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8/30 FTP: Left Right and Libertarian, Peak EVERYTHING!, Rep. Paul Ray = Wrong, and Curfews for Gang Members
Tonight:
Starting your week out right with Left, Right and Libertarian: your chance to weigh in with Jonathan, Michael, and me on all the weekend headlines you didn’t, weren’t supposed to, and probably need to see. What did we miss?
Peak Oil? No. Peak EVERYTHING! We’ll discuss the idea posed by some that we’re running out of lithium, peak neodymium, and phosphorus, and the effects could be economically devastating.
Something funky in Rep. Paul Ray’s water?
And Ogden City has filed an injunction against a local gang. The policy would ban gang members from associating with each other, being anywhere near a gun or a drug, and possibly even impose a curfew on known gang members. Effective way to fight gang violence? Pointless, unenforceable grandstanding? More evidence Ogden “solving” problems by driving those problems to other (Roy) cities.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/27 FTP: Open Line Friday, KVNU Movie Show
Lines are open at 4pm for your gripes, observations, questions, complaints, or topics of conversation you think deserve more light of day. Call or join the chat or tweet what’s on your mind to take part.
Join us for the KVNU Movie Show at 5pm with Andy and Dan of AndyattheMovies.com. I haven’t heard yet what they’ve seen this week, but as usual the conversation will be loads of fun.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/26 FTP: Guv Race Education Sparring, Wasteful School Spending, and the Pentagon’s Reality TV Show
Tonight:
The Herbert/Corroon race for Governor has heated up this week with the two candidates exchanging blows over education plans. Corroon: More requirements for a high school diploma. Herbert: I’ll let you know when my commission tells me what my ed plan is. We’ll discuss the two approaches, and get your feedback.
We’ll speak to Doug Stephenson of the United Way about their “Day of Caring” event Sept 8th. They need your help! We’ll get you all the info to get involved.
A topic we’ve now bumped three times this week: Wasteful school spending. The CATO Institute tells a story of the “Taj Mahal of Public Schools” recently built in California. The final price tag will shock you. Justified costs, or a sign of a need for spending reform in the public school system? You decide (and let us know.
Finally, the Pentagon is entering the Reality TV fray with a new show called Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan. Some are outraged, calling the show — pieced together with real footage from real soldiers — a glorification of war, and producers are saying the show may actually show casualties. Would you watch? Is this turning war into entertainment?
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/25 FTP: Tuesday Primaries – Who Won?, Direct-Mail-Ballot Experiment Results, and Obama’s Iraq Speech
Tonight:
Last night was (again) primary night in various places (Arizona, Florida, more). Who won? Well, it depends on who you’re listening to. McCain survived, but the tea parties took a big chunk out of his war chest. The biggest names on the AG suit against the Democrat’s health care reform bill all lost. What does it all mean? We’ll try to sort that out.
We’ll hear from County Clerk Jill Zollinger on the results of Cache Valley’s own primary election experiment: Direct-Mail-Balloting, and what the future of voting in Utah might look like.
Next week, the President will give his “Iraq Speech,” announcing the de facto end of the war. We’ll speculate (widely) about what might be said, and whether or not the war there is really ending, considering recent news of violent outburst.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/24 FTP: Egg Recalls-Buy Local, Rulon Returns, and the Mero Moment
Rulon!
Tonight:
We’ll speak with co-owner of the family operated Oakdell and Ritewood Farms — local egg producers right here in Northern Utah — on the details of the national egg recall, and the importance of buying local.
We’ll hear from a representative of Daughters of the American Revolution to learn what their organization is all about, and how you can get involved.
Friend of the show and Olympic Gold Medalist Rulon Gardener will be in studio at 5 to talk about his Elite Training Center and we’ll of course be asking him for his thoughts on conference realignments, USU football, immigration reform, health care, egg recalls, and…
The Mero Moment. We’ll invite Rulon to stick around for the discussion around this week’s installment. Today, Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero tackles corrupting influences in politics, centering around the recent dust-up over taking federal money for Utah schools.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/23 FTP: Left, Right and Libertarian, Public Hearings on “Spice,” and IHC’s Health Fair
Tonight:
We’ll serve up the second ever installment of “Left, Right and Libertarian,” a chance for us to recap and wax ideological over the weekend headlines, including, this week, an airport security check that went a little too far. We also want to hear from you. What did we miss?
Logan City Council is holding a public hearing tomorrow night on “Spice.” We’ll go one better and let our listeners weigh in first. How should the county, law enforcement, and the courts respond to the problems this incense-turned-drug and the public health risks it creates?
We’ll hear from Doug Thompson on the upcoming IHC Health Fair, and what you can expect.
And finally, we’ll discuss a recent report unearthed by AP (via CATO Institute) showing an inexplicable growth in acquisition and construction costs for public schools. Is there a justification for these K-12 “Taj Mahals”, or is this an area in need of reform in our public school system?
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
Why aren’t more Mormons supporting the NYC Islamic Center?
Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar, CNN Contributor, with an interesting take…
In 2007, when he was running for the Republican nomination for president, Romney gave a speech that I described at the time as “an instant classic in American civil religion.” In “Faith in America,” he spoke glowingly of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. He also said he had himself learned much not only from Catholics, evangelicals and Jews but also from “the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims.” [...]
I thought that Romney, as a Mormon, might speak out passionately for the First Amendment. I thought he might remember how the founder of his religion, Joseph Smith Jr., was murdered by an anti-Mormon mob. I thought he might recall how the U.S. government brought down much of its coercive power against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the last decades of the nineteenth century.
Apparently not. According to a statement released on August 10 by his spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom, “Governor Romney opposes the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero. The wishes of the families of the deceased and the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda compel rejection of this site.”
More recently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also a Mormon, opened the floodgates for what will likely be a steady stream of Democratic equivocation on this important issue. “The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” Reid’s spokesman Jim Manley said in an August 16 statement. “Sen. Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else.”
One of the realities of robust religious liberty in the United States is that members of minority religions grow complacent over the years. [...]
Perhaps I am wrong for holding Mormons to some higher standard, but I do. I believe that members of a religious group that has been persecuted almost to extinction should stand up and speak out when Newt Gingrich starts likening Muslims to Nazis and Tea Party advocates start referring to Islam as a cult. At a minimum, religious minorities should not fall into the Puritan trap of demanding religious freedom for themselves while denying it to others.
UPDATE: Bob Aagard beat me to the punch on this one. His take.
Prison Dorms for the Poor?
Carl Paladino (R), a candidate for governor in New York, said he would transform some empty state prisons into housing for welfare recipients, where they would work in state-sponsored jobs like the military or “in some cases park service.” People living in the facility would also get employment training and take lessons in “personal hygiene,” the AP reports.
Said Paladino: “Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we’ll teach people how to earn their check. We’ll teach them personal hygiene … the personal things they don’t get when they come from dysfunctional homes.”
Wow. It must be nice, living in this guy’s simple little world where all recipients of welfare suffer only from not knowing how to earn a paycheck and shower correctly.
8/20 FTP: Open Line Friday, and the Return of Dan and Andy (FTP Movie Show)
Lines are open at 4pm for your gripes, observations, questions, complaints, or topics of conversation you think deserve more light of day. Call or join the chat or tweet what’s on your mind to take part.
And after a brief hiatus, the FTP Movie Show returns today at 5pm with Andy and Dan of AndyattheMovies.com. I’ve been told they will be serving up a gigantic hour of fall movie preview love, just for you.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
Online Education
The Sutherland Institute crew offered us an interview earlier this week with Susan Patrick, President and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, in town to testify before the legislature on online education opportunities. Unfortunately, none of the FTP crew were available when she was. Fortunately, Sutherland has uploaded video of her comments to YouTube.
Often talk I hear of online education leads to joking about certain web based “universities” and online “degrees” that may not help you find the job you’re seeking quite as well as a “paper” degree.
But online education is, and should be part of the future of both private and public education.
So how would it work? That’s an interesting thing to consider, and Patrick’s comments via the video above get the discussion rolling.
For parent’s out there, would you object to your children receiving at least a portion of their education online, or prefer a traditional classroom? How much money could this save states? How many more avenues of learning could an online “classroom” offer in addition to, instead of replacement for a traditional classroom?
I’m looking forward to seeing the future of this one.
8/19 FTP: Gov’s “Streamlining” Panel, Iraq War Ends (Or Doesn’t), and Take the Education Money!
Tonight:
Herbert’s panel for “streamlining” Utah has reported back, recommending overhauls to pension and prison systems, increased online education. The appointed panel says their recommendations will save the state $10 million. We’ll do some fact checking.
The Iraq War is over! Except it isn’t. We’ll move past the headlines to find out what’s really going on, and how long we’ll really have troops in Iraq.
Utah legislative leaders are making show of refusing $101 million in federal money meant for education and health care for the poor, after cashing over $3 Billion in federal money already to “balance the budget.” Grandstanding, or time to take a stand? We want to hear from you.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/18 FTP: Rep. Sandstrom’s Circus, Logan: Bus Shelter Ads OK, and Cache Schools “Zero Tolerance” Bullying Policy
Tonight:
I didn’t see it in person, but I followed Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s immigration reform dog-and-pony show on capitol hill, and have seen some video from the event. It was quite a presentation. We’ll bring you up to speed on some of the best and the worst commentary from the debate, and what kind of a message we are sending about Utah to the rest of the country.
Less than one year after an outright ban on ads at CVTD bus shelters, Logan City Council has approved use of ads. We’ll ponder how this could benefit the bus system, and some of the more unhinged comments from dissenting council members.
Cache School’s have approved a “zero tolerance” policy on bullying, citing “concrete consequences” for victims. What about the “concrete consequences” of coddling future generations from “meanies?”
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
Online Education Expert to Testify to Education Committee
MEDIA ADVISORY
Date: August 13, 2010
Contact: Dave Kimball
Phone: (801) 355-1272; (801) 259-0215
EXPERT TO TESTIFY TO EDUCATION COMMITTEE
SALT LAKE CITY — August 13, 2010 — A former Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education will testify in front of the Education Interim Committee, which consists of members from both the Utah State Senate and the State House of Representatives, on Wednesday, August 18, at 2 pm.
Susan Patrick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), will speak to the benefits of online education and field questions from the committee during her testimony. She will also be available for interviews that morning from 9 am – 12:30 pm. Any media interested in speaking with Ms. Patrick should contact Dave Kimball at Sutherland Institute by phone at (801) 355-1272 or email at dkimball@sutherlandinstitute.org.
Ms. Patrick will be a guest of Sutherland Institute’s Center for Educational Progress. As director of iNACOL, she published the U.S. National Education Technology Plan for Congress and managed research and technical assistance programs on educational technology. In addition, she co-chaired the federal government’s Advanced Technologies Working Group for Education and Training; and served as a member of the Secretary’s Rural Education Task Force.
iNACOL, The International Association for K-12 Online Learning, is a non-profit organization that facilitates collaboration, advocacy, and research to enhance quality K-12 online teaching and learning.
To see Ms. Patrick’s full bio, visit http://www.inacol.org/about/president.php.
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8/17 FTP: Ogden’s “Crime Fighting” Strategy via Landlord Licensing, Mero Moment on Religious Liberty
Tonight:
What’s the matter with Ogden? (Or maybe it’s just the Ogden Mayor?) Headlines paint a strange picture: from burning homes in run down communities for “fire fighter training” (because “hide the poor” sounds so insensitive!) to ousting rent-paying ex-cons from apartment complexes within the city to “fight crime,” it’s starting to look like cleaning up the city may be code for “hide the poor people.” And all of this is being done through a landlord licensing program… just like the one now in place in Logan. Is Logan about to take a page from the same playbook? We’ll discuss.
Tuesday. Time for another installment of the Mero Moment with Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero. Tonight, Paul tackles the complex and timely topic of religious liberty.
Finally, we’ll hear from Chair of the Cache Republicans David James on their important issues straw poll, and how things are taking shape for November. “Traditional marriage” and health care top the list. If you weren’t at the fair to take the poll, we’ll give you a second chance today at 5:40. What issues are most important to our listeners?
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
Press Release: Bowen Urges Rob Bishop to attend the Roundtable on Immigration Reform
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Clare Collard
Phone: 801.520.8125 Salt Lake City, UT
Email: BoadiceaCommunications@hotmail.com
Morgan Bowen Urges Rob Bishop to attend the Roundtable on Immigration Reform
SALT LAKE CITY, August 16th, 2010 – Utah First District Congressional candidate, Morgan Bowen, is urging Congressman Rob Bishop to attend the Immigration Roundtable on Thursday August 19 at 1 pm-3pm. The Roundtable will be held at the Centro Civico – 155 South 600 West – Salt Lake City, Utah.
“The reason why various states, including Utah, are attempting to create their own immigration laws is due to the fact that congress and the White House have failed to act on the issue for the past decade. Rob Bishop has been part of the problem by not actively seeking a comprehensive solution.” Bowen said.
Bowen continued “Bishop was in the majority party in congress with a Republican president in the White House, yet he failed to do anything about immigration reform.”
The forum is being hosted by Centro Civico and the Utah Coalition of La Raza. All candidates for Federal office and Federal office holders have been invited along with community and religious leaders from various perspectives on the immigration issue.
“I encourage Rob Bishop to attend and discuss this issue and ways we can have a workable, reasonable, and humane approach to immigration reform in the United States with the Federal Government stepping up and doing their job. It would be extremely costly for Utah to enforce any kind of immigration law on the state level, especially in light of the economic crisis we are in today.” Bowen said. “Constitutionally, border security and immigration is a Federal Issue and our representatives in Washington have been sleeping on the job for too many years.”
For additional information or to get involved with the campaign see www.votebowen.com or call (435) 760-4812.
Boadicea Communications is committed to empowering people through communication. Owner Clare Collard provides consulting services in the areas of Public Relations, Community Involvement, Business Development and Public Speaking. Visit www.BoadiceaCommunications.com
for additional information.
8/16 FTP: Left, Right, and Libertarian, The Life of a Carnie, Recession Innovation, and Sandstrom’s Immigration Bill
Tonight:
We’ll introduce a new regular segment to start off each week: Left, Right and Libertarian. Jonathan, Michael and I will recap, rehash, and wax poetic on all the headlines of the weekend, and invite listeners to chime in with their own reactions.
The Life of a Carnie. You didn’t know you were curious until you read that. From the front page of Cache Valley Daily, and on the heels of the county fair just wrapped, we’ll discuss what is not only a century old tradition, but a huge industry in America that continues strong today: the Carnie circuit.
Recessions are no fun. Especially if you’re one of those currently unemployed. But history teaches us that some of our biggest jumps “ahead” in industry and technology have come right behind economic downturn. We’ll discuss.
And Rep. Stephen (PANIC! IMMIGRANTS!) Sandstrom has presented his immigration bill for consideration in the 2011 legislative session. We’ll go over what the bill does and doesn’t say.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/12 FTP: The Wars, E-Government, and Beware the “Expert” Getting It Wrong
Tonight:
A listener emailed yesterday asking simply: What’s going on in Iraq and Afghanistan? We never hear about them anymore. We’ll recap the latest news, and discuss how an entire war can go missing from the media narrative.
E-government. What is it, do we want it, and why? With recent news that the Cache School Board will begin broadcasting meetings online (and continued promises from many Valley cities to do the same), how will this help residents of the Valley stay informed? Will you take advantage? We’ll hear from school board reps about the reasons for the decision. Your thoughts, we need.
And Jon was listening to NPR. Yeah, I know! Anyway, he was listening to NPR and he heard an “expert” give a description of “deflation” that was… well, way off. When the experts selected by the media to be expert about something don’t know what they’re talking about, who can you trust? We’ll discuss.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/11 FTP: BlogHer, Governors vs. Congresscritters on State Funding, and Anger in the Workplace
Tonight:
We’ll hear from Loralee Choate, Cache Valley native who just attended and returned from one of the biggest blogger conferences in the nation: BlogHer. We’ll find out what the conference is all about tonight in the first hour.
An interesting article (and graph!) circulating the Tubes today showing a large opinion/support gap between GOP Governors vs. GOP Congresspersons when it comes to federal money for state budgets. Who’s being pragmatic, and who’s playing politics? We’ll discuss.
Hour two, we’ll be joined by author and advice giver Janet Pfeiffer to discuss growing incidents of anger in the workplace as unemployment remains high and job concerns weigh heavily, and what you can do about it. (More on managing stress/anger in the workplace on Janet’s blog.)
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/10 FTP: Globalization v. Protectionism, Mero Moment: State Constitution, Beaver Mtn. Music Festivalur
Tonight:
A leftover we didn’t get time for yesterday: rumors abound that the Utah Legislature may be considering a plan to privatize state liquor stores. We’ll discuss how/if such a plan could work.
Outsourcing and globalization aren’t going away. Neither are protectionists. Jon suggests an article from the Heritage Foundation as an argument that outsourcing isn’t killing us. And I agree. But if these jobs are there, they aren’t here, so where do the new domestic jobs come from? Green energy technology? Broadband? Education? Radio hosting? We want your thoughts.
The Mero Moment continues with another Tuesday installment. Today, Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero serves up a segment on the Utah State Constitution, which he also sent us copies of! (Get your free copy here.) Always provocative, this Mero should spawn quite a discussion. Prepare to join in.
And we’ll hear from Ted Seeholzer on new plans in the works for Beaver Mountain Resort, and their upcoming Mountain Music Festival.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
8/9 FTP: Free Speech Zones, Privatized Booze, What Would Your Immigration Bill Look Like?
Tonight:
In our first “Post Riggs” For the People, Jonanthan and I will kick things off with a “tweeted” request from @utahsenate: “If you could offer the #utleg a single piece of advice on immigration issues, what would it be?”
A topic we touched on a little last week: Free Speech Zones are coming to Northern Utah (Brigham City, to be exact). We’ll discuss how 1) pointless and 2) creepy the idea of free speech being “zoned” really is.
And the big buzz in local news this weekend was a rumor that the Utah Legislature may be considering privatizing local liquor stores. Salt Lake Tribune:
With Utah facing another tough budget year, an idea being floated on Capitol Hill would get the state out of the liquor business, selling its stores to private entities and potentially saving more than $21 million a year.
The Privatization Policy Board, created by the Legislature, is studying the possible savings from breaking up the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s monopoly on wine and liquor.
Good idea? Bad? Even if you’ve never been in one, we want to hear from you.
Your calls are welcome.
Podcasts of this and previous shows are available here.
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