Year: 2009
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A Blogger Press Corps – of Sorts
I was just talking to Ric Cantrell about the Bloggerpresser that is taking place this afternoon at 4:00 in the senate building (it’s an open invitation – see his post for details on attending live or virtually). I want to share a couple of interesting thoughts from our conversation. Ric mentioned as he has tried…
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Utah Waste Buster
File this under "technology experiments by public officials" but it seemed worth linking to Utah Waste Buster if for no other reason than the fact that my senator, Dan Liljenquist, is one of those who is behind this blog. While there are those who complain that this is a waste of money and time (not…
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Define “Change”
I have come to the conclusion that I should not listen to national news – it just gets me agitated. I was driving home listening to NPR and was treated to actual soundbites from the rallying speech that President Obama gave to the Democratic caucus meeting. I had head about that, but hearing these gems…
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How Do They Do It?
Most of the our elected leaders in the state government come from the ranks of retirees, homemakers, business owners, lawyers, and other similar professionals who have a high degree of control over their own schedules. There are a few exceptions however such as Kory Holdaway who is an educator. As I gain more information and…
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D-TV Switch
That would be D as in "Delay " not D as in digital. I have had the opportunity to drive to work for the last couple of days and have been listening to the radio as they discussed this issue. I used to wonder why television stations should be forced to switch to digital signals.…
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Disturbing Trend
I want to be supportive of our President. I just want to make that clear because I don’t expect this post will convey that feeling. I’m sure part of it is the spirit of partisanship, and part of it is the media propensity to focus on the scandalous, but I don’t think that any other…
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Public Journalism
After an entire book showing the disappointing aspects of what effects we are seeing in our society from journalism it was bittsweet to read about the push toward a more constructive approach to journalism called public journalism. (The bitter being that this was written in the mid 1990’s and things seem no better – if…
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Meeting the Mayor
I was invited to a blogger breakfast this morning with Mayor Becker. After digesting the surprise and wondering how they decided who to invite (there were only 7 bloggers there) I was excited to see what it would be like. Early on the question was asked if anyone present took a conservative perspective on their…
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Legislative Guide
I just picked up a copy of The Utah State Legislative Guide for 2009. It has a bunch of information that most people never think about (like the seating assignments for the house and senate) and then some information that could prove very valuable despite the fact that many people never think about it –…
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Lippmann vs Dewey
In his final chapter, James Fallows introduces the argument between Walter Lippmann and John Dewey that took place through their writings in the 1920’s regarding what constituted the most desirable form of representative government. I would like to read more of their original writing, but for now let me react to what Fallows has covered.…