June 6
1798
Congress passes a bill abolishing debtor’s prisons in the United States.
1815
London Peace Society forms.
1936
First issue of Peace News published in England.
Due to illness, I was unable to post the COTG #30 this morning. Apologies to all who sent me their articles. I’m still not feeling too hip and am recovering from dehydration, so please forgive the lack of any creativity.
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This week I am hosting the 30th Carnival of the Green. Much thanks to City Hippy and Triple Pundit for organizing this great carnival!
Special thanks to Animal Broadcast Network for hosting last week’s carnival. COTG #31 will be hosted at Science and Politics next Monday.
Now, on to the Carnival!
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June 1-4 is Utah’s annual PRIDE celebration.
Two Desert Greens Green Party of Utah candidats are scheduled to speak at the political stage at the June 4 PRIDE festival at Library Square:
The Desert Greens Green Party of Utah will also be in the parade in the morning, in the “Peace ‘N’ Diversity” contingent, and will have a table at the all day event.
View the schedule here.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective have determined that Utah ranks 43rd out of 50 when it comes to 25 different laws from abortion bans to outlawing gay marriages, according to the groups’ “Mapping Our Rights” Web site which debuted Wednesday, May 31.
Utah earned slot 43 by its tally of “penalty” points assigned by the groups to laws they feel limit an individual’s right to choose who to marry, when to have children or access to certain types of health care. The higher number of points the worse the ranking.
Utah received points for state laws mandating counseling before abortion, a waiting period before an abortion and parental involvement in minors’ abortions as well as a lack of hate-crime laws for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people, a ban on gay marriages, and an abstinence-only education policy in school, among other items.
Of course opponents to gay rights and abortion were pleased with the ranking:
But Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Eagle Forum, an anti-abortion group in Utah, said of the state’s low ranking, “Good for us.”
“I am certainly disappointed that we didn’t make 50,” she said.
Jane Marquardt, the board chair of Equality Utah, says that she has seen positive changes in the past 25 years as more gay people have become more open and things such as domestic partner benefits have come to light in the political arena. She pointed out that the Utah legislature has two gay members and that the whole country will experience a shift in its openness towards gay issues.
Yesterday’s and today’s news is that Utah will receive a significant cut in Homeland Security Funds next year. Utah’s share of the $1.7 billion being distributed to states from the Federal Government for Homeland Security will be $8 million, down from $20 million in 2005.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Federal authorities are now shipping more dollars to states they say are more prone to terrorist attacks, such as those with large metropolitan areas or critical facilities. California received the most funds, at about $232 million, in the 2006 grants, with New York in second place at nearly $184 million. Utah ranked 45th of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the amount of money received, with some less populated states, such as Idaho and Alaska, taking in more funds.
This is another example of federal government mandates for programs to each state (such as No Child Left Behind) and not providing adequate funding for implementation, while at the same time issuing consequences to states that do not carry-out federally mandated programs.
Despite an invitation by a group of New Orleans women to visit the hurricane-ravaged city, Utah Representatives still have not visited there.
“Women of the Storm” is a group of 140 prominent women from New Orleans who visited Congress in January, to issue the invitations to visit their city. Yeseterday, the opening day of hurricane season, the group dramatically and creatively pointed out that the Utah delegation and 20 other states’ congressional delegations have yet to take them up on their invitation.
They got their message out by standing on a large U.S. map drawn on the grass of Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans’ City Park. Members of the group stood on each state and opened blue umbrellas to symbolize the states that had sent either a senator or a representative. A gap quickly formed near the map’s Great Lakes region and in the Western corner of the United States.
The women said it’s not too late to come and will not let up pressure until all delegations have done so.
June 2
1863
Abolitionist and former slave James Montgomery led 300 African-American troops of the Union’s 2nd South Carolina Volunteers on a raid of plantations along the Combahee River. Meanwhile, backed by three gunboats, Harriet Tubman‘s forces set fire to the plantations and freed 750 slaves.
Harriet Tubman
1907
Second International Peace Conference opens, The Hague, Netherlands.
1924
Congress granted US citizenship (8 U.S.C. 1401) to all American Indians.
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June 1
1660
Mary Dyer hanged for nonviolent resistance to suppression of Quakers, Boston
1845
Sojourner Truth (a name she believed God had given her as a symbolic representation of her mission in life) set out from New York on a historic journey across America, preaching about the evils of slavery and promoting women’s rights.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 