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Showing posts from February, 2008

American Media Whores Ecstatic Over Prince Harry Revelation

The British press kept it a secret for almost three months.Give the American media whores one day, and everyone in the world knows it. The American press ought to be embarrassed that it spread like wildfire the leak about Prince Harry’s military whereabouts—but they’re not embarrassed, because they know you want it. I was listening to the Doug Wright show on KSL radio from Salt Lake City yesterday, and he was veritably salivating over the fact that British Prince Harry’s specific whereabouts in Afghanistan have been revealed, making him a security risk for the British military there. Harry was not allowed by the British crown to serve in Iraq for the very reason that the specifics of his service would be divulged to the world. Then it was agreed by the British press that—for operational security—it would not be revealed that Prince Harry was actually in Afghanistan. The Brits kept their end of the bargain. It was a foreign source—perhaps Australian, but begun in the US very likely b...

Getting a Handle On Graffiti in Utah

Whenever I see that a new splotch of graffiti has shown up in a public place, I find myself hoping that somebody will hurry and clean it up so that the graffiti problem doesn’t get worse. But that somebody has as of yet never been me. Now I’m noticing that graffiti is showing up a lot more in areas that I frequent. It’s not getting cleaned up in an appropriate amount of time. And it’s getting more vulgar. Is graffiti okay? Some people think so. I think so as long as it is privately sponsored and controlled. But not when it’s not legal or privately allowed. The graffiti that I’m starting to see crop up everywhere is definitely not being encouraged or allowed—on the side of train cars, on overpasses, and on vacant buildings. To make matters worse, now there are web sites that show the kinds of graffiti defacement that has occurred. Whoever is posting such images on these web sites may think they’re providing a public service, but actually, there’s no better encouragement—even fo...

Somber News for Man-Made Global Warming Enthusiasts

While the earth seemed to be getting really, really warm, and while the Arctic ice seemed to be getting really, really thin, the major media outlets were all over themselves and us, trumpeting the need for global governance for what seemed surely like a global problem. Where are they now that the indicators have significantly reversed themselves and a flock of crows stands at the ready to be eaten? I can tell when someone cares about honesty based on whether they care to report about both sides of an issue. Based on that factor, man-made global warming enthusiasts are largely snake-oil salesmen. I haven't written about Global Warming much lately, because I've been so busy shoveling several tons of the stuff out of my driveway all winter. The previously snowiest winter her in northern Utah was 1993, and I'm pretty sure we just beat that in '08. The winter of 2007-08 has not been very friendly to those who are sure that man is causing the earth to turn into a fireball...

Presidential Campaign 2008: A Pox on the Republican Kingmakers

The Republican party has done a lot of stupid things lately, but its dumbest has been to prematurely anoint John McCain as its candidate. Republicans have lost much ground in the last year or two, and they seem almost giddy, with their coalescing around the worst possible Republican candidate, to lose even more. I haven't agreed with everything Mike Huckabee has said in the 2008 presidential campaign, but here's something I agree with : "Republicans have decided that elections are a messy thing, and anointings and coronations are much better,” Huckabee said on MSNBC. “It’s that kind of attitude that is going to be the death of the Republican Party in this country." I've heard some of the Utah minions of the Republican machine chastise Huckabee for staying in the US presidential race. Additionally, Doug Wright of KSL radio challenged the governor to stop thinking that he is God's gift to the world and get out of the race. "What could he possibly be thin...

SB 242: It Is Important to Know Marital Status with Regard to Domestic Violence

Do unmarried-partner households account for the lion's share of domestic violence? I think so, but it's hard to know for sure. There don't seem to be many statistics tabulated on the subject. Hopefully in Utah, with Senate Bill 242, that is about to change. In 2000, there were just over 54 million households in the United States that contained married couples , and there were about 5,500,000 households in where there were unmarried partners. The percentage of unmarried-partner households in 2000, then, was about 9 percent. About 7 or 8 years ago, after a presentation on domestic violence, I asked the police officer who had given the presentation what percentage of domestic violence occurred in unmarried-partner households. He told me that they didn't keep those kind of statistics, but that if he had to estimate based on his experience, 70% of domestic violence occurs in unmarried-partner households. If that's true, it definitely pays to make a marriage commitm...

Satellite Shootdown: Safety Precaution or "Star Wars"?

In 1983, Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative. It was quickly and consistently derided as "Star Wars". Reagan hated the term. It was never his intention to use it as an offensive weapon, but will his successors use it offensively? Some, including the Russians, believe that with the shootdown of a reconnaissance satellite last night, that's exactly what the United States is doing. The counterclaim was that the satellite was shot down at high altitude as a safety precaution. Who's right? China was roundly criticized--and the US secretly worries about the military implications of it all--when, just over a year ago, it shot down one of its older satellites . Very similar criticism of the US came from the former Soviet Union last night, when America shot down one of its satellites , officially as a safety precaution. The satellite was traveling at upwards of 17,000 mph with 1,000 pounds of hydrazine--that's "a hazardous fuel which could pos...

Fidel Castro: Murderer, Torturer, Propagandist, Tyrant

The 81-year old Fidel Castro announced that he will not run for public office in Cuba again. (As though he ever "ran" for it in the first place.) It would have been nice if he had announced that intention some 50 years ago. The Cuban people would be infinitely better off today. So would the world. Fidel Castro lived less than a cipher's life, yet he has been romanticized unceasingly by the Robert Redfords of America, aided by a largely misguided U.S. embargo of his crumbling fiefdom. He could have amounted to a pretty good baseball player, and with God's grace, I wish he would have. He would have done much less damage. Too little, too late, he announced that he will not "run" for President for an unprecedented second 50-year term. As it stands, the world would have been better off if Fidel Castro had never been born. An ailing Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he was retiring and will no...

Six Things Everyone Should Accomplish Before They Turn 18

What do you wish you had done before you graduated high school? Me?--a lot of things, but spilt milk doesn't taste very good. I've been challenged by Elizabeth at More from Elizabeth to list six things that everyone should do before they turn 18. I really appreciated her list , so mine will be somewhat similar to hers. There are a lot of other things I could have mentioned. Let me know what I might have missed. It's easy to live vicariously through our kids. Usually that vicariousness is through sports, but it can also be through anything that they excel at. More important than expecting them to excel at anything, however, is to give them the tools to excel in whatever way they choose. Here are a few of those tools as I see it. 1. Learn how to manage money wisely. My parents always gave me an allowance when I was growing up. I spent it on some foolish things, but they let me make those choices and learn their lessons. We do the same things with our children. ...

Is Utah Senator Chris Buttars a Racist, or Just a Dolt?

Do I think Chris Buttars is a racist? Yes. Based I what I've heard him say about homosexuals, I think his statement that "this baby is black" was a racist comment. I think it was a faux pas of gigantic, Freudian proportions. I think it reveals what is inside Chris Buttars' heart. I think the apology given for his statement will be hard to take seriously. Do I think Buttars should resign from the Utah Senate? No. Let's let his constituents decide that one in the next election. I have no proof that Chris Buttars is a racist. But how in the world could he come up with a statement like the one he uttered, and not be at least a racist of the closet variety? So I'm pretty sure he is. In days gone by, it was fairly common for Utahns to be racist. I think it was more out of ignorance and lack of association with people of other races, more than anything. Chris Buttars, however, seems to be a throwback to that otherwise hopefully forgotten era. We know very...

My Latest Conspiracy Theory: "Don't Worry-Hillary Will Win"

It's happened once before. Everyone was freaking out when Obama beat Hillary a few weeks ago in a couple of campaign races, but with a tear or two from Ms. Clinton's demure countenance, that speed bump became the stuff of immediate history. Now, with the Clinton campaign in apparent disarray like nothing we've ever seen before, people are freaking out again. But don't worry (well, actually I am worried). Hillary will still win. It's all in the cards of a Clinton-McCain showdown--a repeat of the Clinton-Dole "showdown" of 12 years ago. And Hillary will be our next president. You heard it here first. If I'm wrong, I'll stop manufacturing conspiracy theories. And I wish I could say I will have been glad that I was wrong, but there are no other apparent good options at this point. So the chances that there will be joy in my Mudville at that point are virtually nil. Update: 6-4-2008 Hillary's campaign manager quit recently. The deputy camp...

Ruing the Day that We Didn't Elect Ron Paul

It may take a while, but there will come a day when the preponderance of Americans will have wished that they listened to Ron Paul's message. They will look for a man or woman like Ron Paul to be their president, but it will be too late. The United States is headed for a nightmare if we elect John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama. It's not too late... Most Americans don't think that Federal Debt is bad. They think it is just "funny money", and that because America's economic prowess has always been respected, that it will always be respected. Funny... Because they're wrong. Ron Paul is explaining very clearly why we cannot afford to steep ourselves any further in debt, but only about 10% of Republicans are voting for him. I'm sadly sure that there are several others who think that he would make a great president, but they won't vote for him because (a) he can't win, or (b) he's against the war on terror, or (c) both. In reality...

Putting a Face (and a Border) on Illegal Immigration

The problem with illegal immigration is not the immigrants. The problem is with their governments, for the most part, and with the United States government to some extent as well. Sending Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials on SWAT-style raids, as happened yesterday in Utah, is obviously not the answer. Favoring strong families, however, is. You'd think the illegal immigration problem would have been solved by now. And then you realize just how complex it is. It can be solved, but not as easy as we might think. Nonetheless, we need to get off of high-center solve what is becoming a crisis. It's easy to become frustrated the longer the problem remains unsolved, but throwing around overweening legal prescriptions like a frustrated parent spits out epithets at unruly children is an immature way to handle the situation. "Raid" is the correct word for what happened at Universal Industrial Sales Inc. in Lindon yesterday. Those arrested were fearful for the...

Are We Really Fighting the War on Terror? Or Are We Carefully Capitulating to the Perfect Political Paradox?

Imagine there really was terror, but that the warriors against that terror were nowhere to be found. Well...you don't have to imagine. Is there a terror in the world today? Yes, there is. But not the kind the Establishment would have you believe by getting you hooked by their deadly hypnotic spell. It's critical to discover--if someone hates you--what motivates that hatred. If you come up with the wrong answer (or if someone conditions your mind perpetually with the wrong answer), chances are you're fighting the wrong war . I was reminded in the comments to my previous article here on SUMP why I really was mad at Mitt Romney for quitting. It was partially that he quit at the most inopportune time, but that was not so much it as the crap that came out of his mouth when he announced his personal surrender. Here's what frosted my cookie : I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. We all know what terror he is referring to, and what ...

Did Mitt Romney Just Ruin Everything?

It's all the buzz right now around the office. Mitt Romney is a wimp. Mitt Romney is a quitter. I cannot believe he just threw in the towel--at the most inopportune time of the entire campaign. That effectively ensures that there are now three liberal front runners in the presidential race--Obama, Clinton, and McCain. And no conservatives. Is John McCain the all-but-assured republican nominee for president? I hope not. But it's not looking good now that Quitt Romney just threw in the towel. John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney prepared to tell conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. Any of the other Republican candidates would make a much better President than John McCain. Romney's giving up is all but assuring that that worst candidate to...

Utah Senate Bill 34: The Driving Nazis are at it Again

Senate Bill 34 in 2008 is the recapitulation of a bill that was introduced in the Utah legislative session of 2007. Like last year, it would allow confidential notification of bad driving. It is wrong to not let a driver be confronted with the witnesses of his or her supposedly bad driving. This is bad law. It should be voted down again like it was last year. Some have said that the word Nazi is used too cavalierly. But even Nazism started with relatively innocuous ideas that many people supported. Senate Bill 84 in 2007 ("CONFIDENTIALITY OF REPORTS TO DRIVER LICENSE DIVISION") was sponsored by Senator Allen Christensen. In 2008, a bill ( SB 34 this time ) with the same title is being sponsored by the same Senator. It failed last year in the Senate by a vote of 10-18 with 1 senator absent. Admittedly, Senate Bill 34 is an improvement over last year, because it no longer allows anonymous notification and it clarifies that the person notifying the driver license divis...

John McCain: A Pending American Disaster

John McCain was a brave pilot during the Vietnam war. He suffered with grace as a prisoner of war as well. But that does not necessarily a good politician make. When it comes to politics, John McCain is of the worst variety. He plays the hero card to get you to ignore the terrible votes he has cast and positions he holds on a plethora of important issues. As President, he would make the mistakes of George W. Bush look like a beautiful spring day by comparison. I'm not impugning Senator McCain's integrity. I think he sincerely believes in the positions he has taken. In a handful of cases, I agree with him. For example, I believe he is correct in his call for the closure of US military prisons at Guantanamo Bay. I appreciate that he has changed his mind on reducing taxes. But it's important to remember that John McCain is NO conservative. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. He is a blowhard who tries to cow other people into doing what he wants. Rudi Giulian...

News Flash: God and Gordon B. Hinckley Love Even the Westboro Baptists

It is a circus of comedies. The Westboro Baptist Church has heaped scorn on nearly everything from mom to apple pie. Perhaps their most reckless stunt to date is their vile statements regarding President Gordon B. Hinckley at his passing. They may think that God hates Gordon Hinckley, but the truth is, He doesn't. I'm having trouble finding the love right now for the Westboro Baptists, but I'm confident that at least two people love them all unconditionally--Gordon B. Hinckley and God. The Westboro Baptist Church, who has belittled US soldiers who have been injured and killed in Iraq, had some not-so-nice things to say about LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley recently, following his death. WBC will picket the funeral of this old cozener* - *(a cozener is one who deceives others by means of petty tricks, a trickster; one who persuades or induces others to do something - like joining the Mormon enterprise,or dedicating two years spreading the Mormon poison as so-call...