Social Justice News, 9-22-06

Hey everyone,
I hope everyone had a good week. There’s a lot of new this week –more than I could fit in. Four of the stories are on Global Warming/Climate Change. I put them under a separate section aptly titled Global Warming below. The rest is a mixed bag. Unfortunately, not much of it is good news. I hope to find some better news next week.

Theocrats or Theofascists?: (Does it matter? I wonder.) The Right’s true colors revealed yet again. Personally, I think the argument they like to make about religious freedom is hilarious: You’re impinging on my right to religious freedom by not letting me impose my religion on you! The second link is to the ‘Stand For the Family’ event day this fall. (Anyone want to guess what that’s all about? I’ll give you three chances, but you’ll only need one.)
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1180.shtml
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0041648.cfm

Georgia Photo ID Law Struck Down!: Poll taxes are unconstitutional, and have been since the Civil War, but apparently Georgia’s legislature forgot that.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14909537/

Strip Searches In School: Um yeah, okay. Next thing you know they’re going to have us all tagged, chipped, and beam Fox News into our brains everyday. This madness has to STOP.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/091806stripsearch.cfm

Toss Out the Geneva Conventions: Bush wants to do away with those pesky little laws prohibiting torture. Or rather, he wants to rewrite them. He seems to think its all right for someone to be tortured as long as they’re suspected of being a terrorist. Though for him of course, his idea of ‘torture’ is not getting his way. Which was obvious if you saw or listened to his temper tantrum at the press conference last week.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/sep/19/the-geneva-conventions/

You Stop That This Instant!: Big Brother can now shout at you from hidden speakers in London. Remember what I said above? Tagged, chipped….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=405477&in_page_id=1770

The Dark Side of Industrialization: You didn’t hear this on CNN. A European ship deliberately dumped its load of toxic industrial waste in Africa last month –sickening at least 26,000 people. The really bad thing –it wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. And it won’t be the last.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2361387,00.html

Pragmatists and Heretics: The new heresy is believing global economic growth can’t continue indefinitely. And true to form, I’m a heretic. Upton Sinclair once said: Only madmen and economists think infinite growth is possible on a finite world. Judging by some of the reports I see from the latter category, I wonder if all economists are madmen too!
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5570&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Global Warming
California Sues Automakers Over Global Warming: The suit seeks damages for past and current contributions to global warming by the big six automakers. While a good step, it does nothing towards making people take personal responsibility for the gas hogging SUVs they drive to and from work each day.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/bs_nm/environment_autos_dc_13

Sea Levels Rising Fast –Polar Route Through Arctic Opened: The Arctic is now melting so fast a region the size of Turkey disappeared in just one year –and a polar route to the North Pole has suddenly opened.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1621770.ece
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060920/sc_afp/climatewarmingarctic_060920111816

Believers Worse Than Skeptics: Those who believe in Global Warming and refuse to take action, even in their personal lives, are doing more damage than the skeptics –and doing so consciously.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1877286,00.html

Website of the week: www.pathtofreedom.com

UU Joke of the Week: You might be a UU if:-You have ever been in an argument over whether breast milk is vegan-When you dress for a formal evening out you wear a little black dress, pearls and birkenstocks (and your wife thinks you look great!)-You get Newt Gingrich confused with the Grinch who stole Christmas-You think the Holy Trinity is "reduce, reuse, recycle"-The only time "Jesus" is mentioned at church is when somebody trips or stubs their toe-Before going to dinner at a friends house, your child says, I'll remember to say my 'pleases' and 'thank yous' but I'm not going to say that dinner 'pledge of allegiance'.

Have a good weekend everybody.