DJ&A Celebrates 25th
If there’s anything that Dan Jones hates, it’s an unscientific
poll. Especially one with a non-randomly selected sample so small
that the error margin is gigantic. Nevertheless, I did one of those
“opinion leader” polls, and here are the results: 16% said Dan is
“too grumpy;” 28% said his grumpiness is “about right;” 7% said
Dan is “not grumpy enough;” 17% said Dan’s grumpiness has increased
since his wife, Pat, (focus group leader extraordinaire)
has emerged as a leading Democrat; and 45% said they didn’t care
about Dan’s grumpiness, but they were tired of Dan’s abrupt ending
of phone conversations. (Doesn’t add up to 100%, but who cares.)
Oh, and an even 100% of respondents plan to attend the Dan Jones
& Associates’ 25th anniversary party on Tuesday, June 14, 5-8 p.m.,
Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way.
Qwest’s Lawsuit Gets Notice
Some national technology bloggers are weighing in on Qwest’s lawsuit
against UTOPIA, the fiber-to-the-home project underway in 14 Utah
cities. Here’s an except from a blog
at TechDirt:
From the Seems-a-Bit-Extreme Dept.
So what is Qwest left with? They didn't get
MCI, they have no real wireless plans (other than a weak MVNO
offering) and they have no real next generation broadband plans
at all. Apparently, they've decided that their strategy will be
to follow the lead of the other RBOCs and fight
muni broadband rather than improve service themselves. And,
if they're going to do so, what better project to pick than the
poster child for muni-fiber: UTOPIA -- a project that Qwest
has been fighting ever since it was conceived. The idea, of
course, was to give fiber access to homes throughout Utah, though
Qwest lobbying forced the plans to be scaled back significantly.
Some Utah cities are still moving forward with it, and now Qwest
is suing them, coming up with a ton of claims against the project.
. . . doesn't it seem that, maybe, if Qwest had spent a little more
effort actually preparing their own next generation network plans
instead of paying lobbyists and lawyers, they wouldn't have to worry
about this at all?
People Watch
Want to get to know Kirk Jowers, the new Director of the
Hinckley Institute of Politics? Here is a biography
and a story
in the Daily Utah Chronicle.
The University of Utah's College of Education will honor former
Gov. Olene Walker on Wednesday, June 8, at a fundraising
event that will create scholarship opportunities for Utah K-3 teachers
to obtain a Level 1 Reading Endorsement. TV anchor Nadine Wimmer
will be master of ceremonies and there will be entertainment.
Swoop the red-tailed hawk will make an appearance at the event in
Grand America Hotel. Click here
for all the details.
Keep Those Sites Current
Yesterday I surfed the websites of Utah’s three House members: Chris
Cannon, Jim
Matheson, and Rob
Bishop. Not that it has anything to do with public policy,
but Matheson’s site is the most visually appealing. Both
Cannon’s and Matheson’s sites featured current information,
and judging by the volume of press releases published, they both
have active writers trumpeting their legislative prowess. Bishop’s
site, on the other hand, featured old news and less information.
Leavitt Grants $30 Million
Senior
Journal.com is reporting that the Southwest Utah Public
Health Department in St. George will receive a $145,539 grant from
the Department of Health and Human Services. The grant is one of
86 awarded to health centers across the nation. HHS is dishing out
more than $30 million to help community health centers increase
access to health care for low-income and uninsured Americans. Mike
Leavitt, secretary of HHS, released the grant list Wednesday.
Campaign Tip
E-Mail is an Effective Campaign Tool
E-mail updates, newsletters, and postcards are now established campaign
tools that every campaign ought to use, including candidates in
small municipal races. E-mail is a simple, inexpensive and effective
way to stay in touch with voters and constituents and communicate
policy positions, publicize events, rallies and speeches, turn out
the vote, and even raise money.
To get started, you need to build an e-mail list. This requires
some hard work. Start with addresses of political activists and
opinion leaders in your city or district. Political parties have
some e-mail lists of party caucus attendees and grassroots party
workers, if you can convince the party to give them to you. Collect
e-mail addresses at every opportunity, at every campaign touchpoint,
like when you make phone calls, send direct mail, and have events.
Ask for e-mail addresses. Ask supporters and organizations that
support you to send an e-mail message to their own supporters, asking
them to opt-in to your e-mail list. You can obtain addresses from
some national vendors, but the quality is highly questionable. Once
you have a good list, start a regular newsletter or update and ask
supporters to pass it around to neighbors and friends, and encourage
those people to sign up for their copy. Your list can grow virally
and become an important campaign communications tool.
Casual Friday
Bald Eagles on the Bay
I enjoy hiking and walking, and I like identifying different species
of birds and other wildlife. But I’ve never really gotten into bird
watching the way real birding enthusiasts pursue their sport. Even
with my only casual interest in birding, however, I have enjoyed
a very impressive Web
site devoted to Utah bird watching. There’s an awful lot of
activity going on around birding. The site was created and is maintained
by a birding group from Utah County. The site keeps track of sightings,
lists birding field trips, has a comprehensive guide to Utah birds,
and many other features. The site also has lots of cool photos,
including a series
of amazing shots by Ted Steinke of bald eagles in action
on Farmington Bay. If you’re at all interested in nature and the
outdoors, it’s a site worth perusing.
Jay Leno.... A Washington-based research group says major
roads in metropolitan areas are falling apart. That just goes to
show you how fat we're getting in this country. Now we're breaking
the roads. .... A new study shows that the child population in San
Francisco is dwindling and in fact San Francisco has the smallest
share of children of any major city in the United States. That's
odd, huh? For some reason couples in San Francisco don't seem to
be reproducing as much as couples in other cities. Gee, I wonder
what the problem is there? You think it might be something in the
Rice-A-Roni?
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