For the two of you who are Young Dems, read this blog, and don’t subscribe to the YDU email list – take note!
The Young Democrats are taking applications for various board positions for next year. All positions, aside from national committeewoman, last for a year. To apply, click here.
YDU [...]
The majority of the people in the room were stunned to hear Michael Otterson issue an official statement from the LDS Church stating that, officially, the Church had no objection to the Nondiscrimination ordinance being discussed that eventing. To be sure, this statement represented a policy shift within the Church.
It [...]
Hit F5 to receive updates – Please note that quotes are not accurate as I don’t have a playback option, however all quotes are in the spirit of what the speaker wished to say.
7:00 – Council members greet the near packed chamber building. All the big wigs of the GLBT [...]
It seems as though Representative Jim Matheson has ensured an intra-party fight at next years state Democratic convention with his promised no vote on HR 3962 – the front running heath care reform bill going before the House Saturday.
In the past, I have been understanding of Representative Matheson’s tenuous position [...]
Tuesday’s predictably abysmal voter turnout once again shows that people fundamentally don’t care about our democracy.
I grow tired of the excuses of “I had something else to do” or “I am not informed enough to vote” as they only further this point. We ask our citizens to vote twice a [...]
Don’t forget that there is, in fact, an election tomorrow. Though there are hundreds of municipal elections around the state, I am going to focus on the races in Salt Lake City proper.
If you don’t know where to go to vote, click here. Remember, you now need two forms [...]
I will come out and say it, right off the bat, that President Obama was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the work he has done up to this point…but that is not the point of this posting. No, the point is that we live in a political climate [...]
Oh, it is times like this that I am proud to be a Ute.
Photo stolen from Eric Ethington’s Facebook…
[...]As reported the other day, Utah GOP Chair Dave Hansen is fiercely opposed to Utah’s Fair Boundaries initiative, and though this is one mans opinion, it is a sign of growing disdain for the will of the public from the Republican Party leaders.
Fair Boundaries appears to be catching the [...]
Carlton Christensen, the Gentle Giant, has been a mainstay in west side politics for the past 11 years as District 1’s representative. Carlton’s work with many civic organizations, combined with his life long love of the district, not only shows his passion to serve, but also [...]
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As Glenn Beck’s “9/12” project seemed to exemplify, there are different styles and ways that the media can report on a story. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly obvious that factions of the media are out-and-out lying about its content – in the case [...]
The following will appear in the Young Democrats quarterly newsletter just as soon as it is published, but I thought I would let you all get a sneak peak!
So there you are, minding your own business in, say, your works break room, when you overhear a conversation between two of [...]
Your comically low voter turnout of 6.1% proves that you really do care about democracy!
Yes, yes, it is an off year, and yes it is a primary, but good lord, average turnout was still above 10% for the valley. But, man, the extra 15 minutes of sleep were worth it.
You [...]
Most people are unaware that there is even an election this November, let alone one tomorrow.
But, in what is rapidly becoming the most contentious race in the Salt Lake Valley, the Avenues is seeing no less than five contenders vie for a spot on Salt Lake City’s Council. Their first [...]
I still recall, eight years ago today, waking up and going through the usual primping a high school senior goes through before setting off for what, one would only assume, would have been a regular day.
That, of course, was not the case.
As the day progressed, I remember the almost surreal [...]
In what is, by far, the most disrespectful act I have ever seen towards any President – Representative Joe Wilson’s shouting of “You Lie!” at President Obama as he addressed the nation in the halls of Congress:
This only goes further the point I made in my last post regarding [...]
The town hall protests and shout downs are not new news – the images and videos permeate conservative and liberal talk shows across the land. Indeed, it has become passé to talk about how patriotic or crazy the “Shouters” are. One topic that is rarely discussed, however, is how harmful [...]
With the health debate pressing on, it is becoming more and more apparent that the talking heads on both sides simply wil not listen to each other.
So lets ask the All-American Superman what he thinks of the evils of welfare and health services:
Published in 1952, the [...]
Having worked on many campaigns, I can safely say that it takes it toll on a candidate, especially when the candidate has a regular full time job. Indeed, every single candidate I have worked for has, at the very least, started the campaign working and supporting a family - only [...]
One disturbing and growing theme during the health care debate has been that far right conservatives are panning Obama is a socialist/un-American/Nazi who wants nothing more than to kill your grandmother. Of course, we on the left find this laughable if only because we remember the bad-old-days of the Bush [...]
I had an odd realization the other night as I was showing off my new(er) car to my friends: it is possible that this is the last gas powered car I will own.
Now I now that we are a long way away from Jetson’s flying car [...]
Last Thursday, as I was chatting with a friend on line, I started to notice myself feeling worse and worse. What started as a slight cough earlier in the day rapidly progressed into a headache, chills, body pain, a fever, and fatigue - in short, I got sick. The worst [...]
This video was obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune through an open records request. It does not include the kiss leading up to the arrest, but it does show the confrontation between Aune and Church officials:
It should also be known that the trespassing charges have been dropped by City [...]
During the past week, we have seen yet another example of the ever present “great divide” between the LDS Church and those who are not part of the dominant culture of this state. Many things have been said by both sides, but what the majority of those backing the [...]
Every once in a great while we, as a people, go beyond the petty squabbles and bickering that so often define our existence; to strive for something greater and to show that we do posses the spark of the divine.
Indeed, 40 years ago [...]
I received the following email and was asked to publish it - sorry it took so long to do so; I have had a rather hectic day.
Tomorrow morning (Sun, July 12th) at 9:00am, a group is meeting at the Main Street Plaza. They invite those concered about the events on [...]
Here is an account of what took place in my previous post from one of the individuals that was at the receiving end of the arrest.
Written by Derek Jones:
My boyfriend and I were walking home from the Gallivan Center concert series and naturally had to walk down the pedestrian [...]
Breaking:
So a friend of mine informed me, by way of Facebook status updates, that he was, he claims, illegally detained and charged with a Class C Misdemeanor for trespassing on the Main Street pedestrian mall in Downtown Salt Lake. The reason, he claims, is that he was holding the hand [...]
Representative Chaffetz, I really don’t want to keep picking on you, but sometimes you deserve to be called on things.
You see, Representative Chaffetz is co-sponsoring a bill that would restrict birthright citizenship to the children where at least one parent is already a citizen. In other words the children [...]
Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, David Clark, recently posted a poll on his political blog “Speaker Clark” asking his readers who they thought would be best fit to handle the redistricting process: The Governor, The Legislature, The Supreme Court, or An Independent Commission. Clark, being a [...]
American patriotism is not the vanguard of one political philosophy or party, indeed American patriotism can be defined by its utter indefinability. This is because, like the rest of our nation, patriotism is an amalgamation of many ideas and people with only one defining attribute at [...]
There is just no pleasing some people.
We all recall the recent dust up regarding the Public Safety Building (PSB) being located on Library Square. Mayor Becker, seeing the writing on the wall, backed down from this plan in what I feel was a win for his transparent government style. [...]
Some you God fearing folks such as myself may not be aware that sin is soon upon our fair state. You see, effective midnight tonight, our great state of Deseret will soon be barraged by unseemly individuals who want nothing more than to take down the very fabric of our [...]
THIS IS CRAZY AWESOME AND I DON’T CARE THAT IT IS TO BIG FOR MY BLOG: THE BEATLES - ROCKBAND!
[...]
Iranian College Student’s computer, destroyed by militia forces
The tumultuous times in Iran are of major importance to our world, and these events do deserve their own recognition. But once the dust settles, for better or for worse, one thing will become clear: this [...]
Now that I have had a day to catch my breath, take a nap, and sit down in front of my lappy to type this out, I feel that it is important for Utah Democrats to analyze the events that took place yesterday at the state convention.
First, I want to [...]
You know what pisses me off? People who use dirty campaign tactics. A short while ago, I received an email stating that “Wayne Holland” was following me on Twitter, somewhat confused (as Wayne was already following me on Twitter), I clicked on it only to find this twitter page.
Do [...]
I just wanted to let you all to my new side project AWinningCampaign.com; a website designed to offer Democrats advice on how to run successful campaigns by giving them an idea about where to start and where to go when first running. I encourage you all to check it [...]
The end draws nigh
From Wired (emphasis added by me):
Robot Identifies Human Flesh As Bacon
Let the robot holocaust commence: robots think we taste like bacon.
Researchers at NEC System technologies and Mie University have designed the cute little guy to the right: a metal man gastronomist, “an [...]
A short time ago, as many of you know, I endorsed Jeff Bell for Chairman of the Utah Democratic Party. Soon after I posted a KCPW interview with Jeff discussing what he wants to do for the party. Now, in the interest of fairness, I wanted to provide [...]
Dear Republicans,
I know that you guys are in bad shape; I mean you guys are grasping at everything you possibly can to make Obama and Democrats look bad. And I get it, I really do: you hate the agenda liberals are pushing now that they are in power – but [...]
Well the blog is entering the terrible twos…Soon all it will do is say no and refuse to get into the car when we really have to go somewhere. Strap in and enjoy the ride!
Here are the ten most viewed blog posts over the last year:
10 [...]
Never let it be said that I don’t give credit where credit is due. I applaud Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz for his bill banning full body scans as a primary means of airport security. The bill passed the House yesterday but faces tough opposition from his own party members [...]
Mayor Becker today announced that he will no longer push for the Public Safety Building to be located on Library Square, his preferred location. As I have discussed in the past, I am an overall supporter of the construction of a PSB in the downtown area, though I [...]
So, one of the worst kept Democratic secrets this year was that business owner Sam Granato intended to run for US Senate and take Senator Bennet’s seat. Today Granato made his announcement official on the steps of his Redwood store and I, for one, am [...]
So a few weeks ago I was a guest (agian) on Radioactive; talking about politics perhpas? Ha! Fat chance. No, I was talking about Star Trek with Kerry Jackson of X96 and Burtram Cundart, a long time fan.
Click here to listen to me geek out!
I fell that Jeff Bell gave one of his best interviews yet on KRCL today regarding what he wants to do for the State Party. I encourage everyone to listen to it.
[...]So, a short while ago, I wrote a post regarding Representative Jason Chaffetz’s blatant hypocrisy regarding his mantra against big government in community affairs while simultaneously using his power as a member of Congress (read “big government”) to try and overrule D.C.’s recent recognition of gay marriage.
Now, I am [...]
I have avoided jumping into the whole discussion related to the Public Safety Building (PSB) debate because, frankly, I have not taken the time to properly evaluate the proposals and come to any sort of conclusion. After doing some research, I am aware of four proposals: 1, 2A, [...]
The news that is rippling through the Utah political scene today is the announcement by President Obama that he has tapped Governor Huntsman to be the U.S.’s ambassador to China. The ramifications of this still remain to be seen but, needless to say, they are many - both nationally [...]
Seen it twice, been impressed twice - the real question is how much money will this movie take from me?
Oh, and you hard core Trek nerds who hated this, shut it, it is a great film.
[...]Original post can be found here and is response to my post.
To profess that you stand for all free speech and then demand that someone steps down after making outrageous statements is not a contradiction. I believe that people should be free to make stupid remarks, and [...]
It should come as no surprise that Jason Chaffetz is opposed to the recent action by Washington DC to recognize gay marriages in the district. After all, being the Republican Representative of one of the most conservative districts in the nation will create results such as this with not so [...]
Often times in politics we are forced to make difficult decisions. When a race is interparty, these decisions are magnified ten fold. In the race for Chairman of the Utah Democratic Party I find myself choosing between two candidates who have served me, and the organizations [...]
So, for the two of you who have not heard, Senator Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania recently switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. The political ramifications of this is that when (not if, conservatives) Al Franken of Minnesota is officially made the Senator from that state, the body [...]
For those of you who don’t know, today is Earth Day. I remember, as a child, schools would take this opportunity to talk about things like not letting the water run when you brush your teeth, turning off the lights when you leave the room, and, [...]
It is not often in politics that you can loose a race, yet feel like you have won - today, I am happy to announce that Laura Arellano is the new Second Vice Chair of the County Democrats.
During my run for Second Vice Chair, I always had a hunch [...]
We as Utah Democrats rarely have an advantage when it comes to elections – but we do have something that the Republicans don’t: we consider talking to voters key to victory. Indeed, every campaign is taught the importance of going door to door and collecting information [...]
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Everyone living in Salt Lake County is aware of the psychological and physical divide Interstate 15 has on our valley. Though the reason for this divide are many and varied, the point remains the same – our [...]
If there is one thing I know I know about Democrats in Utah, it is that many of us feel isolated and shy away from political debate as to avoid pointing out the fact that we are liberal and that we don’t think Mitt Romney is [...]
This past November we participated in the classic tradition of voting; In Salt Lake County we made some strong advances and made progress in getting Democrats elected to all levels of government. Indeed, we have seen good work out of Jay Seegmiller, Trisha Beck, Laura Black, [...]
As I go through and communicate with fellow delegates, I am finding that there is a common theme: we need to make sure that people know who we are and what we are about - we can’t let Republicans tell us who we are.
I have the [...]
As part of my lead up to the election of Salt Lake County 2nd Vice Chair, I have decided to start a series of posts on specific platform positions that I am running on - hopefully I can get your support. Targeting of Races
For far too long, [...]
Many of you know that I am involved with the Young Democrats of Utah - an origination near and dear to my heart. That being said, our parent organization, the Young Democrats of America, are very good at being Democrats - that is loosing everything when [...]
Second Vice Chair is the most hotly contested race, with no [...]
Feeling Down? Tired? Headache? Not feeling too good? Sounds like a Legislative Hangover to me. But no need to worry as the session is over and YDU is going to celebrate our successes and commiserate our failures.Join YDU this Friday for our annual Legislative Hangover & [...]
Somehow we managed to survive another legislative session without the state falling into utter chaos (honestly, I don’t know how we did it, but I will take what I can get). Here is the final blog post discussing the status of bills - no more “legislative [...]
Senator Dan Liljenquist belts out a tune...on the Senate Floor! During floor time! Take from this post what you will.
Working at a helicopter flight school, I often have run-ins with various federal officials - most commonly the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Well today I finally got around to actually taking the TSA security test to make it possible for [...] 
Mike Noel (R - Kanab, District 73) made a bit of a mistake when he proposed H.B. 437 that could get him, and Legislative Research and General Council, in a bit of hot water. You see this bill violates a state law that requires [...] 
I have made the switch to wordpress -
