This does not Reflect a Democracy

   There is a something interesting in the story of Scott Tingley stepping down as Salt Lake County auditor: There won't be a public election to replace him. The party will select the lone nomination.

   Consider how this would go down if it were the old Soviet Union: The party would make a nomination, and that would provide the only person nominated. No public election allowed.

   Are we so different, here in Utah? No most of our filling of offices are not done without public elections. But why should this situation be any different? Why not hold a special election and select among at least two candidates -- and one of those nominations should be from the party of opposition.

    I would imagine the scenario for Scott Tingley's being replaced is duplicated in democracies throughout the world. That doesn't make it right -- nor democratic. It is something that should be corrected. That everyone is doing it doesn't make it right.

    I consider Utah a state with high values. Here, of all places, such policy as this should be corrected.

    If you have a democracy that functions as democracy 98 percent of the time, but chooses not to do so the other 2 percent of the time, that democracy is tainted. It is not fully a democracy.

Jesus Christ, the Greatest Person Ever Born

   Christmas, then, again, with the world's different takes on what is and what it should be. 

   No person has so impacted the world, from our calendar to our most-read books. Christianity holds an answer to when the world began. It holds an answer to why we are here. And, has an answer to what comes when we die.

  Islam, and Hinduism, also large and influencial in shaping humanity. But. do they have their Santa Clauses to counter the religious lines? Christianity is unique, in that.

   Jesus Christ, the greatest and most influencial person ever born.

Administering Death to Those Who in Their Eyes Deserve it

   The convictions of Travis McMichael, and his dad, Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, in the Ahmaud Arbery case, we should consider again the danger present when people have guns.

   That is not to say we should not continue to let people to have guns. It is only to point out the danger of them having them. The owners often take justice into their own hands, determining who they think is worthy of death and administer death to them.

Because the Morning Brings Us Sunshine

Because the morning has the dew

  Because it brings us Sunshine

I will rise in hope

  Seeking help from God Devine

(Index: Poems)

The Remarkable Job Done by Linda Dunikoski

   Money can buy a powerful team defense attorneys. Witness the expensive, high-powered team hired by Kyle Rittenhouse (it included one of O.J. Simpson's attorneys) and notice that Rittenhouse was acquitted. 

  What then of the remarkable job performed by the prosecutors in the Ahmaud Arbery case? As attorney after attorney recused themselves from the case, the case ended up in the lap of Linda Dunikoski, senior assistant district attorney in the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. Dunikoski did what she could to stop the composition of the jurors to have but one black member. But, when the jury was selected (with only one Black member), she realized the members were people who truly wanted justice. She, then, steered away from the race issue, reportedly not referring to the fact that it was a Black man being killed by White men until she did so in the closing arguments. She knew the defense attorneys would try to shift the blame to Arbery, arguing he deserved to be killed. She dealt with it, focusing on the fact he was simply a person running, and was shot for running -- no more. 

   She and the other two prosecutors won the case, the defendants being convicted. Who were the other two prosecutors also attorneys in the Cobb County District Attorney's Office? I do not know. I only say it is remarkable job she and and the other two prosecutors did in pulling off the convictions.

   It was a case in which a team of very competent prosecutors pulled off convictions in a Deep South community where justice is perhaps unusual when Black persons are involved. Dunikoski and the other two prosecutors are to be commended. 

Free Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai

    I add my voice -- albeit perhaps one scarcely noticed -- to the clamor of those calling for Peng Shuai to be freed. Let Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, move to another country. That still might not guarantee her safety, I admit. But, the alternative is to become a vassal of the Chinese government. 

True Patriotism Demands that We do Something

   I second the motion: "Wealthy people, of all races, seem to operate on a different justice scale than the normal, everyday citizens in the country. This doesn't seem right and should not be permitted." Thus writes Christopher Tremoglie in an opinion piece in the Washington Examiner.

   Money should not be a factor in our justice system. If it is, we should clean up our system. And it is a factor, so we have an obligation to do something. It is our duty to do something. True patriotism demands that we do something, for a true patriot does not want his country to contain such injustice. 

Court Decisions Being Decided by Money Should Sicken Our Stomachs

   Kyle Rittenhouse won his court case due to his $2 million dollar team of lawyers -- a team that included an O.J. Simpson lawyer according to Washington Post opinion writer Paul Butler.

   The thought that court decisions are being won or lost depending on how much money they give to lawyers should sicken our stomachs.

   

Reservations With Ranked Choice Voting

   The Sandy City Council today certified the election of Monica Zoltanski as the first female mayor in the city's history -- she won by 21 votes. It was a victory not only for her, but for Ranked Choice Voting.

   I was disappointed the council did not allow public comment. The meeting was over in five minutes.

   And, though it was a victory for Ranked Choice Voting, I continue to have reservations. Suppose we had this scenario: Hardly anyone votes for Candidate D as their first choice on the first ballot, but a majority do make that candidate their second choice. Since the lowest vote getter is eliminated, Candidate D is  eliminated.  Is that fair? You kick out the candidate whom the majority of voters had as their second choice?

The Complete Person

   As they walked down the hallway, the one fell behind, and when that person did catch up, the other said, "Are you lollygagging or are you lost?" He then pointed out how clever the phrase was, and that he had coined it. Reaching the room they were headed, he reflected on how he had failed the moment, how he was too boastful. 

   A complete person would not be so boastful. The complete person is one who does not seek the approval of others. He or she does not seek for glory. They have learned the art of not judging others, while not being afraid of the judgements of others. They accept their faults. Nay -- they search out their faults, but while accepting them, they strive to correct them.

   The complete person senses the gossiping against him or her. But, they do not respond in kind, but in being kind. They seek to love those who speak against them. They are normal enough to want acceptance, and normal enough to want prestige and to get credit for what they do. But, if it does not come, they will live without it. 

Whatever Happened to Peng Shuai?

   And she disappears. She accuses a former top government official of sexually assaulting her, And she disappears. Whatever happened to Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star?

  The World Tennis Association, and several tennis stars, have spoken out, calling on the government to say where she is. Finally, a state-ran news agency has posted a video of her in a restaurant, but the question is whether the video was taken some time ago, before she disappeared.

  Bless the people speaking out, crying for Peng Shuai. When something like this happens, it takes people crying out if anything is to be done. Peng Shuai's disappearance points to the lack of freedom in China. Freedom of speech is being denied. More importantly, we must wonder if she is still alive.

To End Racism on Police Forces, We Must Rely on Cities

  Worries that there are racists and gun-happy officers on our police force? That is something the cities have more power to fix than the federal government. It is a national issue, but the answers are local.

   With municipal elections just having passed, this issue was largely overlooked. Nobody even considered it. Oh, they considered defunding, but not this. This is a matter of which officers should be hired and which should be fired. Do police departments even have policies in place that screen out racist cops? Do they monitor their officers for signals of racisms?  Do they have mechanisms for kicking the racist officers off their squads?

   Cities do the hiring and firing. It is they who must address this problem.

Where the People Marching in the Streets Against Big Pharma?

    Big Pharma has spent almost $263 million lobbying Congress not to lower the price of prescription drugs. And, that's just the bill for this year so far.

   The industry is employing three lobbyists for every Congressional member, if OpenSecrets is correct. OpenSecrets tracks campaign financing and lobbying. 

    Much of the money reaches the pockets of the legislators via campaign donations. 

   Clearly, the lobbying industry should be reined in. 

   Do we have any lids on how much they can spend? Do we have any caps on how much legislators can take in? If not, why not? If we can see this destroys us so, why do we let it happen? Members of Congress perhaps like the money. With it, they campaign for re-election at great advantage against their challengers. And, if Big Pharma sees a challenger who might win, they can step in and contribute to that campaign, hedging their bets. 

   So, Congress is not likely to do something unless the people rise up and demand it. Corruption protects itself. If something is to be changed, it will take pressure from the outside.

  Have you ever seen a group carrying protest signs outside of a hospital? Have you ever read of such a thing? If the nation has anything more important to protest, I don't know what it is. 

Give Up the Vaccination Mandate

    Let's do away with this government mandate requiring large companies to make their employees vaccinate. It's not that I don't think the vaccinations would be helpful. It's not that I think freedom is being lost. No, it's that I agree with the old biblical adage of agree with thine adversary quickly.

   On this matter, we should listen to many of the people. Who knows if they are a majority, but they are a large segment. In a nation that tries to get along, just say, If you don't want it, we won't have it. Your voice counts. 

 Take those defeats and chew on them. Then spit them on the ground.

(Index: Quotes) 

 There's an art to turning dreams into reality. It's called work. 

(Index: Quote)  

The Will of the People Reflects Their Morals

    If you have democracy, and it is the people who govern, the government will reflect not only the will of the people, but the morals of the people. 

  So, look at America. I will hesitate to comment.  Some are against bringing many immigrants in, fearing they will take our welfare, and fearing there will be too many criminals among them. We have a nation focused on gun rights. 

   I think to look at it a different way. What if we were to take the beliefs of the nation, first, and then see how they translate into how we are governed? Are we a nation that believes in God? Are we a nation that practices the biblical adage of, Love thy neighbor as thyself? Are we a people that borrows money?

  Are we a nation that goes to movies most every week? That wants to be entertained? 

  I do not know the answer to these questions, meaning I cannot say how our mores translate into our policies. Or, if I can see how some of them do, I hold my thoughts and do not express them.

   Studies are always being done. This would be one of worth. A study that made the connections between the believes of the masses and the policies of the government. 

Cities Must Save The World

It is the cities, you know, that must save the world
It is the cities, this time
If recycling is to work, it is the cities who must do it
This time
It isn't the federal government that picks up your trash
Most of the times, it's not
It's the cities, it's the cities
It's they who pick up your rot
So, save the world by recycling?
Save your breath if you think not
It's the cities who must save the world
They are all that we've got

 Recycling. If it is going to work, it will be the cities that must make it work. It is they that collect the waste. Yet, despite that, as the nation passes election day for many of its municipalities, was the topic even near the top as an issue?

  City elections might focus on whether high-density housing should be allowed,  and on whether the fire and police departments should get more money. Recycling? It doesn't even pop up, at least not much.

  China once was a major importer of waste used for recycling. Then, it came out with what is called its "National Sword" policy, which banned the import of much of the waste. Back in the states, recyclers were left without a market for much of their product. Lacking that income, they upped their prices to the cities.

   Supply and demand, you know.

   How should cities deal with it? Should they abandon private companies -- no longer granting franchises to them? Companies have to make money, but when the cities own the utilities, they don't.

   The trip-up to that is that cities didn't turn a profit, they would have to charge their residents to make up the difference -- and most of them would howl and scream if the price of their garbage pick-up came close to doubling.

   Some cities have pared back what they recycle: No more styrofoam, among other things. 

   So, if there are answers to these problems, who must provide them? The cities. If there are to be solutions, it is the cities who must find them.

 

Recycling: A National Issue Needing Local Answers

    Recycling. If it is going to work, it will be the cities that must make it work. It is they that collect the waste. Yet, despite that, as the nation passes election day for many of its municipalities, was the topic even near the top as an issue?

  City elections might focus on whether high-density housing should be allowed,  and on whether the fire and police departments should get more money. Recycling? It doesn't even pop up, at least not much.

  China once was a major importer of waste used for recycling. Then, it came out with what is called its "National Sword" policy, which banned the import of much of the waste. Back in the states, recyclers were left without a market for much of their product. Lacking that income, they upped their prices to the cities.

   Supply and demand, you know.

   How should cities deal with it? Should they abandon private companies -- no longer granting franchises to them? Companies have to make money, but when the cities own the utilities, they don't.

   The trip-up to that is that cities didn't turn a profit, they would have to charge their residents to make up the difference -- and most of them would howl and scream if the price of their garbage pick-up came close to doubling.

   Some cities have pared back what they recycle: No more styrofoam, among other things. 

   So, if there are answers to these problems, who must provide them? The cities. If there are to be solutions, it is the cities who must find them.