Economist: Europeans Were Spectacularly Wrong

"A DECADE ago, Americans began a bold social experiment. In August 1996, Bill Clinton signed into law the bill that introduced “welfare to work”. From that point, poor families could no longer claim welfare indefinitely as an entitlement. Instead, parents had to find a job. The reform, controversial enough in America, was reviled in many parts of Europe. Its opponents said that welfare claimants, most of them single mothers, would be unable to find work. They and their families, it was argued, were being condemned to destitution. Ten years on, such dire warnings have been proved spectacularly wrong. America's welfare rolls have fallen by over half as existing claimants have found work and fewer people have gone on benefit in the first place."

ANALYSIS: Whatever Happens, Iran Wins

“Every obscene statement on the Holocaust, every suggestion that Israel will be eradicated, every assertion of the Natural Right to Nuclear Capability, every jab at the Great Satan, only cements his status as the megastar of restive, miserable, messianic Muslims.” -- Israel's Haaretz Newspaper

Temple Square is still top tourist draw in Utah

It looks like Temple Square is still the top tourist driver for Utah -- and it's not just Mormons coming here. People are genuinely curious about Mormonism.

That doesn't surprise me as much as this very candid comment about Temple Square from Deseret News, the church friendly newspaper owned by a corporation of the Church.

Like visitors to St. Peter's Square in Rome, people touring Temple Square should expect to find a church-sanctioned version of history. Don't come looking for a lengthy discussion of polygamy or a detailed explanation of the "Utah War" of 1857, when Mormon militia and federal troops engaged in a tense standoff.

America's Forgotten Precursor to the Civil War

I've been to various national museums in Utah and Colorado, and even managed to speak with a few curators. They've painted a picture of the 1857-58 Utah war as an attempt to squash rebellion and a pre-cursor to the Civil War. Some might even call it the first battle of the Civil War.

According to one curator I recently spoke with, the territory of Utah, pro-slavery and pro-polygamy, was perceived in open rebellion against the Federal government. One thing new that I learned from the curator was that Utah had quite a few slave owners from the Missouri saints. I had never heard of that before.

With a misreading of the Mormons and the political situation, President Buchanan sent 20% of the total federal force - a huge show of force - to squash the rebellion.

The Deseret News features a neat piece on the Utah War and how it showed how the American nation would deal with perceived rebellion and how an invaded people would react, foreshadowing events of the real Civil War that would follow just four years later.

Dog Days of Summer

I had to take a photo of my dog demonstrating to the rest of us what “the dog days of summer” means when it is heartfelt. It means finding a cool wooden floor around 9am and camping out until it’s time to take a walk around the cool of sunset.

1 Cliff 3:4. And my father dwelt in a tent. 5. And it came to pass that my dog dwelt on the floor.

Unusual Web Server Error

The things and people we take for granted that try to make our life easier. Here's a 404 error page that makes you stop and think about the everyday life of a web server.

Can't Take It With You, But This Comes Close

You might not be able to take a baseball team with you to Heaven, but this comes awfully close. Die-hard baseball fans will soon have a way to be close to their favorite teams in the afterlife. They can now buy a casket with the name of their baseball team to comfort them on their everlasting journey.

Ain't it grand to be American?

SLC is About the Wild West

Here's a deer that allowed me to get close. Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front are in the background.

Proof enough that Salt Lake City is a metropolis in the middle of the Wild West?

This fawn allowed me to get pretty close. For those who live here, they know that we have deer here up the ying-yang.

When one thinks of Salt Lake City, one should think about the Rocky Mountains, wildlife and unbelievable scenery. I mean, you can't see temple square from this point of view, can you? And this point of view welcomes everyone who loves nature and the conveniences of a big city -- plays, art, film, shopping, etc. Salt Lake City -- the broadway, Sundance Film Festival, the New York City of the Rockies.

Salt Lake City, the Wild West

I took this photo yesterday on an afternoon excursion with visiting family. This is a herd of wild buffalo that roam freely, relaxing while watching the skyline of Salt Lake City, the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front on a most beautiful summer day.

I've said it many times before. The nation takes this major metropolis for granted. It's a well kept secret.

The first association that comes to mind with Salt Lake City is usually a picture of Temple Square. But for those of us who live here, we know this is the wild west combined with the convenience of a big city. Want proof? Take a look at the photo. Skyscrapers, snow capped mountains in June, shopping, skiing, boating, a herd of 50 or so wild buffalo in one place, and the rugged Rocky Mountains. It's all here. It's a well kept secret that my out-of-state family are learning to love. (We come from generations of nature lovers.)

Shhh... we gotta keep telling everyone that there is nothing here but Mormons and Temple Square. After all, we don't want it to get too crowded here. The State is already one of the fastest growing in the Union.

Guantanamo Bay

This just in from the BBC:

"The adverse reaction to a claim by a senior US official that the suicides of three Guantanamo Bay detainees was a "good PR move" adds to the growing international pressure for the camp to be closed."

Describing the suicides of the Afghan prisoners as a "good PR move" was a really dumb and insensitive thing for our general to say -- in a string of a lot of bad moves. Our practices at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay), and utterances by our leaders are really giving the mantel of liberty that we uphold a black eye around the world. DARN THOSE EUROPEAN BLEEDING HEART LIBERALS WHO CAN'T SEE THE MOTE IN THEIR OWN EYE. It's inflaming the Arab world as well.

Holding the prisoners until the end of the terrorist war isn't worth the tarnishing our own values are taking and that we are receiving among our world friends. Our own press didn't pick this up but the BBC knew the quote would be popular among its readership.

On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever

Salt Lake and Utah valleys are basins and tend to trap city pollution but out here in Capital Reef National Park, it's still pristine.

Want proof of Utah having some of the clearest skies in the contiguous 48 states? Here it is.

See those snow capped mountains in the background that look so close? They are 150 miles away.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Los Angeles.

Herd of Mule Deer at Fruita, UT

If you cannot tell by now, I love wildlife and try hard to flock to areas in Utah where I can take photos of such majestic animals.

Here's another shot of the same herd of Mule Deer in Capital Reef National Park.

Deer are everywhere in Utah and can be quite a hazard when driving at night. They can be spooked by lights and dart out in front of cars.

Capital Reef National Park, Utah

Forgot to post this. Here is a photo I took while visiting Capital Reef National Park. A herd of mule deer were feeding amidst an apple tree grove in Fruita, Utah.

This was taken two weeks ago so the apple tree are probably fully budding right now in South Central Utah.

The air is always crystal clear here, where one can see forever. There are no clearer or bluer skies in the West, contrasted by ruddy red rocks.

What's In Back of My House In the City

I decided to take a twenty minute drive up to Brighton to take my dog for a walk. The ski resorts are just beyond the mountain in my backyard so getting there is pretty easy. I just have to go up the canyon to the south of my backyard mountain.

No need to get on the highway -- just the road in front of my house, two intersections away, then up the mountain.

The ski resorts have been getting a lot of snow dumped on them but they are about to close down for the season. Last year one resort ran all the way until July 4. Amazing!

Salt Lake City Is IN the Rockies, Not By It

A view from the parking lot of my local ward in Salt Lake City.

Our backyard view is like a national park. We are visited frequently by deer. I've seen moose. There's a herd of elk that call the mountain home. And there's even a cougar that comes down once in a great while.

From the front of my house one can see the vast expanse of Salt Lake valley, a basin set between two mountain ranges -- the Wasatch and the Oquirh.

Ain't life in the Rockies grand?

As can be seen, Salt Lake is no Denver. It lies right smack dab in the Rockies - ski country. We do not have to travel on a highway for an hour and a half to ski. And, it has the conveniences of a large city -- 1.1 million large.