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Articles by Frank Globokar
Letter: Yes, people lie. But there’s no legitimate defense of a consummate liar like our president.
As a child there was only so much trouble you could get into. My parents weren’t lecturing me about the evils of embezzlement or murder. Instead, they spent a lot of time convincing me that lying was what truly made someone a bad person. They warned that when you show your word can’t be trusted, you destroy your reputation and credibility. As a result, no one will want to be your friend and no one will want to hire you. In the seven decades-plus since, life has largely reinforced their advice.
Letter: Christian hypocrisy in the age of Trump
How many people are hypocrites? It’s not easy to tell if someone is a hypocrite because most people who act contrary to their stated beliefs don’t advertise it. Christians believe that to be a good Christian, one has to: Love God and love their neighbor. Character traits should show: Love, joy and peace in relational interactions; patience, kindness and goodness in daily conduct; faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in personal discipline.
Letter: What’s up with Hegseth’s animus toward Blacks and women?
Pete Hegseth served in the National Guard for 19 years, leaving as a major in his 19th year. To anyone who served in the military this raises several red flags. He would have come up for promotion in his 15th thru 18th years. This suggests he was passed over multiple times, even though the promotion rate is close to 70%.
Letter: There’s a likely reason Trump wants to safety check AI models
The Trump administration has been supportive of putting few restrictions on AI, until recently. They are now suggesting that the Commerce Department should “safety check” the models before they are released to the public. Why? I may have figured out the reason. I asked each of several models the same three questions.
Trump will be happy with his legacy. It's disturbing that his supporters may be equally happy.
While most presidents are somewhat disappointed with their legacies, Trump's view will be notably different. In a remarkably short period, he has alienated most of the world.
It's to Trump's advantage that almost everybody hates somebody. It's the secret to winning an election.
The reaction to Donald Trump is unique. 50% of the country thinks he's a psychopath who is the devil incarnate and the other 50% think he's a prophet who was sent to save the world. There are major groups that do not benefit from Trump's election. Immigrants: He's called them garbage and has been punishing them. Women: He's suggested that they exist only to please men and produce white babies. Poor people: He's called them morons and is removing all safety nets.
Trump has glorified being selfish and mean. The response from religious and educational leaders is woefully feeble.
Trump's recent trip to Europe prompted Europeans to again ask the question, "How could you elect this man to be your leader." I think the answer is that Trump made people comfortable with being selfish and mean. When the American voters elected a narcissist who valued money, power and demeaning people above all else, they made these values mainstream.
The religious right is quick to label actions as sins. An experiment involving our president is in order.
Unlike Unitarians who can spend days dissecting the nuances of whether a person's action falls short of ideal, the religious right is quick to label questionable actions as sins. This trait should make it easy to develop an algorithm to determine if someone is worthy or unworthy of their support. One could simply build a spreadsheet and label each column with what one considers a sin. I'll let the Christians who claim to be experts on sins label the columns.
I'm a veteran. I would never volunteer to serve and protect America as it is now.
I joined the USAF in 1964 and retired from the military 28 years later. I've always considered my country to be a cut above and was proud to serve. This pride in my country is now gone. I no longer even root for my country's athletes in the Olympics or other international tournaments. The reason is simple enough. I'm ashamed of a country whose citizens elected Donald Trump. The man is, and is proud to be, a draft dodger, a liar, a bully, a racist and a despot.
Letter: Selfish and stupid people
Letter: Selfish and stupid people (Ahn Young-joon | AP file photo) Parents wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus pray during a special service to wish for their children's success in the upcoming college entrance exam on Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Jogye Temple in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. By Frank Globokar | The Public Forum | Dec. 8, 2020, 4:30 a.m. So what do we know about COVID-19?
Letter: Patriotism is not just wearing a flag
As retired career military, I feel a kinship to those now serving. It is telling that, of our 535 members of Congress, 99% do not have a child or grandchild who is in the military. We have a president who has demonstrated his cowardice by dodging the draft five times and whose children equate bravery with shooting an unprotected animal in a game reserve and proudly posing with the carcass.
Letter: They are called ‘war crimes’ for a reason
As retired career military, I was appalled that Donald Trump overturned the punishment of three service members who represent the worst our country has to offer. War crimes are called crimes for a reason. Shooting a captured, unarmed enemy combatant or innocent civilian does not make one a hero. The first, besides being immoral, announces to the enemy that there are no rules and that it’s fine if they execute any of our military they capture. The second. besides being immoral, is beyond stupid.
Letter: Judging only the cowards you don’t like
Former Deputy Scot Peterson is being charged with a crime and is reviled by his nation because of his cowardice, refusing to engage the gunman who was attacking the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, 2018. Most of those making the judgment have never faced such fear and have no idea what they would do in a similar situation. As a military career officer, I see little difference between what Peterson did and what was done by every draft dodger.
Commentary: Take it from an expert. Teachers have no business carrying guns in school.
While serving in the military I qualified for an expert ribbon with the M-16 and spent some time on the pistol team. After retiring from the military I taught math at an inner-city high school. I mention these things only to show I have some familiarity with guns as well as classrooms. Picture yourself teaching class when you hear shots and screams. You look down the hallway and see someone with a weapon and students running in panic.
Letter: Mind the population - curb the growth
I often complain about the increased population in our valley, so I was pleased a couple of weeks ago when I glanced at an headline that said something like, “... concerned about the population growth ...” But when I unfolded the paper I was disappointed to read that the concern was about sage grouse population, not human population of our valley.
Letter: Calling on Gill to resign not GOP chairman's prerogative
I see from the news that the Salt Lake County GOP chairman wants Democrat DA Sim Gill to resign because he does not think that Gill did a good job on his investigation of County Recorder Gary Ott. I grew up as a Republican — because my dad said we were Republicans — until I got an education and decided I could think for myself to differentiate political bull$#it.
Letter: How about a climate denier tax?
I own an electric car. I charge it with solar panels. I am OK with the idea of a “miles-driven” tax to support our roads and highway infrastructure, given that it is fair and graduated according to vehicle weight. And as long as there is a significant, additional carbon-use fee for vehicles continuing to burn fossil fuel. And if we can find an equitable way for out-of-state vehicles to pay their share.
Letter: Let's embrace cost-competitive clean energy technology
Gary Sandquist’s Oct. 22 commentary on the state of the nation’s electric grid got one thing right. The reliability and resilience of our electricity system are critical to our country’s economic prosperity and growth. But he misses the punchline by suggesting that a healthy electricity grid requires American consumers to bail out outdated, uneconomic power plants.
Letter: Who was the bigger coward - Bergdahl or Trump?
As a military career veteran, I have no love for deserters. I do have a problem when a man who dodged the draft six times states that Bowe Bergdahl is a coward who should be shot. It seems to me that Bergdahl failed his country once and Trump failed his country six times. Who was the bigger coward?
Dana Milbank: Trump was on the ballot in Virginia. He lost.
Washington • President Trump may have been 7,000 miles away in Seoul on Tuesday, but make no mistake: He was on the ballot in Virginia when his imitator, Republican Ed Gillespie, lost the closely watched gubernatorial race to Democrat Ralph Northam. This was, in part, because Trump himself embraced Gillespie, endorsing him and, as Election Day arrived, tweeting about the “terrible” Virginia economy, its “high crime” and its gangs, and urging support for Gillespie.
Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad, 65 years and still holding up, holding on and holding hands
My sister and I made them move there several years ago, when the Old Man started getting lost in their Holladay home. It was time to surrender not only the house, but also his driver license. Mom teaches a ceramics class at Sagewood. Completely at loose ends, my father sits at the door and watches her. He’s one part servant, two parts guard and seven parts “What the hell else am I going to do?” Mom asked me to speak to the education group there. I agreed to do it because, well, she’s my mother.
Letter: Senators, congressmen please heed the call: Hands off my 401k
Congress, it has been reported that you want to massively reduce the amount the American middle class can contribute to 401k programs tax-free. Tax-free contributions to 401k programs are an incentive to save for the future, and for many of us, the only hope we have for retirement. You have no business taking that away from us so you can pay for tax breaks that primarily benefit the richest Americans. Putting money away pre-tax allows significantly more money to compound and grow.
Letter: Visualizing Gov. Chaffetz
So a vast majority of Utahns think Jason Chaffetz would make a good governor . I guess the classic question — “Who ya gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” — has been answered.
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