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Washington Watch
Hatch, Cannon: Prayers With Miners
In separate statements, Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Cannon say their hearts and prayers go out to the trapped Emery County miners and praise the rescuers who are putting their own lives at risk to bring the miners home (see Hatch and Cannon press releases).
NCLB is Topic of Discussion
Rep. Cannon will attend a meeting of his Education Advisory Committee on Thursday to discuss No Child Left Behind Reauthorization. He said he is finding serious concerns about NCLB among teachers and parents. The meeting is at 9 a.m. at Audio Enhancement, 4241 S. Redwood Rd., Bluffdale. For more information, see press release.
Holland Criticizes KSL Radio
In a press release (not yet posted), Utah Democratic Chair Wayne Holland noted that Enid Greene, former congresswoman and Republican state chair, is hosting Doug Wright’s radio talk show while he is on vacation. “We respect the fact that Doug Wright is a conservative with an opinion and KSL must be responsive to ratings and competition,” Holland said. “But to hand over the public’s airwaves to a political partisan parroting Republican Party talking points is beyond the pale. . . . KSL has failed in its obligation to the First Amendment. Citizens of Utah interested in making an informed decision regarding a presidential election are worse off.”
Tuesday Profile
Lew Cramer: Helping Utahns Think Globally
By GM Jarrard
For Lew Cramer, the breakfast that morning in Prague was a moment of truth.
 It wasn’t the rye bread and the Bohemian cheese or even berries and yogurt that emblazoned the event in his memory.
It was the music.
“It is burned in my mind. We were working in Prague to set up a cellular phone system while the country was still part of the Warsaw Pact. The Velvet Revolution was starting to take hold, but communists were still in control. Then we heard the syrupy tones of Percy Sledge singing the hit song ‘When A Man Loves a Woman.’ I turned to my colleague and with a grin declared: ‘We won.’ ‘What?’ was the reply. ‘We won the Cold War. It’s over,’ I said. And I was right.”
Today, Lew W. Cramer is the president and CEO of a new public-private partnership initiated by Gov. Jon Huntsman, the World Trade Center of Utah. But back then in what was then Czechoslovakia, Cramer was working for USWest International and traveling throughout eastern Europe. The emerging technology of cellular telephones was taking hold all over the world in the late 1980s; certainly, it didn’t enjoy then the market share it has today. But, it had a great effect on formerly closed societies like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Cramer knows why:
“When people talk, dictators walk,” Cramer said.
For Cramer, his Eastern Europe experience taught him many important lessons … lessons he brings with him to his new job.
Lesson one: international trade is a fact of life, one that too many Utahns fail to appreciate.
“People who fail to consider how international trade could help their business are missing the boat,” Cramer said. “Whether they realize it or not, we live in a world economy, and Americans have to do more than import products; we need to do a better job of exporting things we make and grow here. I suppose that’s why Gov. Huntsman persuaded me to take this job.” (Read entire profile)
Today in Political History
Aug. 7, 1964: Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on United States forces. (New York Times)
August 7, 1998: Two huge terrorist car bomb attacks, aimed at the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam,Tanzania, kill more than 200 people. (Source: Perspicuity)
August 7, 2000: Presidential candidate Al Gore selects Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to be the first Jewish vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket. (Source: NBC5)
Wise Words
“Liberty is not to be enjoyed, indeed it cannot exist, without the habits of just subordination; it consists, not so much in removing all restraint from the orderly, as in imposing it on the violent.”
-- Fisher Ames, 1801, Essay on Equality (Source: Patriot Post)
Communications Tip
Interpersonal Communication Dynamics
Body language, facial expression, posture, movement, and tone of voice constitute interpersonal communication dynamics. Without awareness of the whole person, including the factors in interpersonal communication dynamics, you miss much of what is being communicated. At the same time, if you communicate without understanding all of the interpersonal communication dynamics your listener sees and hears, you fail to use powerful aspects of communication.
Skilled use of these dynamics can help you emphasize the truth, sincerity, and reliability of your communication. On the other hand, they can also undermine your communication if the words you use are incongruent with the message sent via the interpersonal communication dynamics. (Source: About.com)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Washington Post: Chris Cillizza identifies the winners and the losers of Sunday's GOP presidential debate.
-- The Politico: "Reluctant to start slugging each other ... and still hesitant to directly criticize President Bush, the top GOP presidential candidates have found another way to vent their building aggression: pounding on their would-be Democratic rivals."
-- The Nation: The Democratic Party establishment's participation in the recent YearlyKos netroots convention "offered a well-organized demonstration of how swiftly the Internet is changing American politics."
-- Los Angeles Times: "Seven months into Democrats' control of the House and Senate, the angry sparring [between the Democrats and the GOP] has largely served the political interests of both parties, whose leaders often believe they have more to gain by warring with their rivals than by working with them."
Blog Watch
-- Neil Abercrombie notes: "A new study released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) predicts that large and growing fiscal challenges will confront state and local governments in the coming years. Absent policy changes, the study finds that within the next decade expenditures will exceed revenues in the state and local government sector, resulting in a deficit. It is no surprise that the largest burden in future expenditures is going to come as a result of health care expenses."
-- Carrie Ulrich says: "An article in the Salt Lake Tribune [Monday] contains the humorous statement that voucher opponents are 'dedicated to depriving parents of their right to make educational choices for their children.' Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't every parent already have the right to make educational choices for their children? As a parent, you can choose to send your child to public school, you can choose to send them to private school, or you can choose to home-school them. How are you deprived of your choice?" (For more on the voucher issue, see Sloanspace).
-- Utah Taxpayer says: "Hogle Zoo is asking the Salt Lake County Council to place a $65 million bond before the voters this November. Although the Zoo's bond is nearly TWICE the size of the $35 million Real S.L. stadium subsidy, their proposal has faced little scrutiny.”
Lighter Side
The Sugar Beat: Climate scientists say Salt Lake City will one day be St. George. |
