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Off Topic blog

Stop procrastinating and get back to work!

Category Archives: Politics

BYU students, it’s time to vote!

Voting is like smoking. Once you start, it’s hard to quit. Voting is habit-forming .But unlike smoking, voting is good for you. Every citizen has not only the right to vote but the responsibility to do it intelligently. Too often, university students think they somehow have a pass from voting while they’re in college. That [...]

This entry was written by Adam on October 29, 2010. Posted in Politics | Comments closed

Orrin Hatch is scared

Is it really a coincidence that Hatch’s first-ever email newsletter came out three days after Bennett’s defeat? Last week, Utah’s Republican delegates denied Senator Bob Bennett the Republican nomination despite efforts over the past several months to move hard to the right . Utah’s other senator, Orrin Hatch, claimed that this upset did not scare [...]

This entry was written by Adam on May 11, 2010. Posted in Politics | tagged , , | Comments closed

Students need to vote

If more BYU students actively participated in Provo politics, their living situation would improve immeasurably. A reporter for the BYU Daily Universe emailed me with several questions about student participation in Provo politics. I don’t know whether any of this will make it into his article, but here are my answers about student political involvement [...]

This entry was written by Adam on April 12, 2010. Also posted in LDS | Comments closed

What March Madness tells us about voter turnout

Much of the “paradox” of voter turnout is overlooking a simple point: Most folks who bother to vote do so because they like voting Ask a political scientist whether it is rational to vote. Go on, do it. If they’re honest about what most research says, they’ll say “no.” That’s because most research on turnout [...]

This entry was written by Adam on March 23, 2010. Posted in Politics | tagged , , , , | Comments closed

A scout is loyal? Incivility starts at home.

I held up the picture of Obama. The scouts reacted as though Medusa herself stood before them. Boy Scouts are supposed to love their country, not hate it. So when I visited a group of 11-year-old scouts recently, I was more than a little surprised to find the opposite. As one of their requirements, scouts [...]

This entry was written by Adam on March 17, 2010. Posted in Politics | tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Things thinking people know

I’ve been thinking lately about what thinking people know. After all, I regularly read comments on various websites to the effect that “thinking people know” this or that. There’s a problem. I rarely agree with what the commenter claims “thinking people know.” I am forced to the only logical conclusion: I am not a thinking [...]

This entry was written by Adam on March 27, 2008. Posted in Politics | tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Scarlett says hi

Today I had a telephone call from Scarlett Johansson . Yep. She says “hi.” Okay, seriously, does anybody actually listen to automated phone calls urging you to vote for so-and-so? (In this case, she was urging me to vote for Obama.) Once I hear the recording start, I just hang up. Hmm. I guess that’s [...]

This entry was written by Adam on February 4, 2008. Posted in Politics | tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

That poor, neglected mountain west

I keep seeing sentences like this in coverage of the Republican primaries (source ): The Republican race so far has been a muddle, with McCain winning New Hampshire and South Carolina, Romney winning his home state of Michigan and Mike Huckabee winning Iowa. Now, that gives the impression that McCain is leading. Pop quiz: Which [...]

This entry was written by Adam on January 29, 2008. Posted in Politics | tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed