Oil Spill Story Exceeded Expectations
Not always, but more often than not, City Weekly publishes really good journalism. "Crude Awakenings" [Jan. 7, City Weekly], by Colby Frazier, has exceeded all expectations and has risen to really great journalism.
Kudos to Frazier, who took the time to develop this lengthy analysis of the Red Butte Creek oil spill and its consequences. Kudos to City Weekly for devoting the space to print it.
Good job.
Stan Rosenzweig
Cottonwood Heights
Silly Questions
I am pleased that the spokesperson of the LDS Church has rejected the protesters' actions in Oregon when the protesters identified as Mormons. Were Joseph Smith alive, would he identify with the current Mormon leadership or would he be leading his own anti-government militia as he did in Nauvoo against the state government of Illinois? Would the prophet be in support of a free press as most Mormons are today or would he burn down the offices of any publication which questioned him or his beliefs as he had done in Nauvoo?
These are silly questions, but aren't all LDS members expected to believe that Joseph was a saint, a faithful husband and a law-abiding U.S. citizen?
Ted Ottinger
Taylorsville
A Paradise for Lizards
In the Jan. 7 Opinion column ["Sing Along," City Weekly] about songs dealing with Utah, you didn't mention the other Salt Lake City song, this one by Bob Weir. The lyrics aren't quite as bright and frothy as the Beach Boys tune: "It was a paradise for lizards when young Brigham got there first, said, 'I've seen some nasty deserts, Lord, but this one here's the worst'"—but it's still a good shuffling rocker. Wouldn't give too much credit to the acid tests for "Friend of the Devil," which was very much in the mold of songs about outlaws on the run; Old Scratch was a pretty regular character in some of those tunes.
As for reminders of home, I grew up in Pennsylvania and had grandparents on the New Jersey coast, so Tom Waits' "Jersey Girl" clinches it for me.
Thanks for getting lively discussions going.
Tom Krug
Salt Lake City
Only Humans Appreciate Miracles
Cecil Adams' article, "Earth Without Humans" [Straight Dope, Dec. 31, City Weekly], raises interesting questions. The column's underlying premise implies that mankind is some sort of toxic interloper on Earth, inhibiting what would otherwise be a beautiful, smoothly running ecological machine.
Apparently, the author fails to ask one obvious question: Without man, what relevance would the earth have? The answer is none.
Who would be left to appreciate it? What creature besides the human can marvel at its own existence, or contemplate the beauty of a sunset, or the symmetry of a nautilus shell? Only man, made in the image and likeness of God, can appreciate such miracles and in turn give credit to their divine authorship.
Not surprisingly, there are many rooted in today's cynical mindset who balk at such claims, but the fact that we are even capable of pondering these issues speaks volumes. The bottom line is that we are the reason the Earth exists, and before we came along, only God was there to appreciate his marvelous handiwork.
James Sorley
Layton
Correction: The band King Niko is a rock group. Their genre was misstated in the Jan. 7 City Weekly article "Free Local Music."
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