I'm LDS. I'm thinking of serving a mission, and I want that to be available to me. If that's not in the cards for your university, I have to respect that, but I have to consider others.

Says Staples:

A pronouncement like Te'o's might end most players' recruitments, but Rivals.com ranks Te'o as the nation's No. 12 overall prospect. Because Te'o has so much potential, almost every coach who recruited him consented to the mission.

LDS players also must consider how their faith will mesh with the campus environment at either a secular school or one run by a different faith, and they must prepare for a backlash from some in the LDS community should they choose a school other than Brigham Young.

The private club law in Utah is a nuisance. You start invading people's privacy and now you've got real problems.

The cocktail invitation could be a polite gesture—they hosted him Tuesday on the Hill, and he wants to return the favor; or it could be a stratagem—after being with them so much, Obama realizes that everyone could use a good drink. Or it could be a philosophical statement: Sobering times do not necessarily require everyone to be sober.

• $600 million to state aid
• $300 million to transportation and water projects
• $200 million to Medicaid.
• $150 million to upgrade schools
  

A federal judge has rejected arguments to keep the names of contributors to the anti-gay marriage initiative hidden. U.S. District Judge Morrison England says that many campaign committees use vague names and the public has a right to know who actually put up the cash:

If there ever needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with a ballot measure.

The California commission that enforces campaign disclosure laws has already ruled that most of what opponents of gay marriage call harassment and boycotts amounts to free speech.

You would think if legislators respected their roots, they would support the small farmer. [This program] is the only thing that gave them an edge over the big producers from out of state.

We were not informed, there was no cost analysis and there were no efforts to make any kind of adjustment to keep it. By any standard, that's not a good way to do business.

Many have argued that if Republicans pacify the Democrats and their liberal ways, Independents will naturally flow to the Republican side of the aisle. This was in part the John McCain strategy. It failed because it demonstrated that the party was rudderless on principle and had nothing unique to offer voters. . . .

Only a genuine return to our core values and principles will deliver the results voters want and deserve.

Even though my state, my state of Utah, stands to benefit, this bill is just simply unconstitutional. I support the idea and the notion that Utah [should get a fourth seat]. I still don't think you can run around the Constitution to get what you want.

[Huntsman] is celebrating his status as the governor of the country's best-managed state, and as the successor to Sarah Palin — remember when Palin claimed the highest approval ratings among governors in the country? That distinction belongs to Huntsman, who rates at 90%.

Huntsman wants to be seen as a conservative problem solver who applies conservative principles to finding solutions to today's issues.

. . .how the hell the most popular governor in the most conservative state in the nation can get away with talking up global warming incessantly.
Is there something about greenhouse gas concentrations in the Book of Mormon we missed?

This is like the Governor of Vermont spending 20 minutes in his biggest speech of the year promoting creationism.

Say "Utah" to a gay man or lesbian woman and you might as well have force them to suck on a lemon. To LGBT people, the Beehive State has become a hornet's nest of homophobia and hate. Since November, the state has been under a constant threat of boycott. . . .

When it comes to hatin' on Utah, we've become no better than the people who discriminate against us.

• Salt Lake City's Pride Parade is the second-largest parade of any kind in the state.
• Former Mayor Rocky Anderson won running on a platform that included gay rights.
• A clear majority of the city's population is against banning same-sex marriage.
• SLC is home to more than a dozen gay and lesbian bars.
• Mormons are a slight minority in the capital city.
  

Utah's gay & lesbians don't need us ignoring the state. They need us involved, as a closer look at the fight inside the beehive proves.

We encourage you to use Barbara (Thornton) as a resource in working with members of the (GOP) caucus and members of majority leadership. She will be fielding inquiries and interview requests from the press.

1. Reporter asks a question.
2. Politician obfuscates, feigns deafness or says, "No comment."
3. Repeat until reporter wanders off in disgust.

The thing that wouldn't leave

• Some powerful Senators, including Lyle Hillyard and Pete Knudsen, are talking about putting the full tax back on groceries. After all, when was the last time poor folks treated a lawmaker to a Jazz basketball game?

• Like some kind of undead creatures, deposed House Speaker Greg Curtis and former Rep. Mark Walker are haunting the Capitol — as a lobbyists. Curtis, a land development lawyer, turned out of office in November, was always an quasi-lobbyist, of course. But now he doesn't have lawmaker's duties to distract him from servicing his clients. Walker recently pleaded out to a charge that he offered a bribe to his opponent to drop out of the state treasurer's race.

• A package of gay-rights bills suffered its first defeat under the watchful eyes of Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka and her flying monkeys Sen. Chris Buttars and LaVar Christensen.

• The Trib's Rebecca Walsh calls for an end to the annual pre-session legislator pilgrimage to the LDS HQ. A mouthpiece says, hilariously, the church just wants to "remind" lawmakers of its neutrality. One observer notes: "It not only looks like theocracy, it suggests there is a theocracy."

• Rep. Sheryl Allen decides that kids sending naked pictures of themselves on their cell phones is not so bad after all.

• What's the point of being a Utah lawmaker if you can't pass something that is unconstitutional? Senator/police chief John Greiner is back with his anti-public assembly, racial-profiling bill.

• Gov. Jon Huntsman delivers a cure for insomnia.

A little more than an hour and a half elapsed before my package of clothes was brought over by a couple of corrections officers. They were kind, made a couple of jokes at which I did not laugh; my nerves were still frazzled. I brought the bag of clothes into an adjacent bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that they did, indeed, fit me. The two officers who delivered my clothes were also the officers who escorted me to the SUV that awaited me in the parking lot.

“Good luck,” they said, almost in unison.

Did they practice that? I wondered.

“Thanks.”

Around Salt Lake City a string of inventive small breweries make for an inviting, if unexpected, tasting tour.

It's important to note that we didn't get into this project because we thought it was unfair that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were not being given a choice between strawberry or pistachio ice cream. It really came down to what was the smartest way to protect the nation and strengthen our national security.

Sidney had been watching Obama’s speech and a couple times when President Obama was speaking, the airplane pilot made a public address interrupting Obama’s speech. Sidney got very upset at that happening and went to talk to the stewardess.

There was a customer who was upset that the in-seat screen wasn’t working and became verbally abusive to a flight attendant, and that flight was met by local law enforcement.

They were detained at JFK in a public space for two hours and were humiliated by the experience. It was ghastly and unnecessary.

We are doing well in this country. Let us be optimistic. . . . We can still eat. We still have homes and most still have jobs and health care*. . . . This is not a depression. We can all go out and purchase what we need— tires, . . . and food for our family.

• John Valentine, deposed as Senate president, is enduring teasing on the floor.

• New prez, Mike Waddoups, handed out rulers to his colleagues to remind them "They must measure up" to the public's expectations. Fortunately, the rulers are very short.

• Newly minted senator Steve Urquhart is sporting a buzz cut. He's either undergone severe hazing or is symbolically calling for deep budget cuts. Or is he preparing for a cage match with the Senate's alpha palooka Curt Bramble?

• Sen. Pete Knudson isn't wearing his rug this year. (Another symbolic call for a streamlined state budget?)

• Democratic Sen. Pat Jones sucks up to new President Mike Waddoups by seconding his swearing in.

• Singing group Salt City Jazz appears to be making a statement on immigration/drug reform with the song "Chili con Carne" that includes the lyric: "Don't forget the Mexican sunshine."

• Just so everyone knows they are just goofin' — the jazz group quickly follows up with the traditional Mormon hymn "Come, come ye Saints."

Gay students at BYU still struggle for acceptance

I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination. But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American.

Sen. Orrin Hatch: 71%
Sen. Bob Bennett: 68%

Rep. Rob Bishop: 62%
Rep. Jason Chaffetz: 45%

The change that people are looking for is they want people to roll up their sleeves and just get things done. They are tired of polarization and bickering. They are looking for people who just want to be constructive and pragmatic."

It should have been a time for rowdy celebration: this year, after all, marked the festival’s 25th anniversary, a milestone that was largely eclipsed by the grim economic climate that thinned the crowds and fueled the nervous chatter on the icy streets.

Certainly, there's a cathartic element to the whole episode; you have to imagine that movie critics everywhere, beaten down by persistent pronouncements of their profession's demise, took some comfort in knowing that one of their own literally and figuratively fought back.

It's easier to locate the names of the Chinese politburo than the names of the ruling body of No on 8.

Despite the fact that the executive committee spent over $40 million of donations from the general public to defeat Proposition 8, and despite the fact that they were fighting a battle to maintain the legal right for gays and lesbians from anywhere in the world to marry in California, the leaders of the "No on 8" campaign have consistently refused to name its 16 principal officers.

I never understood the reason for the secrecy, and no one gave me a good explanation for it. But whenever people in power are hiding basic information about who's running the show, it's usually because they don't want to be blamed for one thing or another. In this case, the "No on 8" executive committee probably didn't want to take the fall for the debacle that happened on November 4, 2008, when a slim majority of voters in California passed Proposition 8.

I take very seriously my responsibility to help protect the lands I love which belong to all of us, the American people. I have hiked and ridden on horseback through these redrock canyons for decades, and the battle to keep them wild for generations to come always has been deeply personal for me. Destroying our natural heritage will do nothing to solve our energy challenges for the long-term, which to me, is even more reason to act.

A higher value is being placed on the landscape than the people who live on that landscape.

As the Obamas bid adieu to George and Laura Bush before the Bushes boarded the fortified helicopter that would whisk them away to Andrews Air Force Base, the couples warmly embraced. Barack and George hugged. Michelle and George shared a double-cheek kiss. Laura hugged both of the Obamas.

“I was struck by what has become a quite cordial and has obviously warm relationship between the Obamas and the Bushes,” said Fox News’ Brit Hume.

When Obama entered the hall, he offered a lot of hugs. Sen. Orrin Hatch was looking at his iPhone when Obama came over to greet him. They hugged and Hatch immediately went back to his phone.

Utah is a great state and I love it here. I have spent most of my life, growing up, going to school, and working in Utah's Second District.

Barkley, 38, is troubled by the LDS church's involvement in banning gay marriage in California, but believes most Second District voters would have open minds about a gay candidate:

The people in Utah who would oppose me solely because I am gay would be the same people who actively worked to pass Proposition 8 in California. Because I grew up here, I know the wisdom in the people of Utah: They are practical and fair.

Trib: How would you rate the performance of George W. Bush as president?

DNews/KSL: How would you approve or disapprove of the job performance of [George W. Bush]?

Guv and his peeps vs. the Lege.

A new Deseret News/KSL poll finds that few Utahns support GOP lawmakers' obsession with slashing programs and laying off workers to meet the state's $1 billion shortfall.

Forty percent of taxpayers say the best route is a combination of cuts, employee layoffs and, gasp, tax increases. And almost as many side with Gov. Jon Huntsman in recommending lawmakers tap the state's Rainy Day fund and borrow to get through the recession.

The epiphany came yesterday about the same time that Mormon church officials told lawmakers they would be OK with such "normalization" as long as bar owners ensured minors weren't slipping in. The word from on high came during the Republicans' regular pre-session meeting with the church guys.

Bar owners have offered to install electronic scanning equipment to validate patrons' driver licenses if the club rule were eliminated.

I wish one of the Lege leaders had the guts to question the church officials on drinking fine points such as the "Zion Curtain" and the most moral recipe for a Long Island ice tea — and save us all a lot of guessing.

Politicians in Kentucky and Arkansas in the past week announced proposals to increase taxes on alcoholic beverages, echoing similar efforts in New York and California.

Higher taxes on beer, wine and liquor face stiff opposition from alcohol distributors, retailers and other industry groups. Lobbies have helped kill most efforts to increase alcohol taxes in recent years. Still, deep economic woes might make such measures easier to pass in 2009.

Bad news: Utah joblessness is skyrocketing.
Silver lining: You've love Oprah and The View.

Bad news: Utah's celebrated Shakespeare Festival is slashing jobs, pay and its season.
Silver lining: You'll feel less guilty this fall for not supporting the fest again.

Bad news: The Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority is tapped out and then some.
Silver lining: Political science majors will get hands-on experience in deficit spending.

Bad news: The hapless Lieutenant Governor's office is violating the state's financial disclosure law.
Good news: Lt. Guv Gary Herbert can call in his chip with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff for ignoring the AG's misuse of the state seal.

Bad news: A killjoy federal judge has blocked oil and gas drilling on public land near National Parks. It's an indefinite ixnay on "drill, baby, drill."
Silver lining: The state won't have to update the Delicate Arch license plate with the addition of drilling rigs.

Bad news: Utah's flu strain is resistant to Tamiflu, the only drug that helps even a little.
Silver lining: You've got the perfect excuse to call in sick tomorrow.

Bad news: Utah has the most polluted air in the country!
Silver lining: We're No. 1!

[All Americans] want to see Barack Obama successful in combating terror, in helping strengthen the economy, in diverting Iran from its nuclear ambitions. We just join with common hope.

I think given the challenges we face today, the future of either party pales in comparison with the future of our country. I think partisans are burying their partisanship to take action at a critical time.

Poulos: Who's the most promising Republican in politics today?

Frum: Governor Jon Huntsman: a business-friendly social conservative open to new ideas on the environment, a fluent Chinese speaker, with a multiracial family, re-elected this November with 77% of the vote. OK, it's Utah — but 2008 was the year when Republicans managed to lose Greenwich, Connecticut.

Just hang in there, Teddy, you're going to be all right and we're praying for you.

He knows all those things are important.

Remember where you were today and why you were here.

When you see each other on the street, speak to each other. Say, "Are you praying? 'Cause I saw you there. . . .'

Give them a nod. "I saw you. And I'm still praying."

All are equal, all are free . . .

God, teach him when to speak. Teach him when to stand. ... Lift up the leader of this nation.

We need this president's vison for change because God is not the god of status quo.

We remember what happen to Malcom, to Martin to Bobby and Jack .... and to four little girls in Birmingham who did nothing but go to Sunday school. We know that evil is alive and well.

Inside the Capitol, Politico ran into Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who was busy helping get the lucky recipients of his tickets into the Longworth House Office Building.

General visitors and staff are prohibited from entering the Capitol building itself unless they are with a member of Congress or have a special pass that must be scanned by hand-held scanners.

Kael Weston, an Orem native and State Department official who flew from Iraq to Springfield, Ill., to meet Obama when the senator announced his presidential campaign. "Like President-elect Obama, I opposed the Iraq war from the outset and have voluntarily spent almost four years helping to fight it in order to bring this bloody conflict to a responsible end."

Doug Pincock , a Salt Lake air traffic controller and union man who split his vote between Obama and archp-conservative Jason Chaffetz. "Both of those candidates, although they were diametrically opposed, both of them are largely good men."

This is not a hypothetical argument. Consider a cigarette-smuggling operation in Fairfax, Va. The organization sold millions of dollars of contraband cigarettes in New York City and the profits helped fund the crime ring's expansion into other illicit activities.

This is not rocket science. Where a high tax creates wide disparity in the price of a product, it also creates a black market; and where there's a black market, there's a reduction in state revenues. . . .

Boost Utah's cigarette tax enough and, far from discouraging smokers, you'll be encouraging criminals to load up a truck.

When the HBO drama “Big Love” began chronicling the lives of an extended clan of polygamists, the premise probably struck many viewers as more likely to occur in the 19th century than the 21st. Last spring, however, that world suddenly seemed ripped from the headlines.

Bill's situation, where he has three wives and now seeks a fourth, starts looking more like an emotional and theological Ponzi scheme, where those already involved must convince themselves and others to perpetuate what they have begun, or face the terrible possibility they've been living a lie.

The women edge ever closer to being Stepford Wives, the more sordid of the men become caricatures of evil, and their humanity starts to fall away — not to mention their senses of humor.

What's different with this [recent burst in activism] is now there are organizations and people in place who can carry on the message. I just hope it keeps up. I would like to see — in my lifetime — our civil rights given to us."

We will fill in the hole, but we'd like to fill it in when it's a little better timing and climate. The last thing we want is a mud hole.

Mecham's hopes to build a mixed use project on the 4.5-acre lot went south with the economy after he wiped out a vibrant votex of small businesses, replacing it with a yawning crater decorated with chain-link fence.

The truth is [Big Love] takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen.

There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and people can see who's responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards.

So let's have faith in not only the American, but Californian, constitutional process.

Richard Ellis spurned the offer and ultimately won the election for treasurer.

Investigators looked into allegations that Walker said his job offer was backed by Republican legislative leaders. Friday morning, Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill said that Walker could be charged with violating state election law prohibiting “inducements not to become a candidate.”

Not to keep score, but this week:

1. Walker charged in connection with bribery allegations.

2. We learn that Lawmakers asked the FBI to investigate allegations of bribery.

3. Tapes show the House ethics probe was flawed and turned into a witchhunt for whistleblowers.

In an opinion column, Deseret News political editor Bob Bernick shares some of what went on behind closed doors after a group of moderate Republicans and Democrats brought a complaint against Rep. Greg Hughes, alleging he had offered campaign money to a colleague if she would switch her vote against school vouchers. Hughes was exonerated. Says Bernick:

The tapes prove one thing overwhelmingly: Legislators are inherently unable to adjudicate their own ethics.

Clear ethical standards need to be set, and an outside group given the authority to investigate and judge state officials' ethical actions.

A. Weldon Angelos founded the hip-hop label Extravagant Records.

B. Angelos is in prison for drug dealing.

C. Angelos has asked President Bush for clemency.

Can Sen. Orrin Hatch's intervention be far behind?

Doesn't this guy ever have anything constructive to say? Anything uplifting?

Oh Muslim nation, those wars and [economic] crisis represent a great opportunity, and wise men would not let it slip away from them. You have a great chance now to overthrow the injustice and the tyranny that has overwhelmed you for decades.

I'll be sleeping on my daughter Abby's apartment couch. Mary Kaye will have to find a corner to curl up in.

We have two different world views. I represent all the people in this state. They represent their individual districts.

There's always a lot of passion [during a session] — a lot of drama. We are holding our ground and we always do.

When the gun hit the floor, it went off, and the bullet struck the toilet, shattering it and sending sharp pieces of porcelain flying.

I'm confident that the free flow of information shows I did nothing unethical at all.

You really do not get a true No. 1 out of (the Bowl Championship Series)," Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told USA TODAY. "Nobody questions the Super Bowl. The team that wins is the best team that year. I think we can do the same thing at the college level where once it's over there is no questions about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2.

Communicate and advocate for current and proposed City policy and ordinance changes to enhance the viability of small businesses.. . .

Organize small business summits with other public and private organizations to create community-wide actions to foster small business growth and opportunities.

Provide marketing, promotional, demographic, and organizational assistance for Neighborhood Business Districts.

We're going to lend our ears for that?

Time are tough, real tough. As Lincoln, FDR and JFK knew, the right words can uplift fearful citizens. Gov. Jon Huntsman, Mayor Ralph and county Mayor Carroon have struck out in their speechifying*. Does Utah have a politician somewhere who can inspire us and stir our blood?

*How bad is it? Huntsman and Becker both resorted in their speeches to snatching reflected glory from the Utah Utes. Becker, at least, didn't trot out an American Idol contestant.

It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being delegated into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners.

There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people’s bedrooms and claim that God sent you.

Sharpton was in Atlanta for the launch of the Alliance of Affirming Faith-Based Organizations, started by Rev. Dennis Meredith, who recently acknowledged he is bisexual. The often-controversial Sharpton got a roar of approval from the congregation when he said:

I am tired of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they’re preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade.

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper,
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper.
Super-duper!

Come, let's mix where Rockerfellas,
Walk with sticks, or umbrellas,
In their mitts.
Putting On The Ritz.*

In the Senate, newly elected Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack is pretty super-duper with $1,800 in gifts, managing to edge out Sen. Curt "Open Hand" Bramble who grabbed $1,000. Sen. Mark Madsen, who has accomplished very little aside from introducing bills to liberalize gun laws, took a grand too.

Fun fact: Utah Republican Party chairman Stan Lockhart, who coincidentally is also a lobbyist for Micron, husband to Rep. Becky Lockhart and BFF to Bramble, is beloved on the Hill for "spending every dime for a wonderful time" and showering Jazz tickets on everybody.

Court documents filed Dec. 29 allege Hammond had sex with a 16- or 17-year-old girl in 2005. Another woman has filed suit, saying she was sexually harassed by Hammond during a 2008 arrest.

A cozy home to accommodate a single man and weekend guests, including grandchildren, next to the Provo River.

I've been an environmentalist for pretty much all my life and done all the things that you're supposed to do that are supposed to lead toward change. I've marched and held signs. I've volunteered in national parks. I've written letters and signed petitions. I've sat down with my congressman, Jim Matheson, for a long time.

Ultimately, I felt like those things were only mildly effective. And it was having a very tiny effect on a very large problem.

It came down to, if worse came to worse, I'd go to jail. And I decided, yeah, I could live with that. . . . But seeing all the disastrous effects of climate change in our future, I didn't want to have to live with that.

71,000 Utahns have a license to conceal a gun.
71,000 out-of-state residents have gotten Utah permits to carry guns.
150,000 guns were sold in Utah last year — 14,500 more than in 2007.

Somewhere, right now, Winston Blackmore is probably smiling. The self-styled "Bishop of Bountiful" — Canada's most high-profile polygamist leader — is being handed a show-trial platform to prove what he's been saying for years: Taking multiple wives is a religious right and freedom, protected by the Charter.

As counter-intuitive as that may sound to people, he will have a very strong case. In fact, he will probably win, delivering the polygamist leaders in Bountiful a huge moral and legal victory.

The Times Colonist in Victoria agrees:

A lot of lawyers say Her Majesty will have a tough time convincing the courts that forbidding the polygamists to do what they believe their faith enjoins them to do is a "reasonable" limit that may be imposed in a free and democratic society.

Wally, who appears to be in for a legal rump kicking, should look on the bright side — at least he didn't make Texas' mistake of impounding 167 children.

Washingtonians, remember green?

They left a lush homeland to come to a desolate place in the desert and made it prosper.The reason they left their beautiful homeland to come here was for their faith.

Wait a minute! These schmoes left Switzerland for Utah? Sheesh, what kind of DNA did they add to the gene pool? It might explain why southern Utah lawmakers are so . . . special.

The mural will end with an LDS ward house, a band representing joy, a girl with a fruit-filled apron, a man harvesting grapes and a Alcoholic Beverage Control agent watching him closely.

It combines all the things I love most about sports — computers, ballots and lobbying.

We're going to be taking names and kicking 'A' when it comes to reporters misreporting what happens. . . .

GOP senators dumped their top two leaders — former Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, and former Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, in their leadership elections. The questions of official conduct played a role in [former House Speaker Greg] Curtis' defeat at the polls and Valentine's and Bramble's fall from grace among their own Republican colleagues.

. . . [Bernick] is right about one thing: many legislators are serious about government reform. Somehow he missed the fact that I am one of them. . . .

Bob Bernick may never understand what really happened here, but I hope others will look at my service and judge it fairly.

I deeply appreciate the generosity of all those who have contributed to our goal.

Turner had asked the city to trap the skunk, which had been terrorizing his home, but he expected them to pick it up more promptly.

Gene Baierschmidt of the Utah Humane Society, pointed out that in some Utah cities it is illegal to leave an animal in a trap for more than 24 hours. Even a marauding skunk deserves merciful treatment and, perhaps, a cigarette and blindfold. Yes, "Sammy the Skunk" was executed.

Turner's attorney, Susanne Gustin, and I (and probably the skunk) wonder why Roberts took this misunderstanding all the way to court before the charge was dropped. Gustin says:

It's ridiculous it had to go this far. I think (Turner is) a hero. He does not deserve incarceration. He deserves a medal.

Protecting freedom of hot air.

President Obama has a constitutional right to have an invocation, a benediction and to swear on a Bible.

America's founders would be appalled to see the government trampling the First Amendment rights of free press through the kind of micromanagement the so-called Fairness Doctrine requires.

Some gifts people give are pointless: Styling mousse to Dick Vitale. An all-you-can-eat card to Kate Moss. The BCS Championship given to Oklahoma or Florida.

It means nothing because the BCS has no credibility. Florida? Oklahoma? Who cares? Utah is the national champion.

The End. Roll credits.

. . . [Utah] Went to the Deep South and seal-clubbed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

. . . If you're Florida and you beat Alabama, you get a seat in the title game. If you're Utah, you get a seat on your sofa.

. . . Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

FranklinSquires Companies LLC run by Rick Koerber, took advantage of loose-lending regulations and a reckless business model to inflate the state real-estate bubble. Koerber . . . may have had quite a lucky streak when the housing market was booming, critics say. But now, after helping pop the bubble, Koerber’s empire is crumbling, forcing him to walk away from investors.

Some claim they are owed millions by Koerber and his companies—often leveraged out of life savings and equity from the homes in which they live. Some face foreclosure and bankruptcy. They have lost almost all hope they will see their money again.

How about a billboard that says, ‘Hey, Free Capitalist, where’s my money?'

Looking out the portal-style window on Level 2 of the Hab, it's not hard to imagine that outside lies the desolate and lonely landscape and surface of the real Mars.

They arrested sect leader Winston Blackmore, right, and James Oler on charges of practicing polygamy, which is a criminal offense in Canada. Says the Vancouver Sun:

It may not be the first time that anyone in Canada has been charged with polygamy. But it is definitely the first time anyone has been charged since the 1800s.

Four officers stayed behind to talk to the approximately 1,000 residents of the community that's known as Bountiful to assure residents that no children would be apprehended.

In order for same-sex marriage to be accepted by Mormons, we would need to become convinced that God himself could conceivably engage in such a union, including its sexual implications," he wrote. "To put it more bluntly, unless God himself could be gay and still be God, then there's no room for homosexuality in Mormon doctrine. . . .

If we thought that God could be gay, our eternally procreative marriage-based doctrine would collapse like a house of cards.

No Geneva Convention for you, buddy.

What you did represented the most admirable qualities a human being can possess — empathy for another’s suffering, a willingness to help a creature incapable of defending itself against forces much more powerful than its own, and recognition of the inherent worth of all sentient beings.

We would have wished the defendants would have received jail time for their actions, and the plea does not address the adoptions and permanency of the adoptions in the U.S. — now or in the future. No plea bargain can compensate for the anguish and cost — both emotionally and financially — to the real victims in this case: our children.

Supporting BCS is cool if only to foil pandering pols

. . . now Utah's best public servants are feverishly involving themselves in the degradation of grandstanding. Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah recently wrote President-Elect Barack (Bear) Obama a letter concerning the possibility of the BCS violating antitrust laws, and the state's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, is allegedly in the process of reviewing the BCS to see if it operates in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Government officials fighting the good fight on a subject that affects only people who could vote for them or contribute to their future political aspirations ... perfect.

The unprincipled creepy swine.

Yeah, you, Matheson, and you, Shurtleff, and you [Texas Congressman] Joe Barton, too. You, who wouldn't have given a forty-third of a damn if your team had benefited from the BCS, or if you'd come from North Dakota or Maine. You grandstanding brutes. . . .

. . . here's a vote not only for the BCS, but for shutting the hell up.

This has nothing to do with re-election. . . . It is reprehensible that anyone would even suggest that protecting unborn life is a political gimmick.

This male of the species is about to do something stupid.

The research also suggests that getting into deep doo-doo in a National Park is a guy thing. Nearly two out of three rescues involved men who got themselves into problems on dayhikes or while boating through poor judgment, improper equipment, fatigue and injury.

When did rounding up people you don't like in your country and putting them in camps get a bad name?

Jay Brian Ballard, of West Valley City, and Kim Jones, of West Jordan, sued in federal court, claiming they wrote the lyrics and music of "Take Me As I Am" in 1995. It turned up a decade later, they say, on Blige's multi-platinum-selling album "The Breakthrough."

You can listen to it here.

If Blige is savvy, she'll offer to record* one of star sniffer Sen. Orrin Hatch's songs and Utah's top politician will make the lawsuit disappear.

*Might I recommend Orrin's "Many Different Roads: A Tribute to Diana Princess of Wales and Mother Teresa."

The National Park Service has issued a rarely sought First Amendment permit to the group.

He shot his neighbor (a relative, apparently) in the head, then pistol-whipped him. Of course, the dispute was about water, so I'm sure he was justified.

Meyer: "They did a great job."

I am writing to urge you -- no, implore you -- to cast your final ballot of the season with one team and one only team ranked No. 1: the University of Utah.

I say this not to demean the performance of Southern California, Texas or the winner of Thursday's Oklahoma-Florida game. All are fine teams that have had outstanding seasons. They have, however, one thing that Utah does not have.

A loss.

All of us know that in competition anyone -- whether an individual or a team -- who does not lose once is the champion. It's really pretty simple: If no one beats you, then you are the winner. You are No. 1. You go home with the first-place trophy.

It wasn’t surprising to me that they won the game; it was surprising to me that they dominated like that. Especially up front

I knew they lost two defensive linemen earlier in the year. When we were there, we had these big 300-pound monsters inside. They didn’t. They were more on speed and quickness. It’s a different defense; they did a great job.

I really don’t know what I would say to [Utah]. To go 13-0 and not have a shot to be in the game, it’s obviously tough for them. It’s the system we have and the system we have to deal with.

Sooners center Jon Cooper says:

They did everything they could. There’s not a perfect system.

"Utah: You can't get a drink here."

Restaurants are turning into bars, It's making it look attractive. Kids see it and wonder what they're missing. I think we need to be a little more strict. I just don't think the message we want to send is, "Look at the pretty bottles."

Measuring the impact of a Proposition 8 boycott is impossible. The big story is the economy.

I witnessed some unbelievable atrocities. It is a Mormon-funded and staffed facility, and religious indoctrination is a fundamental aspect of the school. There was sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, suicide, staff corruption, and escape.

Unlike in traditional journalism, where "I" is a dirty word and subjectivity is suspect, Orato.com actually requires the "I" and the personal perspective behind the story. The result is the story in its rawest form. We get to the heart of the story, literally.

Unfortunately, that belief may simply be a figment of our bigoted imaginations. Records show that the much-quoted statements that the FLDS culture promotes such crime is simply baloney spread by its enemies. (Does that kind of slander sound familiar, Jews, gypsies, Catholics and LDS?)

According to an article by the Tribune's Brooke Adams:

None of the 600 or so residents of the Yearning For Zion Ranch received any form of welfare, according to state officials. Cash assistance is almost nonexistent in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

While many families living in the sect's traditional home base receive food and medical help, virtually all those families qualify under program guidelines, authorities say. There has been a single fraud case prosecuted in the past decade.

. . .why the BCS is the dumbest system ever invented to produce an eventual champion in any major sport.

We need to stop calling them stunning upsets. We need to change our perceptions and expectations. We need to evaluate teams fairly and objectively so we can stop being "stunned" when this happens.

It would be fun to see Utah play the winner of Thursday's BCS title game between Florida and Oklahoma. It would be the fair thing to do. And it would be logical, in broader terms, to set up a simple eight-team post-season tournament that would guarantee no such beefs. It also would be the most impractical, counterproductive and risky thing the NCAA could do.

The Utah-Alabama Sugar Bowl garnered a 7.8 rating, an 11 percent increase from last year's Georgia-Hawaii game. Even so, the game ranked seventh-lowest among the 45 BCS games played to date.

If Southern California’s thumping of Penn State planted a few more seeds of doubt about whether the two best teams are playing for the national championship next week, Texas would not mind dumping a mound of fertilizer on that notion Monday night, when it plays Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Eight teams. That would be three rounds to determine a national champion. It would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.

What's wrong with this picture?

It features a nice photo of the team... from last year! I know this because the player to Brian Johnson's left is Alexander Puccinelli who graduated just this last spring. Also featured in the photo is Kyle Gunther who has also graduated.

It just makes me wonder whether the DNews did this on purpose as pay back for their precious Cougars getting spanked this year. It's not like there are not team photos of this caliber from this season (ie: the Blackout victory over TCU, the win over Oregon State, or even the crushing of the Cougars).

I feel that it is almost a slap in the face for this season's Utes.

While we are counseled against taking addictive substances or harmful drugs, the Word of Wisdom does not specifically prohibit caffeine. However, I believe that if we follow the spirit of the Word of Wisdom, we will be very careful about what we consume, particularly any substance that can have a negative impact on our bodies.

How marvelous these promises are, that we may walk and not faint and run and not be weary and that the destroying angel will pass us by!

While the good doctor may be right in that overdoing caffeine could lead to serious ailments, his extensive list of possible problems seems to be culled from every potentially negative article every written about the drug. Naturally, the biased Dr. Thomas Boud doesn't include a single word about the possible benefits of caffeine, which may be extensive. That seems pretty deceptive for a publication some gullible Mormons believe is inseparable from biblical Scripture.

A strong voice and a measured approach would be helpful. The possibilities between the two extremes of abolishing private club laws and doing nothing are considerable.

I’m not convinced that Utah’s current private club law is the best way to accomplish those policy concerns . . .

He is writing songs with messages that today's youth need to hear -- from someone they will respond to, like John Forte. John will make a difference if allowed the freedom to do so and I am personally committed to helping make sure that he keeps his promises once he is released.

President Bush, prodded by Orrin, commuted Forte's sentence for smuggling $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine as part of a drug ring.

My contention is … that the best interest of our society would be served, in this case, by allowing John his freedom -- a gift which he has vowed to use in the pursuit of helping at-risk youth abstain from drugs and drug activity.

And what better way to reach at-risk youth than through their music? I'm sure Orrin's working on his rapping ryhmes now.

A the very least, the Forte jail break will allow Orrin to hang with folkie Carly Simon, whose son attended an exclusive private school with Forte. Carly knows the way to Orrin's heart—she recorded one of his songs in gratitude for intervening for Forte.