Blog Archives

People love Common Core, but apparently hate the name

8/28/2014

The Common Core could use a common sense public relations campaign. Or rather, it could have awhile ago; it’s probably too late now.

Much of the media missed the real news from a poll by Dan Jones & Associates, released Monday, on how Utahns feel about Common Core, the education standards that have gotten tangled in the right-left tug-of-war that defines Americans politics these days.

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Lyft and Uber force the issue on market restrictions

8/27/2014

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Awhile back, my wife and I flew into New York’s LaGuardia Airport, retrieved our luggage and prepared to take our place in a long line for a taxi. In an almost imperceptible voice, a man near the line asked us where we were going. Then he offered to take us there, right then, for less than what taxis were charging.

Our initial reluctance disappeared as we encountered several other travelers following the same man into the nearby parking garage, where

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Legalized marijuana will lead to social costs

8/21/2014

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It didn’t take long on a recent family road trip to the Northwest for my family to come face-to-face with recent changes in Washington state law.

We were returning to the car after dinner at a fast-food restaurant in Yakima when I got a big whiff of an aroma I hadn’t encountered much since graduating from high school. Sitting in the car next to ours were two men happily smoking marijuana.

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Provo as an impoverished city? Don't trust this report

8/20/2014

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Does Provo, Utah, really have the seventh fastest growing poverty rate in the nation?

The truth is, I don’t know. But a new report from the Brookings Institution, which gives the city its seventh-place ranking and received considerable publicity this week, doesn’t bring any reliable clarity to the question.

It has to do with how we measure poverty in this country, which hasn’t changed since the mid-‘60s,

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Book review: What if Kennedy had survived Dallas?

8/11/2014

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Title: Surrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas?
Author: Bryce Zabel

Alternative history is a genre that lends itself to “aha” moments as authors draw on facts that are known today but were not generally understood at the time. When the subject is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the “ahas” are plentiful and entertaining to consider.

In his new novel, “Surrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas,” author Bryce Zabel doesn’t disappoint. The things we know today about JFK – his lust for dangerous sex partners, his drug use – cause Camelot to come crashing down upon him as paranoia surrounding his near-miss in Dallas takes over.

There is little particularly surprising in the way the book’s plot unfolds. J. Edgar Hoover, the carefully scheming FBI chief, is well-known for having an ample dossier on the Kennedy brothers, which no doubt helped him to survive their administration in real life. Zabel uses him to push the plot along, as the president and his attorney general brother take

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In Utah, the hills are alive and they're eating people

8/6/2014

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In Utah, terra is not exactly firma. The hills, in fact, are alive, and they’re eating houses.

That should come as no surprise to anyone. We don’t need Julie Andrews, or even Carrie Underwood, to sing it to us. Nature knows the tune, although I’m told the sound is deafening.

But she doesn’t sing it very often, which may explain why we become complacent. People who don’t study history are condemned to repeat it, and all that.

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Football will never be a safe sport for competitors

8/5/2014

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Last month, California lawmakers passed a bill limiting full-contact football practices for middle- and high-school players to two 90-minute workouts per week.

Not long after, the Utah High School Activities Association implemented a new rule requiring all athletes to have yearly physical exams, rather than only one during their high school careers. Coaches are to take special care to avoid heat-related

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People love Common Core, but apparently hate the name

Lyft and Uber force the issue on market restrictions

Legalized marijuana will lead to social costs

Provo as an impoverished city? Don't trust this report

Book review: What if Kennedy had survived Dallas?

In Utah, the hills are alive and they're eating people

Football will never be a safe sport for competitors

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