Slowdog's Blog

The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that Delta is considering a non-stop flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo, Japan.  Because the Paris flight has been so successful, Delta is interested in providing more international flights from Salt Lake City. 

According to the the Salt Lake Tribune:

On Thursday, the board of the Governor's Office of Economic Development agreed to give Delta $250,000 after the airline broached the idea of starting a route from its Salt Lake City hub to Japan's capital, GOED Executive Director Jason Perry said.

The money would be added to a $2 million incentive package being assembled by an alliance of public and private groups, including Salt Lake City International Airport and Salt Lake County, Perry said.

"Should the incentive be accepted by them, I would expect an announcement of their intent to start this flight in the very near future, with the flight to actually begin some time next year," he said.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black said the Paris route launched last June has been a hit with travelers. Because the route proved itself, the Atlanta-based carrier now is "interested in exploring additional international opportunities," he said.

I think this will be a good thing to Salt Lake City.  It will bring increase tourism to Utah from Asia and allow easier access to Asian markets.  Let's hope this will come into fruition.

Why are so many people concerned with what stance the Mormon church takes with homosexuality? Especially those that do not believe in the Mormon religion? If you do not believe it to be a religion of God or you do not believe in God in the first place then what does it matter to you what this religion does?  Is your life really affected by the doctrine of a church you do not believe in in the first place?  You believe it is just a fallacy begin with so why trouble yourself so much by trying to bring it down?

However, I just want to know why it is only the Mormons that are being ridiculed for their position on homosexuality and that other religions seem to be ignored for having similar positions on this topic?  Is it because we are in Utah and the Mormons are easier targets?  I have lived in different states since I came to this country and I can honestly say from first-hand experience that people, for the most part, in other states really do not care about the position the Mormons or any other religion takes on any issue. 

Personally, I find the tactics of the Westboro Baptist Church absolutely despicable, offensive, and insulting.  They protest funerals of soldiers holding up signs that say "God hates BLEEP" or "AIDS cures BLEEP." (Please do not yell at me for those phrases as those are actual words these "protesters" use).  The Mormons have never come anywhere close to the offensive trash of the Westboro Baptist Church but I do not recall anyone speaking out and condemning this so-called "religion" and its position.

What about Islam?  Not only is homosexuality a sin, in Islamic countries it is a crime punishable by death.  Remember  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech to Harvard University?  He said there are no homosexuals in Iran.  Do you not wonder why that is the case?  Where is the outcry on that one?

If all people want are tolerance and acceptance then why are they so unwilling to give what they so desire to receive?  If you are not going to be tolerant of the position of the Mormon church (to which they have a right to this position) then why should they be required to accept a lifestyle that is in direct violation of their policies? 

Either the Mormons are the religion of God or they are not.  If you believe that they are then should you not change your life to fit with God's commandments and not ask Him to change for you?  When you accept God, you are supposed to give yourself to Him, not the other way around.  Personally, I would not want to be apart of an organization (religious or otherwise) that would not accept me as I am.  It just makes no sense to me.

Thomas Jefferson was not a fan of having a constitution giving power to the federal government.  He was in favor of the states having their own laws independent of the federal government.  His view was that the individual states should not be beholden to a larger more powerful entity as that was what the Revolution was fighting against.  As we all know today, Thomas Jefferson was not successful in his desire to defeat the implementation of a constitutional republic as our country is in deed beholden to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Subsequent to the ratification of the Constitution, Jefferson championed the idea that the Constitution should, in fact, be done a way with periodically because one generation should not be bound to the laws of a previous generation.  As times and civilizations change, the laws should change to fit the needs of the people and the times in which they live.

With all the debate and vitriolic behavior towards one another concerning various political agendas, I deem it to be necessary that the country to "start over."  Notions such as same-sex marriage, abortion, etc. were not major concerns for the founding fathers of this nation so they were (among many other ideologies) never addressed in the Constitution.  Today, these items need to be addressed and put to bed once and for all as we are ever increasingly becoming a more divided nation.

I, for one, agree with Mr. Jefferson's idea of an evolving government.  I am of the belief that the individual states should have more power than the federal government because the state government is closer and more accessible to the citizenry.  For a government of the people, by the people and for the people to truly succeed, the people need better access to it in order for it to achieve its original intents.

"A little revolution now and then is a good thing; the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." (Thomas Jefferson, 1787)

The Mormon church has been very prominent in the national media lately due to the running of Mitt Romney for President of the United States.  Why is there so much scrutiny and questioning of this particular religion?  Every other candidate has a professed belief in a religion yet their beliefs are not under the microscope like those of Mitt Romney.  So that leads me to only one question:  Why is everyone afraid of the Mormons?

I am not a member of the Mormon church but having lived in Utah for sometime now, I have come to know a little bit about this church as many of my neighbors and co-workers are members.  While I do not agree with many tenets of their beliefs, they do not seem as peculiar to me as the media and the so-called "anti-Mormons" want us all to believe.

If it is o.k. to speak bad of the religion of Mitt Romney and force him to explain its doctrine to ensure the American people that his leadership will not be dictated by the prophet in Salt Lake City, then should not every candidate be subject to the same treatment?

In a country that boasts the freedom of religion for all citizens, it seems very apparent to me that hypocrisy is increasingly becoming the "religion" that will never be separate from the state.