Salt Lake Crawler

An investigation by the Weber State student paper The Signpost, uncovered eight felons working at the university.  Since the series of articles were launched in May, three of the employees with serious criminal records have left the university.

One former employee who left in May, had served jail time in 2007 and 2008 for charges including attempted possession of a hoax weapon of mass destruction, attempted recklessness of an incendiary device and attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Another former employee, had embezzled from WSUs school of business and a third had a conviction on forcible sexual abuse.

WSU would not discuss the circumstances of the employees departures with Signpost reporters.

Rick Koerber, the Free Capitalist, was temporarily the "Free Speech Capitalist." On his blog he attacked federal and state regulators who he says want to shut him up. Koerber, who is under federal indictment in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme, probably has a lawyer who also wants him to shut up, at least until the trial's over.

Koerber's latest rant:

1.  "Government Regulators" said they’d “settle” Koeber's case if he promised to stop criticizing them on his radio show or in court.

2.  He was threatened with an FCC probe into said radio show, if he resumes it.

3.  Friends and neighbors are afraid to talk to him because they may be on a list of witnesses that the prosecution barred him from contacting.

So, now I can’t talk to my family and friends.  What will the government think of next? I can just see Ms. [state Commerce chief Francine] Giani strategizing with her colleagues like Senator [Steve] Urquhart, “Maybe if we regulated the word capitalist, that would finally shut him up.”

Pretty gutsy, right? It must have been a little too gutsy because Koerber pulled the blog item down. But thanks to the Web's long memory, you can still read the Free Speech Capitalist's tirade here.

At least one Utah blogger is asking the Ugly Question: If the Mormon Church actively favors civil rights for gays, where does that leave LDS-related groups, such as the Sutherland Institute, that have always equated any openness to "gay rights" as destroying the sanctity of guy-gal marriage. This from Eric Ethington's blog:

The vast majority of Sutherland’s “constituents” are faithful LDS members, which means that Sutherland is now in essence trying to “lead the flock away” from the teachings of the prophet. Wait… did [Paul] Mero just join the dark side? . . .

I don’t know where Sutherland can go from here as they may quickly find out what happens to organizations that aren’t on the same side as the Mormons in Utah. I wonder if their followers will catch on, or if Sutherland will sweep this under the rug and pretend like the Church never spoke at all?

Photo: Sutherland Institute's Paul Mero, left, and Deseret News Editor Joe Cannon address a guy-gal marriage rally at the Provo LDS Tabernacle.

Our state punch line — Sen. Orrin Hatch made it into another The Onion send up. This time it's in a News in Photos: "Last Few Republican Senators Form Roman Tortoise."

"Machiavellian" is good by comparison — Mitt Romney's name has become the latest political insult. "Romneyesque," as an epithet, conveys a willingness to abandon one's core convictions -- in Romney's case, temperance and modesty on social issues -- in order to pander.

Don't ask for details — Dozens of  high school swimmers who competed in a statewide meet at St. George got sick, with disgusting symptoms. Health officials are trying to figure out what made them ill.

Bet on it: The food tax is back — Tax Review Commission has joined the chorus calling for putting the full sales tax back on food to help bail the state out. The Legislature normally ignores the recommendations of the state's foremost tax experts, but not this time.

Yes, yes and yes! — Now that the LDS Church has supported Salt Lake City's gay protection ordinances, all Utah's newspaper editorial boards suddenly think it's a good idea. The Salt Lake Tribune goes over the top. It's the Utah equivalent of the march on Washington, the lunch counter protests, the freedom rides; a landmark moment for basic civil rights.

A long winter ahead— Jury selection has begun for the second Texas polygamy trial on sexual abuse of a child.

One of the Web's leading conservative (and gay) voices is gushing over the LDS Church's support of Salt Lake City's protections against discrimination against gays. Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan says:

What the LDS church has done in Utah is an immensely important and positive step and places the  Mormon church in a far more positive and pro-gay position than any other religious group broadly allied with the Christianist right. They have made a distinction - and it is an admirable, intellectually honest distinction - between respecting the equal rights of other citizens in core civil respects, while insisting - with total justification - on the integrity of one's own religious doctrines, and on a religious institution's right to discriminate in any way with respect to its own rites and traditions.

Did I say gushing? Sullivan continues:

I've never met a nasty Mormon. They put many Christians to shame in their practice of their faith and the civility and sincerity with which they live their lives.

Finally, Sullivan basically calls for a truce, or at least a ceasefire, between gays and the Mormon Church over Prop 8:

For this degree of respect - even if it is not fully what I want or what gays truly deserve - we should reciprocate with respect as well. This is a moment of genuine dialogue and civil compromise. And it was accomplished in Salt Lake City among gay and straight Mormons and gay and straight non-Mormons in a way that other Christians in other places have been unable to replicate.