Salt City Sinner

This morning's episode of Good Morning Utah featured an amusing update from failed gubernatorial candidate Morgan Philpot on one of the more idiotic conspiracy theories I've heard lately. Given a 15 - 4 majority on the Redistricting Committee, a 55 - 20 majority in the House, a 21 - 8 majority in the Senate, the Governorship, and a 4-1 lead in the United States Congress, what would the logical appraisal of this situation be for the Utah Republican Party? If you guessed "whine and bitch like a bunch of cranky toddlers," you are a winner! As GMU has been telling us (with a little help from Carl Wimmer ), Herbert is apparently afraid of a confrontation with Jim Matheson, the lone "Democrat" representing Utah in the House of Representatives. Matheson, you see, has threatened to run for...er....Governor, or Senator, or something... if the current redistricting scheme puts him out of a job. It has been reliably hilarious to watch political cannibals like O...

The fix is in! From Lee Davidson ( for the Tribun e): Republicans plan to let Democrats win a small battle or two but force them to lose the overall war on Wednesday as the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee debates new Utah Senate districts... Republicans plan to let Democrats win a small battle or two but force them to lose the overall war on Wednesday as the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee debates new Utah Senate districts... Republicans do plan to add a seat in Utah County by consoli dating  the Senate’s current seven Democratic districts — all in Salt Lake County — into six, eliminating one.  It's good that the UT GOP has agreed to leave Senator Robles' seat alone: a merger with Davis County would have been insane enough to attract unwelcome scrutiny (even in this state). Senator Robles' district on Salt Lake's west side has absolutely nothing in common with Senator Liljenquist's Davis County district, and combining the two would have been bad fo...

Hat tip to the Daily Dish Climate Progress has the following headline: ' Green Jobs Are Real : German and American Solar Industry Both Employ More People Than U.S. Steel Production' People want to know: Are green jobs real? The answer is resoundingly “yes.” With roughly 93,500 direct and indirect jobs, the American solar industry now employs about 9,200 more workers than the U.S. steel production sector, according to 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics. The American steel industry has historically been a symbol of the country’s industrial might and economic prosperity. But today, the solar industry has the potential to overtake that image as we build a new, clean-energy economy. Well, hot damn! Here's that green and sunny boom in chart form (again, hat tip to Andrew Sullivan ): All in all, solar is looking better and better, not just from a green point of view, but in terms of providing a potential booming sector for skilled labor (solar installation is a step up from roofing -...

First off, apologies as I haven't kept up on this blog as I'd like to, but that's going to change right now. So, Glenn Beck, favorite punching bag of callow liberals like myself, is out on his ass at Fox News. Well, to be fair, Mercury Radio Arts (Beck's company, named in honor of Orson Welles) apparently still has a contract to produce content for Fox: According to GlennBeck.com, Beck’s production company, Mercury Radio Arts, will continue to work with Fox News on a new partnership where Beck will assist with development and production of a variety of television show productions for Fox News as well as other digital media holdings. No details were given on what the partnership might look like for Glenn Beck or Fox News. This is not even close to the end of Beck. My passion for horror cinema has given me a pretty apt simile to use here: Beck is like Jason the first time a teenage would-be victim lights him on fire or shoots him or drops him off a bridge. You just know ...