Promoting democracy in Utah one pint at a time.
Promoting democracy in Utah one pint at a time.
Bob McCarthy the owner of Stoneground Restaurant here in Salt Lake is in the process of opening a new bar in the Marmalade District (750 North 300 West). The location of the bar is where the original “Hideout” used to be. The “Hideout” was just a tavern/beer bar. Bob is trying to change the license from a tavern to a private club. This has become a very debated issue and he is getting a lot of opposition from the local community. He is need of people who live in the Capitol Hill District to sign a petition in support ASAP. Please contact me via email at mmmerrill (at) hotmail (dot) com for petition locations.
If you’re on a lot of mailing lists like myself, you’re probably getting a lot of e-mails urging you to caucus for your party. I liked HEAL Utah’s:
Next Tuesday, March 25th, two events will compete for your votes: American Idol and your neighborhood political party caucus meetings.
More Americans will vote for the next American Idol than for President of the United States, but we want to remind you that on Tuesday you can do something important for democracy and get home in time to vote for your favorite idol.
Attend your political party’s neighborhood caucus meeting! On Tuesday, March 25th, at 7:00 pm, voters around the state will gather at their neighborhood caucus meetings to help decide which candidates will appear on the ballot in November and the future direction of our state.
Here are our top 3 reasons you should attend your neighborhood caucus meeting and TiVo American Idol:
1. Less than 2% of voters attend their party caucus meetings, which means your vote and opinion carry way more weight on this night than on election night.
2. If you don’t like what’s on the menu, you need to get in the kitchen! Lack of participation on caucus night means legislators with broad conflicts of interest and special interest agendas continue to be the only choices come November.
3. American Idol voting doesn’t start until 9:00 pm, so you can attend your caucus and still get home in time to vote.
Attending your political party caucus on Tuesday March 25th is more important than voting for American Idol, and even more important than voting in November. Still not sure what caucuses are and why they are so important? Read our FAQ section below, or visit our website at: www.healutah.org/takeaction/caucus
When do these meetings take place?
All….
I urge you to add this screening to your calendar. I had the opportunity to walk with Marshall, and participate with him also in other peace events. He is a true patriot, and his story is compelling. We must end this war!! Please join the movement! Carla
YOU’RE INVITED TO THE UTAH PREMIERE OF A SOLDIER’S PEACE: One Veteran’s 500-mile Journey Into Activism.
WHERE: Wildcat Theater in Ogden, Utah
WHEN: Saturday March 8th at 4:30 pm
We finally finished our documentary of Sgt. Marshall Thompson’s 500-mile walk through Utah. We were able to interview peace activists Martin Sheen, Cindy Sheehan, Daniel Ellsberg, M.C. Hammer, Rocky Anderson, and many more. The film explores the cost and effectiveness of peace activism, apathy regarding the war, and the role of women in the movement, among other things. You can check out the trailer at http://www.soldierspeace.com.
Our documentary is screening at festivals throughout the country, but we’re most excited about the Utah premiere because we hope to be joined by the people who made this walk possible. If you walked with Marshall, you may be in the film. You can purchase tickets at the door, or on-line HERE. If you’re not in the area, and would like to organize a screening, e-mail us.
If you would like to carpool with people from your area, please e-mail us with relevant information (where you live, if you need a ride, or if you can drive, etc.) and we’ll put you in touch with other interested people.
Thanks again for your involvement in Marshall’s walk in fall of 2006. Hopefully you can be a part of our Utah premiere, as well. Please forward this e-mail to anyone you know who might be interested and we hope to see you on March 8th.
Sincerely,
Kristen Thompson A Soldier’s Peace info@soldierspeace.com
From Dave Morris, owner of the Piper Down Pub where Drinking Liberally meets each week:
First, there is law being drafted that would increase the amount of primary liquor in any single drink to 1 1⁄2 oz. but decrease the total amount of alcohol in front of a customer to 2oz. I fear that this would lead to over consumption. The majority of hard alcohol drinks ordered in bars contain only 1 type of liquor. For example, a shot of Jager, a Rum or Bourbon and cola, a Scotch neat or Shot of Whisky would all have 50% more alcohol. Secondly, this would limit the type and variety of specialty drinks Utah bars and restaurants could create. Utah bars would also no longer be able to make Long Island Teas, Long Beaches, Mai Tais or other Tropical Favorites.
Liquor sales from 2/3/08:
690 Shots of liquor were sold.
578 1 oz. drinks. (84%)
112 Drinks were made with more than 2oz. (16%).
41 Drinks were served Tall (in a 16 oz glass)
25 of those tall drinks were side cars (.04%)
Therefore, under proposed legislation, 84% of the drinks we served on 2/3 would contain more alcohol. That equals 11.5 extra bottles of alcohol on that day alone. 16% of the drinks served could not be legally made. These are tall, specialty drinks like Mai Tais and Teas. Only 4% of the drinks ordered were made with a sidecar and 60% of those were ordered with double the mixer as well (tall with a side car).
Heather and I went to the Progressive Activist Conference at the University of Utah Saturday. We only caught a couple panels, but they were informative even if we could hardly stay awake. The presenters are doing great work for their respective causes, but they could probably benefit from sharpening their presentation skills. One powerpoint had a lot of good information on it, but it was just so much to take in I probably couldn’t repeat even one of the statistics.
Some argue that we progressives shouldn’t even focus on the numbers, but focus more on telling the stories of these numbers - see Drew Weston’s “The Political Brain” (also see theRadioWest interview with the author). Myself, I like a good story AND statistics, and while at the conference I picked up a flyer that tells stories and also shows some numbers. The flyer was put out by American Friends Service Committee.
AFSC has calculated that the per day cost of the Iraq war for the first 4 years has been $720 million. So they’ve figured out how far that $720 million would go for various things:
Pete Ashdown sent an e-mail to his Politech list today that I really liked:
This week, Representative Brad Daw(2) wrote House Bill 139(3) which will effectively put an end to public XMission Free Wireless. Sourcing from a legislator who describes himself as being in favor of “limited government”, this bill introduces civil penalties if a minor is able to access pornography over public wireless Internet. With XMission wireless never earning one red cent in profit, the potential of a civil suit hanging over its operation immediately makes it not viable. The moment this bill is signed into law, I will shut down all XMission free wireless and cease expansion of this service.
Some may accuse me of packing up my “toys”(4) and refusing to cooperate. When this plan surfaced last year(5), I had a long conversation with Representative Daw expressing my concerns of such legislation. In reading the text of this bill, I see those concerns were flatly ignored. XMission has provided free Internet filters longer than any other provider in the state, but I can never guarantee that a minor can not access pornography over an Internet connection. Nor do I believe government or business is the best parent of my children or anyone else’s.
I’m a little late posting this one, but the annual US Marine Corps Toys for Tots program needs volunteers.
90% of the Marine force in Utah is busy this holiday season. 180 Marines currently deployed in Iraq and another 100 busy training for their 2008 deployment means that there are not enough Marines in Utah to pick up and distribute toys.
The Marines are very short staffed for the distribution weeks and need your help. They especially need some people that speak Spanish to assist with translation.
Round up your family and friends and join the US Marines for a grand holiday experience.
Please, cut and paste this post and email to anyone you know who can make the time to do a little with the men and women who do so much.
CONTACT TO VOLUNTEER
Laura Sexton
435-783-5806
435-640-7223
laura@sextonoffroad.com
military@allwest.net
For readers in other states, visit ToysForTots.org and look for a volunteer opportunity near you.
http://www.toysfortots.org/
Thanks to JM Bell, the Militant Progressive
Rocky Anderson has drawn a line in the sand. The line represents his moral breaking point; the point at which he will no longer tolerate the lack of leadership by the Democratic party. Many elected Democrats are not standing up for their moral and patriotic values, and it clearly angers Salt Lake City’s mayor to no end.
There were some notable Utah Democrats in the audience when Rocky spoke to Salt Lake City’s chapter of Drinking Liberally on a snowy Friday night, and even though his barbs were aimed mostly at national-level Democrats, his comments served as a good reminder to all Democrats just what it means to be a Democrat.
In typical Rocky fashion, his speech was incisive and searing. First he laid out the distinction between Democrats and Republicans: where Republicans see taxes as a burden, Democrats see them as an investment in our future. Democrats abhor kidnapping and human rights violations, while the Bush administration has approved of these things, ignoring fundamental religious values like peace and compassion.
The next part of Rocky’s speech outlined the instances where elected Democrats have appeased the right; things like authorizing the President to go to war with Iraq despite intelligence reports contrary to Bush’s justification for war, and dropping the ball on healthcare reform. Rocky minces no words when he talks about Utah’s only Democratic congressman, Jim Matheson. There were even boo’s and hisses from the crowd when Rocky mentioned Matheson’s support for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Rocky goes on listing instances where Democrats have shown a real lack of leadership, where they’ve capitulated for political expediency, showing a disregard for the people who elected them. Citing quotes from Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama regarding the desire to table the issue of impeaching the Bush administration, Rocky asks “If impeachment is not appropriate now, then when in the world would it ever be appropriate?”
As many of you have heard by now, Barack Obama’s campaign is opening a field office right here in Salt Lake City! This is a pretty exciting thing for Utah, as up until this point our Presidential campaign exposure has been limited to a candidate (usually Republican) making a quick stop-over to pull out some money from the local conservative donor machine. This field office shows that at least one candidate believes Utah has the potential to break free of that deep red blanket that covers the state.
Judging from my conversations with conservative (and politically apathetic) colleagues, Obama easily stands the best chance of swaying votes to the Democratic side. This isn’t to say that Utah will vote Democratic in the next election, but if the Obama campaign can make a sizeable dent in the vote it will certainly encourage candidates in future elections to pay more attention to Utah.
Now you’re asking yourself: How can I be a part of this exciting shift from red to blue? Well you can start by attending the Obama Utah HQ open house this Saturday (Dec. 8th). The doors will open at 11am, with presenations at noon. The office is located at 1747 South 900 West, in the UBDA building. The office is looking for some donations of office supplies and such. More info on all of this on Misty’s (she’s the chair of Utah for Obama) blog: Saintless. I’m sure it will be fun, especially now that Obama’s pulling ahead of Clinton in Iowa - something more for Obam-ites to celebrate.
Taped by Ellis Dean Hovey. Full text of Carla’s speech here: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org/2007/10/28/oct-27th-rally-speech/
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