Voice Of Deseret

Former Alta High Vice-Principal Mark Montague Settles Grievance With Canyons School District, But Still Resigns From District

2012-01-24T15:01:00.000-09:00

On January 24th, 2012, what hopefully is the final chapter in the anti-racist witch hunt against Alta High School was played out when the school's former vice-principal, Mark Montague, reached a confidentiality agreement with the Canyons School District to settle a grievance filed against them. However, Montague still resigned from the district altogether, walking away from the vice-principal's job at Butler Middle School where he was placed after Superintendent David Doty's purge of the top leadership at Alta High.

For background, all previous posts on the Alta High incident are available HERE, with the most recent post displaying first. KSL news video embedded below:

Alta High VP reaches settlement with Canyons district over racism row | ksl.com

Montague was smeared and defamed by the district after the so-called "Klan hood incident" which took place in March 2011 at Alta High. A reprimand letter had been placed in Montague’s file which also mentioned other incidents, including a football player taunting a black player in 2009 with a noose fashioned from duct tape, and a fight between a white student and black student that occurred off campus. Montague wanted the letter removed from his file. In addition, Montague specified in his grievance letter that the offending students were suspended and the incidents handled with the involvement of several administrators and officials. It also noted that Montague had been officially gagged by Superintendent Doty, prohibiting him from discussing the incident and defending his conduct, while the district imposed no such gag upon itself. Much of the community realized that Doty was not looking to solve problems, but to find scapegoats.

Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, the letter and all related documents containing false, misleading and defamatory information were removed from his file. This means the incident will not serve as a major barrier to employment by another public school district or a private school. However, the district has refused to issue a public formal apology for the manner in which they treated Montague.

Nevertheless, Montague seems satisfied with the outcome. "It was gratifying to have it acknowledged that there was absolutely no finding of racism or condoning of racism on my part. Throughout this ordeal, I’ve heard from former students who told me that they believed in me and let me know I made a difference in their lives”, said Montague. Read the complete statement from Montague's attorney HERE. Overwhelming support for Montague continues to be expressed in the comments section of the Salt Lake Tribune story.

The Canyons School District further embarrassed itself and became an object of national derision when they announced their rejection of the nickname "Cougars" for the new Corner Canyon High School in Draper on January 19th because the term "cougar" is associated with older women who sexually prey on younger men, although a second reason was to distinguish itself from Brigham Young University. Media all over the country picked up the story and poked fun at the district -- and Utah -- for political correctness and puritanism; even the United Kingdom's Daily Mail reported on it.

Under the leadership of David Doty, the Canyons School District has become a laughing stock -- and a cancer upon the body politic of public education in Utah. But local taxpayers are not without recourse; so long as Doty remains superintendent, they can vote to reject any future school bonds floated by the district. Perhaps if taxpayers hit the district in their wallet enough times, the district will get the message that it's supposed to do what the people want.

Political Correctness In Utah: Corner Canyon High School's Nickname Will Be Chargers Because Cougars Is Considered Derogatory To Women

2012-01-19T23:30:00.000-09:00

Another storm of political correctness has broken over the Canyons School District in the Salt Lake Valley, albeit not quite as destructive as the anti-racist witch hunt at Alta High School in 2011. The Canyons School District announced on January 19th, 2012 that they had rejected the nickname Cougars and accepted the nickname Chargers for the new Corner Canyon High School in Draper. The reason: "Cougars" is considered derogatory to women, because it has become a cultural term describing older women who seek intimate companionship with younger men.

On December 6th, 2011, the Canyons Board of Education selected Corner Canyon High School as the name of the new high school in Draper, and solicited public input for the new school's nickname and colors. They decided to distribute ballots with the names Mountain Lions, Cougars, Diamondbacks, Falcons, Raptors, Broncos, Bears, Cavaliers and Chargers to 4,300 prospective student body members currently in grades K-8 at various feeder schools which will supply students to the new high school.

When the ballots were counted, they showed 273 students wanted Cougars, 180 wanted Diamondbacks, 171 wanted Falcons and 141 wanted Raptors. However, some parents and patrons complained to board members, saying they were uncomfortable with the idea that their daughters on the drill team and cheerleading squad would be called Cougars, while other parents and students said they did not want to share a mascot with BYU, since the two schools colors would already be similar. So on January 17th, the board decided to ignore the students' choice and selected Chargers as the school's nickname. The summary of the board meeting indicates the vote was unanimous. The District did make it clear at the outset that the students' vote would only be an advisory vote, and that the Board would make the final decision.

The official board agenda for the January 17th meeting provides some useful background and additional research the board took into consideration before making the decision.

But it's the district's explanation after the fact that's a bit nauseating. District spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook said, "The board said this is a brand new school and we want to unite the community. And if there's something out there that could divide it, let's not go there". But if their intent was to avoid dividing the community, they achieved precisely the opposite effect, as the comments sections to KSL Channel 5, KSTU Channel 13, and the Deseret News show universal disapproval of the decision. One person posted this particularly cogent comment on the Deseret News:

John Charity Spring | 7:20 p.m. Jan. 19, 2012 Back Home In Davis County, UT:
This decision is proof positive that left wing extremism has infiltrated the education system to an alarming degree. Indeed, this is political correctness at its worst.

This left wing doctrine teaches that everything dealing with education must be reduced to the blandest possible level so that no possible offense could be taken by any possible person. Thus, a mascot name that merely represents a powerful creature of nature is suddenly transformed into a symbol of unrestrained sexual deviance. There is something wrong with an administrator who would react to a students suggestion of this mascot with thoughts of sexual activity between lustful older women and impressionable young men.

It is time for parents to stand up to this doctrine of political correctness that turns even the most benign of activities into artificially controversial subjects. Let this school have this honorable mascot.

Two school board members were particularly enthused about choosing the Charger nickname. Dr. Paul McCarty said "the Charger — a war horse — is entirely appropriate. The horse has been a prominent animal in Draper.” And Kevin Cromar said “I like the alliteration; I like the appeal. It’s something that will unify the community.” Contact information for all school board members is available HERE; since the board's vote was unanimous, it might be useful to compose one e-mail directed to the board president, Tracy Cowdell, and send info copies to the other board members.

There are two other ways to get even. First consider running for a board seat during the next election. Second, consider hitting them in the wallet by voting No the next time the district floats a bond.

"Ringing The Dinner Bell In Mexico": Salt Lake Tribune Names Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank Utahn Of The Year For 2011

2011-12-27T21:40:00.001-09:00

"Ringing the dinner bell in Mexico" is how one reader responded when the Salt Lake Tribune announced on December 24th, 2011 that they named Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank "Utahn Of The Year" for 2011, even though he only finished fifth in the Tribune's online poll with seven votes. Readers overwhelmingly preferred former BYU basketball player Jimmer Freddette with 199 of the 294 total votes cast.

The Tribune seems quite impressed with Burbank's public relations skills. Burbank and his officers handled a couple of public demonstrations with tact and efficiency, including the arrest of 26 activists who protested the guilty verdict against environmentalist Tim DeChristopher in July 2011, as well as the eviction of the Occupy Salt Lake protesters from Pioneer Park after one of them was found dead.

On the flip side, the Tribune chose to disregard Burbank's kid gloves approach towards illegal immigrants. Eli Cawley, president of the Utah Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration, calls Burbank “a stooge of the Mexican smuggling cartels” and calls him "Sanctuary Burbank", although he acknowledges that Burbank can be charming and well-spoken.

Chief Burbank hasn't merely criticized Utah's illegal immigration laws; he publicly vowed not to enforce one of them. When SB81 took effect in 2009, Burbank said SLCPD would opt out of enforcing it, which makes one wonder what other laws Burbank would not have them enforce. Chief Burbank has had a particularly contentious relationship with some Utah state lawmakers, not only Rep. Mike Noel, who drafted SB81, but also Rep. Chris Herrod, who openly accused Burbank of lying about illegal immigration and minimizing crime by illegals in an e-mail posted to the Utah Senate Site in July 2009. Furthermore, Burbank himself poured more gasoline on the fire during a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Civil Rights Subcommittee in June 2010 when he criticized the state legislators who passed SB81 by describing their efforts as "an obviously xenophobic agenda" using "racist rhetoric."

Of course, it should be no surprise that Burbank played the race card during that hearing. After all, it was the progressive extremist mayor of Salt Lake, Rocky Anderson, who appointed Burbank as chief back in 2006. This is the same Rocky Anderson who showed his "respect" for the office of President of the United States by leading an antiwar demonstration in Salt Lake on the same day George W. Bush paid an official visit to Utah. Anderson wasn't about to appoint an American patriot to office.

Public reaction to Burbank's selection as Utahn of the Year, as expressed in 341 comments to the Tribune, is sharply divided. Here are samples from both sides (after the jump):

rationalskeptic December 25th:
Burbank has done some pretty interesting things and is one of the few police officers I respect. His positions clearly reflect many years of experience and thinking on the matter. Also, he has an incredibly good sense of what his job is, and more importantly, what it shouldn't be.

He was smart to stand up to the ridiculous immigration laws our state was debating at the time. Obviously he has a better sense of constitutionality than even our own lawmakers.

Lots of people think that because of his stances on the political and practical aspects of our anti-immigration laws that he is soft on immigration. That is a clearly ignorant opinion. This man has gone after immigrant crime fairly heavily, doing things like shutting down identity theft rings and putting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes that fall under his state granted powers in jail.

Good choice Trib!

John Pace - December 25th:
He [Burbank] IS enforcing the law. At least HE knows what it is -- unlike so many here. Like, for example, the part where getting ICE training to undertake additional immigration enforcement is, wait for it: OPTIONAL.

And expensive.

And counterproductive.

And terrible public policy.

pumped_up_kicks - December 25th:
giving this guy the sltrib's "utahn of the year award" is like ringing a dinner bell all across mexico. they can just follow the sound until burbank and his merry bunch of minions welcome them "home."

Trollhunter2011 - December 25th:
He should get CHUMP of the year. He will go down to Pioneer Park and evict Americans who thought they had a point and reason for protesting! Even if I thought they were wrong, they had a Constitutional Right to do so! But he won't go to the west side barrios where there are hundreds if not thousands of Illegal Aliens who are criminals!! then round them off to ICE and deporting them which is his JOB!!! I think the silent majority needs to protest outside the police office and Mayor Becker's office to demand Burbank's resignation or firing !!

whyman - December 25th:
My agenda is very clear. I noticed that Israel has the same agenda. In fact, in the news, there is an article where an illegal alien in Israel raped a woman on a beach while two other illegal aliens watched.

Contempt for one law leads to contempt for others. This is witnessed by illegal alien stealing the SS numbers of 50,000 Utah children alone. Burbank did nothing, as did Shurtleff. Anther witness to this is 1300 illegal aliens on the welfare rolls and no prosecutions except of those that released the list.

A Chief of Police that actually enforced all laws, rather than hand picked laws, would have been all over this as one would have a high probability of occurring in SLC in one instance and did occur in SLC in the other.

You also need to understand that this country will only support so many people. Preferably the people that we let in are educated and can do something for the country. We have enough of our own people that do not finish high school and don't have the skills for better paying work. Illegal aliens take the work from those people. Illegal aliens also take spots from those that go through the legal process to come to this country. How? We cannot adjust our immigration quota's upward because of the illegal immigration problem. Then you have the simple fact that only about 5 percent of all jobs in this country require a degree at all.

A police chief that chooses to ignore illegal immigration when he will not ignore bank robberies, or bank fraud, or interstate communications fraud, or child pornography is choosing which laws, esp. federal laws, he will obey because all four are federal laws.

Dan Jones Poll Indicates Jim Matheson Leads All Republican Challengers In Utah's Fourth Congressional District Race; Stephen Sandstrom The Strongest Challenger

2011-12-25T23:28:00.000-09:00

Because Utah's Fourth Congressional District race is shaping up to be one of the marquee Congressional races in the United States, the pollsters are already sniffing around. And one of them, Dan Jones, took the political pulse of 341 registered voters in the Fourth District from December 19-21. The major findings:

-- If the general election was held today, Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson would defeat any of the four Republican challengers. Stephen Sandstrom would be the toughest opponent. This despite the fact that the new Fourth District, which encompasses southwestern Salt Lake County, western Utah County and all of Juab and Sanpete counties, is heavily Republican.

-- It will take a primary election to determine the Republican nominee, and Carl Wimmer and Stephen Sandstrom are the most likely competitors.

The other Republicans in the race are Mia Love and Jay Cobb; see my December 15th post for a more detailed analysis of all candidates. KSL news video embedded below:

Matheson leads in 4th District race, poll shows | ksl.com

The Deseret News published a much more detailed story with three graphics. The individual findings:

-- Jim Matheson leads Stephen Sandstrom 50 percent to 41 percent (the remainder are Other/Don't Know)
-- Jim Matheson leads Carl Wimmer 52 percent to 41 percent
-- Jim Matheson leads Mia Love 53 percent to 36 percent
-- Jim Matheson leads Jay Cobb 54 percent to 35 percent

It is unlikely that the Republican nominee can be determined by delegates at the state Republican convention on April 21st, 2012; a primary fight between the two top vote-getters on June 26th will be necessary. The poll results explain why:

-- Carl Wimmer: 15 percent
-- Stephen Sandstrom: 15 percent
-- Mia Love: 8 percent
-- Jay Cobb: 3 percent

Nineteen percent want someone else, and 41 percent don't plan to vote in a Republican primary election. The split between Wimmer and Sandstrom is too even, and Love has too much residual strength to permit a final choice at the convention. However, there's a good chance that Sandstrom could get a sympathy bump from some unlikely sources; namely, the Federal government and a host of Latin American nations. Sandstrom wrote the HB497 immigration law, and in November, U.S. Attorney General Eric "Fast and Furious" Holder announced the Department of Justice's intent to sue to block implementation. More recently, attorneys representing Mexico and 13 other Latin American countries filed an amicus brief in U.S. District Court in conjunction with the DOJ lawsuit challenging HB497's constitutionality; they claim the law supposedly threatens Mexican nationals' human and civil rights. Both actions have attracted strong backlash from Utahns and a determination by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to vigorously defend the state.

Some voters, simply out of protest against the Feds' high-handed actions, may migrate to Sandstrom just to thumb their nose at the Federal government.

How Ron Paul Should Have Dealt With CNN Analyst Gloria Borger; Remember Jim Everett Vs. Jim Rome In 1994?

2011-12-22T11:42:00.000-09:00

By now, nearly everyone is familiar with how egregiously CNN analyst Gloria Borger disrespected Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul on December 21st, 2011. Borger obsessed with Dr. Paul about the old newsletters published under his name; she simply wouldn't let go of the subject. Mediaite summed it up well, writing "Why cover this now? And why so much? You’re not looking at a decades-old story from a different angle, you’re not revealing new information, you’re merely reheating the same embarrassing, racist meal (just…. go with it) you keep serving us every few years. This is becoming, at this point, the McRib of Embarrassing Political Stories. Why?"

If you missed it, the exchange appears first on the video embedded below, with a story provided by CNN Political Ticker. Note that Ron Paul did not "storm" off the set as some outlets hysterically reported; he had his mike removed and quietly left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zp6A-l-TwE

However, this type of ambush journalism takes place far too frequently to be casually forgiven. This is how I would liked to have seen Ron Paul deal with Gloria Borger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uczUKTwgqeY

The national media has become too arrogant and uppity. They've forgotten that a journalist's responsibility is to report the news, NOT to become the news. One person posted a comment to the Ron Paul video explaining a possible reason for Gloria Borger's animus towards Paul:

manniman82 December 22nd around 10:50 A.M:
Gloria Borger is married to Lance Morgan who is according to the web site of his employer, Powell Tate,“chief communications strategist at Powell Tate in Washington, D.C. He specializes in developing and executing communications strategies for public policy debates, crisis communications and media training”.

So who might be the clients of Powell Tate, where Borger’s husband is “chief communications strategist and crisis communications” adviser for? The MIC that Paul wants to drastically shrink..

Blue-Dog Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson Turns The Utah 4th Congressional District Race Into A Marquee Race

2011-12-15T22:55:00.001-09:00

The race to represent Utah's new 4th Congressional District has acquired its first Democratic challenger. Unfortunately for the four Republicans currently in the race, it is the strongest possible Democratic challenger in Utah. Congressman Jim Matheson, who's represented the Second District for 11 years, will be campaigning for the Fourth District seat, although he does not live within its boundaries. Members of the U.S. House only have to live within the boundaries of their state, not necessarily within the boundaries of their House district. Not only does this now become Utah's hottest political race, but it will also attract national attention. The Hill has already picked up the story nationally, and they erroneously state there are only three Republicans in the race.

Matheson's full statement was published by the Salt Lake Tribune. He had been leaning toward the 4th District for some time but only made his final decision last week. Ultimately, he said he opted not to run for governor because he thought a Congress in gridlock needed more independent members. Despite his Democratic label, Matheson is part of the Blue Dog Caucus, and has not been a sockpuppet for Nancy Pelosi. Matheson also said he believes he enters the race as a real favorite and that he doesn’t see the need to move into the new district; demographically, 25 percent of his current 2nd District constituents live in the new 4th District while geographically, 85 percent of the new district is concentrated in Salt Lake County. KSL news video embedded below:

Matheson jumps to 4th Congressional District for re-election | ksl.com

According to political analyses by both the Democratic and Republican Parties, the 4th District is the most promising for Matheson. While Republicans estimate the district is 59 percent Republican, Democrats estimate it's 62 percent Republican.

Matheson says that from the beginning, he has sought to be an independent voice who puts Utah first. Because our world faces complicated issues, he believes this is not the time for more partisanship or an all-or-nothing, narrow perspective that prevents progress. Throughout his career in public service, he has gained valuable insight and inspiration from his interactions with Utahns in every corner of the state.

Reaction: All four of his four Republican opponents sounded off:

-- Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman): On Twitter, Wimmer wrote "Is 'bail-out' Jim Matheson actually willing to carpetbag in order to maintain power? I look forward to this race." Wimmer also challenged Matheson to move to the 4th District and stop voting like a liberal. He added that America can't afford more Obamacare, failed stimulus programs, deficit spending and the likes of Nancy Pelosi as speaker. Wimmer, who represents District 52 in the state house, is considered the most conservative of the Republicans; on the 2011 Salt Lake Tribune Combined Scorecard, he graded out at 90.6, the highest and most conservative grade of any member of the legislature. Wimmer also graded out an "A+" on immigration by UFIRE, a perfect 100 percent rating from the Utah Taxpayers Association, and a 90.2 Utah Ideology score (the highest or most conservative rating).

-- Stephen Sandstrom (R-Orem): Sandstrom called Matheson's entry a game changer, saying "What it means is this race is going to get a whole lot of national attention." He also noted that he has a strategy mapped out to beat Matheson and that he is the candidate in the field who can do it. He added that the race will be a referendum on Obama’s policies, and that Jim Matheson is part of that. Sandstrom, who represents District 58 in the state house, is not quite as conservative as Wimmer; he only graded out at 58.2 on the Tribune's scorecard. Sandstrom also graded out an "A+" on immigration by UFIRE, a surprisingly low 64 percent by the Utah Taxpayers Association, and a 38.2 Utah Ideology score, which puts him in the upper third of most conservative ratings.

-- Mia Love (Mayor of Saratoga Springs): Love welcomes Matheson to the race, saying "I look forward to challenging Congressman Matheson on the issues and teaching him what’s important to the voters in the 4th District — lower taxes, less spending and smaller government. People are angry with the Washington culture and they are hungry for results — not more of the same. I am a solution to the problems that have grown out of control under Congressman Matheson's leadership." The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Love was taught to place American nationality ahead of individual racial heritage, which makes her the antithesis of people like Jesse Jackson and Jeanetta Williams. You can watch her "I am a Mormon" video HERE.

-- Jay Cobb: Cobb said Matheson's entry into the race forces prospective delegates to ask themselves an extremely important question -- which of the Republican candidates can win? Cobb further explained "I think that helps me and if people get to know me they’ll see how strong a candidate I am. Every time there are more candidates and more choices for people, it’s good for the system." Cobb is the only candidate in this race with no prior service in elective office, although he did run unsuccessfully in the special election to replace Senator Chris Buttars in 2010.

It's probably too early to answer Cobb's question. Do voters want someone who is distinctly different than Jim Matheson, or would they prefer someone who's more a Republican version of Matheson? If the former, this would put Carl Wimmer in the driver's seat. Morgan Philpot, who's just as conservative as Wimmer, came within five points of defeating Matheson in 2010, so there's a market for a hard-line conservative.

And surprise, surprise, there was also a reaction from Cherilyn Eagar, who's running for the 2nd District House seat. Eagar said "Jim Matheson is bad for the 2nd District, he's bad for the 4th and he's bad for America. His voting record is very transparent. Once Utahns, regardless of party affiliation, look under the hood, they'll come to learn that Jim Matheson isn't a solution in Washington, he's the problem."

Ron Paul Places Second In Des Moines Register Poll, But National Mainstream Media Continue To Ignore And Minimize Him

2011-12-04T11:16:00.000-09:00

In advance of the Iowa presidential caucuses to be held in January 2012, the Des Moines Register commissioned a poll to take the political pulse of 401 likely caucusers. They report Newt Gingrich with 25 percent, Ron Paul with 18 percent, and Mitt Romney with 16 percent. This doesn't necessarily mean Gingrich has Iowa bagged and tagged; 11 percent are still undecided, and 60 percent of respondents are willing to change their minds. But Gingrich is portrayed as being in the catbird seat.

The fact that Gingrich's rise almost mirrors Herman Cain's fall gives credence to the idea the Newt Gingrich is now the designated Republican "Flavor of the Quarter", as Republican insiders keep looking for a "Great Gentile Hope" to derail the so-called "big bad Mormon".

Yet if one reads the headlines of the media stories published since this poll and the exit of Herman Cain from the race, one gets the false notion that it is only a two-person race. Story after story blathers about how the Iowa race is now a two-man race between Gingrich and Paul. Even single-digit midget Rick Santorum gets more of a mention in these stories than Paul. Some examples follow:

-- "Gingrich Leads in Des Moines Register Poll, Romney Drops to Third", ABC News: No mention of Ron Paul in the headline and very little in the story despite the fact that Ron Paul finished SECOND.

-- "Video: GOP Race Focuses on Romney and Gingrich", Associated Press: Again, no mention of Ron Paul, who finished SECOND. The video description states, in part, "the once-crowded 2012 Republican presidential field appears to be narrowing to a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich". The omission of Paul has been noticed; as of this post, the video has only four Likes and 58 Dislikes.

-- "Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich focus of GOP race with Cain exit", Deseret News: Yes, it's an AP story, but the Deseret News published it, so they share in the blame.

-- "Romney, Gingrich proceed carefully in GOP showdown", KSL Channel 5: Yes, this is also an AP story, but KSL published it, so they share in the blame.

-- "Gibbs Pits Romney Against Gingrich", Time: Again, no mention of Ron Paul.

-- "Romney slides to third place in Iowa poll", Boston Globe: Again, no mention of Ron Paul.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, and can best be attributable to a national media bias against Ron Paul. A Deseret News article entitled "Evidence of a Ron Paul media bias", published on November 29th, highlights additional examples of this bias. One cited example of this bias comes from a New York Times article in October 2011 that discussed campaign finances. The story stated that three candidates had opened a wide lead against the others in campaign donations: Herman Cain ($2.8 million), Mitt Romney ($14 million) and Rick Perry ($17 million). At the other end of the spectrum were Rick Santorum ($700,000), Jon Huntsman Jr. and others. Meanwhile, Ron Paul lies "in between the two groups" by raising over $8 million. Yep, you read that right. Paul is relegated to honorable mention in the sixth paragraph because he raised $8 million, but Cain leads off as a frontrunner in paragraph two with $2.8 million.

Back in August 2011, one journalist, Roger Simon, owned up to media bias against Ron Paul. In the wake of an Ames, Iowa straw poll, Simon wrote "I admit I do not fully understand Ron Paul and his beliefs. But I do understand when a guy gets shafted, and Ron Paul just got shafted". Even though Paul lost to Michelle Bachmann by only nine-tenths of one percentage point, or 152 votes out of 16,892 cast, the media immediately proclaimed a top tier of Bachmann, Perry, and Romney; no mention of Paul. Simon interviewed Ron Paul for his article, and Paul shed some light on the phenomena, saying “They [the media] believe this guy is dangerous to the status quo, but that is a reason to be more energized. I am a bit more challenging, but I am not on the wrong track. I don’t think that my ideas are more exotic. They are threatening.”.

Three specific reasons why the national media ignores and minimizes Ron Paul is because he wants to shrink government to a more representative size, ratchet down American military involvement outside the United States, and adjust the U.S.-Israeli relationship to become a relationship of equals. Ron Paul wants to reduce aid to Israel not because of anti-Semitism, but because he opposes the concept of continuing foreign aid, embracing the mantra "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute". And to keep the Arabs sweet, the U.S. has matched military aid to Israel with military aid to its Arab neighbors. It all adds up; the AidToIsrael website provides information on current and projected future costs.

Fortunately, the Internet provides us a way to counter the media's virtual embargo on Ron Paul. Paul's increase in various polls shows the word is getting out. But the mainstream media will have a lot to answer for someday.

Is Newt Gingrich The Real Deal Or A False-Flag Operative Using Dissatisfaction With Government To Gratify His Lust For Power?

2011-12-03T19:34:00.000-09:00

Although Herman Cain was basically driven from the 2012 presidential race because of several bimbo eruptions, another candidate who's had his own bimbo eruptions in the past is now being touted as the Republican "Flavor of the Quarter". Contract With America retread Newt Gingrich is now being portrayed as the new Republican savior as the party brain trust continues it's campaign to find an alternate to Mitt Romney.

But Gingrich isn't selling well with Middle America. In fact, many Middle Americans absolutely loathe this man. On some discussion boards, some people have pledged to vote for Obama out of spite to punish the Republican Party should Gingrich get the nomination. Gingrich alienates people with his cutthroat, cold-blooded outlook towards life; his solution to unemployment is to tell people to "take a shower and get a job", as he imperiously barked to one OWS protester. Then there was Gingrich's truly grotesque suggestion that children be hired to work as janitors in schools; while the idea itself is not bad, his suggested application clashes with child labor laws originally passed not only to protect children against exploitation, but to protect adult workers against having their jobs devalued by child labor. Worse yet, Gingrich stands by those remarks; at least Rick Perry, for all his faults, will back down when he finds out that an idea simply won't sell.

John McManus of the John Birch Society recently produced a 33-minute video in which he questions whether or not Newt Gingrich is the real deal. Based on how easily Gingrich caved in on the government shutdown when he was in Congress, McManus believes Gingrich is merely using dissatisfaction with government as a springboard to gratify his presidential ambitions. He finds it strange that after more than a decade, Gingrich has suddenly crawled out of the woodwork to seek the presidency:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWPz1Qdq1uI

It is my conclusion that Newt Gingrich is a false-flag operative who will do and say anything to get elected president. The only real candidates in the Republican Presidential race who offer a genuine all-inclusive platform are Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. All the others are either window-dressing or angling for cabinet posts in a future Republican administration. Unfortunately, the public's slow to get the message; a new Des Moines Register poll shows Gingrich leading with 25 percent, Ron Paul with 18 percent, and Mitt Romney with 16 percent.

Morgan Philpot To Mount Intraparty Challenge To Utah Republican Governor Gary Herbert, Pledges To Stand Up To The Feds

2011-12-01T21:28:00.000-09:00

On October 18th, 2010, Republican candidate Morgan Philpot was 26 points down in his race against Utah 2nd District Congressman Jim Matheson. Launching a Tim Tebow-type fourth quarter drive, he finished just five points in arrears of Matheson on election day in November 2nd.

So he's back again, this time challenging incumbent Governor Gary Herbert for the Republican nomination. Although Morgan Philpot respects Herbert and considers him a friend, he says they have different views on what the condition of America and Utah is and what needs to happen during the next four years. Earlier, Philpot accused the governor of pressuring lawmakers to ensure the state's new congressional boundaries would deter Jim Matheson from getting into the governor's race. Philpot also believes if Jim Matheson runs for governor, he is the Republican best equipped to defeat him. Previous polls indicate a Matheson-Herbert race could be a nailbiter.

At his press conference on December 1st, Philpot was feeling combative -- primarily towards the federal government. He pledged to oppose Obamacare, and said Utah needs a leader willing stand up to the federal government, even if that means pushing the bounds of what's legal. "Am I going to go to jail if I do? I mean, if that's what it's going to take, does the federal government need to come down and throw some handcuffs on the governor of Utah," he said to the applause of supporters gathered at the Capitol. KSL news video embedded below:

Gov. should stand up to Feds, Philpot says | ksl.com

But Philpot's not the only Republican challenger; also in the race is Utah State Rep. Ken Sumsion (R-American Fork). Sumsion, a co-founder of the Patrick Henry Caucus, says his number one priority as Governor will be to fund education by gaining access to the trillions of dollars worth of oil and minerals buried beneath Utah's public lands. He also wants to simplify education funding to provide greater local control, and create a more business-friendly environment by reducing the burden of over-regulation on small businesses. He anticipates that will encourage entrepreneurs to create more jobs. Sumsion also attended Philpot's press conference, but took a more restrained approach, saying that any action Utah takes to defy the federal government must be done through the courts with the support of other states. "If Utah is the only one that does it, we're going to get squished like a bug," Sumsion said.

Sumsion welcomed Philpot's candidacy, saying "I think we'll be friends even at the end of this process...We each bring some different talents to it and some different issues as well." Likewise, Philpot paid tribute to Sumsion, saying "He's a really good man, a good legislator. He'll be a good candidate for governor". And as for Gary Herbert, his campaign spokesman, Ben Horsley, said "Gov. Herbert is both pleased and proud of what has been accomplished in Utah under his leadership, and is confident that the voters of Utah will continue to support his diligent efforts to lead Utah through these uniquely challenging and turbulent times." Boilerplate.

This is a tough decision for a Republican. All three of these men bring noticeable strengths to the table. I suppose it'll boil down to whether or not one has any major dissatisfaction with Gary Herbert. Herbert has done nothing to piss me off. He seems to be a captain who can steer the ship of state straight and true. And the word is that he's a regular guy who doesn't put on any airs. The state of Utah has weathered the recession better than most other states during his stewardship.

Utah Professor Grant Smith Pleads Not Guilty To Viewing Child Porn Aboard Delta Flight From Salt Lake City To Boston

2011-11-28T10:22:00.001-09:00

The popular stereotype of the dirty old man looking at dirty pictures just went out the window in this case. A 47-year-old University of Utah professor, Grant Smith, who is a father of two with no prior criminal record (although the Washington Post reveals that Smith is recently divorced), was arrested at Boston's Logan Airport for allegedly viewing child porn on his computer aboard a Delta flight from Salt Lake City. He has pleaded not guilty at his initial hearing, and continues to be held on $75,000 bail (increased from $15,000); if and when he bonds out, he will have to stay away from anyone under the age of 16, stay off the Internet, and to surrender his passport. His next court hearing is scheduled in Boston on December 27th.

Reporting from the Utah end is KSL Channel 5, the Salt Lake Tribune, and the University of Utah's Daily Utah Chronicle; from the Boston end, WHDH Channel 7 and Boston.com. The Daily Mail has picked up the story internationally. WHDH news video embedded below:

Summary: Grant Smith, a resident of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, was aboard a Delta flight from Salt Lake to Boston, in the first class section, on Saturday November 26th to attend a conference for the Material Research Society. Another passenger sitting behind Smith noticed he was viewing images aboard his computer. A closer look revealed images since reported to be mostly of girls between eight and 10 years old, naked or nearly naked, engaging in simulated sex acts. Some of the pictures were of children as young as six. The passenger then sent a text message to his son with the photo, asking him to contact Massachusetts police, then summoned a flight attendant who then confronted Smith and told him to shut off his laptop. Smith shut off his laptop after attempting to delete the images. Upon arrival in Boston, Smith was met by police who first asked him if they could examine his laptop. When Smith consented, police allegedly discovered the disturbing images of child pornography. Prosecutors also claim that Smith admitted to police that he has traded pictures of teens over the Internet.

Because Grant Smith is a professor at the University of Utah and his laptop was purchased for him through a university grant, the university issued a statement in
which they said that while Professor Smith deserves a full and fair investigation into this issue, the university has no tolerance for the viewing or possessing of child pornography by any of its employees, regardless of where it occurs, and will promptly dismiss him if the allegations prove true. They've placed him on administrative leave for now. According to his faculty profile, Smith is a full professor of Material Science And Engineering and an adjunct professor of Chemical Engineering; he holds two bachelor’s degrees and a doctorate, and has worked at the university for 14 years. According to one Tribune commenter, he earns $170,000 per year. In light of the fact that he has no prior criminal record, one must wonder if Smith's recent divorce triggered the urge to explore child porn.

Financial Industry And Education Advocates Now Complaining That College Students Aren't Taking Out Enough Loans And Assuming Enough Debt

2011-11-28T00:27:00.000-09:00

Apparently college students are getting the message that student debt is not a good thing. Private borrowing, considered more hazardous to students, has dropped from about $24 billion in 2007-2008 to about $8 billion last year. To minimize borrowing, students are working longer hours at jobs and taking fewer credits. They're less likely to enroll full-time. They're living at home to avoid dormitory costs. They're choosing less selective institutions with lower prices, and heading first to less expensive community colleges.

And these trends are making the financial industry nervous. So they're acting in partnership with education advocates to shame and intimidate college students into taking on more debt. One of the advocates fronting for the financial industry is Deborah Santiago, co-founder and vice president for policy research at the Hispanic group Excelencia in Education, who said "There's been such attention on student debt being unmanageable that current students have internalized that...If you can take out a little bit of loan you're more likely to complete. If you can go to a more selective institution that gives you more resources and support, you're more likely to complete".

Naturally they trot out a gaggle of statistics designed to intellectually bully students into taking out more loans. Here are some findings cited in the Yahoo News story:

-- 86 percent of students who borrow for college are able to attend full-time, compared to 70 percent of students who don't borrow.

-- 60 percent of full-time students receive a bachelor's degree within eight years, compared to 25 percent of part-time students.

-- 26 percent of students who enroll in a community college hoping eventually to earn a four-year bachelor's degree succeed within nine years. That compares to 50 percent starting at non-selective four-year colleges and 73 percent at selective schools.

But does it really matter whether one takes four years, eight years, or even 12 years to obtain a bachelor's degree? And does it really matter whether one attends a selective or "name brand" school vs. a "commuter" school? Much is said about the value of a degree from Yale or Harvard, but the fact that George W. Bush was able to get a degree from Yale and Barack Obama a degree from Harvard doesn't seem like a powerful endorsement of either school. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can obtain just as good of an education from Brigham Young University -- and the LDS Church partially subsidizes it. Other Christians undoubtedly could obtain just as good of an education from Liberty University.

And why would anyone want to take on student debt without the realistic expectation of a good job after graduation? One of the primary motivators behind the Occupy Wall Street protests is the lack of jobs for college graduates. Further, in the more technical fields, many jobs end up going to H-2B immigrants from other countries as employers pay them less wages; the jobs are often not prominently advertised to Americans. Meanwhile, all that the self-righteous blowhard Newt Gingrich tells the OWS protesters is to take a bath and get a job, but Gingrich already has his financial calling and election assured.

I recall the words of LDS Church President David O. McKay ringing in my ears when I first joined the Church in 1963 -- "Get out of debt and stay out of debt". Those words must have penetrated my soul, for I've lived by them, and have avoided the financial problems which bedevil so many people. Obviously, some debt for big-ticket necessities such as a home and a vehicle will be necessary, and emergencies may require additional borrowing. But unnecessary debt is to be avoided.

Reaction to the KSL Channel 5 version of the story shows that the financial industry and their allies in the education lobby have been unpersuasive, if not an epic fail. In fact, one commenter thinks the KSL story was actually ghost-written by the financial industry. Here's a small sampling:

Easton J. posted November 27th around 6:00 P.M:
This article is a solution looking for a problem. The student described isn't doing any of the things that the article says is a problem. He's not taking less classes or moving back home. He's not taking extra time to get through college. He's taking a very heavy load and scrimping and saving every penny. How is this a bad thing?

A lot of the "problems" listed aren't problems at all. What's wrong with going to community college for 2 years and then finishing at the university? That makes great financial sense. Is it bad that students are choosing less prestigious schools based on cost? No. This makes sense too.

This was a very poorly written article. The example given is contrary to everything the article is trying to convey. I wonder if this article was ghost written by the financial aid industry.

gadvice posted November 27th around 6:00 P.M:
I find this article incredibly biased. It basically mocks the idea of being frugal with ones college education. It sounds like the institutions of higher education have a financial incentive to get students to pay or borrow as much as possible. Considering they have the least amount of risk involved they would be wise to encourage students to borrow as much as possible.

"Students who take extreme steps to avoid debt at all costs, they say, may get stuck with something much more financially damaging than moderate student loan debt. They may not wind up with a college degree."

I disagree with this. What would be more damaging is to take out significant debt and not graduate with a degree. This happens all the time. If you have no debt and no degree then you are no better or worse off.

"If you can go to a more selective institution that gives you more resources and support, you're more likely to complete."

More selective (expensive in this case) has no correlation in regards to resources or support. In fact you might have more of both if you started out at a community college or two-year junior college.

"Student debt aversion" is what we need more of in this country.

George_Kaplan posted November 27th around 6:00 P.M:
The problem isn't too little debt, its the fact that the cost of education has gone up at more than double the rate of inflation. Schools, realizing that degrees were necessary, started to ratchet up the price of education and banks happily lent money to desprate students. The student is nothing more than amedium to get money from banks to schools, and as a result the student accepts the debt and there is no accountability for the school to graduate employable graduates. The junk that I've seen get passing grades is deplorable.

Student debt isn't the problem, the financial-scholastic relationship is.

Brent B. posted November 28th around 6:00 P.M:
Student Loans are the worst type of loan. Ever since they amended the BK act in 2005...it has seriously messed up the economoy. I would recommend that you get as much education that you can afford. Avoid debt like a plague.

All the time and effort one can put into getting a loan they should put that same effort into other solutions.

Right now, you can graduate and still not get a job regardless of degree. You have to compete. No easy handouts. With the job sector and people behaviors changing...be pre-pared to accept other type of work. In state and out of state.

There is a job market. And there is jobs. It will require and much stronger attitude and good networking skills in order to get the job. Patience is a virtue. You will need it. And if you get a job quick, Just count your blessings that you exceeded the averages.

If you do get debt, stay away from private education loans. They worse then federal. Stay away from federal student loans. Best to get a low interest credit card rate like 0% and play the balance transfer game. Keep you balances less then 33% of the credit line. Have several open and ready in advance. Lenders like to get paid off and they hate borrowers maxing lines. Its all about percieve risk.

In the end, just get it paid off. You will find life more enjoyable since most people get fixated on that problem and worry of debt.

School is often over-rated. So go to school with purpose. Other wise you will feel ripped off.

White Civil Rights Activist Dr. David Duke Speaks Out Personally About His Arrest And Expulsion From Germany, Resolves To Contest It In Court

2011-11-27T20:34:00.001-09:00

Since the mainstream media chose not to publicize this, readers may not know that one of America's leading White civil rights activists, Dr. David Duke, was arrested in Köln, Germany on November 25th, 2011 and declared persona non grata. After spending one night in jail, Dr. Duke was released and ordered to leave the country within 24 hours; he has complied. Continuous updates are being posted on Stormfront and White News Now

Dr. Duke arrived in Frankfurt on Thursday November 24th and was processed through security without incident, despite the fact that he has a reputation for being a "racist" and a "Holocaust denier" and Germany doesn't normally allow such people to enter its country. He had accepted an invitation to address a group of German nationalists called Outside The Network in Köln on the day after Thanksgiving. But as Dr. Duke prepared to enter the meeting hall where he was to speak, he was arrested and taken away by police, even though he committed no crime. Imagine if this had happened to either Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton -- Barack Obama would be on the phone to Chancellor Angela Merkel straightaway.

There is speculation that the German authorities may have allowed Dr. Duke to enter the country so they could stage an arrest and deport him in order to show their people that they are cracking down on so-called "evil" Nazis. The German government has been embarrassed by recent revelations of neo-Nazi murders in Germany, and may have viewed the David Duke visit as an opportunity to take the heat off by using him as a diversionary tool. There's been no confirmation of this speculation, however. What the German government does with its own citizens is their business, but when they use visiting Americans as pawns in their political struggles, it becomes our business. Look what happened to three Americans recently caught up in Egypt's political struggles -- while they were eventually released, they were mistreated while in Egyptian captivity.

Now that he's safely out of German hands, Dr. Duke has personally spoken out about his experience. While Dr. Duke was not physically mistreated by the Germans as the Americans were in Egypt, he feels his arrest and deportation were unjust and wants to contest it in court. His account begins after the jump; he gives permission for widest possible dissemination:

My Dear Friends,

I am free now, but a desperate fight is ahead of me for my rights and the rights of the people of Europe to hear me. They truly do want to hear me and they need to hear me and my message. Today videos of talks and appearances are reaching tens of millions of people.

I think by now that you know my spirit, that I simply cannot back down from aiding our brothers and sisters efforts for their heritage in our ancient homelands of Europe any more than I could cease the fight for America. This a global effort to destroy our people, and it requires a global effort on our part to win it. We in America and Canada, Australia, across Europe and even across Russia must help awaken each other and aid each other.

I won't go into to many details of my arrest at this moment as a court case is yet to be fought, but I was imprisoned by a gross twisting of laws in a blatant attempt by the government to prevent a private and peaceful gathering of about a 100 German citizens eager to hear my message of heritage and freedom. My arrest and imprisonment was means to silence my message and demoralize the people who came to hear it.

For hours before my scheduled presentation at a private event, Police under orders from the politicians stopped all of our cars, including a couple over 90 years old who had driven over 75 kilometers to hear me. They demanded ID from all, delaying them for a long time on the street, and they told the people specifically that the meeting was cancelled. Of course, that was huge lie. The meeting was not cancelled, The owner of the hall honored the contract with the group, and in fact the meeting went on without me, thanks to the brave people who withstood all the intimidation, and who still persevered and make their way to the hall.

As much as I would like to, I can't just go back to Louisiana right now as I have to fight this improper action against me and our brothers and sisters. I just can't turn my back and run away, no matter how comfortable it may be for me to do so. My duty is to stand up for my rights and that of the European people. The truth is that I and all who stand up for the heritage and freedom of the European and American people truly stand up for the most basic of human rights. The right of every people to be free, to freely speak and assemble, the right to be independent and not live under a globalist tyranny, and the right to preserve their identity and unique expressions of humanity. This is a right of Europeans and a right possessed by all people on Earth, but it is only Europeans who are condemned for even speaking in defense of these precious human rights.

To fight this case will cost a lot of money, time and effort. The legal system is just as money-driven as it is in the U.S. and I must support myself far from my home during this period, never knowing from one minute to the next when shall come the proverbial knock upon the door. For years I have had to put up with the thought of those knocks in the night. But I have not bent, not run away, not bit my tongue in servile cowardice while our people are being driven to an end of their existence.

While most of you will be getting ready for the warmth and love and friendship and family of Christmas, I will be far from home fighting the good fight. I miss you all, and no matter how lonely it seems sometimes in this fight, it is you, each of you reading this, that gives me hope and peace. Please remember me and this sacred struggle for our people at this beautiful time of year that is such an expression of our exquisite culture and values.

But, my dear friends, I believe you will come through with great generosity, even sacrifice at this time, even with all your personal needs during the Christmas season.

Thanks so much for your dedication to this cause and your support and encouragement to me personally.

I means so much to me and my work!

Perhaps you could copy this letter and post it on this and other threads so my message is heard by all those who have the inclination to help me in this pressing matter at this difficult time for me.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Duke

P.S. If you would use this link and send something right away because you are so much needed at this time.

I will not be able to post much in the coming few days, so please copy this letter and see that it is widely circulated...Thanks.

Is There Really That Much Difference Between Utah Senator-For-Life Orrin Hatch And Maine Senator Olympia Snowe?

2011-11-24T22:45:00.001-09:00

One of the strongest selling points for the re-election of 77-year-old six-term Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch is that if the Republicans regain control of the Senate, Hatch will become the Finance Committee Chair. If he's not re-elected, then Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe would become the committee chair, and she's portrayed by the Hatch camp as more of a tax-and-spend lawmaker.

But just how much difference really exists between Hatch and Snowe? Back in September 2011, a website called Dethrone Orrin Hatch performed a comparative analysis of the key votes by both lawmakers, and reported the following findings:

-- Using Opencongress.org’s comparison tool, Dethrone found that since January 2007, Hatch and Snowe have voted the same 72 percent of the time.

-- Upon reviewing the votes compiled at HatchRecord.com to see how they both voted since Snowe first took office in 1995, Dethrone found that for 47 key votes analyzed, the two Senators voted the same 43 times, or 91.4 percent of the time.

HatchRecord.com contains a wealth of additional information on Senator Hatch's voting record. They've tracked and documented numerous key votes by Hatch from 1979-2009, providing links to the specific legislation. While I might agree withe some of the votes, a few of his more outrageous votes include supporting TARP in 2007, voting to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008, and voting to allow taxpayer dollars to be used to bail out auto manufacturers in 2009. I call that "corporate welfare". Hatch also proposed the controversial DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for the children of illegal aliens. Numbers USA gives Hatch a letter grade of only C+ on immigration, the worst grade of anyone in Utah's Congressional delegation.

And let's not forget that Orrin Hatch is also the author of the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which opened the door for copyright trolls like the RIAA and Righthaven to file no-warning lawsuits against people who use other's content without permission, even if they stay within the bounds of fair use. The abuses of Righthaven are amply documented at Righthaven Victims and in a series of stories published by Steve Green in the Las Vegas Sun; they are too numerous to be discussed here.

In fairness to Senator Hatch, he has taken a number of conservative positions. The American Conservative Union rated him a perfect 100 for 2010 and an 89.47 for his career. Early in his career, Senator Hatch wanted to roll back provisions of the Fair Housing Act to increase the burden of proof upon those who make complaints. He's fought to stop the appointment of excessively liberal judicial candidates and supported the appointment of trusted constructionists. He voted against Obamacare, and has sponsored a Balanced Budget Amendment 17 times.

However, the same senator who sponsored a Balanced Budget Amendment 17 times has also voted to increase the debt ceiling 16 times, by an aggregate total of $7.6 trillion. I get it -- if you can't actually reduce the budget, then you redefine the term "balanced budget". If the goal posts are too deep in the end zone, move the goal posts closer. Unfortunately, that's how we got into our financial predicament -- instead of proposing and implementing solutions, we redefined parameters. Now we have a $15 trillion national debt, at least 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, a de facto unemployment rate of 18 percent (the official rate of 9 percent only counts those actively seeking work), and a glut of foreclosures in many cities, most notably Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Hatch has already attracted one challenger; Democrat Pete Ashdown, who got 31 percent of the vote against him in 2006 despite being grossly outspent. Republican State Senator Dan Liljenquist (R-Bountiful) is also contemplating an intraparty challenge, but the 2011 Legislator of the Year won't make a final call until early in 2012. Holly Richardson seems to be quite sold on Liljenquist. Rep. Chris Herrod, an immigration reform firebrand who boldly called out Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank for refusing to enforce the law on illegal immigrants, is also considering a run against Hatch.

Complaint By Lawyer Shuts Down Orem Firefighters' Fill The Boot Campaign For Comatose Firefighter Mike Stentzle

2011-11-24T12:07:00.000-09:00

An out-of-season Fill The Boot campaign by firefighters in Orem, Utah to raise money for one of their fellow firefighters, Mike Stentzle, has been stopped as a result of a complaint filed by an unnamed lawyer. While KSL has a current story and previously reported on this issue back on November 14th, 2011, much more information has been gleaned from the Limited Playmakers website.

The story actually began on November 2nd, when Stentzle, a veteran of five years service with the Orem Fire Department and 15 years total service in the profession, suffered an intracranial hemorrhagic stroke during a required semi-annual firefighter fitness test. Although his fellow firefighters immediately rendered first aid and rushed him to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where he underwent 2-1/2 hours of surgery, Stentzle remains in a coma and is currently in the ICU receiving continuous care. Complicating the issue is the fact that Stentzle's wife is currently seven months pregnant with their first child.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that the Workers Compensation Fund of Utah reportedly doesn't want to pay Stentzle's medical bills even though the incident happened on the job and is specifically job-related. They claim the stroke was a pre-existing condition. So even though Stentzels' insurance will cover a small portion of the bill, additional medical expenses are likely to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Consequently, the firefighters decided to launch an out-of-season Fill The Boot campaign to raise money for the Stentzel family. They normally hold a Fill The Boot campaign for muscular dystrophy each August when they will stand on street corners and invite the public to deposit contributions into firefighters' boots.

But according to Limited Playmakers, some unidentified lawyer apparently got upset over being solicited on a street corner. The lawyer threatened to sue the City of Orem, the City Manager, and the Fire Chief under the pretext that the firefighters were violating Orem’s panhandling laws by collecting money in this manner. So the city politicos caved in and stopped the campaign. Limited Playmakers knows the identity of the lawyer and will publish it if the lawyer persists in trying to shut this campaign down.

Those who want to contribute to the fund for Mike Stentzle can visit the dedicated website and donate online, or else visit any branch of Zion's Bank.

Public Reaction: A few people object to the Fill The Boot campaign because they claim the firefighters are creating a traffic hazard. This concern is unfounded; firefighters are constantly indoctrinated in safety. A couple of others commend Orem for applying the ordinance equally to all panhandlers, which puts firefighters who risk their lives and contribute to the community on the same level as a homeless panhandler who contributes nothing to the community. This attitude elevates and enshrines the lowest common denominator as the norm.

Fortunately, the vast majority of commenters to KSL are supportive of the firefighters.

Newt Gingrich Touts Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants During November 22nd CNN Presidential National Security Debate

2011-11-23T10:18:00.000-09:00

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is under fire for promoting amnesty for illegal immigrants during a CNN-hosted debate on national security on November 22nd, 2011, and immediately speculation began as to whether or not this will cause the Gingrich campaign to contract in the same fashion as Rick Perry's campaign. The video embedded below shows Gingrich's segment:

Fortunately, we have a written transcript from CNN, so we can read exactly what Gingrich said about the issue (scroll down about 3/4th of the way to find it on the transcript), as well as the follow-up exchange with Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Rick Perry:

BLITZER: Speaker Gingrich, let me let you broaden out this conversation. Back in the '80s -- and you remember this well. I was covering you then. Ronald Reagan and you -- you voted for legislation that had a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, as you well remember. There were, what, maybe 12 million, 10 million -- 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States right now.

Some called it amnesty then; they still call it amnesty now. What would you do if you were President of the United States, with these millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom have been in this country for a long time?

GINGRICH: Let me start and just say I think that we ought to have an H-1 visa that goes with every graduate degree in math, science and engineering so that people stay here.

(APPLAUSE)

GINGRICH: You know, about five blocks down the street, you'll see a statue of Einstein. Einstein came here as an immigrant. So let's be clear how much the United States has drawn upon the world to be richer, better and more inclusive.

I did vote for the Simpson-Mazzoli Act. Ronald Reagan, in his diary, says he signed it -- and we were supposed to have 300,000 people get amnesty. There were 3 million. But he signed it because we were going to get two things in return. We were going to get control of the border and we were going to get a guest worker program with employer enforcement.

We got neither. So I think you've got to deal with this as a comprehensive approach that starts with controlling the border, as the governor said. I believe ultimately you have to find some system -- once you've put every piece in place, which includes the guest worker program, you need something like a World War II Selective Service Board that, frankly, reviews the people who are here.

If you're here -- if you've come here recently, you have no ties to this country, you ought to go home, period. If you've been here 25 years and you got three kids and two grandkids, you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out.

The Creeble Foundation is a very good red card program that says you get to be legal, but you don't get a pass to citizenship. And so there's a way to ultimately end up with a country where there's no more illegality, but you haven't automatically given amnesty to anyone.

Gingrich's immigration proposals are spelled out HERE, and to his credit, he at least supports making English the official language of the United States.

But the CNN transcript also shows that Michelle Bachmann immediately disagreed with Gingrich, characterizing the DREAM Act as offering amnesty to at least 11 million illegals and further condemning it for offering illegals taxpayer-subsidized benefits. Bachmann subsequently issued a detailed press release chronicling Gingrich's previous expressions of support for amnesty. Mitt Romney also disagreed with Gingrich, characterizing amnesty as a magnet. Romney explained that allowing amnesty for long-term illegals will merely encourage more people to come here illegally.

Although Gingrich has since fired back, claiming that Romney supported amnesty for illegals in 2007, ALIPAC, which has established itself as the most vocal of the immigration reform lobbies, immediately flagged Gingrich's comments and predicted that the Gingrich campaign will implode in the same fashion as the Perry campaign did immediately following Perry's expressed support for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants during a previous debate. CBS is not so pessimistic; while they agree that Gingrich's campaign could suffer, they believe it will take at least a week for the effects to become manifest. Furthermore, they believe that there are no other alternatives to Mitt Romney, once again minimizing or ignoring Ron Paul as so much of the big media have done.

Republican presidential candidates who promote amnesty for illegal immigrants will have a tough row to hoe, particularly in Utah, where the two leading Republican candidates for Utah's new Fourth Congressional District, Carl Wimmer and Stephen Sandstrom, are both outspoken opponents of amnesty.

U.S. Department Of Justice Sues Utah To Block Implementation Of HB 497 Immigration Enforcement Law; May Be Intended To Boost The Hispanic Vote For Obama

2011-11-22T17:30:00.001-09:00

On November 22nd, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to block implementation of HB497, the tough immigration enforcement law modeled somewhat after Arizona's SB1070. Arizona, Alabama, and South Carolina have also been targeted by the DOJ in similar suits, and they're contemplating suits against Indiana and Georgia as well.

Specifically, the lawsuit challenges three sections of HB497 that require law enforcement to verify the legal status of those arrested for class A misdemeanors or felonies, allow the warrantless arrest of those suspected of being in the country illegally, and make it a crime to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants. KSL news video embedded below:

Feds sue Utah over immigration enforcement law | ksl.com

Read the 31-page DOJ complaint HERE.

Reaction:

-- Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said that Utah had made enough changes in HB497 to satisfy DOJ's concern about replicating the awkward portion of Arizona's law. He believes he can successfully defend it and have it held constitutional. Through his spokeswoman, Gov. Gary Herbert also expressed confidence that it will withstand scrutiny.

-- Utah State Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (R-Orem), who sponsored HB497, is disappointed that the DOJ proceeded with the lawsuit after their attorneys indicated during face-to-face meetings that they believed Utah’s law was more prudent than measures passed by other states. But Sandstrom indicated he's also open to the possibility of more changes to satisfy the Feds.

-- Ron Mortensen, co-founder of the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, said "It doesn't look like the Utah Compact and HB116 bought off the Obama administration", while on the other side, Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, lauded the DOJ's decision to intervene, noting that the DOJ is sending a message to all the states that immigration is a federal issue and therefore unconstitutional.

Ironically, the DOJ is not suing Utah over HB116, although some maintain it constitutes a de facto foreign alliance between Utah and the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. Furthermore, there's no evidence that the DOJ is preparing to sue Vermont for having declared itself a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, meaning Vermont would actually obstruct the immigration enforcement capability of the Feds in that state.

Occidental Dissent speculates that the real reason for this suit is to boost the Hispanic turnout for Barack Obama in 2012, since Obama has more or less kissed off the White vote:

The Obama administration needs to boost Hispanic turnout in 2012 to win Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. Thus, in order for Obama to win reelection by impressing Hispanic voters who are disappointed by his failure to secure “comprehensive immigration reform” with his Democratic majority in Congress, it was necessary for Eric “My People” Holder to sue Red States like Arizona, Utah, Alabama, and South Carolina.

By the way, Alabama's tough immigration law's already had one tangible beneficial effect: The unemployment rate in Marshall County, which was a known hotbed for illegal immigrant labor, was 8.1 percent for October, down from 8.8 percent in September and 10 percent in June, when the immigration law was signed. Poultry plants in the county have rapidly replaced illegal workers with legal ones to do the jobs that we are endlessly told Americans just won’t do.

LDS Stake In Draper, Utah Wanted No Cross-Gender Costumes At Halloween Trunk-Or-Treat

2011-10-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

While some of the more progressive elements of the Latter-day Saint community have been gurgling and rhapsodizing over more assertive behavior by gays in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in particular getting giddy over the calling of Mitch Mayne to the executive secretary position in the Bay Ward in San Francisco, many mainstream active Mormons remain more faithful to tradition. The flyer below was posted on the doors of an LDS stake center at 10600 South 275 East in Draper, Utah prior to an October 25th Trunk-or-Treat event:

This obviously came from the local stake presidency and not from LDS Church headquarters. But it's good that local officials are starting to take a stand against the political correctness that's creeping into the Church.

The fact is, the gays and trannies will never shut up, no matter what we do for them. They engage in classical Soviet-style negotiating tactics; namely, what's theirs is theirs, and what's ours is negotiable. Now a Girl Scout troop has been pressured into accepting a "transgender boy" who still has a penis. No more -- it's time to erect a brick wall and make no other concessions to these people. We owe them humane and fair treatment, as well as protection against abuse -- but we don't owe them inclusion. As the Christian pastor John Hagee once said, tolerance of sin is treason against God.

Openly-Gay Dane Hall Seriously Injured In Apparent Homophobic Attack By Four "Straight-Edge" Thugs In Downtown Salt Lake City

2011-09-02T02:22:00.000-08:00

A vicious and apparently unprovoked assault upon a gay man in downtown Salt Lake City has outraged the local community. First out of the box with this story was QSaltLake; mainstream media outlets like the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune, and KSL Channel 5 have now picked it up. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Summary: Twenty-year-old Dane Hall, an openly-gay man, was partying at the Club Sound on 579 W. 200 South in downtown Salt Lake on Friday August 26th, 2011. Friday night is the club's "gay-themed night"; the club, which already has heavy security including many video cameras and security guards both inside and outside the building, becomes even tighter. Hall said he left Club Sound late on Friday and crossed the street to the corner of 600 West and 200 South when four men approached him and began yelling gay slurs. He attempted to ignore them and walk away, but he was punched in the back of the head and knocked to the ground, after which one of the assailants grabbed his shirt and started punching him in the face. After Hall fell to the ground again, the attacker grabbed him and "curb-checked" him. Curb-checking, popularized in the movie American History X, means placing the man's open mouth over the street curb and stomping on the back his head. In the case of Dane Hall, it resulted in six teeth being knocked out, a shattered cheekbone, a jaw broken in three places, and a piece of his jawbone jammed into his brain. Two other assailants then kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. The attackers called him a "fag", took his identification and $40, and departed; they were described by Hall as being light-skinned and wearing red. The attack lasted less than a minute.

Hall managed to get up after the attack, and walked toward a police officer and a medical crew about a half-block away. Police were busy working another issue and couldn't take a report from him. Hall persuaded the medics not to call an ambulance because he thought he couldn't afford a doctor; instead, two of his friends drove him to LDS Hospital, where he was given a shot and woke up the next morning at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. At that time, he filed a police report.

Aftermath: Dane Hall is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. He estimates that medical expenses could top $40,000, which he'll have to pay unless the attackers are found because he has no insurance. Accounts in his name have already been set up at Zion's Bank and Wells Fargo; all one has to do is to visit any branch and tell an employee you want to contribute to the Dane Hall Fund. Anyone with information about the assailants or any possible leads is asked to call the Salt Lake Police Department at 801-799-3000.

The same four assailants may have been involved in a second homophobic attack in the same area just before they encountered Dane Hall. Club Sound owner Tom Taylor said when he left his club that night, he encountered a man who lived in a nearby apartment, and who was bloody and asking for help. The unidentified man was reportedly asleep on the couch in his apartment when a group of "straight-edgers" broke in and attacked him. As Taylor drove up to the man, he saw a group of four other men run away; just 10 minutes later, Hall was attacked in the same area.

The mainstream media has been criticized for being a bit slow to pick up the story, and police have also been criticized for being particularly close-mouthed about their specific intentions, such as whether or not they will push for hate crime charges. Unfortunately, apprehension of the suspects is necessary before police can be more forthcoming. Unlike the vast majority of states, Utah does not have a law protecting people who share a group characteristic; instead, Utah’s laws focus on the intent of the perpetrator rather than the status of the victim. This is a better approach which generates more sympathy for the victim and encourages prosecutors to press for the maximum degree of charges. A case could easily be made for first-degree aggravated assault, and, in the case of the individual doing the "curb-checking", attempted murder.

Public comments to the various media sources indicate UNIVERSAL and justifiable outrage over this crime. Even the most fervent social conservatives find this crime repulsive. If found guilty, the perpetrators need to be punished to the MAXIMUM extent of the law.

Susan Powell Rally In Puyallup, Washington Provokes Verbal Confrontation Between Steve Powell And Chuck Cox; Police Search Of Ely, Nevada "Accomplishes Goal"

2011-08-20T18:55:00.001-08:00

Note: All posts on this case available HERE, with the most recent post displaying first.

The Susan Powell case roared back to life this week when West Valley City police announced their intention to conduct a search of abandoned mine shafts in and around Ely, Nevada; KTVX Channel 4 provides a written transcript of the press conference held on August 19th, 2011. Media were invited to accompany the five officers and 40 detectives participating in the search.

Initially, the search focused on an area about five miles north and west of Ely. The first search took place just off of Highway 50 near a gravel pit below Squaw Peak, with the focus on at least a dozen mine shafts. On Saturday the search moved to the Ward Historic Mining District 20 miles south of Ely, spending less than an hour wandering through the remnants of the Ward mine and an old, abandoned warehouse nearby that still contains the remains of years worth of core samples from the mine. Even though no physical evidence was recovered, West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike Powell said they accomplished their primary goal, which was to follow up on some information from the investigation that we needed to conduct some searches in several areas.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

While police did not elaborate on why they picked Ely, Nevada, except to say they had a new lead in the case, it should be noted that Josh Powell rented a car two days after Susan's disappearance that he put hundreds of miles on. The distance between Ely and Salt Lake is 189 miles.

Capitalizing on the renewed public interest, two separate rallies on behalf of Susan Powell were held on August 20th. The first was a "honk-and-wave" in West Valley City, UT, organized by Kiirsi Hellewell, one of Susan's best friends. Crowds gathered not far from the home where Susan went missing, passing out flyers and waving signs.

The second rally was held in Puyallup, WA, and was a bit more controversial. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, was passing out flyers with other family members at 176th and Meridian in Puyallup. Then Susan's father-in-law, Steve Powell, showed up along with his daughter, Alina Powell, and accused Cox of spreading misinformation about his son in their own neighborhood. The confrontation grew more heated, as Steve Powell accused Cox of being a "liar" and a "cyberbully" who is hounding Josh Powell. The Salt Lake Tribune provides a video of the confrontation:

Moments later, Steve Powell clarified that he does not object to the Coxes publicizing Susan Powell’s picture, but suggested that doing it near his and Josh Powell’s home is meant as harassment. Steve Powell then renewed claims that FBI agents told him they do not believe Josh Powell had anything to do with his wife’s disappearance, and said that Josh Powell will not speak with West Valley City police because they earlier misled him.

Later, Josh Powell showed up with the couple's two young sons and told reporters that Susan's father, Chuck Cox, was purposefully engendering hate between family members by using Josh's sons as media pawns. He characterized Chuck Cox's distribution of flyers in Josh's neighborhood as offensive. Josh recently filed for a restraining order against Chuck Cox after the two confronted each other at a Lowe's store in Puyallup; a hearing is scheduled next week. In a separate interview on Friday, Josh Powell expressed disappointment in the ambiguous reports and said he got the initial impression police were talking about looking in a hotel or an apartment.

Each side has its own advocacy website. From the perspective of Josh Powell and his family:

-- http://susanpowell.org/Home

And from the perspective of Susan Cox Powell's family:

-- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=198478842187&v=wall

Reaction: Public sentiment as expressed in comments to the latest batch of media stories still runs strongly against Josh Powell. A number of people simply believe he offed his wife. This is because when Susan Powell first disappeared, Josh did not react in the expected fashion, but retreated into a shell and was less than forthcoming. He failed to adequately explain some anomalies, such as a spontaneous camping trip into the desert in freezing weather on the night of the disappearance. Then there's the unexplained rental car with hundreds of excess miles racked up. Josh Powell is obviously more forthcoming now, but the damage has been done.

What??? Sarah Palin Thinks Utah Senator Orrin Hatch Should Be Included In The Tea Party

2011-08-20T01:57:00.000-08:00

Apparently Sarah Palin didn't get to know Utah very well during her Going Rogue book signing on December 9th, 2009, because she has issued an appeal to Utahns to include Senator Orrin Hatch in the Tea Party. And if the comments to the Deseret News story are indicative of public opinion, her counsel wasn't exactly received with enthusiasm.

The appeal came during Palin's appearance on the Greta Van Susteren show on Thursday August 18th. In response to Greta’s concern about a possible Tea Party challenge of Hatch, Palin said:

“To your particular point about Senator Orrin Hatch, he is doing good in terms of trying to get a balanced budget and he has been for the last couple of decades. He has pushed hard for some fiscal reforms that we have got to see implemented. We need to be agreeing and embracing his idea and working with him to make sure that that happens instead of shooing him away and shooing him out of a tea party movement.”

Here's the segment:

Naturally, Senator Hatch was quite appreciative, saying "I am grateful for the support of Sarah Palin as I continue to lead this fight. Mrs. Palin is highly respected by Utahns and the national conservative movement and I appreciate her influence to create a united front in confronting the issue of our national debt. It is an honor to have Sarah Palin's backing for the balanced budget amendment and I will continue to use my time in the Senate to see it passed."

A former Utah resident also jumped on the Hatch bandwagon. On Conservatives4Palin, Nicole Coulter, who was a journalism student at Utah State University, stated that she once interviewed Senator Hatch and found him to be a gracious and conscientious public servant. She never saw Hatch as anything but a staunch conservative, notwithstanding his long-time friendship with Ted Kennedy. Regarding the Tea Party, Coulter writes:

Whatever the case, he’s certainly been a friend of the Tea Party lately. It should be noted that Hatch, now the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, led the Senate GOP push this year for a balanced budget amendment (for the 17th time in his career — if you can even fathom what that says about our stubbornly obese government) and was a co-sponsor of a Republican amendment to repeal the mandates in Obamacare. He also earned a perfect score in the American Conservative Union’s 2010 ratings, one of only 11 senators to do so. It’s hard to get more conservative than that, if you ask me.

Bob Bennett had a pretty good score with the American Conservative Union, too, but it didn't save him. Hatch is not in as much trouble at this point as Bob Bennett was in 2009, but he's being challenged by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who's a proven conservative. And Hatch may not be able to overcome the perception that he's simply been in the U.S. Senate too long.

Michelle Malkin is not too happy about it, either, noting that Orrin Hatch is the antithesis of the Tea Party spirit. She cites the following examples (her syntax, not mine):

-- He slobbered over corruptocrat Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.
-- He co-sponsored the $6 billion national service boondoggle and dedicated it to his good friend Teddy Kennedy, with whom he also joined hands to create the ever-expanding SCHIP entitlement.
-- He supported tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner from day one, lavished praise on Joe Biden’s balls, and embraced and defended Attorney General Eric Holder’s nomination because, he said, “I like Barack Obama and I want to help him if I can.”
-- He was an original sponsor of the open-borders DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout and voted for the massive TARP bailout.
-- And there’s much, much more from his support for Fannie/Freddie bailouts to farm subsidies and beyond.

While Malkin's syntax is a bit strong, her point remains valid -- he has taken the other side too many times to be considered reliable.

On the other hand, at least Sarah Palin did not come out and formally endorse Orrin Hatch's re-election campaign. Sarah Palin is still well-regarded in Utah despite the fact that Mitt Romney "owns" the state, but some people are disappointed in her support of Hatch.

Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker Submits Proposed Anti-Idling Ordinance To The Salt Lake City Council, Contains Numerous Common-Sense Exemptions

2011-08-18T00:18:00.000-08:00

Looking down on the Salt Lake Valley from Little Cottonwood Canyon during a smog episode

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, who's running for re-election this year with only nominal opposition, has submitted a proposed anti-idling ordinance. The Salt Lake City Council is expected to introduce and debate the ordinance at the scheduled meeting on Tuesday August 23rd, although a public hearing (where members of the public can give testimony) and an actual vote is not expected until sometime in September, to coincide with Idle Free Awareness Month.

The City Council does not yet hot-link to the proposed August 23rd agenda, so the most current draft of the proposed ordinance is not available there. However, I found the most current version of the ordinance on the mayor's official website; it was transmitted to the city council on March 28th, 2011. Skip past all the "Whereas" clauses and scroll to page 3 (as listed on the bottom of the page) to see all the pertinent stuff, which is highlighted below:

(1). Definition of "Idle": “Idle” means the operation of a vehicle engine while the vehicle is stationary or not in the act of performing work or its normal function. This indicates that if you're in line at a drive-through facility, you won't have to shut your vehicle off so long as the drive-through line is moving regularly.

(2). The specific restriction: No driver, while operating a vehicle within city limits, shall cause or permit a vehicle’s engine to idle for more than two minutes, except for [a number of common-sense exceptions].

(3). Exceptions: There are twelve exceptional situations specified in which one is not required to shut vehicles down after two minutes. Here are the four exceptions which will be applicable to the greatest number of people.

------ Warming up a vehicle upon initial start. This is beneficial for those who don't have access to garages.

------ The ordinance will not apply if the temperature is below 32F or above 90F, as reported by the National Weather Service at Salt Lake International Airport, to preserve the health & safety of a driver, passenger, or accompanying service animal.

------ While waiting at a traffic light or railroad crossing.

------ Idling to recharge a battery or other energy storage unit of a hybrid electric vehicle.

Other exceptions are specified for occupational reasons. NOT EXEMPTED are idling while in a drive-through line or while waiting to pick up kids at school when the temperature is between 32F and 90F; if the drive-through line is not moving consistently, you will be required to comply with the ordinance, although I think most cops can find more productive things to do than watch a drive-through line with a stop watch.

(4). Penalties: First offense will carry a warning but no fine. Second offense was listed as $210 on the first draft, but it's now down to $160 on the new draft. The second offense must take place within 24 months of the first offense to be actionable.

The actual ordinance itself is only seven pages; the remaining pages consist of background material.

The draft ordinance which is introduced by the city council on August 23rd could have some additional differences from the transmitted draft, so you'll have to pay attention. At least the draft provides some idea as to what to expect.

Reaction: While the Tribune claims widespread support for the anti-idling ordinance, public comments appended to the March 28th draft package indicate a more even split, with only a small majority of the public supporting it. Probably the most typical comment was submitted by Jessica Steed of Salt Lake, who wrote "There has to be a limit to government. There has to be. This ordinance crosses that line.” Nevertheless, the large number of exemptions make the ordinance more palatable and could facilitate passage by the City Council.

Forty BYU Students In London During The Riots, All Reportedly Safe; Riots Spread To Numerous Other British Cities

2011-08-10T03:39:00.001-08:00

KSL Channel 5 reports that 40 students from Brigham Young University have been in London during the riots which have racked that city since August 6th. They are participating in a semester abroad program, and so far, none of them have got caught up in the disturbances. But some have had close calls.

For the past six weeks, the group has been staying at Palace Court near Queens Way -- just a few streets from some of the rioting. Madison Purcer could hear sirens and glass breaking just blocks away, and could see smoke outside. Anopther student, Rachel Bult, witnessed the destruction firsthand on a shopping trip early on Tuesday August 10th. She notes that when she was walking down Queens Way, a lot of the stores had to get big boards to put on their windows because they are all shattered. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

To get the full picture of what's been going on, you need to read the British media sites. The latest Daily Mail story provides numerous pictures. The arrest scorecard so far: 750 people in London, 109 people in the West Midlands, 110 in Manchester and Salford, 44 in and around Liverpool, and 19 in Bristol. Note that the situation is still quite fluid and no two media outlets may have put up the same numbers. The Telegraph is live-blogging the story HERE if you want more frequent updates.

Disorder and looting rocked parts of Manchester particularly, but there was also trouble in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Nottingham, Leicester and Liverpool - although police appeared to be containing the unrest. There was also a large blaze at a derelict art college in Gloucester, with several smaller fires, while police also dealt with small groups who attacked them. In Birmingham, mobs rampaged through the city center but unlike Saturday night, when shops were looted, the gangs mainly wreaked destruction, setting fire to cars and attempting to provoke police. The Telegraph reports that Thames Valley Police made 15 arrests linked to trouble overnight, including five people who were held in Milton Keynes for alleged criminal damage and public order offences. A further four people were arrested in Reading, Berkshire, for alleged burglary of a shop and another four were detained in Banbury, Oxfordshire, for suspected criminal damage. A police spokesman added that one person was arrested for alleged criminal damage in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and another for suspected criminal damage in Slough, Berkshire. One bright spot: The situation in London is now under control as 16,000 police officers flood the streets.

Because the police were badly outmanned at the start, groups of private citizens have banded together in London to protect their neighborhoods and properties. However, three of them met an unhappy end; after emerging from a mosque in Birmingham, they were knocked down by a hit-and-run driver. All three subsequently died in hospital. In Ealing, a white man who remonstrated with black looters was set upon by them and beaten into insensibility; he's not expected to survive. Prime Minister David Cameron says police will get everything they need to put down the insurgency, including rubber bullets and water cannon.

The whole mess was triggered by the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was gunned down in Tottenham on Thursday August 4th under disputed circumstances. Police said Duggan was shot dead when officers from Operation Trident _ the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community _ stopped a cab he was riding in. A protest demanding justice on Saturday devolved into a riot, which spread to neighboring parts of London on Sunday and by Monday had spread across the capital.

What's the typical rioter like? Max Hastings of the Daily Mail characterizes them as essentially wild beasts "bereft of the discipline that might make them employable; of the conscience that distinguishes between right and wrong. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others. Their behaviour on the streets resembled that of the polar bear which attacked a Norwegian tourist camp last week. They were doing what came naturally and, unlike the bear, no one even shot them for it". Many of the thugs are as young as nine years old; while most of them are black, all races are represented.

Bogus Bidder Tim DeChristopher Sentenced In Salt Lake City To Two Years In Federal Prison, Three Years Probation, And $10,000 Fine

2011-07-26T16:52:00.002-08:00

On July 26th, 2011, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson sentenced environmental extremist and bogus BLM lease bidder Tim DeChristopher to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine for disrupting a federal oil and gas lease auction in December 2008. A Utah jury convicted DeChristopher on March 3rd, 2010 on two felony charges of misrepresenting himself and placing bogus bids at a federal lease auction. Posing as a bidder during a BLM auction, DeChristopher won 14 leases in eastern Utah, although he had no intent to pay for them; Bureau of Land Management officers halted the auction after DeChristopher had amassed $1.8 million worth of oil and gas leases. DeChristopher was later indicted. Incidentally, another judge later ruled that the BLM had not provided adequate review of the environmental and archaeological resources at stake, and the Obama Administration withdrew those same leases for further review. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

DeChristopher could have received up to 10 years in prison, but Judge Benson recognized that DeChristopher's motive wasn't really criminal, but on behalf of an altruistic cause. But Judge Benson noted that such a detour into crime — however passionate DeChristopher's beliefs — could not be excused under the objective lens of the law, and said civil disobedience cannot be the order of the day. DeChristopher was not sentenced to pay restitution, and in deference to the fact that he ordinarily does not pose a threat to anyone's person or property, will serve his sentence at the low-security Englewood prison in Littleton, CO, followed by an additional three years on probation.

Prosecutors didn't seek the maximum 10 years because DeChristopher took responsibility for his actions. However, they rejected leniency because DeChristopher is absolutely unrepentant -- DeChristopher proclaimed he'll keep on fighting when he gets out of prison, and likens the "climate justice" cause to the civil rights movement, and compares "climate justice" activists facing arrest to the 1960s-era Freedom Riders. Before the sentencing, DeChristopher told KSTU Channel 13, "I'm certainly nervous about what's going to come down today. I certainly can’t say that I’m not still scared of prison, but I’m a lot less scared than I was a couple of years ago. The closer it's gotten, the more I feel like it's something I can handle."

"Climate justice?" Tim DeChristopher's sense of commitment is admirable, but his cause absolutely sucks. I no longer consider him an "eco-terrorist", but his fanaticism is totally misdirected towards an issue over which we have little cotnrol -- the environment. DeChristopher emits a carbon footprint just like anyone else. Perhaps if DeChristopher had directed his fanaticism towards a more relevant issue, such as the First Amendment or the Second Amendment, he'd be worthy of support. If this guy was taking a stand against asset forfeiture or a SWAT invasion of his home, I'd be in his corner.

Advocates on behalf of DeChristopher were protesting around the courthouse. Representatives of the group he co-founded, Peaceful Uprising, led the crowd in songs and speeches. After the sentence was pronounced, other protesters began tying themselves together with plastic zip ties and blocking the stairs into the federal courthouse. Yet another group staged a sit-in inside the lobby of the courthouse. Some of the protestors eventually spilled out onto Main Street where they blocked the TRAX train tracks. Their demonstration prevented trains from passing through, causing delays all over the Utah Transit Authority system. The protestors were warned by police, but 26 of them failed to heed the warnings, and were arrested.

Public Reaction: Comments posted in the more liberal Salt Lake Tribune are more sympathetic towards DeChristopher than those in the more conservative KSL and Deseret News websites. Read some typical comments culled after the jump:

cachedout 19 minutes ago (Salt Lake Tribune):
I have plenty of respect for people who work hard to get a seat at the table. Plenty of organizations like SUWA and Save our Canyons have been doing terrific work in this regard, for example. They've generally played by the rules and they've made strong headway through negotiation and intelligent use of the justice system. Effective environmentalism isn't a spur of the moment action, it's the result of decades of hard, persistent and generally thankless work.

Tim DeChristopher didn't work hard to get a seat at the table. Instead, he crashed the party.

If the environmental movement wants to gain followers, it might do well not to hold up convicted criminals as heroes. If that's the ethical standard they want to be beholden to, watch out. It's a long race to the bottom and one they're almost certain to lose.

Carbon Dioxide 41 minutes ago (Salt Lake Tribune):
They should have required everyone bidding to show they could pay for the bids if they won and also required everyone to put $50000 into an escrow account beforehand. If they don't pay they lose the money. It would have prevented him from bidding in the first place.

Arby | 5:24 p.m. July 26, 2011 KAYSVILLE, UT (Deseret News):
This isn't the way to change " the system". You are privileged to live in this free country that is governed by laws. If you want to change the system, change the laws. But as long as this is legal, don't get in the way. The way to stop gas and oil leases is to change the laws and procedures of the government. Not to interfere with a legally held auction. Elect those that support your views and opinions. If they don't win and change the laws, you still have to live within the law. But if they are elected to office, they can change those laws and procedures. Enjoy living in this country of freedom, governed by laws. Because if it was up totally up to me, I would lock up all the enviromental wackos in this country. But we have laws.

Roenick posted 1 hour ago (KSL Channel 5):
Wait a minute... So this guy gets 2 years in prison for some illegal bidding on BLM gas leases but another dude gets probation for setting 2 churches on fire? That makes no sense to me.

Shouldn't we be incarcerating those that pose a danger to society? [Ed. Note: This comment refers to another case where Patrick Ehat got wrist-slapped with probation for burning down two local LDS chapels.]

Fester posted 1 hour ago (KSL Channel 5):
DeCristopher was calculating in his plans and acting on the revolutionary methods in which he has been educated. Perhaps most who read and post here have missed the importance of the part in the story that DeChristopher is an economics student at the University of Utah? Perhaps you would want to know (be ready to connect the dots here) that the Economics Department at the UofU is world renown among economics academia for its focus on Heterodox Economics AKA Marxist Economics. So, it fits right in that DeChristopher is supporting radical ideas that support "the public good," a code word for Marxist and socialist thought? He is right out of the Saul Alinsky and Rules For Radicals movement. That's where they teach how to use "their rules against them," meaning against us. They will use lies and misinformation to support their vision of bringing about "the greater good." Don't be mis-lead that this DeChristopher is just a simple college student trying to do something good. He entered into a binding contract fraudulently and should learn that there are legal consequences for that action in our society. I just wish the consequences were equal to the theft and losses his actions caused.

Marie Fontaine posted 1 hour ago (KSL Channel 5):
without people like him America wouldn't exist. We need people that stand up to the wrong doings of the government. No, I dont think that the government is all bad, but in this case they were and I'm glad there are still people who will sacrifice their time and freedom for the greater good. History is going to show him as a hero. As Americans we need to question the government and get people talking. He knew what he was doing would send him to prison, he doesn't blame anyone but himself for going to prison, that was part of the plan. He needed this to become something big for everyone to recognize the importance of the situation. He broke the law, so he needs to be in prison for now, but this is how we progress... by doing something. Not by doing nothing.

rogerperk posted 19 minutes ago (KSL Channel 5):
And what does this accomplish? Bring it to the public eye? Honestly, the public doesn't care about auctions. Fix the law? Nope, not gonna happen either, this way. All it does is give those who think their point of view is the right one and should be followed regardless of the law yet another chance to try and apply unconstitutional elitism to this country. If you think your supposedly morally superior position is an excuse to break the law then you don't understand what the responsibilities of citizenship. all you want is your way or you throw a tantrum.

Sarah Palin Movie "The Undefeated" Coming To Utah; Will Be Shown At The Ritz 15 In West Valley City

2011-07-25T21:16:00.002-08:00

The long-awaited and highly-ballyhooed movie about Sarah Palin's political life is finally coming to the Beehive State. Beginning on Friday July 29th, 2011, "The Undefeated" will be shown at the Ritz 15 at 3217 South Decker Lake Drive in West Valley City. It looks like this will be the only live run in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune Film Finder does not list show times yet. It's also not yet listed HERE; you can call them at (801) 973-4FUN if you're getting antsy.

Update July 28th: Conservatives4Palin notes you can now visit Fandango for specific dates and showtimes.

-- July 29th through August 4th: 12:30 P.M., 4:00 P.M., 7:00 P.M., and 9:50 P.M.

If you can't attend this showing, here are other ways you may be able to see The Undefeated later:

-- Beginning September 1st, it will be made available to 75 million homes via Video on Demand and Pay-Per-View access through national and regional cable and satellite operators.
-- Beginning October 4th, a “Special Edition” DVD containing additional new content will be sold exclusively in Walmart stores.

What's It About? The Undefeated is a two-hour documentary about the political life of Sarah Palin. The film is structured into three acts: the mayoral years, when Palin had to overcome corrupt local vested interests to serve two successful terms as Mayor of Wasilla; her term as Governor of Alaska, during which she achieved a stratospheric 80 percent approval rating; and her surprising selection as John McCain’s running mate. Many people believe that McCain would have lost by a larger margin had Palin not been on the ticket. Also appearing in the film are prominent political commentators Mark Levin, Tammy Bruce and Andrew Breitbart, as well as conservative activists Kate Obenshain, Sonnie Johnson and Jamie Radtke. Additionally, the film features interviews with Alaskan civil servants, elected officials and advisers who were involved in Alaskan politics during Governor Palin’s tenure.

Should You Go See It? Absolutely. Even if Sarah Palin decides not to run for president, you could be getting a sneak preview of the next vice-president of the United States. If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination, he could make no better decision than to select Palin as his running mate. You marry up Romney's professionalism with Palin's passion, and you get a powerful one-two punch that can knock Obama out of the White House in November 2012. Palin would also make a good running mate for Ron Paul.

Film critic Roger Ebert wasn't particularly impressed, calling it a campaign film in search of a campaign. He said that the audience of about 180 was attentive but undemonstrative until more than an hour in, when CNBC's Rick Santelli drew applause for a rerun of his famous rant from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade on Obama's mortgage bailout. Once the ice was broken, the audience applauded from time to time during fiery praise of the Tea Party and Palin speeches. Ebert wonders if Stephen K. Bannon actually has his money on a third-party bid by Palin as a Tea Party candidate. But some people who posted responses to Ebert's critique were more effusive in their praise (after the jump):

Blackwater | July 23, 2011 6:52 PM | Reply:
Better review from Ebert than anyone would have ever expected, that said, did we see the same movie?

This movie sets straight all the lies told about Sarah Palin by the corrupt media, it also shows how there was a concerted effort, coordinated from the West Wing of the White House, to stop Sarah after the election.

The movie id playing to sold out theaters, and lots of cheers. Though I was not in Chicago, the folks I know who saw the movie tell a far different story about the crowd reaction. Like everywhere else, the crowd was quite loud. There is a huge presence of Palin supporters in Illinois.

As for the tittle, it's not about elections, or even Sarah Palin, it's about the American spirit. Of course, Sarah Palin's common sense conservatism is undefeated as well.

The left wing loons who clogged up the courts with bogus law suits, and cost the state millions, thought they had stopped Palin. Instead she's become a thousand times stronger, and she will be the next President of these United States.

As the movie highlights, Sarah Palin has a 20 year record of incredible success as a chief executive in government. She's created jobs, balanced budgets, and left Alaska with a $15 billion surplus.

That's much better than the $14 TRILLION deficit the Chicago street thug currently in the White House can say.

Evan | July 23, 2011 7:26 PM | Reply:
What has Sarah Palin done to anyone? Really! Sarah's living rent-free in liberals' heads.

Funny thing is that she's got a thicker skin than Obama.

She's endured countless misogynistic attacks. The left has it in for conservative women because they don't fit the template for women in politics.

How would any liberal woman politician survive what Sarah's gone through? They've burned her church down. They've stalked her. They've called her family inbreds. They've joked (?) about how her son, Trig, should've been aborted.

Plus the left always always draw attention to her gaffes, as if she is some idiot. Ever hear of Pelosi? Biden? Sharpton? Sheila Jackson Lee? THOSE ARE IDIOTS. The left conveniently ignores Obama's gaffes.

The bottom line is that liberals attack her personally because they can't compete with her in the arena of ideas.

LIBERALS ARE SCARED OF HER BECAUSE SHE IS EFFECTIVE.

Go, Sarah, go!!!

Freempg | July 23, 2011 7:44 PM | Reply:
Those of you who yuck it up over Sarah Palin had better prepare for a shock. If you think she is not running and will not win the presidency in 2012, you haven't been paying attention. I'm sure it will be too much to ask that you see "The Undefeated", then draw your own conclusion. Be informed.

Roger has it right, it was the corrupt, RINO Republicans that Sarah Palin took down in Alaska. She will implode Obama like a stuck balloon and at least attempt to clean up the corruption in Washington. She is the only one with executive experience and a RECORD of doing so. Who does the Left have? Certainly not The One. The Left has no one. Aren't you proud?

The Conclusionist | July 23, 2011 10:28 PM | Reply:
The thing that sticks out about Palin is the fact that she is truly a non partisan figure. She is, in all the ways that have meaning, a real person. She does what she believes to be right, and what she believes to be right happens to be what accords with reality. She is an actual feminist. She has the kind of personal integrity that American's should strive for. I'm not saying you have to agree with her politics. But those who dismiss her and people that have been drawn into politics because of her influence over the last few years are greatly underestimating what is happening among conservatives and moderates, in this country. Obama, (if you disagree with him ideologically) has put Americas feet to the fire, in the sense that he has cast into stark relief the kinds of changes that have been taking place here for the past 80 or 90 years. America is changing. Now it's time for those who understand what is good about America, what is worth preserving, to be prepared to speak up and step forward and stop assuming that things will just work out on their own. Hence, this movie. Hence the Teaparty. We are silent no more. And whether you agree with the Teaparty or not, people getting involved is a good thing. And it is long over due.

How You Can Support Besieged Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, Still Supported By Governor Jan Brewer

2011-07-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Because of his sponsorship of Arizona SB1070 and his fervent defense of America's territorial sovereignty, Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) has been targeted with a vicious sustained hate campaign like few others have endured. One of the chief orchestrators of this campaign is the Phoenix New Times' tubby gonzo journalist, Stephen Lemons, who has also targeted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The anti-Pearce forces, led by a shadowy group called Citizens for a Better Arizona, have successfully initiated the first step of a recall election by obtaining 10,364 validated signatures from residents of Pearce's senate district, far in excess of the minimum 7,756 signatures required.

Once the signatures were validated, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a staunch political ally of Pearce, had no effective alternative but to authorize a recall election, and did so without hesitation, setting an election date of November 8th. The Secretary of State's Office will begin accepting signatures and candidate filings on August 10th; prospective opponents must collect 621 signatures, two percent of the number of votes cast in the last election.

However, Senator Pearce still retains fundamental grass-roots support, and he and his partisans are determined to fight back. A website entitled ProtectAmericanPatriot has been formed to coordinate Pearce's re-election efforts and to solicit financial support:

http://www.protectanamericanpatriot.com/

Naturally, because Russell Pearce is an observant member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the anti-Pearce forces fantasize at the prospect of finding a "tame" Mormon to run against him. And they may get their wish in the person of Jerry H. Lewis, who has expressed interest. Lewis, who has served the Church and the Lord as a bishop and who was honorably released as the president of the Mesa Arizona Maricopa Stake, tends to be representative of the modern corporate Mormon who considers shopping malls to be just as important as temples. In contrast, Pearce is a more traditionally-minded Mormon who believes patriotism, character and integrity should take precedence. Lewis, billed as a conservative, is currently assistant superintendent at Sequoia Schools, a statewide operator of charter schools, and is married with seven children and six grandchildren.

One item of more legitimate concern is the allegation that Senator Pearce received free tickets to football games from Fiesta Bowl representatives; the total value of the freebies are alleged to be $39,000 from 2002 to 2009. Although free trips to such games are legal, since state lobbying laws allow lawmakers to accept free lodging and travel, new statutes promulgated in 2000 have included an entertainment ban prohibiting Arizona lawmakers from accepting tickets or admission to any sporting or cultural event for free. Other lawmakers caught up in the expose have reimbursed the Fiesta Bowl for game tickets they accepted while participating in cross-country junkets paid for by the bowl and its representatives, but Senator Pearce denies having received free tickets. He'll need to put forth a better explanation of this dichotomy during the recall election campaign.

Ironically, one of Pearce's most prominent supporters is the very same Governor Brewer who approved the recall election. The Sonoran Alliance records a full statement of support from Brewer; here's the most pertinent part of her statement:

...The very same organizations and individuals who organized boycotts of Arizona, who opposed me in my last election, and who have consistently been advocates for unsustainable government spending are at it again. This time they mean to recall from office my friend and colleague State Senate President Russell Pearce.

I have known Russell for over two decades; a dedicated law enforcement officer, shot in the line of duty, a fiscal conservative who has consistently been a voice and a vote for decreased government spending, an uncompromising advocate for State’s Rights and now a national leader in our fight to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and to secure our border.

His unwavering dedication to enforcing the rule of law will help save our country from an Obama administration dedicated to undermining our nation’s immigration laws. Until the rule of law is established on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border there will be no peace, no future economic opportunity and no hope or resolving these issues undermining Arizona’s continued economic prosperity...

Another prominent supporter is former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who in May 2011, speaking figuratively, said that the recall effort of state Senate President Russell Pearce is supported by "the very same socialist thugs who carry swastikas and call ALL conservatives 'Hitler.'" Another supporter is Thoughts On Mesa who also praises Pearce's record:

Senator Pearce...has fought to protect Arizona and its citizens from an illegal invasion. He has fought for education and charter schools and keeping the funding. He has fought fought to reduce government waste; he implemented tenant city while at Sheriffs department, at DMV he he cut wait time and implemented online services saving tax payers money. He has protected Arizona citizens gun rights and their right to carry open/concealed. He has fought to bring jobs to Arizona through a package of job benefits. He has been a dedicated servant to the people, even being shoot while on duty as sheriffs deputy; he son was even shoot by an illegal alien while on duty for the sheriffs department. He was instrumental in bringing millions of dollars to the state through bowl games.

Notwithstanding the Fiesta Bowl allegations, they are merely a distraction. The anti-Pearce forces have been pushing to remove Pearce from office ever since SB1070 was passed. Pearce has been falsely smeared as racist and nativist, and continues to be linked with neo-Nazi Jason T. Ready, although Ready and Pearce severed their political alliance once Ready publicly embraced national socialism. If Russell Pearce is successfully recalled, it will weaken Arizona's ability to protect itself against illegal immigration.

Progressive Hate Blogger Brendan Beery Publishes Blood Libel Against Michelle Bachmann's Husband, Accuses Dr. Marcus Bachmann Of Being A Closet Pedophile

2011-07-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Rarely has the raw vitriolic hatred towards America nurtured by progressives ever been more explicitly expressed than in a post entitled "Michele Bachmann Exposes 23 Minors to Possible Pedophile", published by Brendan T. Beery. I accidentally discovered this post while researching an article about a possible Romney-Bachmann presidential ticket published by McKay Coppins on The Daily Beast.

Beery tries to distort and misrepresent Michelle Bachmann's belief system, and weaponize it against her. He states that "if Bachmann really believes what she claims to believe [regarding homosexuality and pedophilia], then her conduct in exposing 23 minors to whatever risks her home might have posed to those minors raises many uncomfortable questions". Beery claims that Michelle Bachmann believes homosexuality and pedophilia to be conceptually inseparable; although both are emotional disabilities, each is a different manifestation. Homosexuals, attracted to same-sex adults, do not pose the same threat to society as pedophiles, who are attracted to pre-pubescent children of both sexes. Thus, distorting Michelle Bachmann's own record and using slippery-slope tactics, Beery tries to build a case that her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, is a closet pedophile.

This is further echoed in one of Beery's conclusions published at the end of his post:

-- Michele Bachmann nonetheless exposed TWENTY THREE MINORS to a man she must have at least suspected of being homosexual, which, under her belief system, also rendered her husband a possible pedophile.

Beery does technically cover his ass by using the word "possible"; after all, he is a lawyer, so it might be questionable whether or not a defamation of character suit against Beery would succeed. Beery also tries to build further suspicion by questioning why all of Michelle Bachmann's 23 foster children were girls, and asks why she won't identify them publicly. So once again, we have a progressive who wants to use innocent children as pawns for political warfare after the same manner that Tim McVeigh was willing to blow up innocent babies to take down the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.

This shows the evil incarnate which lies at the heart of the progressive movement in the United States. These people at the core utterly hate America and everything it stands for. While not all progressives hate America, the most prominent ones, such as Rocky Anderson, Tim DeChristopher, Chris Matthews, and Laurence O'Donnell, most certainly do. They will destroy anything and anyone to advance their cause.

Whether Mitt Romney and Michelle Bachmann should tag up as a presidential ticket is another matter. On the surface, such a combo might seem logical; both dominate the current batch of polls. It would seem to unite corporate conservatives with Tea Party conservatives. But would Michelle Bachmann be the best choice for Romney? While Bachmann is an honorable lady who has served her constituency well since being in Congress, she not only does not evoke much genuine passion, but she tends to obsess with abortion and homosexuality at a time when we have a $14 trillion national debt, states and municipalities going broke, our military all over the world engaged in nation-building, peacekeeping, and wiping babies' bottoms instead of defending the country, at least twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States, and a de facto unemployment rate of 20 percent (includes those who have given up looking for work and so are not reflected in the official de juro stats).

Mitt Romney will not be best served by a South Jordan-type soccer mom on the ticket. Instead, he needs a warrior princess who will effectively complement his plain-vanilla persona. And no one fits the bill better than Sarah Palin; no one lights up a scoreboard quite like Palin. Palin almost carried John McCain single-handledly to victory in 2008; she could succeed in 2012. Palin has taken the worst that people can throw at her and has come out smelling like a rose. And while Palin isn't quite the constitutional conservative that Ron Paul is, she's certainly more conservative than Romney. That could satisfy the Tea Party, without whom the Republicans cannot win in 2012.

Public Policy Polling Poll Shows Mitt Romney Would Crush Jon Huntsman Jr. In A Head-To-Head Utah Republican Primary, 82 Percent To 14 Percent

2011-07-13T22:54:00.000-08:00

An ongoing unscientific poll published in the left sidebar of the Salt Lake Tribune's News Page shows that nearly 60 percent of respondents think Mitt Romney will go further in the election campaign than Jon Huntsman Jr. This had me wondering if Huntsman was picking up support at the expense of Romney.

However, the Tribune poll solicits input from anyone regardless of political affiliation. In contrast, a Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll of 406 prospective Utah Republican primary voters taken from July 8-10, 2011 indicates that among Republicans alone, Mitt Romney would clobber Jon Huntsman Jr. 82 percent to 14 percent in a Utah Republican primary if they were the only two choices.

Even if respondents are given a full slate of Republican choices, Romney still dominates overwhelmingly. Here are the numbers from their 17-page report; to show qualitative support, I've included the net favorability rating for each candidate in parenthesis when available:

-- Mitt Romney: 63 percent (+70)
-- Jon Huntsman Jr: 10 percent (-3)
-- Michelle Bachmann: 6 percent (+12)
-- Sarah Palin: 5 percent (+5)
-- Ron Paul: 4 percent (NA)
-- Rick Perry: 4 percent (NA)
-- Herman Cain: 4 percent (+4)
-- Tim Pawlenty: 2 percent (-5)
-- Newt Gingrich: 2 percent (NA)

The crosstabs are also of interest, showing demographic breakouts by gender, age group and religion (Mormon vs. non-Mormon). Mitt Romney tends to be stronger among women, people over 65, and Mormons, while Jon Huntsman tends to be stronger among non-Mormons, the 18-to-29 age group, and slightly stronger among men. PPP discloses that 86 percent of respondents identified as Mormon. The same poll also asked respondents who they'd choose in a U.S. Senate race between Orrin Hatch and Jason Chaffetz; 47 percent opted for Chaffetz, while 43 percent chose Hatch. One interesting note: Chaffetz has a huge disadvantage among the 18-to-29 age group, with only 40 percent Favorable and 60 percent Unfavorable. However, this is well compensated for by huge Favorable ratings among the other three age groups.

Surprising that a relatively young man like Jason Chaffetz would have such a pronounced favorability deficit among the youngest demographic.

PPP published their own analysis of the results HERE. Both Romney and Huntsman declined comment on the poll. Romney has made a strong push in the state in recent weeks to collect endorsements and flex his political muscle. Most Republicans in the state legislature and three of the four Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation back Romney. Jon Huntsman will be "showing his flag", so to speak, at the National Governor's Conference in Salt Lake from July 15-17.

A separate PPP survey of 732 Utah voters (all political persuasions) from July 8-10 indicated that in a general election race for the U.S. Senate seat, Jim Matheson would defeat Orrin Hatch 45 percent to 44 percent, and Jason Chaffetz 47 percent to 42 percent. Both Hatch and Chaffetz would wipe out any other Democratic contender, though. Read PPP's analysis of this poll HERE.

Utah State Rep. Carl Wimmer Announces Intent To Run For Utah's Fourth U.S. House Seat; Wimmer A Proven Constitutional Conservative

2011-07-11T17:18:00.002-08:00

Rep. Carl Wimmer

True conservatives got a big shot in the arm when Utah State Rep. Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) announced his intention to run for Utah's new Fourth Congressional District seat, whose boundaries have yet to be determined. This is not a crap shoot on his part; the U.S. Constitution merely requires a House member to be a resident of the state represented, and not necessarily a resident of the actual district being represented. This question came up during Jason Chaffetz' first campaign and was resolved authoritatively by the voters.

Over two dozen proposed Congressional redistricting maps have already been posted on the Redistrict Utah website:

http://www.redistrictutah.com/category/maps/us-congress

Wimmer has actually been raising money for months. Encouraged by the fact that he's raised $100,000 so far, he decided to take the first formal step by creating a campaign committee. But he won’t make a final announcement until September or October, when redistricting is finished. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Carl Wimmer's credentials as a constitutional conservative are unimpeachable. Since being first elected to the legislature from District 52 in 2006, he has most notably pushed legislation restricting abortion, expanding gun rights and trying to assert state sovereignty against the federal government. He is not found on the list of 63 Utah lawmakers who have endorsed Mitt Romney, which indicates he may prefer a more conservative standard-bearer such as Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, or Michelle Bachmann. Special interest ratings:

-- Choice For Education: A perfect 100 percent score for the 2011 session.
-- Utah Taxpayers Association: A perfect 100 percent for the 2011 session.
-- UFIRE Immigration: A perfect A+ for the 2011 session. Voted against HB116.
-- Salt Lake Tribune Combined Scorecard: Wimmer topped the list with a 90.6 rating (the higher the number, the more conservative the lawmaker)
-- UEA (Teachers Union): A score of 17 percent for the 2011 session. Low scores from teachers unions are common and desirable for conservatives.
-- Sierra Club: A score of 25 percent. While the Sierra Club is not as extreme as PETA, this shows that Carl Wimmer won't sacrifice jobs to save prairie dogs.

Wimmer already has his website up and running at CarlWimmer.com. On the issues page, he spells out his positions succinctly and without equivocation. Unlike the neocons who hijacked the Republican Party and forced John McCain on us in 2008, Carl Wimmer opposes corporate welfare and supports tort reform. He will also work to reduce the federal role in education; NCLB forced many school districts to hire more administrators to administer the program, robbing the classrooms of necessary experience. He will continue to fervently oppose any and all efforts to give amnesty to illegal immigrants. You can also visit Wimmer's VoteSmart page.

Possible competition mentioned in a December 21st, 2010 KSL story includes Rep. David Clark (R-Santa Clara), Sen. Margaret Dayton R-Orem), and Morgan Philpot, who narrowly lost this year's 2nd District race to Congressman Jim Matheson. Philpot is definitely interested in another Congressional run, but awaits the outcome of redistricting before committing. Wimmer thinks it's unlikely another conservative Republican will run against him, though.

Carl Wimmer is exactly who we need in Congress. Too bad we can't clone him.

Thomas Morin Arrested In Cottonwood Heights For Child Endangerment And Drug Possession After His Kids Turn Him In For One Ounce Of Pot

2011-07-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

The story went out over the wire under the heading of "Kids Turn In Dad Over Pot". It gave very few details, merely reporting that a man's two kids found an ounce of pot in their dad's home, called the police and turned him in. The man is now facing two third-degree felony charges of child endangerment and one class B misdemeanor accusing him of possession of a controlled substance. Absolutely no other details were given.

So naturally, a bunch of us immediately thought the two kids were snitches. I mean one ounce? C'mon, that's not exactly dealer quantities. Fortunately, I found another source providing many more details, and when you read them, you'll no longer consider the two teens to be snitches. The expanded story was published by the Daily Mail, which includes a video from KSTU Channel 13. It turns out that Thomas Morin, the kids' father, is a chronic pot smoker and a drunk, and every time his kids came over for a visit, they smelled marijuana smoke. So they decided to force the issue.

Morin, who is reportedly separated from his wife, had a scheduled visit with the children on Monday July 4th, 2011. When the teenagers, 15 and 13 respectively, arrived, they smelled burning marijuana once again. So they called the cops. When Sgt. Scott Peck arrived, the girl went inside her home and retrieved a small bag of drugs, and continued talking with him in front of the residence. As they were talking, Morin sent her a text message asking her to come back inside. The officers had her send a reply to ask him to come outside. When Morin did, he was arrested. KSTU news video embedded below:

Morin is now charged with child endangerment and possession of marijuana. Knowing these additional facts, not only do I think the kids were justified in turning their father in, but I commend them for doing so. This creep had neither the decency nor the discipline to refrain from smoking dope in front of his kids. He decided marijuana was more important than family. He deserves whatever the system dispenses to him, although I would offer him one opportunity to escape the felony collar by taking a drug/alcohol cessation program at his own expense. Upon successful completion of the program, I would drop the felony charges to preserve his employability.

What kind of creep would smoke dope in front of his kids?

Media Goes Ga-Ga Over Dr. David Duke's Interest In Seeking The Republican Presidential Nomination, But Dr. Duke First Announced This In August 2010

2011-07-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

All of a sudden, the media has discovered Dr. David Duke all over again, and they're going ga-ga over his expressed interest in running for President of the United States, most likely as a Republican. But Dr. Duke didn't exactly reveal anything significantly new in this latest hubbub.

The Daily Beast started the latest media stampede. In an article disingenuously entitled "White Supremacist Stampede", Eve Conant claims that a "startling" number of white-power candidates are beginning to seek public office. National socialist advocates, Klan members, neo-Confederates, and other representatives of the many wings of the white nationalist community are starting to file paperwork and print campaign literature for offices large and small, citing rising unemployment, four years with a multi-racial (half-Black and half-White, although Obama identifies as Black) president, and rampant illegal immigration as part of a growing mound of evidence that White people need to take a stand. The anti-racist witch hunt recently taking place at Alta High School tends to support that contention.

Naturally, because Dr. David Duke has established himself during the past 23 years as the most prominent, positive, and articulate spokesman for White civil rights in the United States, he's the centerpiece of the article. Dr. Duke says he’s launching a tour of 25 states to explore how much support he can garner for a potential presidential bid; he believes 2012 is already shaping up to be a pivotal year. While he did not identify which states he would initially target, the American Third Position Party, a distinctly pro-White party, is already formally organized in 14 different states (Utah's not one of them...yet), so Dr. Duke would be smart to capitalize upon that embryonic infrastructure and visit those states first. A3P has no official presidential standard-bearer yet.

But other than the fact that Dr. Duke has announced he will visit 25 states, there's nothing new about his intentions. In August 2010, Dr. Duke first declared his interest in running for president and outlined his platform in the video embedded below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88AsArwYsTc

Stormfront founder and radio host Don Black, with whom Dr. Duke has a close relationship, told The Daily Beast the strategy is to start from the ground up, where there is a greater chance of winning. Black explained the Tea Party’s influence spurred hopes among his ideological soulmates — but that the initial excitement has given way to a realpolitik sense that the Stormfront crowd will have to go it alone. “Many of our people are involved in the Tea Party,” says Black. “But much of their leadership is skittish when it comes to talking about racial realities. The Tea Party is a healthy movement but many are too conditioned to run like scared rabbits when called racists.” Stormfronters have reacted favorably to Dr. Duke's announcement on this thread, although a few say they prefer to get behind Ron Paul, who has a better chance of getting nominated. There's also a much newer video of David Duke getting interviewed on Russia Today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnlBp4vT_20

For other videos by Dr. Duke, visit his YouTube channel HERE.

Prognosis: While Dr. Duke has little chance of actually winning the Republican nomination, his presence in the race could empower many people who have been alienated and radicalized by 45 years of affirmative action and other anti-White policies implemented in the name of "civil rights". His presence could also force the other candidates to quit tippytoeing around the race issue; perhaps some might even have the stones to declare their intent to outlaw affirmative action in the public sector if elected.

Mexican Citizen Juan Rivera-Aguilar Allegedly Beats Two-Year-Old Girl To Death In Salt Lake City, Has Prior Record Of Domestic Violence

2011-07-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, this guy's classified as "white".

A two-year-old girl who was allegedly beaten by her mother's boyfriend died at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City on July 6th, 2011, and the boyfriend has already been arrested.

On Tuesday July 5th, 32-year-old Juan Pablo Rivera-Aguilar was watching the child and her 4-year-old brother when the alleged abuse occurred. Aguilar reportedly punched the girl in the head five times and in the stomach five times; the provocation was not reported. The four-year-old boy was also roughed up; clumps of his hair were pulled out. Police were called to the home on 1836 S. McClelland Street (1040 East) just before 12:30 P.M. and found the girl not breathing. She was taken to the medical center in extremely critical condition; doctors said she was brain dead and unlikely to survive.

But because the girl was still alive at the time, Aguilar was taken into custody and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 10 counts of child abuse and two counts of violence in the presence of a child. Now that the girl has died, additional charges will likely be screened when the case is taken to the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office. The four-year-old boy has been removed from the home and is in protective custody. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Aguilar has a criminal past. He pleaded guilty in 1996 to a charge of providing prohibited items to a minor, a class B misdemeanor, and was also convicted of an amended charge of attempting to violate the conditions of his release after being arrested for domestic violence, also a class B misdemeanor.

But there was a glaring omission from the story. In addition to KSL and KSTU, KTVX Channel 4, KUTV Channel 2, and the Salt Lake Tribune also reported on this story, and not a single outlet bothered to report the fact that Rivera-Aguilar is a citizen of Mexico. That information was obtained from the Salt Lake County Jail inmate roster, a screen shot of which I placed at the top of this post. Since the jail record does not indicate that Aguilar is placed on an immigration hold, we can assume he is legally in this country for the moment. But it seems strange that a Mexican citizen would be in this country since at least 1996 and make no effort to get American citizenship. It didn't take long for some enterprising commenter to the Tribune story to discover the information. Another commenter noted that it takes ICE up to a week to put an immigration hold on someone, so don't be surprised if Aguilar proves to be illegal.

Think Mitt Romney's Not A Real Conservative? 63 Utah Republican Lawmakers Have Endorsed Him

2011-07-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney's conservative credentials have come under consistent attack from a number of sources, most notably the Tea Party. Former Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller has vowed to stop Romney from getting nominated, firing up the Restoring Liberty PAC to promote his message. Barack Obama, Al Gore, and Bill Clinton have all praised Romney for his moderate approach, not because they want to see him get elected, but to sucker the Tea Party into diverting their opposition from Obama to Romney. They've read the polls; they know that Romney not only is the strongest Republican candidate, but in head-to-head pairings vs. Obama, is the only one who could beat Obama right now.

Obviously, Mitt Romney is not as conservative as Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, or Ron Paul. But he's conservative enough to have secured endorsements from 63 Republican lawmakers in one of the reddest states in the Union -- Utah. The list reads like a veritable Who's Who of Utah Republicans. Even some who are not on the list, like Governor Gary Herbert, are favorably disposed towards Romney; the Guv simply hasn't chosen to make a decision yet. The full list was originally published by the Romney campaign as part of a press release and is re-published towards the end of this post. The list encompasses both sides of Utah's contentious HB116 debate, including opponents like Reps. Stephen Sandstrom and Chris Herrod, as well as supporters like Sen. Curt Bramble and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Conspicuous by their absence is Rep. Carl Wimmer and House Speaker Becky Lockhart. Lockhart stirred up a hornet's nest when she bitterly attacked Utah's Congressional delegation for failing to push for the federal waiver necessary to make the guest worker provision of HB116 legal. Utah's Congressional delegation promptly replied and rebutted Lockhart's accusations.

In the final analysis, if 63 Utah Republican lawmakers endorse Mitt Romney, then he must be conservative enough. He doesn't have to be an ideologue; in fact, the recurring polls show that the ideologues have higher negative ratings than Romney. Getting the nomination is only half the battle; winning the election is the grand prize. We cannot tolerate four more years of Barack Obama.

Besides, Romney can select someone like Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann to bring the Tea Partiers on board. Palin's energy and resiliency would spur the ticket to victory. Ron Paul is also a possibility. Jon Huntsman? He'd make a good Secretary of State in a Romney-Palin Administration.

Here's the list of 63 lawmakers:

• Senator Orrin Hatch
• Congressman Jason Chaffetz
• Congressman Rob Bishop
• Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell
• Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
• State Senate President Michael G. Waddoups
• State Senate Majority Leader Scott K. Jenkins
• State Senate Majority Whip Wayne L. Niederhauser
• State Senate Assistant Majority Whip Peter C. Knudson
• State Senator J. Stuart Adams
• State Senator Curtis S. Bramble
• State Senator Allen M. Christensen
• State Senator Margaret Dayton
• State Senator Lyle W. Hillyard
• State Senator David P. Hinkins
• State Senator Daniel R. Liljenquist
• State Senator Ralph Okerlund
• State Senator Aaron Osmond
• State Senator Jerry W. Stevenson
• State Senator Daniel W. Thatcher
• State Senator John L. Valentine
• House Majority Leader Brad L. Dee
• Representative Johnny Anderson
• Representative Roger E. Barrus
• Representative Jim Bird
• Representative Derek E. Brown
• Representative Melvin R. Brown
• Representative LaVar Christensen
• Representative Fred C. Cox
• Representative Bradley M. Daw
• Representative Jack R. Draxler
• Representative Rebecca P. Edwards
• Representative Steve Eliason
• Representative Julie Fisher
• Representative Gage Froerer
• Representative Brad J. Galvez
• Representative Francis D. Gibson
• Representative Richard A. Greenwood
• Representative Keith Grover
• Representative Stephen G. Handy
• Representative Wayne A. Harper
• Representative Christopher N. Herrod
• Representative Don L. Ipson
• Representative Ken Ivory
• Representative Todd E. Kiser
• Representative Bradley G. Last
• Representative Kay L. McIff
• Representative Michael T. Morley
• Representative Merlynn T. Newbold
• Representative Jim Nielson
• Representative Michael E. Noel
• Representative Patrick Painter
• Representative Lee B. Perry
• Representative Jeremy A. Peterson
• Representative Val L. Peterson
• Representative Dixon M. Pitcher
• Representative Paul Ray
• Representative Holly J. Richardson
• Representative Douglas Sagers
• Representative Stephen E. Sandstrom
• Representative Dean Sanpei
• Representative R. Curt Webb
• Representative Brad R. Wilson

Slow-Moving Landslides Force People From Their Homes In North Salt Lake And St. George, Utah

2011-07-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of the North Salt Lake homes affected. Look at the roofline and you can see how the home has been literally warped

Slow-moving landslides are forcing people out of their homes in two parts of Utah; North Salt Lake, and St. George. The St. George story just broke; 16 condos in The Gardens South are sliding downhill, triggering a condemnation order from the city. The problem was first noticed in 2008, but has accelerated; one building moved four inches during the past month alone (Note that while the St. George Spectrum is a paid subscription site, I was able to back-door free access to the article by Googling the headline).

But the main ongoing story is the slow-moving landslide that has affected Springhill Circle and, to a lesser degree, Springhill Drive in North Salt Lake. Local media outlets have reported on this periodically for over a year. On July 2nd, 2011, other residents of North Salt Lake, joined by people from Bountiful and Woods Cross, took advantage of the opening of a new park in the relatively new Foxboro community to raise money for the affected residents of Springhill Circle with a pancake breakfast and 5K race. All proceeds went to families facing the landslide via the El Nino Foundation. Affected residents are also soliciting donations via the ProjectSpringhill website, which also contains a host of media videos dating back to February 2011 as well as slides of the damage and a map of the affected area:

http://projectspringhill.com/

KSTU Channel 13 news video embedded below:

Why are they soliciting donations and conducting fundraisers? First, their home insurance won't cover it. Second, FEMA has refused to help so far. And third, they obviously can't sell their homes, yet some are still stuck with mortgages, and there is also the cost of paying for demolition when the city condemns the homes. Three homes have already been torn down, and 24 others are either affected to some degree or are threatened. The landslide, which had been intermittently moving about an inch per year, has accelerated to an inch per week because of the wet spring. Barry Edwards, North Salt Lake City Manager, offers some hope of future FEMA assistance; he says the city is working with FEMA to secure funds for residents forced from their homes, but it could take at least a year. FEMA will assess the value of the remaining homes this week to determine the amount of money they will allocate.

Disgustingly, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that even as North Salt Lake seeks to condemn more homes, banks are actually trying to sell some of those same homes that have been foreclosed. Neighbors flag down those who come to look at the homes and warn them about the landslide. One home for sale at 402 Springhill Circle is directly within the affected area; another home for sale at 161 Springhill Dr. is only two houses away from the affected area.

Most of the homes in the area were first constructed in 1975. One long-term resident says the problem first manifested itself in 1998, abated for a while, then resumed last year. The blame game is being played in the Tribune's comments section, with some blaming the developers, others blaming the Feds for telling the banks they would back up risky home loans, others blaming the banks for predatory lending practices, and still others blaming homeowners for not doing their homework before buying. What a mess!

UCSD Study Published In The Journal "Addiction" Indicates One Drink Enough To Impair Driving, And Sean Foard Provides Validation In Utah

2011-07-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Sean Foard (via SLCSO)

USA Today reports that a study recently concluded by researchers at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) shows that drinking even a single glass of beer or wine can raise blood-alcohol concentrations enough to increase the chances of being seriously injured or dying in a crash for those who choose to get behind the wheel.

In the study, published online June 20th in the journal Addiction, researchers analyzed national data on fatal car accidents in the United States between 1994 and 2008. The database, obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), is both voluminous and comprehensive; it included 1,495,667 people involved in alcohol-related vehicle mishaps covering all U.S. counties, all days of the week and all times of day, and all reports on blood-alcohol content in increments of 0.01. Thus the sample size and composition seems to be beyond reproach.

Conclusions: No amount of alcohol seemed to be safe for driving. Even with barely detectable amounts of alcohol in a driver's blood, there were 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury versus 3.17 serious injuries for sober drivers. In addition, the study indicated that accidents are 36.6 percent more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver's blood. Researchers also suggested that there are three ancillary factors that might explain their findings. Comparing sober drivers to those driving with a so-called "buzz", buzzed drivers are more likely to speed, more likely to be improperly seat-belted and more likely to drive the striking vehicle, all of which are associated with greater severity in an accident.

Recommendation: Researchers seem to be sold on the idea that lowering the predominant U.S. threshold of 0.08 for legal intoxication is the answer, citing lower thresholds in Germany (0.05), Japan (0.03) and Sweden (0.02) as supporting justification.

Alas, just one day before the USA Today story was published, 35-year-old Sean Foard provided additional validation for the study in the Salt Lake Valley. On June 30th, Foard triggered a five-vehicle mishap when he ran a red light at the intersection of 5400 South and 2700 West in Taylorsville. Foard was driving west on 5400 South, ran the red light, struck a southbound vehicle on 2700 West, then veered off and struck the vehicle of Cynthia Davis Eyre, which was northbound on 2700 South. Eyre's vehicle then went airborne and hit a fourth vehicle driven by Scott Smith, who was stopped at the red light. A subsequent KSL story states there was a fifth vehicle affected; no additional details provided. KTVX reports that three of the vehicles ended up piled on top of each other and completely crushed. Initial KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Sean Foard was initially taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries. He was later released and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of felony automobile homicide, felony DUI causing serious bodily injury and a misdemeanor red light violation. But here's the kicker -- Foard reportedly told investigators that he only had "a couple of drinks of straight vodka" prior to the accident, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. He said he only remembered leaving his house and waking up in the ambulance. However, witnesses in the area report Foard was driving erratically and aggressively before the mishap.

If Foard is telling the truth, then that would tend to validate the UCSD study. Only two drinks may be enough to make you feel "bulletproof" behind the wheel and cause you to drive in a more risky fashion, particularly if it's hard liquor on an empty stomach.

Making DUI thresholds more stringent is not the answer here; instead, punishing egregious violators more severely is necessary. While Foard did not have malice aforethought, he was obviously contemptuous of the public welfare. He may not have intended to take Cynthia Eyre's life -- but he did so anyway. And he cannot resurrect her.

If found guilty on all charges, the most appropriate punishment for Sean Foard would be life in prison WITHOUT PAROLE. We don't have the justification to give Foard's life back to God, but we do have the justification to give Foard's life to the state -- ALL OF IT. Anything less than a natural life sentence for Sean Foard would be contemptuous of the memory of Cynthia Eyre.

Southern Poverty Law Center Conducts Soviet-Style Diversity Re-Education At Alta High School

2011-06-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

The Soviet-style diversity re-education campaign at Alta High School in Sandy, Utah is in full swing, and got a major boost on Tuesday June 28th, 2011 when zampolitniks from the Southern Poverty Law Center completed a two-day diversity re-education session under the guise of Teaching Tolerance for 100 students. The students represent four groups of 25 teens each who will be used as shock troops to spread diversity propaganda not only at Alta, but also at the district's other three high schools; Jordan, Brighton and Hillcrest. This is just the latest in the wholesale propaganda campaign being imposed by the district's leadership upon both Alta High School and the entire district in the wake of the March 17th "klan hood" incident, which is summarized in this series of previous posts (most recent post appears first). KSTU Channel 13 provides the news video:

Naturally, Alta High parent Sam Cosby, whose biracial son Larz Cosby made the initial complaint about the assembly incident, praised Canyons for initiating dialogue with students about diversity. "It’s something that needs to be done," he said. "What’s going on there [in Canyons] is really affecting the whole state. It’s making other districts take a look at what is going on in their district." But Larz himself will not be benefiting; because he blew the whistle on the school, many of his fellow students now shun him, and so he will complete his senior year at an online charter school.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Originally formed to confront and combat actual racist terrorism in the South, it's long since metastasized into a multi-million dollar racket that not only targets racist terrorists, but also legitimate white nationalists, patriots, immigration restrictionists, and pro-family lobbyists. Mainstream groups like the American Family Association and ALIPAC have been designated as "hate groups". A look at the SPLC's blogroll on Hatewatch shows their flagrant left-wing bias as well.

The motives of the SPLC deserve scrutiny. Despite the fact that the FBI reported a decrease in the number of hate crimes AND victims in 2010, the SPLC increased the number of hate groups to 1,002. If hate crimes are actually decreasing, how can the number of hate groups be increasing? The answer is simple; the categorical expansion of the definition of "hate group" by the SPLC. By increasing the categories to include immigration restrictionists and pro-family lobbies, they increase the number of reported hate groups. One can infer that the SPLC has a vested interest in this; it implies the desire for organizational self-perpetuation.

Some suggest that by their own definition, the SPLC itself could qualify as a hate group. Here's why: They state "All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people..." Yet the SPLC maligns legitimate white nationalists, patriots, immigration restrictionists, and pro-family lobbyists simply because of their existence, without regard to their activity. Thus it would seem the SPLC itself meets their own criteria for a "hate group".

The problems at Alta High School could have been effectively resolved through in-school discipline and perhaps some law enforcement intervention. A wholesale diversity propaganda campaign will only serve to increase skepticism among the mainstream population, who will accept it not out of personal conviction, but merely to preserve social status and subsequent employability. Some of the skepticism already shows up in the comments to the Tribune story:

Mark_Whitney 4 hours ago:
No wonder students can't read, or add, or think. The propaganda centers are more concerned with social engineering. This is not what school is for, and some fools want to throw more money at it.

And the involvement of the Southern Poverty Law Center is telling. They don't practice poverty law in the south, but they are a front for Marxist strategy. That's not a conspiracy theory, but easily established fact for any honest individual to seek.

Energy Guru 3 hours ago in reply to Mark_Whitney (comment above):
How true you are. SPLC is an unethical organization to promote progressive agenda, meaning exploitation of the employee and employer - basically anyone that works is their target to take away your rights/money and give it to the sloth class.

rkeefe 9 hours ago:
Seems rather ironic that the SPLC would sponsor a "leadership" conference on "inclusiveness" when NOT ONE of its own executive leadership is a minority.

http://wp.me/pCLYZ-7m

In fact, in the SPLC's entire 40 year history it has never hired a person of color to a highly paid position of power.

Julian Bond was offered "the largely honorary post" of President of the SPLC so that Morris Dees could use his name on fund-raising letters.

http://wp.me/pCLYZ-p

Other than a couple of low-level managers and unpaid, token board members, none of whom have any say in the operations of the organization, the executive suite of the SPLC is as white today as it was in 1971.

Some things never change in Montgomery.

CIA_ran_9_11 13 hours ago:
Full scale left wing indoctrination.

I love how the writer makes the so called "southern poverty law center" look like this wonderful organization. For those who don't remember (thanks to biased left wing reporters), the "southern poverty law center" is the scummy organization that sued (AND WON) ranchers on our border who did nothing wrong to the criminals who were trashing their land. These illegals who are foreign invaders, do tens of thousands of dollars worth of property damage, in addition to violating scores of our other laws, in addition to sometimes being violent against these American land owning citizens...

...and WHAT does the "southern poverty law center" do? Sue them for daring to detain these foreign trespassers and for hurting the feelings of these criminals.

Diversity: look what it has done to WVC [West Valley City].
Diversity: look what it has done to Rose Park.
Diversity: can you afford it?

The subtle message with this garbage "training" (i.e. brainwashing) to be "inclusive of diversity" is that whites are assumed to be KKK members and non whites CANNOT POSSIBLY be racist or non-inclusive in any way (a load of crap).

Gap Between Mitt Romney And Jon Huntsman In Utah May Be Narrowing, According To Salt Lake Tribune Unscientific Poll

2011-06-23T01:27:00.001-08:00

Ever since 2008, Utah has been solidly Mitt Romney country. As recently as February 13th, 2011, a Dan Jones poll showed that in head-to-head competition, Mitt Romney still outpolled former Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. by a 56 percent to 26 percent margin.

But now that both men are officially in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the gap may be narrowing. The Salt Lake Tribune is running an unscientific poll posted on the left side of their News page, , and it shows Mitt Romney with a lead of only just over 10 percent. While Romney currently has 55.21 percent, Huntsman has 44.79 percent. The Tribune doesn't list the number of respondents, but as it is Utah's leading newspaper, the number must be considerable by now.

Update June 24th 12:20 A.M. MDT: Poll now shows Romney with 54.29 percent, Huntsman with 45.71 percent.

Although it is an unscientific poll, I see no obvious evidence that either side is attempting to "spam" a desired result. I've been watching this poll for 24 hours now, and the percentages have not changed significantly; Romney had an 11-point lead at this time 24 hours ago. Apparently, now that Huntsman has formally entered the race, Utahns are beginning to take him more seriously.

But that doesn't mean Utah politicos are swarming to Huntsman's side. Two of them, Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, once worked in Huntsman’s administration, and neither has endorsed Huntsman. Chaffetz, who has helped raise money for Romney, opined that Utah Republicans tend to be more energized by Romney’s candidacy than Huntsman’s, saying “Mitt Romney hasn’t shied away from his affiliation with the [LDS] Church. He hasn’t shied away from his affiliation to Utah. It makes [Utah Republicans] feel good. It is more endearing...I want to beat Barack Obama and most every indicator points to Mitt Romney being able to do that.” Since this post was published, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has also endorsed Mitt Romney.

Only House Majority Whip Greg Hughes (R-Draper) has publicly expressed support for Huntsman. Hughes cautions the public not to mistake Huntsman's diplomacy for moderation, noting that Huntsman previously took conservative stands on taxes and school vouchers. But Huntsman has promoted cap-and-trade in the past, and has underscored his support for civil unions for gays by reaching out to two gay lobbies, GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans.

Meanwhile, Romney's pro-life credentials are under attack because he refused to sign an anti-abortion pledge circulated by the Susan B. Anthony List that allows Republican presidential candidates to promise to support only judicial nominees who are pro-life, to select pro-life cabinet members, to stop taxpayer funding of abortions, and to support a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. To counter, Romney issued a first-person declaration on June 18th for the conservative periodical National Review titled "My Pro-Life Pledge" in which he lays out his stance on abortion point-by-point.

While Huntsman is obviously respected in Utah, in the end, Mitt Romney remains likely to win the presidential nomination in this state. But he won't gobble up 90 percent of the vote like he did in 2008.

Political Correctness Enters Discussion Of Special Needs Boy Who Fell Out Of The Rear Exit Of A School Bus In Salt Lake City

2011-06-20T23:40:00.000-08:00

A mishap which could have been a fatal tragedy took place in Salt Lake City on June 20th, 2011, and we have some joker in the KSL comments section lecturing us on what words we should use to described disabled people. Amazing how political correctness can contaminate a discussion and obfuscate more important issues.

Here's what happened, gleaned from KSL and KSTU and the Salt Lake Tribune. A school bus carrying six special needs students and two adults was proceeding eastbound on I-80 near 2000 East. The students are enrolled in a four-week summer program at the Hartvigsen School for medically fragile and severely disabled students. Since the bus is not air-conditioned, all the windows were open, which increased traffic noise. As the bus was approaching the southbound I-215 turnoff, a 17-year-old boy attempted to exit through the back door. The buzzer sounded, but because of the traffic noise, the driver didn't hear it. The attendant heard the buzzer, but when she looked in that direction, the momentum of the bus turning onto I-215 had swung it shut again.

Suspicious nonetheless, the attendant walked toward the back to check on the boy, and found the door ajar -- and no boy. She immediately notified the driver, who pulled over straightaway. It's estimated the time interval from when teen fell to the time the bus pulled over was no more than 90 seconds at maximum.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The boy had fallen out of the back of the bus onto a busy freeway. Miraculously, he was not struck by a vehicle; a motorist who spotted the boy in a travel lane on I-80 stopped and called 911 around 11:30 A.M. The boy suffered road rash and several lacerations, but no broken bones; he was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center.

Students riding on the bus are required to wear seat belts, either on seats or while in a wheelchair. As part of district policy, the bus driver and attendant have been put on leave pending the completion of the investigation, and the driver has also been tested for drugs.

Some good discussions have broken out in the comments section of the media sites. However, one person introduced political correctness into the discussion:

bradylk posted 12 hours ago:
This is a horible situation and my thoughts and prayers go out to the boy, the family of the boy and all others who were on the bus at the time. I would like to encourage everyone to use "People First" language, which means the person first and their disability second. In short, we should never identify someone by their disability, they should be identified as themself. Everyone deserves this respect and this rule applies for everything to include, gender, race, ethnic background and disability. Example: I have worked with children with disabilities for five years, rather than saying: I have worked with disabled children for five years. Another example: I have a son who is autistic rather than sayining I have an autistic son. Just another way we can educate others and share that deserved respect. Thank you.

Give me a break! A kid falls out of a speeding school bus, and this joker can only bother to lecture us on what we should call disabled kids? Do you think they really care what they're called, or do they care more about how they're treated? Besides, aren't we also taught that the three most critical attributes of communication are Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity? "Children with disabilities" is three words; "disabled children" is two words.

People First of Utah does have a website, and yes, they're a full-blown cult with speech rules. They have an exhaustive list of words they don't want us to use to described disabled people. Some of the words they frown on, such as "cripple" and "mongoloid", probably shouldn't be used. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with the remaining words, and their suggested rules of use are utterly Talmudic.

What's really needed here is for the Granite School District to upgrade all their buses and make the rear exit alarms louder.

Memo To Texas Gov. Rick Perry: Mass Kidnapping Of 464 FLDS Children Disqualifies You From The Presidency

2011-06-19T14:24:00.001-08:00

An orchestrated "grass-roots" movement to get Texas Governor Rick Perry into the Republican presidential race is beginning to take shape. Politico has presented numerous statements from Texas politicos and others, most of whom are supportive. CNN markets Perry as a governor who "means what he says". Real Clear Politics is rhapsodizing about how Rick Perry is winning hearts.

Rick Perry himself is currently ambiguous about his future political plans, merely saying he will make an announcement in late June. However, the Perry camp has already hired a former Gingrich staffer, Elizabeth Vaughan, to run their Georgia campaign. And Perry is even behaving like a presidential candidate; at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans on June 18th, he delivered a presidential-like speech calling upon conservatives to stop apologizing for celebrating life, noting that it is fruitless to reach out to people on the left since there's nothing we can do or say to make them happy. An excellent point by Perry.

Rick Perry clearly has solid conservative credentials, championing spending reductions, tax cuts, and tort reform during his administration. Perry is also a renowned social conservative, opposing elective abortion, gay marriage, and embryonic stem cell research; you can read Perry's overall platform HERE. The Texas Tribune warns us not to underestimate Rick Perry; not only is he Texas' longest-serving governor in its history, but he has never lost an election.

But Rick Perry has a fatal flaw, one that is being completely ignored by the media wankers. The mass kidnapping of 464 FLDS children from their community in Eldorado, Texas, instigated by a crank call from a looney-tune named Rozita Swinton, took place during his watch. An operation of this magnitude could not have been launched without approval at the highest levels of state government. Worse yet, Gov. Perry defended the actions of CPS after the fact; on May 15th, 2008, Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said the governor retained full confidence in the agency, noting that "The governor is very proud of the work being done by CPS...CPS has handled a very complex situation both professionally and compassionately."

That so-called "professionalism" and "compassion" were called into question just one week later on May 22nd when the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that Texas child welfare authorities acted improperly in removing the children from the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Eldorado. Ultimately, 440 children were returned to their parents. Wikipedia contains a more detailed chronology of the operation.

The estimated price tag for the entire operation was set at $12.4 million, which did not necessarily include ongoing fees of caseworkers and lawyers. Thus a governor who marketed himself as pro-family and an economic conservative ended up squandering $12.4 million of public money on an anti-family operation.

Unless Rick Perry comes to his senses and admits he made an error in judgment, the same way that Orrin Hatch has now admitted his Yes vote on TARP was in error, Perry is not suited to be president. The White House is no place for someone who could be portrayed as a "child kidnapper".

Utah State GOP Convention Approves Resolution Urging Repeal Of HB116 Guest Worker Law, 833-739

2011-06-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

On June 18th, 2011, delegates at the Utah State Republican Convention in Sandy voted 833-739 to approve a non-binding resolution urging the state legislature to repeal the contentious HB116, which basically allows illegal immigrants to work in Utah if they submit to a criminal background check and pay a fine. It was hardly a "narrow" verdict, as KSL Channel 5 and the Deseret News implied in their reportage. Both these media outlets, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have been subtly pushing for support of HB116.

Also at the convention was four of the five members of Utah's Congressional delegation; Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, and Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz. More details about their roles posted on the Utah GOP Twitter site. KSL news video below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Proponents of the repeal resolution were celebratory after passage, but downplayed the spectre of any split within the GOP. Gov. Gary Herbert also disagreed this was a fight for control of the party. "As the Republican governor, I think that kind of thinking is a bunch of bunk," the governor said after the vote. "I'm here to tell you the heart and soul of the Republican Party is alive and well."

So what happens next? Senate President Michael Waddoups (R-Taylorsville) said it's now up to lawmakers to decide what their constituents want them to do about HB116. Waddoups expects to see legislation to amend and perhaps even repeal the law next session. Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart (R-Provo) says some lawmakers are already scrutinizing the bill for possible changes. Considering that a strongly-criticized Dan Jones poll indicated that 61 percent of respondents "approved" of HB116, it's likely it will be amended rather than repealed, and that the next version will not violate federal law. As presently written, HB116 would require a federal waiver to take effect on July 1st, 2013.

Public Reaction: Comments posted to the media sites tend to be predominantly supportive of the delegates' action. From the Deseret News:

BoomerJeff | 5:19 p.m. June 18, 2011 Saint George, UT:
Awesome job, GOP delegates! I am impressed that you didn't cave into the pressure, and that you voted your own conscience. Its good to know there are people that understand right from wrong, honesty, and fairness to those who obey the law. I wish my church [LDS] still taught those things (sigh). Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!!!!

Adam | 5:23 p.m. June 18, 2011 Salt Lake City, UT
Well D-News, I think it's now your responsibility to post the names of all those who voted for and against this bill. We voters can then vote with a little more confidence in just who we are voting for. I'll be watching for the list or at least a link to the list from you D-News. [Link to House list HERE and Senate list HERE]

Upson Downs | 7:07 p.m. June 18, 2011 Sandy, UT:
I applaud the delegates who were brave enough to vote to repeal HB116 and not side with the power brokers of the Utah State Republican Party and the LDS Church . You can't shield Illegals from U.S. Law. For Illegals to "square themselves with the law" which is what these groups want, the Illegals still need to return to their country of origin and come here legally with legal papers. The statement from the Church even says that. Not just wave a magic wand and say they can work here.

jim l | 9:54 p.m. June 18, 2011 West Jordan, UT:
Why would the salt lake chamber of comm. have such a big interest in this issue other than trying to have a supply of cheap labor for their buddies at the country club?

Illegal immigrants do not have to be deported, jailed, or any such nonsense. Just take away the jobs, and they will go home on their own. No seperation of family or such sad stories.

I honestly believe that the margin of the vote was greater. I looked around the room while the vote was being taken and it sure seemed like there were alot more people in favor of repealing. They had trouble with counting and totaling of votes all day long. How many times did they have to adjust the numbers? At least 3 or 4 times.

CandaceSalima | 10:50 p.m. June 18, 2011 Orem, UT:
I think it is important to remember that those who oppose H.B.116 realize that the U.S. Constitution should not be shrugged off and on according to ones convenience. The Constitution represents every single American and provides protections to America's citizens, legislatures, states, and federal government. It is only when we stray from the Constitution that we find the pitfalls the Founding Fathers warned of. We simply ask that the Utah State Legislature find a solution, which we are only to willing to help them with, to illegal immigrants that remains within the restrictions the U.S. Constitution has placed upon the states, which are not many. I do not find that unreasonable, nor did the majority of delegates at the Republican State Convention today, of which I am one.

Dan Jones Poll Showing Support For HB116 Guest Worker Law Under Fire By Grass Roots Utahns; Merrill Cook Files Lawful Employment Ordinance Initiative

2011-06-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

A Dan Jones poll of 406 registered Utah voters conducted statewide conducted June 13-15 seems to show strong support for the controversial HB116 guest worker law on the surface, but the poll is being questioned by grass-roots Utahns in the comment sections of the Deseret News story and the KSL Channel 5 story.

The poll was taken as part of the lead-in to the Republican State Organizing Convention to be held at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy on January 18th, where delegates will be asked to approve a non-binding resolution to repeal HB116. The resolution has already passed in the Utah (by a vote of 443 to 365), Salt Lake and Washington County Republican conventions. Opponents of HB116 have set up a Repeal 116 website to educate the public about their objections, while supporters have set up HB116.info. In an related move, former Congressman Merrill Cook, representing a group called Citizens Aligned to Secure Utah's Prosperity (CATSUP), filed a citizens initiative called the "Lawful Employment Ordinance" with the Salt Lake County Clerk on June 14th. Cook also supports repeal of HB116.

The Utah Pulse makes available a quick reference list of benefits of HB116 HERE, and a list of drawbacks HERE.

Four different questions were asked during the poll; view the graphic HERE:

Question: Do you favor or oppose the bill that passed the Utah Legislature providing a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants who have a job and who pass a criminal background check (notice how Dan Jones deliberately used the word "undocumented" rather than "illegal")?

-- Favor: 61 percent
-- Oppose: 29 percent
-- Don't Know: 10 percent

The percentage in favor is up from 55 percent in March. Perhaps contributing to the bump is the unfortunate deportation of two local LDS branch presidents as illegal immigrants this week, as well as an official statement by the LDS Church which implicitly supports HB116, although not by name.

Question: Do you favor or oppose repealing the guest worker bill?

-- Favor: 34 percent
-- Oppose: 53 percent
-- Don't Know: 13 percent

Interesting that in the same poll, while 61 percent favor HB116, only 53 percent oppose repealing it. That means there are respondents who favor both the passage of HB116 AND repealing HB116 -- in the SAME poll. Does that make sense to you?

Question: Should the Republican delegates pass the resolution calling for repeal of the guest worker bill?

-- Definitely: 20 percent
-- Probably: 18 percent
-- Probably Not: 26 percent
-- Definitely Not: 27 percent
-- Don't Know: 9 percent

Question: Should the Republican delegates pass the resolution urging reforms and stating that immigrants have a place within the party?

-- Definitely: 33 percent
-- Probably: 34 percent
-- Probably Not: 14 percent
-- Definitely Not: 10 percent
-- Don't Know: 9 percent

Of course 67 percent of respondents would support the second resolution; they use the term "immigrant" rather than "illegal immigrant". The percentage would be much lower if the term "illegal immigrant" was used. This is just a ploy to blur the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants in the minds of the public, and condition them to accept the eventual premise of amnesty for illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, it appears to be working.

But not everyone is fooled. Here are some comments from the Deseret News story:

RichardB | 10:45 p.m. June 16, 2011 Murray, UT:
I don't believe the numbers, I've yet to find 10 people that support giving amnesty and jobs to those here illegally, over citizens and potential honest legal immigrants.

Jane Johnson | 10:46 p.m. June 16, 2011 PLEASANT GROVE, UT:
I find it difficult to believe this poll. I doubt people want to have illegal aliens pay a fine and then stay here getting free medical care, free education, and free food stamps taking jobs here while many of our citizens cannot secure employment. We want the repeal to happen!

legalimmigrant | 11:58 p.m. June 16, 2011 Springville, Utah:
Who did they poll? Illegal aliens? Business owners? I am a legal permanent resident of Latino heritage and I am in favor of repealing HB 116.

sjgf | 12:39 a.m. June 17, 2011 South Jordan, UT:
Both the LDS Church and its news outlet, the Deseret News, have been heavily campaigning lately for HB116. More and more members of the LDS Church feel like they'd better get in line with this position.

The poll results suggests that the LDS Church's campaign in immigration politics is working.

CJ | 12:51 a.m. June 17, 2011 Murray, UT:
What a bunch of baloney this is. Ask ten people you know and see if one of them wants this farce of a bill. Another DN stacked poll trying to further their amnesty agenda is all this amounts to. The vote on repeal is going to pass and pass big, watch and see. They said the same thing about every repeal vote at every county convention and every one of them passed. With thousands of unemployed in Utah who in their right minds think we need to sit around and make deals with those who crashed the border and have no right to be here in the first place?

And here are some pertinent comments from the KSL story:

Keith D. posted 6 hours ago:
Bull! Where'd they get these polls. Every person I talk to hates the idea. They must have interviewed a bunch of illegals themselves. Get a real poll out there for all of Utah and see whether they like it.

Robert S. posted 6 hours ago:
Where is this polling taking place????? Unemployment continues, We need more jobs not workers. The only people supporting this measure are the illegals themselves and the business owners who continue to get rich off cheap labor. Plain and simple.

Christine N. posted 6 hours ago:
How about you tell us where and or who you were talking to about this poll. Because I know most of the people I have spoken to disagree with this 100% and say it should be repealed.

Nunn24 posted 6 hours ago:
I'd love to see:
- exactly what the questions were
- exactly how these questions were couched
- exactly how the respondents were led
- exactly how respondents were selected from among the population.

There are all sorts of ways to skew a poll to get the results that you want. With Utah being not only the fraud capital of the country but arguably also the false propaganda and political corruption capitals of the country as well, I highly doubt that this "poll" can be trusted to reflect the actual position of most Utahns, especially since many other indicators indicate that the vast majority of Utahns are very much against not only amnesty, but also all of the numerous variations, euphemisms, and disguises of amnesty, which do NOT make it into these poll question specifically.

And why would Utahns want a "guest worker" program in a climate of high unemployment? See it doesn't quite add up does it.

This poll is only one more of a long series of dirty tricks which have been played by the special interests who want the illegal aliens here and the corrupt politicians who serve them.

Petition Campaign Launched To Keep Debra Brown From Being Sent Back To Prison

2011-06-17T00:23:00.001-08:00

Ryan Buttars, the son of Debra Brown, has launched a petition campaign to persuade the Utah Attorney General's office to drop its intended appeal of her exoneration. On May 2nd, 2011, 2nd District Judge Michael DiReda ruled that Brown was factually innocent of the 1993 murder of Lael Brown, and on May 9th, she was released from Utah State Prison after 17 years.

The petition is addressed to Governor Gary Herbert and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Buttars writes, “The decision to yank the rug out from under Debra and her family with an appeal, only two weeks after promising not to appeal, is cruel. Deb deserves to start her new life! Please sign this petition and ask the state of Utah to not send Deb back to prison!” The link to the petition is provided below:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-state-of-utah-dont-send-debra-brown-back-to-prison

When Judge DiReda issued his ruling, the Attorney General's office initially announced their intention to appeal the decision. They were apprehensive about the possible precedent set, since the ruling was the first-ever case in Utah under a 2008 state statute that allows convictions to be challenged based on new facts rather than new DNA evidence. After a brief outcry of public protest, Mark Shurtleff then personally intervened and said there would be no appeal. He was hospitalized at the time recovering from a bad reaction to chemotherapy, which may have clouded his judgment.

But then on May 26th, Mark Shurtleff changed his mind AGAIN, announcing his intent to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court after pressure was applied by 26 of the state's 29 county attorneys. They were concerned about the possible precedent set by Brown's exoneration, since the ruling was the first-ever case in Utah under a 2008 state statute that allows convictions to be challenged based on new facts rather than new DNA evidence. They fear it will open the floodgates to more appeals. Shurtleff specifically said he does not seek to put Debra Brown back in prison, but cannot promise it won't happen. Meanwhile, Debra Brown's job-seeking efforts are hamstrung and her efforts to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delayed.

What upset people more than anything else is the flip-flopping. They got Brown's hopes up, then deflated them. This is not fair. Signing the petition is a way of protesting Shurtleff's flip-flopping. One does not need to be a resident of Utah to sign the petition.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff Declares Himself "Cancer-Free"; Calls For His Resignation Over The Debra Brown Flip-Flop Should Subside

2011-06-07T15:46:00.001-08:00

Regardless of how one feels about Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's politics, one should rejoice at the news that Shurtleff has declared himself "cancer-free" on June 7th, 2011. On Twitter, Shurtleff announced "Full body CT/PET scan results are in: I'M CANCER FREE! Sincere thanks to ALL for faith, prayers, love and support!"

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Shurtleff was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in November 2010 after doctors discovered a malignant growth when performing an emergency appendectomy. He underwent surgery to remove a portion of his colon just two weeks later and began a grueling chemotherapy regiment, but Shurtleff continued to work throughout his treatment.

But in early May, he was admitted to the hospital after having a bad reaction to the chemo. This was triggered in part by the fact that because he attempted three types of chemotherapy, departing from the normal protocol. It was during this time that the Debra Brown controversy broke out; after she was declared factually innocent of murder and released from prison, the Attorney General's office first said they would appeal. But on the same day, Shurtleff got on Twitter and overrode that decision; days later, Shurtleff flip-flopped again and declared his intent to appeal. This outraged many people and triggered concern as to whether or not Shurtleff's judgment was being adversely affected by the chemotherapy; grass-roots calls for Shurtleff's resignation began to surface.

Shurtleff then asked doctors to halt the chemotherapy thereafter, stopping him about five treatments short of what was originally scheduled. One doctor then decided to run a scan to see if any cancer remained and, while Shurtleff was in Jackson Hole, WY for a conference with other attorneys general, he got a text on Monday June 6th giving him a clean bill of health. The doctor told Shurtleff he could resume his full schedule and that he would have to be checked again in six months to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned.

So if Shurtleff can resume his full schedule and is no longer being dosed with chemo drugs, this means his capacities are no longer impaired or diminished. Consequently, there is no need for him to resign for medical reasons, and calls for his resignations should subside. I say "should"; comments to the Tribune story indicate a few people are still put out over his mishandling of the Debra Brown situation.

Shurtleff will be growing his hair back, for those who are wondering. This man has had more than his fair share of serious challenges; cancer, a daughter with emotional problems, and a difficult recovery from a previous motorcycle accident in which he nearly lost a leg.

Woman's Confrontation With TSA At Sky Harbor Airport In Phoenix May Have Been Provoked Or Staged By Her Son, Who Was Videoing The Event

2011-06-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

A video of a May 28th, 2011 confrontation between a woman and TSA agents at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix has gone viral on YouTube. It has also been picked up by both The Blaze and Gateway Pundit and presented as a supposed "outrage". However, there are indications it may have been staged by the woman's son, who has been revealed by the Phoenix New Times to be a "9-11 Truther", among other things. Gather is also a bit skeptical of the woman's claims.

During a routine security patdown, the woman claims the TSA officer grabbed her breast, after which she chimps out, repeatedly demanding a police officer. Her son is subsequently reproved by TSA officers for recording the spectacle. Video embedded below:

However, one commenter to the first New Times story alerted us that there may be more than meets the eye. The person wrote "If you look at the kid's you tube video channel, this is his second TSA video in 6 months. He also has videos of him holding signs above the freeway claiming 9/11 was an inside job".

9-11 an inside job? That's a red flag marking a virulent conspiracy theorist, someone who is anti-government just for the sake of being anti-government. In their second story, the New Times reported that the woman's son seems to have an obsession for confronting TSA officials and posting it on Youtube. This information caused me to review the video again, and I noticed the following:

-- The video does not include the actual screening; instead, it begins after the screening has taken place. Why didn't her son video both the screening AND the aftermath if it was so "outrageous"? Her son did provide an explanation in this AOL interview, claiming that his camera phone had been stashed, and by the time he retrieved it, the screening itself was finished.

-- The woman's reaction is completely over the top for a mature adult. I've seen videos of six-year-old and nine-year-old kids getting patted down by TSA agents, and they didn't chimp out nearly as much as this ostensibly mature adult woman. One commenter to Gateway Pundit did suggest that the woman's extreme reaction may have attributable to the possibility that she was raped at some time in her life, and that TSA patdowns force victims of sexual abuse to relive those memories and feelings of violation.

TSA posted their response on their blog:

TSA takes all allegations of improper screening seriously and investigates each claim to the fullest. After reviewing this passenger’s time at the checkpoint, we found that our security officers acted properly and neither the CCTV footage nor this YouTube video support any of the allegations levied. Real violations of our protocols are worth every ounce of our energy to investigate, but this alleged incident does not meet that threshold.

Analysis: I don't think the woman herself deliberately staged the confrontation. Instead, I believe her son, hungry for attention and hits on his YouTube channel, provoked her into reacting so irrationally by scaring her to death with TSA horror stories before she went through the checkpoint. Then when she predictably chimped out, Video Boy got his movie. There are enough REAL confrontations between TSA and the public that we don't need attention whores staging or provoking fake confrontations.

Sign Petitions To Free Jerome Ersland And To Remove Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater For Prosecuting Him

2011-06-03T02:02:00.000-08:00

As outrage spreads over the unjust murder conviction of Jerome Ersland in Oklahoma City, a couple of petition campaigns have been initiated by concerned citizens seeking justice. One petition calls for Ersland to be freed on the basis that his shooting of 16-year-old robber Antwun Parker was self-defense. The other petition calls for the removal of Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, who decided to prosecute Ersland for murder.

Petition to free Jerome Ersland:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-jerome-ersland/

Petition to remove David Prater from office:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/784/petition-to-remove-david-prater-from-office-of-the-district-attorney-of-oklahoma-county/

On May 26th, 2011, an all-white jury of eight men and four women found Jerome Ersland guilty of first-degree murder in the May 19th, 2009 shooting death of Antwun Parker, one of two black perpetrators who attempted to rob the Reliable Discount Pharmacy where Ersland worked. They returned the guilty verdict after a mere three-and-a-half hours despite the uncertainty of the case. The jury also had the options to convict for first-degree manslaughter or acquit outright. They did elect to assess a penalty of life imprisonment rather than death. Two female co-workers at the pharmacy testified that Ersland was a hero who saved their lives, prosecutors called him an executioner who shot a wounded, unarmed robber five more times after the robber fell to the floor unconscious and was no longer a threat. Ersland will be formally sentenced on July 11th. More background on this case when it first broke was posted on May 28th and May 29th in 2009.

The following raw surveillance video shows the entire sequence and much of the action. You will see the two robbers enter the pharmacy; Parker is wearing a white shirt and the other robber is 14-year-old Jevontai Ingram. Suddenly, Parker appears to fall down and Ingram flees the pharmacy. Ersland chases him out, then returns to the pharmacy. He then goes to get a second gun, then at the 0:55 point, walks over and appears to shoot Parker multiple times. Ersland earlier explained this as because it appeared Parker was trying to reach for a weapon.

Ersland's story allegedly changed somewhat after he was shown the raw video, but he never denied shooting Parker. The confusion can be attributed to the heat of battle; a person in such a stressful situation may block out parts of the incident. But also undermining his case was the disclosure that Ersland had misrepresented his military service somewhat, claiming to have been deployed on Operation Desert Storm when he actually had been stationed at Altus AFB, OK during the time. These misstatements may have biased the jury against him.

As for Jevontai Ingram, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for his role in his friend's death and was sentenced to a juvenile detention facility. He will be released before his 19th birthday in 2014 if he completes a treatment plan. Two adults who masterminded the robbery were also nailed. Earlier in May, another jury convicted the two men who planned the drugstore robbery of first-degree murder. That jury decided Emanuel D. “E Man” Mitchell, 33, and Anthony D. “Black” Morrison, 45, should spend life in prison.

A June 3rd Daily Oklahoman story reports that Jerome Ersland is having a difficult time in jail since his conviction. He's had all 13 of his medications he needs to treat military injuries and an inner ear disorder known as Meniere’s disease cut off, and is allegedly being threatened with death by another inmate who is supposedly related to Antwun Parker. He's also been served with legal papers notifying him Parker’s mother had filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against him and the pharmacy.

Local public opinion is clearly on the side of Jerome Ersland; an unscientific Daily Oklahoman poll shows that out of 9,179 respondents so far, 76.6 percent say Ersland should not have been convicted. He's also picking up considerable support on Stormfront, which is where I learned the jury was all white. But regardless of the race of those involved, this was a world-class miscarriage of justice.

Is Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's Chemotherapy Affecting His Judgment? Shurtleff Changes His Mind About Debra Brown A Third Time

2011-05-26T20:41:00.001-08:00

Update June 7th: Mark Shurtleff now declared cancer-free; calls for his resignation for medical reasons now redundant. Updated post HERE.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has been undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 3 colon cancer since January 2011. Lately, he's been reacting badly to it; on May 7th, he was hospitalized for several days due to a bad reaction to fluorouracil (also referred to as 5FU), which is used to slow or stop cancer cell growth. He couldn't keep any food down.

Chemotherapy involves the administration of powerful but poisonous drugs to kill cancer cells. Collateral damage comes in the form of numerous side effects, many of which require other drugs to control. The interaction of so many different drugs can cause unpredictable reactions; it can affect one's judgment. And his decision-making process on the Debra Brown case gives reason to question whether or not his professional judgment is sound -- and whether or not he's competent to continue serving as Attorney General.

When 2nd District Judge Michael DiReda ruled on May 2nd that Debra Brown was factually innocent of the 1993 murder of Lael Brown, and after she walked out of prison for the last time on May 9th, the Attorney General's office initially announced their intention to appeal the decision. They were apprehensive about the possible precedent set, since the ruling was the first-ever case in Utah under a 2008 state statute that allows convictions to be challenged based on new facts rather than new DNA evidence. They also disagreed with Judge DiReda's additional ruling that the state of Utah pay Brown $570,780 in financial assistance. The Attorney General's office didn't actually want to put Brown back in prison; they just didn't think the state should pay her the money.

-- Read Judge DiReda's 47-page decision HERE.

After a brief outcry of public protest, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff then personally intervened and said there would be no appeal. So Debra Brown went home not only with a huge load off her shoulders, but with the hope of rebuilding her life financially, since a job resume that says Utah State Prison on it does not necessarily promote employability.

Not so fast, Debra. On May 26th, Mark Shurtleff changed his mind AGAIN, announcing his intent to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court after all. Once again, the word "precedent" forced its way to the surface; Shurtleff explained "If we do not [appeal], we fear there will be a floodgate opened — that every judge out there will become another Monday morning quarterback, giving another bite of the apple to everybody who’s been convicted of a crime". Shurtleff explained his previous decision not to appeal by saying that he just got caught up in the emotions of the ruling. He also said he had not closely studied the facts of the case when he made the announcement retracting the planned appeal. After reviewing the case and speaking with concerned county attorneys, he decided an appeal was necessary; 26 of the state's 29 county attorneys back him up. Shurtleff said his office will not seek for Brown's return to prison, but noted that his office will not make that decision. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

So Debra Brown not only could have her conviction reinstated and denied her compensation, but there's even a remote chance she could go back to prison. One would think she would be absolutely devastated by this turn of events, but she's reportedly optimistic and positive that it will work out for her in the end.

The Rocky Mountain Innocence Project, which helped Debra Brown with her appeal, does not believe a bad precedent has been set. Although they receive more than 200 requests for assistance every year, they only end up investigating 10 or so over the course of many years. And of the 10 innocence petitions currently filed under the 2008 factual innocence statute, only Brown’s case reached the litigation stage.

Analysis: The problem isn't that Shurtleff decided to appeal; there are legitimate grounds to fear an unintentional precedent. Some say Judge DiReda set the bar too low. The problem is that Shurtleff gave way to emotion and decided not to appeal, getting Brown's hopes up, and then changed his mind, temporarily dashing Brown's hopes. Considering that he is being treated with powerful chemicals, it is appropriate to ask whether or not his medical treatment is adversely affecting his judgment.

This isn't political; I cannot recall taking any serious issue with Mark Shurtleff. He's a devoted husband and a dedicated father, and by all accounts, has been a good Attorney General. But can the state of Utah afford to have as its chief law enforcement officer a man whose judgment may be affected by chemotherapy and its side effects? Resignation for medical reasons would be totally honorable; he wouldn't be considered a quitter.

A resignation decision should not be precipitous. But the question needs to be asked publicly -- should Mark Shurtleff resign for health reasons?

LDS Stake Center In Joplin, Missouri Virtually Destroyed By Tornado, But Painting Of Jesus Christ At The Last Supper Emerges Unscathed

2011-05-24T11:09:00.004-08:00

Update: Four outstanding aerial view photos of the damage in Joplin are now available at the Daily Mail website . Since they're copyrighted AP photos, they cannot be published here. New casualty figures as of 4:50 P.M. May 24th have now been posted.

This story illustrates either the spiritual power of Jesus Christ, the capricious nature of tornadoes, or perhaps a mixture of both. Among the estimated 8,000 buildings damaged or destroyed by the May 22nd, 2011 F5 tornado which roared through the heart of Joplin, Missouri was the stake center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was the meetinghouse for the Joplin First and Second Wards. It was virtually reduced to rubble -- except for one wall where a painting showing Jesus Christ and the Last Supper hung. You can see in the photo below that the painting emerged virtually unscathed:

The same photo was also posted as a CNN iReport. A gallery of additional photos can be found on The Bowles Family blog. They live within the boundaries of the Joplin Missouri Stake, although not in the city proper, and they describe their impressions of the damage in this post. They note that their stake president's home was destroyed. LDS Newsroom reports that all missionaries in the affected areas are safe and accounted for.

Just found this video that provides an aerial tour of Joplin after the tornado. The chopper is flying from west to east. At about the 1:20 point, they approach the large Joplin High School complex. Directly across the street is the remains of the stake center. They fly over the stake center, and you can see the blacktop parking lot behind it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNwZ1IY2p0

Even if you are not a believer in a Supreme Being or a religious system, you have to be amazed at this example of how a tornado can be capricious and selective about the damage it inflicts. There are stories about how the 1999 Salt Lake tornado, which began in downtown, dodged the Salt Lake Temple and then touched down again in the Avenues.

The Joplin tornado touched down around 5:41 P.M. on May 22nd just west of the St. John's Medical Center; its path was adjudged to be 1/2 mile wide and traveled six miles. The National Weather Service has now upgraded it to an F5, and estimated it reached maximum wind speeds of over 200 mph. As of 4:50 P.M. on May 24th, the death toll has now reached 122, with 750 people injured and an estimated 8,000 structures damaged or destroyed. Useful local media sources include the Springfield News-Leader, KY3.com, KOLR Channel 10, and KSPR Channel 33, all operating in nearby Springfield, Missouri.

A graphic showing the path of the tornado is now available HERE.

KSL Channel 5 reported on reaction from Utahns with ties to Joplin. Natalie Colby, working with a group based in Tulsa, OK, said that the tornado came within 600 yards of the group's vehicles. The group was watching the storm pattern, waiting for it to dissipate, but then suddenly the storm intensified and the tornado touched down on a direct path toward them. They thought briefly about sheltering in a Home Depot, but changed their mind and continued driving. That same Home Depot was leveled by the tornado.

Missouri native Kelli Riem, who was baptized into the LDS Church at the Joplin stake center 31 years ago, heard about the tornado at her home in Brigham City and quickly turned her attention to her aunt living in the area. Her aunt lives near the severely-damaged St. John's Hospital, but it turned out her aunt's house was only slightly damaged, while everything around it was completely destroyed.

And a Utah pastor has launched his own relief efforts. Senior Pastor Myke Crowder of the Christian Life Center church grew up in Joplin, has relatives who have lost homes there, and now plans to take an RV full of clothes, supplies, money and whatever can be mustered to Joplin. His church has teamed up with local businesses to create several drop-off locations; including the Layton Christian Academy (2352 E. HWY 193 in Layton, UT 84015), the Automatic Car Credit locations in Salt Lake City, Layton and Ogden, and Northern Realty inside the Layton Hills Mall.

Those who want to assist in relief efforts can visit the USA Today website and consider the numerous options offered.

Four Brighton High School Students Arrested For Vandalism After Being Caught On Video Running Through Fence In Cottonwood Heights

2011-05-18T00:17:00.000-08:00

This is a bigger deal than appears at first glance. James Tidwell, a homeowner in the toney Salt Lake suburb of Cottonwood Heights, has a lengthy white vinyl fence along much of his property. And during the past 18 months, it's been vandalized at least 14 times; he estimates he's replaced 30 panels of the fence. Finally, Tidwell had enough and set up video surveillance, and recently he struck paydirt. The video below shows two teenage girls lining up carefully in front of the fence, doing everything except getting down in a four-point stance, and then rushing it, knocking three of the panels off. They then jump into a car and escape.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

But because both KSL and KSTU aired the surveillance video, the perps have been uncovered. The two girls have been arrested, along with two others also identified. All four are students at Brighton High School. KSTU also reports that police are still looking for another teen recorded urinating on a neighbor’s driveway, and that they also believe some teen boys have been involved in the vandalism. All are believed to be students at Brighton High. Here's KSTU's version of the story:

Police say that it was simply a prank that got out of hand. The students didn't have a personal issue with the homeowner; they simply targeted the fence because it was a long one. But it could turn out to be an expensive prank as the four Brighton juniors will be facing criminal mischief charges.

"Thor" Opens In Utah Theaters, But Council Of Conservative Citizens Leading Boycott Against It Because A Black Actor Plays Heimdall

2011-05-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

The highly touted movie "Thor", rated PG-13. has finally opened in various theaters around the Beehive State; a complete list of locations and showtimes is available from the KSL Channel 5 website. And in case you're not sure if it's worth watching, two local media outlets have provided reviews of the movie.

The plot in a nutshell: As the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king of the Norse gods, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is soon to inherit the throne of Asgard from his aging father. However, on the day that he is to be crowned, Thor reacts with brutality when the gods' enemies, the Frost Giants, enter the palace in violation of their treaty. As punishment, Odin banishes Thor to Earth. While Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's brother, plots mischief in Asgard, Thor, now stripped of his powers, faces his greatest threat yet.

The first review is provided by KSL's Doug Wright. He's obviously impressed; he writes, "This is one of my favorite movies so far this year. Everything works, and that's in no small part due to the direction of Branagh. Hemsworth delivers an evolving character that charms; Portman is incapable of a mediocre performance and Hopkins is, well, he's Sir Anthony and that says it all". He awards it 3 1/2 stars. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

A much more detailed and thoughtful second review was published by Scott Renshaw in the Salt Lake City Weekly. Less effusive than Dough Wright in his praise, he characterizes the movie as "one of a kind". Kershaw writes, "So you will get three big action set pieces. You will get a Stan Lee cameo appearance. You will get a few insider details for the comic-book nerds to geek out over. This is the way of things, and fighting it would be like trying to arm-wrestle the Hulk".

Yet neither reviewer mentioned one of the more significant characters of the movie -- Heimdall. In the story, Heimdall is the brother of the warrior Sif. He is the all-seeing and all-hearing guardian sentry of Asgard, he stands on the rainbow bridge, Bifrost and stands watch for any attacks to Asgard. Not an insignificant character. Yet there's no mention of him in either review.

Playing the role of Heimdall in Thor is Idris Elba. A black man playing the role of a Norse god.

And that got the dander of the Council of Conservative Citizens up back in December 2010. This is because blacks are not indigenous to Scandinavia, thus they could not have been Norse gods (had there been such entities). So to choose a black man to play Heimdall would be much like choosing David Duke to play the title role in a movie about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or like selecting Ed Decker to play the title role in a movie about the Prophet Joseph Smith. It simply does not fit -- unless one is doing a parody. When the controversy first flared, Idris Elba said it is justified for the studio to cast a black man as a Norse God because “Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra”; some historical revisionists claim Cleopatra was actually black. But the “Cleopatra was a black woman” story is actually a flimsy myth put forth by the Nation of Islam and other radical black power groups; Cleopatra was a Macedonian Greek as shown in these illustrations.

So the CofCC organized the Boycott Thor campaign. They want to keep social engineering out of European mythology; they've pledged to boycott the movie because of its insulting corruption of Germanic mythology to promote a left-wing political agenda on race. In their FAQ, Boycott Thor assures us that they object just as much to white actors playing the roles of non-whites in movies; the issue is historical accuracy and context.

The CofCC also notes that a book entitled "Hollywood in Blackface" is being released coincident with the release of Thor. The book's premise is that filmmakers skillfully manipulate character and dialogue, conflict and action, in ways that allow them to cast positive and negative images; in so doing, filmmakers profoundly shape the perceptions their audiences hold of different racial groups which they, the audience, rarely encounter in real life. Occidental Dissent also explores the broader trend of anti-white racial films produced by Hollywood.

Perhaps the Heimdall issue would have remained anecdotal had it not been for the tendency by the Left to play the race card so much in other aspects of society and blame Whitey for all the sins of the world, past, present, and future. The Boycott Thor campaign sends a message to the Left that turnabout is fair play, and that we can hoist them upon their own petard of political correctness.

GAO Report Reveals 68 Percent Of All SCAAP Criminal Illegal Aliens In U.S. Prisons Are From Mexico; Total Federal Costs Around $1.6 Billion

2011-05-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

The chart above says it all. Extracted from page 9 of a General Accounting Office report entitled "CRIMINAL ALIEN STATISTICS: Information on Incarcerations, Arrests, and Costs", it shows that 68 percent of all SCAAP criminal aliens incarcerated in American Federal prisons are from Mexico. This disproportionality is not just restricted to the Federal level; a separate chart on page 13 shows that 66 percent of criminal aliens in state prisons are from Mexico, and another chart on page 15 shows 70 percent in local jails.

SCAAP is the acronymn for State Criminal Alien Assistance Program; the significance of the distinction, as explained on page 63 of the report, is that the GAO report does not reflect all criminal aliens incarcerated in the United States, since submission to the SCAAP program for reimbursement is voluntary. Consequently, not all state prison systems and local jails will be included.

-- Read the entire 65-page report HERE (may take about three minutes to download via DSL).
-- Read the one-page GAO Highlights Report HERE.

Apologists for Mexico will immediately seize upon Mexico' proximity to the United States via a lengthy shared border as the explanation for the disproportionality. And yes, it's true that Mexico shares a lengthy border with us. So does Canada, but if you look back at the graph posted above, you'll note NO SEPARATE ENTRY for Canada. Canada is lumped in with the remaining 172 countries that together comprise 10 percent of the criminal alien population. Thus Canada's share alone can be assumed to be less than one percent.

Think about it. Both Mexico and Canada share borders with the United States. Yet while 68 percent of illegal aliens in prison are Mexican, less than one percent are Canadian. Even accounting for the fact that there's more poverty and violence in Mexico than in Canada, that's still disproportionate.

The report also contains information stratified by state. On page 12 of the report, mouse the cursor over the state of interest to determine the trend. You'll note that the one-year trend in several states, to include Ohio, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah, is sharply rising. On page 63, you'll find the specific numbers; the number of criminal aliens in Utah's jails and prisons skyrocketed from 2,018 in 2008 to 3,438 in 2009.

How much does this cost us? On page 34, the GAO estimates a total cost of incarceration in federal prisons and SCAAP reimbursements to states and localities to be $1.6 billion in 2009. Page 37 shows incarceration in state prisons to cost $1.1 billion in 2009, up 56 percent from 2003 (this represents a combined federal-state prison cost of $2.7 billion). Furthermore, they estimate the aggregate operating costs (i.e., correctional officer salaries, medical care, food service, and utilities) associated with incarcerating criminal aliens in our state prison systems has totaled $7 billion from FY 2003 through FY 2009. Based on available appropriations, states were reimbursed for only about $1.6 billion of the $7 billion, about 23 percent of the costs. Of course, whether it's paid for by the state or reimbursed by the Feds, the common original source of the funds is Mr. and Ms. John Q. Taxpayer.

The report was in response to an inquiry by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who is an immigration hawk. Rep. King is using the study to back his push for a fence and a wall that would run along the U.S.-Mexico border as a way to stop people from coming into the country illegally. Rep. King sits on the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security & International Law subcommittee.

A Google news search did not reveal a whole lot of media interest in this story. Outlets publishing reports included The New American, the Washington Times, which noted that one of every four inmates in federal prisons is an illegal immigrant, The Hill, and the BBC. Also weighing in on the report was the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and the American Third Position Party,

Missing West Valley City Mom Susan Cox Powell Not Completely Forgotten; Two Volunteer Groups Continue Searching For Her In Utah

2011-04-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

Missing: Susan Powell - She is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

While the case of the missing Susan Cox Powell has understandably dropped off the media radar due to the lengthy passage of time with no progress towards resolution, not everyone has forgotten about her. KSTU Channel 13 reports on the continuing efforts of two volunteer groups to find her.

The two groups are Mojave Underground and the Bridgerland Fire Company. During the weekend of April 23rd, 2011, the Bridgerland Fire Company conducted a new search, this time at a large patch of desert on the northern end of the Great Salt Lake. It also served as a training exercise for new recruits. News video embedded below:

Unfortunately, this weekend's effort bore no fruit. But Bridgerland Fire Company plans another search for June. Mojave Underground has focused on searching abandoned mines for any sign of the missing mother.

The behavior of her husband, Josh Powell, continues to be inexplicable and is rightfully questioned. At the outset of Susan's disappearance on December 6th, 2009, Josh seemed reluctant to fully cooperate with police, and was designated a "person of interest" as a result. About two weeks later, Josh took the two kids and moved to Puyallup, Washington to be near his own parents. Former FBI profiler Cliff Van Zandt weighed in shortly thereafter, and noted that there were a number of oddities about Josh Powell's behavior, even opining that the case reminded him of two other missing women cases -- one of which is that of the wife of former police officer Drew Peterson.

Perhaps that behavior could be attributed to grief; there's no scripture that prescribes a certain way to handle grief. But Josh's disinterest and disinclination to cooperate in the search continues to this day; Bridgerland spokesman Jon Watkins said he originally asked Josh Powell for assistance in some of their earlier searches in Tooele County, but was rebuffed. It's almost as if Josh Powell is content to forget Susan ever existed. I'd like to think I'd be busting down doors trying to find my wife if she disappeared.

A Google search revealed that the last known time Josh Powell spoke out was in November 2010; he said that his wife is extremely unstable, and that he believes mental illness drove her to leave her family behind. He claimed that only reduced scrutiny from her family and the public would speed her return. Josh's father Steve Powell believes his daughter-in-law ran off with a boyfriend. He said Susan talked with her friends about sex and the sexual encounters she had before meeting her husband. But Jennifer Graves, who is Josh's sister, rebuts these notions, claiming that Josh and Steve Powell have concocted these stories to cover up their possible involvement in Susan’s disappearance.

If Josh Powell was not responsible for the disappearance of his wife (and it is still indeed possible he isn't), then he has a remarkable lack of capability to project any empathy. Such people exist; they are not bad people, but simply aren't hard-wired with that capacity. I don't believe Susan Powell would just up and disappear by choice; she may have wanted to get away from Josh, but she's also a mother who undoubtedly loves her kids. Walking away from her kids would prove too much for her to bear in the long run.

Those who want to track the progress of this case more closely can visit the following websites:

-- Susan Powell Facebook page HERE.

-- Susan Cox Powell Foundation website HERE.

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz Introduces H.R.1510 To Ban TSA Patdown Of Children Without Parental Consent

2011-04-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz continues his efforts to put a leash around the Transportation Security Administration and bring some sanity to its passenger screening operations. In keeping with this mission, Rep. Chaffetz has introduced a bill which would ban TSA patdowns of children without parental consent.

The bill, designated H.R.1510, is entitled the "TSA Screening of Minors Act of 2011". The primary purpose is to amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit a patdown search of minor for purposes of air transportation security without the consent and presence of a parent of the minor. It defines parent as either a biological parent or an adult acting in loco parentis. In the case of a minor who is not accompanied by a parent, a patdown would have to be conducted in the presence of a representative of the air carrier or foreign air carrier undertaking to provide air transportation or foreign air transportation, respectively, for which the search is conducted. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Rep. Chaffetz's action was prompted by the April 5th TSA groping of six-year-old Anna Drexel in New Orleans. Rep. Chaffetz characterized the patdown as being in clear violation of TSA’s explicit policy not to conduct thorough pat-downs on children under the age of 13. He pledged to introduce restrictive legislation after that incident, and H.R.1510 is the result.

In response, TSA officials note that a blanket ban on screening children could inspire some of the worst terrorists to exploit young children and use them to carry explosive or other dangerous devices onto planes. As usual, TSA is overreacting; H.R.1510 is NOT a blanket ban, but merely gives more control back to the parent.

According to the Provo Daily Herald, Rep. Chaffetz actually favors adopting a less intrusive form of screening -- dogs. Chaffetz says TSA could protect the country just as well with the use of bomb sniffing dogs and behavioral screenings, noting that dogs are used in the White House, the House of Representatives, and in the theater of war. Chaffetz admits that his plan to implement the usage of the dogs over the scanning machines will have an uphill battle, because the dogs don't have something the scanning machines do have -- a lobbyist.

That lobbyist is, of course, none other than former Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff, whose Chertoff Group security consulting agency represents Rapiscan Systems, which manufactures the whole-body scanners being installed at airports.

Salt Lake Tribune Calculates Combined "Red-Blue" Legislative Scorecard For Utah State Legislature; Rep. Carl Wimmer The Most Conservative

2011-04-19T11:26:00.001-08:00

The Salt Lake Tribune combined the 2011 legislative scorecards of five different Utah watchdog groups, standardized them, and compiled a master "Red-Blue" scorecard, publishing the results on April 19th, 2011. Read the Tribune story, then view the combined scorecard HERE. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this article is to provide prospective voters with another means to hold lawmakers accountable.

To no one's surprise, the legislature leans right. Overall, the legislature scored a median of 73 this year, or well to the political right. This assumes a score of 100 for most conservative, and a score of 0 for most liberal. Rep. Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) graded out the most conservative with a rating of 90.6. Wimmer said he doesn't deliberately go out of his way to align himself with watchdog groups, but that his votes simply reflect personal principle. Wimmer believes in minimum government and maximum liberty.

Three of the five watchdog groups chosen tend to be conservative; the Utah Taxpayers Association, Grass Roots, and Parents For Choice. The other two tend to be liberal; Sierra Club of Utah and the Utah Education Association. Each group's individual scorecard is available at the following links:

-- Utah Taxpayers Association scorecard
-- Grass Roots scorecard
-- Parents For Choice scorecard
-- Utah Education Association scorecard
-- Sierra Club of Utah
---- Senate scorecard
---- House scorecard

One group which should have been included by the Tribune is Utahns for Immigration Reform & Enforcement (UFIRE). Their ratings for state legislators are available HERE.

Methodology: The highest numbers are the most conservative, the lowest numbers the most liberal. The Tribune was able to take the ratings directly from the three conservative groups and use them as is. However, the two liberal groups assign the highest numbers to the most liberal lawmakers, so the Tribune had to flip those numbers around, or invert them, to make them consistent. Then they simply added up all the numbers and divided by five to get the overall ratings.

Noteworthy Findings:

-- The Tribune's ratings reflect the pronounced blue-red split between Salt Lake City and the rest of the state. The four lowest ranking senators are all Democrats representing Salt Lake City districts. Six of the lowest ranking representatives are Democrats who hail from Salt Lake City districts. In contrast, the highest ranking lawmakers are Republicans who tend to represent Utah County, Davis County, southwest Salt Lake County, and St. George.

-- Surprisingly, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (R-Orem), a noteworthy illegal immigration hawk, graded out only at 58.2 overall. Dragging Sandstrom down was a high 60 percent from the Utah Education Association, which inverted to 40 percent for this survey, and a relatively low 64 percent from the Utah Taxpayers Association.

A Third Member Of Ron Paul's Family Weighing A Political Run; Dr. Robert Paul May Run For The U.S. Senate From Texas

2011-04-15T16:08:00.001-08:00

We may see a third member of Ron Paul's family in Congress by 2013. Dr. Robert Paul, a doctor who runs a family medical practice in Benbrook and lives in Fort Worth, is mulling a Congressional bid of his own. He's considering whether or not to jump into the race to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison when her term expires in January 2013. He would join Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) if he succeeds.

"I have thought about running," Dr. Paul, one of five children, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I am very happy as a physician, but (I) have a lot of concern about the debt." Some experts think the price will be high; Larry Sabato estimates a campaign could cost upwards of $10 million. This does not appear to be a passing fancy, either; Robert Paul already has a Facebook site:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-Paul-for-US-Senate-2012/148303935230977

Robert Paul campaigned for his father during the 2008 Presidential race. Here's a video of a speech he made in Oklahoma City drumming up support for his father. It should be no surprise that he embraces the same political values as the other two. He opposes the growth of government, and its overreaching into the lives of everyday citizens. He also opposes raising taxes, and endless spending by the federal government, and strongly supports the values found within the confines of the Constitution:

The grass roots interest is already there. The Daily Paul has been talking this up since February 20th, 2011. Politico has also weighed in, and notes that Rep. Ron Paul’s communications director, Rachel Mills, told them that the elder Paul is unaware of a possible run by his son. Reaction on Politico is less favorable than on The Daily Paul.

As for Ron Paul, he's expected to make a decision on a Presidential campaign sometime in May. Rand Paul thinks the old man will go for it. If he does run, I hope he's prepared to go the distance this time; his 2008 campaign sort of fizzled out after the MLK Day Money Bomb, disappointing many people. Either he should go in all the way, or else keep the safe House seat.

Study Reveals 47 Percent Of Meat May Contain Staph Bacteria; Turkey Most Likely To Be Contaminated, Chicken Least Likely

2011-04-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

On April 15th, 2011, CNN reports on the release of a study by the Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, which indicates that 47 percent of meat and poultry samples they tested contained Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), a common cause of infection in people. Furthermore, nearly half of the contaminated samples contained strains of Staph that were resistant to at least three antibiotics and as many as a half-dozen. The latter would include the dreaded MRSA infection.

Researchers tested 136 packages of chicken, turkey, pork, and ground beef under 80 different brands purchased at 26 grocery stores located in Los Angeles, Chicago; Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale, and Flagstaff. The study also indicated a disparity in the susceptibility of different types of meat; strains resistant to three or more antibiotics were found in 79 percent of turkey, 64 percent of pork, 35 percent of beef, and 26 percent of chicken samples.

The variety and number of S. aureus strains found on the samples suggest that the livestock themselves may be the source of the bacteria, rather than the processing and packaging sequence. Medical News Today notes although US authorities routinely check meats and poultry for four different types of drug-resistant bacteria, the checks do not include S. aureus. CNN news video embedded below:

CNN notes that the study has just been published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. It does not yet show up on their website; when it does, it's likely you'll have to pay to read the full study, since they generally only make the abstracts available for free. Medical News Today offers a few more snippets.

The L.A. Times reveals the meat industry's response to this report. The American Meat Institute issued a news release saying the nation’s meat and poultry supply is among the safest in the world. The association, representing red meat and turkey processors, took special issue with the size of the study: “It is notable that the study involved only 136 samples of meat and poultry from 80 brands in 26 retail grocery stores in five U.S. cities. This small sample is insufficient to reach the sweeping conclusions conveyed in a news release about the study.”

Consequently, the study should not particularly alarm people or cause them to go vegetarian. Furthermore, the dreaded MRSA is still rare. There are common sense techniques one can use to minimize any threat:

(1). Store meat properly. Minimal time from store to freezer. Refrigerate meat-based leftovers promptly.

(2). Cook thoroughly. The bigger the piece of meat, the more thoroughly it needs to be cooked. Use a meat thermometer for whole turkeys, chickens, and roasts. Health.com says the internal temperature of chicken and turkey should reach 165˚; steaks, 145˚; and hamburgers, 160˚.

(3). Wash hands thoroughly after preparation. Staph can exploit even small cuts on the body; if necessary, bandage cuts or wear disposable gloves on hands before preparing meat. Wash hands thoroughly afterwards. Don't forget that produce needs to be washed, too.

Two other useful sources of information:

-- Health.com: How to practice food safety in your home kitchen
-- Health.com: Eight ways to prevent food poisoning

Sarah Palin Vindicated: Trig Palin Conspiracy Theories Spiked By Anchorage Daily News Reporter Who Covered Her

2011-04-15T08:54:00.001-08:00

The Trig Palin conspiracy wankers recently got a boost when a professor at Northern Kentucky University, Bradford Scharlott, published a 29-page screed entitled “Palin, the Press, and the Fake Pregnancy Rumor”, in which he resurrected false rumors about Trig Palin not being the son of Sarah Palin and accused former Palin Administration spokesman Bill McAllister of spiking the story when he was working for KTUU Channel 2 in Anchorage. Scharlott further insinuated that then-Governor Palin hired McAllister away from KTUU to co-opt him. McAllister got very hot under the collar and, in his response to Scharlott, said “If we ever meet, I’ll slap you. In a different era, I’d challenge you to a duel" (the full text of McAllister's e-mail response is reproduced HERE).

Now an authoritative source has spoken out to rebut the "Trig Truthers". Anchorage Daily News reporter Julia O'Malley, who has different personal politics from Palin, covered Palin during the closing months of her pregnancy, and asserts that Palin's pregnancy was very real and was showing. In a column entitled "Make. It. Stop", O'Malley writes:

The journalists, including me, who covered Palin at the time believed she was pregnant because she was pregnant. Even before the announcement, she seemed to be putting on weight. She wore baggy jackets and scarves. Before the announcement, she acted nervous when photographers tried to take her picture. Later on, her face filled out. Her fingers swelled. She had a noticeable belly. And it wasn't made out of foam.

"A trim woman simply can’t hide a fetus in her seventh month of pregnancy, and Palin in no way looks four and a half weeks away from giving birth to a 6 pound baby," Sharlott writes. Actually, women carry babies all kinds of different ways. Some women gain less than 20 pounds. Has this man never seen "I didn't know I was pregnant" on TLC?

Palin also ran all the time at the gym in Juneau. People I know saw her on the treadmill sweating in workout clothes. She had a belly. I repeat: she had a real pregnant belly. Are you going to tell me she was wearing a prosthetic abdomen on the treadmill? After the birth, we interviewed her doctor who talked about it. Why would the doctor lie for her? That's right. She wouldn't.

So who are you going to believe, an egghead thousands of miles away who has never personally met Sarah Palin, or a reporter who regularly covered her during the period? My money is on the reporter.

The "Trig Truthers" tend to believe Bristol Palin is actually the mother of Trig, and that Sarah Palin conspired to cover it up. One loony actually posted a comment to the Daily News story claiming that Palin "could have purposely gained weight by eating tons of fast food and high calorie food. Two pounds a week would be easy and that is 20+ pounds in 11 weeks". Another comment sums up the contentions of the Trig Truthers:

What is unbelievable about the birth of Trig is that Sarah, who supposedly already had two miscarriages according to Going Rogue, and while in the late stages of a high-risk pregnancy:
- would get on a plane and fly to Texas
- give a speech there after her water had broken
- then fly over 10 hours, with a layover in Seattle to get back to Alaska
- bypass hospitals in Texas, Seattle and Anchorage that are equipped to handle high-risk deliveries
- then have her husband drive her, without any police or emergency escort, 45 minutes late at night, to a small hospital in Mat-Su Valley that is not equipped to handle the birth of twins, let alone allow a delivery of a high-risk pregnancy within its premises

What the comment above completely ignores is that Sarah Palin had already brought four children into the world, so she was quite familiar with how her body would react to this pregnancy, moreso than any doctor. The steps she took just prior to delivery were fully informed, and she had obtained competent medical opinion before doing so. Not every woman reacts the same way to pregnancy. She completely understood the risks involved. Furthermore, the "small" hospital in Mat-Su is a state-of-the-art facility, fully equipped to deal with most pregnancies. So the Trig Truthers are not only biased against Sarah Palin, but against small towns as well.

Nevertheless, one of the prominent local bloggers, The Immoral Minority, continues to regurgitate the Trig Palin Conspiracy Theory, citing the usual host of "sources" who he never names. In contrast, Alaska Pride 2.0 congratulates Julia O'Malley for setting her politics aside to get the truth out.

Julia O'Malley has effectively rebutted the Trig Truthers' conspiracy theories. End of story.

Six-Year-Old Anna Drexel Groped By TSA Screener At New Orleans On April 5th; Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz And Others Outraged

2011-04-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Another TSA screening is in the news -- this time, of a six-year-old girl in New Orleans. On April 5th, 2011, TSA screeners gave Anna Drexel a thorough patdown while she and her family were preparing to board a flight. The parents, Todd and Selena Drexel, recorded the incident and are outraged; they discussed the incident of ABC's Good Morning America on April 13th. Additional stories in the New York Daily News and the Daily Mail. First, the full GMA interview is embedded below, then the YouTube video of the screening:

The screening:

http://youtu.be/-3sH1GaO_nw

Surprisingly, there are an equal number of "likes" and "dislikes" on the video; TSA has their defenders.

The Drexel parents, their nine-year-old daughter Grace, and six-year-old Anna all went through the scanner; their two-year-old daughter Caroline was exempted. However, for reasons that are still unclear, TSA singled out six-year-old Anna for a follow-up patdown. Although Selena Drexel asked the screener to re-scan her daughter, TSA refused and proceeded with the patdown. The behavior of the female TSA screener appeared to be professional; she spoke in a polite tone to the child and moved her rubber-gloved hands down her arms and legs. Then she then ran her finger along the waistband of her pants, using the back of her hands to touch the girl's sensitive areas. Todd Drexel said Anna was confused by the search and started crying afterward because she thought she'd done something wrong.

It should be noted that the girl was NOT drug-tested; this was a rumor inadvertently triggered by a comment by Selena Drexel who wasn't quite sure what was going on.

But while the parents don't dispute the professionalism of the screening, they do dispute the propriety. Selena Drexel said such searches are inappropriate for children because they're usually told not to let adults touch them in sensitive areas. TSA acknowledges the problem; although they said the screener did exactly what she was trained to do, they said they are working to move away from a "one-size fits all system" when it comes to addressing security and children. But they're concerned that issuing a blanket exclusion for children or any other low-risk group from intensive searches could be exploited by terrorists.

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz is also outraged. Chaffetz, whose House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security oversees national security issues, said he was personally outraged and disgusted over the security patdown, claiming TSA violated their explicit policy not to conduct thorough patdowns on children under the age of 13. Chaffetz announced his intent to introduce legislation later this week requiring parental supervision during the patdown of a child. In March 2011, Chaffetz held his first in a series of hearings on TSA policies, where Alaska State Rep. Sharon Cissna (D-Anchorage), herself a victim of TSA misconduct, spoke to the impact invasive patdowns have on sensitive populations like children and survivors of sexual abuse. Read the transcript of Cissna's testimony HERE.

Online unscientific media polls indicate the public shares Chaffetz' point of view. KSL's poll shows that of 825 respondents so far, 68 percent are either completely outraged or at least disappointed. A New York Daily News poll shows 54 percent of respondents don't think TSA should ever pat down a small child.

Illegal Alien Miguel Mateos-Martinez Sentenced To Life Without Parole For Armed Robbery And Murder Of Faviola Hernandez In Salt Lake City

2011-04-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Justice has been slow for the family of Faviola Hernandez, who was gunned down by an illegal alien from Mexico during a botched robbery attempt at a Glendale hair salon in Salt Lake City in 2007. But justice became sure on April 12th, 2011, when Miguel Mateos-Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without parole for one count of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.

After Mateos-Martinez issued a pro forma apology claiming that he only wanted the money and never intended to take Faviola's life, Judge Deno Himonas didn't sound very enthused about putting this guy away. He said it was a very close issue on whether to impose 20 years to life or a life term on the aggravated murder count; in handing down a life sentence, the judge said he did so with a heavy heart. However, Faviola's family members who showed up in court said that Mateos-Martinez's apology was a bunch of baloney and added that they would never forgive him. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Recap of previous events (previous post HERE provides links to other posts on the case): On August 15th, 2007, while his cohort Jesus Jimenez waited outside in a getaway vehicle, Mateos-Martinez entered the Bushwhacker Hair & Tanning salon at 1329 W. California Ave., and shot salon owner Faviola Hernandez. Both Jimenez and Mateos-Martinez then escaped. But while Jimenez was quickly apprehended, Mateos-Martinez, who was an illegal alien, escaped to Mexico. In June 2008, a jury found Jimenez guilty of murder and aggravated robbery, both first-degree felonies. The jury also found Jimenez eligible for an enhanced penalty for use of a firearm in a crime; in September 2007, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Subsequently, Mateos-Martinez was nabbed by U.S. marshals without incident in Ensenada, Mexico in July 2008. He was held in a Mexico City prison until the extradition. To faciliate the extradition from Mexico, Utah prosecutors agreed to not pursue the death penalty; Mexico normally won't extradite murder suspects unless the death penalty's off the table.

Mitt Romney Can Now Be Considered A Presidential Candidate, Launches Official Exploratory Committee

2011-04-11T14:09:00.001-08:00

Mitt Romney has now taken the first critical step that distinguishes a mere "hopeful" from a candidate. On April 11th, 2011, Romney announced he is forming an exploratory committee for a 2012 presidential run. He becomes the second Republican to announce an exploratory committee, following Tim Pawlenty who announced earlier. Romney is convinced that America has been put on a dangerous course by Washington politicians and it's become even worse during the past two years, but with able leadership, America's best days are still ahead. He wants to put America back on a course of greatness. He mentioned nothing about health care, which may be smart considering that Romneycare is considered Obamacare Lite. You can read the full written text of his video announcement HERE, or watch the video below, which was shot at the University of New Hampshire:

http://youtu.be/tAcxwfkAdDY

Interesting reaction on the YouTube channel. Feedback indicates 98 likes and 88 dislikes so far. I don't normally see so many dislikes attendant to this type of video.

No such problem in Utah -- Romney still owns the state. A poll of 247 Utahns conducted by Dan Jones on April 7th indicates an overwhelming lead for Romney:

-- Mitt Romney: 69 percent
-- Jon Huntsman Jr: 14 percent
-- Donald Trump: 5 percent
-- Sarah Palin: 2 percent
-- Mike Huckabee: 1 percent
-- Other: 7 percent
-- Don't Know: 3 percent

Kirk Jowers, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a longtime Romney supporter, discounted Trump's appeal, characterizing him as a "shiny new toy" who has only raised the so-called "birther" issue so far. Trump should not be taken seriously.

National polls seem to indicate the time is right for Romney. The National Journal places him number one in their presidential rankings. And on April 6th, the Wall Street Journal reported that Romney led a WSJ/NBC national poll.

One of Mitt Romney's weak spots is the South. Romney is considered a bit too formal; many Southerners prefer their candidates to display a less formal style. In addition, Evangelicals are strong in the South, and some still have misgivings about a Mormon in the White House, although anti-Mormon sentiment is fading. If Romney wants to pursue a strategy of uniting the South and West and New England to get the nomination and take down Obama, he'll have to consider a running mate who plays well in the South. Among the best choices: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Haley Barbour. Of those three, Palin seems like the best choice; she has the most committed and passionate supporters.

Unofficial reaction from the Palin camp: Conservatives4Palin has just weighed in with a somewhat catty response. They write "Romney, like Tim Pawlenty, made the announcement online via a Youtube clip. Unlike Pawlenty however, Romney’s announcement was boring, dry, and seemingly insincere. We won’t be linking directly to it". The latter is nothing more than a cheap Shannyn Moore tactic; progressives play that silly game of "not linking to something" in order to promote a false patina of respectability. Gimme a break, C4P; try acting like adults.

Purge Continues At Alta High School; Assistant Principal Mark Montague Transferred To Butler Middle School In Cottonwood Heights

2011-04-11T13:05:00.002-08:00

The full scale witch hunt and purge launched against Alta High School by the Canyons School District continues unabated, although the latest victim got a relatively soft landing. Assistant Principal Mark Montague, who along with Principal Mont Widerburg was placed on paid leave after the Klan hood incident at the March 17th spirit bowl at Alta, has been transferred to Butler Middle School in Cottonwood Heights where he will serve as assistant principal. The current assistant principal at Butler, Corrie Barrett, relocates to Alta to replace Montague in the same position.

Any negative impact upon Montague will be likely in career progression. A move from an AP slot at a high school to the same slot at a middle school is not looked upon as forward career progression. While all schools within the district are treated with equal importance, middle schools have fewer student than high schools; a middle school admin job is not considered as difficult. This means that Montague can probably kiss off ever getting a principal's slot within the Canyons School District, and may have a difficult time competing for any other principal's slot within the state of Utah. But at least he still has a job. Since this post, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Montague, who has worked in education for 33 years, said that Butler is a “great school”, but declined to discuss the reasons for his move.

The former principal, Mont Widerburg, was actually slated to transfer to a facilities job in the district office, but decided to suddenly "retire" after the controversy broke. Widerburg insists the retirement was "voluntary". Widerburg exited with class, saying "Take the challenge to teach, and learn the principles of love, caring, compassion, understanding, tolerance and especially forgiveness. Promise yourselves that you will respect others and treat them with dignity. Do everything to combat the evils of the world and to promote good."

Of course, if you really believe Widerburg's retirement was completely "voluntary", I have a bridge over Utah Lake I'll sell you. Oops, wait a minute, I forgot......somebody actually wants to build one.

Meanwhile, another result of the continuing purge is that three Alta students were charged were issued citations for unlawful acts in school, all class B misdemeanors. Two of the students were cited for allegedly texting an image of a burning cross and a Klansman superimposed with the phrase "Alta Pride". Police would not confirm whether the student who wore the pillowcase was one of the three. There was also reportedly verbiage that went along with the pictures, but neither police nor the school district would confirm or comment on that. The texts were not sent from white students to black students and were not believed to be racially motivated, but apparently were sent while the students were on school property.

The Canyons School District has announced a so-called "plan of action" which will involve providing wholesale diversity education and indoctrination at all Canyons schools. The efforts could involve resources and assistance from outside organizations including the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the First Amendment Center, the Utah 3Rs Project, the Utah State Office of Education, the Utah Inclusion Center and the Human Rights Education Center of Utah. This broad-brushed sledgehammer approach is despite the fact that, by Superintendent David S. Doty's own admission, the problems at Alta are the result of the actions of only a very few malcontents.

Larz Cosby, the bi-racial student who unleashed the publicity blitz, still continues to hold forth on his blog. He continues to take a lot of heat for obsessing with the issue, comments are about 50-50 for one opinion or another.

Update: Mark Montague got a ringing endorsement posted by a former student of his as a comment to the Tribune story.

DrGroovey 12 minutes ago:
Mark Montague was a teacher of mine at Brighton High School back in 1986 and 1987. He is one of the finest social studies teachers I have ever known. He also taught the Model United Nations class. His classes did wonders at exposing a bunch of east side teenagers to the realities of the problems in society and made us think about what was happening in the world around us. He taught us about civil rights and respecting those around us. I never heard him say anything or saw him do anything that would condone or even tolerate a racially insensitive word or action.

That is why I think it is sad that he has been put through the recent turmoil at Alta High. The media keeps repeating that he was put on leave, and strongly implies that he must have done something wrong. The fact is he did nothing wrong, except maybe be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I understand the Canyons District needed to do their investigation, but it was wrong for them to throw loyal educators under the bus before they figured out what was going on.

I wish Mark Montague well at Butler Middle. It will be nice for him to be able to continue his career being a role model to students in a place where he won't have to deal with all the crap the district threw on him at Alta.

John B. Wilson
Brighton High, class of '87

Salt Lake NAACP Launches Witch Hunt Of Bingham High School After Report Of Political Science Students "Marching Around Like Nazis"

2011-04-04T22:48:00.001-08:00

The Salt Lake branch of the NAACP is at it again. They've launched an "investigation" of Bingham High School after receiving a report that students in an Advanced Placement (AP) political science class were "marching around like Nazis" during a week dedicated to learning about dictatorship. The complainant wasn't identified by name, but it appears to be a parent.

A Bingham High student, Will Christensen, said students do wear arm bands during the "infamous" dictator week, where a student dictator and two assistants get to make rules for their classmates, but he isn't aware of any chants or signals related to Nazism.

Unlike the Canyons School District, the Jordan School District, within whose boundaries Bingham High lies, actually has a spine. Jordan School District spokesman Steve Dunham rejects the NAACP's claim. He says that in the 20 years the class has been taught, there have not been any complaints. Furthermore, no complaints have been filed at either the school or district level, and the district is not currently involved in an investigation. This means the complaining parent didn't even bother to give the school or the district an opportunity to hear the concern first, but instead went immediately crying to the NAACP. Presuming, of course, that the NAACP is actually telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake NAACP overseer Jeanetta Williams said she hopes Bingham High, and the district, will cooperate with the investigation. "There needs to be more sensitivity," she said. "If they want to teach dictatorship, there are other ways to teach it." Of course, Williams offered no suggestions on how it could be taught with more "sensitivity", because the NAACP is not in the business of solving problems.

The Jordan School District has reacted correctly. There is no need for them to cooperate with an NAACP investigation, not only because the NAACP has no statutory authority, but it actually has no "moral" authority save it be that which we choose to give it. And considering how Jeanetta Williams exploits every deviation and seeks to turn molehills into mountains, the Salt Lake NAACP is not worthy of respect.

Furthermore, the Salt Lake NAACP has no stroke. Chris Buttars stood up to the NAACP after the "black baby" remark, and not only did nothing happen to him, he was subsequently re-elected, albeit by a narrow margin. The NAACP does not have a big red S on its chest; they can't leap over tall buildings a single bound.

LDS Members Get Their Faith Recharged At The 181st Annual General Conference; LDS Church Leaders Seek To Quietly Counteract Growing Feminist Influence

2011-04-03T17:40:00.002-08:00

Up to 100,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who descended upon Salt Lake City as well as millions more worldwide got their faith recharged at the 181st Annual General Conference of the church held on April 2nd and 3rd, preceded a week earlier by the General Young Women Meeting. A sudden spring snowstorm in the Salt Lake Valley did not dampen enthusiasm. The highlights: Three new temples were announced for Fort Collins, Colorado; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and Meridian, Idaho; the Church has 134 temples in operation and 26 more either under construction or planned. LDS membership is now reported at 14,131,467. Detailed reports on LDS humanitarian and welfare services were provided; the Welfare Program is anchored by Welfare Square in Salt Lake City. The facility includes a cannery, milk and cheese processing facility; a landmark 16-million pound grain elevator that can been seen for miles; and a bakery, storehouse, thrift store and employment center, all of which are run mostly by volunteers serving church missions.

On the cultural front, there were at least three calls for LDS men to quit putting off marriage, primarily because the longer one waits, the more likely one becomes set in one's ways and the more difficult it can be to find a compatible spouse. The customary admonishments to observe the law of tithing and the Word of Wisdom were also extended, although towards the end of the conference, Elder Jeffrey Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve reassured Church members that, despite the constant entreaties for improvement, he considered most Latter-day Saints to be genuinely worthy people and need not fear that they are constantly under a microscope.

-- Official audio and video archives (transcripts available by mid-week)
-- LDS Church News stories on all speeches
-- Church News Saturday photo gallery
-- Church News Sunday photo gallery

KSL news video of Day 1 embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

KSL news video of Day 2 embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Speakers at the Conference continued the Church's efforts to counteract the pernicious influence of feminism infiltrating its way into LDS ranks. Silvia Allred, first counselor in the General Relief Society presidency, said that the church’s all-women organization is at the heart of the welfare program. Relief Society presidents visit homes to assess the needs for a bishop. Inspired visiting teachers watch over and care for sisters and families. Relief Society sisters provide meals, render compassionate service, and give constant support during times of trial.

During the Saturday morning general session, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve said "Women are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves them. Wives are equal to their husbands. Marriage requires a full partnership where wives and husbands work side by side to meet the needs of the family." He characterized the relationship between the priesthood and the Relief Society as "like a well-tuned orchestra and the resulting symphony inspires all of us". Elder Cook suggested two principles to keep in mind; first, no woman should ever feel the need to apologize or to feel that her contribution is less significant because she is devoting her primary efforts to raising and nurturing children; and second, we should all be careful not to be judgmental or assume that sisters are less valiant if the decision is made to work outside the home.

And at the Saturday night Priesthood session, President Thomas S. Monson sternly charged LDS husbands that "Your wife is your equal. In marriage, neither partner is superior nor inferior to the other. You walk side by side as a son and a daughter of God. She is not to be demeaned or insulted but should be respected and loved."

Many LDS feminists are obsessed with equality of status and fail to accept the fact that the Lord considers men and women of equal value. While many feminists think of men and women as little more than interchangeable parts, the Lord looks upon men and women as uniquely different and equally valued. Some LDS feminists think that if the Church confers Priesthood upon women, all problems will be solved and we'll live happily ever after. The Lord may indeed authorize Priesthood for women in the future, but He'll do it when He's ready and not because some feminist wants it just to make her feel better about herself.

Two White Teens Allegedly Jumped And Beaten By a Dozen Polynesians Near LDS Chapel In Taylorsville, Utah; Similarities To The D.J. Bell Case

2011-04-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

On April 2nd, 2011, KSTU Channel 13 reports that two White teens were allegedly jumped and beaten by an estimated dozen males near an LDS chapel adjacent to the Taylorsville City Softball complex in the Salt Lake Valley. One must both read the print story and watch the news video to get the whole story; the suspected racial identity of the attackers as Polynesian is not revealed until the tail end of the video. I found a YouTube version of Channel 13's video, which is a bit easier to work with; video embedded below:

Justin Bonner was one of the teens attacked, and he spoke for both victims. He said they were jogging through the softball complex on Wednesday March 30th when they were suddenly confronted by the twelve attackers, who were identified as hanging around the parking lot of the adjacent LDS chapel. Initially the confrontation was verbal; apparently the attackers thought the teens were talking trash about them, but when the two teens tried to run away, they were caught and given a beatdown.

Both teens were eventually taken to the hospital. While Bonner was primarily bloodied and bruised, his friend, who is considerably lighter in weight and more slender, suffered a broken face and various other fractures. Some of the attackers were reported to have escaped in a vehicle described as a white Chrysler or Dodge, possibly a Charger, with a partial plate number of 242.

The fact that the attackers were hanging around the parking lot of an LDS chapel is not necessarily indicative that they actually belonged there or are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That remains to be determined and proven.

If this went down the way it's been reported, it sounds highly reminiscent of the D.J. Bell case. In that case, Polynesians overreacted to a perceived slight by Bell and his housemate Dan Fair, invaded and trashed their home, and beat them to within an inch of their lives. However, the perpetrators must be found to confirm their identities and resolve these questions. That's why Taylorsville police want for anyone who can help resolve this case to call them at 801-743-7000.

Another Osmond Becomes A Public Figure: Aaron Osmond Selected By GOP Delegates To Replace Utah State Senator Chris Buttars

2011-04-01T12:22:00.001-08:00

Another member of the extended Osmond Family has become a public figure. On March 31st, 2011, South Jordan real estate broker Aaron Osmond was elected by 190 Republican delegates to replace outgoing District 10 Senator Chris Buttars. Osmond defeated House District 47 Rep. Ken Ivory in the second round of voting with 69 percent of the vote. The specific results of the voting are documented HERE; there were 12 candidates. Osmond's name will now be forwarded to Governor Gary Herbert, who is expected to approve the selection and formally appoint Osmond to fill the remainder of Buttars' term, which expires in 2014. Media references include Salt Lake Tribune, KSL Channel 5, and KSTU Channel 13.

And yes, Aaron Osmond is one of "those" Osmonds. He is the son of George Virl Osmond Jr., one of the oldest of the original Osmond brothers and who was born with hearing disabilities. But despite the famous name, Aaron Osmond has achieved success in his own right, running a real estate investment education company called Real Estate Investor Support LLC. So while his name may have gotten him through the door, his political skills took care of the rest. Osmond unsuccessfully challenged South Jordan Mayor Kent Money in 2009. KSTU video embedded below:

Osmond believes Ken Ivory's involvement with HB477 influenced delegates. HB477 triggered a firestorm of criticism because it was perceived as excessively restricting public access to public records, and was subsequently repealed. Osmond said “In my perspective the people as well as the delegates were saying ‘you know what, it’s time to tell government enough is enough. Get out of our way, listen to us as a people. From House Bill 477 to House Bill 165, the people were very concerned about transparency in government. They’re concerned about their ability to make their voice known. And this tonight was the first election in the state of Utah that really gave that referendum back to the people up at Capitol Hill.” Ivory was on the committee that originally passed HB477. A secondary reason for the rejection of Ivory may have been the fact that he was already a serving House member. Had he been chosen, another special election would have been necessary to fill his seat.

Aaron Osmond says his primary focus as a senator will be in getting the government out of the way of small business. Osmond's credentials as a conservative are burnished by the fact that he was an early supporter of U.S. Senator Mike Lee, long before the state convention which propelled him to the primary and to subsequent election in November 2010. The support wasn't merely political; it was financial as well. Osmond also appeared to have some tentative support from the Utah Education Association (UEA).

Utah U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch Launches S. J. Res 10, A Balanced Budget Amendment; All 47 Senate Republicans Support It

2011-03-31T20:20:00.000-08:00

Utah's senior Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, incrementally rebuilding his conservative credentials, has submitted S.J. Res 10 for consideration. The joint resolution proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget. You can read the full text on Scribd.com at the moment; not yet available on other sources. All 47 Republican Senators support the bill. The Senate came within one vote of approving a similar amendment put forward by Hatch in 1997. Some sources believe as many as 13 Democrats might also support the bill, based on a nonbinding vote earlier in March 2011 in which 13 Democrats voted for the concept of a balanced-budget amendment. KSL news video below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

According to Senator Hatch, here are the key provisions:

* Mandates that total budgetary outlays for any fiscal year not exceed total revenues.
* Caps federal spending at 18 percent of GDP, seven percent lower than current levels.
* Requires the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress every fiscal year.
* Requires a two-thirds supermajority for any new tax, any increase in tax rates, or any bill that is a net revenue raiser. Requires a supermajority to raise the debt limit.
* Allows for waiver of limits if there is a formal declaration of war, if the U.S. is engaged in a military conflict constituting a threat to national security, or if two-thirds of both the House and Senate approve.

Senator Hatch notes that our national debt is over $14 trillion, the current annual deficit is $1.6 trillion, Federal spending has reached 25 percent of our nation’s economic output, and, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nation’s debt could reach 90 percent of GDP in less than a decade, with the government spending almost $1 trillion on interest payments alone. If the Senate passes it, House passage would be more certain, given that chamber’s large GOP majority. Afterwards, 38 state legislatures would need to ratify it to make it the Constitution’s 28th Amendment.

Senator Hatch, along with Senator Mike Lee, may need to win more Utahns over to the idea. During the period Feb 8-10, Dan Jones conducted a poll of 496 Utahns, and the results showed that 51 percent were at least somewhat opposed to an amendment, while only 41 percent at least somewhat favored it. However, the poll question was extremely loaded, asking "Do you favor or oppose a National balanced budget amendment, realizing that doing so would require cuts to major programs like Social Security, Medicare, national defense, and homeland security?" The introduction of Social Security and Medicare into the question made it a push poll and may have scared some people away from voting Yes.

Canyons School District Finds Their Scapegoat; Alta High School Principal Mont Widerberg Announces His "Retirement"

2011-03-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

Note: All posts about this incident can be simultaneously displayed HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

I knew it. From their rhetoric, it was obvious that the Canyons School District has been looking for someone to throw under the bus after the Klan hood incident at a student spirit assembly at Alta High School in Sandy, Utah on March 16th, 2011.

And on March 31st, they found their scapegoat. Both the Salt Lake Tribune and KSL Channel 5 report that Alta High Principal Mont Widerberg, who along with Vice-Principal Mark Montague was placed on paid leave after the incident, has notified the school’s staff that he is retiring immediately. Mr. Widerberg had planned to leave Alta High at the end of the school year to take a facilities job at the district office, but apparently that's out the window as well. His resignation ends a 33-year career in education which began at Hillcrest High School.

According to the Deseret News, Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said that the district "wishes Mr. Widerberg well in his retirement, and thanks him for his more than 30 years of service to the patrons and students of the Jordan and Canyons school districts". One would think a 33-year career would be worthy of more than a one-line footnote from a District flunky.

Tracy Bennett, a member of the school’s community council, expressed disappointment. “It will be sad to lose him. When this all came about, I was actually wondering if he would end up going to the district office or not, so it doesn’t catch me by surprise. But it’s disappointing,” explained Bennett. She further described Mr. Widerberg as a champion of the student who gets left behind.

Maybe being a "champion of the student left behind" was a fatal flaw for Mr. Widerberg in this politically-charged environment. He sought to deal with the White student as a high-spirited individual guilty only of a bit or ignorance rather than witch-hunted and thrown to the lions like a Soviet-style political criminal. On March 30th, the mother of the White student called in to the Doug Wright show and defended her son, saying the whole thing was a misunderstanding. The mother described the meeting her and her son had with Mr. Widerberg, saying "When (the principal) found out how it was perceived he immediately called my son down and called me. We talked and the principal goes, 'I know you, I know your son, and I know your family. I know this was not meant this way. Having said that, it's still required that we suspend him.'"

Mr. Widerberg chose NOT to assume the worst. He chose to balance justice with mercy. He chose proportional accountability and atonement. A three-day suspension would have sufficed. But no, the District bureaucracy was embarrassed, and they had to have a "bad guy" to throw under the bus. And using the White student as the "bad guy" wasn't enough; they had to have an adult to throw under the bus as well. So the District placed both Mr. Widerberg and Mr. Montague on paid administrative leave, which is the same as saying that they don't trust them to be part of the solution.

Mr. Widerberg paid the price for balancing justice with mercy. Now the Canyons District will be engaged in a full-blown witch hunt. But by announcing his retirement and passing up a new assignment in a facilities job, Mr. Widerberg is also sending an unspoken message that the Canyons School District is not a fit place to work for someone capable of independent and intelligent judgment.

Zack Larsen, a junior at Alta, is really getting fed up with all the drama. “I‘d like the district and the police and everyone to stop digging about for racism. It’s like the Salem witch trials. A lot of students want to say let’s just get this done. Let’s get this out of the way”, said Larsen. Unfortunately, the District has not projected when it plans to conclude the investigation, which has now been expanded to include looking at racist threats posted on Larz Cosby's blog about the incident. A few boneheads posted flame comments which included the N-word, which is utterly stupid because it will merely serve to empower professional race hustlers like Salt Lake NAACP dominatrix Jeanetta Williams.

If you really want to vent your spleen, don't dump on Larz Cosby; it's out of his hands. Send an e-mail to the Canyons School District HERE.

Ogden's Boy Wonder Mayor Matthew "Boss" Godfrey To Call It Quits After Three Terms; Innovative But Occasionally Autocratic

2011-03-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

On March 31st, 2011, Ogden's "Boy Wonder" Mayor Matthew "Boss" Godfrey announced that after serving three terms, or 12 years, as the city's mayor, he does not plan to seek re-election. Read the full statement HERE. According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner, Godfrey said he does not plan to seek another political office and will look for a job in the private sector. The Examiner has a video available HERE.

The term "Boy Wonder" is in reference to the fact that the 41-year-old Godfrey was 29 when he was first elected in 1999. The term "Boss" was appended by one of his critics, the Weber County Forum, as an outgrowth of an occasionally autocratic style of leadership on his part. Godfrey, who sought to "rebrand" Ogden, believes many of the goals he set when he first ran for office, such as attracting jobs, reducing crime and attracting residents to the downtown area, have been met. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that under Godfrey's watch, 107 acres of downtown redevelopment have been completed, with 91 more underway — almost doubling his administration’s goal of bringing 2,000 jobs downtown. According to KSL Channel 5, he originally intended to serve only one term, but decided to run for re-election twice after discovering the wheels of government moved slower than he anticipated.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Reviews of Godfrey's tenure are mixed. On the one hand, Robert Hunter, who heads up the United Way of Northern Utah and who lost the mayoral race to Godfrey in 1999, said “I’m one of his fans. He’s been a good mayor and Ogden has made a lot of progress.” On the other hand, Former Rep. Neil Hansen, a frequent critic of Godfrey’s methods and authoritarian style, acknowledged that Ogden is better off in some aspects but is worse off in others, criticizing the redevelopment debt run up by the city during Godfrey's tenure.

Some also question whether or not Matthew Godfrey might be too quick to take credit for the accomplishments of others. In a comment to the Tribune story, Dan S. wrote, "He's done a good job taking credit for what other people did to improve Ogden". A separate Tribune article entitled "LDS Church hoping hefty investment will shield its temples" indicates that it actually was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which took the lead in the re-development of the downtown area, spending an estimated $250 million to to help “build an atmosphere". Church-owned parcels on 20 acres surrounding the Ogden Temple now house two apartment buildings, offices and a planned strip of retail shops below more housing to front Washington Boulevard. One of the highlights is the 200-plus unit Colonial Court apartments in a once-dilapidated area west of the temple; occupancy rate is 95 percent. Even Godfrey tipped his hat to the Church, saying “It’s helped downtown immensely. Downtown Ogden 11 years ago was blighted, empty and sometimes unsafe. And that’s not the case anymore.”

KSL Channel 5 is currently running an unscientific poll, asking the question "How would you rate Matt Godfrey's 11 years as Ogden's mayor?" The responses so far:

-- Oustanding: 29 percent (42 votes)
-- Successful: 32 percent (46 votes)
-- Average: 16 percent (23 votes)
-- Subpar: 10 percent (14 votes)
-- Disaster: 13 percent (19 votes)

Possible successors include Weber County Public Information Officer Mike Caldwell, Johnny Ballard, who is Ogden’s project manager for the Riverfront redevelopment area, City Councilman Brandon Stephenson, and former Rep. Neil Hansen. Only the first three have actually registered personal campaign committees so far.