3rd Annual College Bowl Pick'em Contest

I sent out invitations for the email addresses that I have, but I have lost the email addresses for:
Shawn
Dallin
Russell
Lawrence
Tito
Let me know what those addresses or anyone else you think would like to participate and I will send out invitations right away. That includes friends, spouses, partners, relatives, etc.
1st Annual Contest Winner: Alan
2nd Annual Contest Winner: Alan
3rd Annual Contest Winner: ???

Study: NBA referees’ whistles not entirely colorblind

"Economists Joe Price of Brigham Young University and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania found that players get called for 4 percent fewer fouls by officials of their same race."

I am not convinced of this because there are so many mitigating factors, and if there is only "4% racial bias," then I think we are doing quite well. Most researchers accept a +-5% error in their stats anyway, so I think it's safe to say that there is essentially no racial bias in NBA refereeing.

What really needs to be studied is if there is star-power bias in the NBA. That is, do star players get called for fewer fouls than do lesser players? I am convinced that there is star-power bias. Many game announcers suggest that there is and I perceive the same in the games that I watch. The star-power bias is the main reason I don't much care for NBA basketball.

It reads like Science Fiction

If you ever wondered like me why Iran was simply allowed to thumb it's nose at the IEAE and other western nations, this article seems to explain it. Super secret stuff was going on, and I doubt the article covers everything. I know some of you are allergic to Fox News, but it's a fascinating read anyway!

Another article here describes the James Bond type of stuff going on.

Printing Money

The Federal Reserve has been quietly printing money (well, not so much printing as issuing electronic credit) and buying US debt, which is the equivalent of me printing money to pay for my wife's spending. However, the Fed is going to sharply increase quantitative easing (a nice euphemism for 'printing money'') with a planned outlay of $600 billion dollars. This is angering out creditors, which is just about everybody (China, Japan, UK, South Africa, Germany,...). The reason of course is that printing money without a corresponding increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) results in a devalued dollar, which not only devalues the debt owned by other nations, but also devalues the dollars in our own pockets. In addition, I learned something shocking that I never knew before. While the US Government pays interest on the money it borrows, it doesn't pay anything to reduce the principal. In other words, we pay interest only! No principal. The idiocy of that needs no explanation.

So what is the answer to our problem? Bring spending under control. No more bailouts, no more too big to fail (too-big-to-save should be our policy), no more handouts to political constituency groups. In fact, I advocate a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. It's been tried before, but the politicians lacked the political will to finish the job. We need it now more than ever.

Addendum: As I have previously stated, no matter the type of government each of us desires or envisions for this country, it must be founded on sound fiscal principles to survive or to succeed in its goals. One cannot defy gravity forever.

Here we go, here we go!

How high will the tidal wave be on Tuesday?

Republicans will take back the House, the Senate is in flux but probably will remain in Democrat hands (barely).

But when the dust settles, what will change?

What to you think?

Minnesota Governor Pawlenty just explained on Face the Nation that the battle would be over reducing government via, of course, reducing entitlement programs.

George Will's Sunday column encourages us to watch carefully certain races in order to fully appreciate the depth of the revolution of 'less' government that is upon us.

Ummm...less, continually less, less and less spending. I get it. But few specifics. Nearly never any explanations of how to spend a lot less. Just what do the Republicans agree among themselves to reduce? Will representatives and senators from Arizona and Florida, two hubs of retirees, dare to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security? How about reducing military spending in states that have major military installations? How about closing down federal agencies? Which ones? Will repeal of Obama's health care plan bill be a safe effort for them?

I don't fear the Republican wave because they will be just as inefficient, just as unwise, just as unwilling to cross the aisle as the Democrat and Republican majorities that preceded them.
And ultimately, it is unclear what, if anything, will change for the better in our lives.

Utah and Massachusetts

Democrats in Utah fight behind enemy lines. The state’s governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, and state auditor are all Republicans. Republicans have 21 seats in the state senate to the Democrats’ 8, and 53 seats in the state house to the Democrats’ 22.

Republicans in Massachusetts fight behind enemy lines. The state’s governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of the commonwealth, attorney general, and state auditor are all Democrats. Democrats have 35 seats in the state senate to the Republicans’ 5 and 144 seats in the state house to the Republicans’ 16.

Federal government representation in Utah has 2 Republican
Senators, 2 Republican Representatives, and 1 Democrat Representative.

Federal government representation in Massachusetts has 1 Republican Senator, 1 Democrat Senator, and all 10 house seats are held by Democrats.

In 2008, Utahs gave John McCain 62% of the vote and Barack Obama 34%. The results are similar for Massachusetts in that Barack Obama had 62% of the vote and John McCain 36%.

Overall, it seems that Massachusetts is as much Democrat as Utah is Republican.

The purpose of this post is mostly informative, but also inspired by a local Democratic candidate for House District 60 in which I live. Alan Keele (D) is running against Brad Daw (R). I know Brad Daw personally, and I know Alan Keele from BYU. He was a professor of German and had an office just down the hall from me. I also used to live by his aged uncle. I knew Alan Keele to be a respected professor (more evidence that BYU is not monolithically Republican) and he seemed to be a reasonable man. I read some of his campaign literature to see if he could be a Democrat I could vote for (I am always looking for such a candidate). He seemed to be saying all the right things, i.e., fiscal responsibility, good on education, even the usual stuff about the environment, but then I ran across this line: "A one-party system benefits only extremists. Think of Cuba or North Korea." I was deflated. He is comparing Utah (and Massachusetts
for that matter) to Cuba and North Korea, and implying that Utah Republicans are dictators (and MA Dems as well, I guess). In Utah and Massachusetts, other parties are allowed to operate and run for office. That is not the case in Cuba and North Korea. Opposing persons are either dead or in prision. So such a statement was too over the top for me. I will be sticking with Brad Daw.

I vote "No" Mosque so close to ground zero

When O'Rielly argued with the ladies on the view this past week and stated that it was "Muslims that attacked us on 9/11", the ladies got all in a huff stating that he shouldn't blame the entire Muslim people and that he shouldn't lump them all together to insinuate that they are all terrorists. I think what O'Rielly was saying was similar to what we all do when we are talking war. "the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor", "The Germans murdered Jews", "The British are coming!" We've always lumped people together. We do that to ourselves. Honestly, all the attackers and Master Mines on 9/11 were Muslim. Radical yes...but they carry the name and they even admit that they did it in the name of Islam. Is that to say that we should have said..."The Radical Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor" and the "Radical Germans murdered the Jews" and "the Radical British are coming"? No....because everyone already knows that not the entire nation of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor....their government made that decision. Same with the Germans and the British. If those women of the view think that we viewers are so stupid to hear O'Rielly say that "the Muslims attacked us on 9/11" and we are all sitting there thinking that the entire Muslim population were in on that...then they are just rediculous. I'm not so stupid to sit there and think that. I know what he meant. And although I am not opposed to the Muslims building their mosques in our country, after all, we have our Christian churches and temples built through out the world, I do beleive that out of respect for those families and those people that lived through the horror of 9/11, they should sell the land they purchased and build their Mosque further away from the actual site of where 9/11 occurred. It is kind of a knife twisting thing to have it built there. I think that would be the honorable thing to do.

We don't know God's time.

I hardly get any time to post or write anymore, even about some of the topics I've promised to write about. Even in this bad economy, I still have way too much work on my desk (Malachi 3:10). Nevertheless, I try to read as much as I can, and I found this article by Orson Scott Card closely reflects the way I think about most of church doctrine. That is, God has revealed only a sliver of the 'what to do' and 'what not to do,' and has revealed almost nothing about the how and why. Click on the title of this post of find it.

Yikes!

Ok...I have never heard of this guy until today, but after reading the article attached, I can see he spews out hate. (Just like Westboros Baptist church in Topeka) He's up to no good. I hope he doesn't get the attention in NY that he hopes to get. He obiously doesn't like Muslims, but after a little bit of research on him....he hates Mormons equally. Sorry for him in the long run. After preaching so much hate and negativity it must really leave his mind in darkness. What an awful state to live in.

BYU Goes Indepenent

BYU announced that, starting in 2011, it is going independent in football and joining the West Coast Conference (WCC) in other sports accommodated by the WCC.
For me, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I was initially excited when Boise State joined the MWC. Then I was deflated with Utah left for the PAC. Then I was worried that BYU would join the WAC again, which would have been disastrous. Now I am happy again (but not without concern) that BYU is aiming for higher goals by going independent in football.

There are some drawbacks to the plan, but due to lack of time, I will list only the points that come to mind.

1. BYU's main goal is exposure, not money, although the money is nice when you don't have to share it with other conference members.
2. The WCC is a good fit because all the WCC schools are faith-based institutions (mostly Catholic, I think).
3. We can watch all BYU games, both football and basketball, and many other sports.
4. BYU signed a nice contract with ESPN for home games and announced a six game series with Notre Dame.
5. BYU has already been getting calls from various universities for scheduling requests because BYU draws fans extremely well where ever they go. That means money for the scheduled university.
6. The BCS is out of the question for the first few years of independence, but down the road they might be able to work out a Notre Dame-like deal, provided that they perform well enough.
7. Poor Boise State. They thought they were getting into a competitive conference. Now they are left with a conference that very much resembles the WAC they left.
8. Craig Thompson, the MWC commissioner, is upset at BYU, but it was his clumsy, ill-conceived TV contract that he signed several years ago that started the problem. Then he raids the WAC, probably utterly destroying it to head off BYU. Now he must deal with the problem of his own making.
9. Now I must absolutely get that big, flat screen TV I have been dreaming about.

Horrors! Anti-incumbency is sweeping the nation! NOT!

Such a hubbub! Everyone is angry! They're throwing the bums out! The Tea Party Revolution is for real! The American public has awoken!

Sorry to disappoint.

Of the 324 primaries held thus far incumbents have won 317 times...and the bums have been thrown out only 7 (Utah Senator Bob Bennett being one of them). Tomorrow two more incumbents are expected to win (McCain being one of them).

There is clearly no anti-incumbent fervor...not within parties at least...not during the primaries at least. Which 'bums' the American people intend to throw out seems to be only dependent on one block of voters: independents, as usual.

The Anatomy of an Analogy

Before I get into a discussion about man being incapable of understanding the mind of God (as I promised last week and which may end up be a very short essay), I need to provide some groundwork for analogies, which I will rely on fairly heavily. We have had discussions about analogies before, i.e., which ones apply and which ones don't.
An analogy brings a complex topic into focus by mapping well known concepts onto complex or less understood concepts. A good analogy allows a person to apply a certain number of known elements to the same number of less understood elements. For example, the sentence "The test was a piece of cake" has a single element "test" that corresponds to a single element "piece of cake," which conveys the idea that "The test was as easy as eating a piece of cake" (which is actually a simile). Analogies can have more elements. For example, "The test and bonus section were a piece of cake with frosting." However, the more elements we add to an analogy, the more likely it is to break down at some point. In fact, all analogies break down at some point. Also, a bad analogy is one where the elements do not map well onto the intended context.
There is also a problem in that people do not, or at least are not willing, to map the intended information. If an analogy suggests an idea that one is not willing to consider or to accept, then the analogy may seems like a bad analogy. Jesus ran into this all the time in His use of parables, which are analogies that involve an entire story and which usually involves human characters.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a Jewish traveler was mugged and left for dead by the roadside. First, a priest passed by, and then a Levite passed by, and both look the other way. Then, a Samaritan passes by. Samaritans and Jews generally hated each other, but the Samaritan helped the injured Jew. Jesus told the parable in response to a question about the definition of a "neighbor." Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would very likely have made Jesus' audience feel very uncomfortable. In fact, many hated Jesus because His parables made them see things about themselves that they would rather not admit.

Analogies, parables, similes, metaphors, etc. are wonderful and valuable teaching and learning tools, as long as the giver of the analogy skillfully maps the elements and the learner accepts the mapping. Many in Jesus' day did not understand His parables because they did not recognize or refused to accept the mapping of the elements.

That America already has socialist programs is undeniable. I have mentioned several of them in my previous posts on the subject. Reform of America's social programs as they currently exist should be the first step toward creating an American socialism that would at once be superior to existent and previous forms of socialism in the world.

Before taking on reform, it is important to decide what the goals of any comprehensive social program are. I think that the objectives fall into two broad categories. First and foremost, a safety net for the unfortunate and yes, even the unwise. This first category (safety net) would include health care, disability, and unemployment. The second category would address equal access to society's network of opportunities in the government and private sectors. There are many discussions to be had regarding the flushing out of these two categories. However, that is another post.

Reform. All laws and programs have loopholes. We see them in every new legislation. Some of them are left in policies accidentally, others perniciously and on purpose.

Here are some examples of reform:

First, the experiences that Nick and I had with social security disability. We had been wise. We both had and do now have long and short term disability insurance. Nick had expressly bought short term disability insurance, his long term being offered via SkyWest as a benefit. When he fell in, the Hartford Insurance Company fulfilled its contract and paid its contracted amount monthly (even though the paperwork was onerous, it was doable.) What a tremendous help that was to us! However, when it was clear that Nick would transition from short term to long term benefits, the Hartford required us to apply to the government for disability payments before it would pay the long term benefits for which we had contracted with them. The nature of Nick's disease was rare and severe; he was accepted by the government program immediately (much to the surprise of our case workers who said that the government turns down most applications on the first and second attempts, by the way, that process was more onerous that the Hartford's). As soon as the government granted Nick disability payments, the Hartford was off the hook. In essence, the government paid what the Hartford was legally bound to pay. Big business won at the expense of tax payers even though Nick had been paying his premiums since 2002. Lesson: social security should only step in as a last resource, the final safety net, and it should be the least desirable option because it pays less than the private sector, so private sector contracts must take precedence over government programs. To underscore the difference this makes: 20 months of long term payments ended up costing the government $22,68o for which, under contract, the Hartford should have been liable!

In my next post, I will continue with the loopholes we continued (and continue!) to face.

From the conservative side...

This article may be interesting to you.

Starcraft II

Can anyone give me hints on beating "The Great Train Robbery" on hard level? Probably only Alan or Deric.

Proposition Eight Overturned

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker today ruled that California's Proposition Eight is unconstitutional.

The pro-Proposition Eight camp will now appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court. If they lose there,
they will appeal to the United States' Supreme Court. By all accounts I have have listened to or read, the process will take another couple of years.

I suspect that this question will be with us for a very long time regardless of what happens over the next two years.

We have debated the questions together via our family blog quite a bit. I suspect that there is not a great deal that we would say beyond what we have already said. A synopsis of this current decision in California might be helpful.

It's just a mosque.

Much hullaballoo about a mosque that will be built two blocks from ground zero.

I am confounded by those who stand so firmly against the building of this place of worship.

Mayor Bloomberg of New York City said yesterday, "Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question--should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another."

The local Islamic society owns the land, the existing zoning and building codes do not prohibit religious buildings or community centers in this area. I can think of no reason that could possibly trump the free exercise this religion's right to build a house of worship in this location.

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether

DURING the autumn of 18--, while on a tour through the extreme southern provinces of France, my route led me within a few miles of a certain Maison de Santé or private mad-house, about which I had heard much in Paris from my medical friends.

So begins the story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Can we at least all agree that North Korea is run by the patients at Maison de Santé?

From the Telegraph.co.uk
North Korea's entire squad was forced onto a stage at the People's Palace of Culture and subjected to criticism from Pak Myong-chol, the sports minister, as 400 government officials, students and journalists watched.
The players were subjected to a "grand debate" on July 2 because they failed in their "ideological struggle" to succeed in South Africa, Radio Free Asia and South Korean media reported.
The team's coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea.
The coach was punished for "betraying" Kim Jong-un - one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il's sons and heir apparent.
The country, in its first World Cup since 1966, lost all three group games – including a 7-0 defeat to Portugal.
The broadcast of live games had been banned to avoid national embarrassment, but after the spirited 2-1 defeat to Brazil, state television made the Portugal game its first live sports broadcast ever.
Following ideological criticism, the players were then allegedly forced to blame the coach for their defeats.
Only two players avoided the inquisition - Japanese-born Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, who flew straight to Japan after the tournament.
However, media in South Korea said the players got off lightly by North Korean standards.
"In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps," a South Korean intelligence source told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

I feel so badly for the poor (literally and figuratively) citizens of North Korea. Is there not anything the U.S. can do to put the patients back in their padded cells?

Context Is Everything

There are many translation engines on the web. You can input a phrase from any language and get a translation into any language. As long as the context of the phrase is not important, the translation will probably be ok. However, human language is not so simple. Computers cannot handle context and it would take a highly sophisticated software program that is capable of changing and learning to be able to handle context. Input the Japanese phrase "Watashi wa pai desu" and you get "I am a pie." This is a literal translation that does not take context into account. It would be an accidentally correct translation were the speaker playing the role of a pie in a play, but that is a rare context. The mostly likely context is ordering pie in a restaurant, i.e., "As for me, I'll have pie." All of us Worthams know a second language (a fact that I am very proud of), and we can all probably think of similar things in our respective second language (as well as English, for that matter).

However, context is not limited to single phrases. It applies to all forms of language and very likely to other forms of human behavior. The recent brouhaha over Shirley Sherrod is a good example. Ms. Sherrod talked about not giving her best efforts to a white farmer at time well before her career at the USDA. The video clip was thrown out on the Internet by a conservative blogger, and absolutely everyone took the bait, including news organizations, the USDA who fired Ms. Sherrod, the White House who pressure the USDA to do so, and the NAACP who denounced her. Later it was revealed that in the greater context of her speech, she was talking about her path to change away of racist sentiments. Now all of the above parties were eating crow, apologizing, and generally slinking away. As far as I know, the conservative blogger has not apologized, but the video had its intended effect, that is, to bait the NAACP because of its false accusations that the Tea Party is racist, and the NAACP bit hard on the bait.

The following may be a bit partisan, but this is exactly the kind of thing conservatives constantly suffer with. MoveOn.org, Media Matters, and often the MSM in general take conservatives out of context and beat them over the head with out-of-context statements. "Context for we, but not for thee" is the rule of the day for such organizations.

Context also applies to history. Mormons are often the butt of polygamy jokes, which grossly misconstrues the context of the time. Joseph Smith statements are listed line by line in anti-Mormon literature, all without context of language as well as the time period in which the statements were made. Photo-shopping and video-shopping are also types of context switching, i.e., insert a innocuous photo of a person into another photo to put the person in a different and often damning context. With new technology, video-shopping is a new danger. Watch out for it in upcoming elections and issues.

Post Script: Another idea occurred to me this morning. If a person followed me around with a camera and took pictures at inopportune times, I could be portrayed as as an pot-bellied beer drinker. I have on numerous occasions had a bottle of beer in my hand.
Snapshot: Alan is pouring himself a beer!
Context: It is customary for the Japanese to poor each others drink. So my beer-drinking friend would pour my orange juice and I would pour his beer.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
Snapshot: Alan has beer in his refrigerator and there is a strange woman in his kitchen! He is a beer-drinking womanizer!
Context: Yumi had some friends visit from Japan, and they like to have a beer before they go to bed. Hence the beer and the woman.
So photo-shopping may not be required. An accurate photograph can be misused.

Socialism, what is it?

It will be helpful to read by first post on socialism before reading this one.

Socialism has been defined by different dictionaries in different ways. In the past, it has been defined as a preamble to communism and sometimes as a synonym of communism. Soviet socialism was undeniably communist. Marxist socialism was communism before the term communism was coined. National socialism became Nazism. Democratic socialism is generally what we call socialism as it now exists throughout Europe (but no one today considers European socialism to be communism). Socialism in South America is often closer to some form of communism because of South America's jerky history of military rule and government control of wealth (however often without the wealth being redistributed to the needy).

But through most of it, the notion of socialism indicates transfer of money from some who have ample to those deemed to be needy for whatever reason(s). The reasons for this transfer of money usually is the result of compassion, the desire for a stable society, heightened notions of equality/human dignity, etc.

Today's America is already well along the socialist path. There are many American social programs that take taxpayers' money and administer it to others in some way or another. Some of the programs do not appear to be socialist in any way, yet they are by any definition. Some programs shock us because they give money/benefits to the seemingly (and perhaps very clearly) undeserving.

My hope for a continuing American socialism is based on the notion of shared responsibility for others who are in need (there is nothing original about this). If others are truly in need, most of us accept this notion. It is when we perceive that others who receive help from the government and who are undeserving, lazy, unwilling to work, unwise in their personal decisions, foolish with their money (or that of others) that our outrage surfaces.

I would like to see an American socialism that truly addresses needs for the unfortunate and needy with a minimum of abuse.

So I will begin discussing social programs with the hope of parsing out the details that are involved in the preceding paragraph (ie who is unfortunate, what are the abuses and remedies for them). Discussing social programs in a one-by-one approach will break it down to specifics we can discuss precisely without getting off track.

But first, your thoughts on what socialism is today interests me. After all, I cannot expect you to accept straight away what I have written above. But I do hope that you will see that we must not reduce socialism to some nebulous notion of nascent communism. (How's that for alliteration?)
It has become something else. If we don't call our efforts to care for the the needy some form of social program, what do we call these efforts? Many hate the word while using it to describe programs of which they approve (social security, [some and various] social services, socialized medicine (veterans' health care and Medicare are examples of this).

Regardless if you care to comment, my next post will address loopholes in the system that Nick and I encountered. It is important to close these loopholes as part of an effort to assure that American socialism would be superior to previous or current attempts at it by other societies.

Towards an American Socialism

The word 'socialist' has been used quite a bit recently in our nation as an epithet. Socialism is roundly criticized and the word often appears as one 'ism' in a series of other undesirable 'isms': communism, feminism, fascism, liberalism, etc. Creeping is an adjective often paired with it.
After all, wasn't the official name of Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)?

Some time ago, perhaps a month, I mentioned in a post, in a response to Alan I believe, that I would be able to defend/believe in the notion of a socialism that was a uniquely American socialism. Uniquely American because I believe that America would be able to manipulate and administer basic principles of socialism better than most countries that had tried it or that are currently doing so. After all, the grand experiment of mankind governing mankind only continues...no country can yet claim perfection regardless of philosophy.

The thought of this promise has lingered with me. The notion of socialism in the recently modern world and in the current world is ill-defined. Others smarter than me have already written extensively on it, of course. But I have been thinking about it a lot. I have done some fascinating reading. I would like to toss my thoughts out there for two reasons. The first is that writing down my thoughts helps me think them through. The second is to learn from your thoughtful reactions.

I gave the title Towards an American Socialism to this post because I recognize that my thoughts on it will be evolve and because social programs in the US continue to evolve in a changing world.

Among my next posts will be some that will take on aspects of my thinking. Stay tuned and respond!

Sweeping Financial Reform

Another 2000-page piece of legislation. How you can reform everything except Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is quite astonishing. Most of the public has no clue why this may be. The Dems surely know but aren't telling.
Chris Dodd says that "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works."
Pelosi said a similar silly statement about the Health Care bill.
Chris Dodd knows the gig is up. That's why he is retiring and Dems are trying to cram everything in before the new Congress is sworn in next year.

World Cup Soccer Fan

With all of the noise makers at the World Cup Championships...I think Moroni might have started something here.

Have to post this thought that was posted on Facebook.

In today's Mexico/France World Cup match why did the Mexican players go through the official process of checking in with the refs on a substitution? Why did they not just run out onto the field and start playing. If the refs caught them they would just call them "undocumented substitutes" and escort them back across the line.

Vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan could be "bad news"

I have been reading and thinking about the newly announced mineral wealth discovered in Afgahanistan. At first I was happy to hear that they might have found a way to help their ecomony and bulster an improved way of life for them and their people. I am routing for them! Heaven knows they need it. Hopefully it would increase the nations wealth enough to educate, feed and employee it's people (both genders hopefully).

But after awhile, I started realizing that maybe this could also lead to some ugly times for them. Can you imagine the wealth from this falling into the Taliban's hands? They are certainly going to want their cut. Not to mention the corruption within the governement and outside governments and businesses thinking they need a cut in this. And....Can you imagine teaching a non-mining people how to mine and build businesses and do all of this with no governmental regulations for such a thing in place? They have no mining history. Honestly, to do this right...they need some hardcore rules and regulations set up first. How does a third world country jump into such a huge task with no experience or history of it and be successfull with it? How do they do it and keep the wolves away? How do they set it up so that the Afghan people can benefit from this? I am sure they can hire contractors to come in and set this up...but then they have to spend lots of money on their securtiy. (which might be a necessary cost of doing business)I hope they think this through before they start diving into it. If they do it methodically and with care...they can be successful....but if greed is the motivating factor.... this whole ordeal could be "bad news". And doing it while a major war offensive is going on in their country would probably be near impossible. I am curious to how this will all play out.

Boise State Joins the MWC!

I am days behind in my work and my project manager is all over my case, but I had to post this.




After several days of stating (lying?) that the MWC will remain unchanged, Commissioner Craig Thompson announced that BSU has accepted an invitation to join the MWC next year. I was in a funk for several days because I was hoping for the invite and we were told it wasn't going to happen. Now I am ecstatic! This will make MWC even more exciting and fun to watch. BSU's run of easy conference championships will come to an end. Now BSU will need to work extra hard to be on top. The downside is that it is more unlikely that any MWC team will have a shot at the BCS championship in football.

Pawlenty Hates Me

Naw, not really. I don't believe he hates me. I wanted to get your attention.

This post is to make a couple of points. First, I really dislike the constantly used, weak-brained liberal ploy to claim that anyone who votes against civil equality for gays and lesbians hates them and is therefore hateful. No need for me to defend my position on this blog. An abundance of life experiences with the religious tells me that such statements are both untrue and offensive.
My second point does however take on Pawlenty and his politics. Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota has vetoed or promised to veto a Minnesota bill that would extend certain rights to gay partners. The bill mostly would allow gay partners to make decisions concerning the disposal of remains after a partner's death and allow them to be a suing party in a wrongful death situation. Pawlenty said, "There is no need for this bill...it addresses a nonexistent problem..." and "I oppose efforts to treat domestic partnerships as the equivalent of traditional marriage. Accordingly, I am opposed to this bill." Given Minnesota allows married couples these two privileges, there obviously is a need; just not a need if you are gay.

So why do I target Governor Pawlenty when many other Republicans politicians think and vote like him? Because he is most likely going to run for President in 2012...maybe in concert with Mitt Romney. Our nation is becoming increasingly diverse. This trend will not reverse itself nor can it be reversed. Republicans who cannot give an inch in areas of public social policy may please some, but they do nothing to help us become a less polarized country. Even if I were displeased enough with the Democratic Party and President Obama to look for other options, such lack of pragmaticism makes it impossible for me to vote for most any Republican.

"The Word" by Nancy Pelosi

This was just odd. I assume she was trying to refer to "Jesus Christ" without having to publically use his name....and it just comes out very odd sounding to me. If she has to work so hard to not use His name, why did she even go there in the first place. She was giving a speech....she could have just left this whole bit out. But going there the way she did was just weird.

Calderon Cauldron

In case you haven't heard Mexico's President Calderon said that he does not object to the US putting National Guardsmen on the boarder with Mexico as long as they do not arrest Mexicans trying to cross the border into the US!

Have you ever heard such nonsense? What are they supposed to do? Give them a cool Daisani and a voucher for a free hotel stay at the nearest hotel?

He went on to say, "They have a commitment to uphold the law on the American side and not to use the National Guard for immigration purposes or deal with immigration issues."

Three things....1) Who cares whether he objects or does not object to how we use our National Guard! It is our National Guard not his! The day we seek permission to station our National Guard units on our own land is the day we loose our sovereignty.

2) Upholding legal immigration is the law so the second statment is mute! As he should be.

and finally,
3) He is an idiot!

Crisis Imperils Liberal Benefits Long Expected by Europeans

... or so reports the New York Times.
I was very surprised by this little gem.

"In Sweden and Switzerland, 7 of 10 people work past 50. In France, only half do."

I guess that means that the average worker (not the average person) works for about 30 years, which is about 1/3 of a lifetime depending whose numbers you use. Let's assume one lives on his parent's dime (with obvious government aid in terms of schooling and social medicine) for the first 20 years. So that means that unless the average worker has saved up 30 to 40 years worth of living expenses, he/she will be living off of other people's money. I seriously doubt your average Euro worker has that much in savings, so they must be living on other people's money. Who are these other people? Not the current tax payers. They are paying for the previous generation. The other people are future taxpayers, probably a generation or two in the future. The morality of taking care of the elderly, sick, and downtrodden mostly doesn't apply in this case. The average worker can surely work past 60 and beyond. I plan to do so. It's immoral to take from future generations to help us feel good about ourselves today.

You might all get a kick out of this!

William Tell Overture Mom. She's got it down good!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ZpuA8_YYk

Moving Right, Moving Left

In Utah, Senator Bennett (R) lost his seat in the Republican caucus. Representative Matheson (D) has been forced into a primary race, his first. Bennett lost his seat because he was not conservative enough, though he has a very conservative voting record. Matheson may survive, but his troubles stem from his vote against the health care reform bill, which has be a litmus test of sorts for liberals. Could all of this mean that the Right is moving right and the Left if moving left? It appears to me that the left and right are demanding ideological purity. How this trend will play out in the next several years is impossible predict, but my sense is that it will be more advantageous for Conservatives, but I admit to a bit of cheer-leading in stating this opinion.

The Greek Slippery Slope

Greece is in crisis. Its government has failed financially, it can no longer meet its obligations.

There are those in our country who point to Obama and his administration and claim that he is dooming us to the same desperate state Greece now must rectify. The pundits on the right are claiming, as they always do, that one step towards the left will indelibly lead us to full socialism. That's a shame.

There are many countries which are more socialistic in their approaches to governing than we are and which are doing no worse than we, indeed better! This list is long.

Yet the right is correct about some things regarding Greece. Balance and common sense in government programs must exist. The right is correct when it says that entitlements are dangerous because they can cause a decrease in self-reliance. The Greeks have been unwise. The have fostered entitlements to an exaggerated point. Retirement payments for some (maybe most) at 100% of quitting year salary! The State of Utah pays 60% of quitting year salary for its employees, but guess what? That is going to change. Newly hired workers for the State of Utah can now look forward to only a 45% plan of quitting year salary. My social security benefits will comprise only about 35-40% of what I will be making at retirement at 66 years old. If I want to live at the same rate of income (100% of what I was making while working), it is up to me to make up the difference before or during retirement. I have been diligently doing so.

Health care presents similar problems. Indeed, I can plan for most everything, even some awful level inflation, but the wild card that threatens even the most financially prudent (who is not in the privileged classes - who can buy their way out of medical disaster) is that of health care.

The goal of social security and health care should be to provide safety nets that ensure bare and reasonable minimum standards of living for all. Greece is a bad example of how this works, Canada, Denmark and many others are good examples of what is possible. Our country must address our problems of accessibility and affordability to health care all the while maintaining the safety net of social security in all its forms. Yet we must not follow the example of the foolish Greeks.

Why MSNBC ratings are in the tank

This photo says it all. The headline at the bottom of the photo reads "Law makes it a crime to be illegal immigrant."

The Audacity of Thinking the People are Stupid

Regular American citizens are busy with work and family, and those Americans who aren't busy normally don't pay attention to the big budget numbers flying around these days.
A recent ad by GM surprised me. Perhaps you've seen it. The CEO of GM walks through a factory and claims that "GM has paid back $5.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury and Export Development Canada...--in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule--loans made to help fund the new GM." My first reaction was "Great!" but after then commercial played a few times something began to nag at me. Wasn't the loan to GM much bigger, say between $42 billion and $58 billion (*1). It seems that some of the loans have been reclassified as equity purchase. In other words, the government has purchased a large chunk of GM (Government Motors?). This was once called a loan, but is now being quietly called "equity equivalent." The next question is "Where did GM come up with the $5.8 billion payment? GM is the fourth worst loser among corporations in the US. In fact, they lost $30.9 billion in 2009! They couldn't have paid the money back from profit -- they had none. It turns out that they used TARP money to pay the government back. So the bottom line is GM borrowed money from the government to pay back the government (albeit indirectly). It's a shell game. Are the American people stupid to believe this rubbish? No, they are busy working to pay taxes and provide for their families. They don't have time to dig into every little nefarious scheme that the elites contrive. In essence, the people are not stupid, they are too busy to be bothered.
(*1) There are many numbers floating around and I can't find the correct one)

George Will and me

I have become quite a follower of George Will's biweekly blog posts via my Kindle. He publishes on Sunday and Thursday. I read each one at least twice and often more. He writes extremely well, argues logically, and challenges my positions. If I can respond to his positions succinctly, I feel I have sharpened not only my defense of my positions but my intellect generally. You have all done me the same favor on occasion. I encourage you to read him when you have the chance.

Sometimes he wins me over, but rarely. Our views philosophical, social, and political differ too much, but I will endeavor to share with you examples of when he wins me over.

Sometimes I disagree on principle(s), sometimes because I don't think he carries his thoughts to the conclusions that I see as logical and inescapable.

The following is an example of what I mean by carrying his thoughts through to conclusion. Not unsurprisingly, he is against the recently passed health care initiative. The principle reasons are that personal responsibility will continue to be eroded and that government ought not be involved in this arena to such an extent. As a way to encourage personal responsibility, he proposes a tax credit, I repeat a tax credit, for those who purchase their own insurance, not a mere tax deduction. Given that personally purchased insurance ranges from easily $500 a month to over $1,000, many would end up paying absolutely no federal income tax. Take my case: I've checked, the cost for insurance for me if I were purchasing it on the open market would be, given my age even without a health checkup, over $500 a month depending on benefits. Umm. Multiplied by 12 = $6,000. My tax after deductions was 5,831. Fair enough.

I would not pay a penny.

I know that he can't deliver his entire tax code proposal in a blog, but I can't figure out where this suggestion would lead us. What do you think of his idea?

Abby has two Moms

Buried a handful of posts past, I have been ardent in my opposition to Teresa's concerns regarding her anecdote on the subject of gender reassignment.

It appears obvious to me that Teresa's adamancy in her position stems from her set of morals concerning gender/sexual issues and children. My moral positions are different and thus my take on her position is contrary in this case.

Here is my own anecdote that I lived this year. I gave the assignment to my ninth grade French I class to present a Powerpoint exhibit of their families. Naturally, the students were to talk about their families, each member's likes, dislikes, talents, age, work etc. A ninth grade girl whom I will call Abby has lesbians mothers who adopted her nearly at birth. She presented her family matter-of-factly as it is. She has been in the school for some time and has made similar presentations throughout her grade school career. Her mothers have done what all mothers have done: cupcakes for the class on Abby's birthday, room mother responsibilities, etc. No doubt children in her classes have had to ask the question, "Why does she have two mothers in her family?"

Given your responses to Teresa's anecdote regarding gender reassignment, I am not sure how the above scenario would be analyzed by those of you who commented. I suspect that you will see it as different, perhaps very different, but I am not sure why. It is obvious that a child's confusion is not the first concern: children deal with terrible and much worse confusion routinely enough. I know that Alan mentioned natural happenings and the need to explain them to children as part of natural patterns, that one protects children from what one can. Although I understood what he wrote, I don't know why a child needs protection from either of these two scenarios. Unless, of course, morality such as you perceive it, is the guiding principle. If this is the case, then we must take on the continually thorny question of whose morality dominates the public square.

Some thoughts about 2012

Not the movie. The presidential election.

The Democrats: While I can't imagine Pres. Obama not running again. I keep wondering if Hillary Clinton cannot resist one more try. Although she denies it, I think she still harbors ambitions, and I think she disagrees with Obama on many foreign policy initiatives. That is why she is often off to Africa or the Far East when much of the foreign policy action is centered on Israel and Iran. Prediction: Obama is the nominee. Bold Prediction: Obama will dump Biden and choose someone who appears more serious.

The Republicans: If Republican voters follow custom, Governor Romney will be the nominee. In recent history, there has been a stark difference in how the Democrats and Republicans choose their nominees. The Democrats often choose underdogs and dark horses: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Republicans, on the other hand, almost systematically choose the next guy in line, i.e., whoever finished second last time, or whoever appears to have earned the nomination by long-term service to the party. Hence, we got Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, and John McCain. It's a remarkable trend.

Prediction: Romney is the nominee. Bold Prediction: He will choose Pawlenty as his running-mate. Easy prediction: Sarah Palin will be Head Cheerleader (Is it sexist when it's the truth?) and as such will be a keynote speaker at the Republican Convention.

Energy Saving Turbo Entabulator Transmission

I recieved an email saying that after Pres. Obama listened to this gentleman's explanation of the Energy Saving Turbo Entabulator Transmission, he offered him the position of Health Care Bill Czar. No confirmation of that as of yet though. So research it for yourself and find out if it is true. Let me know what you find out. I cannot confirm or deny it at this point through my research.

Pogoplug

I have long tried to find a way to provide a central repository for family videos, photos, documents, etc. that we all have. It was either very expensive or very complicated or both. I finally found a device that is within my price range ($129) and that allows us to upload and download data from a central repository. It's called a Pogoplug. I finally arranged some time to set it up and it is currently running in a closet next to my office. I have attached a 120GB hard drive that I wasn't using. As a first offering, I have uploaded video of the family reunion we had on August 19, 1990. You will shortly receive an invitation by email to view the video, and I encourage you to upload materials that you have. To do so, you will need to install a small program that will allow you to access the hard drive as if it were on your own computer. Download and install the program from http://www.pogoplug.com/downloads/.
I will make periodic backups of the hard drive so that we don't lose any data. I encourage everyone to have a backup of the data as well. The more redundancy there is, the safer our valuable family files will be.

The Best Georgia's 4th District has to offer

Now do you see what I have to put up with here in Georgia? This is Rep. Hank Johnson, on the Armed Services Committee discussing alloting 8000 more service personnel to the island of Guam.

This is the best Georgia's 4th District has to offer!

The Best Georgia's 4th District has to offer

Alas, can you see what I put up with here in Georgia! This is just so classic of how stupid, ignorant, and uneducated some of our congressmen are. At least Rep. Johnson! I mean the guy must have been elected by uneducated voters! Why can we not realize that uneducated districts only elect uneducated people! It goes to show that there are those who vote for a living. I can only assume that the parasite class voted this man into office. He obviously doesn't have the intelligence to be there.

The naval officer being questioned, I am sure is infinately more intelligent than Mr. Johnson. I am sure he is just wondering how he landed in front of such a stupid man.

Just my opinion.

Gender Reassignment

My friend is facing a very difficult challenge right now. The school where her three children ages, 6, 9, 11 are attending (A local Belgiun school)anounced that their male gym teacher will be undergoing a Gender reassignment and will be coming back to school as a female instead of a male. They made the announcement and met with the parents to inform them that this will be the case and that the school will provide clinical counseling to parents and children who feel they might need help to make this a smooth transition for their child.

Am I crazy to think that they are doing this backwards? Instead of offering phychological help to the children and families, thinking they should be the ones who need the help in learning to adjust to anothers inability to live life as they were born. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't they be offering the teacher the help to treat the gender personality disorder, instead of throwing this disorder in the face of many young innocent children and asking them to conform? Can you imagine telling your 6 year old that today your gym teacher is a man, but tomorrow, he'll be a woman and so must call him/her a different name. Talk about confusing information. That's like asking us to eat an orange and then telling us to believe that it tastes like an apple, when you have always known it to be an orange and genetically speaking it is an orange.

You know children see things as black and white as part of their development process at that young age...I just can't imagine why an adult mind would want to even put that in their face like that and confuse them. Even crazier to me....other adults, like the school and perhaps the law are saying...great, let's teach the kids about tolerance and make them accept this as the norm. Yikes! I believe that the gym teacher should resign his postion....make the change and then go get a job where no knew him as a male and not confuse the young children's minds.

Perhaps I sound intolerant. But again...my issue is always with the safe, healthy development of the child....and I am a proponant for traditional values as the best way to achieve that for a child's sake. This situation simply is not healthy for the child, and not fair to the families trying to raise their child with those values. It appears that my friend will be pulling her kids from the school and plant them somewhere else, and this is frustrating to her, as now her kids are displaced and will have to start over with new friends and new surroundings. It doesn't seem right to me that they have to make that decision. What is good is that they have the choice to make. But then, so does the gym teacher...and he chose to stay where he is at and make everyone else conform.

Not to mention my other question, who's locker room/bathrooms does the gym teacher get to go in? The girls, the boys? or both? Who knows if he/she prefers males or females? Will there be potential of abuse? :( Confused and dismayed in Belgium.

1933 American Airlines Infomercial

This is real nostalgic. The only similarity that exists today is that pilots still wear a coat and tie when we fly. Oh yeah, Dad does too! Flight attendants wear dresses on Delta too! Other than that the glamour of the flying has so diminished that people don't dress like they used too.

Don't miss the racial slur though at 4:30 into the clip. This would never stand today as it shouldn't. For the first time, Al Sharpton would really have a case today on this one.

Notice is says you can travel from Chicago to Los Angeles in just a little over a day! How about just a little over 4 hours! So sitting on the tarmack for 3 or 4 hours ain't so bad after all!

Also it says when you fly you can arrive just as fresh as you were when you left! Remember that, all you who complain that flying makes you tired.

Just click on the title of the post to see the clip.

March Madness Bracket Competition

I have been mindlessly busy, so I haven't been able to post much.
However, I have belatedly set up Yahoo! bracket for our annual competition and I have sent out invitations to those who participated last year.
If you didn't participate last year and you would like to join in the fun, just let me know and I will send out an invitation ASAP.

Obama Comes Through

I just want to everyone to know that although I disagree with most everything Mr. Obama stands for, I will admit when he does the right thing.

I just read that he has donated his entire $1.4 million prize money from being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to various charities. I will not list them all but I was glad to see that he did not keep the money for an award that I do not believe he earned...yet.

Bravo. I applaud the action Mr. President.

How do you feel?

As a pilot, and without divulging my opinion, I was wondering how you all felt about this event of the controller allowing his kids in the tower. I assume we have all heard the tapes. Do you feel less safe?

Entitlement Spending

Entitlement spending. Once enacted, there is little chance of 'unentitling' the money.


Possible solutions and likely outcome
1. Raise taxes: A moribund economy leading even less revenue.
2. Lower taxes: A more active economy leading to higher revenue.
3. Reduce or nix entitlement spending: As noted above, the accelerator is stuck on full throttle. Bush and Republicans added to it with Medicaid, and Obama and Dems are looking to add to it with the health care bill. Alas, there is no end in site. Whatever form of government you may desire, it is in danger with this profligate spending.
Many conservatives decry Obama's executive order to set up a 'Debt Commission' claiming that he is just passing the buck and won't make the hard decisions. At this point, I don't care who gets the credit, what has to be done must be done. So I support the establishment of a debt commission as long as the job gets done.

Not a penny more...

So the other day I received a phone call from the DNC (Democratic National Committee) requesting money for the next elections that are 'all important' if President Obama is to move forward on his agenda. I listened carefully to the spiel. I then told them how disappointed I am currently with Democrats who have failed to coalesce sufficiently to be effective even with stunning majorities. The caller slipped quickly to his pre-written 'blame the Republicans' paragraph. I cut him short and told him that I didn't believe that. I then lost my temper, which happens very rarely, and enunciated slowly, nearly yelling, that I would not give one more penny until the Democrats begin to accomplish what they promised. I told him I was hanging up because I was too angry to speak.

And so it goes. I am not the only Democrat who is disgusted.

In the end, I have few choices at the polls. To vote Republican is out of the question for a world of platform reasons. The Democrats are disappointing, the Socialist Party is not viable enough to present responsible candidates, the Green Party is forever unorganized and rarely produces candidates at many levels, the Libertarians are too anarchist for me.

I have never failed to vote, so vote I will. Looking for options!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

This is a funny film. Didn't expect the outcome. First thought was...they should have set the brakes on the semi!

Mandated medical insurance

I know that the subject has been cussed adn discussed time and time again and I know how most people don't like mandated insurance or government mandated medical insurance. However, if government is so concerned about making sure everyone has insurance, why not just pass a law that everyone has to have it and proof of it on hand. They make us insure our cars. Nobody complains about the government REQUIRING us to show prof of insurance every year when we register our vehicles. And we all purchase vehicle insurance through private companies and we can also choose what company we want. Therefore, why doesn't the government make everyone purchase medical insurance along with vehicle insurance. If I get pulled over for speeding, every officer will ask for license, registration, and proof of insurance. What's to stop them from asking for proof of medical insurance also? I don't like the idea of government forcing issues but if they can force us to purchase vehicle insurance (and nobody complains or balks at that), then why not force us to purchase medical insurance and we can choose the policy and company we like (just like vehicle insurance)? Just some thoughts. Those who don't drive almost always still have drivers licenses for I.D. if nothing else. So, the drivers license department could in effect monitor medical insurance cards also in that if you want to update your drivers license, you would have to show proof of medical insurance before you get a state I.D. card or Drivers License. You can't get a Passport without a valid State I.D./Drivers License. Therefore, make us purchase healthcare, but let us use free market and purchase it from a comapny we like or a plan WE like.

Disaster for Democrats?

A disastrous week for the Democrats two weeks ago.

The Ted Kennedy seat goes to a Republican thereby dashing hopes of any progressive health care reform.

Air America, the liberal radio talk show network, pulls all programming and goes under.

The Supreme Court decides that corporations may contribute as much money as they would like to try to sway election results. According to the court, it is a matter of freedom of speech.

It is truly a crazy day in America when a former Cosmopolitan nude centerfold, pro-choice, Republican wins a Kennedy seat in Massachusetts. This Republican win perplexes the pundits: is it a beginning of a Republican revolution, or just a stern message sent by voters who usually vote liberal? And if it is a message, just what is the message?

And what does it mean that Air America cannot locate and nourish a liberal listening audience sufficient to even break even?

And what will be the results of the Supreme Court's decision that corporations need endure no limits in their efforts to influence elections?

As it turns out, Alan was right. No need to worry about what substantive changes the Democrats will attempt to bring, they will implode as they always do. If they cannot accomplish their goals with supermajorities across the board, there is no need to take them seriously. They will not have again this much power in the foreseeable future.

When the Republicans regain power, and they will, will they be able to do any better? Will meaningful health care be of any concern to them? Will health care costs continue to outgrow inflation? Will they be able to reduce the debt and deficit given their lack of being able to do so during their three previous presidencies?

I am beginning to believe that our de facto two party system may no longer be the best approach.

Internet Security

A major security breach at RockYou.com led to a release of all the passwords of the users of the site. An analysis was made of the passwords, and the most common passwords were:
1. 123456 (290731 users!)
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

The list goes on, but the remainder of the list is equally stupid.
My point here is that we need to use more sophisticated passwords, even for minor websites.
Here are some ideas:
1. Choose a strong password for sites you care for the privacy of the information you store. One idea is to take a sentence and turn it into a password. Something like “This little piggy went to market” might become "tlpWENT2m". That nine-character password won't be in anyone's dictionary.
2. Use a different password for all sites – even for the ones where privacy isn’t an issue. If one particular website gets hacked and someone acquires your password, the password won't be valid on another website. To help me remember the passwords, I write them down and put them in a location that only Yumi and I know about. I also use an encrypted page in OneNote (part the the Microsoft Office Suite) on my computer.
3. I use a false email for websites that ask for your email address when they clearly have no need for it. Examples include newspaper and magazine websites and casual game playing websites. Most websites like this accept the email address "a@b.com".
4. Never trust a 3rd party with your important passwords (webmail, banking, medical etc.)

Two Brazilians

Early this morning representatives of the Department of Defense briefed the President Of The United States (POTUS)concerning a tragic overnight event in Iraq.

They told President Obama that two (2)Brazilian soldiers had been killed in combat operations.

To everyone’s surprise, all the color drained from Obama’s face. Visibly shaken, he
then collapsed onto his desk, his head buried in his hands and he seemed to be almost in tears.

He finally seemed able to compose himself, raised his head and asked “Just how many
is a Brazilian?”

This is not at all surprising folks since he obviously has no concept of a Billion or
a Trillion either.

US Debt Clock

Take a peek at this sobering website.
There are a myriad of numbers, most of them red.
Where should we be placing our priorities in terms of legislation? I don't expect anyone to answer, but it's a question we should be thinking about.

Church donation page

This is the link for the churches website to donate money to the welfare system to help get money to Haiti. I do not see a way to specifically ask that our donation go to that specific effort, but I can imagine that with an influx of donations, a good part of it will go to the Haiti earthquake victims. Has anyone heard what the church is currently doing to help with the effort? I am sure they are helping...but since they rarely toot their horn about their efforts or donations, I don't know but would be interested in hearing about their efforts. My prayers are with the people of Haiti. I wish I knew what more I could do.

On the lighter side...

We rarely discuss films or books on our blog.

So, I saw Avatar, The Young Victoria, and Paranormal Activity over the holiday break.

I didn't see Avatar in the new 3-day format although I am tempted to go see it again and

bare wearing the glasses that always annoy me terribly. I thought it was a weaving of a lot of successful film formulas and jumbled themes. No matter though, the story took a back seat to the special effects, spectacular visuals, and the shear entertainment of the action. I really recommend it.

The Young Victoria was the opposite. No action. Boring, beautiful, staid English countryside and a true story that was better history than reading a book! A lot of history info in two hours that I would never bother myself to read. I thought of our Belgian half of the family since Belgian royalty was important to the plot.

Paranormal Activity was fun and scary along the lines of the Blair Witch Project. The victims filmed nearly every thing as they tried to solve their haunting by a demon themselves. It was silly often enough, but it kept me entertained.

I also read the New York Times bestseller The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. I finally chose to read something in defense of the existence of God. It was interesting on two fronts: the defense of the belief in a God and the defense of Christianity as the single best option among all religions. For me to buy into his general defense, it was necessary that he state plainly and defend his belief that Christianity is superior to other world religions. Inherent in Christianity, true Christianity that has not been watered down, is the underlying notion of a single correct way to heaven, salvation, and progression; Christianity claims that title. Too often that view is kicked aside and it is basic to the very notion of atonement which is the core of Christianity even beyond the notion of resurrection. Never once did the author mention Mormonism or which of all Christian Denomination might be correct, and that was a big hole in his argument. If Christianity is indeed the only true enchilada, then one of those enchilada recipes has to be the best, or the original, or the favored one, the real one. Beyond that, his defense of God didn't work very effectively for me. It wasn't convincing at all.

I also restarted and continued my efforts to read about Mesopotamia. The book is simply entitled 'Mesopotamia' and is a translation from the French. I would prefer to try to read it in the French but have the English and don't want to spend the $ even if I can find it in French.

Mesopotamia is endless fascinating and is the root of western civilization.

Two years ago I read "The Road" and the film is finally out so I'll go see that soon too.

What about you all? What do you recommend?

Conservatives Outnumber Liberals

This has been the case for many, many years I believe.
Which brings up the question: Why don't conservatives win consistently election after election?
There are many theories, but here is mine.
Moderates are mostly apolitical, i.e., they don't care that much about politics, but they will vote when one or the other party makes a clear case for their agenda. Democrats are quite good at that (whether they govern in accordance with that agenda or not is another topic).
When moderates vote with liberals we generally get narrow or solid Democrat victories in national and presidential elections (Clinton, Obama). When moderates vote with conservatives we generally get solid or landslide Republican victories (Reagan, Bush I). When moderates split or don't show up, we get narrow Republican victories (e.g., Bush II vs Gore, Kerry).
In short, it essential for Democrats more than Republicans to convince moderates to side with them. Reagan and Newt Gingrich were able to clearly articulate a positive agenda and they won big. Obama articulated a positive message (although not very detailed) and had a somewhat solid victory, but no landslide. Moderates are a fickle group and they change as easily as the weather, but as it stands now, they appear to be turning away from the Democrat agenda, which is leading many to predict substantial Democrat losses in fall elections.

Champs....A....gain!

I'm still on cloud 9! I wore all my BSU stuff to school today and all the BYU and Utah kids were happy for me but disappointed!

Go Broncos! The defense was phe-nom-enal!

"Twenty Ten" it is then!

See article....let's get this right folks! Happy "Twenty Ten" every one!