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Dwarf Bear Poppy Day
The Nature Conservancy thanks St. George citizens and Mayor Daniel McArthur for making Saturday, May 12, the first official Dwarf Bear Poppy Day in St. George's history: "A true St. George treasure, the dwarf bear poppy is an extraordinary wildflower that illuminates the desert shrublands with its spectacular white blooms each spring. The poppy, like many of St. George's unique plants and animals, is extremely rare, found in a small area of Washington County and nowhere else on Earth. But the implications of Dwarf Bear Poppy Day are much larger than the recognition of one exceptional flower. This proclamation is one more tangible demonstration that St. George citizens value the world-class natural beauty in their own backyards" (see press release).
Washington Watch
D.C. Bill Unconstitutional?
Columnist Doug Bandow condemns Sen. Orrin Hatch for co-sponsoring in the Senate "unconsitutional" legislation that would give D.C. full representation in the House and add a fourth congressional seat for Utah (American Spectator).
Today in Political History
May 9, 1914: President Woodrow Wilson issues a proclamation providing a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mothers Day. (Source: NBC5)
May 9, 2000: Former four-term Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards is convicted of extortion schemes to manipulate the licensing of riverboat casinos. (Edwards was later sentenced to ten years in prison and fined a quarter of a million dollars.) (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it... The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
-- Woodrow T. Wilson (Source: Think Exist)
Campaign Communications Tip
Publication Production Checklist
1. Establish the purpose/objectives of the publication
2. Establish target audiences
3. Decide on the number needed
4. Decide when needed by
5. Use graphics where possible
6. Identify design and printing options and allow sufficient time for this
7. Consult a wider group of people about content
8. Check final draft carefully
9. Ensure contact details are included
10. Do a health-check for libelous comments
11. Organize circulation of publications, such as hand-delivered mail drop for leaflets or putting up posters in time with a specific event (Source: Planning Help)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- National Review: Columnist Andrew McCarthy: "Polls taken through Iraq's thick prism reflect increasing public disenchantment with the Bush presidency. The economy hums and the stock market climbs daily to heights previously unknown, but still the president has fallen to the sub-30-percent approval terrain charted only by Jimmy Carter in modern times. Here, though, is the real anomaly: If one listens, truly listens, to the gloomiest war critics -- Democrat congressional leaders and presidential candidates -- the president has already won the debate about what is to be done in Iraq."
-- New York Post: Columnist John Podhoretz explains why Sen. Hillary Clinton will never apologize for voting to authorize the Iraq War.
-- Salon: New book credits Rahm Emanuel with last November's Democratic electoral successes.
-- Wall Street Journal: Columnist Michael Barone notes that native-born Americans are leaving big cities on the coasts to resettle in the heartland, with the result "that these Coastal Megalopolises are increasingly a two-tiered society, with large affluent populations happily contemplating ... their rapidly rising housing values, and a large, mostly immigrant working class working at low wages and struggling to move up the economic ladder. The economic divide in New York and Los Angeles is starting to look like the economic divide in Mexico City and São Paulo. ... Democratic politicians like to decry what they describe as a widening economic gap in the nation. But the part of the nation where it is widening most visibly is their home turf, the place where they win their biggest margins (these metro areas voted 61% for John Kerry) and where, in exquisitely decorated Park Avenue apartments and Beverly Hills mansions with immigrant servants passing the hors d'oeuvres, they raise most of their money."
Letter to Editor
Why Oppose School Vouchers?
Dear UPD Editor:
As I have tried to follow the school voucher law, I still do not understand why all this opposition to the school vouchers. I am a mother of three children. As a parent, I want the best education possible for my children. I want the option to choose which school (whether that is public, charter, or private) is best for the academic needs of my children. I think the Governor agrees with me. Let the parents decide what is best for their children and not a union of school teachers who are just thinking of their operating budget.
Bigger is not always better. The bigger the public school system is in this state does not necessarily mean that the educational needs of it students are being met. Put it to a referendum and let the UEA petition all they want, but I believe there are hundreds of thousands of parents like myself that want to see options. For example, look at what a public school spends on a given student each school year to what a charter school spends on a student each year. I believe there is almost a thousand dollar difference. Why is it this way? Because the public school system has too many “middle managers” in the operating budget and it is an inefficient waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Charter schools are smaller, less overhead, and require parents to volunteer on average 40 hours a year. I believe charter schools are more efficient in providing a top notch education to their students. Not everyone can get into a charter school. So let’s have another option: a voucher for private schools.
Public schools are not going away. It is not like they are not going to have students to teach, but maybe the following will happen 1) less students per class 2) more efficient spending of their operating budget 3) a focus more on education and less on politics
-- Kristina Narvaez
Lighter Side
“Every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells.”
-- Woodrow Wilson |
