These were the biggest issues at tonight’s town hall meeting, as determined by questions from the audience:

• Health Care
• Immigration
• North American Union (insert Twilight Zone theme here)
• Bush’s Mortgage “bailout”

Craig

UPDATE: HJ story here.

I got this in an e-mail forward, which is not always the best source of information, but urban legend checker Snopes says it’s true. It’s rather interesting.

House #1: A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern “snow belt” area. It’s in the South.

House #2: Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every “green” feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

~~~~~
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the “environmentalist” Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

Craig

Story 1:  Every city in Cache County is going to challenge the Census’ 2006 population estimates, claiming that they are too low.  The county planner says the numbers are off by 3,000-6,000.  Provo, West Jordan, Eagle Mountain and Sarasota Springs also are questioning their population figures.

Story 2:  Utah is running out of liquor licenses, one of which is available for every 11,000 Utah residents.

Does this mean that, if Utah cities are successful in their challenges, that we might gain enough people to get another liquor license?  Then I say “go Utah cities”!  I could also say “fix this, Legislature,” but that seems less likely.

Craig

This appeared in the Wall Street Journal ($), and focuses on the issue of funding for the referendum campaign:

Voucher Showdown

August 29, 2007; Page A14

The Utah legislature passed one of the nation’s most far-sighted voucher laws in February, and the state teachers union is calling in the national cavalry to help repeal it in a November 6 referendum.

Last month Kim Campbell, the head of the Utah Education Association, schlepped all the way to Philadelphia to speak at a National Education Association convention, where she asked the board of directors for financial support to oppose school choice. Ms. Campbell promised that her campaign to defeat it “will be ugly, mean and expensive,” and she needs the outside cash to overwhelm pro-voucher supporters in the state. Look for other liberal activists to pour cash into what will be the most significant state-wide ballot test for school choice in years.

The Utah union chief made her out-of-state trek, by the way, even as one of her spokesmen back home denounced the “river of money from out-of-state ideologues intent on starting a voucher experiment in Utah.” Apparently, out-of-state contributions are only tainted when they’re used to support something the teachers union opposes.

In any case, Ms. Campbell’s plea didn’t fall on deaf ears. Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency, a union watchdog, reported recently that the Utah union’s $3 million request for its anti-voucher campaign was approved. The union’s executive director wouldn’t confirm or deny the amount when we inquired, but she did volunteer that “we’re reaching out to the national affiliate for support and assistance, and we’re hoping it will be significant.” You can bet it will be.

Craig

KVNU’s Eric Frandsen was called last night by the Republican National Committee to solicit funds.  Before they asked for Eric’s cash, they asked, “Would it good thing or a bad thing if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama were elected President of the United States?”

LOL.

near 40 south main (between the logo shop and edward’s furniture) a sign:

if the city could build a sidewalk, we could run a business

two things pique my interest here: both the logo shop and edward’s furniture appear to open for business in spite of NOT having a sidewalk…and two…the store appears to be empty except for some painter’s scaffolding.

anyone know what the scoop is here? i am assuming there is more to this story.

~jess

I have attached what I feel is my ‘position statement’ for this election.   I have no ‘bone to pick’ with Joe Needham.  He is an outstanding citizen and has done a fine job on the council.  I do believe in term limits, however, and feel our current council make-up is not representative of a large group of constituents, the “Senior” sector.  According to  national press releases, Logan and Cache County are among the highest in the nation for longevity for men and women.   If elected, I would represent that group of folks as well as all other citizens of Logan.

I also feel that the duly elected full-time administrator for the city, Mayor Randy Watts, should be asked for his input into City Council discussions.  It is true that the Mayor is present at all meetings, however those I have attended in the past couple of months seem to go on without bringing the mayor into council discussions.   All council members and the mayor are elected by the same people, but the mayor is the only full-time elected official and is charged with ‘running’ the city on a day by day basis.  Frequent, open, and cordial communication with the mayor is a must, in my opinion.

Perhaps one other area which I challenge Joe Needham on would be his vote against IPP as a source of additional power as needed by Logan City.  Logan will undoubtedly continue to grow in both the private and corporate sectors.  Affordable power in large quantities is fundamental to that growth.  While certainly exploring all “more environmentally friendly’ sources of power, we must provide such at a reasonable cost and in much greater amounts than solar and/or wind power can provide at this point in time.  Let’s being such exploration but not shut the door on the best source we have at this time.

If you have any questions about these statements or if I have missed the intent of your email, please do let me know.

Thank  you kindly,

Jay A. Monson

Statement from Jay A. Monson, Candidate for Logan  City Council:

Some of the issues we need to address in order to maintain the high quality of life we have in Logan City:

–Cooperation with Cache County for benefits to both the city and the county in mutually benefiting endeavors such as the present waste management systems, Willow Park and the Fairgrounds.  Work for better communication and interactions with all cities in the valley and extending to neighboring communities in Bear Lake, Box Elder County and in Southern Idaho.

–Utilize alternative and current sources for generating power and provide such at reasonable cost to homes and businesses.  Look at cost alternatives realistically and explore all alternatives of power sources near and far. Assure that Logan has and adequate supply of water to meet present and future needs of residents.

–Work together with all other cities in the valley, Cache County and the state of Utah to resolve transportation difficulties and complete long-range plans for future growth and more efficient and safe ways to move traffic in and around Logan City and throughout the valley.

–Identify a 20-year plan for the infrastructure for Logan City.  Replacing, building anew, and maintaining what must be done.

–Assure the arts and the library has broad based support and expansion as needed and possible

–Cooperate with local agencies providing services to citizens to assure needs are being met, e.g. Bear River Mental Health, Bear River Health Department, Senior Citizens and others.

–Diversify neighborhoods so huge sections of the city do not become ‘apartment sub cities’. Maintain neighborhoods so that they retain beauty, safety, and desirability for all citizens therein. Continue to build a beautiful and thriving “Downtown” center of the city with improved accessibility for parking, and economic development citywide.

–Cooperate closely with Utah State University to work together to enhance strong community support and mutually beneficial programs and projects

–Examine the rate at which taxes are increasing. Seek ‘outside’ sources of funding from state, national, and foundation/corporate groups to continue needed improvements without significant increases in taxation.  Be honest in taxation and remove the ‘other”
monthly charges which increasingly appear on governmental and public service billings.

–Renew, expand, or form “Citizens Advisory Committees” or Ad-Hoc panels of citizens to gather information and formulate recommendations for the City Council and Mayor.  These committees should represent a broad base of our citizen population to be inclusive of multi-cultural, economically diverse, all age groups, professionals and lay citizens working together for the good of the community.

–The current practice of allowing ‘citizen input’ at the beginning of each meeting should be continued.

Last week, the History Channel did a show examining 9/11 conspiracies and systematically debunking them. Captain’s Quarters talks about it here.

One highlight of the show is when theorists suggest that the towers should not have collapsed in only 10 or so seconds. Their reasoning:

A pancake collapse would have been 110 floors falling one by one, all the way down. Clunkety-clunk. Try saying the words “clunkety-clunk” 110 times. You couldn’t even say that in 10 seconds. A Major Republican who donated $100,000 to George W. Bush recently tried our suggestion. In his hotel room, using a stopwatch, he said “clunkety-clunk” 110 times. It took him over three minutes. Ten seconds vs. three minutes. You decide.

Good point. If a Republican admits he can’t do it, the theorists must be right.

Another theory is that there should have been more large debris at the Pennsylvania crash site, despite the fact that the plane was going almost straight down at a high speed. They also think the hole in the Pentagon doesn’t look like it was made by a plane. To paraphrase the editor of Popular Mechanics, which produced a great book debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, they apparently expect to see a plane-shaped hole in the side of the building, kind of like when Wile E. Coyote runs into a brick wall.

For a debunking of the theory that the fires in the World Trade Centers weren’t hot enough to cause the buildings to collapse, see here.

Leading 9/11 conspiracy theorists, for the most part, are contemptible people. The producers of popular conspiracy ‘documentary’ Loose Change are especially arrogant. They are also typical of their ilk; young, not educated in science, and condescending. They debated the Popular Mechanics folks awhile back. While being thoroughly outclassed, the young punks could only retort, “you’re lying!” and “you’re part of the coverup.”

I think it is important that we examine and refute these theories, so that they don’t persist outside of the lunatic fringe for the rest of history. I discuss this at my site.

Bill Moyers is a PBS journalist and former LBJ hack (funny how many members of the Washington media worked for Democratic administrations; Chris Matthews, Brian Williams, and George Stephanopolous are examples). He has been called by Power Line “the most contemptible man in American public life.” He has dropped all pretense of objectivity, and made clear his blinding disdain for Republicans and, especially, Christians. Recently he lauched a screed against Karl Rove, which can be viewed via the link above. In it, he goes back to the old “Bush is an idiot hick cowboy” rhetoric, and attacks Christians again. He also claims that Karl Rove told people he’s agnostic, hoping, apparently, that this would enrage Christians, and that we would feel used by Rove.

On Fox News Sunday recently, Karl Rove dismissed the idea that he was agnostic. This prompted Moyers to write in to FNS, which led to the following, at the end of Wallace’s show today:

CHRIS WALLACE: Time for some mail, one letter from liberal commentator Bill Moyers. You may remember in my interview with Karl Rove last Sunday, I asked him about a Moyers statement that Rove is an agnostic who manipulated the Christian right for political gain. Rove responded, “Mr. Moyers ought to do a little bit better research before he does another drive-by slander”. Bill Moyers sent me this letter which he posted on his website. He quoted four print stories for his contention that Rove is agnostic. None of which offer any proof other than what Rove supposedly told colleagues over the years. Moyers wrote this:

BILL MOYERS: Obviously, Rove wanted to blow smoke because his version of reality is undermined by his own previous statements and by the reporting and analysis of journalists who have done their home work and don’t take his every word as gospel — no pun intended.

CHRIS WALLACE: Well, to save on postage, Bill, here’s my response. If you want to find out about someone’s religious beliefs, a good first step might be to ask him. If you had talked to Rove as I did, you would have found out he reads a devotional every day and the biggest charitable contribution he ever made was to his church. Of course, you never called Rove. That’s reporting 101, but it would have gotten in the way of a tasty story line about a non-believer flimflamming the Christian right. I guess, Bill, reporting is easier when you don’t worry about the facts.

That will leave a mark. Video here.

Moyers is Exhibit No. 1 for why taxpayers shouldn’t fund PBS.

Craig