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Public thinks a GOP Senate wouldn't change much

10/31/2014

Democrats are voting early in large numbers, but Republicans are likely to overwhelm polling places on Tuesday. That’s the conventional wisdom heading into the weekend before mid-term elections.

And while most people believe Republicans will regain control of the Senate, at least one poll shows a solid majority say President Obama’s performance is not a factor in how they intend to vote.

All of which seems to confirm the adage that all politics is local, and that local issues matter most.

However, this does not take Washington off the hook. The same poll, conducted by the Washington

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Should Utah move into the Central time zone?

10/30/2014

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This is not the time change that makes us cranky, so you may not be open to a discussion about daylight saving. Other than thinking it gets dark awfully fast, your Sunday is likely to be a well-rested one.

But at least one Utah lawmaker wants to put an end to resetting the clock. Depending on how it goes, we may need to change the state song to that old Chicago hit, “Does anybody really know what time it is?”

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IRS abuses show little has changed since the 1990s

10/28/2014

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If the information wasn’t coming in from credible news sources, you might find it hard to believe. In the United States, your hard-earned savings can be confiscated by the government overnight without you being guilty of a single crime.

And when you challenge this theft, the government won’t apologize. It will haggle over how much of your money it can keep anyway.

Maybe when I tell you one of the government agencies doing this is the IRS, you won’t be

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Canadian shooting may end open, accessible government

10/22/2014

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In the moments after at least one gunman attacked Canada’s Parliament building and surrounding areas in Ottawa on Wednesday, John McKay, a member of that Parliament told a Canadian radio station, “This changes everything. … I don’t want to think about the implications for us. That building is the people’s building.”

As if to underscore what had happened to the “people’s building,” Reuters published a photo taken inside the Conservative Party caucus room in the Parliament building. Several heavy green chairs had been piled against the door as a barricade.

It would have been hard to find a better symbol of what likely awaits our neighbors to the north. They may, unfortunately, become like us.

Ottawa is home to my oldest son and, so far anyway, all my grandchildren. As world capitals go, it would be hard to find a mellower place. An old

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We are becoming a nation that votes by mail

10/21/2014

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Election “day” has begun. That’s “day” as in a loosely defined time period, like “back in the day…”

Voters in 36 states and the District of Columbia already are casting ballots, including in Utah.

Some are showing up in person. In Salt Lake County, you can visit any of several locations, and it doesn’t even have to be close to your house.

Some are sitting at home, pencil in hand, going over candidates and ballot questions.

Others are … well, no one is quite sure.

Among the many changes brought about by this new trend in American democracy is an almost unnoticed move away from the reforms that followed the 2000 presidential election. New fangled machines and voter I.D. don’t matter if you use the mail.

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Government inspires little confidence against Ebola

10/15/2014

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First, take a deep breath and be comforted by what we know. Ebola isn’t transmitted through the air. It requires contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is displaying symptoms.

But when you’re done with that, you might want to sit down. What we know about this plague seems, at the moment, to be overshadowed by how woefully unprepared the health care system and the government has been in handling it.

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If FCC bans "Redskins," it needs to ban other things, too

10/14/2014

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A few years ago, pundits complained about the Federal Communication Commission’s “puritanical bent … under the Bush administration,” as the Denver Post put it. The issue had to do with the fallout over Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during halftime of the 2004 Super Bowl, in which she briefly exposed herself to millions of viewers.

The FCC tried to impose fines against the network and its affiliates.

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Vaccinations are paying dividends worldwide

10/9/2014

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It’s never convenient for society to protect itself from dangerous diseases. Just ask air travelers flying into one of five large U.S. airports from West Africa. For the next little while, every one of them will have his or her temperature taken, and even those without fevers will be asked to provide contact information and to take their temperature daily.

But if the Ebola outbreak in Africa seems hopeless, it is important to remember that medical science can, and often does, perform wonders, even in Africa.

That was part of the message Namala Mkopi delivered recently when he met with the Deseret News editorial board. Mkopi is head of pediatric hematology in the Oncology Unit of Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He doesn’t deal with Ebola patients, but up until a year or so ago he dealt with more than his share of dying children. He described what the children’s ward was like. “You’re talking three children in every bed and on mattresses on the floor. So, it’s full, and many of them end up dead.”

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The lessons from Oslo's decision to forego the Olympics

10/7/2014

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Oslo, Norway was a shoo-in. All it had to do was continue its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and it would have been chosen.

That’s the conventional wisdom, anyway. Instead, the capital of one of the world’s richest democracies decided recently to bow out, even though it had been chosen as one of three finalists for the games. That leaves the International Olympic Committee with the unenviable choice of picking between the other two, either Beijing, where the air is horrible

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No, legal gambling does not enhance the economy

10/1/2014

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The gambling industry is touting a newly released report by Oxford Economics that purports to show the economic benefits of legalized games of chance. Titled “When gaming grows, America grows,” it is stuffed with figures that make it appear as if we’re all missing bet by not rallying behind gambling as the nation’s chief industry.

Gambling is portrayed as an economic engine, “a unique segment of the U.S. entertainment industry that depends on a large workforce and the support of thousands of outside vendors and suppliers,

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Public thinks a GOP Senate wouldn't change much

Should Utah move into the Central time zone?

IRS abuses show little has changed since the 1990s

Canadian shooting may end open, accessible government

We are becoming a nation that votes by mail

Government inspires little confidence against Ebola

If FCC bans "Redskins," it needs to ban other things, too

Vaccinations are paying dividends worldwide

The lessons from Oslo's decision to forego the Olympics

No, legal gambling does not enhance the economy

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