While living in the Salt Lake City area, Rocky learned the value of open spaces. Next to the Anderson home on Shanna Street were several acres of scrub oak, where neighborhood children spent much of their playtime each week in what was to them a veritable forest.

When Rocky was 10 years old, his father was promoted to President of Anderson Lumber Company and transferred to the corporate general office in Ogden. The Andersons moved to Ogden just in time for Rocky to begin sixth grade at Polk Elementary, where he was elected student-body president. These many years later, Rocky recalls his supportive big sister Kristen working late into the evening, making posters to help with his elementary school election.

Rocky went on to attend Mt. Ogden Jr. High School and Ogden High School. During his high school years, Rocky worked at an Anderson Lumber shop, building roof trusses, loading lumber, and delivering cabinets. He also worked shingling roofs in the late afternoons and would quickly clean up to play lead guitar at local dances and concerts with his rock-and-roll group, The Viscounts. When, many years later, Rocky’s son practiced his guitar at full volume, Rocky knew that if his father (who endured the Viscount years) were alive, he would smile, wink, and say something amusing about karma.

College, Work & Family

Following graduation from high school, Rocky attended the University of Utah, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy. It was time to decide what to do with the rest of his life, but first, Rocky spent a summer building buck fence at a Wyoming ranch. He also worked as a cab driver, methadone clinic worker, waiter, truck driver, and construction laborer. Then, wanting to see more of the world, Rocky traveled for several weeks throughout southern Europe and worked for a few months as a dishwasher, and as a laborer at a biology institute in Freiburg, Germany.

The study of philosophy and history inspired Rocky to find a vocation that would make a positive difference in the world. Rocky believed that a career in the law, as well as public service, would provide great opportunities for creating positive change.

Rocky moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended the National Law Center at George Washington University. During his time in law school, Rocky worked at a small law firm, doing what he could to pay for his expenses during all three years. Upon his graduation, with honors, from law school in 1978, Rocky returned to Salt Lake City to begin his law practice. Rocky began handling jury trials right out of law school and prepared and argued two cases before the Utah Supreme Court during his first year of practice. As his career progressed, Rocky handled dozens of important cases, many times without charging a fee.

According to Rocky, “the highest calling of a lawyer” is to make certain the law is fairly and equally applied. During the next 20 years, Rocky worked with many of the leading lawyers in Salt Lake City, and his practice evolved to his association as president of the law firm of Anderson & Karrenberg.

During his legal career, Rocky, who is listed in Best Lawyers in America, handled many complex commercial cases, including antitrust and securities matters for plaintiffs who had suffered harm. In the 1980s Rocky was instrumental in obtaining payments for thousands of depositors who had lost their life savings in Utah’s failed thrifts. He has been a proponent of joint custody so that more men can and will maintain responsible and consistent relationships with their children following divorce. Rocky was an effective advocate in groundbreaking civil rights cases, including Bott v. Deland, which dramatically expanded the protections for incarcerated people. Rocky also worked to institute a program to provide access to legal services for people who did not qualify for help through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who were not able to afford to pay a full fee for critically important legal services.

Rocky demonstrated strong and effective management abilities as chair of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar Association, as President of a multi-million dollar law firm, and as lead lawyer in some of the most important cases to be litigated in Utah’s courts during the past 25 years. In addition to providing free legal assistance to people who are homeless, economically disadvantaged, and disabled, he was a leader in several nonprofit organizations (including ACLU of Utah (President), Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Utah Common Cause, Citizens for Penal Reform (founder and President), Guadalupe Educational Programs (President)) and provided thousands of hours of volunteer service to help create a better, safer, more sustainable community.

Approximately four years after he began his law practice, Rocky married a free-lance writer and mother of two boys. Together, they had a remarkable son, who is now a 29 year old lawyer. Although they divorced, Rocky shared custody of his son, who lived, until he was 18, with each parent half the time. Joint custody enabled both Rocky and his former wife to stay closely and consistently involved in their son’s life. During several years of his son’s elementary education, Rocky spent time each week co-op’ing in his classroom and has always taken an intense interest in his son’s education. Creating a safe, healthy, nurturing community for Rocky’s son and others has been a driving force behind most of his volunteer activities.

Political, Humanitarian, and Executive Experience

Rocky has always been committed to the principle that justice – social justice, environmental justice, and economic justice – must be an essential aim of public policy. His heartfelt commitment to social justice is reflected in many of the numerous articles and columns he has authored for local publications. For instance, he has written articles for magazines on such diverse topics as ethics in politics, combating racism, and criminal justice reform. He also wrote a weekly column for The Enterprise, a Utah business newspaper, covering issues such as tax reform, valuing diversity, and the importance of character in public life.

With the help of dedicated campaign workers, contributions from hundreds of individuals, and a huge volunteer organization, Rocky ran an aggressive, principled campaign for Congress as the Democratic nominee (following a primary campaign) in Utah’s Second Congressional District in 1996. Without any financial help from the Democratic Party, but with record contributions from individuals, Rocky garnered over 100,000 votes in the District. Even when pitted against Merrill Cook’s 98% initial name recognition and the expenditure of almost $1 million by Cook of his own money, Rocky received 55% of the votes cast in Salt Lake City, versus 39% for Cook. However, Rocky lost the race because of a lack of support in a very conservative area, where there was obvious hostility toward Rocky’s early principled stand in favor of marriage equality.

In 1999, Rocky ran for Mayor of Salt Lake City. He ran well ahead of 10 primary election opponents, then prevailed 60% to 40% in the general election. Rocky was reelected for another four-year term in 2004.

During his two terms as Mayor, Rocky was the Chief Executive Officer of Salt Lake City Corp., overseeing a general fund annual budget of over $200 million and almost 3,000 employees. He also was the Chief Administrative Officer over the massive Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency and was Chief Administrative Officer of the Salt Lake City International Airport. He negotiated with three public employee unions. Salt Lake City being the only city in Utah that engaged in collective bargaining, which was whole-heartedly supported by Mayor Anderson.

During his years as Mayor, Rocky successfully fought many important battles, including victories for mass transit, wise long-term growth planning, greater respect toward and legal protections for minority communities (including equal benefits for gays and lesbians and their partners), and for unprecedented youth programs. He successfully challenged the state’s English-Only law and opposed grandstanding Homeland Security campaigns against immigrant workers in the nation’s airports.

Rocky carried out a successful one-person national security campaign to ensure that every airport screened all checked luggage. He killed the DARE program in Salt Lake City schools and introduced to those schools proven, far more effective, drug-prevention programs. Rocky implemented perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive restorative justice programs, he created city-wide after-school and summer programs, and he was considered by many to be the “greenest mayor” in the U.S. During his service as Mayor, he preserved and significantly added to the City’s stock of affordable housing and open space. He reduced greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 31% in three years and was one of the top climate protection activists in the world, winning the World Leadership Award in London for his environmental programs and advocacy.

Unlike some who run for elective office, Rocky is not driven by self-interest or by a lack of something else to do with his life. He has always searched for the best way to utilize his skills and energy in order to make the best contributions he can.

“I will continue building a more cohesive community, one in which diversity is valued and people are able to live, work and play together in a convivial way. I will continue implementing programs that have been proven to work in reducing drug abuse and crime. I will also continue to make Salt Lake City government more responsive and accommodating to all segments of the community.” -Rocky Anderson

After serving two terms as Mayor, Rocky declined to run for a third term and, instead, devoted himself to educating, motivating, and mobilizing people to take action to stop human rights abuses. Anderson recognizes the importance of people at the grassroots level advocating and pushing for change. He has stated, “We keep expecting elected officials will do the right thing, and the fact is they never do unless they’re pushed.”

Rocky founded High Road for Human Rights, a non-profit organization devoted to achieving major reform of US human rights policies and practices through unique, coordinated, and sustained grassroots activism, complementing the work of other human rights organizations. High Road for Human Rights primarily addressed five issues: torture and the undermining of the rule of law, genocide, slavery, the death penalty, and the human rights implications of the climate crisis. For his work on human rights matters during his tenure as Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Rocky received the Morehouse University Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee’s Patriot Award.

In September 2008 Rocky testified (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G-h4tr0IaM&feature=related; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggg-8kSr9Wk&feature=related) before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing concerning executive branch abuses of power (which was held following Rocky’s persistent advocacy, including two intense meetings with Congressman John Conyers, then Chair of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and other members of the Progressive Congressional Caucus) and spoke at rallies organized by High Road for Human Rights, calling for accountability for torture. He has also researched, written, produced, and narrated multi-media pieces on torture and the undermining of the rule of law (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECPGenexyKM; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGSKVV1BwSY&feature=related), issues about which he has tremendous expertise and passion.

Rocky also continued his vigorous work on climate protection, speaking at numerous venues throughout the U.S., (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBQ_frrwzzo&feature=related), Canada, and China.

Having been the only major city mayor who advocated the impeachment of President George W. Bush because of his disregard of intelligence data indicating that Osama bin Laden was about to attack the U.S. and his dishonesty to the American people in the lead-up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Rocky has proven himself to be “non-partisan,” forcefully demonstrating that the rule of law has been severely undermined by both major parties and by both Presidents Bush and Obama. , Anderson has persuasively argued that despite his earlier belief that the Bush Administration would be merely an “aberration” in the history of the US, “President Obama has institutionalized some of the worst abuses of the Bush Administration” and has gone even further in establishing an imperial presidency that has fostered a two-tiered system of justice in the United States.

On August 11, 2011, Rocky denounced the Democratic Party and resigned his affiliation with it. He wrote in a letter to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that “The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party.”

On January 13, 2012, Anderson accepted the presidential nomination of the Justice Party, a new national political party. The Party’s primary principles are integrity, justice, and liberty for all.

The emphasis of Rocky’s campaign is the promotion of the public interest through the defeat of the systemic corruption that has caused massive failures in public policy. Rocky advocates an immediate end to the on-going wars; essential health care coverage for all citizens; urgent international leadership by the U.S. to prevent against the most catastrophic consequences of climate disruption; adequate revenues to balance the budget through fair taxation; treatment of substance abuse as a public health, rather than criminal justice, issue; control of the Federal Reserve by the Treasury Department and Congress; a balanced budget (or a surplus) except in times of war or major recession; an end to the legal concept of corporate “personhood;” a constitutional amendment to overrule Citizens United and to allow limits or prohibitions on the corrosive impact of money in our electoral system; and an end to the stranglehold on our government by the military-industrial complex.

Please Visit: http://www.VoteRocky.org/

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“If you stop and think, and genuinely wonder; and long for a new, better world, I urge you to read a book I’ve just finished. It’s self-published, brilliantly and passionately written, and while being truthful is full of hope of destroying the military-industrial-media-congressional-imperialpresidential-complex. It’s “War Is A Lie” by David Swanson.” – Mumia Abu-Jamal.

“If decisions to go to war were really made on the basis of reason and facts, rather than greed and power, David Swanson’s brilliant new book would put a stop to them. Those of us who know David understand that he writes quickly and eloquently, speaks honestly and powerfully, and follows a logical point all the way to its conclusion. He has a philosopher’s mind with a computer’s precision. And he always maintains a justifiable moral outrage at the lies of the war criminals — calling out their crimes, detailing their carnage, poking holes in their excuses. Reading ‘War Is a Lie’ is like reading Mark Twain’s ‘War Prayer,’ only in book form.” — Steve Cobble, IPS Associate Fellow, PDA co-founder, AfterDowningStreet.org co-founder, Jackson & Kucinich campaign advisor.

“While Americans elect leaders whom they trust are honest, truthful and really care about the kids they send to kill for our country, War Is A Lie reveals decade after decade the sordid side of our history — that our elected officials lie us into war with stunning and embarrassing regularity and are little concerned about the harm to innocent civilians, much less to members of our own military.” — Colonel (retired) Ann Wright, author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience.

“This book is every American’s best defense against the greatest danger we face as human beings: the threat of war. Swanson reveals how American leaders (from both major political parties) have confused the public to create the illusion of consent for endless destruction and slaughter. Behind the fear-mongering, flag-waving and lies of George W. Bush and the blandishments of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama lies the ugly reality that our leaders have been seduced by political ambition, delusions of military superiority, and the promise of secrecy and impunity to commit otherwise unthinkable crimes.” — Nicolas J. S. Davies, Author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

“David Swanson is an antidote to the toxins of complacency and evasion. He insists on rousing the sleepwalkers, confronting the deadly prevaricators and shining a bright light on possibilities for a truly better world.” — Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.

For more information visit WarIsALie.org.

ABOUT DAVID ROVICS – Musician
David Rovics grew up in a family of classical musicians in Wilton, Connecticut, and became a fan of populist regimes early on. By the early 90′s he was a full-time busker in the Boston subways and by the mid-90′s he was traveling the world as a professional flat-picking rabble-rouser. These days David lives with his family in Portland, Oregon and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies.

He has shared the stage with a veritable of who’s who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times. Most importantly, he’s really good. He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible.

Most recently David wrote a tribute to Khader Adnan that you may listen to here:

For more about David Rovics please visit: http://DavidRovics.com

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The creation of the foundation was one response to Rachel’s killing. Shortly after her death, we had the opportunity to meet Linda Biehl whose daughter Amy was brutally killed as she registered voters for the first election in which all South Africans could participate. We learned how the Biehl family, guided by their daughter’s spirit and values, had established a foundation in South Africa. At the same time in the spring of 2003, people were asking us what they could do to remember Rachel. The conjunction of those two things encouraged us to believe that through a foundation inspired by Rachel’s values and spirit, we might make some difference. We slowly took the steps to organize the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice. The structure and work evolve as we continue to learn and to think about sustainability. We have drawn on the expertise of those in the Olympia community and elsewhere who have been eager to help us.

It requires tremendous effort and resources to establish the infrastructure for such an organization, and sometimes there is frustration at not being able to accomplish actual projects as quickly as we would like. We are primarily an all volunteer organization at this point. Certainly one of our frustrations is the struggle to keep up with communications that we have with wonderful people and supporters from throughout the U.S. and the world.

With the devastation and loss of life in Palestine, Lebanon, and Israel, Iraq and elsewhere it is challenging to hang on to hope. Still, it is always there for us, prompted by the many extraordinary people we meet throughout this country and in the world who work for justice on this issue and on many others. We are personally blessed each day with seeing the very best in humanity. A moment that stands out was at the West Bank village of Bi’lin in December where we joined Israelis, internationals, and an entire village of Palestinians who for over a year have been nonviolently protesting the Israeli military confiscation of sixty percent of their West Bank farmland. An apartheid wall and illegal settlements now stand where olive groves did before. Whenever we experience this convergence of Israelis, Palestinians, and many others – all recognizing the injustice, opposing it, and supporting human rights and international law – it is very heartening; and it happens for us frequently.

It can happen for others as well. The first thing Americans can do is to reject the idea, the myth really, that the Israeli/Palestinian situation cannot be solved. That kind of thinking makes it far too easy to avoid responsibility and action. Then, citizens can become better informed by seeking information from a variety of sources, including alternative media and from those with direct experience in the Middle East. They can join or lend support to one or more of the growing number of secular and religious groups that oppose the Israeli occupation and seek a just peace in the Middle East. They can educate their communities by monitoring local media coverage of this issue and writing informed letters to the editor. They can educate their representatives in Congress, challenge them to act and vote responsibly on this issue, and insist that U.S. laws regarding weapons exports are adhered to. The U.S. Government maintains a very biased stance in support of Israel that is not in the long-term interest of either Americans or Israelis, let-alone Palestinians. We must insist on more balanced policy that assures justice, freedom, security, and economic viability for both Israelis and Palestinians. Then there may be a chance for peace. Avoidance of this issue only makes the situation increasingly perilous for all involved, including the U.S.

Learn more: http://www.RachelCorrieFoundation.org

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According to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) documents obtained through FOIA requests, wireless meters are cited in thousands of reports of adverse health effects. The SmartMeter program has also raised concerns of privacy advocates who believe that the devices’ data collection capabilities violate constitutional privacy protections.

There have been a growing number of reports linking the meters to instances of fires, explosions, and surges. On August 25th a power surge hit East Palo Alto and disabled hundreds of new smart meters leading to questions by major utility watchdogs about the safety of the ‘smart’ grid being rushed into place without adequate safety precautions or testing. Utilities have rushed to dispose of solid state analog meters that often lasted eighty years or more without incident.

UC nuclear policy lecturer Dan Hirsch has determined that the wireless meters emit 100-150 times the radiation of a cell phone, invalidating utility claims that the radiation is insignificant.

On May 31st, the World Health Organization declared non-ionizing radiation of the kind emitted by smart meters as a class 2B carcinogen – the same category as DDT, based on cell phone brain tumor studies. Last week, an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuroscience concluded that “EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally-inducible neurological syndrome.”

For more info please visit:
http://emfsafetynetwork.org

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