So Hugh... where is class today?

Hopefully the "Good News" doesn't mean bad

I too have really loved the dropping gas prices. Who would have ever thought fifteen years ago that we would be so excited over such a ridiculous price, 2.90. However with the continually lowering prices, people have began to relax. Hopefully it does mean that we "relax" off alternate fuel, thinking that there is now bigger and more important problems. Then in a few months when the fuel companies have captured us again, the prices will sore and we will have no choice but to pay it. So even with the lower gas prices we need to push even harder towards other types of cars and fuel.

Good News!

It has been a pleasant surprise to see that gas prices are going down. I was able to purchase gas today at 2.90 a gallon. On msn.com I read that on Monday the average price of regular gasoline was 2.923 a gallon and that gas is less than 3$ a gallon in 30 states. My question is how long is this going to last? As for now, I'm enjoying the lowering gas prices.

A victim of horrific facial disfigurement - known as "the man with no face" - has been given new hope by the advancement of medical science.
Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, Portugal, has been losing his face to a huge growth for the past 35 years, distorting it out of all recognition - and it's still growing.
The tumor on 51-year-old Jose's face is a collection of blood vessels that have expanded, producing a raised red area on the skin.
Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birthmark on his upper lip. At puberty it began growing, eventually smothering his lips, nose and one of his eyes. Now it is 33cm long and weighs 3kg.
But Jose's religious faith - as a Jehovah's Witness he refuses to accept a blood transfusion - has prevented him from having surgery to remove the growth.
Jose's rare condition was the subject of a Discovery Channel TV documentary 'The Man With No Face', part of the 'My Shocking Story' series.
It reveals how top medical experts in London have now held out hope of helping Jose, a well-known figure around the streets of Lisbon.
A leading British surgeon has offered to treat Jose using ultrasound waves to coagulate the blood before the operation.
This should remove the risk of heavy bleeding - satisfying his religious beliefs about blood transfusions in the process.
Dr Iain Hutchison, of St Bartholomew's in London, is confident an operation with a harmonic scalpel could make him look a lot more normal.
Discovery Channel said: "Surrounded by a loving family, it seems incredible that he has not been treated and his face was allowed to grow so big. However, through years of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosis, lack of finances, and reluctance to undergo treatment due to religious beliefs, the growth has continued to obliterate his face."
My Shocking Story follows Jose on a journey through Europe to seek medical advice for one last chance to stop his face from suffocating him.
In this journey of a lifetime he travels by train, via Paris, to Britain, to meet the top experts in London. He goes through a series of tests, consultations, and meets other patients with a similar affliction. In London he also spends time with his sister Guida and the rest of his family, enjoys being a tourist in London, while making the biggest decision of his life.
Jose's dream is to live a long and normal life. Following the showing of the Discovery documentary he continues to adhere to his 'no blood transfusion' religious principles. But he has agreed to go back to the London hospital in 2008, when doctors hope to carry out specialist surgery to begin removing parts of his tumor, without the need for blood transfusions.

I saw a show on tv about this man the other night. I just wanted to see what everyone else's opinions are on how his religion is preventing him from a blood transfusion, which could save his life. Do you think that he should ignore his religion beliefs for a better chance of removing the tumor, or do you think that he is right for sticking to his beliefs?

Insult to America

This is nothing political as the title might insinuate. I am watching the World Series right now. Game 1. Who would have ever guessed that it would be the Rays vs Phillies. Las Vegas was giving the Rays a 130 to 1 shot at making it to the Fall Classic. Millions of people are watching are watching this historic series. The first time the Rays are in the series. The native Floridans who call themselves The Backstreet Boys were called on to sing the National Anthem. I have heard some pretty bad renditions of the Star Spangled Banner before. Some horribly out of key, some not even hitting the right notes. Those were far better then this version. It was so horrible that I wanted to cry. For goodness sake! this song should be sung out of respect for your country! People Died because of that battle cry. They showed the most amount of disrespect for our nation that I have seen in a long time. stupid Backstreet Boys.

14 Days to Go

Listen up everybody! We have 14 days left to pick who we are going to vote for. On the news this morning a debate was going on about whether or not Palin is an asset to the McCain campaign. And as for Barak Obama he is taking a few days off from his campaign to spend it with his sick grandmother.
As for me I have no idea who I am going to vote for yet. I don't even know why I registered to vote. It is going to be my first time voting
As a US citizen it is my duty to vote. But for me it is an internal conflict because I want to vote for a candidate that will be the best for the country.

Birth Control in Middle School

King Middle School in Portland, Maine will be the first school (I believe it is the first school in the country) to offer a full range of contraceptions (condoms, birth control, patches, etc) to students as young as 11 (They have been offering condoms since 2000). Not only that, but they are offering the full range of contraceptions without parent consent. Parents would have no way of knowing their eleven year old daughter or son was sexually active. This is because the school's health care center is confidential under state law. The decision was made based off of 17 reported teen pregnancies in Portland's three middle schools in the past four years.
http://media.www.themichiganjournal.com/media/storage/paper255/news/2007/10/23/Perspectives/Birth.Control.At.School.Leads.To.PreTeen.Promiscuity-3050532.shtml

That is where I found the editorial piece.

I think that the bigger issue is not that 11 year olds are getting pregnant, but that they are having sex. The issue lies at home, parents are not educating their kids enough about sex and the consequences. The school's decision to offer a full range of contraceptions puts the thought of sex in the innocent minds of 11 year olds. 11 year olds are not old enough to deal with the consequences of sex. Emotional or physical.

The schools solution should not be to offer birth control but to offer counseling and education if they feel there is a high pregnancy rate. I agree with what Topelwski said in her editorial, that schools have found a way to only treat the symptoms rather than the cause.

Anyways I just thought that this would be good for the blog, so just let me know what you think.

Where did the alcopops go?

Where did all the alcopops in utah go? Well there definitley not in gas stations or grocery stores. Supposedly these "alcopops"(which are the fruity alcoholic drinks like Mikes Hard Lemonade and Smirnoffs that were sold next to the beer.) are nothing more than a ploy to introduce young teens into the liquer industry. The company's that produce the beverages are going to have to make new labels for there bottles especially for Utah to prevent accidental purchases. One of the most confusing, say the government is the energy-alchoholic drinks look to much like the other energy drinks so they need to have a new label put on them clearly stating that they are alcoholic. I read that Smirnoff, one of the larger distributors may pull there product from Utah altogether rather than deal with the strict rules and guidlines Utah is trying to enfoce
Seriously, I would be willing to bet that not very many people have bought these drinks on accident. I mean they are right next to the beer, isn't that alone enough to make people realize what they are? People need to read the dang label before they buy things.
While reading blog posts about this subject I found that a lot of people are upset about the new law. I read quit a few posts by different people that say the only reason this happened is because of the heavy influence of the LDS church in our government. I found a post that was kind of funny and expresses what i'm talking about. I found it at http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4415589&comments=true written by Cache kid on Oct 1, 2008
"I'm not moving, I'm staying.
Your majority is shrinking.
Within a few years the nons plus the jacks will have a majority.
Once that happens, the FIRST THING we'll do is to legalize privately owned liquor stores, with drive thru's. Then we'll pass a law saying nude dancing is OK in liquor store parking lots. Then we'll outlaw Jello"

By "nons" they mean non-mormons and by "jacks" they mean jack mormons, just to clarify.

I don't really know what to think, It does creates more hassal for myself having to drive to the state liquer store instead of the grocery store, and of course paying about two bucks more for a six pack. But at the same time if it really will help cut underage drinking then it would be a good thing, I will always want whats best for people, but then why is Utah the only state doing it? I mean I guess it's not to much of a shock living in Utah with are 3.5% beer and no privatley owned liquer stores and a law that says no coolers in liquer stores because if the liquer is cold people will be guzzling it the second they get in their car.
I personally can't help at least somewhat agreeing with the people who say the church has a little to much influence in government in Utah. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints counsels members not to drink alcohol, and the church is highly influential among state lawmakers on alcohol policy. The mormon church highly supported this law all along its way into effect. Utah has some of the strictest liquor laws in the country, and is it a coinsidence that Utah also has a large Mormon population?

Where is the 700 billion dollars going?

I apologize for posting so many times. Giving the current state of our economy and the need of transparency of congress. Please read this and then figure out if you are pleased with the direction congress is taking. if you agree with with this please vote on Nov. 4th and do your part to change it!
I love the current congress. In 2006 the democrats promised change and reform if they got control of congress. You want to know what this congress is doing? They are stabbing us in the back. This "Bailout" that is supposed to be helping stabilize the economy is disgusting. Like I said in my last post these congress people have no accountability to the people who elected them. If the people knew what this bill contained they would be outraged. You should be too.
In certain bills " earmarks" are put into it. an earmark sets aside money for something else. read some of the following earmarks that are in this bail out bill. ( I did not write the following ).

There is huge, huge trouble, and we are told by the people in Washington that the whole thing's going to collapse if we don't do something. If we don't do anything, the whole thing's going to collapse. I happen to agree with that, but I don't agree with the "Just do something." But let me ask you this: If you were asked to save your country and you were asked for $700 billion, the largest program of its type ever, $700 billion and they said we have to have it right now, where the whole thing's going to collapse, if you believed it, would you do it. No matter what your constituents said, if you believed it, would you do it. I would because you can go ahead and tear me apart. You can throw me to the dogs. It will be the last time I serve. I get it. This is a republic, and I will vote against if I think the public is wrong because it's a republic. You have hired me to look into this. I will do my best to explain it, but if my back is against the wall, the clock is ticking, somebody has to make a decision, I don't think you understand it because you may not have access to information that I have. As a senator I'm going to make that and I will be held responsible. You can pillar me, you can tear me apart, you can throw me out of office, you can impeach me. That's okay. I've got to do what I think is right for the country because that's what you hired me to do.

If I don't think that our country is falling apart or if I don't think that a bailout is right, I'm going to do the same thing. I don't care what your opinion is. I don't care what happens. If I don't think it's right, if I think this is a lie, if I don't think this will work, if I think this is the wrong course of action because I love my country, I will not do it, and I won't do it in your name. Even though you said something else, you put me in that place to make a decision. However, the one thing I will not do is I will not go to Washington and vote for something that I don't believe in, because it has a wool subsidy in it, because in my state I have a toy manufacturer that makes wooden arrows for children and I can get a subsidy for the company that makes wooden arrows for children. It's not enough to vote for the bill to save your country? You need an incentive? You need something to convince you besides your sacred duty, besides our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor? This bill last night that was passed is the size of a novel. I'm a pretty fast reader. I couldn't read 435 pages in one night, let alone 435 pages written by attorneys! Section 325 provides essential tax breaks for the wool research fund. What else do we need to know! Could we make sandwiches out of wool? No! Sweaters! What else do you need to know about wool! Section 503 gives tax breaks for the manufacturer of wooden arrows used in toys for children. Price tag, $6 million. Wooden arrows? Aren't you the same people that are telling me that it's politically incorrect to play cowboys and Indians!

Try this one. Try this one, and this one I'm going to need. This one I swear to God I'm going to need soon. Puerto Rican and Virgin Island rum producers get $192 so they can make more booze! I need some booze right now! Sorry, not $192. $192 million. Section 309, tax credit for economic development in America. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You hear that? That's good. I thought the whole thing was freaking. No, no, no, listen carefully. Section 309, tax credit for economic development in America, defined as American Samoa. Section 316, a tax break for railroad track maintenance. Well, good thing we got Joe's Amtrak in there! Section 317, a tax break for racetracks. I am tracking down the senators that these -- that their states profit from. I want to know the names of somebody who said, gee, I can't go for the bailout bill unless you help with the racetracks! Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. Section 502, qualified television and film productions given an extension of favorable expensing rules, $10 million. We're helping out the TV and film people now. Section 111 provides for the expansion and modification of advanced coal project investment credits. Section 112, expansion and modification of the coal gasification project. Section 113, increased funding for black lung disability fund. "Look, man, I'll give you what you're never going to get through if you'll just give this to me." It's insulting. It's insulting. If I were a senator -- did anyone, did anyone, or am I just too frank, did anyone say get the hell out of my office; you want to talk to me about why this is the right thing to do, you want to talk to me about why I should be on board because the economy will collapse if we don't have it, if you want to talk to me about those things, come in, friend, sit down, let's talk. But if you want to talk to me about getting money in my state for wooden arrows, get the hell out of my state. Get the hell out of my office, get the hell out of my sight. Who have we sent?

Ultra Chapped at the UVU Review

Tonight in the Ballroom at UVU was the 3rd congressional debate. There was time for about 1 hr before the debate to ask the candidates questions that are important to you. The debate was one our long then after the debate there was time where the candidates answered more questions. I love these small audiences because it allows a person to go and meet the candidates face to face and have your particular questions answered. In the United States each congressman represents on average 690,000 people. The winner of this the 3rd congressional district will represent just under 900,000 people. The founders of the country were very worried that 60,000 was to many for one person to represent. In addition to that, the point of having open elections is so that if the people do not agree with the way the congress person is doing things they will not be re-elected. Unfortunatley the re-election rate in the US is 98% due to the way the demographic is broken up for voting purposes. I wanted to ask Jason Chaffez ( the probable winner ) what he was going to do to stay connected to his constituents and make elections more contested to keep the people in Washington honest.
During the middle of my question a " Reporter " (please note how loosely that term is used. and the sarcasam) for the UVU review came and stepped in between me and Mr. Chaffez and introduced him self and began asking his question. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to wait his turn. He did. As I asked a follow up question He so kindly interruped and said " I am with the UVU review. There is a war going on and the economy is in turmoil. How about you let him talk about what is really important." I give respect to Mr. Chaffez who turned to him and said, " I get to choose what questions I answer not you. You will wait till he is done." I finished and walked away.
I can't help but get this dirty taste out of my mouth about how rude this "reporter" was. Why are his questions more important then mine? flip, if you want to know what he had to say about the war and the economy all you had to do was listen to the debate. My one vote has just as much weight as everyone elses vote and if the lack of accountabilty the lawmakers have to the people is important to me then I should be allowed to have that answered.
If anyone knows how I can get in touch with a senior member of the UVU review please let me know. This type of behavior and disrespect can not tolerated.

The city of Bountiful, Utah has just passed a law banning new city employees from sporting any sort of visible tattoo. This means if your tattoo peeks out of your collar, you’ll have to consider working for someone other than Bountiful city.

Tattoos that are seen on the head, face, neck, or hand are now banned, and prospective employees with as much will not be hired. The only ones exempt from this rule are current staffers who already have visible tattoos.

The ban further includes any males who have piercings that are visible as well. The officials in Davis County say that these actions are ‘anticipatory and preventative’….whatever that means. They want their employees to look professional so that people will feel comfortable interacting with them.

This ban in Davis County and in Bountiful is modeling a similar ban with the Los Angeles Police Department where employees of the LAPD are banned from visible tattoos. Unlike LAPD, forearm tattoos in Bountiful WILL be allowed, but only if they are able to be covered with city uniform or required dress code.

The ban is based on the theory that citizens don’t want police officers showing up at their door to assist them with tattoos of the Nazi variety. So as opposed to simply banning any questionable or politically incorrect tattoos, all have been banned. And some of the residents of Bountiful aren’t happy.

The term ‘a joke’ has been used to describe the ban, as well as discriminatory. And could the fact that the heavily weighted Mormon population of Bountiful have something to do with it?

What do you think?

This news story is kinda old but i remembered it the other day and thought it would be perfect for this blog deal. Anyway I thought it was pretty good because i am torn on this subject myself. I see valid points on both sides and have a hard time taking one side or the other. I can see how the city wants to have a professional look and create a more clean cut image of the city. However on the other hand i do not think that they should go that far. Just because someone has some ink on there skin doens't mean that they are crude standoffish people, don't judge a book by its cover it what comes to mind. Anyway what do you guys think?