Mansplaining Mayhem
A recent letter to the editor was painfully right on. "No male has ever been pregnant," noted a The Salt Lake Tribune reader, in an attempt to demonstrate the inherent unfairness of laws made by men. You know—abortion laws. Case in point: a recent Tribune story about Salt Lake County Councilman Dave Alvord proclaiming that fetuses are not part of women's bodies. "The umbilical cord and placenta do not directly connect to the woman," the councilman tweeted. Besides being an incredibly embarrassing statement, Alvord referred to an Insider story as evidence. Maybe he didn't read it: "Twenty percent of our blood is traveling through theplacenta, keeping our future child or children nourished." Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Utah health-care providers ran a full-page ad opposing government interference in health care. That—along with another op-ed signed by countless physicians—makes the case that lawmakers should pull out of women's vaginas ... and perhaps take a biology course.
Sober Reminders
Many people use their DVRs to skip through the endless commercials on TV. But some are hard to miss, and equally hard to take seriously—like those Parents Empowered ads. They depict "Utah's favorite sitcom family," and while some people may like the throwback feel of these low-budget, laugh-track videos, the jury is out on their effectiveness. State Auditor John Dougall threw a wrench in their $2.5 million budget in a review of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS). He found the impact on underage drinking to be "indeterminate." Experts say evidence-based education works, but the nation seems to spurn evidence these days. DABS will be looking for better metrics, but apparently, that's not enough to save the viewing public from this sad little family whose son thought "no drinking" meant no water. Hardee har.
Airspace Ad Space
Billboard companies in Utah have a long history of sucking up to legislators—with money, of course. And they tend to get what they want, including protected status in areas that might not want them. Along our scenic byways, billboards block the view and draw drivers' attention from the road. Now Scenic Utah, a nonprofit dedicated to saving Utah's natural beauty, is sponsoring a photo contest to fight visual pollution, the St. George News reports. One of the categories is: "Visual Pollution We Wish Would Go Away." It is "for that billboard that makes your blood boil; the junk pile or deteriorating billboard in your neighborhood; those overhead power lines blocking an otherwise amazing view of the skyline ... in other words, scenes you wish were different." No doubt the contest, which ends on Sept. 1, will make the billboard companies boil, even as they digitize and desecrate Utah roads.
