State control of alcohol policy will continue

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:54:01 +0000

Late last year, the legislative auditor general released an audit that was highly critical of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC). The audit revealed mismanagement and possible criminal malfeasance by the former department director, Dennis Kellen.

The governor asked for Kellen's immediate resignation and appointed Francine Giani, currently the executive director of the Department of Commerce, to temporarily head the DABC and clean-up the department. Subsequent legislative audits released earlier this year have suggested the need for greater internal audit controls. The Legislature also commissioned a study by Bonneville Research, which presented suggestions in November 2011 on how the DABC could more efficiently manage its operations by applying retail principles.

OUR VIEW: Firearm bill unnecessary

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:54:07 +0000

Davis County state Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, is sponsoring a bill to allow people to legally carry a firearm without fear of being charged with disorderly conduct by police. It's a bad idea that takes away important aspects of a law enforcement officer's job, such as the ability to discern when an incident can get out of hand, and the ability to control a tense situation.

Rep. Ray is apparently worried about a law enforcement officer's hassling a law-abiding individual who is legally carrying a firearm. On the very rare ocacasions that occurs, we share his concern.

But Rep. Ray's House Bill 49 is not needed to address a rare problem. We're far more worried about police officers being legislatively forced to mull over whether they are breaking an unnecessary firearms law while trying to defuse or deal with a tense, dangerous situation.

Frankly, if one is allowed to legally carry a firearm in Utah, they should be mature enough to comply with an officer's request and then file a complaint later if so inclined.

We don't see a rash of cases where police have hassled owners of firearms in Utah. Why in the world would the Legislature want to waste time and money creating a law that fulfills no real need?

Super PAC man Obama

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:52:02 +0000

During campaign appearances in 2008, Americans were swept off their feet (some quite literally if you take into account the swooning women) with the idea of "hope and change." In almost childlike faith, people grabbed on to the promise that then Senator Barack Obama was a different kind of politician who promised to be the proverbial tie binding us together in unity. Red and Blue would fade away into purple as we laid down our individualism in pursuit of "the greater good." Believing a new day had dawned on American politics, the awestruck responded to one of the greatest marketing ruses in American history with a hearty: "Dude, this whole hope and change thing is definitely the way to go."

Those mudslinging Republicans

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:52:01 +0000

This was the week Mitt Romney should have sealed the Republican presidential nomination. He was expected to win Tuesday's caucuses in Colorado, to win or tie in Minnesota and to do credibly well in Missouri. Instead, the former Massachusetts governor managed to lose all three contests to Rick Santorum, a candidate who has spent most of the campaign stuck near the bottom of the polls.

Obama's assault on faith

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:50:02 +0000

The latest embarrassment from President Barack Obama is more than an embarrassment. It's an assault on faith that begins with a 2,500-page health care bill enacted with no one expected to read it except the bureaucrats paid to translate its obscurities into thousands more pages of regulations.

After a prolonged look at a phrase that could have been interpreted multiple ways, the president and the masters of your life in the Department of Health and Human Services bypassed the sensible and decreed we are now in the age of mandated contraception coverage, one step closer to Utopian bliss.

Gingrich's Alinsky obsession

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:50:11 +0000

Saul Alinsky never met Barack Obama. The activist died suddenly of a heart attack at age 63 in California when the future president was 11 and living in Hawaii. Yet, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich works tirelessly to link their names, probably to the confusion of his audiences, many of whom probably have no idea who Alinsky was.

Trentelman tells it like it is

sskordos — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:33:01 +0000

Editor,

I am writing concerning the letter of Jan. 27, "Trentelman should be taken to wood shed" regarding his view of the judge "consoling" Dr. MacKay. Isn't that exactly what the judge did?

Komen, Planned Parenthood furor can help donors rethink criteria for giving

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:05:01 +0000

Too bad the brief but seismic split between Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood didn't explode in time for the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Forced coverage for contraception violates conscience

sskordos — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:27:01 +0000

Editor,

Mr. Obama's HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius' recent mandate forces employers to violate conscience in order to provide insurance coverage for sterilization, contraception and abortion pills. First Amendment protection of religious freedom now plays second fiddle to the fiats of the social gospel. It is only a matter of time until the edict comes down requiring coverage for abortion, followed by limits on family size. Life and liberty, pillars in the Declaration of Independence, are being demolished by the tyranny of the Obama administration, the insurance mandate being a good case in point.

Promising developments in Raul Castro's Cuba

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:19:01 +0000

Yet another intimate portrait has just emerged about one of the most prominent and pivotal world leaders of the early 1960s, arguably the most dangerous and highly charged years of the Cold War.

An iconic hero for many, thanks to his charismatic personality and demonstrated courage, this former head of state is also controversial thanks to personal behavior, which can only be described as reckless.

Gay marriage is a dead political issue

dgibson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:57:01 +0000

Eight years is an aeon in politics. Witness the waning potency of the gay-marriage issue.

During the 2004 campaign, Republican strategists put gay marriage on referendum ballots in key swing states, as a "wedge" issue to unnerve Democrats and gin up the conservative base for President George W. Bush. The Massachusetts high court had just ruled for legalization, and hostility toward the concept was the centrist position in America.

This is no longer true.

Hatch allowed deficit to balloon during his terms

sskordos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:47:01 +0000

Editor,

The national debt stood at less than $700 billion when Senator Hatch took office in January 1977. By the time President Bush left office in January 2009, the debt had ballooned to more than $10,600 billion. How many times in those 32 years did Senator Hatch vote to approve a budget that was not balanced and then vote to increase the national debt to pay for it?

Koman outrage not about abortion

sskordos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:23:01 +0000

Editor,

The reporting about the public outcry at Komen is in error. The Associated Press article published in the Standard Feb. 3, "Koman fund excludes Planned Parenthood," reported that the outcry came from the pro-abortion groups. That isn't so. Everyone I know was outraged that Komen would be willing to let women die of breast cancer than to be pressured by far right-wing groups. We were upset that Komen would abandon their purpose for politics. That's not what we supported all these years. It didn't matter what our views on abortion were.

Support SB 41 to stop indoor tanning for minors

sskordos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:43:01 +0000

Editor,

As a concerned parent and a melanoma skin cancer survivor, I was present when The tanning ban bill was presented to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee last Thursday.

Melanoma is becoming an epidemic among our young people. It used to be a disease seen in older people and has now become the second highest cause of cancer for those in ages 15-39. The risk of melanoma increases 75 percent with tanning bed usage before the age of 30. My surgical oncologist tells me that many of his patients are young people and many of them die.

Saturday Satire for February 10, 2012

dgibson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:31:18 +0000

911 response to call about family killer Josh Powell seems dense

dgibson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:30:04 +0000

Listening to the 911 tapes now, after we know what was about to happen at family killer Josh Powell's house, the 911 call takers seem agonizingly dense and rude.

They ask questions that seem bizarrely off point, constantly interrupting and speaking over callers as they try to explain themselves.

As Powell is about to strike his children with a hatchet and set his house on fire, a 911 call taker asks Powell's case worker, who is calling from her cell phone in the driveway in front of his house, "Are you in a vehicle now or on foot?"

OUR VIEW: Government, marriage and divorce

dgibson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:30:01 +0000

We don't approve of the government mandating, in this case through the Utah Legislature, that couples take required courses before getting married or divorced.

Unfortunately, proposals have circulated this legislative session to do that. Ogden Republican Rep. Dixon Pitcher wants to require all couples that want to marry in Utah, take pre-marital counseling of at least three hours. Rep. Jim Nielson, R-Bountiful, wants to require couples with children to take a divorce orientation course before a divorce is filed.

Currently in Utah, couples are required to complete a divorce orientation course before the divorce is finalized.

Hypocrisy on voter ID cards abounds

dgibson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:10:01 +0000

NEW YORK -- A bunch of racists in South Carolina is trying to hold down blacks by forcing them, and everybody else, to show photo identification before they can vote.

Astonishing!

Raja Bell a great ambassador for the Jazz

sskordos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:23:01 +0000

Editor,

It was our pleasure to meet Utah Jazz basketball player, Raja Bell, Friday, Feb. 3 at a grocery store in South Ogden.

What a pleasant and congenial young man! He impressed us greatly. We want to thank those responsible for bringing him there. Everyone around us was excited to get warmhearted Raja's autograph and picture.

LDS stake's donation event helped many in need

sskordos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:11:01 +0000

Editor,

In this day when the economy is bad and many people are out of work and in need, I and many others, would like to extend a thanks to those who were involved in keeping the true spirit of Jesus Christ alive and fulfilling his words, "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt. 25:40). A heartfelt thank to all!

Sincere appreciation goes to those who spent time in organizing the event and volunteers, the purpose of which was to help members and non-members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This event was open to anyone, no matter what religion, race or language and took place Jan. 21, 23, and 24. It was sponsored by the Weber Heights Stake.