Feed: Progressive Utah - AggScore: 68.3

Are you a person who considers themselves part of the LGBT community? Are you struggling with issues that others around you can't relate to because they are not? Are you discouraged that most of the peer advice networks for people of alternate sexualities and genders are offline and not so anonymous?
Or are you someone of an alternate sexuality who wants to help their peers go through the same things you did? Are you someone who wants to keep up with LGBT news and socialise with other people going through the same things you are? Are you a heterosexual person who is adamant about LGBT rights?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then this community is for you! We are a peer advice community for LGBT youth in crisis. Our dedicated volunteers will help you deal with issues such as coming out, discrimination and homophobia, relationship problems, the fight for equality, reactions of other people, alternate sexualities and religion, and et cetera. We also function as a social group where you can meet other people in their teens and twentysomethings within the LGBT community and stay up to date with news on important issues that concern us all.
We are currently looking for staff that would be willing to help advise young LGBT peers in crisis.
These "tea parties" will be at the federal building between 12:00 and 3:00, and then at the post ofc on 2100 s and 1795 w between 5:00 and 7:00.
I have ZERO experience organizing a protest - can anyone here help me?
Here are some ideas I had for signs:
"tea party = greed party"
"don't tax us poor rich people!"
"tax DIVIDENDS as income!!!"
"Right wing = WRONG planet"
"have you even STUDIED history?"
or I'm open to anything better, as well.
Sorry if this is not a good post, but I feel strongly about getting jerked around by the talking heads of the Right wing. The idea of people rallying against their own interests frustrates me to no end!!!
Edited to add: I don't feel like we're at a point where intelligent, useful discourse is occurring. And all these anonymous right wing posts are wasting my time. All I ask of anyone reading this is that they actually get informed. Read alternet.org, read Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs. The Right is not the only alternative to policies you don't like. Look at A New Way Forward. We can disagree, but still have socially responsible viewpoints. The Right, as usual, is anything but right. Their policies got us into this mess. Don't become pawns for their agenda. Follow the money. Pay attention.
Note the fear, on the Right, of actual dissent. Note the unprecedented quantity of anonymous right wing replies in a small local community blog with low traffic. Please pay attention.
Thanks, it's been depressing.
-Alice
I am a photographer from the East Coast. I'm visiting Utah for the week. This Saturday I'm shooting a series up north in Idaho.
I am looking for hair and makeup artists for this shoot (scheduled help has become available as of today, and looking for replacements).
Please take a look at my work and let me know if you're interested.
For reference, the series will be similar to the one in the first gallery of my website:
www.gemmafleming.com
Please reply to posting or email gemma@gemmafleming.com

(click to enlarge)
The first two Repo! Road Tours completely sold out . . . Hopefully Utah doesn't end up looking weak in comparison!
There's an incredible amount of talent who have worked behind(and not so behind) the music of this film, ranging from people involved with Bauhaus to Busta Rhymes to Rasputina to Slipknot to Poe to X-Japan.
DEFINITELY check out the TRAILER and some other clips off of the site to get a sense of whether or not it's something you're interested in-
Buffy fans, Sarah Brightman fans, Skinny Puppy fans, Paris Hilton fans, gore fans, darkwave fans, and many more may find something to appreciate. :)
Even if it's not for you, be sure to spread the word to anyone else you know who may be interested!
(The community info lists "cultural events" as appropriate . . . This certainly fits my somewhat skewed, half-Navajo/ex-mo/painter/skeptic's perception as cultural, but if it doesn't fit then I apologize!)
Date: 15 Nov 2008, Saturday
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Where: 451 S. State
Organizer Contact Info: elaineballfr@gmail.com or (801) 654-7614
Sign making party at the Center Friday.
It's not just about gay rights, its about separation of church and state. This is going on all over the country at exactly the same time.
When: Friday, November 7, 2008 @ 6PM
Where: The corner of State Street and North Temple
I guarantee you they will come in droves
That is what members of “Heart for the Lost Ministries” had to say about us today, “I guarantee you they will come in droves”.
Today at 2 o'clock, a group of pro-life legislators are going to have a press conference at the State Capitol Rotunda to unveil three bills which if passed, will challenge Roe v. Wade.
The last time this was discussed, the price tag to fight such erroneous legislation was $2-4 million. At a time when the state is cutting services to the disabled and those living in poverty, they want to introduce legislation that is not only unconstitutional but that distracts us from talking about issues that are really important.
We are writing today to ask you to help us prove them right, let’s come out in droves. Please join us today at the Capitol in the East Building Cafeteria at 1:45 p.m. to protest this absurdity. PPAC will provide all signs and banners. Come help us stand up to this injustice – and bring all of your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers as well.
This is our time – your time – to stand up and make your voice heard. Sound the alarm! It’s time for us to stand up for what is right. JOIN US!!!
Yours in action,
Melissa Bird, CSW
Executive DirectorIf you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Utah Planned Parenthood Action Network.
I am going tomorrow to the protest and will have 2 kids with me.
so..
Parking?
should I park and ride the bus?
park far away and have a nice walk with the kids?
will I be able to find parking near the capital building?
In the midst of Utah’s $350 million fiscal deficit an extremist out-of-state group is partnering with your anti-choice Utah legislators who want to waste our taxpayer money attempting to criminalize abortion. These legislators and their allies will be holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon, September 30, at the Utah State Capitol to talk about their hopes of banning abortion in Utah and making us a test case for overturning Roe v. Wade.
[Tomorrow afternoon these legislators, with all of their support coming from outside of Utah, will tell us all why they think we should waste taxpayer dollars on litigation to restrict women’s health and reproductive freedom.]
But we at PPAC won’t be taking this outrageous political stunt lying down! Join us tomorrow as we protest this wasteful affront to women’s health and say NO MORE to ideological assaults on Utah women and families. Join us tomorrow as we tell these out-of-touch legislators to move on and work on legislation that will actually HELP us, not harm us! Join us as we stand up to this nonsense in three ways:
- Action Phone bank: Join us tonight as we call our pro-choice allies to turn out as many people as possible to tomorrow’s protest. We will be making phone calls at the PPAC office (551 East South Temple) from 5:30-9 p.m. tonight.
- Women’s Health Rally: We want to show this small contingent of anti-choice extremists that we are a force that will not let them waste our time and money to restrict our choice. We will meet at the Capitol in the East Building Cafeteria at 1:45 p.m. to protest this absurdity. PPAC will provide all signs and banners. Come help us stand up to this injustice – and bring all of your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers as well.
- Action Phone bank: To make sure that stuff like this does not continue to happen, help us get the word out about our endorsed candidates – candidates who want to protect women’s health, not affront it. We will be holding a phone bank at PPAC (551 East South Temple) this Thursday, October 2 from 5:30-9 p.m. to let people know how they can walk for candidates who will make a positive change for Utah families. Call 801.328.8939 or email ppac@ppau.org to sign up for this phone bank.
This is our time – your time – to stand up and make your voice heard. Sound the alarm! It’s time for us to stand up for our rights – and for what is right. JOIN US!!!
Yours in action,
Melissa Bird, CSW
Executive DirectorMy message to American public is meant as a wake up call. American and other Western media especially CNN is feeding you complete horse shit! Russia did not invade and did not attack Georgia. It was a response to a horrible war crime committed by Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, this irresponsible man who just can't stand Russia, hates us, and will kiss America's and Europe's ass just to get a chance to join NATO and European Union. America has always supported Georgian "democracy" and I suspect actually that it was America who instigated Georgia to commit this crime.... on the first day of Olympics! How ironic is that? But please don't take this allegation too close heartedly, my point is not about whether or not U.S. government had any role in this, my point is to give you truth about what really happened Thursday night
So again, Russia did not invade or attack Georgia, as your media outlets are saying.
A brief geography and history lesson. South Ossetia is a very small region about 40 miles by 40 miles in the northern Georgia. It's population is around 70000 people. It borders with Russia. Today, many of the residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens holding Russian passports, it's our people. South Ossetia had claimed independence from Georgia in 1992. Obviously it was never recognized by any international organizations. In 2006, they held an election where 99% of the voters supported independence from Georgia, and the turn out rate was 95%, it was monitored by a team of 34 international observers from the West. It still was not recognized by the world. As an analogy I would like to bring Kosovo situation, Serbian region in the south that was illegally snatched from Serbia and made into an independent country. Please look it up on Wikipedia and see how similar this situation is. How ironic is that America never supported Southern Ossetia same way it supported Kosovo. Obviously, it was made to show Russia how unfriendly the rest of the world is towards us.
Thursday night, Georgian military started an attack against South Ossetia. It was yesterday. They shelled the main city of Tshinkvali. They killed over a 1000 people. The excuse was to "restore the constitutional order in the region". BULLSHIT! This attack was an attempt to commit "ethnic cleansing", it was an act of genocide. They shelled civilian houses, schools, hospitals, without any warning. They also captured several villages near Tshinkvali. Reports say that they attempt to kill anyone of the Ossetian nationality. It was a pure act of Genocide. Wake up!
Russia couldn't watch this atrocity happening to its own citizens. We had no choice but to bring in our military into the region and protect our people. Whatever happens next the world needs to know, that the cause of this conflict is Georgia and its president. Before you accept what your media tells you, before you get fired up by McCains irresponsible allegations and comments, try remember all the lies that American media had always fed you, try to read news from other media outlets, not russian, but other parts of the world, other than U.S. or U.K.'s media.
America needs to wake up and stop doing what it's doing. Stop seeing an enemy in Russia. Stop using countries like Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia who are basically acting like prostitutes of U.S. government in their public acts of hatred towards Russia.
And finally need to say, Mr. SSHAshvili that's how we like to call him. S.SH.A stands for U.S.A in Russian. Mr. SSHAshvili will pay for what happened yesterday.
Not another of my dollars Orson. You have joined Anne Rice on my list of authors to never purchase from again.

On June 6th, we're having the biggest party that Drinking Liberally has ever had. This is a fundraiser for our local chapter as well as the national Living Liberally organization to spread the liberal gospel from sea to shining sea. Living Liberally has grown quite a bit since hiring a full time employee (with interns), and there are now Eating Liberally, Reading Liberally, Screening Liberally, and Laughing Liberally chapters across the nation (and even other nations).
And speaking of Laughing Liberally: a LL comedian, Lee Camp, will be headlining our June 6th party. Lee is a regular on the Huffington Post, and has also appeared on Fox News where he called the station a "a parade of propaganda, a festival of ignorance". More on Lee here: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org/2008/05/27/laughing-liberally-at-drinking-liberallys-party-and-fundraiser/
Emceeing our June 6th event is Senator Scott McCoy, with our "Bush in 6 words" contest being judged by Representative Christine Johnson. We'll have music by Syqnys Melody of Madnys (http://www.myspace.com/syqnys), and the improv comedy group 3.2 (like the beer, for you Utah newbies) who will be doing their best to make some of this year's candidates seem like they have a sense of humor. http://www.3point2Improv.com
It'll be a helluva fun night, so pray about it and then gather your friends and join us for drinks and good times. Here are some of the details:
Date: Friday June 6th, doors open at 7:00.
Location: The Warehouse: 1130 South Richards Street (between Main & W. Temple) parking & entrance in the back (West Temple side).
Tickets: Choose your level of Drinking Liberalness!
Shooter - $20 admittance + 1 drink
Chugger - $35 admittance + 2 drinks & 2 DL Coasters
Keg Stander - $50 admittance + 2 drinks & DL Glass
For more details and to purchase tickets in advance, go to our website: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org
Spread the word, liberally!
I'd just like to drop by quickly and let you know about the Scientology protest that'll be taking place on Saturday, March 15th. It's L. Ron Hubbard's birthday and we want to be there to celebrate too!
Details can be found at Enturbulation.org, specifically this thread. If you're looking for any information regarding our cause, picketing rules, regulations, etc. feel free to post a comment here or e-mail xenuslc at hotmail dot com (This is not my e-mail address, but rather the unofficial SLC Scientology protest picket leader's).
Thanks!
Friday, January 25
For locations and more event details, please go to Progressive Utah Calendar
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker to Host Community Open House at Historic Fisher Mansion
Public Invited to Tour and Give Input on Potential Reuse of the Property
Salt Lake City – Mayor Ralph Becker is hosting an Open House at the historic Fisher Mansion to give residents of Salt Lake City an opportunity to tour the building and offer their input and suggestions on how Salt Lake City could best reuse the property and create a public space that serves the community in a positive way.
The Fisher Mansion is an architecturally unique historical treasure which the city hopes to renovate for community use. Visitors to the open house will be encouraged to share their ideas for future community use of the mansion, carriage house and property.
Renovation of Fisher Mansion is the first project to be undertaken under Mayor Becker’s Salt Lake Solutions program. Salt Lake Solutions is a collaborative approach that involves the community, considers a wide range of ideas and options, and arrives at public solutions based on healthy dialogue and consensus.
The Fisher Mansion adjoins the Jordan River parkway, and is ideally located for public access by bus, from TRAX and via bike paths. While specific decisions about renovation and reuse of the property will be made in conjunction with the community and other potential partners, the City anticipates the renovation will advance historic preservation, tie together our waterways and urban trails network, expand cultural offerings, and showcase environmental stewardship.
WHO: Mayor Ralph Becker
WHAT: Open House at the Fisher Mansion
WHERE: 1206 West 200 South, Salt Lake City , Utah
WHEN: Saturday, February 9, 2008
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
