Have you heard that joke - I know how to save the economy, turn off all your tvs and radios and quit reading the paper. Today in the Salt Lake Tribune there was another example of poor wording causing an unintended (I hope) interpretation of a story.
The headline, front and center on the front page reads "Utah BAGS $53M in Stimulus Plan". Isn't that great. Our Senators went huntin' and they came back with a great big ol' buck of a prize. I'm sure they can't wait to show their kill to their friends down at the tractor pull.
All scarcasm aside I don't think even the writer and editor who previewed this headline ("I'm assuming someone looked at it before it was printed beside the writer) intended the level of hickdum I proscribed above.
Still, couldn't they have shown a little sophistication by writing a headline that didn't conjure up an image of a hayseed in his camo overalls?
It seems someone on the website did think it was better to be less cute. If you go onto the Tribune's website the only headline for this subject is "Utah to get first stimulus cash this week".
Thanks to the web editor (is there someone with this title?) for having some common sense. Now when are the rest of the editors going to get it?
Just my opinion.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Legislature Got it Right
Chris Buttars told a news crew that homosexuals are the greatest threat to the world. Hasn't he heard of global warming, the Taliban or killer bees? But I digress.
Today the Legislature, in particular Sen. Waddups (the same Sen. Waddups that wanted to capture scanned information from bar patrons) punished Sen. Buttars for his comments. He was removed from his prestigous position on the House Judicial Committee. Buttars used to be the chairman and now he can't even get in.
I'm not saying that I am glad for this Legislative version of a public spanking, but I do think it took good judgement on the part of the Legislature to realize that Sen. Buttars' poor judgement was not going to stop, and with a high profile position like the chair of the Judicial Committee, he could have done a lot more damage to the Legislature and its reputation.
Maybe also Gov. Huntsman's support of equal rights for non-one man-one woman marriages is rubbing off on the Legislature. If they listened more to the Governor and less to the "concerned citizens" they meet with each year from a predominant religous group we would all be better off.
Why can't we all just get along.
Today the Legislature, in particular Sen. Waddups (the same Sen. Waddups that wanted to capture scanned information from bar patrons) punished Sen. Buttars for his comments. He was removed from his prestigous position on the House Judicial Committee. Buttars used to be the chairman and now he can't even get in.
I'm not saying that I am glad for this Legislative version of a public spanking, but I do think it took good judgement on the part of the Legislature to realize that Sen. Buttars' poor judgement was not going to stop, and with a high profile position like the chair of the Judicial Committee, he could have done a lot more damage to the Legislature and its reputation.
Maybe also Gov. Huntsman's support of equal rights for non-one man-one woman marriages is rubbing off on the Legislature. If they listened more to the Governor and less to the "concerned citizens" they meet with each year from a predominant religous group we would all be better off.
Why can't we all just get along.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Its A Beautiful Day 2
I just wanted to comment on how much fun I had today. My kids and their kids and some other kids went for a short hike just above the city.
The view was fantastic, the company was wonderful and it was so close. I didn't know you could get away so easily. In just a few minutes we were above the valley and into the forest, so it seemed.
The hike, which is probably really easy most of the time, was complicated by snow, but even so the 2 year olds did it without much trouble at all (we carried them some of the way).
The really great thing about this hike is that it ends at a lake so there is a feature to gaze at when you are catching your breath. Also there are potties at the beginning (but not at the lake - but the hike is short).
The other really cool thing is that no dogs are allowed. You don't have any annoying hounds pawing at you while their owners stand idly by thinking you enjoy this as much as they do. No thanks. Also there isn't the doggie byproduct that seems to follow them everywhere which their owners are supposed to pick up but don't.
Anyhow I started this to just tell you how wonderful the walk was. We should keep it up. It was a lot of fun.
The view was fantastic, the company was wonderful and it was so close. I didn't know you could get away so easily. In just a few minutes we were above the valley and into the forest, so it seemed.
The hike, which is probably really easy most of the time, was complicated by snow, but even so the 2 year olds did it without much trouble at all (we carried them some of the way).
The really great thing about this hike is that it ends at a lake so there is a feature to gaze at when you are catching your breath. Also there are potties at the beginning (but not at the lake - but the hike is short).
The other really cool thing is that no dogs are allowed. You don't have any annoying hounds pawing at you while their owners stand idly by thinking you enjoy this as much as they do. No thanks. Also there isn't the doggie byproduct that seems to follow them everywhere which their owners are supposed to pick up but don't.
Anyhow I started this to just tell you how wonderful the walk was. We should keep it up. It was a lot of fun.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Its a Beautiful Day
Today we had a wonderful time at my church. We got to enjoy some singing, some clapping and some preaching. We also got to see why Senator Robert Bennett is the chair of so many committees. You don't get to that position without being able to shovel copious amounts of manure at people and make them ask for more.Senator Bennett was polite, respectful and said all the right things. It was weird seeing an aging, bald white Republican in a predominantly African American church talking as it he himself had elected President Obama.
It is a beautiful day when we can all get along. Let's hope Senator Bennett remembers those feelings when he is on the floor of the Senate.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
President's Speech
Last night we got another look at our President. In his speach to the American people he encouraged Congress to act in the spirit of cooperation and not fight over the details of the Stimulus Package.
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He did more than that though; he called on the Republicans to stop whining to push their own agenda (he told them directly they are the do nothing Congress they are complaining about). He told them he would listen to debate but not go down the road of misleading hype. He also opened up the floor for questions in an effort to encourage healthy debate.
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Unfortunately he got the same sort of rumor mongoring questions aimed at giving the President a chance to duck the issues. These are the same sort of questions the press has asked for the past 8 years.
.
The press should be a force for uncovering the truth. They should ask intellegent questions designed to elicit information the public needs. The press has an obligation and they should meet this obligation rather than continue to pander to the past President's style of telling us what he wants us to hear and saying it often enough in the hopes that eventually we will believe it. Nor more stupid questions.
.
The good news is that our new President is smarter than that. He will make them rise to the challenge as he did last night. He responded to these stupid questions with the information he felt we needed to know and pointed the answer, in no uncertain terms, to those who needed to hear the hard truth, as he saw it. Hopefully someone in the press corps will catch this and ask more intelligent questions in the future.
-Pedro
.
He did more than that though; he called on the Republicans to stop whining to push their own agenda (he told them directly they are the do nothing Congress they are complaining about). He told them he would listen to debate but not go down the road of misleading hype. He also opened up the floor for questions in an effort to encourage healthy debate.
.
Unfortunately he got the same sort of rumor mongoring questions aimed at giving the President a chance to duck the issues. These are the same sort of questions the press has asked for the past 8 years.
.
The press should be a force for uncovering the truth. They should ask intellegent questions designed to elicit information the public needs. The press has an obligation and they should meet this obligation rather than continue to pander to the past President's style of telling us what he wants us to hear and saying it often enough in the hopes that eventually we will believe it. Nor more stupid questions.
.
The good news is that our new President is smarter than that. He will make them rise to the challenge as he did last night. He responded to these stupid questions with the information he felt we needed to know and pointed the answer, in no uncertain terms, to those who needed to hear the hard truth, as he saw it. Hopefully someone in the press corps will catch this and ask more intelligent questions in the future.
-Pedro
Monday, February 9, 2009
And while I'm here...
This lady with the 14 kids is really creepy. There is something wrong with implanting 8 embryos when you already have 6 kids, no apparent trust account and no stable relationship with a partner. And does anybody else notice the significant work she has had done on her face? Can anyone say self absorbed?
-Pedro
-Pedro
Addendum to One step....
I just realized why my ranting and raving about the electronic snooping of the high minded moral majority won't ever go anywhere. Most Mormons want to keep their "special" sacrament observances private, or as my dad used to say "Never take only one Mormon fishing, he'll drink all your beer."
-Pedro
-Pedro
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