This Week...

This week has been exhausting! On Monday afternoon my parents came through town with the 15-passenger "party van" so that we could all go to Manti together for my sister and her husband to be sealed to their two little girls. It was a fun trip, but we didn't get back til Tuesday evening. And I was exhausted and behind with my work.

Also, my son has been sick (at one point his temperature reached 104), so I've had him with me all week, instead of sending him to school. I'm pretty well caught up now (I just work when my boy manages a nap), but very tired.

Hopefully next week will be back to business as usual.

Professional Blogging Round Up

Another week has gone by. Here's the professional blogging round up:

1. Presidential candidates are offering economic plans. Here's John McCains, complete with links to Barack Obama and Hillary Clintion.
2. Tips on shopping around for a good mortgage rate.
3. Presidents' Day quote bonus. Quote about charities from Zachary Taylor.
   

Tags: professional blogging, good mortgage, economic plans, tips mortgage,
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain

Lunar Eclipse Tonight!

This is very exciting, since it will be at a prime viewing time here in Logan for the lunar eclipse. Head on out around 7 pm or so and watch the show.

Meanwhile, here is a taste of a lunar eclipse.

Utah Legislature: Paying Themselves with Campaign Funds

As per usual, the members of the Utah Legislature are doing their best to ensure that they are making money of their civil "service." As if politics is really about service to "we the people." At any rate, it seems as though members of the Utah Legislature enjoy using campaign accounts to take care of personal expenses, according to the Deseret Morning News:

A Deseret Morning News analysis earlier this year showed that on average in 2007, legislators used $1 in every $3 spent from their campaign accounts for items that could be construed as for personal use, including spending to get their cars repaired, buy clothes for themselves and their spouses and pay for event tickets.

Naturally, efforts to change this are hitting snags. The bill proposes that campaign funds be used for political and *gasp* campaign-related items only. It also limits what money in an account can be used for when an officeholder leaves (legislators and governors have been known to pay themselves millions upon leaving office).

While most are okay with limiting what can be done after someone leaves office, there is opposition to limiting what can be done while in office. Just at efforts at disclosing what they do with the money entrusted to them and at efforts to limit "gifts" from lobbyists meet with fierce opposition, the Utah Legislature has a problem with this method of accountability as well.

While I can sympathize somewhat with paying oneself for "lost wages," it is still somewhat disconcerting. After all, being in the state legislature is supposed to be a position of service. Perhaps a system of "reasonable compensation" can be arranged for those with fewer means. Maybe something on the order of what actual citizens get in return for their service as jurors.

Tags: civil service, Utah Legislature, Utah politics, lobbyists Utah,
campaign funds

Happy Presidents' Day! A Couple of Quotes to Think About.

I thought I'd share the wisdom of two presidents today. The first is one everyone knows, and the second is someone hardly anyone knows. But both seem relevant at this time.

George Washington: If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

James Polk: The passion for office among members of Congress is very great, if not absolutely disreputable, and greatly embarrasses the operations of the Government. They create offices by their own votes and then seek to fill them themselves.


Tags: Presidents Day, George Washington, James Polk, Congress,
freedom of speech

Professional Blogging Roundup: Double Shot

It's been quite a week. I've been crazy busy. But I'm also excited because I've been picked up by a few more folks who want to re-post some of my stuff. And I made the Huffington Post again! So it's a double shot of shameless self-promotion this week.

On my blogs:

1. 50 Cent endorsed Hillary Clinton. Why? Because he thinks Barack Obama would be shot while in office.
2. Are biofuels really the answer? Well, not corn ethanol, which we seem fixated on...
3. Mmmm...more health care goodness. This time its a new proposed credit score for your hospital stay. I swear, health care becomes more and more ridiculous in this country by the day.

Who takes my posts and then re-posts them:

1. Huffington Post! No stimulus for a green economy.
2. The Washington Post features blog posts from around the Web. My post on keeping your job in a recession made the cut.
3. Seeking Alpha, an investing Web site, has decided to re-post a number of my articles for The Panelist. Yay!
   

Tags: professional blogging, biofuels, investment, green economy,
Huffington Post, recession, health care

Gays Are Ruining Salt Lake City?

My husband came back from church Sunday in a rage. It seems my calling in primary ensures that I miss the gay-bashing and the rather rampant political discussion that occasionally goes on in our ward's Sunday School class. This time it was some sort of something about how all of Salt Lake City's problems are caused be the gay population.

Right. If the gays left, gangs would disappear and the homeless would magically have homes. Puh-lease!

It's a good thing I'm not in Sunday School. I'd have said something and then we'd be outcasts in this ward forever. Josh tried to collect his thoughts (he does, after all, have a gay uncle), but before he could talk about tolerance and love and whatever else, the conversation had moved on to politics. Um. Right. This is not the stuff of a Sunday School lesson.

And to make matters worse, Chris Buttars seems to think that the Salt Lake City ordinance that allows adults to designate one other adult in the household to receive health care benefits and be considered next of kin should be changed in some fashion. After all, it's not just unmarried men and women living together that benefit. Gays do as well. So obviously things need to be changed.

I think my brain is going to explode.

The legislature is in session, which means I will be in a constant state of low-level rage at the complete waste of my tax dollars.

Tags: gays Salt Lake City, Utah State legislature, politics Sunday School, waste tax dollars,
health care benefits

Mitt Romney Gone. I Wonder What They Offered Him...

Mitt Romney, as you probably know by now, suspended his campaign. Technically, it doesn't mean he dropped out completely; he kept his delegates. But for all intents and purposes, he's done. Now this is how I expect Republicans to behave. Get behind a leader as early as possible and start the unified campaign. While the Democrats try and figure out who they're going with, the Republicans can get a jump on them. And if there's something Republicans are good at, its pulling it together and dominating the message.

This is the only strategy they have that has a hope of winning the White House this go. Control the conversation and hammer home a message. Preferably one that scares the crap out of us and encourages to forget the domestic messes we need to address. Romney started it last night with the nonsense that somehow electing a Democrat would be giving in to terrorism.

But my question is this: What did they offer Romney? I'm not sure he's viable for the veep position just yet (but "proving" his popularity by keeping his delegates might help), but who knows. But someone who makes a showing like Romney did is always offered something so that he will sacrifice himself this time for the "good of the party."

Tags: Mitt Romney, Republicans, Democrats, presidential election,
John McCain, Democrat terrorism

Professional Blogging Round Up: Super Bowl Edition

I know, I know. The Super Bowl is old news. But I did write about it this week. Okay, mostly I posted on the commercials.

1. A non-commercial Super Bowl post. People will use anything to predict market trends. Super Bowl winners included.
2. My favorite Super Bowl commercials were the E*Trade baby commercials.
   
3. I also enjoyed the Coke commercial with Bill Frist and James Carville. Wouldn't it be nice if we could stop some of the invective?

Tags: professional blogging, Super Bowl commercials, ETrade baby, writing,
Super Bowl, market trends

Delicious Dinners in Logan: Take Away Gourmet

I recently, after seeing a story about it in the newspaper, tried Take Away Gourmet. This is a delicious take out restaurant in Logan, and definitely worth the price. We got the maple chicken, Hungarian paprika potatoes, and the green beans. And cookies. Dark chocolate chunk with cranberries. Mmmmmmmm.

The other thing I like about Take Away Gourmet is that these guys are real chefs, with real culinary training. And they use seasonal ingredients and try to get as much of it locally as they can.

It's actually in Providence across from Macy's. If you're down there, I'd call ahead and order dinner for take out. It's like a home cooked meal. But much better than anything I could ever do. I will definitely be going back. (For $5 they offer delivery.)

Tags: delicious dinners Logan, Take Away Gourmet, food Logan, restaurants Logan

Super Bowl and Super Tuesday

It's already going to be a "super" week! The Marquit household is a happy household because Daddy's team, the Giants, pulled a major upset. So the week is off to a positive start.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. I'm hoping to vote. But my car was called in for a new timing chain (safety recall) and the closest Saturn dealership is in Riverdale. So we have to drive down there for an "operation" that should take four or five hours. With luck, decent weather and competent mechanics, I should be back in time to cast my vote for Barack Obama to get the Democratic nomination (as an "unaffiliated" person, the Democratic primary is my only option).

Utah primaries FYI: The Democratic Party primary is open. You do not have to be affiliated with any party to register your opinion in the matter of a Democrat (but you can't be a Republican for the presidential primary -- even though Republicans can vote in June's non-presidential primaries). Republican primaries in Utah are closed, however. So if you aren't a Republican, you can't cast your vote for that preference. Unless you switch parties at the polling place.

Deseret Morning News has a great explanation of who can vote in Utah primaries.

Tags: Utah Primaries, Giants Super Bowl, Super Tuesday, presidential primary,
Barack Obama

Professional Blogging Roundup: Feb. 1

Tomorrow's Groundhog Day, and we look to see what the future holds for us. More winter (please, no!). This week I also looked to the future in this hodge-podge of professional blogging posts:

1. Who are hip-hop artists backing in the presidential race? Well, Republicans aren't mentioned. Instead, everyone's talking about the toss-up between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
2. Who will win the Super Bowl? I'm hoping for the Giants, since that's Josh's team. But if I were a gambling woman, my money would have to be on the Patriots.
3. When will we get our tax rebate? Thanks to the Senate, it may take a little longer.
   

Tags: tax rebate, professional blogging, presidential candidates, Super Bowl,
Super Bowl gambling, Barack Obama, hip-hop artists