Just_A_Guy

Here is Utah's cruelty to animals statute. Cities in Utah are also empowered to make and enforce their own animal cruelty statutes. If you live in Salt Lake City itself (as opposed to one of the outlying cities), I'd be willing to bet that they have a beefed-up (vegans will please pardon the pun) local ordinance on animal cruelty--politically it's a pretty liberal city.

Well, technically, it is a "paleoconservative" or "libertarian" movement. George W. Bush was neither. He was a neoconservative. Lots of us paleocons were so dazzled to have a "conservative" in the White House that we sort of forgot about the "neo" part.

Depends on local ordinances, DS. But most places I've lived (in CA and UT) had a noise ordinance that included dogs barking. Heck, in Utah County, a close relative of mine got hauled into court on a cat-at-large complaint. (Hilarity ensued. The judge hadn't even known the local leash ordinance existed; he turned to the court clerk and basically said "what do we do now?")

I'm not sure how much there is to say about the irony. It goes both ways. Politics make for strange bedfellows, et cetera. The lefty blogs talk about the irony that the right has suddenly discovered the virtues of dissent, while the righties are still getting in their yuks that Obama honestly thought the Republicans would buck two years of Democratic precedent and blindly fall in line with the Presidential agenda.

In other news, it turns out that that CNN reporter who was so openly contemptuous of the protesters she interviewed on the air has a dirty little secret: She has applied and been rejected for a position at Fox News. Twice. (via Instapundit) But let's not make any hasty judgments. Desperation borne of long-term unemployment can lead any of us to take drastic and unwise action. Personally, I once applied for an editing job at Signature.

You should take it as a compliment. We've finally embraced the notion that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism".

There are some teachings out there about not being excessively cruel to animals, but--with all due respect to Rosemerry--I don't think they'll do much good here. Mormons tend to bristle at non-Mormons explaining Mormon doctrine to them, even if the non-Mormon acts with the best of intentions. I'm with Little Wyvern and Madriglace . . . Animal Control is probably your best bet here. Although, if I may be blunt, keeping animals outside in all seasons is not exactly abnormal behavior in Utah. If the dog is barking to the point where it's becoming a nuisance to you and the other neighbors, your local police department may be willing to step in.

I think I'll pass on that, thanks!

Well . . . it involves the sack . . .

Yeah; frankly, I used to hang out in some less-than-savory online circles and I never heard it either. Frankly, (paranoid ranting coming) I almost wonder whether the usage even existed before the Tea Party movement began; or whether it was something invented after-the-fact to slur them and has been adopted by people who wanted to appear sophisticated--sort of like the word "quiz" which, if I remember correctly, was invented when two rich guys with way too much time on their hands bet each other that one of them could invent a new word and have it in common circulation within 24 hours. I think it would be overly simplistic to paint this as an inevitable response to those nasty righties, who started everything in the first place. (And I realize that's not what you're doing, Elphaba.) Really, this strikes me as just an escalation in the tone of a political discourse that has waxed and waned throughout the history of our republic.

Well, for a lot of us, it's the retirement package that seals the deal.

That may well be the first time I've ever seen Teaching: No Greater Call used to establish doctrine. Re garments: the standard line I've always heard (though never by any official instruction, in the temple or otherwise) is that it's best to wear them at all times except when involved in one of the following activities, dubbed the "four S's": --Sports --Swimming --Shower --uh . . . yeah.

Well, the Seer stone may not ever have made it on the cover, but consider this: Here we see that every Latter-day Saint with access to the official Church Ensign magazine (which I would guess may be over 60%) would have had an opportunity to read about Joseph’s use of a “seer stone.” The seer stone was mentioned in Ensign articles again in 1979, 1986 (Dallin Oaks), 1987, 1993, 1994, and 1997 (Neal Maxwell) and perhaps since then (my search index ends in 1997). In an 1988 article in Ensign entitled, “A New Prophet and a New Scripture,”, Kenneth Godfrey wrote, [Emphasis added] Frankly, if we (and I include myself in this) spent a little more time studying official Church publications, we'd find some useful kernels of truth amid all that fluff.

Yes; it's different. And not to be confused with the American System.

Volokh's got a link to the actual memos (well, a link-to-a-link to the actual memos, via the ACLU's website), and has hosted a (as of last night) reasonably informative discussion from both sides of the issue, here. I read the new Bybee memo last night. Frankly, I wasn't that impressed by most of his reasoning. Haven't gotten around to the other three memos yet.

The "tea party" movement has been around for a couple of months now. Fox News is a Johnny-come-lately. Though I agree that their cheerleading has been a bit over-the-top.

Oh, you mean like Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1, Subchapter B, Part I, Section 61 of the United States Code? The IRS has a nice (if somewhat legalistic) summary of anti-tax arguments (and their refutations) here. See also this article, which contains a rather lengthy section on tax protesters and the case law that refutes their arguments.

I'd have an easier time getting worked up about this if I could see how you get "Jesus" from "IHS". But, heck. If they'd left it in, us right-wing loonies would be accusing the White House of subliminally reinforcing the Obama-as-Messiah meme. So . . . whatever.

Wow. Wasn't this guy considered a contender for the Republican 2012 nomination?

Well, if Aristophanes based his Lysistrata off a real-life woman or group of women, the prevalence of homosexuality in ancient Greece could explain Athens' loss to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.

I like this, except that a) I'd use a marginal-rate structure (so, if you make $100,000 under MOE's plan, you pay 8% on the first $20,000, 10% on the next $30,000, 12% on the next $25,000, and 14% on the last $25,000--that's how our current system does it); b) I'd specify that this is on net income (for the self-employed who have business expenses); c) Like MOE, I'd be flexible as to the actual percentages as long as the top marginal rate weren't more than about 30%; d) I'd allow deductions for children and tax-deferred retirement savings.

Did you read the Sixteenth Amendment?

Other than Lorenzo Snow's experience as related to his granddaughter, I can't think of any publicized experiences. Boyd K. Packer, one of the Church's current apostles, seems to suggest strongly that such experiences continue to happen from time to time. In describing the Salt Lake Temple, he writes: But I cannot think of any publicized account of a visitation of Christ Himself after Snow's account (which, it may be worth noting, he never published himself--it was related by a close family member years after the fact). From reasonably reliable third-party accounts, we do get occasional glimpses at revelations had by prophets within the temple. Forexample, in Adventures of a Church Historian, Leonard Arrington relates a number of Pentecostal spiritual manifestations in 1978 during the meeting in which the Apostles met and determined that the time had come to allows blacks to be ordained to the Church's priesthood. I don't believe he mentions any direct appearance of Christ at that time, however.

I would call it "modern revelation". Next, please?

In honor of the occasion, here is a website with every Form 1040 from 1913 through 2006. Also on this date: 1865: Lincoln dies 1912: The Titanic sinks 1970something: My in-laws got married (really!).