice President Richard Cheney from bombing Iran or Syria.
Mary Maxwell, 59, of 179 Loudon Road, Apt. 10, Concord, filed a lawsuit Monday against Bush, Cheney and other “unnamed defendants actively engaging in acts of war against Iran and Syria in the guise of the war against terrorism.”
Maxwell’s suit seeks a ruling that the administration lacks legal authority to pre-emptively attack either Iran or Syria without a Congressional declaration of war, and that radioactive fallout from the use of nuclear weapons in any such attack would endanger people around the world, including herself.
Maxwell was one of two candidates who unsuccessfully challenged six-term Republican incumbent Congressman Charles Bass in the primary election last week.
One of Maxwell’s points, and one on which she feels she has standing, is that she (and everyone eles) would suffer the effects of nuclear fallout from dropped nuclear bombs. That’s in addition to the illegality of Congress handing over power to the Bush admiminisration to be able to declare war.
But because no personal harm has been demonstrated (yet), the courts will not bring her case forward.
It’s too bad that death and destruction have to happen FIRST before any action can be taken to stop these destructive illegal acts of aggression.
The House of Representatives has approved three measures to “control” the illegal immigrnat issue.
One of those measures includes building a 700 mile border fence.
All three of Utah’s representatives voted in approval of the Illegal Immigrant Deterrence and Public Safety Act and the Effective Immigration Enforcement and Community Protection Act.
Some of the bills’ provisions are: allowing local and state authorities to enforce immigration law; creating criminal penalties for building tunnels across the border; and making it easier to deport alien gang members.
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, voted for the measures. Cannon has been targeted by activists against illegal immigration, and faced a primary election challenge, because of his role as President Bush’s point man on comprehensive immigration reform.
“These three bills can make an immediate impact in securing our borders and strengthening our nation. They are a step in the right direction, but more still needs to be done,” Cannon said in a statement. “Congress needs to actually fix our broken immigration system, by solving the entire problem.”
The measures all still need Senate approval.
Having seen “the fence” in El Paso and visited Tuscon where I heard personal accounts about immigrants crossed the desert in an effort to seek out a better life, I would urge our elected officials to stop doing what they continually do in an effort to “fix” problems – that is providing “band-aid solutions” that end up costing taxpayers a lot of money and don’t really solve problems.
I mean after all, we are dealing with human beings here. Human beings who need help and come to America, the land of opportunity, to seek a better life. That’s the story for most of those folks who illegally or otherwise cross the border into our land.
We are being fenced in while others are being fenced out. That is not a solution and it doesn’t make me feel more “secure”.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged government, human needs, human rights, immigrant issues, immigration laws, politics, Utah
Since the last time I wrote about The Proposal by California to the GPUS on Utah, there have been changes and amendments. The proposal has now been amended to include Texas, which withdrew its single proposal to counter the CA proposal and then joined forces with CA to provide a proposal for an “independent” investigation.
The proposal is FAR from proposing an “independent” investigation, by virtue of the fact that it calls for a “resolution committee” to examine the results of such an “independent” investigation, including members from “both sides” of the Utah split. Additionally, the background information continues to remain erroneous.
Here is the text of the Formation Of An Independent Investigative Committee Regarding the Affiliated GPU Amended:
Continue reading
Today is the International Day of Peace.
Join the worldwide movement to create a Global Ceasefire and day of peace and nonviolence. including Pinwheels for Peace in over 2,000 locations.
There are more than 3500 events in 187 countries scheduled for today.
Here in Utah, International Day of Peace Activities began Monday night at Westminster College with a peace ceremony, film and panel discussion, about which Green Jenni wrote.
Here are actitivites today:
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte has determined that, due to inadequte environmental reviews, the Bush administration’s rewrite of roadless forest policy is denied.
A Bush administration policy aimed at re-opening access to more than 58 million acres of roadless national forests closed off under President Clinton was struck down Wednesday by a federal judge in California.
“The American people have spoken loud and clear on this issue and they want these valuable public lands protected,” said Anna Aurilio, legislative director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Twenty environmental groups and attorneys general from four states challenged the Bush rule in court, arguing that the administration did not comply with the required environmental assessments and endangered species reviews before enacting the rule.
The Utah Governor’s Office is currently developing a “multiple use” plan for forests in Utah, with plans to submit it to the National Forest Service Office in November.
“Until we get other guidelines, we’re responding to the Bush administration’s direction,” Stevens said.{Lynn Stevens, public lands policy coordinator for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.,}
But critics of Utah’s roadless petition process believe the state will have to adhere to the new judicial ruling, at least until it can be sorted out on appeal.
“The Utah plan is not premised on protection. It’s premised on allowing state and county planners to go through Utah’s roadless inventory [about 5 million acres] and throw out all the conservation measures they don’t like,” said Kevin Mueller, executive director of the Utah Environmental Congress.
Off road vehicle users are not happy. Michael Swenson, executive director of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, an off-highway vehicle advocacy group:
“We’re not going away. We’re not saying this is over. We’re hopeful that an appropriate remedy can be struck to protect access to valuable recreation areas,” Swenson said.
I have been following the case of the Cottonwood Heights Mobile Home Residents who are facing losing their homes due to development of the property on which they reside. Residents and supporters pleaded their case before the Cottonwood Heights Council last night in an effort to at least get the deadline extended for their eviction from their homes.
Today’s Salt Lake Tribune has an update on this situation.
Meadows[Mobile Home Park] resident Brian Godfrey said that 274 people are affected by the sale of the 50-year-old park to Gust. Most of the residents believed the area was protected by a family trust and would remain a mobile-home community in perpetuity.
“There are many in the park who have no means to move their homes. Those homes will be fodder for the bulldozer,” Godfrey said. Some of the mobile homes were built before 1976 and federal law says they cannot be moved to other parks.
Susan Johnston, president of the Meadows residents association, asked for more time and resources – and requested that any promises be put in writing.
“It costs up to $10,000 to move these homes. This is an extreme hardship,” she said. “Many of these residents will be bankrupt and some of the senior citizens will lose their independence.”
A decision is planned to be made about extending the deadline in October.
Here are some news items of interest today:
Commentaries of note:
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 