This is my auxiliary personal homepage.
Any ideas and opinions expressed here
do not necessarily reflect those of
the Physics Department or Weber State University.
Riding the Alaska ferries - Summer 2003
Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska
(August 2003) --- scroll to the right.
By the Madison River in Yellowstone
National Park (July 2002)
Brad and Lynn in Russia (May 2001)
In Nova Scotia (Summer 2000) --- scroll to the right
Click here for a 4x larger version (627
kB!)
Brad and Lynn in Prague (Summer 1999)
(photo near Bridger Lake)
Take a closer look at Utah.
- Voltaire (1694 - 1778), in "Freedom of Thought" from his Philosophical Dictionary
First, some background from the Associated Press ...
An exhibit of Rodin sculptures was censored at Brigham Young
University. The Mormon church-run school removed "Saint John The
Baptist Preaching" because the nude depictions of the prophet, "The
Kiss", "The Prodigal Son" and "Monument to Balzac", "are
such that
the viewer will be concentrating on them in a way that is not good
for us," said BYU Museum of Art's Director Campbell Gray. (AP)
At the WebMuseum, you can see Rodin's "The Kiss" for yourself!
According to Calvin Grondahl of the Ogden Standard Examiner,
Ogden has a different attitude...
... which is why I enjoy living in Ogden!
The Utah Legislature has established the nation's first PORN CZAR!
Read this very strange article (with its own strange bias about Utah)
from USA Today
The National Coalition Against Censorship fights this sort of nonsense.
La Verkin Declares Itself United Nations-Free Zone
BY THOMAS BURR
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
LA VERKIN -- City leaders declared their independence Wednesday -- from
the United Nations.
During a special Fourth of July meeting, the
City Council voted 3-2 to make this southwestern Utah city a United Nations-free
zone.
The proclamation, possibly the nation's first, forbids use of the U.N. insignia
on city property and spending any city funds to support the global organization.
Individual residents are still free to
back the United Nations, but must file annual reports to the city and post a
sign noting their support. The town of Virgin, six miles to the east,
plans to consider a similar ordinance July 19.
Some La Verkin residents wonder why their city leaders are dabbling in
international politics.
"This is dumb," said Rebecca
Beckham. "Why is it any of their business to deal with the United Nations?
They should fix the potholes."
Jerry Benson agrees. "They have enough to deal with," he said.
"They're a group of people with power that has gone to their heads."
However, La Verkin's anti-U.N. stands seems to enjoy some support -- inside and
outside Utah. An earlier Salt Lake Tribune story on the issue generated dozens
of responses praising the town's action.
"These folks [in La Verkin and Virgin] should move to Washington, D.C.,
where we could really use them," read one e-mail.
City staffers also have fielded calls from supporters, several asking for copies
of the legislation to present to their own city leaders.
Councilman Victor Iverson would like to see other cities follow La Verkin's
lead. He said a grass-roots, anti-U.N. movement could spark a public dialogue
about U.S. involvement in the world organization.
"We want to frame the debate," Iverson said. "We want to get
people talking."
Iverson acknowledged that the ordinance is largely symbolic and would not be
enforced in this town of 3,400 about 20 miles north of St. George. "I don't
have any grand illusions that I'm re-signing the Declaration of
Independence," he said.
Neither does Councilman Daren Cottam, who insists that council members are not
"wackos" but merely public servants standing up for what they believe.
"Anytime I get the chance to uphold the state constitution or the
Constitution of the United States, I'll do it," he said.
But the American Civil Liberties Union sees constitutional problems in the
ordinance, especially the requirement that U.N.
backers post signs indicating their support.
"That certainly is an invasion of privacy," said Carol Gnade,
executive director of the ACLU's Utah chapter.
Gnade likened the
"preposterous" provision to the identification Jews were forced to
wear under the Nazis. If La Verkin residents complain, she added, the
ACLU might help fight the ordinance.
tburr@sltrib.com
_________
Tribune staffer Julie DeHerrera contributed to this story.
Return to Brad Carroll's personal homepage at the Physics
Department.
Last modified on
Saturday, February 12, 2005 03:32:46 PM.
