Utah's Draconian Liquor Laws

Readers,

My focus tonight is the anti-business, anti-consumer choice, anti-free market, anti-intelligence round of prohibitionary-esque laws proposed and passed by the Utah Legislature. Perhaps the worst is SB 314, which has now been signed into law by our 'Moderate' (cough cough) Governor Herbert. SB 314 has eliminated 'happy hours' or any discounted drink deals in Bars across Utah. Yes, this means that the free-market lovin', tea-partyin', gun-slingin', don't tread on me (in') Government of Utah is deciding to FORCE restaurants and bars to keep alcohol prices stable day by day, i.e. strong-armed price-fixing. Not only is this a bad deal for the average alcohol consumer, it is a terrible deal for the institutions that serve alcohol as they stand to lose their freedom to offer enticing deals to costumers (and may lose many customers). Has the government stepped in to regulate the discounted sale of Coke in gas stations one might ask? No, because the reasoning of the great small-government lovin' legislature, as promulgated by SB 314 sponsor Sen. Valentine (R-Orem): 'over consumption' of alcohol is the issue.

City Weekly has investigated this feared over consumption of alcohol and the predicted consequences that are said to follow-drunk driving, for instance. City Weekly's reporting found that Drunk Driving fatalities actually DECREASED after private clubs were abolished in 2009-from 240 to 235- (important because: when private clubs went out the window, daily drink specials become paramount). Drunk driving arrests also did not go up noticeably after private clubs were abolished. There is NO evidence to back up the claims that cheap liquor leads to increased incidences of drinking crimes. Drunk driving is a crime no matter how cheap the drinks!!

So, Sen. Valentine and his big-government friends are not attacking discounted drinks at bars and restaurants because it leads to more drunk driving fatalities or arrests? SHOCKING! The truth is: this is simply a misguided and narcissistic attempt to issue a thinly-disguised fatwa against alcohol. And Valentine's war doesn't stop with killing discounted drinks. He also also helped:

*** Successfully push for the 'Zion Curtain" which is a wall that new restaurants in Utah are forced to erect around bars. The Curtain is said to protect the innocent mind of children from the surely satanic guiles of drinking (dun dun dun!!). Is the Utah Congress insulting your parenting skills and intelligence? YES!

*** Successfully advocated for 'liquor quotas' that are stifling business in Utah and keeping new restaurant chains out. Simply put, there are no more licenses available, so new businesses are out of luck

***Almost successfully pushed to close down Several State liquor stores, despite the fact that these stores are profitable and good job creators.

The Big-government GOP in Utah are insulting the intelligence of Utahns-it is time we make our voices heard-we are adults and we can parent our kids (our future kids!)

Fired up!

Cameron

Obama fights back

Friends,

Obama came out swinging today with a fierce attack on the GOP's 'Austerity for Everyone, Except the Rich Plan'. Obama deftly noted that there is no possible way that the Budget could be balanced with spending cuts alone. He also wisely pointed out that the GOP has abandoned the pursuit of jobs and has instead doubled-down to protect the super-rich and the oil companies at the expense of job-creation and the middle class as a whole. The President kept his focus on jobs and the need to spur investment in the public and private sectors vis a vis government job programs and government loans to private businesses (with some targeted tax cuts mixed in).

The math is simple, to cut $4 trillion from the deficit, one would have to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA budget=c. 7.14-9 billion annually), wipe out the entire Department of Defense-or cut it back substantially for many years ($553 billion), obliterate the Department of Education ($77.4 Billion), Destroy the Corporation for National and Community Service (Americorps, etc. $1.3 billion) and so much more. The total from those programs: roughly $640 billion the first year. So, even with these massive cuts, the deficit still would not be cut enough to reach that $4 trillion number.

It is clear that taxes need to be raised-first on the super rich-then on the rest of the nation. Congress needs to end superfluous subsidies for oil companies and ethanol industries. Congress should push job bills, not deficit bills, to put Americans back to work. Once Americans are working again, money will flow in through increased tax revenue and increased spending. Increased consumer spending will mean businesses will hire more people to keep up with the rush. A positive feedback cycle ensues and the economy begins to fully recover.

Austerity will not only destroy programs for the poor, elderly and middle class, it will hamper our recovery. We do not need austerity! We need jobs!

Thanks for reading.

-Cameron

In reaction : the vote for gay marriage in New York

Readers,

What does the 'yay' vote for Gay Marriage in New York mean? It means several things at once: Our nation is slowly healing (slowly progressing to a realization of true equality for women, minorities, LGBT, etc-though slowly is the operative word), millions of people can now get legally married in NY, millions of people will not be denied the essential human right to simply have the opportunity to make a big mistake, get divorced, or to commit lovingly to another human being until death finally separates a bond that life could not, millions more will see that Gays and Lesbians can have marriages that are as loving (if not more) and as dysfunctional as any straight couples' marriage, and lastly it means that the ascension of human rights and human dignity has conquered fear and discrimination (at least for a day).

I can't wait to attend the first gay marriage in Utah. Yes, I do believe gay marriage will be legalized, not always loved or supported, but legalized through out the U.S. A majority of Americans (53%) support the legalization of gay marriage and the President's views are evolving toward that consensus. Change is coming-yes we can! Some religious institutions have stood in the way of meaningful change (and some have embraced change), e.g. interracial marriage, female equality, a naturalistic world view (Evolution, Democritus' Atomism), but their opposition has crumbled when the populace has embraced human rights and shunned bigotry and oppression. These gains will not be reversed without a substantial fight as well.

Equality in Utah:

The equality movement is growing in Utah as reds and blues begin to agree that providing essential rights to all is a good thing. Equality Utah has been extremely successful in pushing for ant-discrimination ordinances-having successfully passed ten initiatives. These initiatives are important, because without them, a landlord could kick out respectable and rent-paying individuals just because of their sexual orientation. Also, the LGBT were not allowed to visit their spouse in the hospital as they couldn't legally be known as a 'spouse'. I can't imagine the heartbreak this causes. Here is a list of Equality Utah's substantial accomplishments:

Equality Utah is committed to passing non-discrimination ordinances in 10 cities in 2010! Learn More

1. Salt Lake City - Passed November 2009

2. Salt Lake County - Passed January 2010

3. Park City - Passed March 2010

4. Logan - Passed May 2010

5. West Valley City - Passed June 2010

6. Summit County - Passed June 2010

7. Taylorsville - Passed July 2010

8. Murray - Passed November 2010

9. Moab - Passed November 2010

10. Grand County - Passed December 2010

Thanks for reading and join the fight for marriage equality and equality in general! My heart is full as America inches closer to a realization of the ideals of Freedom and Equality.

-Cameron

The true cost of war. 3 wars and counting

Afghan girl by Steve Mccury

Hey Readers,

Afghanistan:

As you may know, President Obama has ordered the return of some 10,000 troops, somewhat immediately, from Afghanistan. Mr. Obama is struggling to convince the nation that we have won in Afghanistan. Have we 'won'? Well, It depends how you define the term. According to NYTimes reporting on the matter, our armed forces have assassinated 20/30 of Al-Qaeda's operating hierarchy. Seal Team 6 took out Osama and dealt an undeniably severe blow to Al-Qaeda's virulent efforts. We have spent billions training the Afghan army and billions more investing in roads and other vital programs inside of Afghanistan. On the other hand, we have lost 1,633 troops, spent tens of billions of dollars on myriad project (with seemingly little result and too much corruption) and the President of Afghanistan (Karzai) consistently denounces us as occupiers and routinely threatens to join the Taliban. The question that Obama has asked, and decided against, is: is it necessary to have more troops in Afghanistan to ensure our safety?

It appears to me, that most of our gains against the leadership of al-Qaeda and against Taliban officials (not the grunts) has been a result of our special forces. Vice President Biden has argued that we could do more in Afghanistan with very few troops (specialty forces remaining) and drones then with a occupying force. I tend to agree, if and only if, civilian casualties are avoided as much as possible. The blow back from civilian casualties is immense (and heartbreaking by itself) and according to a very liberal source (pound of salt here), over 900,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by both the Allied forces and the Taliban/Qaeda forces. It is my humble and civilian opinion, that we must bring more troops home than the President requested, and move toward the 'light footprint' plan that focuses on dismantling the senior leadership of enemy networks. It is clear that we should continue our negotiations with the Taliban, as we can not win this war by sheer military force alone (especially since Pakistan is protecting Taliban (and Qaeada) leadership.

Iraq:

To be honest, I feel this is an issue that has been covered too much, but still a question remains: why did we go to war in the first place? I am not interested in the fake reasons and not even interested in exploring the issue here in my blog. I simply still don't know why we occupied(occupy) Iraq. I do know that we have lost 4,463 of our troops (iCausality.com) fighting for that unknown cause. Fighting for that ill defined mission, that odd occupation of a country that had nothing to do with 9-11 (thanks neo-cons). It is surely time that our troops come home from Iraq.

Libya:

There has been around 110 Tamahawk missiles fired in Libya by the U.S. and Britain. Each of those missiles costs around 500,000 Euros or about $1 million to fire (BBC). This is excluding the costs to operate the naval vessels and bombers and the cost to pay the salaries of the service-members involved. It is very noble to stop massacres of innocent civilians. I am more than happy to pay extra taxes to fund truly humanitarian missions. However, Libya looks increasingly like a regime change operation We are obviously targeting Gadafhi. Too many have died in Libya as a result of the fighting, it is heartbreaking. President Obama should make clear what our mission and goal is in Libya and take all strides to avoid civilian casualties. If our mission is to protect civilians, then sign me up as a supporter.

The cost of war:

According to the Congressional Research Service , the Wars in Afghanistan & Iraq have cost U.S. taxpayers some $1.283 trillion, trillion, with a 't'. The same source documents that the wars could cost us around $1.8 trillion by 2021, if god forbid, we are still fighting those wars at roughly our current level. Just for comparison, the entire budget for the UNHCR (an agency that provides food and shelter for millions of refugees) is around $80 million a year.

Can we justify cutting food stamps and aid for pregnant women (GOP ideas) when we spent over $3 trillion on those two wars alone!!??

I think not... time to seriously cut back our wars and to re-evaluate how and why we wage war.

Thanks for reading!

Progressive props for Huntsman

Readers,

Yes, I will use this opportunity to lavish some rare praise for a Republican candidate for President (don't get used to it!). I watched Fmr. Governor Huntsman's Announcement for the Presidency this morning and was struck by his tone of civility. Huntsman, a once- Governor of this deep deep fringe-red state, has often struck a liberal tone on social issues: embracing civil unions, the expansion of health care to underserved Utahns and 'Carbon Cap & Trade'. He has since shied away from these 'liberalisms' if not completely turned his back on them (embracing the Paul Ryan plan and other fringe ideas). But, back to his speech.

Huntsman spoke of returning to civility and (jaw-dropper here) said that "I respect the President" and said that he wanted to run on a platform of 'who would be a better President, not a better American' (paraphrase). I was heartened and impressed by this civility. I love and value passionate, even raucous, debate, but I am so tired of the oversimplifications and sensationalism that characterizes political discussion. Do I believe that Obama or Boehner hates America and wants to see babies cry? No. Do I believe that Paul Ryan wants to kill seniors with his bare hands? No. Do I believe that the GOP 'austerity for everyone, but the rich' policy is bad for our country...YES!.

I like Hunstman's return to civility. I hope he also returns to his embrace of a moderate platform. Either way, Obama will win in 2012. YES WE CAN.

Thanks for reading!

Racism and the modern day

Readers,

I was inspired to write this post by recent comments I heard from people close to me (no names here as I don't want to throw anyone 'under the bus'). The comments regarded African Americans, but are in no way limited to that sub-section of the American populace. To set the scene for this monologue, I will venture back in time to the era of my first 'girlfriend', circa 4th or 5th grade. I was 'dating' an African American girl and our relationship was as lovely, unserious, and silly as any 4th/5th grade relationship could be. Looking back through the somewhat foggy lens of past, I never thought her skin color to be odd or different or abnormal or honestly anything to inspire a negative passing thought. She was half-black, half-white and I was (and am) pale and resemble a vampire. A year or so passed, and she moved somewhere north and we stopped talking. I don't remember missing her, though I did call her several years later, but was too shy to talk to her.

I digress, and I'll return to the recent history. I was in College and was attracted to a smart and confident African American individual. I wanted to pursue her, but never really had the chance as I was between relationships. Anyway, I was told by one individual to avoid her. I was taken aback and asked why. This individual responded that white and black relationships don't work, because blacks are so 'different'. I was shocked, saddened and angry. I couldn't believe that people still think that way. I felt as if the victories of the African American equality movement were not as complete as I had hoped. This same individual (typically not a overt racist) recently reiterated that whites and blacks shouldn't be together, because of 'differences' (this argument was also used against Muslims). These differences were never promulgated, but then again, I wasn't listening much at that point.

The other comments to be exposed, are the constant stereotypes I hear of this or that hypothetical African American being a gangster or a marathon runner or a basket ball player. These stereotypes have sickened and saddened me. Have many of us simply internalized and repressed racism and bigotry? The Researchers behind one Harvard/U. of Virginia/U. of Washington project think so:

The 'Implicit Association Test' was designed to monitor implicit associations and biases, such as racial stereotypes, that individuals make in snap judgements. The IAT doesn't measure overt racism or misogyny, etc...it measures the snap associations we make when we read/hear certain words or look at specific pictures representing/depicting particular ethnic groups. The authors suggest that many individuals are implicitly racist, even though most of us will never recognize this. You can take the test here

So, what can we do to combat implicit or explicit racism? Firstly, we can refuse to take part in ethnic stereotypes, e.g. stop spreading unfair and untrue rumors and'observations' about different ethnic groups. Humor is liberating, but some 'jokes' smack of hatred and not humor. Secondly, we can try to root out the implicit stereotypes that we may harbor. We can do this by stopping ourselves when untrue and negative stereotypes enter our mind, albeit briefly, and change those thoughts to better reflect reality. We can also ensure that negative examples of each ethnic group are not the only individuals we think of when we think of that group, e.g. hitler for the Germans, Stalin for the russians, etc etc. Education is not a panacea, but certainly helps to combat racism.

I am heartened by the election of Barack Obama for many reasons, but the fact that he is half- Black is a testament to the fact that we are healing as a nation-albeit slowly. I hope we are healing-it breaks my heart to hear people close to me anathematize an interracial/interethnic relationship.

Love to hear your comments.

Thanks for reading!

Cameron

The

In support of Marriage Equality

Friends,

This is my soon-to-be published Letter to the Editor. Look for it in the Standard Examiner.

Thanks for reading!

The United States is in three wars, its economy is stagnant at best, and Americans are struggling with issues like sky-high gas prices, unemployment, and any number of other problems in their day to day lives. Yet, to some, it’s not enough to be distracted and worried by global crises and economic woes, so they invent a new bogeyman: marriage equality. The New York Senate is soon to vote yay or nay on a marriage equality act and to some it is inconceivable that two same-sex individuals who love each other should get married. But why? Well, the reasons run the gamut from selective quoting of the bible to their own insecurities and biases against people that are different from themselves. Some even seem to believe that a same-sex marriage will bring about the end of procreation and even society itself.

The surprising part about this rhetoric is not the novelty of this bigotry, but the fact that these ‘arguments’ are simply re-hashed and shameful slanders from those of our recent history in which African American & White marriages were routinely attacked. In fact, until 1967, some states outlawed interracial marriage. For approximately 300 years, there were laws in the Colonies, and later, the States, that prohibited the union of Whites and Blacks- something we are no doubt ashamed of today. The underlying cause for such opposition to interracial marriage, as well as same-sex marriage, is ignorance and fear, mixed with that ever-present discrimination which has too often yoked our great history of tolerance and liberty. It is time that we speak out for marriage equality and the fulfillment of the American Dream.

Back to the grind

Friends (a ramble will ensue),

I have decided to kick-start the old blog again. I feel creatively and intellectually stymied as of late, so I hope this will galvanize that snow-buried spark. I visited the World Refugee Day event at Granite Peaks High School today and again marveled at the hidden diversity in Utah. I am simply heartened at the gathering, which brought together peoples from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. I wish more of the outside community knew about these events, and truthfully, cared to attend these events. We have so much to learn from other cultures, i.e. 'American Exceptionalism' is not "The End of History", but a good and imperfect effort to capture that mis-guided ideal. I say mis-guided, because I don't believe that we can ever stop in our quest for moral and socio-economic 'greatness' (and our system is surly not the end). We can never stop striving to improve the lives of others, for once we do, we have unknowingly regressed to barbarism.

I digress, and move on to another topic. As my friends know, I am fascinated by all things political. I enjoy watching the master rhetoricians (a euphemism for liars and poet-salesmen) engage in their craft. I find it fascinating that the GOP can convince voters time and time again that its platform is commensurate with the hopes and aspirations of the middle and lower classess (while eviscerating the programs and institutions that support said groups). I squirm uncomfortably when another straight-faced tuxedo tells the American people that he/she wants to cut taxes on the unfathomably rich to benefit them (the 'others'). Or, when that same millionaire attacks food stamps and aid to pregnant women in the name of the ALL-MIGHTY DEFICIT! This same DEFICIT is not appeased by raising some taxes on the wealthy (or on oil companies) and is definitely not appeased by closing some of our many military bases or by scaling back our fruitless wars on drugs. No, this DEFICIT is pleased only vis a vis the suffering of the middle class and poor.

Anybody else think that it is not right to throw the poor under the mighty-bus of the DEFICIT? Now, we should not persecute the rich for simply being rich-many even give half of their incomes to charity-but we should and can and must ask them to pay their fair share to the wonderful country and the wonderful people who made their riches possible. I am speaking of a return to true PROGRESSIVISM! I will state, for the record (as diminutive as it is), that the congress can and should and must raise my taxes to close the deficit. The congress must raise my neighbors taxes and must (especially) raise the taxes of my wealthy friends and colleagues in Fruit Heights and in the Avenues. It is patriotic to pay your fair share. It is patriotic to push for equality. It is class warfare to keep attacking the poor and the middle class to keep the top 2% infinitely more rich than the bottom 98%.

Moving on. I am gleefully awaiting New York's adoption of Marriage Equality, aka Gay Marriage. There is no strong argument against marriage equality. Selectively quoting archaic words to justify hatred will never win the day. Human Rights can not be denied for long (relatively speaking here) and at the end of the day, humanity will be one step closer to realizing true human kindness and compassion. We can not be a truly moral nation when we deprive individuals of their right to equality and the equal pursuit of happiness.

On another note, I am in the process of learning Swahili and French (still nascent). I hope to be a strong linguist as this is one of the best ways to open up myself to the world and to help the most individuals. Every time that I forget about the paramount nature of service, I forget my reason for living. Service and compassion (the same concept) are the zenith accomplishment of the Homo Sapien. I am humbly trying to advance that great legacy, but I have stumbled too many times. I am heartened (and re-motivated) by the selfless individuals I see around me daily.

Thank you all and sorry for the word salad ramble.

Best,

Cameron Morgan