Simple Utah Mormon Politics

You've got to hand it to Orrin Hatch. In a day when our economy is in a shambles because of greed in the highest places of government and corporationdom, and in a day when international respect for the United States is at an all-time low because of our bizarre foreign policy, he's worrying about far more important things, like whether the college football Bowl Championship Series is "un-American". Hatch supports spying Considering that President Obama and Congress are drilling us a hole to hell through which a handbasket can easily fit, it's hard to say just what's American anymore. on you with reckless abandon . He supports making it nearly impossible for anyone to unseat him in the hallowed halls of power. He supports giving Washington D.C. a representative in the House for the exclusive reason that Utah just might get a fourth seat out of the deal. He supports the violation of habeas corpus and the torture of The BCS is stupid. But un-American? Please. ...

No wonder President Obama's administration members are warning that the economic recovery is several months away. He's doing nothing different than George W. Bush did when his attempts at economic recovery failed. Obama has appointed, without exception, people who helped cause the problem. Obama's associates, not to mention his "stimulus" package (more on that in a later article) are prime indication that he actually wants the economy to get much worse. Does anyone know why? Robert Rubin contends that no one saw the economic crisis coming. He's probably lying, but even if he really is that dense, it proves that Rubin's not even fit to be dogcatcher for the smallest bank in Poughkeepsie. There are several individuals who Just like before, those people who are honest, who have integrity, and who could really fix the problem that those in office don't seem to care much about, are left out in the cold. saw it coming , and some of them are from the fin...

In an atmosphere of environmental catastrophe brought on by greed (mostly) in high places, I think that maintaining the order of Utah's economic house must be our highest priority. Not far behind, however, is an issue closely related to the first--ethical lapses in high places. Rampant ethical laxness in the Utah legislator reflects very poorly on the predominant religion in Utah, especially because LDS lawmakers comprise a higher proportion of the legislature than My state Representative recently The current state of ethics in the Utah legislature should be profoundly embarrassing to all of us. Apparently, according to recent polls, ethics reform is finally on the radars of about 75% of Utahns. sent out a mailer to gauge his constituents' views on various subjects. In the section labeled "Ethics Reform" he listed 5 or 6 issues and asked us to rank them in priority order. Here's how I ranked those six issues: 1 1 1 1 1 and 1 It doesn't matter necessarily ...

What would do if your child's teacher told your child "Don't believe everything your parents tell you."? Would you be angry? I was for a minute. But I decided to turn what should have been a teaching moment into...a teaching moment. Update 1/27/2009: See the teacher's cordial response below. That's why I wrote the letter below to my child's teacher. I asked some of my work colleagues what they would do if something like that happened to their child. They encouraged me to personally confront the teacher and give her "what for". I initially determined that I would seek such a confrontation. But the more I thought about it, I realized that such a confrontation would very likely cause me to miss a teaching moment as well. So for what it's worth, here's the letter. Dear Miss [Name Redacted]: I very much appreciate that you encourage your students to discuss political issues in class. It is healthy for students to understand that, just l...

When they campaign, they promise us the moon. When they campaign, they also somehow convince us that they're different than their competitors, and even that they're different than the office-holder that they will replace. Maybe they really are different. But then the unfortunate reality sets in--the reality of a behemoth that is at odds with American ideals. On this Inauguration Day 2009, with the Establishmentarians firmly ensconced behind the dais in the shadows of power, I'm worried that four years from now, we will all be saying, "Obama wasn't much different from Bush after all." Although I sincerely hope he is different, here's my list of ways in which I'm afraid Barack Obama will probably not be much different than George W. Bush. The inauguration speech of President Barack Obama was magificent. It was much more inspiring than something How can it be that hard? It doesn't take four years to sign an Executive Order. a George Bush, a Jimm...

On a warm early morning near Baghdad in May 2007, fifteen Iraqi insurgents surprised two four-man humvee crews of American soldiers. Five of the Americans were killed. Three were captured. As a result of the captures, the Bush Administration and the U.S. National Security Agency sought for and received drastic strengthening of surveillance powers. Ironically, the attacks on the Americans were only in direct retaliation for a brutal rape and several grizzly murders committed by other Americans a few months prior. To add insult to the irony, the draconian new powers requested by the Executive Branch were not needed to find the missing soldiers, and they were granted after the bodies of the three missing soldiers were found. Private Steven D. Green was granted a "moral waiver" to join the U.S. Army. In 2006 he deployed to Iraq, "because I wanted to kill people." Green worked with his squad members at a checkpoint in Mahmudiyah, The worst part about the Global W...

I have only ever watched most of one episode of the hit series "24" on Fox. Based on that one episode, and its apparently tacit approval of torture, I am not a fan. But maybe I just need to know more of the context? Would I be a fan if I watched more episodes? I'm afraid I would be, simply because I would have become addicted to it. I have military friends who watch 24 religiously. I was talking to some of my co-workers yesterday about 24 , and Maybe I wouldn't be so worried about Bauer's antics if they didn't match reality so closely. they love it, too. My physical therapist says that it's his second favorite show besides Lost (" Lost " drives me bonkers by the way; I'd rather go shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday). The other night I tuned in to the first episode of 24 season number 7, and I did not like what I saw. Jack Bauer was being interrogated by some Senate committee. When asked whether he tortured a supposed terrorist name...

In all of my reading about man-made global warming, never once have I come across the statement that 'we are absolutely sure' that mankind is causing irreversible global warming by our behavior. No one has dared make this claim yet. The closest anyone has come is being pretty sure that something bad might happen in fifty to one hundred years if we don't act now. One thing that several people have stated (on both sides of the debate), however, is that slowing the supposed effects caused by man on the warming of the globe will require significant strengthening of governments around the world, along with a significant reduction in your freedom to choose. My religion teaches You may think, from this article, that I am having a hard time separating my views of church from my views of state. That would be correct. that there was a great war in heaven between two ideologies. The first faction advocated our Heavenly Father's plan, which was a blueprint for freedom of choice...

Now that the holidays are over, we can probably expect the stock market to tank. Not-yet-president Obama is already working on his first package to stimulate the size of the national debt. The House of Representatives made some draconian overhauls to House rules yesterday to favor the monopoly of the party in power. This has all the makings of a perfect storm for America. The one thing that is sure: people focus much more clearly on the important things in a crisis. A crisis, unfortunately, is probably just what we need. In a meeting of computer geeks yesterday, Even if I didn't want an economic crisis, the laws of nature say that it's time. one of our number mentioned how well we had reacted and how in depth we knew our computer systems in the run-up to the Y2K crisis nine years ago. Since then, they said, we have slumped into lackadaisical slumber, and our systems are not so carefully developed and monitored. I suggested to the group that perhaps we need another computer...

The Associated Press is reporting this morning that After suffering through bombardment of 6,464 rockets launched at Tehran from Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) bases southeast of the capital city over the past years, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and the Guardian Council recently determined to go on the offensive to terminate the MEK attacks. Iranian Revolutionary Guards in recent days launched a heavy air campaign against MEK strongholds. MEK spokespersons claim that over 400 followers have been killed in the air strikes, and at least 100 of them are civilians. After warning civilians in the area of MEK bases to leave their homes, Iran has now launched a follow-up ground attack. MEK freedom fighters are protesting the attacks as disproportionate. Protests of support for the MEK fighters have sprung up across Europe, the United States, and elsewhere around the world. The story continues : Thousands of Iranian troops backed by columns of tanks and helicopter gunships launched a ground offensive ...

Capitalism took a huge hit when Enron went under. People with either clear political agendas or monumental ignorance fed and/or believed this blatant falsehood. A look into the reality paints a completely different picture, however. Enron was in virtually in no way a capitalist organization. Other energy companies have learned from "the best", and they are as well profiting handsomely from what should in reality be (but isn't) providing proper stewardship and protection to the earth. The faux environmental movement is being led by the incestuous orgy of government and prison market profiteers. General Electric knows how to best get its bread buttered. Go green!! (Or at least pretend as much.) So does British Isn't it funny how the best schmoozers of government have somehow come to give the free market a bad name? Petrole...sshhhh!!...I mean BP. Duke Energy fawns at the feet of the bread butterer as well. T. Boone Pickens is attempting to set the record for ...