Thousands gathered today in downtown Salt Lake City to protest The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for their involvement in the passage of California’s Proposition 8 (hereafter referred to as H8). LDS donors made up approximately 78% of donations and the Church itself donated $2000 to the cause. Members were directed to give their time as well for the cause.

The partner, puppy, and I attended as well. The energy was amazing. An estimated three to five thousand + people came out, much higher than original predictions. Several legislators and our former mayor spoke while more protesters stood on street corners holding signs. Then we marched, flooding into the streets around Temple Square. There was chanting and songs. One of my favorites was when a three or four year old boy started a chant of “Separate Church and State”. Spirited debates with the counter-protesters. Some yelled. Some attempted to use logic. Some showed affection towards their partners. I was called a bigot by an evangelical hatemonger, but I also had enlightening, civil discourse with a young LDS woman who wanted to spread her “testimony” of peace and mutual respect.

Several hours later, I come home to see media coverage of the protest only to find that boycotts are being called for. Not for the LDS Church and it’s businesses, but for Sundance, the ski resorts, and the state of Utah as a whole! I am angered and disappointed.

The Sundance Film Festival is not owned by or affiliated with the Mormon church. The city in which it is hosted, Park City, is overwhelmingly comprised of liberal non-Mormons. As are Moab (tourist destination best known for proximity to Arches National Park) and Salt Lake City itself. When you target these places, you are hurting those who are on your side. Boycotting Sundance will have little to no effect on the LDS Church. In fact, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see it go.

If you want to hurt the LDS Church for their involvement in the passage of H8, target the Church itself. Boycott its businesses. Lists of companies owned and/or controlled by them are readily available online. Work to remove its tax-exempt status so that it’ll be treated as the business entity it truly is. But please, do not punish those of us who oppose H8 and the LDS Church itself just because we make our homes in Utah.

And remember, as so many of us chanted tonight: Love Conquers Hate.

There are still several hours before the polls close. That’s plenty of time to educate yourself about the various candidates, propositions, amendments, referendum, retentions, and whatever else is on the ballot before voting.

You can use Google Maps or the website of your county’s clerk to find where to go if you don’t already know.

Depending on which state you’re in, you might get paid time off work to vote.

Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Krispy Kreme, Chik-Fil-A and several others are giving away freebies on election day.

One more thing: DEMOCRATS FTW!

As always, the abortion debate rages on. Pro-life vs Pro-Choice. The arguments are usually the same, but something’s changed recently for me. I’ve taken issue with the term “pro-life”.

Anti-abortionists have taken this term and twisted it to fit their goals. A fetus must be kept alive, even at the expense of itself, its mother, and others. It may be a child of rape who shall grow up resented by its mother as a reminder of what she went through. It may be born in a home that cannot adequately care for it and grow up abused and neglected. It may be doomed to a lifetime of suffering due to a condition developed in the womb. Apparently quality of life isn’t all that important as long as there is life to begin with.

This isn’t the only problem. Examine for a moment other positions of some of these extremists. They support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, some support bombing Iran as well. They’re for the death penalty. They’re against sex education that teaches anything other than abstinence only and are against the distribution and usage of contraception. They allow all of these babies to be born, then elect representation who cuts funding for these children to have adequate health care among other things. They oppose research that could eradicate diseases and save many lives because of the use of stem cells.

Does this sound “pro-life” to you? I think not. Therefore, if you are only for life in that you oppose abortion, the term pro-life no longer belongs to you. Call yourself anti-abortion, anti-choice, anti-woman, whatever, but stop misrepresenting yourself. Leave it for those who oppose senseless bloodshed, those who work to ensure both quality and quantity of life for all humans, the ones who can truly say they are “for life”.

Imagine that you are taking a class. You work really hard to do well in the class and end up with an average grade, a B or C. A couple of rows behind you (when they show up) are a bunch of really rich kids. They skip class, blow off assignments, do really poorly on tests. They’re going to fail. It’s a given. Except that their parents have given huge donations to the school’s board of trustees. The dean steps in and says, we can’t allow you to fail. It would have too big of an effect on our budget. So what we’re going to do is put the grades on a curve. All of your bad grades are wiped out, everyone passes with at least a C. That grade that you worked so hard for is now worth much less.

This is exactly what is going on with the big bailout the government is working on. The banks aren’t allowed to fail because they are too big. Billions of dollars are being pumped in to save them which makes the average person’s dollar worth less. This is inflation.

The dollar will continue to lose value until it fails completely. If a large nation like China dumps their dollars, it will happen sooner.  Prices will continue to rise, making it much harder for the average worker to afford basic needs such as food and a place to sleep.

Personally, I think these banks should be allowed to fail. For something so large to topple so completely means that it was a bad system to begin with. It appears that these institutions employed very poor practices in order to turn the largest profit. Now it’s come back to bite them. Let it. Allowing them to continue this is just wrong and will only hurt us in the end.

Legalize Hemp Rally and free concert
Tomorrow, May 17
3:00 P.M.
Utah State Capitol marching to Federal building
200 N., State Street

Bring your signs for legalizing Hemp

CITIZENS CALL FOR END TO HEMP PROHIBITION MAY 17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
And request for coverage

Contact: Daniel McGuire
Phone: 801-859-8730 (24/7 Is ok, leave message)
Email: slcmcguire@gmail.com

CITIZENS CALL FOR END TO HEMP PROHIBITION MAY 17

LOCAL PSYCHEDELIC ROCK AND BLUES GROUP “RED CAPS” WILL PLAY FREE SHOW

As the price of fuel rises, many in Utah are looking for alternative answers to power their vehicles. “One solution is hemp”, says local citizen activist, Daniel McGuire. The current resolution offered by our government is to use corn as an alternate fuel. According to McGuire there is a better option. “Hemp, is a much better alternative fuel for so many reasons”. Some reasons offered are that corn should be used for human and animal consumption, since there is a limited supply of corn, and corn is not as renewable as Hemp.

Ben Valdez of Hempower Utah explains that Hemp is a crop that can be grown up to 4 times a year, depending on the region, where as corn has up to 2 growing cycles per year. “Acre per acre Hemp out produces corn”, says Valdez. “The end result is that there will be enough fuel to power Utah vehicles as well as enough Hemp seed to feed both livestock and humans”. Hemp, according to Valdez, has all the essential Amino Acids and Omega3 Fatty Acids to sustain human life. Hemp is a plant that ” has a history of solving a vast amount of economic, fuel, food, fiber and agricultural problems”. American history is painted with legitimate use of Hemp for legitimate commercial products. The problem is that Hemp is a relative of the Marijuana plant and is prohibited by US and Utah law.

Dr. Ken Larsen, former candidate for Utah governor and research scientist says that the law against Hemp is not only unreasonable it’s unconstitutional. “I have $100.00 for the first person who can show me where in the Utah constitution it gives our government the authority to prohibit Hemp and another $100.00 for the same in the US Constitution”. Larsen is confident that no one can collect on his challenge because neither constitution gives government the authority to prohibit it.

As things stand now, anyone growing Hemp will be charged the same as anyone growing Marijuana. The difference is that Hemp can’t get anyone high. Valdez stresses, “You can smoke an acre of Hemp and the only thing you will get is a headache, you will never get high”. McGuire also says that Hemp can be used to make high protein hemp milk, clothing, paper, paint, food, cosmetics, particle board, durable textiles, and even plastic bags.

Utah and the Nation faces ever increasing gas prices and problems with oil producing nations, McGuire says “We see this as a way to boost the American economy and help achieve energy independence.