The goal: to achieve inclusiveness and sustainability at the grassroots level in our communites This August, as a board member-representative of U.S. Servas (pronounced Sir-vahs), I was lucky enough to participate in one of the most important international meetings in the world: the United Nations’ 68th Civil Society Conference. Traditionally held at the UN headquarters […]
By creating a team of allies upfront, a presidential candidate can deliver substantive change, even before the election We all remember the boast: “I’ve got the best people,” intoned candidate Trump. His appointees, however, have been a less-than-stellar string of unqualified Fox News talking heads, ideologues, sycophants, nepotistic brats, and spoils system tycoons some intent […]
Pro-choice and women’s rights activists rallied at the state capitol as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Utah and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU) announced a lawsuit against the state of Utah for H.B. 136 at a press conference Wednesday, April 10. H.B. 136, which bans abortion after 18 weeks for women in […]
How did the environment do? Another legislative session has come and gone, and like most years before this one, there was a range of positive and negative legislation passed (or not) that affects our environment. The good: HB 139: Motor Vehicle Emission Amendments, Rep. Angela Romero—aka the “Coal roller bill” After an unsuccessful go in […]
On March 13 and 14, Hindu chaplain and statesman Rajan Zed will open Utah’s congressional sessions with Hindu prayer in the House and Senate, respectively. Both original Sanskrit and English translations of the prayer will be recited. The Sanskrit language is one of the world’s most ancient and is considered sacred among Hindus. Included in […]
Rolling coal” is the practice of intentionally blowing a plume of thick black exhaust from a diesel truck. To make this happen, someone has modified the emissions controls to increase the amount of fuel entering the engine. The sole purpose? To emit large plumes of black exhaust into the air. While it’s not actual coal, […]
Environmentalists gathered Friday at a press conference hosted by HEAL Utah and the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club to ask Governor Herbert to veto HB220, an amendment many are concerned would lead to the dumping of 700,000 tons of high concentration depleted uranium (DU) and other radioactive material in Tooele County. The amendment […]
Long before the recent worldwide wave of elections of far-right presidents and dictators that shocked liberals and moderates across Europe and the U.S., Stieg Larsson had a fastidious eye on the simmering far-right. The new Sundance documentary about Larsson’s life and work, The Man Who Played with Fire, gifts the public an up-close and forthright […]
When the worst president ever meets a rash assassin “People get me mixed up with Millard Fillmore. Millard! Or they can’t place me at all. You think this won’t happen to you. But I guarantee you, there will come a time when your name won’t ring a bell among the living. Not even a tiny […]
A great idea whose time (we hope) has come
Utah Legislature 2019 General Session, January 28-March 14
Upcoming bills in the 2019 Utah State legislature
Our city and county officials are gearing up for change.
When courts of law forbid the truth
Someday, perhaps not long from now, the inhabitants of a hotter, more dangerous and biologically diminished planet than the one on which I lived may wonder what you and I were thinking, or whether we thought at all. —William T. Vollmann, Carbon Ideologies Roads, Inland Port, coal and wasteful water projects The window of time […]
