O:9:"MagpieRSS":23:{s:6:"parser";i:0;s:12:"current_item";a:0:{}s:5:"items";a:10:{i:0;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:69:"This is Kind of Amazing – First Ever Video of the Earth/Moon System";s:4:"link";s:206:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system";s:8:"comments";s:107:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Wed, 11 Dec 2013 03:16:14 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:53:"ScienceCarl SaganExplorationJuno ProbePhilosophySpace";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3591";s:11:"description";s:295:"I don&#8217;t know what is more amazing, the fact that we can we have the technology to view the Moon orbiting the Earth, or the fact that we have never actually taken a video of this fact until October, 2013. Regardless, I know I am awestruck by the following video and am reminded of the [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:2810:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system/moon-earth/" rel="attachment wp-att-3592"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3592" alt="Moon - Earth" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Moon-Earth.jpg" width="306" height="364" /></a>I don&#8217;t know what is more amazing, the fact that we can we have the technology to view the Moon orbiting the Earth, or the fact that we have never actually taken a video of this fact until October, 2013.</p>
<p>Regardless, I know I am awestruck by the following video and am reminded of the immortal Carl Sagan as he describes &#8220;the Pale Blue Dot:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Consider again that dot. That&#8217;s here. That&#8217;s home. That&#8217;s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every &#8220;superstar&#8221;, every &#8220;supreme leader&#8221;, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there &#8211; on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p><center><object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/_CzBlSXgzqI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/_CzBlSXgzqI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center></p>
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<div class="shr-publisher-3591"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:103:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:295:"I don&#8217;t know what is more amazing, the fact that we can we have the technology to view the Moon orbiting the Earth, or the fact that we have never actually taken a video of this fact until October, 2013. Regardless, I know I am awestruck by the following video and am reminded of the [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:2810:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/this-is-kind-of-amazing-first-ever-video-of-the-earthmoon-system/moon-earth/" rel="attachment wp-att-3592"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3592" alt="Moon - Earth" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Moon-Earth.jpg" width="306" height="364" /></a>I don&#8217;t know what is more amazing, the fact that we can we have the technology to view the Moon orbiting the Earth, or the fact that we have never actually taken a video of this fact until October, 2013.</p>
<p>Regardless, I know I am awestruck by the following video and am reminded of the immortal Carl Sagan as he describes &#8220;the Pale Blue Dot:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Consider again that dot. That&#8217;s here. That&#8217;s home. That&#8217;s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every &#8220;superstar&#8221;, every &#8220;supreme leader&#8221;, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there &#8211; on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p><center><object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/_CzBlSXgzqI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/_CzBlSXgzqI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center></p>
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<div class="shr-publisher-3591"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1386731774;}i:1;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:67:"Mourning an Actors Death is Wrong: But Not For The Reason You Think";s:4:"link";s:210:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think";s:8:"comments";s:109:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Tue, 10 Dec 2013 03:21:14 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:59:"GeneralFacebookMemeNelson MandelaPaul WalkerPop CultureRant";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3580";s:11:"description";s:314:"Nelson Mandela was a giant among men, and possessed a humility about his importance to world history that few in his position have had. Paul Walker was an actor who&#8217;s claim to fame was appearing in movies that bore the same name &#8211; the only difference being that the new title would feature a two, [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:7437:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3581" alt="1467269_576653615281_2064297395_n" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1467269_576653615281_2064297395_n.jpg" width="230" height="230" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Nelson Mandela was a giant among men, and possessed a humility about his importance to world history that few in his position have had.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Paul Walker was an actor who&#8217;s claim to fame was appearing in movies that bore the same name &#8211; the only difference being that the new title would feature a two, five, or six.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Now this isn&#8217;t a hate post against Walker, his death was a sad one, no doubt. No &#8211; this is a rant summarized by the picture to the left.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When Walker passed, the internet exploded with sorrow. Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else the kids are using these days, all featured posts of people expressing sadness for the passing of Walker.  Now, I will acknowledge that Walkers&#8217; death was a sudden and sad one &#8211; but if we are being honest, the vast majority (if not every single person) posting on these feeds had no interaction with Walker at anytime in their life aside from viewing his films.</p>
<p><a style="color: #c4302b; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;" href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/paul-walker-video-crash-11-13/" rel="attachment wp-att-3588"><img class="alignright  wp-image-3588" alt="paul-walker-video-crash-11-13" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/paul-walker-video-crash-11-13.jpg" width="207" height="117" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But this did not stop people from showing, I would say, an excessive amount of sorrow towards his passing. If you wish to mourn his death, I suppose it is your right to do so &#8211; but when strangers gather at the site of an automobile accident scene to pile flowers and openly weep, one has to wonder if these individuals have a true concept of what grief is. Even people on Facebook, far removed from the tragedy, who post inspirational (?) quotes seems like a bit much. I suppose Walker, overnight, became a modern James Dean, representing freedom and&#8230;stuff? Ultimately, I wonder if most even knew Walker&#8217;s name prior to his passing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Conversely, when Mandela passed, I noticed several un-sarcastic posts wondering if President Obama or Morgan Freeman had passed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Soon after, the image above appeared. Certainly, this is not the first time images such as this have appeared online &#8211; but something about this reincarnation stuck with me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I used to be quick to just nod my head in agreement with the statement &#8220;then you are, without question, part of what is wrong with the world&#8221; &#8211; but this time it was different. Perhaps it was the stronger than usual language, or perhaps my outlook has changed since the last time I saw one of these, but I had a bit of an epiphany with this particular image.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">People who don&#8217;t make the association are not part of what is wrong with this world, rather, they are a symptom of what is wrong with this world.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">People should not be angry at those who know who Walker is but not Mandela, rather they should pity them for not receiving the right types of opportunities to know who Mandela is and the contributions he has made to humanity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am speaking, of course, of our American society &#8211; as I doubt many people in South Africa <em>don&#8217;t </em>know who Mandela is &#8211; in our American society, however, we are constantly reminded of celebrity and are encouraged to know about, follow, and worship movie, music, hell, even internet stars. To admit you don&#8217;t know the in&#8217;s and out&#8217;s of a celebrities rise and/or fall will most likely be received with looks of confusion and disappointment&#8230;the same look I would have if someone said they didn&#8217;t know who Mandela was.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But, are we to be surprised by this? I say no.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Humans are an adaptable species, and, despite our vast ability to learn, we have the finite resource of time.  We can, therefore, only absorb so much and must pick and choose which pieces of knowledge are worthy of retention. A four digit PIN number to access money:important. The four digit code to open your high school locker: unnecessary.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If we expand this out to a higher level, we as a society pick and choose what pieces of information are important to our communal knowledge. Paul Walker is an actor in popular movies, therefore I should know about him because knowledge of popular things is important in the daily interactions I have and could be used to impress someone I wish to impress (a boss, a mate, a person whom I hope thinks I am cool). Nelson Mandela was a political figure (strike one in average conversation) in a foreign country (strike two), that, most likely, had no direct impact on my daily life or the daily life of the people around me (strike three).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This, of course, doesn&#8217;t mean that we shouldn&#8217;t care about political figures in our daily life, nor does it mean that we should downplay information related to other countries, or that, in a grand scheme of things, Mandela had an impact on many, many people, including the people who don&#8217;t know his name.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">What is does mean is that  the average society we live in does not value this knowledge, making it unpopular &#8211; or at the very least, unimportant, to know. This, despite the fact that the possession of knowledge surrounding Mandela and the contribution he made to this world has far greater reach and application than knowledge of Paul Walker and his contributions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How do we fix this? I have no earthly idea. But what I do know is that we should not view those who know Walker and not Mandela with disdain, but rather with pity. Attempt to educate these people if at all possible in order to give them a greater understanding of the world around them. You won&#8217;t win them all &#8211; hell, you are lucky if you are even listened to, but, the one thing about knowledge is that it is supposed to be shared.</p>
<p><center><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js" async=""></script><!-- UPC Podcast --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display: inline-block; width: 728px; height: 90px;" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3420690809112272" data-ad-slot="6629973073"></ins><script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
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<div class="shr-publisher-3580"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:105:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:314:"Nelson Mandela was a giant among men, and possessed a humility about his importance to world history that few in his position have had. Paul Walker was an actor who&#8217;s claim to fame was appearing in movies that bore the same name &#8211; the only difference being that the new title would feature a two, [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:7437:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3581" alt="1467269_576653615281_2064297395_n" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1467269_576653615281_2064297395_n.jpg" width="230" height="230" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Nelson Mandela was a giant among men, and possessed a humility about his importance to world history that few in his position have had.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Paul Walker was an actor who&#8217;s claim to fame was appearing in movies that bore the same name &#8211; the only difference being that the new title would feature a two, five, or six.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Now this isn&#8217;t a hate post against Walker, his death was a sad one, no doubt. No &#8211; this is a rant summarized by the picture to the left.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When Walker passed, the internet exploded with sorrow. Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else the kids are using these days, all featured posts of people expressing sadness for the passing of Walker.  Now, I will acknowledge that Walkers&#8217; death was a sudden and sad one &#8211; but if we are being honest, the vast majority (if not every single person) posting on these feeds had no interaction with Walker at anytime in their life aside from viewing his films.</p>
<p><a style="color: #c4302b; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;" href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/mourning-an-actors-death-is-wrong-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/paul-walker-video-crash-11-13/" rel="attachment wp-att-3588"><img class="alignright  wp-image-3588" alt="paul-walker-video-crash-11-13" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/paul-walker-video-crash-11-13.jpg" width="207" height="117" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But this did not stop people from showing, I would say, an excessive amount of sorrow towards his passing. If you wish to mourn his death, I suppose it is your right to do so &#8211; but when strangers gather at the site of an automobile accident scene to pile flowers and openly weep, one has to wonder if these individuals have a true concept of what grief is. Even people on Facebook, far removed from the tragedy, who post inspirational (?) quotes seems like a bit much. I suppose Walker, overnight, became a modern James Dean, representing freedom and&#8230;stuff? Ultimately, I wonder if most even knew Walker&#8217;s name prior to his passing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Conversely, when Mandela passed, I noticed several un-sarcastic posts wondering if President Obama or Morgan Freeman had passed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Soon after, the image above appeared. Certainly, this is not the first time images such as this have appeared online &#8211; but something about this reincarnation stuck with me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I used to be quick to just nod my head in agreement with the statement &#8220;then you are, without question, part of what is wrong with the world&#8221; &#8211; but this time it was different. Perhaps it was the stronger than usual language, or perhaps my outlook has changed since the last time I saw one of these, but I had a bit of an epiphany with this particular image.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">People who don&#8217;t make the association are not part of what is wrong with this world, rather, they are a symptom of what is wrong with this world.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">People should not be angry at those who know who Walker is but not Mandela, rather they should pity them for not receiving the right types of opportunities to know who Mandela is and the contributions he has made to humanity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am speaking, of course, of our American society &#8211; as I doubt many people in South Africa <em>don&#8217;t </em>know who Mandela is &#8211; in our American society, however, we are constantly reminded of celebrity and are encouraged to know about, follow, and worship movie, music, hell, even internet stars. To admit you don&#8217;t know the in&#8217;s and out&#8217;s of a celebrities rise and/or fall will most likely be received with looks of confusion and disappointment&#8230;the same look I would have if someone said they didn&#8217;t know who Mandela was.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But, are we to be surprised by this? I say no.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Humans are an adaptable species, and, despite our vast ability to learn, we have the finite resource of time.  We can, therefore, only absorb so much and must pick and choose which pieces of knowledge are worthy of retention. A four digit PIN number to access money:important. The four digit code to open your high school locker: unnecessary.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If we expand this out to a higher level, we as a society pick and choose what pieces of information are important to our communal knowledge. Paul Walker is an actor in popular movies, therefore I should know about him because knowledge of popular things is important in the daily interactions I have and could be used to impress someone I wish to impress (a boss, a mate, a person whom I hope thinks I am cool). Nelson Mandela was a political figure (strike one in average conversation) in a foreign country (strike two), that, most likely, had no direct impact on my daily life or the daily life of the people around me (strike three).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This, of course, doesn&#8217;t mean that we shouldn&#8217;t care about political figures in our daily life, nor does it mean that we should downplay information related to other countries, or that, in a grand scheme of things, Mandela had an impact on many, many people, including the people who don&#8217;t know his name.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">What is does mean is that  the average society we live in does not value this knowledge, making it unpopular &#8211; or at the very least, unimportant, to know. This, despite the fact that the possession of knowledge surrounding Mandela and the contribution he made to this world has far greater reach and application than knowledge of Paul Walker and his contributions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How do we fix this? I have no earthly idea. But what I do know is that we should not view those who know Walker and not Mandela with disdain, but rather with pity. Attempt to educate these people if at all possible in order to give them a greater understanding of the world around them. You won&#8217;t win them all &#8211; hell, you are lucky if you are even listened to, but, the one thing about knowledge is that it is supposed to be shared.</p>
<p><center><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js" async=""></script><!-- UPC Podcast --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display: inline-block; width: 728px; height: 90px;" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3420690809112272" data-ad-slot="6629973073"></ins><script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
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<div class="shr-publisher-3580"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1386645674;}i:2;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:46:"Excuse me while I blow the dust off this thing";s:4:"link";s:170:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing";s:8:"comments";s:89:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Sat, 07 Dec 2013 17:13:19 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:29:"GeneralUtah Political Capitol";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3573";s:11:"description";s:304:"Woah, hey, fancy running into you here. Man, this place has collected some dust since I last wrote on the ol&#8217; BiRZ. As many of you probably suspected, my hiatus was due to the fact that I have been busy managing the media empire that is Utah Political Capitol. Over the past year that website [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:2594:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing/dust-off-300x199/" rel="attachment wp-att-3574"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3574" alt="dust-off-300x199" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/dust-off-300x199.jpg" width="300" height="199" /></a>Woah, hey, fancy running into you here.</p>
<p>Man, this place has collected some dust since I last wrote on the ol&#8217; BiRZ.</p>
<p>As many of you probably suspected, my hiatus was due to the fact that I have been busy managing the media empire that is <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com">Utah Political Capitol</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past year that website has gone over many changes that I have been excited to be part of &#8211; but it has also taken much of my focus away from the one that started it all. Now that I have a good thing over there and things have stabilized, I felt it was time to return to Blue.</p>
<p>But, the focus will be a little bit different. If you are looking for things like bill analysis or policy analysis, Blue probably won&#8217;t be the place for that &#8211; I would encourage you instead to head over to UPC for that sort of stuff. If, however, you read Blue because you enjoyed rants, commentary, or my terrible spelling, you have come to the right place!</p>
<p>Things will be a little looser over here, and I want you all to know that the things I type here (say it with me) don&#8217;t necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Utah Political Capitol, its writers, or other management.</p>
<p>So, today, for no reason other than I woke up at a reasonable hour, and because it has been kicking around in my head for a few weeks now, I have decided to announce the launch of the second generation of Blue in Red Zion&#8230;.Enjoy!</p>
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<div class="shr-publisher-3573"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:85:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:304:"Woah, hey, fancy running into you here. Man, this place has collected some dust since I last wrote on the ol&#8217; BiRZ. As many of you probably suspected, my hiatus was due to the fact that I have been busy managing the media empire that is Utah Political Capitol. Over the past year that website [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:2594:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2013/12/excuse-me-while-i-blow-the-dust-off-this-thing/dust-off-300x199/" rel="attachment wp-att-3574"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3574" alt="dust-off-300x199" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/dust-off-300x199.jpg" width="300" height="199" /></a>Woah, hey, fancy running into you here.</p>
<p>Man, this place has collected some dust since I last wrote on the ol&#8217; BiRZ.</p>
<p>As many of you probably suspected, my hiatus was due to the fact that I have been busy managing the media empire that is <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com">Utah Political Capitol</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past year that website has gone over many changes that I have been excited to be part of &#8211; but it has also taken much of my focus away from the one that started it all. Now that I have a good thing over there and things have stabilized, I felt it was time to return to Blue.</p>
<p>But, the focus will be a little bit different. If you are looking for things like bill analysis or policy analysis, Blue probably won&#8217;t be the place for that &#8211; I would encourage you instead to head over to UPC for that sort of stuff. If, however, you read Blue because you enjoyed rants, commentary, or my terrible spelling, you have come to the right place!</p>
<p>Things will be a little looser over here, and I want you all to know that the things I type here (say it with me) don&#8217;t necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Utah Political Capitol, its writers, or other management.</p>
<p>So, today, for no reason other than I woke up at a reasonable hour, and because it has been kicking around in my head for a few weeks now, I have decided to announce the launch of the second generation of Blue in Red Zion&#8230;.Enjoy!</p>
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<div class="shr-publisher-3573"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1386436399;}i:3;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:39:"MRW and the New Zealand Representatives";s:4:"link";s:156:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/04/mrw-and-the-new-zealand-representatives/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrw-and-the-new-zealand-representatives";s:8:"comments";s:82:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/04/mrw-and-the-new-zealand-representatives/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:31:00 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:65:"Civil Rights and LibertiesMy Republican WifeReligion and Politics";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3558";s:11:"description";s:324:"Imagine my shock as I return home from the pharmacy to find MRW in tears in the bedroom. Fearing the worst, and knowing that just hours prior we had returned from the ER to have emergency IV fluids infused into her system, I could only assume the worst. &#8220;Whats wrong?&#8221; I quickly ask. &#8220;It&#8217;s this [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:8098:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3559" rel="attachment wp-att-3559"><img class="wp-image-3559 alignleft" alt="Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg_.png" width="288" height="144" /></a>Imagine my shock as I return home from the pharmacy to find MRW in tears in the bedroom. Fearing the worst, and knowing that just hours prior we had returned from the ER to have emergency IV fluids infused into her system, I could only assume the worst.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Whats wrong?&#8221; I quickly ask. &#8220;It&#8217;s this video&#8221; she replies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;A video?&#8221; I reply, assuming that this is clearly a cat video gone terribly wrong.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Yes, have you been following this New Zealand thing?&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Earlier in the day, and as many of you now know, the country of New Zealand <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/17/177590534/new-zealand-lawmakers-pass-same-sex-marriage-law">passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage</a>. MRW, while scrolling through her Facebook feed, found the following speech from New Zealand Representative Maurice Williamson:</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Obviously this is a somewhat cheeky response to what I presume has been a politically touchy subject in the country over the years (much like it has been in other industrialized nations). But it raises many of the same arguments we have heard before in a refreshingly new light.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Not tied down by the political conventions of our own nation, Williamson is able to say to us what many gay-marriage advocates in the United States have been saying for years: gay marriage does not compromise traditional marriage, more youth would be adopted, and that the bullying tactics must stop. The final, and perhaps more important point, is that all the law would do is allow two people who love each other to be married &#8211; the sun will rise and the world will go on. In the end, be ye not afraid.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">MRW, seeing this, clicked on a second video about the debate, this time coming from Representative John Banks from the ACT party&#8230;The ACT party, by the way, has <a href="http://www.act.org.nz/policies">policies</a> regarding individual freedom, limited government, reducing government debt, increased defense spending, increased privatization, and reducing business regulations (sound familiar?). Banks took a far more serious tone:</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Banks words hit home for MRW. In particular she reflected on not only her LGBT friends, but also our own legal, heterosexual marriage. MRW received many raised eyebrows for choosing to love and marry a non-Mormon. Yes, in our own special and unique way, we had the smallest of tastes into the lives of what what loving LGBT couples live with every day. MRW constantly had to remind people of two things: first, that she should be free to love whomever she pleased, and, second, that her marriage to me in no way harmed their marriages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Whats the point in the Lord giving us free agency if man just takes it away?&#8221; she asked rhetorically.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As I said before, MRW had been in the emergency room the night before. At two specific points in the night the doctor on call asked for my opinion as to how to move forward - two opinions that would have been two decisions if  MRW had been incapacitated, that I had the legal right to make. Two opinions I feel I had no more or less of a right to make as a partner in a committed, loving, gay relationship. Nothing makes my union and my love more or less real&#8230;aside from the fact that the law gives me certain perks that have been codified into law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;This bill wont have any impact on <em>your</em> marriage, but it mean a great deal for me and my relationship.&#8221; Banks said as he read a text from a constituent. If gay marriage were to pass tomorrow, my marriage would be as strong as the day before, my rights would not be infringed, religious institutions would be under no requirement to perform gay weddings, and a class of citizens will be afforded equal rights under the law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Equal rights &#8211; not special rights or rights of protection, but equal rights under the law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads, in Section 1 &#8220;&#8230; No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In short, Equality <em>MUST </em>exist under our system &#8211; and, indeed, is a requirement for a just and free society.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Will New Zealanders have more freedoms as a result of this bill?&#8221; Banks would ask &#8220;Yes.&#8221; Banks goes on: &#8220;Will freedom of religion be preserved? Yes. Will anyone&#8217;s freedoms be taken away by this bill? No. Would the God that I believe in think any less of me for voting for this bill? No. That&#8217;s why I support this legislation.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The day will come when gay marriage is accepted across the land &#8211; not because a particular party supports it, but because a particular generation supports it. MRW and I are far younger than the average policy maker, and the stories of moral decay fall on deaf ears when we see healthy and happy homosexual couples building families and contributing to society&#8230;heck, it is almost as if they are real people too.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3558"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:78:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/04/mrw-and-the-new-zealand-representatives/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"1";}s:7:"summary";s:324:"Imagine my shock as I return home from the pharmacy to find MRW in tears in the bedroom. Fearing the worst, and knowing that just hours prior we had returned from the ER to have emergency IV fluids infused into her system, I could only assume the worst. &#8220;Whats wrong?&#8221; I quickly ask. &#8220;It&#8217;s this [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:8098:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3559" rel="attachment wp-att-3559"><img class="wp-image-3559 alignleft" alt="Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg_.png" width="288" height="144" /></a>Imagine my shock as I return home from the pharmacy to find MRW in tears in the bedroom. Fearing the worst, and knowing that just hours prior we had returned from the ER to have emergency IV fluids infused into her system, I could only assume the worst.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Whats wrong?&#8221; I quickly ask. &#8220;It&#8217;s this video&#8221; she replies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;A video?&#8221; I reply, assuming that this is clearly a cat video gone terribly wrong.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Yes, have you been following this New Zealand thing?&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Earlier in the day, and as many of you now know, the country of New Zealand <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/17/177590534/new-zealand-lawmakers-pass-same-sex-marriage-law">passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage</a>. MRW, while scrolling through her Facebook feed, found the following speech from New Zealand Representative Maurice Williamson:</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Obviously this is a somewhat cheeky response to what I presume has been a politically touchy subject in the country over the years (much like it has been in other industrialized nations). But it raises many of the same arguments we have heard before in a refreshingly new light.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Not tied down by the political conventions of our own nation, Williamson is able to say to us what many gay-marriage advocates in the United States have been saying for years: gay marriage does not compromise traditional marriage, more youth would be adopted, and that the bullying tactics must stop. The final, and perhaps more important point, is that all the law would do is allow two people who love each other to be married &#8211; the sun will rise and the world will go on. In the end, be ye not afraid.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">MRW, seeing this, clicked on a second video about the debate, this time coming from Representative John Banks from the ACT party&#8230;The ACT party, by the way, has <a href="http://www.act.org.nz/policies">policies</a> regarding individual freedom, limited government, reducing government debt, increased defense spending, increased privatization, and reducing business regulations (sound familiar?). Banks took a far more serious tone:</p>
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<!--[if lte IE 6]> <style type="text/css">.cantembedplus{display:none;}</style><![endif]--></center></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Banks words hit home for MRW. In particular she reflected on not only her LGBT friends, but also our own legal, heterosexual marriage. MRW received many raised eyebrows for choosing to love and marry a non-Mormon. Yes, in our own special and unique way, we had the smallest of tastes into the lives of what what loving LGBT couples live with every day. MRW constantly had to remind people of two things: first, that she should be free to love whomever she pleased, and, second, that her marriage to me in no way harmed their marriages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Whats the point in the Lord giving us free agency if man just takes it away?&#8221; she asked rhetorically.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As I said before, MRW had been in the emergency room the night before. At two specific points in the night the doctor on call asked for my opinion as to how to move forward - two opinions that would have been two decisions if  MRW had been incapacitated, that I had the legal right to make. Two opinions I feel I had no more or less of a right to make as a partner in a committed, loving, gay relationship. Nothing makes my union and my love more or less real&#8230;aside from the fact that the law gives me certain perks that have been codified into law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;This bill wont have any impact on <em>your</em> marriage, but it mean a great deal for me and my relationship.&#8221; Banks said as he read a text from a constituent. If gay marriage were to pass tomorrow, my marriage would be as strong as the day before, my rights would not be infringed, religious institutions would be under no requirement to perform gay weddings, and a class of citizens will be afforded equal rights under the law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Equal rights &#8211; not special rights or rights of protection, but equal rights under the law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads, in Section 1 &#8220;&#8230; No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In short, Equality <em>MUST </em>exist under our system &#8211; and, indeed, is a requirement for a just and free society.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Will New Zealanders have more freedoms as a result of this bill?&#8221; Banks would ask &#8220;Yes.&#8221; Banks goes on: &#8220;Will freedom of religion be preserved? Yes. Will anyone&#8217;s freedoms be taken away by this bill? No. Would the God that I believe in think any less of me for voting for this bill? No. That&#8217;s why I support this legislation.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The day will come when gay marriage is accepted across the land &#8211; not because a particular party supports it, but because a particular generation supports it. MRW and I are far younger than the average policy maker, and the stories of moral decay fall on deaf ears when we see healthy and happy homosexual couples building families and contributing to society&#8230;heck, it is almost as if they are real people too.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3558"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1366299060;}i:4;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:66:"MRW, the Former Republican Lawmaker, and the odd day at the Doctor";s:4:"link";s:206:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/03/mrw-the-former-republican-lawmaker-and-the-odd-day-at-the-doctor/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrw-the-former-republican-lawmaker-and-the-odd-day-at-the-doctor";s:8:"comments";s:107:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/03/mrw-the-former-republican-lawmaker-and-the-odd-day-at-the-doctor/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:00:42 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:76:"My Republican WifeHolly on the HillHolly RichardsonMRWUtah Political Capitol";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3542";s:11:"description";s:296:"First off, let me just say that it is great to be writing here on Blue again. As you may have noticed, it has been quiet here for the past few months &#8211; the reason being that I was busy over at Utah Political Capitol providing bill analysis and commentary. Now that things have settled [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:3328:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p>First off, let me just say that it is great to be writing here on Blue again. As you may have noticed, it has been quiet here for the past few months &#8211; the reason being that I was busy over at <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/">Utah Political Capitol</a> providing bill analysis and commentary. Now that things have settled down post-legislative session, I will be splitting my time between Blue and UPC depending on the topic at hand. That being said, it is good to be back!</p>
<p>To kick things off, I just wanted to tell you all a short story about MRW as I am often asked about her and her health.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, MRW had a procedure to look at her, ahem, shall we say, lady-bits. Over the past year, we have started to kick around the idea of possibly having kids. First, however, we wanted to make sure she is in good enough health to do so.</p>
<p>To that end, MRW&#8217;s doctor ordered what could easily be considered a rather unpleasant test that does not quite reach the level of actually being knocked out in order to be performed&#8230;though I am certainly not versed in that area and pain associated therein, judging by size of the needles and how many that went into numbing the area, I would say it is on par with a bad tooth pull, but without laughing gas, or IV medicine that makes you loopy.</p>
<p>What makes this story interesting is that MRW, knowing that the procedure would be unpleasant, called in a little extra support, opting to crush not only my hand, but the hand of another&#8230;and man, did she crush them!</p>
<p>MRW&#8217;s person of choice? None other than former lawmaker (and Direct Entry-Midwife/Doula), Holly Richardson &#8211; you know, from <a href="http://hollyonthehill.com/">Holly on the Hill</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, Holly has become a friend of our family, so it was not at all odd to have her in the room soothing MRW as the hysteroscopy was under way (hysteroscopy is medical jargon for looking at lady-bits with a scope &#8211; kind of like an endoscopy) &#8230;what was a little bizarre was, rather than talking about breathing techniques or pain management (okay, maybe there <em>was</em> a little encouragement for MRW to not hold her breath), all three of us were talking about the antics taking place during the first few weeks of the session &#8211; all while MRW was having said procedure. No doubt a first for the office during such a procedure.</p>
<p>In the end, the procedure led to a few more tests and, ultimately a surgery where MRW did have to be knocked out. But MRW and I mostly want to thank Holly for being there &#8211; and to remind people that, just because someone has (very) different political ideology from your own, it does not mean that they are bad people  (let&#8217;s not forget, &#8220;MRW&#8221; stands for &#8220;My Republican Wife&#8221;). With the 2013 legislative session now in the rear view window, we all need to be reminded of that fact.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3542"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:103:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/03/mrw-the-former-republican-lawmaker-and-the-odd-day-at-the-doctor/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"3";}s:7:"summary";s:296:"First off, let me just say that it is great to be writing here on Blue again. As you may have noticed, it has been quiet here for the past few months &#8211; the reason being that I was busy over at Utah Political Capitol providing bill analysis and commentary. Now that things have settled [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:3328:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p>First off, let me just say that it is great to be writing here on Blue again. As you may have noticed, it has been quiet here for the past few months &#8211; the reason being that I was busy over at <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/">Utah Political Capitol</a> providing bill analysis and commentary. Now that things have settled down post-legislative session, I will be splitting my time between Blue and UPC depending on the topic at hand. That being said, it is good to be back!</p>
<p>To kick things off, I just wanted to tell you all a short story about MRW as I am often asked about her and her health.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, MRW had a procedure to look at her, ahem, shall we say, lady-bits. Over the past year, we have started to kick around the idea of possibly having kids. First, however, we wanted to make sure she is in good enough health to do so.</p>
<p>To that end, MRW&#8217;s doctor ordered what could easily be considered a rather unpleasant test that does not quite reach the level of actually being knocked out in order to be performed&#8230;though I am certainly not versed in that area and pain associated therein, judging by size of the needles and how many that went into numbing the area, I would say it is on par with a bad tooth pull, but without laughing gas, or IV medicine that makes you loopy.</p>
<p>What makes this story interesting is that MRW, knowing that the procedure would be unpleasant, called in a little extra support, opting to crush not only my hand, but the hand of another&#8230;and man, did she crush them!</p>
<p>MRW&#8217;s person of choice? None other than former lawmaker (and Direct Entry-Midwife/Doula), Holly Richardson &#8211; you know, from <a href="http://hollyonthehill.com/">Holly on the Hill</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, Holly has become a friend of our family, so it was not at all odd to have her in the room soothing MRW as the hysteroscopy was under way (hysteroscopy is medical jargon for looking at lady-bits with a scope &#8211; kind of like an endoscopy) &#8230;what was a little bizarre was, rather than talking about breathing techniques or pain management (okay, maybe there <em>was</em> a little encouragement for MRW to not hold her breath), all three of us were talking about the antics taking place during the first few weeks of the session &#8211; all while MRW was having said procedure. No doubt a first for the office during such a procedure.</p>
<p>In the end, the procedure led to a few more tests and, ultimately a surgery where MRW did have to be knocked out. But MRW and I mostly want to thank Holly for being there &#8211; and to remind people that, just because someone has (very) different political ideology from your own, it does not mean that they are bad people  (let&#8217;s not forget, &#8220;MRW&#8221; stands for &#8220;My Republican Wife&#8221;). With the 2013 legislative session now in the rear view window, we all need to be reminded of that fact.</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3542"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1363881642;}i:5;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:104:"Bills to Watch: SB 108 – Civil Rights Amendments Relating to Persons with a Disability, Sen. Pat Jones";s:4:"link";s:272:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-pat-jones/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bills-to-watch-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-pat-jones";s:8:"comments";s:140:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-pat-jones/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:00:13 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:63:"2013 LegislatureBills I am ForDemocratsPublic Health and Safety";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3535";s:11:"description";s:382:"**Note: This post originally appeared on UtahPoliticalCapitol.com When a government decides to legally protect a group of people, it is making a formalized statement of two things: that a group has been unfairly discriminated against in the past (whether intentional or not), and that we as a society should work together to prevent active or passive discrimination in the [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:4859:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-2421" alt="Jones" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Jones.jpg" width="185" height="252" /></p>
<p><em>**Note: This post originally appeared on <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/12/flagged-bill-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-jones/">UtahPoliticalCapitol.com</a></em></p>
<p>When a government decides to legally protect a group of people, it is making a formalized statement of two things: that a group has been unfairly discriminated against in the past (whether intentional or not), and that we as a society should work together to prevent active or passive discrimination in the future.</p>
<p>Currently, in the state of Utah, we protect against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, and/or national origin. Many within civil society argue for additional groups to be added to this list – but one group that few could disagree on are the disabled.</p>
<p>It is for this reason that we support Senator Pat Jones (D – Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict4_2012.pdf">District 4</a>) in her effort to formally add the mentally and physically disabled to the list of those who should be legally protected from discrimination.</p>
<p><a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SB0108.htm">SB 108 – Civil Rights Amendments Relating to Persons with a Disability</a> follows in the footsteps of the <a href="http://finduslaw.com/americans-disabilities-act-1990-ada-42-us-code-chapter-126">Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990</a> (ADA) by recognizing that, historically speaking, we as a state and nation have actively and passively discriminated against these individuals for no other reason than they are disabled. This may be as malicious as denying someone a job because they are in a wheel chair or as passive as serving an able bodied person first over a disabled individual in a restaurant or bar.</p>
<p>“But wait,” you might say, “doesn’t the ADA already protect those with disabilities from discrimination?” Well, the short answer is that yes, it does. But by adopting the provision into Utah law as well, we as a state and a citizenry are sending a clear message that we respect those who are disabled and that our policy will be to prosecute those who still choose to engage in the discrimination of those with disabilities. Inversely, if this bill were to fail, what message would we be sending to the citizens of this state and of the nation? Making our state as inclusive as possible is just good sense, both in terms of our image around the world as well as the message we send to companies who may be considering moving into Utah.</p>
<p>In many ways, the ADA has already done the leg work when it comes to the capital changes that need to take place if the bill were to pass – in the 23 years since the ADA passed, buildings have become more accessible, company hiring policies have changed, and a generational shift has taken place in regards to attitudes. But this should not mean that SB 108 is a waste of time. Not only is the symbolism important, but so too is the state’s ability do directly respond to any sort of violation related to discrimination towards those with disabilities. After all, the federal government may or may not choose to act on a particular violation, but by adding an extra level of protection (this time at the state level), we are better able to serve those members of our community who have been disadvantaged over the years.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">To contact Sen. Jones, <a href="mailto:pjones@le.utah.gov">Click Here</a> or call 801-278-7667</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 .<strong> </strong>3<strong> </strong>. <strong>2 </strong>. 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> </strong>4 .<strong> 3 </strong>. 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill  5 . <strong>4</strong> .<strong> </strong>3 .<strong> </strong>2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3535"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:136:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-pat-jones/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:382:"**Note: This post originally appeared on UtahPoliticalCapitol.com When a government decides to legally protect a group of people, it is making a formalized statement of two things: that a group has been unfairly discriminated against in the past (whether intentional or not), and that we as a society should work together to prevent active or passive discrimination in the [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:4859:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-2421" alt="Jones" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Jones.jpg" width="185" height="252" /></p>
<p><em>**Note: This post originally appeared on <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/12/flagged-bill-sb-108-civil-rights-amendments-relating-to-persons-with-a-disability-sen-jones/">UtahPoliticalCapitol.com</a></em></p>
<p>When a government decides to legally protect a group of people, it is making a formalized statement of two things: that a group has been unfairly discriminated against in the past (whether intentional or not), and that we as a society should work together to prevent active or passive discrimination in the future.</p>
<p>Currently, in the state of Utah, we protect against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, and/or national origin. Many within civil society argue for additional groups to be added to this list – but one group that few could disagree on are the disabled.</p>
<p>It is for this reason that we support Senator Pat Jones (D – Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict4_2012.pdf">District 4</a>) in her effort to formally add the mentally and physically disabled to the list of those who should be legally protected from discrimination.</p>
<p><a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SB0108.htm">SB 108 – Civil Rights Amendments Relating to Persons with a Disability</a> follows in the footsteps of the <a href="http://finduslaw.com/americans-disabilities-act-1990-ada-42-us-code-chapter-126">Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990</a> (ADA) by recognizing that, historically speaking, we as a state and nation have actively and passively discriminated against these individuals for no other reason than they are disabled. This may be as malicious as denying someone a job because they are in a wheel chair or as passive as serving an able bodied person first over a disabled individual in a restaurant or bar.</p>
<p>“But wait,” you might say, “doesn’t the ADA already protect those with disabilities from discrimination?” Well, the short answer is that yes, it does. But by adopting the provision into Utah law as well, we as a state and a citizenry are sending a clear message that we respect those who are disabled and that our policy will be to prosecute those who still choose to engage in the discrimination of those with disabilities. Inversely, if this bill were to fail, what message would we be sending to the citizens of this state and of the nation? Making our state as inclusive as possible is just good sense, both in terms of our image around the world as well as the message we send to companies who may be considering moving into Utah.</p>
<p>In many ways, the ADA has already done the leg work when it comes to the capital changes that need to take place if the bill were to pass – in the 23 years since the ADA passed, buildings have become more accessible, company hiring policies have changed, and a generational shift has taken place in regards to attitudes. But this should not mean that SB 108 is a waste of time. Not only is the symbolism important, but so too is the state’s ability do directly respond to any sort of violation related to discrimination towards those with disabilities. After all, the federal government may or may not choose to act on a particular violation, but by adding an extra level of protection (this time at the state level), we are better able to serve those members of our community who have been disadvantaged over the years.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">To contact Sen. Jones, <a href="mailto:pjones@le.utah.gov">Click Here</a> or call 801-278-7667</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 .<strong> </strong>3<strong> </strong>. <strong>2 </strong>. 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> </strong>4 .<strong> 3 </strong>. 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill  5 . <strong>4</strong> .<strong> </strong>3 .<strong> </strong>2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3535"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1359756013;}i:6;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:90:"Bills to Watch: SJR 4 – Joint Resolution on Ethics Complaint Procedures, Sen. Luz Robles";s:4:"link";s:244:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bills-to-watch-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles";s:8:"comments";s:126:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:00:48 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:69:"2013 LegislatureBills I am ForDemocratsElectionsEthics and Corruption";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3529";s:11:"description";s:326:"**Note &#8211; this article originally published at UtahPoliticalCapitol.com If one were to use a kind word to describe legislative ethics, it would be “wanting;” if one were to use an unkind word, one might use the word “farce.” Either way, it can be said that current ethics laws may not be up to the standards [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:5545:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2010/02/bills-to-watch-sb-59-at-risk-student-provisions-l-robles/croblel/" rel="attachment wp-att-1072"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-1072" alt="Robles_Luz" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cROBLEL.jpg" width="185" height="252" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify"><em>**Note &#8211; this article originally published at <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/09/flagged-bill-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles/">UtahPoliticalCapitol.com</a></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify">If one were to use a kind word to describe legislative ethics, it would be “wanting;” if one were to use an unkind word, one might use the word “farce.” Either way, it can be said that current ethics laws may not be up to the standards that citizens desire. There are many reasons for this systemic issue, but today we are going to focus on one particular aspect.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">First, some background.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">If one were to file a complaint against an individual legislator, one must first have some sort of evidence of wrongdoing. For example, evidence of lobbying on the side, pressuring other government entities, misusing their title, giving out confidential state information, or failing to disclose a conflict of interest would all be grounds for an ethics violation to be filed. The complaint would be filed with the chair of the Independent Legislative Ethics Commission and the chair would then decide if there is grounds for an investigation. This panel of former judges and former lawmakers would then hear the complaint and, if they felt there were sufficient grounds to proceed, move it on to the Senate and House Ethics Committee. These respective committees would then decide the final fate of the legislator in question.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">As you can see, the process is a bit complex, and currently there are a number of additional hurdles that Senator Luz Robles (D – Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict1_2012.pdf">District 1</a>) wishes to eliminate.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SJR004.htm">SJR 4 – Joint Resolution on Ethics Complaint Procedures</a> does three basic things. First, it eliminates the current ban on any ethics complaint 60 days prior to an election; second, it eliminates the current gag order to disclose if a complaint has even been filed; and third, it removes the provision that automatically dismisses  a complaint if someone does disclose that a complaint has been filed in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Undoubtedly, these changes will be met with harsh opposition. One could easily argue that the ethics complaint procedure is purposefully convoluted because legislators are not keen on getting caught violating ethics laws – the more hoops are in the way, the more likely all but the most severe and obvious violations fly under the public’s radar. Opponents may further complain that eliminating the provision that a complaint can’t be filed two months prior to an election would open up the Independent Commission to campaign electioneering.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">However, these complaints miss an important fact: the public needs to be informed. Automatic dismissals and gag orders on even the existence of a complaint fly counter to our regular justice system and seem illogical to the layman. If a complaint has been filed, the public should know. If complaints are banned 60 days prior to an election, we must ask how much the Legislature trusts the public to weed out fact from fiction, and electioneering from legitimate complaint. If the public trusts that the Independent Commission will execute its job properly, there should be no concern about who is accused and when – if a lawmaker is found not guilty, the public should follow.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Robles is attempting to open up a very close (and very distrusted) portion of our legislative process. The reach of these changes may be limited, but the effect it has on the public’s psyche is immeasurable.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on the Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 .<strong> </strong>4<strong> </strong>. 3 . 2 . 1 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>0</strong></span>   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary  <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>3</strong></span> . 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>3</strong></span> . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
<div class="shr-publisher-3529"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:122:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/02/bills-to-watch-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:326:"**Note &#8211; this article originally published at UtahPoliticalCapitol.com If one were to use a kind word to describe legislative ethics, it would be “wanting;” if one were to use an unkind word, one might use the word “farce.” Either way, it can be said that current ethics laws may not be up to the standards [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:5545:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2010/02/bills-to-watch-sb-59-at-risk-student-provisions-l-robles/croblel/" rel="attachment wp-att-1072"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-1072" alt="Robles_Luz" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cROBLEL.jpg" width="185" height="252" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify"><em>**Note &#8211; this article originally published at <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/09/flagged-bill-sjr-4-joint-resolution-on-ethics-complaint-procedures-sen-luz-robles/">UtahPoliticalCapitol.com</a></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify">If one were to use a kind word to describe legislative ethics, it would be “wanting;” if one were to use an unkind word, one might use the word “farce.” Either way, it can be said that current ethics laws may not be up to the standards that citizens desire. There are many reasons for this systemic issue, but today we are going to focus on one particular aspect.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">First, some background.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">If one were to file a complaint against an individual legislator, one must first have some sort of evidence of wrongdoing. For example, evidence of lobbying on the side, pressuring other government entities, misusing their title, giving out confidential state information, or failing to disclose a conflict of interest would all be grounds for an ethics violation to be filed. The complaint would be filed with the chair of the Independent Legislative Ethics Commission and the chair would then decide if there is grounds for an investigation. This panel of former judges and former lawmakers would then hear the complaint and, if they felt there were sufficient grounds to proceed, move it on to the Senate and House Ethics Committee. These respective committees would then decide the final fate of the legislator in question.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">As you can see, the process is a bit complex, and currently there are a number of additional hurdles that Senator Luz Robles (D – Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict1_2012.pdf">District 1</a>) wishes to eliminate.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SJR004.htm">SJR 4 – Joint Resolution on Ethics Complaint Procedures</a> does three basic things. First, it eliminates the current ban on any ethics complaint 60 days prior to an election; second, it eliminates the current gag order to disclose if a complaint has even been filed; and third, it removes the provision that automatically dismisses  a complaint if someone does disclose that a complaint has been filed in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Undoubtedly, these changes will be met with harsh opposition. One could easily argue that the ethics complaint procedure is purposefully convoluted because legislators are not keen on getting caught violating ethics laws – the more hoops are in the way, the more likely all but the most severe and obvious violations fly under the public’s radar. Opponents may further complain that eliminating the provision that a complaint can’t be filed two months prior to an election would open up the Independent Commission to campaign electioneering.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">However, these complaints miss an important fact: the public needs to be informed. Automatic dismissals and gag orders on even the existence of a complaint fly counter to our regular justice system and seem illogical to the layman. If a complaint has been filed, the public should know. If complaints are banned 60 days prior to an election, we must ask how much the Legislature trusts the public to weed out fact from fiction, and electioneering from legitimate complaint. If the public trusts that the Independent Commission will execute its job properly, there should be no concern about who is accused and when – if a lawmaker is found not guilty, the public should follow.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">Robles is attempting to open up a very close (and very distrusted) portion of our legislative process. The reach of these changes may be limited, but the effect it has on the public’s psyche is immeasurable.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on the Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 .<strong> </strong>4<strong> </strong>. 3 . 2 . 1 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>0</strong></span>   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary  <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>3</strong></span> . 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>3</strong></span> . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
<div class="shr-publisher-3529"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1359734448;}i:7;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:84:"Bills to Watch: SB 128 – Financial Transparency in Education, Sen. Daniel Thatcher";s:4:"link";s:232:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-sb-128-financial-transparency-in-education-sen-daniel-thatcher/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bills-to-watch-sb-128-financial-transparency-in-education-sen-daniel-thatcher";s:8:"comments";s:120:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-sb-128-financial-transparency-in-education-sen-daniel-thatcher/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:00:23 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:143:"2013 LegislatureBills I am AgainstEducationRepublicansTaxation and Government SpendingUtah Political CapitolUtah PoliticsUtah State Legislature";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3521";s:11:"description";s:413:"Upon first blush, Senator Daniel Thatcher&#8217;s (R – West Valley City, District 12) SB 128 – Financial Transparency in Education the public&#8217;s need for transparency in government, but also a strong public education system, however we must dive deeper. Thatcher’s bill, if it were to pass, would require that school districts and charter schools classify transactions the same way that all [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:2333:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3398" alt="Daniel_Thatcher" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Daniel_Thatcher.jpg" width="127" height="173" /></p>
<p>Upon first blush, Senator Daniel Thatcher&#8217;s (R – West Valley City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict12_2012.pdf">District 12</a>) <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SB0128.htm">SB 128 – Financial Transparency in Education</a> the public&#8217;s need for transparency in government, but also a strong public education system, however we must dive deeper.</p>
<p>Thatcher’s bill, if it were to pass, would require that school districts and charter schools classify transactions the same way that all other government agencies report their transactions, however there are some problems with his plan. It is not that Thatcher is malicious in his bill, just over simplifying the situation.</p>
<p>To read my complete article, click here to head over to Utah Political Capitol.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 . 3 . 2<strong> </strong>.<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">1</span> </strong>. 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary  <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>.<strong> </strong>4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>0</strong></span></span>  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>-3</strong></span></span> . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3521"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:116:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-sb-128-financial-transparency-in-education-sen-daniel-thatcher/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:413:"Upon first blush, Senator Daniel Thatcher&#8217;s (R – West Valley City, District 12) SB 128 – Financial Transparency in Education the public&#8217;s need for transparency in government, but also a strong public education system, however we must dive deeper. Thatcher’s bill, if it were to pass, would require that school districts and charter schools classify transactions the same way that all [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:2333:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3398" alt="Daniel_Thatcher" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Daniel_Thatcher.jpg" width="127" height="173" /></p>
<p>Upon first blush, Senator Daniel Thatcher&#8217;s (R – West Valley City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahSenateDistrict12_2012.pdf">District 12</a>) <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/sbillint/SB0128.htm">SB 128 – Financial Transparency in Education</a> the public&#8217;s need for transparency in government, but also a strong public education system, however we must dive deeper.</p>
<p>Thatcher’s bill, if it were to pass, would require that school districts and charter schools classify transactions the same way that all other government agencies report their transactions, however there are some problems with his plan. It is not that Thatcher is malicious in his bill, just over simplifying the situation.</p>
<p>To read my complete article, click here to head over to Utah Political Capitol.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 . 3 . 2<strong> </strong>.<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">1</span> </strong>. 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary  <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>.<strong> </strong>4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>0</strong></span></span>  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> </strong>5<strong> </strong>. 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>-3</strong></span></span> . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3521"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1357855223;}i:8;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:103:"Bills to Watch: HJR 1 – Joint Resolution Expressing Support for the Utah Compact, Rep. Lynn Hemingway";s:4:"link";s:270:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bills-to-watch-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway";s:8:"comments";s:139:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:00:36 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:107:"2013 LegislatureBills I am ForDemocratsImmigrationUtah Political CapitolUtah PoliticsUtah State Legislature";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3516";s:11:"description";s:408:"Representative Lynn Hemingway (D &#8211; Salt Lake City, District 40) has launched the opening immigration debate salvo with HJR 1 – Joint Resolution Expressing Support for the Utah Compact. To put it simply, HJR 1 would formally declare that the Utah State Legislature supports the Utah Compact and the principals within it and, at least in theory, set the general policy of the Utah State [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:2604:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3517" rel="attachment wp-att-3517"><img class="size-full wp-image-3517 alignleft" alt="Hemingway_Lynnn" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Hemingway_Lynnn.jpg" width="106" height="144" /></a>Representative Lynn Hemingway (D &#8211; Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahHouseDistrict40_2012.pdf">District 40</a>) has launched the opening immigration debate salvo with <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HJR001.htm">HJR 1 – Joint Resolution Expressing Support for the Utah Compact</a>. To put it simply, HJR 1 would formally declare that the Utah State Legislature supports the Utah Compact and the principals within it and, at least in theory, set the general policy of the Utah State Legislature when approaching immigration issues. This is a fantastic bill that deserves your attention!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">To read my complete analysis, head on over to Utah Political Capitol by <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/07/flagged-bill-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway/">clicking here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
<p style="text-align: center">
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 .<strong> </strong>4<strong> </strong>. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>3</strong></span></span> . 2 . 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff;text-decoration: underline">4</span></span> </strong>. 3 . 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff;text-decoration: underline">5</span></span> </strong>. 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3516"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:135:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:408:"Representative Lynn Hemingway (D &#8211; Salt Lake City, District 40) has launched the opening immigration debate salvo with HJR 1 – Joint Resolution Expressing Support for the Utah Compact. To put it simply, HJR 1 would formally declare that the Utah State Legislature supports the Utah Compact and the principals within it and, at least in theory, set the general policy of the Utah State [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:2604:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3517" rel="attachment wp-att-3517"><img class="size-full wp-image-3517 alignleft" alt="Hemingway_Lynnn" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Hemingway_Lynnn.jpg" width="106" height="144" /></a>Representative Lynn Hemingway (D &#8211; Salt Lake City, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahHouseDistrict40_2012.pdf">District 40</a>) has launched the opening immigration debate salvo with <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HJR001.htm">HJR 1 – Joint Resolution Expressing Support for the Utah Compact</a>. To put it simply, HJR 1 would formally declare that the Utah State Legislature supports the Utah Compact and the principals within it and, at least in theory, set the general policy of the Utah State Legislature when approaching immigration issues. This is a fantastic bill that deserves your attention!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">To read my complete analysis, head on over to Utah Political Capitol by <a href="http://utahpoliticalcapitol.com/2013/01/07/flagged-bill-hjr-1-joint-resolution-expressing-support-for-the-utah-compact-rep-lynn-hemingway/">clicking here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
<p style="text-align: center">
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 .<strong> </strong>4<strong> </strong>. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>3</strong></span></span> . 2 . 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff;text-decoration: underline">4</span></span> </strong>. 3 . 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill <strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #0000ff;text-decoration: underline">5</span></span> </strong>. 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3516"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1357833636;}i:9;a:14:{s:5:"title";s:72:"Bills to Watch: HB 31 – Enticing a Minor Amendments, Rep. R. Curt Webb";s:4:"link";s:206:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hb-31-enticing-a-minor-amendments-rep-r-curt-webb/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bills-to-watch-hb-31-enticing-a-minor-amendments-rep-r-curt-webb";s:8:"comments";s:107:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hb-31-enticing-a-minor-amendments-rep-r-curt-webb/#comments";s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:00:10 +0000";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:13:"Curtis Haring";}s:8:"category";s:81:"2013 LegislatureBills I am ForCrimeRepublicansUtah PoliticsUtah State Legislature";s:4:"guid";s:32:"http://blueinredzion.com/?p=3498";s:11:"description";s:356:"Due to technological advances, Utah&#8217;s laws have not been able to keep up with sexual predators and their attempts to seduce minors. Currently, it is only illegal to seduce a minor over the internet if it is done via computer or telephone and it is not technically illegal to attempt to solicit a minor through these types of communications, [...]";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:4492:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3499" rel="attachment wp-att-3499"><img class="size-full wp-image-3499 alignleft" alt="Webb_R_Curt" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Webb_R_Curt.jpg" width="106" height="144" /></a>Due to technological advances, Utah&#8217;s laws have not been able to keep up with sexual predators and their attempts to seduce minors. Currently, it is only illegal to seduce a minor over the internet if it is done via computer or telephone and it is not technically illegal to<em> attempt</em> to solicit a minor through these types of communications, only to <em>actually</em> solicit a minor through these types of electronic communications. It is for this reason that Representative R. Curt Webb (R &#8211; Logan, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahHouseDistrict5_2012.pdf">District 5</a>) is proposing <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HB0031.htm">HB 31 &#8211; Enticing a Minor Amendments</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The bill is a simple one. First it expands the definition of what a &#8220;text message&#8221; is to include any type of electronic device (not just cell phones or computers). Of course, one would be hard pressed to come up with any other sort of broad technological device that would fit this mold, but, none the less, Webb is preparing for the future. The second, and more interesting part, is that Webb is making it a crime to attempt to solicit a minor. Though the courts would undoubtedly use a &#8220;reasonable&#8221; standard to deduce what attempted solicitation actually is, lawmakers must be careful when using such a term, if only because it could inadvertent place an innocent person in some hot water. Is this probable? No. But is it possible? Yes. Again, I trust the courts to make a proper decision, but things can get squishy when we use such terms. The third part of the bill gives teeth to these new standards. Various levels of felonies are attached to these attempted violations through new technological means, and these penalties appear to be stiff, but fair.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">These simple changes to our state law would immediately benefit our youth as its expansion of powers would give law enforcement more power to convict those who wish to harm our children. Furthermore, the bill plans ahead for any sort of new technology that may be coming down the pipe that does not neatly fit into the mold of &#8220;computer&#8221; or &#8220;cell phone&#8221; (Google Google&#8217;s perhaps?). By enacting this legislation, we are ensuring that our youth will be better protected, and that those who wish to commit such terrible crimes will have an assured punishment.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">To contact Rep. Ray, <a href="mailto:curtwebb@le.utah.gov">Click Here</a> or call 435-753-0215</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">3</span> </strong>. 2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> </strong>4 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">3</span> </strong>. 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill  5 . 4 .<span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff"><strong> 3</strong></span> .<strong> </strong>2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Questions about the rating system? <a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2012/12/bills-to-watch-vi-legislators-assemble/">Click Here</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center">To view other bills in the 2013 Bills to Watch Series, <a href="http://blueinredzion.com/bills-to-watch-2013/">Click Here</a></p>
<div class="shr-publisher-3498"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- Start Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic Recommendations Automatic -->";}s:3:"wfw";a:1:{s:10:"commentrss";s:103:"http://blueinredzion.com/2013/01/bills-to-watch-hb-31-enticing-a-minor-amendments-rep-r-curt-webb/feed/";}s:5:"slash";a:1:{s:8:"comments";s:1:"0";}s:7:"summary";s:356:"Due to technological advances, Utah&#8217;s laws have not been able to keep up with sexual predators and their attempts to seduce minors. Currently, it is only illegal to seduce a minor over the internet if it is done via computer or telephone and it is not technically illegal to attempt to solicit a minor through these types of communications, [...]";s:12:"atom_content";s:4492:"<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p style="text-align: justify"><a href="http://blueinredzion.com/?attachment_id=3499" rel="attachment wp-att-3499"><img class="size-full wp-image-3499 alignleft" alt="Webb_R_Curt" src="http://blueinredzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Webb_R_Curt.jpg" width="106" height="144" /></a>Due to technological advances, Utah&#8217;s laws have not been able to keep up with sexual predators and their attempts to seduce minors. Currently, it is only illegal to seduce a minor over the internet if it is done via computer or telephone and it is not technically illegal to<em> attempt</em> to solicit a minor through these types of communications, only to <em>actually</em> solicit a minor through these types of electronic communications. It is for this reason that Representative R. Curt Webb (R &#8211; Logan, <a href="http://elections.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/VotingDistrictMaps/UtahHouseDistrict5_2012.pdf">District 5</a>) is proposing <a href="http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HB0031.htm">HB 31 &#8211; Enticing a Minor Amendments</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">The bill is a simple one. First it expands the definition of what a &#8220;text message&#8221; is to include any type of electronic device (not just cell phones or computers). Of course, one would be hard pressed to come up with any other sort of broad technological device that would fit this mold, but, none the less, Webb is preparing for the future. The second, and more interesting part, is that Webb is making it a crime to attempt to solicit a minor. Though the courts would undoubtedly use a &#8220;reasonable&#8221; standard to deduce what attempted solicitation actually is, lawmakers must be careful when using such a term, if only because it could inadvertent place an innocent person in some hot water. Is this probable? No. But is it possible? Yes. Again, I trust the courts to make a proper decision, but things can get squishy when we use such terms. The third part of the bill gives teeth to these new standards. Various levels of felonies are attached to these attempted violations through new technological means, and these penalties appear to be stiff, but fair.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">These simple changes to our state law would immediately benefit our youth as its expansion of powers would give law enforcement more power to convict those who wish to harm our children. Furthermore, the bill plans ahead for any sort of new technology that may be coming down the pipe that does not neatly fit into the mold of &#8220;computer&#8221; or &#8220;cell phone&#8221; (Google Google&#8217;s perhaps?). By enacting this legislation, we are ensuring that our youth will be better protected, and that those who wish to commit such terrible crimes will have an assured punishment.</p>
<p style="text-align: center">To contact Rep. Ray, <a href="mailto:curtwebb@le.utah.gov">Click Here</a> or call 435-753-0215</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Impact on Average Utahn:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">High Impact   5 . 4 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">3</span> </strong>. 2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0   No Impact</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Need:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Necessary   5 .<strong> </strong>4 .<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff">3</span> </strong>. 2 . 1 . 0  Unnecessary</p>
<p style="text-align: center">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Overall Ranking:</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Great Bill  5 . 4 .<span style="text-decoration: underline;color: #0000ff"><strong> 3</strong></span> .<strong> </strong>2<strong> </strong>. 1 . 0 . -1 . -2 . -3 . -4 . -5<strong>  </strong>Poor Bill</p>
<p style="text-align: center">Questions about the rating system? <a href="http://blueinredzion.com/2012/12/bills-to-watch-vi-legislators-assemble/">Click Here</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center">To view other bills in the 2013 Bills to Watch Series, <a href="http://blueinredzion.com/bills-to-watch-2013/">Click Here</a></p>
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