Lobby Congress Against Mormon Marriage

Personally, I think it's rather hypocritical of the Mormon Church to lobby Congress to amend the Constitution to forbid gay marriage. Weren't they persecuted for their form of non-traditional marriage a little over a hundred years ago?
How soon they forget. I say we should remind them that they don't want to be persecuted for their beliefs. As has been pointed out on The World, According to Me blog, evangelicals might take this opportunity to ban Mormon Temple marriages while they're at it.
I think we ought to lobby Congress to amend the constitution to make Mormon Temple marriages unconstitutional. Because really, those secret rituals are kind of creepy and not very much in keeping with traditional marriage.
Okay all you Mormon folk, before you start hating, I don't really think the Mormon temple marriage ritual is ALL THAT CREEPY. Maybe a little. I've been to one or two in my lifetime, but it is definitely not very traditional. The whole thing is a rhetorical argument. I don't really want Congress to ban Mormon temple marriage. I don't think the Constitution should be amended for such petty things as banning any form of marriage. But I really am going to lobby Congress asking them to ban Mormon temple marriage to make a point!
If you'd like to join me, you can find your senator's contact info on the United States Senate site or your Representative's contact info on the U.S. House site.

Nancy Saxton, the Snowball

Council member Nancy Saxton announced she plans to run for mayor of Salt Lake City. All I can do is laugh because she has the proverbial snowball's chance in hell of being elected mayor.
She's probably as divisive as Rocky Anderson with even less substance.
Her big idea she is pushing is horses in Pioneer Park? That's like Rocky's biggest accomplishment as mayor: orange flags. And has anyone noticed the city seems to have stopped stocking those crosswalks with flags?
We need another mayor like Deedee Corradini who knew how to get things done, minus the animosity from the City Weekly, which single-handedly created all the controversy surrounding Corradini.

I Really Mean It This Time

Last week, I said that Taylor Hicks needed to get kicked off American Idol, but I really mean it this time America! Taylor has an okay singing voice, not my style, but okay. The big problem with Taylor, though, is that he's just a karaoke singer. He's just the type who sings at weddings or in lounge bars. He's not a star. See, Elliot and Katharine lend their own style to the songs they sing. They make the songs their own. Taylor, on the other hand, tries his damnedest to imitate the orginal singer...and that's what karaoke is all about. That's what wedding singers do so well. That's not what stars and idols do. Taylor really needs to go home tomorrow night.
Katharine McPhee was AMAZING tonight. I loved it when Simon said she had the best performance of anyone in the entire competition up to that point after she sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." I am a huge fan of Katharine, but even I wasn't sure if she'd sing it right. Some people try and sing the song all happy and cheerful, but if you listen to Judy sing it, whom the song was written for, it's a very melancholy song. Katharine did it justice.

Hatch Doesn't Believe in Democracy

Okay, so not only is Senator Hatch a NUTCAKE, he doesn't believe in DEMOCRACY, either.

According to an article in today's Deseret Morning News, Utah stands to gain another seat in the House of Representatives, to balance out Democratic-leaning D.C. FINALLY getting a vote in the House as well, which is proposed in a new bill.

But our beloved, senile old nutcake Hatch "supports the idea of Utah getting a fourth seat but has concerns over the District of Columbia getting a House vote." While it would be nice if the Deseret Morning News had the journalistic sense to have him explain what his issues with D.C. getting a vote are, it basically comes down to the fact that D.C. has no democratic representation and the tax-paying residents there deserve representation.

If Hatch has a problem with that, he doesn't believe in democracy.

Phone Records and Poll Results

So, you're telling me, Mr. Bush, that 10-50 million Americans are associated with Al-Qaeda!? Get real, buddy. You're such a silly megalomaniac that you think God chose you to be president so you can do whatever you damn well please?

On NPR this evening, they were saying that the phone companies who gave records to the NSA could face penalties. What about BUSH!? He needs to be impeached, if not do jail time.

This all reminds me of the things we used to hear about Soviet Russia as a child: eavesdropping on phone calls, gulags, limits on civil freedoms, etc., etc.

Will someone please restore order. This is AMERICA!

Oh and tonight I read that Bush's approval rating has sunk another 6% in the Harris Poll down to 29% who think Mr. Bush is doing an “excellent or pretty good” job as president. While I think it's great that more Americans are waking up and seeing this guy for who and what he really is, I'd like to know who the fuckwits are who think he's actually doing an excellent or pretty good job.

Karaoke with a Capital K

Okay, it's really time for Taylor to get the boot on American Idol. God, could he suck any more? Such bad karaoke versions of those Elvis songs.

Help Bill Gates, Buy Apple

Bill Gates says he doesn't want to be the world's richest man. I think we should all help him out by buying Apple computer products. Macs are a viable option to Windows products, people!

And Bill, if you're really serious about not wanting to be the world's richest man, I'll be taking donations. You can give me a few billion.

P.S.: I'd even be willing to take that donation in the form of Microsoft stock! (Which, of course, I'd promptly sell and diversify my holdings.)

Utah is a Four-Letter Word

Utah's new slogan might as well be "Utah is a four-letter word" instead of "Life Elevated" since that's about all people outside Utah know about our state, that it has four letters in its name. According to a recent national survey about Utah, few people knew much of anything about the state.
Among other things, the Associated Press reports, "Most survey respondents associated Salt Lake City's mountainous skyline, its state Capitol and the distinctive spires of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' downtown temple with Colorado, just as they did with a summertime photo of a ski tram." D'oh! Tell me it isn't so. They thought the Salt Lake Temple was in Colorado??? Oh my!!

HURRAH!!! RSL Will Get No Tax Money from Salt Lake County!

Ever since it was announced that Real Salt Lake [RSL], the major league soccer franchise in Utah, had chosen Sandy over Salt Lake City to build its new stadium, I have been advocating that NO COUNTY TAXES be utilized to help them build the stadium in Sandy.
The reason I feel this way? Simply, Sandy City government officials (and legislators from Sandy) were completely dirty and underhanded in the way they convinced RSL to locate the stadium in Sandy.
If RSL had chosen Sandy purely on its own merits, that would be one thing, but they used all sorts of dirty tricks in the legislature to make it impossible for Salt Lake City to field a decent candidate site for the stadium. They basically got laws passed which made it impossible for SLC to compete.
In today's news, the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that SL County Mayor Peter Corroon has announced that "the 'numbers just don't work' for county taxpayers, so he is ending negotiations with the Major League Soccer team.
That means RSL will not get the $35 million in public financing from the county to use toward land and infrastructure for the $145 million soccer-and-entertainment complex.
'For the citizens of Salt Lake County,' Corroon said, 'we didn't feel it was fiscally prudent.'"
I couldn't agree more, Mister Mayor.

Smarmy Comics

I FINALLY updated my comic strip. Check it out: SmarmyComics.com

Pete Ashdown for President! errr... I mean Senate.

Send Pete for Beer! I mean to Congress. Did any of you ever see that "Send Enid Greene to Congress" billboard back in the day across from East High School? The one on which someone crossed out "to Congress" and wrote in "for Beer"? Good times.

Pete is the kind of bloke who could appreciate a good laugh like that. I mean, Pete has the "Party Palace" after all. Orrin Hatch? Seriously, can he really laugh at all?

But SERIOUSLY, can Orrin even represent Utah? First of all, he'd never lived in Utah 'til he decided to run for election from Utah back in 1976. 1976!! And then he promptly left Utah for Washington, D.C.. So, essentially, he's never actually lived in Utah.

Sure, some of you out there think he represents your values, but does he really? Just because he writes cheesy songs with Janice Kapp Perry does not mean he understands Utah.

And then there's the fact that he's just been in Congress so damn long. 1976, people!! Term limits, anyone? Please. Add to that the fact that Orrin is just a nutcake and how can you really vote for him?

But I'm not just advocating Petey because he's not Orrin Hatch. Pete has issues! Not that I'm that read up on his issues, but I'm sure he has them. I'll let Pete speak for himself on these. Here are a few notes from his website:

• America should lead the world with innovation. Education and infrastructure for doing so should be a top priority. An Internet free from government control, taxation, and monitoring strengthens our economy.
• The death penalty is not a deterrent for violent crime.
• Copyright should protect artists and creators when they take action to request it. Instead, it is abused to the point that innovation is held back and very little falls into the public domain.
• I propose what The Economist calls the "true" flat-tax, one that carries no exemptions, deductions, or loopholes.
• Our ecological environment is the most important possession we pass down to our children. Loose controls on clean air and clean water are starting to come back to haunt us in the form of excessive mercury deposits in fish and game.

Geez! Okay, that's enough about content. Reading is hard, mmkay?

Just vote for Pete or go to his website if you want to read more. ;)

Check out the rest of the blog swarm for Pete at:
Pete Ashdown Day- slcspin
Why I Support Pete Ashdown For US Senate- Obiter Dicta By Steve
Mr. Wiki Goes to Washington- Signifying nothing
Why I support Pete Ashdown- Gary Thornock
Senator Pete goes to Washinton- The Utah Amicus
Pete Ashdown for U.S. Senate- One Utah
Fat Pete Ashdown: Quote of the week- The Utah Amicus
I'm with Pete- Formaline
Mr. Ashdown- Utah Democrats
Pete Ashdown- Innisfree
A Senator from Utah for Utah- Jeremy's Jeremiad