Publius Online

ICYMI: Post on KSL today–”Obama plays politics with same-sex marriage”

Daniel B. — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:55:03 +0000

KSL ran my post today arguing that Obama’s announcement last week about gay marriage is more about politics of getting reelected than about courage or leadership.

From that post:

With polls showing public opinion shifting in favor of gay marriage at the same time as his opponent gains on the economy, Obama put his finger in the wind and timed his announcement on gay marriage to make maximum impact.

It’s not leadership. It’s polling. And polling says that Obama is losing on the economy but could galvanize support of the liberal base. It’s a lot easier than talking about the dismal job situations of 20.1 million people, and it keeps Romney out of headlines for another month. [cont...]

Surf on over to KSL to check it out.

Obama: Economy, not gay marriage, will decide vote (sfgate.com)
Obama talks same-sex marriage on “The View” (cnn.com)

Contributor post on KSL.com: “Fiction is good for you…”

Daniel B. — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:23:44 +0000

In case you missed it, my post on the benefits of reading fiction, and why you should read it, was posted by KSL.com this morning. Click on over to KSL and take a look and, if you like it, please share it. Thanks!

WRR: Café Seoul | Korean with a personal touch.

Daniel B. — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:19:45 +0000

Apparently, everyone loves this place, and it’s easy to see why. The food was delicious and the hostess/owner/cook was fantastic. Not only did I leave feeling well fed, but also satisfied, happy, and eager to return.

I heard about Café Seoul from a friend (shout out to John: Hey!). He met me there for lunch, and I felt like a guest of honor when Sooni (who also happens to be John’s mom) met us behind the counter and came out to greet us. I thought I was getting special treatment, until I read reviews on Urban Spoon and realized that Sooni treats every customer like they are a special guest. Check out these comments from Urban Spoon:

We were greeted by Sooni, the owner and chef of the place. We told her that it was our fist time eating Korean food and she said, “don’t worry, I will tell you what most people order the first time.” She walked us through the menu[...]

The owner and chef is so kind and generous you can’t help but enjoy your visit.

Sooni is the best a wonderful host that cooks fantastic Korean food….

The food was great, but you’re gonna love Sooni even more!

Add me to the list of true believers. The food was great, so let’s talk about it.

To be sure, I’ve not had a lot of Korean in my day. I was surprisingly pleased, though, with what Café Seoul offered. At John’s suggestion I ordered dahk galbi, Sooni’s specialty. Apparently, most people–strike that–most westerners order the bulkogi, a sliced and marinated beef dish. This was a variation on that, but with chicken. It was impressive. Sweet and tender, I realized that the heaping portion was gone before I stopped to notice how much I was eating. Sprinkled with sesame seeds and accompanied by a bowl of steamed rice, it made for an excellent and lean lunch meal.

Sooni provided side dishes of kimchi and turnip kimchi and explained that she made them a little lighter than typical, primarily because western tastes tend to prefer it. There were also small bowls of bean spouts, cucumbers, and cooked potatoes to garnish the dahk galbi. Rounding out the meal were several slices of orange to cleanse the palate.

Found in an office park close to IHC’s main campus in Murray, the restaurant had plenty of parking and is well situated for lunch if you’re at IHC’s medical center in Murray. Again, the service is stellar and the food is fantastic. I recommend it fully.

___________

Food: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Atmosphere: 7/10

Check out my other restaurant reviews here. If you have a restaurant suggestion for me, please contact me by sending an email to SLCWeekendReviews@gmail.com.

___________

Before you eat another french fry… [infographic]

Daniel B. — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:03:41 +0000

Before you eat another french fry, think about this:

Tough love, you could say. I’m gonna miss my fries.

[The Weight of the Nation]

Austerity? Europe never even got there.

Daniel B. — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:34:57 +0000

Just because France and Greece have decided, by majority vote, that they don’t want to cut down the welfare state does not mean that they can afford to continue spending. Nor does it mean, as Democrats would have you believe, that cutting the deficit is a bad idea.

All it means is that a majority of voters in France (about 51.8%...not exactly a resounding mandate) picked Socialist Hollande and his promise to end “austerity.” Meanwhile, in Greece, where unemployment is well over 20%, Coalition for the Radical Left leader Alexis Tsipras, when given the opportunity to form a governing majority, thumbed his nose at the holders of Greece’s debt and edged his country closer to national bankruptcy.

World markets responded accordingly…meaning, European stocks dropped when investors fled, taking their money to places where people actually face reality with seriousness. Places that don’t rhyme with “syrup.”

None of this means, however, that “austerity” is wrong.

In fact, it’s not even clear that Europe has even entered the phase of “austerity” programs where austerity happens. Taxes have been raised on the wealthy, says Michael Tanner, but austerity programs won’t actually kick in for several years.

For example, France will raise its retirement age from 60 to 62, but not until 2017! A cap would also be put on government health-care spending, starting next year. It is a little hard, therefore, to discern whether it is budget cuts that may or may not happen some day in the future, rather than tax increases today, that have slowed French economic growth.

Or take Britain, where the Tory-Liberal coalition recently suffered a drubbing in local elections, in part as a reaction to so-called austerity measures. Among the Cameron government’s first “austerity” measures was to hike the personal income tax to 50 percent for those earning more than £150,000 a year. That measure managed to actually decrease income-tax revenues by £509 million. The U.K. did trim government payrolls and cut back on some government programs, but British government spending still consumes more than 49 percent of GDP. Government spending actually increased by £59.2 billion from 2009 to 2011.

It’s a “tax today and maybe we’ll cut entitlements in the distant future” type approach. There’s no austerity happening. Just promises austerity accompanied by immediate increases in tax rates on the wealthy and middle-class. Says Tanner

Spain: imposed a “wealth tax” on citizens with €700,000 of assets, and a 7 percent income tax on those earning more than €300,000 per year; capital-gains taxes were also hiked.
Italy: imposed a “Solidarity Tax” of 3 percent on all taxpayers who earn more than €300,000.
Greece: increased taxes by nearly twice as much as it cut spending, including a 5 percent surtax on the wealthy.
On the middle-class Europe-wide: VAT hikes, as well as tax increases on fuel, alcohol, and tobacco.

Any wonder why European stocks dropped yesterday? No one wants to invest in a country–or a continent–where their investment isn’t going to grow and in fact faces a very real likelihood of being taken, too.

This shouldn’t be a debate over “raising taxes” and the “cutting taxes.” Rather, it should be about government spending less so that the tax burden on business is not so heavy. The way to growth is to make it easier, and cheaper, for businesses to grow, there by putting more money into the pockets of individuals to spend. You can’t with one hand run up big surpluses and with the other hand raise taxes or print more money. The result is a net loss, especially to those who can afford to save less.

Europe never stopped spending, at least not less than it taxed. Greece and France are going that reality really is non-negotiable. Especially when Germany, who holds the cards, tells them ‘no’ to new bailouts.

“Greece can rely on the solidarity of Europe, but if Greece does not help itself, there is nothing to be done,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a news conference.

“Whether Greece is ready to do what is necessary – only the Greek people can decide.”

When it comes down to it, the Democrats in America can point to the votes in France and Greece as for why cutting government won’t put people back to work. At the end of the day, though, Democrats are wrong. Three years of spending has not brought about real change in our employment or our wealth creation. We are still at around 15% unemployed (when counting those who are underemployed or no longer seeking work).

[CBS] [CNBC] [Christian Science Monitor] [CATO]

Greek socialists get another chance to form a coalition (ctv.ca)
Austerity in Europe: what does it mean for ordinary people? (guardian.co.uk)
Washington May Be Getting Wrong Idea From Europe’s Austerity Revolt (forbes.com)

When you can’t win on the economy, go after gay marriage.

Daniel B. — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:19:13 +0000

Typically, I write off most of what Joe Biden says to gaffs. Even in jest, though, the truth is often found. Like when he said he supported gay marriage while the President’s views were still “evolving,” whatever that means.

Actually–wait. I’ll tell you what “evolving” means: it means that the President, as of this morning, supports gay marriage. Three days after the Vice President’s gaff, and a day after a very flustered White House Press Secretary fought to keep the news media at bay, a quickly arranged interview with ABC revealed that the President’s views on marriage are no longer “evolving.” He supports gay marriage.

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told Roberts in an interview to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday.

Never mind that it flies in the face of laws and state constitutional amendments in over thirty states, including, also as of this morning, North Carolina. I write that policy change off to more than just the Veep’s gaff–it’s the result of a previously calculated development of a wedge issue. If the president can’t win on the economy–and he can’t–he’s going to go after something else.

Can we get a quote from you on that historic vote, Mr. President? No? Well, how about from the Obama campaign?

President Barack Obama’s campaign says he’s “disappointed” with North Carolina’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Obama campaign spokesman Cameron French said in a Tuesday statement that the ban on same-sex unions is “divisive and discriminatory.”

That’s what happens when the Vice President makes a gaff (was it a gaff?). An entire administration shifts its political strategy to compensate.

Result? A wedge issue for the general election rightly belongs in the states, not the federal government. No matter how you feel about gay marriage–and even if your views are “evolving–it’s an issue that is reserved to the states to decide. By introducing it at the federal level we face the likelihood that issues more relevant to the Presidential race will be pushed aside.

Issues like the economy. Or the absence, for three years running now, of a federal budget.

Be smart. Leave gay marriage to the states. Deal with the things that matter on the federal level, starting with entitlement reform, deficit reduction, national security, and government spending. The family, and family law, is an issue that is better left reserved to the states.

[Washington Post] [ABC] [CNN] [Huffington Post]

Another Gaffe, or Political Move? Biden Says He’s “Absolutely Comfortable” With Gay Marriage(foxnewsinsider.com)

President Obama Affirms His Support for Same Sex Marriage (kcrg.com)
White House: President Is “Crystal Clear” On His Position On Gay Marriage . . . He Has No Firm Position On Gay Marriage (jonathanturley.org)
President Obama supports gay marriage (forthesakeofscience.com)
Gay marriage: How Americans, like Obama, are ‘evolving’ on the issue (abcnews.go.com)

Good morning, World. Did you notice May 7, 2012?

Daniel B. — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:44:58 +0000

In case you didn’t notice, world politics shifted just a little this weekend. How dramatically is yet to be seen.

Thumbing their nose at a Europe-wide policy of spending no more than revenues bring in (also known as “austerity” and “what makes sense”), French voters kicked Nicolas Sarkozy to the curb and chose socialist Francois Hollande as their new president.

Hollande’s first order of business? Renegotiate the “austerity pact” with German chancellor Angela Merkel, per his campaign promises, to allow deficit and stimulus spending. Merkel has already told Hollande that he will be unable to keep said campaign promises and that she will not renegotiate.

Meanwhile, another corner of Europe, the Greeks rejected austerity measures required for bailout of Greek debt, kicking out of office those who negotiated the debt deal in February that kept Greece out of bankruptcy.

The defeat left the two political parties that had supported the bailout with only 34 percent of the country’s support, according to initial results. The rescue package, Greece’s second, gave the country $171 billion in emergency loans earlier this year but required biting spending cuts. Now, both the aid and the cuts are in doubt.

Because, you know, it makes sense to financiers around the world to throw good money after bad. Voters in France and Greece have decided that the spending cuts to make their countries solvent again just aren’t important enough to justify cuts to the welfare state.

Oh, and if that weren’t bad enough for a weekend, this guy was inaugurated President of Russia today. If that doesn’t just put a cherry on the top of a “seismic shift” in world politics, as The Guardian called it, I don’t know what does better (short of a war). Socialist elected in France, the Greeks reject a debt deal three months after the deal is inked, and Russia inaugurates a former KGB officer to an unprecedented third term in office (I mean, unless you count the tsars and Soviets).

And we thought our politics were interesting…

[Washington Post] [NPR] [Guardian] [Los Angeles Times]

French and Greek elections renew fears for euro’s future(guardian.co.uk)
France and Greece election results set financial markets reeling(guardian.co.uk)

Markets braced for shift away from austerity as Francois Hollande wins French election (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
Merkel warns Greece it must stick to terms of bailout (itv.com)
French, Greek voters say no to austerity (sgtreport.com)

WRR: Inferno Cantina | It’s Mexican, duh.

Daniel B. — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:24:58 +0000

I admit it. I picked out the Inferno Cantina for lunch solely because of its name. I really did expect to walk in the doors and find the poet Virgil waiting to guide me through nine circles of, well, lunch.

Apparently, Virgil had the afternoon off, however, and we were left to guide ourselves.

Arriving mid-day, it was clear that the Inferno Cantina must make most of its money in the later hours. Empty when we arrived, the spacious Mexican themed restaurant/bar/nightclub (that we visited in the middle of the day) clearly had plenty of space, not to mention more than few large televisions strategically situated across the walls of the restaurant. Tile was just as prevalent, if not more so. Tables, floors, walls…tiled.

Since we were the first to arrive for the afternoon (other groups came in shortly after us, so don’t let me give you the impression that the restaurant isn’t popular), our waitress was quick to seat us, quick to take our orders, and quick to fill our glasses, which she did promptly throughout the meal.

Strangely, instead of chips for an appetizer, the Inferno Cantina serves what appears to be toasted or fried tostada along side the obligatory bowl of salsa. We broke up the tostadas and dug in. The salsa was a bit runny and not too spicy, which I could always enjoy more, but it was good enough to finish up the chips.

I ordered a tamale and a chile relleno, and the result was both satisfying and filling. The relleno was soft and mild, and I enjoyed the cheesy filling of beef, picadillo and queso fresco. I’m not typically a tamale fan, but the “homemade” pork caught my eye and I found it to be warm and tender. I’d order it again.

Sided with a full load of rice and beans, Inferno Cantina serves up an excellent Mexican plate.

Food: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere: 7/10

Check out my other restaurant reviews here. If you have a restaurant suggestion for me, please contact me by sending an email to SLCWeekendReviews@gmail.com.

___________

To Dave Montero: When did “one” become “some” Republicans?

Daniel B. — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:10:14 +0000

Controversy sells papers. If you can’t catch people by the headline, you won’t get them to read your story.

But what happens when journalist have to stir the pot a little themselves to keep the controversy going? Today’s story by Dave Montero may be just that–something to keep a story going another cycle or two. In “2nd District turmoil has some GOP looking at Democrat,” Montero manages to turn one Republican into “some” Republicans.

On April 21, 2012, Republican delegates at the Utah Republican State Convention chose Chris Stewart as their nominee after Milt Hanks, also a candidate for the nomination, railed from the pulpit against several other candidates for conspiring against Stewart. As Dan Pope might say (or, actually, did say):

“It was a tornado that hit without any warning,” Pope said. “Doppler radar didn’t see it coming and it was gone in six minutes, doing damage to about 35 percent of the property.”

Seriously. You can’t make quotes like that up. Unless you’re Dan Pope. Also, he’s right. Hanks’ 11th hour rant was a bombshell that had the effect of helping Stewart avoid a primary.

In the aftermath, many GOP candidates and activists alike have been understandably angry, but is the premise of the article correct? Are “some” Republicans looking to support a Democrat over Stewart?

It is, as a former journalist friend of mine says, the “oldest trick in the book.” The trick goes like this: the reporter–Montero in this case–finds one person who says what they want. Then he runs over to the Democrat, the Jay Seegmiller who, of course, says “Yeah, there are tons of Republicans who are joining us now.”

Actually, what the Seegmiller campaign said was

“Some of them are so mad they would support just about anybody other than Chris Stewart,” Seegmiller said. “But most that have called have asked ‘What are your positions on this and that?’ And after we talk a little bit, they say ‘you sound like you’re moderate enough that I’d be comfortable enough supporting you.’”

And just like that, Seegmiller earned some free media to tell the state how moderate he is. Just don’t ask Jay why he still has, with all of this new found support, less than $7,000 in the bank.

A simple read of the Salt Lake Tribune story shows only one citation of the supposed “some” that Montero claims are looking to vote Democrat instead of Republican this fall. After one quote from that one person, Montero says that ”the fallout has left some Republicans looking to discover who Stewart’s Democratic opponent is.” And then he never cites any of those Republicans.

Why would Montero set up a faulty premise? Was he having a hard time getting Republicans to return his calls? Did the editor like the article written this way? Did Montero, or the editor, or both, need to run to a kid’s ball game (as my reformed reporter friend suggests)? Who knows. But it sets up a faulty premise to the story and plays slight of hand to the reader.

Controversy sells, and to date, Utah’s news media has been all over the 2nd District kerfluffle. I count over ten stories since April 21 that are either about the controversy or make a substantial mention of it. But selling controversy is not the same thing as creating or amplification of it.

There’s no doubt that there’s real news in here somewhere, but unfortunately, the Salt Lake Tribune is playing a piece of trickery with readers in not holding the story until they could show that “some” really is more than just “one.”

[Salt Lake Tribune]

Your logical fallacy is…

Daniel B. — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:00:14 +0000

Someone ought to make finding logical fallacies in a politician’s speech into bingo. Just turn on the State of the Union speech and start filling your bingo card.

If it was a game, yourlogicalfallacyis.com would be the score keeper and the posters they are giving away for free would be the bingo card.

From the text on their poster, the site explains what a fallacy is, where you can expect to find them, and how to turn them back on their user.

A logical fallacy is often what has happened when someone is wrong about something. It’s a ﬂaw in reasoning. They’re like tricks or illusions of thought, and they’re often very sneakily used by politicians, the media, and others to fool people. Don’t be fooled!

And the site is great, featuring links to each type of logical fallacy so that, when you’re deep in the midst of that never-ending online debate, you can finally prove why your opponents argument just doesn’t carry water.

Also, if you’re feel really gung-ho, they have full size vector files linked to the site that allow you to print out a full color poster of the fallacies, summarized and stylized for your reference. It would look great up on the wall next to that autographed picture of Antonin Scalia, don’t you think?

Learn the fallacies, and learn them well. You’ll be arguing like Plato in no time flat!

Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies (philosophyafterdark.wordpress.com)

Publius Online

ICYMI: Post on KSL today–”Obama plays politics with same-sex marriage”

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Contributor post on KSL.com: “Fiction is good for you…”

WRR: Café Seoul | Korean with a personal touch.

Before you eat another french fry… [infographic]

Austerity? Europe never even got there.

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When you can’t win on the economy, go after gay marriage.

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Good morning, World. Did you notice May 7, 2012?

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WRR: Inferno Cantina | It’s Mexican, duh.

To Dave Montero: When did “one” become “some” Republicans?

Your logical fallacy is…

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