National Politics
Ice-Free Greenland – in Late 900s
Pete du Pont, former governor of Delaware, writes a fascinating Wall Street Journal column on global warming: “Statistics suggest that while there has indeed been a slight warming in the past century, much of it was neither human-induced nor geographically uniform. Half of the past century's warming occurred before 1940, when the human population and its industrial base were far smaller than now. … As we have seen since the beginning of time, and from the Vikings' experience in Greenland, our world experiences cyclical climate changes. America needs to understand clearly what is happening and why before we sign onto U.N. environmental agreements, shut down our industries and power plants, and limit our economic growth.”
George Washington’s Distillery
In celebration of George Washington’s birthday tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund writes a column noting that Washington was a leading businessman in colonial America: “Indeed, Washington was a prosperous farmer and entrepreneur throughout his life. ‘He thought like an American businessman,’ says Jim Rees, the executive director of Washington's Mount Vernon estate. ‘He was a true disciple of the free enterprise system, and he sensed that our new system of government would encourage people to think creatively, take chances and invest.’” One of Washington’s business endeavors was a whiskey distillery and today Mr. Vernon is reconstructing Washington’s distillery to showcase his business career. The distillery will produce only a few commemorative bottles to be auctioned to raise money for educational programs. "We have no plans to enter the high-stakes liquor business," says Mr. Rees, "even though it's tempting, given that the name of George Washington would certainly provide us with a sensational marketing advantage: We could say he was First in War, First in Peace and First in Smooth Libations."
Washington Watch
Hatch Promotes Johnson
Sen. Orrin Hatch announces that he has promoted Castle Dale native and SUU grad Jacob Johnson "to the position of Legislative Assistant on his personal staff. Johnson will help the Senator implement his agenda on a variety issues, including transportation, housing, small business, commerce, and Indian affairs" (see press release).
Wise Words
“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”
-- Charles de Gaulle (Source: Quote Garden)
Today in History
Feb. 21, 1965: Former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address a rally in New York City; he was 39. (Source: New York Times)
Podcast Watch
Utah Dialogue's Ben McAdams and Charlie Luke interview Utah Eagle Forum leaders Gayle Ruzicka and Maryann Christensen "on the the history of the Utah Eagle Forum, their motivations and what issues they feel are important in the current legislative session".... The Heartland Institute's George Clowes discusses Utah's new school voucher system.
Blog Watch
At Out of Context, Thomas Burr reports: "Presidential candidate Mitt Romney will unveil a list of Utah lawmakers today that are backing his White House hopes. I got a copy of the list and it shows most of the House and Senate Republicans are on board with Romney, the former head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and a Mormon. According to the list, Romney can claim 16 of the 21 Republican senators and 40 of the 55 GOP House members in the Utah Legislature. By complete coincidence, it takes 15 votes to get legislation passed in the Senate and 38 is the number needed in the House. So he has a majority of both chambers. So who's going to sponsor the 'Mitt Romney would make the best president ever!' resolution? Of course, since Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. backs Arizona Sen. John McCain, he could refuse to sign on" (for more on Romney, see National Review’s The Corner , The Corner (again), Article VI Blog, TPMCafe, and The World, According To Me) (for more Legislature-related posts, see Church and State, The Senate Site, Utah Democratic Caucus, Simple Utah Mormon Politics, mullentown, Lincoln's Legislative Blog, UAC Blog, and Red Pills).... Neil Abercrombie discusses and links to a recent ULCT survey on the fiscal health of Utah's cities and towns.
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