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I pledge allegiance to all life
in its interdependent diversity;
and to the Planet upon which it exists;
one World, under the sky, undividable
with harmony and balance for all. ~ Tom King, 2001, for Blue Sky Institute -
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Me This is my personal website which contains links and information to all aspects about me.
Tag Archives: Utah
Protestor’s video from Bush protest
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, bush regime, government corruption, politics, Utah
Earthquake in Utah
I felt the effects of an earthquake this morning and am quoted in this article:
Quake hits NE Nevada, has buildings swaying in downtown Salt Lake City
By Bob Mims and Erin Alberty
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 02/21/2008 08:50:06 AM MST
Updated: 8:49 AM- A northeastern Nevada earthquake of 6.0 magnitude shook buildings some 200 miles away in downtown Salt Lake City this morning. The seismic event had buildings swaying for several minutes.
Detective Sgt. Donald Burnum of the West Wendover, Nev., Police Department said there had been numerous called from concerned area residents. No damage had immediately been reported in his city, but heavily damaged buildings, fires and propane leaks were being
reported in nearby Wells, Nev.
Wells Mayor Rusty Tibo confirmed to 2News that “some of our older historic buildings have collapsed, I’m told” and that water main ruptured and some propane leaks were reported — but fortunately, no injuries were immediately reported. Wells schools are
closed as a precaution.
The seismic event, reportedly with an epicenter 42 miles west of Wendover and 11 miles east-southeast of Wells, struck at 7:16 a.m., had buildings swaying for several minutes. The Salt Lake Tribune’s seven-story building the Gateway Mall shook in an
east-to-west fashion; light fixtures swayed about six inches to a foot.
Sheryl Peterson of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations confirmed the quake had been felt throughout the area. Reports of the quake being felt extended as far north as Preston, Idaho, and south through the Salt Lake Valley into Utah County.
In Salt Lake City, Deanna Taylor was at her desk at City Academy, 555 E. 200 South, when the quake rolled through the area.
“I was sitting at my desk . . . and all of a sudden the floor under me started shaking and things on my desk started rattling and all the hanging plants in my office – and throughout the building, were swaying,” Taylor said.
Taylor says she first learned it had actually been an earthquake when she quickly accessed The Salt Lake Tribune’s Web site, “after I calmed myself, and saw your post.”
Spencer Johnson of Preston in southeastern Idaho told the Tribune that he “distinctly felt the earthquake this morning at my home. The cords on my blinds were swaying lazily about an inch to either side.
“It was gentle enough that I wasn’t sure whether I was feeling an earthquake or whether I was just going dizzy for some reason. But my suspicions were confirmed when I checked your website 15 minutes later,” he added.
Don Nash of Wendover, Utah, said the quake “Wigged out our dog. We received rattling and some shaking but, mostly minor stuff. “
Utah’s Community Radio KRCL turns Corporate
For more than 25 years KRCL radio has provided a valuable service to Utahns: Non-Commercial Community Radio. All that is about to change. And people aren’t happy about it.
Changes over the past few years have been more and more in the corporate direction until finally the big change.
All the volunteers are being released in exchange for paid DJ’s, the daytime format will feature oldies and rock and all public affairs programming is being moved to the evening slots.
Salt Lake City Weekly’s article (linked above):
KRCL is in a bind. When the station began 28 years ago, it was the only place a Salt Lake City resident could find bluegrass, reggae or jam bands outside of a record store. Today’s hipsters have the option of downloading music to iPods or tuning in to other cities’ radio stations on the Internet. Having hit a high of 45,000 listeners about five years ago, listener numbers have fallen to about 38,000. KRCL has failed to meet its fund-raising goals during the past two radiothons.
Now, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, KRCL’s primary federal funder, is threatening to take the station’s grant if it can’t increase its bite of the Salt Lake Valley’s 1.7 million potential listeners. The federal money is just one-eighth of KRCL’s annual budget. James Roberts, chairman of the KRCL board of directors, says the station could conceivably make that up from other sources, but the Corporation for Public Broadcasting also negotiates music-licensing agreements for KRCL. If the station had to do that on its own, the cost, Roberts says, could well sink KRCL.
So, KRCL has signed a contract with the feds pledging to make itself more popular.
More popular with what audience? I don’t think so.
Readers, voice your opinions. You can find contact info at:
http://www.krcl.org
Mayor of Salt Lake City to Bush, Congress, and Media: “We Won’t take it anymore!”
Address by Mayor Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, December 3, 2007
Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media: “You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it anymore.”
While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.” “You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.
You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.
We are here to tell you: We won’t take it anymore! You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical, outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation’s treaty obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged anti-war, bush regime, government corruption, human rights, iraq, peace, politics, Utah
Buy Nothing Day Coat Exchange
Last year the Desert Greens held it first Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange. It was fun and proved to be very meaningful.
This year we held it in a different location.
The 2007 Second Annual Winter Coat Exchange was successful and larger than 2006!
We had about 400 coats donated (up from 100 last year), as well as hats, gloves, and scarves! I was so successful this year that we are considering expanding to two locations for next year.
2007 Event Videos and Photos
Scott Fife Provides Live Entertainment
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Activism, buy nothing day, conservation, consumerism, Green Party, Utah
Gas prices
Today’s Deseret News has published a piece about the average gas price in Utah (see below). Thing is, oil was around $60 per barrel in the summer and gas prices were about the same as they are now that oil is up to about $80 per barrel. Very strange indeed.
Average gas price in Utah now $3.03
A new report from AAA of Utah shows the average price for regular, self-serve gasoline in the state has increased 22 cents during the past month and 69 cents over the past year.
Usually, gas prices will decrease in the fall, according to AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough. But crude oil prices are at an all-time high and are driving up the gas prices, she said. Last week, the cost per barrel “peaked” at $98.62. The beginning of the year, prices were around $55 per barrel, AAA said.
“This is not a typical year,” Fairclough said. “The overall demand for gasoline has been flat compared to last year, but prices have skyrocketed this fall principally because of the record-setting price of crude oil.”
In Utah, the average price for gasoline was $3.03 on Tuesday. The national average is $3.11. AAA says that 40 states have average prices over $3 per gallon, including Western states such as Idaho, Montana and California.
California has the nation’s highest average price at $3.39 per gallon, while New Jersey has the lowest average price at $2.91 per gallon, according to AAA.
For more information, visit AAA’s Web site www.aaa.com/gasprices.
Vouchers Voted Down – So Now What?
Yesterday’s local news reported that those for and against school vouchers will work towards improving our public schools:
After 38 percent backed vouchers, fans and foes vow to work for change
“There are 150,000 Utahns out there saying, ‘We need to change our education system,’ ” voucher backer Doug Holmes said.
Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, who opposed vouchers, said the fight lends a new sense of urgency to improving Utah education.
“The debate was great because people did get engaged in it,” Allen said. “But now it’s time to settle down and get into the hard work.”
Voucher battle opens way for improving public schools(Opinion)
In the spirit of reconciliation, I beseech those who opposed vouchers to put forth their ideas for change and improvement now, and to forcefully take them to every member of the Legislature and to the governor himself.
I also implore our state leaders to accept these ideas, to carefully consider their relative costs and benefits, and to immediately initiate the suggestions they feel will do the most good.
The time is now to push us forward. If we wait too long, the system will fall back to sleep and our recent trials and tribulations will have been in vain.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged choice in education, government corruption, politics, privatization, schools, Utah
Jordan School District to be Split – Voters Decide
Voters choose a split-up for Jordan District- The east-side district will give its parents more oversight over kids
This is another positive outcome in this year’s elections, in my opinion, for public education. I know there are concerns about disparity between geographic “sides”, however there has always been that disparity and I feel that, as folks in the above linked article stated, that if everyone works together, this will be boost public school education for our children.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged choice in education, government corruption, politics, privatization, schools, Utah
Yesterday’s Vote on Vouchers
Needless to say the entire nation was watching Utah yesterday on the voucher issue which, if passed, would have set a precedent for other states.
I’m happy to report that, not surprisingly, Utah’s voters voted AGAINST vouchers for education.
“Tonight, with the eyes of the nation upon us, Utah has rejected this flawed voucher law,” said state School Board Chairman Kim Burningham. “We believe this sends a clear message. It sends a message that Utahns believe in, and support, public schools.”
The PEOPLE have spoken.
In today’s news:
National
Washington Post
ABC News
Vouchers go down in crushing defeat- Vouchers’ money man says Utahns ‘don’t care enough about their kids’
More than 60 percent of voters were rejecting vouchers, with about 95 percent of the precincts reporting, according to unofficial results. The referendum failed in every county, including the conservative bastion of Utah County.
Vouchers killed – Foes are elated; legislators call issue dead
“I think it shows that Utah voters care about all Utah children and they care about putting all the resources we have in the state in public schools where they can be available for all children,” said Lisa Johnson, spokeswoman for the anti-voucher Utahns for Public Schools.
VOTERS SAID NO ON SCHOOL VOUCHERS AND YES TO UTAH’S CHILDREN!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged choice in education, government corruption, politics, privatization, schools, Utah
My voting experience
Salt Lake County decided to consolidate polling places and as a result there were long lines. I went to vote after work and arrived at my polling place at around 6:30pm. I waiting in a long line outside for about 1/2 hour and another 1/2 hour inside (including voting time). Not only that, there was only one table with one person checking off names with one assistant.
What’s up with that?
I will elaborate in my actual vote expereience at a later time. There’s some news coming down the pike about vote machines in which I will be involved.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2006 elections, Activism, government corruption, politics, Utah, voting machines
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 