Tomorrow, April 30, at 7 pm at the Centre-Twin Theater in downtown Idaho Falls, the Social Justice Committee is sponsoring a free showing of The House I Live In, an award-winning documentary about the U.S. prison system and the war on drugs. The movie will be followed by a live panel discussion with local community members about the movie.
Posted by Lizbeth on April 29, 2013
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/free-movie-showing-tomorrow/
Green for All (a climate justice non-profit) is running a song-writing competition to find a great song about justice and climate change. Are you a song-writer? Do you know a song-writer? You can get more information here:
The Dream Reborn Song Competition: Are you Next?.
Posted by Lizbeth on January 27, 2013
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/song-competition-by-green-for-all/
Tablets and Patches of Clonidine, Comprimés et patch transdermique de clonidine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A man, Don Spector, claims he has invented a way to track whether or not mentally ill patients have taken their medication. He acknowledges it is an invasion of privacy. Others claim that it is a slippery slope, and that if we begin by tracking those who have been violent, we may end by tracking those who merely despair.
To some degree, I believe society has an interest in making sure that mentally ill people, especially those with a proven propensity to violence (a very small minority of the mentally ill) have taken their medications. This of course does not guarantee that they will not lash out, but I do believe it makes society safer, as well as those individuals.
Historically, prior to about 30-40 years ago, the rights of the mentally ill were completely subsumed and they were often institutionalized for life, whether or not they needed or wanted it. Now, the institutions are pretty much gone in the U.S., and the rights of the mentally ill are almost always paramount, as they are for most other people.
These are very difficult topics, and I don’t believe there is one right answer. More issues are discussed in the article, which I highly recommend reading.
What do you think? Is such an invention ethical or unethical? Whose rights triumph here?
Posted by Lizbeth on January 23, 2013
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/invented-a-way-to-track-the-medications-of-the-mentally-ill/
The Idaho Legislature is discussing whether or not they should abolish the business personal property tax. This would severely cut the budgets of Idaho counties and cities, and other government entities that rely on the state to transfer this money to them. The Legislature says they will now permit local options sales taxes, and this will make up for the cuts. Many rural counties in Idaho do not have the businesses to provide people places to pay sales taxes, and will be unable to replenish these monies.
How you feel about this is up to you. If you would like to write to your Idaho state legislators about this, you can find their contact info here. Just so you know, the email capabilities of that site seem to be down today, January 22, 2013. I will be sending my local legislators a letter in the mail.
If you agree that the Legislature should not do this, here is a sample letter for you below:
Please do not abolish the personal property tax for Idaho businesses. This is a very bad idea, and breaks the trust between the state of Idaho and the other, smaller governments contained within it, that rely on the state to transfer the money they need to operate.
Historically, the Idaho Legislature has been unsuccessful in replacing lost taxes for the entities who received them. Property taxes were cut in 2007, and the remaining monies placed in the general fund. Schools were told that sales taxes would make up for the lost money, but the recession came, and sales taxes dropped. Now we are told that the personal property tax money can be made up to the cities and counties of Idaho, through local options sales taxes.
For counties without many businesses, such as Clark County whose largest businesses are a gas station and a cafe, this is a farce. Even for larger counties, such as Bonneville County, I do not believe that a sales tax would make up for the millions of dollars lost. Even if it did, it forces the county budget to be reliant on the economy. This is not a safe bet, as we have seen with the schools.
Besides, what the legislature has in mind is not really an abolishing of a tax, but a tax shift. This doesn’t make the taxes go away – counties still need to pay for essential services – but forces a different group of people to pay the taxes.
Until the legislature can come up with a fail-safe plan for replacing the lost tax money, one that does not include relying on a fickle economy and voters being willing and able to tax themselves more, the personal property tax should stay.
Posted by Lizbeth on January 22, 2013
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/idaho-legislature-considering-abolishing-business-personal-property-tax/
The Social Justice Committee is newly energized and hard at work! We have a new mission statement and lots of plans for social justice work in the Idaho Falls area. We have changed a few things about the blog, and hope to make a few more updates in the coming days. Check out the new site menu at the top of every page!
Our new mission statement (can also be found on our About page):
The Unitarian Universalist Church in Idaho Falls created the social justice committee to promote non-violent conflict resolution for a more peaceful world.
The Unitarian Universalist Church Social Justice Committee has 5 simple goals:
Posted by Lizbeth on January 6, 2013
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/new-mission-statement-and-blog-updates/
We’ve all heard how women make less money than men. Well, this infographic really brings it home. Really something to think about.
Posted by Lizbeth on December 7, 2012
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/infographic-wage-gender-gap/
This is a selfmade image from the english wikipedia. The photographer has uploaded it as GFDL (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Black Friday is traditionally and mythicly (in the U.S.) the biggest shopping day of the year. If you’re not into consumerism, what are your options today?
Reasons to support the WalMart workers:
Robert Reich
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (Washington Post)
What are you doing for Black Friday? Share your plans in the comments.
Posted by Lizbeth on November 23, 2012
http://uucifsocialjustice.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/black-friday/
