Shopping at Smiths

I took a picture in the Smith's up by Millcreek when the power went out while I was shopping. Hope you like it.

Don't try taking pictures of the Cottonwood Mall.

Alex and I went up to the cabin today. Well, not really. We tried to go up to the cabin today. As we got closer to the turnoff, it started looking like we weren't going to have too much trouble getting there. Um, yeah. Our first clue was the 4 foot wall of snow that the plow had left blocking our first turnoff, on the main dirt road about 1/2 mile up from the highway. But we figured "no problem, just means we have to leave the truck here and take the snowmobile." Another Um, Yeah. We got about a half mile from there and got the snowmobile so stuck it took us an hour and a half to dig it out, unpack the track and get it going again. And the really good part of this whole thing? We decided that we shouldn't have 2 people on it, so I ended up walking down (well it is his snowmobile). Nothing like a nice relaxing half mile walk - in almost 3 feet of snow. I did walk in the snowmobile path, which just meant that it was only every 5th step that I went in up to my knee. And the whole way down I kept thinking "snow shoes." Anyways, we made it down safe and sound, and it was well worth the trip to see all that snow, BS with my brother and see the Honda Element that was on it's side on SR-40 at Strawberry Res. No idea how it happened, we didn't see it happen, but we did see it on it's side, and since somebody was already rendering aide, we just went on our way.

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At least not from on their property, you have to be on public property where their Rent-A-Cop can't tell you what to do. They're tearing the thing down to rebuild it so I went by today to get some pictures before it's gone. I was up on the parking area by Macey's taking pictures when Security Dude came over and told me to stop taking pictures. "What?" The company that owns the property doesn't want people taking pictures of the mall. And why? you might ask. Seems that they are worried about crazy gunmen, the dude mumbled something about the recent shootings on their property, one of which happens to be Trolley Square. I asked if he was serious. He was. "So I can walk right over there to the sidewalk and take pictures, but I can't here?" "Yup, that's about it." Well, rather than argue with him, I just left and drove around the outside of the property looking for a good spot to get some pictures. I found one, but there already was some lady there taking pictures. I get out of the car and notice she is in a confrontational stance. "You got kicked out of there for taking pictures too?" I ask her, and she immediately relaxes. She thought I was Security Dude and was going to give her some more grief. So there I am, taking pictures of a semi-demolished mall, talking about the absurdity of the whole thing. After all, what are we going to do with pictures of an empty mall that they are taking down? There's nobody to shoot. Blowing up the building would be doing them a favor. Maybe if they were already building the new mall I could see their point.

More Bushisms

• "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And, having said that, all options are on the table." - Israeli television interview, Febryary 22, 2005
• "I under small business growth. I was one." - New York Daily News, February 2000
• "It's not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature." - Los Angeles, California, February 2000
• "If you don't stand for anything, you don't stand for anything!" - Austin-American Statesman, 2000

Happy Birthday Patrick!

'Tis the season.

Here we go again. Another Legislative antic I (or a sibling) am going to rant about. But let's face it, the Utah Legislature is in session, and this year is a banner year for showing their ignorance. Now it's the High School International Baccalaureate program. Lawmakers shot down a bill that would have given $300,000 in support of it because, as the Republican Senator from Orem Margaret Dayton said "I'm opposed to the anti-American philosophy that's somehow woven into all the classes as they promote the U.N. agenda." Anti-American, woven and agenda : three words that conjure up images of Joe McCarthy grilling would be communists about their associations. I hear those words and other words pop into my mind : paranoia, delusional, coo-coo.

According to the Tribune Article, the IB program is a program that offers college credit to students who take rigorous courses that expose them to world perspectives, and there is no connection to the U.N. at all. I guess if being taught to be be able to look at other people's points of view, to learn about other cultures and belief systems, reading books like "Crime and Punishment" and respecting people as human beings is anti-American, then so be it. Maybe not anti-American, but it surely is fundamentally opposed to the Utah Legislature's "my way or the highway" philosophy.

Thank you for sticking around for yet another episode of "45 Days of Our Legislature"