Simple Utah Mormon Politics

I think it's because we've always admired rich people, and that we want to become like them, that we often don't seem to care how they got that way. Some rich people worked hard and ethically to get where they are, but you'd be surprised at how many didn't. The truth of the matter is that a heck of a lot of them got their mansions and Lear jets by stomping on you on their way up. A lot of people blame the free market for the economic problems that we have in our country. In reality, with the shysters that we elect to the federal and other governments year in and year out, we haven't had a free market in decades. We've had a butt-kiss market. I'm not better off than I was ten years ago, not to mention just last year. And it's your fault, because you keep voting members of the butt-kiss market into public office. So quit it! The Real Benevolence of the Profiteering Non-Profit Law Firms. I just found out this morning that a lot of these so-call...

Recently, when asked if he as president would sit down with Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela, Barack Obama said he would. Several on the political right screamed bloody murder--especially that he would cavort with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Besides the fact that's not what he said, I'm not so sure having closer communication with Iran is such a bad idea. Hillary Clinton was recently asked what she would do to Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. She stated that as president she would obliterate Iran. Recently asked if she still stood by her statement, she said she did : Sen. Hillary Clinton today defended her statement that the United States would "obliterate" Iran if it ever launched a nuclear strike on Israel. "Why would I have any regrets?" Iran, according to the latest US National Intelligent Estimate, has stopped nuclear weapons research, although they continue to enrich uranium. It's probably not very likely, We had talks with the Soviet...

Who was it that claimed that conservatives always tend to flock together? Well, the flock is breaking apart as John McCain, Newt Gingrich, and more Republicans jump on the establishment's man-made (double entendre' intended) global warming bandwagon. Hopefully, as the wagon makes its move down the highway to government hell, you will resist the urge to conform. In much the same way as conservatives claim that liberals coddle terrorists , liberals claim that conservatives don't care much about the environment . Both claims are not very truthful. When it comes to the environment, however, conservatives temper respect for the environment with an understanding of the facts that (1) a lot of the fear of global warming is based on estimates and computer models which don't match the facts of the last 10 years , (2) human ingenuity can solve such problems if they ever really become problems, and (3) government "solutions" Most people who are poor in the world tod...

The entire two-month saga of captivity and abuse of members of the FLDS Church at Eldorado, Texas at the hands of Texas authorities didn't ever have to be, I've said several times in these pages . Finally, the Texas Third District Court of Appeals agrees. It's about time. I hope that these families, molested by their government on unsubstantiated charges of molesting each other--can put their lives back together, healthy and whole. I don't like what the Fundamentalist LDS Church teaches. I don't appreciate the fact that they use my I don't like what the Fundamentalist LDS Church teaches. But I can't believe how many people cheered as the FLDS had their rights trampled in the mud and excrement. That kind of abuse is something that anyone, regardless of religion, should stand up against. Book of Mormon in claiming that theirs is the only true Church of Jesus Christ when they've never even been a part of our church. But I can't believe how many p...

What happens when you hit a home run, but you injure yourself and cannot complete your run around the bases? The rules say that your teammates can't help you. Is there a way that you can make it home? Yes. I hope that something like the incident below would happen in professional sports, but I don't know if it would (it would probably be more like the picture at the top of this article). Even high school sports are probably too competitive. I tend to think that male athletes would have a hard time being this sportsmanlike, but I hope I'm wrong. There are even some parents in little league sports that act like the picture above instead of the video below. The following incident happened between two college women's softball teams and epitomizes the essence of genuine competition. Take a look. It would have been Sara Tucholsky's only home run of her college career. But as she rounded first base, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, and was unable to continue...

I've thought about this question a lot lately, and I thought I knew the answer to it. The question is a lot more nuanced than to satisfy itself with only one answer, though. First, some people don't criticize terrorism because they're afraid of the terrorists. Others don't because they can't understand why the United States and others have exercised imperial dominion over the Middle East for so long. But the most important answer to the question--which admittedly came as some surprise to me--is this: most liberals and Muslims do criticize Islamic violence and terrorism. You just have to know where to look. Where Not to Look. One of the places that you can't look to find out what liberals and Muslims really think about radical Islam is the Rush Limbaugh show. Yesterday on his last hour, he attempted to lambaste Barack Obama for his willingness to have a dialog with the Iranians. Limbaugh made the mistake of letting Obama speak for himself and his own se...

Yesterday a "Republican-dominated" California Supreme Court struck down state laws against same-sex marriages. The LDS Church issued a press release, calling the decision "unfortunate". I agree, but not for reasons you might think. Did the California Court make the right decision? Update 5/17/2008 : California decision does not affect prohibitions against polygamy and marriage of close relatives. Why not? Government should not sanction same-sex marriages for the same reason that it should not sanction heterosexual adultery--such activities tend to be destructive to the family as the fundamental unit of society. Before you get too far into reading into my words, let me echo and agree with something that Madeleine Albright wrote in her recent book, The Mighty & The Almighty (one of the better books that I have read in a long time): I oppose discrimination against gays and lesbians and am convinced that heterosexual adultery is a greater danger to the institu...