Is The Democratic Party Responsible For 9/11?

No, not Bill Clinton. The Democratic party of Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson.

The party that said it was okay to "meddle" in the affairs of other countries. The party that said,

The fact of the matter is that we, this generation of Americans, are the first generation of our country ever to be involved in affairs around the globe. From the beginning of this country, from the days of Washington, until the Second World War, this country lived an isolated existence. Through most of our history we were an unaligned country, an uncommitted nation, a neutralist nation. We were by statute as well as by desire. We had believed that we could live behind our two oceans in safety and prosperity in a comfortable distance from the rest of the world...

...We find ourselves entangled with apparently unanswerable problems in unpronounceable places. We discover that our enemy in one decade is our ally the next. We find ourselves committed to governments whose actions we cannot often approve, assisting societies with principles very different from our own...

...We cannot return to the day of the sailing schooner or the covered wagon, even if we wished. And if this Nation is to survive and succeed in the real world of today, we must acknowledge the realities of the world.

Today, Democrats, and others like Ron Paul, Osama bin Laden, and Jeremiah Wright, say that the terrorists attack us because we have meddled in their affairs. We have bases in their countries, we support Israel too much, etc. Basically, it's our own fault that they don't like us, and if we would just stop all the meddling then they would leave us alone.

That meddling started with Democrats half a century ago.

Biofuels Letter in Deseret News

I sent in a shortened version of my latest biofuels post as a letter to the editor in the Deseret News and it was published last Saturday. Here's the link, and here's the text:

Last November, Jean Ziegler — the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food — called for a five-year ban on biofuel production, stating that diverting corn, wheat and sugar crops to the biofuel industry would cause huge price increases in foods that are staples of the world diet. He even went so far as calling it a crime against humanity. What did the United States do in the face of these warnings? It mandated huge increases in biofuels, of course.

We can already see the consequences of that action. According to the World Food Program, biofuel production is largely to blame for "newly hungry" people in Latin America, Africa and Asia and for food riots in Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco.

Corn is so widely used that higher corn prices mean higher prices for just about everything else from meat, eggs and dairy products to hops, malting barley and vegetables.

A child dies from hunger every five seconds. Our country's politicians and environmental activists just made it harder and more expensive to save them.

There were also some interesting comments to the letter, so I'll post them here as well:

Non food stock | 6:06 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Research at USU under a USTAR grant is underway that will derive biofuel from aglae rather than traditional food stock. This is the direction that biofuels should take.

Casey | 6:14 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Cameron - children are acceptable collateral damage in the environmental movement. How many have died of malaria since the ban on ddt? True to their character, they will accept NO responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Biofuels are the latest "feel good" solution our problems. Don't expect anything to change soon. Unfortunately

michaelh | 6:19 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
I agree we must stop this bio-fuel madness! This was tried during the Carter administration. It failed then and it is failing now. There is plenty of oil we are not running out we just need to get the madcap insane global warming nut jobs out of the way. They are going to cause a famine and the deaths of millions of people. When a person is insane to the point of being dangerous to himself and society they need to be locked up in a mental hospital. We need to stop being silent and resist the legislation being suggested by the enviro-insane.
Comments continue below

Timj | 6:21 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Environmental activists? Excuse me?
Don't blame the biofuel problem on environmentalists. Blame it on politicians, farmers, and gullibles.
None of the environmentalists I know think that turning corn into fuel is a good idea. In fact, many are very vocal about it being a bad idea.
Schweitzer | 7:19 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008

Exactly so. The problem with biofuels is, it takes fuel for the body, and turns it into fuel to drag Main Street with. There may be a few exceptions, where the agricultural source of the biofuel is currently inedible and going to waste, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule.

liberal larry | 7:34 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
The writer is correct that the production of befouls is distorting the price of global food commodities. In fact, almost all commodities are increasing in price because of the increasing consumption of nations like China and India. This is a natural out growth of the planets over population, there will continue to be a competition for the worlds scarce resourses, you better get used to it because there are limited amounts of the earth's oil, water, precious metals, wilderness etc. and no glimpse of population control in sight.

Lionheart | 8:07 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Unintended consequences. Why couldn't this have been predicted. Biofuels take land, water and the net result is not a savings in fuel. The government has been paying the agribusiness to grow these crops and now we are going to have to pay them not to grow them. There are better solutions to the fuel problem.

Dave | 8:50 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
It seems every time politicians make change, things get worse.

Spanish Fark | 9:16 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Dont need to use carn. My truck runs on beer from the Walmarts. At last somebody spells rapporteur right! About time.

bushbot | 10:37 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
This was a really good letter.... see this is the kind of thing that happens when you start going against the laws of nature and trying to make same sex marriage acceptable... everything gets turned upside down: food as fuel, equal rights for animals... where does it all end ?
@liberal larry:no glimpse of population control in sight? You liberals are truly scary.... and you accuse conservatives of being Nazis.

Casey | 10:45 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Larry - I thought that increased consumption in China and India was because of increased economic freedom. People now can afford food instead of starving, and they are choosing to eat. If the government in China would let them they might even choose to have more than 1 child (how can they be contributing to overpopulation with a policy like that?) Economic freedom therefore is not a good thing in the context you seem to be coming from. It means people have more and therefore can conume more. I could be wrong, but that's the way it looks from here.

TeddyR | 10:49 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Casey&Michaelh;
You guys are poorly informed; as stated above, every environmentalist I know is AGAINST food to fuel biofuels projects. Apparently, any old stick is suitable to bash and "environazi" with, whether it's accurate or not.

BBKing | 10:50 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Casey is right on the money. Literally tens of millions of people have died from Malaria primarily based on what is now considered faulty research. In any case, we placed a greater premium on birds than people. Period.

Timj, this movement for biofuels was 100% started by the environmentalist crowd. To say otherwise is to ask us to believe the sun doesn't rise in the morning. I remember friends in Utah country trying to get rid of the fuel additive. All but impossible and founght tooth and nail by EPA and their environmental buddies.

You mention the farmers and politicians, you are correct. What is beginning to happen is big business is learning they can make trillions off of all this global warming junk. Literally, we just outlawed the light bulb. How freaking stupid is that?! No more incandecent lightbulbs by 2014 or something. Holy freaking cow!

The UN estimates that in order to stop "Global Warming" it will cost at least $20 trillion. So yes, farmers are buying politicians so they can get a cut of the $20 trillion.

If you folks would use real science we could begin to solve this. No more junk science please.

John | 11:19 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Corn is not a source of energy. It requires energy to turn it into a biofuel. How stupid are we going to get?

Crude IS a source of energy. Natural gas is a source of energy. There is really nothing else on this planet that is a viable alternative for our transportation. Every other solution that people offer, requires another source of energy, to create.

Turn out the lights, the party is over.

Lionheart | 11:51 a.m. Mar. 15, 2008
To John: The party is not over, pressure, such as the situation in fuel and world distribution is what brings about immense change. Expect something new and wonderful to solve the problem. Have more trust in human consciousness.

liberal larry | 12:27 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
It's common knowledge that biofuels are not working well yet, but they may be more realistic when other organic wastes like grasses and wood chips are used to produce fuel. To blame "radical environmentalists" for this is silly. President Bush is one of the leading proponents of ethanol, and he is hardly an environmentalist.

As third world nations become more consumptive, like us Americans, food, and all other commodities will become more expensive. The pie is only so big, the more people we have, the smaller each piece will be.

Did I call conservatives Nazis? I don't think so, at least not recently

RayCharles | 1:40 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
BBKing;
Perhaps you can list what environmentalist organizations (whose websites we can consult) are pushing biofuels? Your bald assertions aren't making it.
Your comments about DDT are a red flag to any knowledgeable person; it's bunk generated by rightwing radio. DDT laws have always had an "out" clause allowing usage to control mosquitos. Mexico has never stopped using DDT, and has a growing malaria problem. Cite the "faulty research" about DDT; the whole DDT issue alerted people to how chickens come home to roost, if you'll pardon an avian pun. The long-lived toxins that enter the food chain don't only affect pelicans, they wind up in other species at the top of the food chain, including humans.
At any rate, your comments show that you are merely a medium of long-debunked, completely unscientific ravings.

bushbot | 3:05 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
@LL : just wondering what you have in mind when you write about "population control" Sounds pretty ominous

Paul | 4:32 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
I guess, in my view, higher prices are just too bad. People in the US are freezing, from lack of heating oil. We have to get free handouts from Venzuela. What is wrong with converting food grown in the US into fuel for US consumption (assuming there is an advantage to do so)? Starvation in Latin America, Asia, and Africa is something that will always occur, given human's rate of reproduction, so we can only do what we can. I would probably get a bit ticked off if the US Government (or the UN) decided it could and should dictate how I use food I grew (again, assuming I was a farmer). Then again, given the amount of subsidies farmers get, maybe the Government should have a say...

liberal larry | 4:33 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
A lot of factors reduce reproduction rates, I was thinking in terms of availability to free birth control, general resources education for women and girls, monetary incentives to have fewer children. There are lots of ways to have people voluntarily limit the number of kids they have.

bushbot | 5:16 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
From what I have read about demographic trends the world's population is expected to peak between 2050- 2080 (I can't remember exactly) I do know that even in many historically high reproductive areas the trend is to smaller families.
I believe that lower reproductive rates are more of a threat to stability than higher reproduction .... obviously someone has to pay the overhead costs of Government and infrastructure. I have yet to see a Government spending program ever go away. Once they are instituted they are nearly impossible to end ( e.g. social security)
I know one thing... the people having lots of children will be the ones determining where Society heads in the future.

Lew Jeppson | 6:54 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
If the United States government had not funded the interstates in the 1950s, the private networks of electric interurban railways (I bet nobody here knows what I'm talking about) would have survived, thrived and expanded. We would have compact housing and compact communities along them. We would have no global warming and no need for biofuels. A look backward can clue us for the route ahead.

Lionheart | 8:58 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Dear Lew:

Lots of us don't want to live in human coops and will find a way to escape that grim possibility, therefore, freedom to roam the planet and beyond has led to many advances in human history.

2penniesandchange | 9:53 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Lew,
I'm from Los Angeles, and know EXACTLY what your talking about! Red Car? Yes, we had that once. But the freeways got built by car company subsidies, and the transport of choice switched to cars and not electric trains. Now the Angeleno's are paying the price, while the smart ones move to Utah

Stewart | 10:00 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
Grow corn for food, get those nuclear power plants built, and let's get on with plug-in series hybrid cars that in most cases will out perform some of the present models. It will take at least a decade to transition.

Sorry, Lew, you're wrong | 11:40 p.m. Mar. 15, 2008
The decline in private interurban rail began long before before the interstate highways came along.

The Pacific Electric "Red Cars" were being taken out of service in the 1930s, and the Rio Grande Southern had taken their trains off the tracks, replaced by the "Galloping Goose" motor railcars. When the US got into WWII, logistics experts discovered that passenger rail miles were only HALF of what they had been at the end of WWI. 40 percent of the country's passenger railway cars had been burned and their iron parts cut up for scrap.

It was significantly less expensive to switch to buses (using public roadways between cities) than to continue maintaining (and paying taxes on) sole-use rail right-of-ways. It's also more versatile and rapidly modifiable.

In fact, it was this decline in rail capacity which prompted the interstate highways in the first place!

The only interurban commuter rail lines which thrived were those with high numbers of "fixed" commuters on the East Coast, and only those with overhead catenary wires to power the trains (no self-motive interurban commuter train or trolley was operating in the US between 1965 and 1989).

Hope the Front Runner is a success!

Barack Obama: Race in America

Here's the transcript.

Here's a vid:

Being a Mormon Blogger is Cool

In my two years of blogging I've written about some fairly controversial things like abortion, Iraq, and global warming. But by far the reason most people wind up here is because I'm a Mormon. Even old posts will attract new visitors.

For instance, I just got a comment on a post from last September,

you mormon folks sure are funny! by the way, you're missing out... coffee is soooo good...

I still get hits to my post on Senator Larry Craig, all brought here by Google searches of "Larry Craig Mormon", "Is Larry Craig Mormon", "Sen Craig Mormon" or some other derivation. (He's not.)

I get hits for people googling "nancy pelosi mormon" and "rosi o'donnell mormon" too.(Not that I'm aware of.)

But by far the biggest post I've written to date has been the American Idolist David Archuleta singing Imagine. I've had literally thousands of visits to that post, mostly from people wondering if he's Mormon. (He's from Utah, so that's probably why people are wondering. The answer: I don't know. I did get this comment to the post though, "this kid is mormon he must hate black people". Nice.)

So, here's a big welcome to all you Mormon googlers. Enjoy your visit.

Glenn Beck, Think Progress, Barack Obama & the Antichrist

Last week Glenn Beck started talking about something he said on his TV show that was picked up and criticized by the Think Progress blog. He's spent the last few days of his radio show poking fun at the blogging media "news" circle. Here's the breakdown:

Think Progress posted a video of Glenn Beck asking Pastor John Hagee, "Odds that Barack Obama is the Antichrist?" Here's the rest of the story, according to Beck,

Well, here's the best part, because what picked this up originally was, I don't even know, Think Progress. Think Progress, yes. Let's Think Progress. Do you know Progressive has "Progress" in it? It must be good. Think Progress is the first that picked this up on the blog. They're like, Glenn Beck thinks that maybe Media Matters then picked up the story and put a Glenn Beck think maybe and then they cut and pasted and put it in the TelePrompTer for Keith Olbermann: Glenn Beck thinks maybe he's the worst person in the world! Then Media Matters reported that Keith Olbermann reported the story that Media Matters reported that Keith Olbermann should report. So if they could just now get Media Matters to alert Think Progress and so Think Progress could report that Media Matters reported that Keith Olbermann reported what Media Matters reported that Think Progress reported originally, it would be a feedback loop that would never end and everything would be perfect in the world.

This is actually my biggest complaint with "New Media" like blogging. Beck calling it a "feedback loop" is quite right in many cases. For all our talk of the "liberal media" or "corporate media" brainwashing the public and writing ill-sourced, bogus news stories, that's often exactly what happens on blogs. Then we all eat it up and let it feed our already existing prejudices. For example, look at these comments on the Think Progress "story":

• Glenn Beck and John Hagee need to be disappeared. They are a plague to rational thinkers everywhere.
Comment by jdogg333 — March 4, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Recommend (2) | Report Abuse


• We know from hard evidence that George W. Bush is the anti-christ
Comment by nofltwlt — March 4, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Recommend (3) | Report Abuse


• You’ve gotta be kidding me. We need to write more letters to CNNHN about this guy.
Comment by tnrc75 — March 4, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
Recommend (4) | Report Abuse


• As opposed to the grinning , braying , stupid @$#! that has fouled the Oval Office and our reputation throughout the world , Glenn Speck(of @$#!) ?
@$#! friggin’ @$#! ; what exactly is it that these morons actually see in Chimpy the Wonder Monkey that all others are insignificant at best , and make them laughably and hysterically view a moronic , colossal absolute FAILURE as the 2nd Coming ?
Comment by MCMetal

None of these people even watch Glenn Beck. They just read the little blog post and watched Keith Olbermann's rant and furiously typed their scathing insults in the comment box. But did any one of them actually stop and think for even a half second before damaging their keyboards with their unbridled ferocity? It doesn't appear so. Although there was one comment, the very last of 100+ comments to the post, that injected an opposing view,

The same thing could be said for every single one of you hypocritical numbnuts every time you call George Bush “Satan, the Anti-Christ” or whatever else you can come up with to insult someone. Am I really the only person who noticed that Glenn was LAUGHING as he asked the question? Am I the only person here with the intellectual honesty to admit that Beck WAS NOT BEING SERIOUS when he asked it? AM I THE ONLY PERSON HERE WHO SAW IT IN CONTEXT AND HEARD HIM JOKE ABOUT IT IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS, HEARD HIM PREDICT THAT IDIOTS LIKE THE PEOPLE HERE WOULD TAKE IT OUT OF CONTEXT AND POST IT AS IF HE WAS BEING SERIOUS!
Comment by ISSHunter

So what was Glenn Beck doing asking this kind of question? Listeners to the show will remember a segment a few days previous where Beck talked about some recent statements from George Clooney and Angelina Jolie that he thought showed a lot of integrity and open mindedness. At the end of the segment he summed it up by saying,

"But everybody on both sides have either deified their candidates and made it absolutely right on everything and it's that way or it's nothing, or they've taken the other side and they've looked at the other candidate and said they must be the antichrist. "Oh, George Bush is the most evil guy ever to be in the presidency." And now people are doing exactly what they did to Bill Clinton. I mean, I'm getting the mail that, you know, Barack Obama is the antichrist. Come on.

When we strike the reasonable balance and say, okay, I can completely disagree with this guy's policies but you know what, this part over here is pretty decent or this part over here, we may actually have a chance to be able to make some real progress."

Beck's getting letters and emails from people warning him that Barack Obama is the Antichrist, and he thinks that's stupid. Then a few days later he's got this right wing Pastor on his show so he jokingly asks what he characterized as "a light hearted question belittling those who believe every new politician on the scene that doesn’t agree with them is the antichrist." He's making fun of the nutjobs people! Ironically, it's the same nutjobs that the Think Progress/Media Matters/Keith Olbermann's of the world make fun of.

But these groups are so enraged, so ideologically hateful, that they can't even see that.

Biofuels Kill Children

Last November I wrote about Congress's bill which pushed new mandates for biofuel production. I called it an "Environmental Kneejerk Disaster". Why did I call it that? Because politicians and activists, in a "we've got to do something!" response to global warming's dire predictions, decided that biofuels was the way to go. But back in October 2007 Jean Ziegler called for a 5 year ban on biofuel production, stating that diverting corn, wheat, and sugar crops to the biofuel industry would cause huge price increases in foods that are staples in the world diet. He said,

“It is a crime against humanity to convert agricultural productive soil into soil which produces food stuff that will be burned into biofuel.”

What did the US do in the face of these warnings? Why, they mandated huge increases in biofuels of course.

We can already see the consequences of that action. Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program was reported to have said recently that there are "newly hungry people" in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and that there have been food riots in Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco. And why are they hungry and rioting? Because food prices are skyrocketing. According to Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development,

"Although we are coming off a record corn harvest, the 2008 new-crop corn harvest is more than $5.00 per bushel. The new-crop soybean futures price is more than $12.50 per bushel. In contrast to the 1995/96 high price period, the markets today are not indicating that these record prices are temporary. Farmers can sell their 2009 and 2010 crops for about the same price...

Crop prices at these levels dramatically increase the cost of raising hogs, finishing cattle, and producing milk and eggs. These costs will have to be passed on to consumers through higher retail prices for meat, eggs, and dairy products to keep livestock producers in business. Competition for land between specialty crops, oilseeds, and food and feed grains will also increase the prices of other products such as hops, malting barley, beans, and vegetables. Consequently, we should expect to see increased food prices over the next year or two as these cost increases are passed on to consumers."

These higher prices especially affect the poor, both here and abroad. They already spend a significant portion of their income on food, and have less flexibility to respond to higher costs. People are starving, and will continue to starve, largely because this country's politicians and environmental activists ignored reality, ignored economics, and pushed for this "solution" to global warming.

Jesus the Christ

One of my favorite books is "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage. I recently discovered that the LDS Church has a downloadable audio file of it on their website, so I put it on cd and have been listening to it on my commute each day. The website can be found here, and you can download the entire book at once, or individual chapters. (Two additional notes of interest, www.lds.org has mountains of audio files on its website, including scriptures, the Ensign magazine, General Conference talks, and even hymns. Also, "Jesus the Christ" is in the widget on my sidebar called "random books from my library". Click on the link to see the actual book. I also highly recommend two other books by James Talmage, "Articles of Faith" and "The Great Apostasy".)

I'd been meaning to write this post about my audio file discovery for about a week now, and in the meantime the Church has started a new website called JesusChrist.lds.org that has some great content. Also, the March edition of the Church's monthly magazine, "The Ensign", is dedicated to articles on the Savior.

Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, Ho!

David Archuleta - Imagine

Was The "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" Actually, Well, Right?

During the Clinton scandals of the late 90's Hillary Clinton offered a now famous quote attacking her attackers. She said it was all part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" out to get her and her husband. The accusations of sexual misconduct turned out, of course, to be correct. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Republican ire towards the Clintons. By the time President Clinton's term ended, he had become such a lightening rod that Al Gore purposely distanced himself from him during Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. It's likely that as Vice President, Gore's inability to use his president's incumbency on the campaign trail played a large part in his defeat.

Now Hillary is running for president. Much of the Clinton animosity has dissipated since Bill was in office, and he has been able to be much more involved in Hillary's campaign than he was in Gore's. The results have been interesting.

Democrats are now saying the same things about the Clintons that Republicans were saying about them throughout the 90's.

The NY Times recently published an article highlighting a somewhat shady business deal involving the Clintons and a foreign country. When responding to the Clinton's attacks on his record, Clinton's primary opponent was quoted as saying, "It's important to maintain some -- you know, level of honesty." A post on a local Democratic blog contained a comment from an Obama supporter saying, "now I know how Republicans feel." The NY Times' blog has a post about the Clinton's increasingly emotional and desperate antics. And, finally, an Obama supporter I have had some interaction with became so disgusted with the Clinton campaign he vowed not to vote at all if Hillary gained the nomination over Obama.

The "right wing" of the Republican Party has taken a lot of flak in the years since Clinton left office, while at the same time President Clinton's legacy began to strengthen as the animosity and angst of his presidency faded over the years.

But now they're back, and so are the same old criticisms. Only this time, it's the Democrats who are leveling them.

TDIH

Feb. 22, 1732 George Washington, the first President of the United States, is born in Virginia. He served two terms, from 1789-1797, and died Dec. 14th 1799.

Feb. 22, 1980: In a stunning upset, the United States Olympic hockey team defeats the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y., 4-to-3. The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.

Utah Education Issues

I noticed the Utah Education Issues blog last fall during the school voucher referendum. It's written by a teacher and is quite insightful. I've been checking in for a few months now and it's got some really good stuff; I appreciate the "from the trenches" point of view on education issues in the state.

Bankers Are Morons

For the uninitiated, here's a quick recap of how a builder gets that house built.

First, a construction loan is applied for and received. Those funds are specifically for the cost of building the house; in other words, they are supposed to pay the sub contractors for their work.

The actual process of getting the funds from the construction loan can vary depending on the bank. Some banks will wire money to the builder's bank account according to the percentage of completion of the house. Some banks require that the builder fax in a disbursement request with the sub contractor bills attached, and then they wire the money to the builder.

The only smart one of the bunch will require copies of the bills, and then write the checks themselves.

When banks write the checks themselves, they are assured that the sub-contractors are paid. However, during the heady times of the housing boom, many banks were very lax with their construction loans. Simply wiring money to the builder is in essence an honor system, leaving the banker to trust that the builder will use the money appropriately. The problem is that many builders did not. There's payroll to meet, new projects to acquire, and countless other expenses that need paying for. Money for one project is used for a project somewhere else, always with the intention that it will be paid back with funds from yet other projects. As long as the houses get built, nobody cares.

That is, until the market slows. Then the money from closings dries up and can't be used to keep the cash flowing. Building projects in turn slow down as subs aren't paid. Lien notices are filed on multiple properties, making it harder to close, and alerting the now nervous bankers to what they should have known all along. Builders are left with what could be millions of dollars of property, but little to no cash to finish building.

The bankers are angry that the builder would divert money from their project to use somewhere else. They threaten to call the loan due and take over the property; which of course they really don't want to do. Bankers are in the business of loaning money, not building condos. So instead they tighten up controls and make it harder for builders to get access to more money. But the bank might as well take the property, because by withholding cash they make it next to impossible for the builder to finish the job.

Moral of the story- bankers are morons.

Music Suggestions

Here's a couple of Mark and Geoffrey's song suggestions:

You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma

This is just good country music...



Tom Waits




Crosby, Stills & Nash



Spock's Beard



Bobby Darin



Gladys Knight

Barack Obama Like JFK?

Barack Obama is a very interesting candidate for president. He handily won Utah's primary, and with conservatives none too pleased with the remaining Republican candidates, many have expressed willingness to turn Utah blue.

He is a great speaker. His inspiring manner, his "Audacity of Hope", and his youth have all combined to make him a very strong challenger to Hillary Clinton's "inevitable" campaign.

Even Senator Ted Kennedy endorsed him. Not only endorsed him, but did so emphatically while comparing him to JFK. He is inspiring like Kennedy, appeals to young and old alike like Kennedy, and..... is a Democrat like Kennedy.

Except that he really isn't.

Democrats of Kennedy's day would have supported the war in Iraq.

JFK spoke out about the United State's new, changing role in world politics. He told us to face reality when dealing with foreign countries, and that it would require us to be involved with leaders we may not like, with governments we might not agree with, in conflicts that might seem never-ending.

Senator Joseph Lieberman continued this Democratic tradition, and was thrown out of the party for his efforts. Were Senator Obama to truly follow in JFK's footsteps, he'd get thrown out too.

So before we anoint him as the "Camelot Redux", let us, as President Kennedy said, face reality and realize that the Democratic Party ain't what it used to be.

Tagged - Songs

I've never been tagged before, so I'm not entirely sure how this works. But thanks Ash. Here are a few of my favorite songs:

Tom Petty - Honey Bee

REM - Be Mine

Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, etc - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Mana - Como Dueles En Los Labios

Soledad y Andres Calamaro - I don't know the name of this song, but these two are at the top of my Spanish favorites list, and they did a duet live!

Class Size Reduction Ideas

With the release of the Class Size Reduction (CSR) audit report which I wrote about here and here, the Utah Taxpayers Association (UTA) in its January newsletter wrote a short criticism of CSR efforts in Utah. They highlight that Utah's demographics - lots of kids, with more on the way - coupled with studies showing class sizes need to be at least as small as 15 (Utah is currently at 26), make class size reduction efforts pointless. They estimate that it will cost almost $900 million in additional, ongoing money to hire enough teachers to reach the 15 benchmark, and another $4 billion to buy land and build additional schools. The costs are staggering. Because of this, they posit that the CSR program should be scrapped with the money then being spent on other education programs like higher teacher salaries.

The keystone of this argument is that, according to the UTA, studies show that only by reaching class sizes of 15 is there any noticeable increase in student achievement. So I set out to verify the claim.

The National Education Association's (NEA) website on class size makes it very clear that reaching 15 is the goal. It touts studies and statistics showing the effectiveness of having class sizes at 15, and supports petitioning of legislators to fund this goal. The website of utah's chapter of the NEA, the Utah Education Association, does not specifically address class sizes other than to say it supports funding and lobbying for smaller classrooms.

Google offers some more information. It led me to a US Department of Education publication which contains a compilation and analysis of class size studies. This in turn led me to what seems to be the seminal study of class size reduction efforts: Tennessee's Project STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio). This study compared student achievement for k-3 graders in class sizes of 13-17 with classrooms of 22-25 and 22-25 with a teaching aide. The smaller classrooms showed significant improvement at all levels (Also of note was that the larger classrooms with a teacher aide did not show much improvement.). It also showed that low income and minority students got a big boost from the smaller class sizes, which tapered out after a couple of years.

Project STAR seems to prove, or at least provide a strong basis for, what seems intuitive - that smaller class sizes are better. But the Taxpayers Association does not directly dispute that. Their criticism is that it would simply cost too much to reduce class sizes, and that the money is more efficiently spent elsewhere.

How the Tennessee study does apply to UTA's argument, though, is that by focusing CSR monies to the first few grades, a lasting effect can be achieved, even after the student returns to the larger classes. This effect diminishes each year, but lasts until at least the 8th grade. Also important is that traditionally poor performing students get a big boost from the early class size reduction. And while 15 seemed to be the goal, anything under 20 netted significant results, especially for students coming from class sizes of 25+, as Utah's are.

Based on this knowledge, my recommendation for Utah's CSR funding program would be to continue it, but to streamline it so that it reaps the most bang for the buck. All initial funding should go towards K-3rd grade classroom reduction, specifically in at-risk and low scoring districts. This way, the students who stand to gain the most are ensured of receiving the CSR money. Districts should apply for the money, with a clear plan demonstrating their need. Funds also should be required to be used for hiring teachers, and not for teacher aides.

The drawback to this strategy is that, depending on the funding requirements for these specific districts, there very well may be districts that receive no CSR funding at all. However, the current program netted two teachers over seven years, and many districts had to use non-CSR money just to keep on the teachers hired in previous years. Clearly, the program as presently constituted is not working, and simply funding it sufficiently for everyone is just not financially feasible. Let's add to our current levels of CSR funding at a reasonable pace, and let's use it efficiently so that children, teachers, and parents actually notice the difference.

And, please, let's keep track of it this time.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon B. Hinckley, the Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of which I am a member, passed away last Sunday evening. Though he was 97 years old, his passing was a surprise for me and my family, as he had been very active during his 13 years as leader of the Church, including all the way up to the days just before his death. He travelled all over the world, and kept a schedule I'm sure I would be unable to match.

He was set apart as Church prophet in 1995, and since that time has overseen much growth and change amongst the Mormons. The Church has grown from 9 million to 13 million members. On September 23, 1995 in a General Relief Society Meeting he read The Family: A Proclamation to the World, an inspired and prophetic pronouncement if ever there was one. LDS temples grew in number from 47 to 124. He announced and instituted the Perpetual Education Fund. And in 2000 he, along with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles released The Living Christ, a testimony and statement on the divinity of the Savior.

President Hinckley was the prophet for most of my adult life so far. He left me with many memories and examples of faith, endurance, eternal optimism, and love. I have enjoyed being able to remember his life and ministry this past week as he has been written about and stories have been shared. He truly is a man I admire and wish to emulate.

There are many great places to learn more about him, the things he was able to accomplish, and the people he made a difference to. The official Church Newsroom has photos and videos. The Deseret News has a great page up with copious articles and commentary. The Salt Lake Tribune also has a great multimedia tribute to President Hinckley. Brigham Young University has an awesome slideshow as well. Also, the Utah blogosphere has a number of posts remembering him, with many personal stories to share. Click on the Bloghive banner in my links area to the right, or click here. An Idaho blogger I recommend, Joel Kennedy, has a nice tribute as well.

So long, President Hinckley. May God be with you till we meet again.

Class Size Reduction Funding In Utah

I recently finished reading the legislative audit report that I wrote about here. To summarize, the audit was requested because for over a decade or so the Legislature has allocated "extra" money to Utah's schools with the express purpose of reducing class size. Utah has consistently ranked near the bottom of the US in classroom size, and this was seen as a way to attack that directly. Tens of millions of dollars have been allocated to schools through this Class Size Reduction (CSR) program, and the Legislature wanted to verify how it had been spent.

The report concludes that, despite some accounting difficulties, 100% of the money was used correctly. 99% of it went towards hiring new teachers. 1% went to pay for things like portable classrooms.

Yet the auditors found that even with those tens of millions of dollars all being spent to reduce class size, mostly by hiring teachers, since 2000 there was a net gain of only two teachers. And Utah still ranks near the bottom in classroom size.

How could this be? There's a couple of reasons. First, while an initial influx of money can be used to hire another teacher, that means that next year's CSR allotment has to be enough to continue paying those new teachers plus even more so that another round of teachers can be hired. In order to continuously reduce class sizes by hiring teachers, the CSR funding would have to increase exponentially each year, and simply put, it hasn't. In some years it wasn't enough to even maintain the new teachers hired in previous years.

Secondly, school enrollment has risen sharply each year; in fact, has beaten the projections in every year covered by the audit report. And while the Legislature is required by Utah code to increase CSR funding in proportion to enrollment growth, it never has.

In short, the auditors found that school districts all spent their CSR money appropriately, and even though the Legislature has increased CSR funding dramatically, it simply hasn't been enough to keep up with rising teacher costs and enrollment growth.

Roe v Wade - Thirty-Five Years

"We women know when it is or is not the right time to bring a child into the world...We act out of compassion when we wait to have a child until the time when we can give it the kind of life every child deserves. We act out of love when we consider what we would be taking away from the child or children we already have if we brought another child into our family now...We women know the truth: That given certain circumstances, abortion is the most morally responsible and loving choice we can make."

-Jean Stewart Berg and Anne Baker

Thirty-Five years ago today the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was a constitutionally protected right. Since that time there have been over 50 million abortions in the United States. Today, though, the yearly number of abortions has fallen to all time lows, with "only" 1.2 million per year. Contrast that with a total of 4 million births each year in the US.

Predictably, the New York Times is worried that the decline in abortions means crime will soon be on the rise.

I have written fairly extensively about abortion. I do not condone it, nor do I believe it should be legal except in the rarest of cases. See here and here for my posts on the topic. They contain the reasons for my view, and a lot of information and statistics, as well as many of the conversations I have had with others.

Legislative Audit Proves Accountants Rule the World...Or Ought To, Anyway

Last year the Utah legislature wanted to find out how school districts were using the extra Class Size Reduction (CSR) money they had been allocated. The auditor's report was released in December and revealed an accounting horror show.

"inconsistencies", "data discrepancies", "data is not fully audited for accuracy", "staff generally accept that older data is less reliable", "need additional time to research".

These are not audit findings anyone wants to see.

And it looks like it's the Legislature's fault. Accourding to the audit report, in 2003 they changed the rules regarding CSR tracking, no longer making it mandatory to account for the extra money seperately. Not surprisingly, most districts then dumped their CSR tracking systems. In the words of the auditors, "These districts' records identify expenditures but do not tie them back to a specific revenue source, increasing the difficulty of determining how CSR funds were used."

Over 60% of the money allocated to reduce class sizes is unaccounted for. Not cool. Granted, the auditors were able to perform some other tests that suggest that the money was used appropriately, but, again, with good accounting we'd know for sure. It's all about the accounting, people.

So next time you see an accountant on the street, pat him/her on the back and say thanks for ensuring your child gets a proper education.

JFK At The Tabernacle

On September 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy spoke at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. See here for info on the Tabernacle, here to listen to the speech, and here for the transcript. The speech is very fascinating to me for a couple of reasons.

First are the nice things he said about Mormons,

"Of all the stories of American pioneers and settlers, none is more inspiring than the Mormon trail. The qualities of the founders of this community are the qualities that we seek in America, the qualities which we like to feel this country has, courage, patience, faith, self-reliance, perseverance, and, above all, an unflagging determination to see the right prevail."

Take that, Mr. Larry "I play one on tv" O'Donnell. :-)

The real meat of this speech is when President Kennedy outlines his reasons for the dramatic change in US foreign policy after WWII. Perhaps this is why the speech resonated with me. I had recently read George Washington's farewell address where he announced he would not be running for a third term as president, and where he outlined a few parting words of advice. One part of this advice was an admonition to stay out of the world's affairs. He explained that the more involved we are with the world, both politically and economically, the more influence the world would have on us, and he warned that this influence could be dangerous to our liberty-the same liberty he had so recently struggled to achieve.

In the years that followed, America for the most part had heeded Washington's admonition. However, after WWII things changed. In the words of President Kennedy,

"The fact of the matter is that we, this generation of Americans, are the first generation of our country ever to be involved in affairs around the globe. From the beginning of this country, from the days of Washington, until the Second World War, this country lived an isolated existence. Through most of our history we were an unaligned country, an uncommitted nation, a neutralist nation. We were by statute as well as by desire. We had believed that we could live behind our two oceans in safety and prosperity in a comfortable distance from the rest of the world."

But why the change? President Kennedy said it was "the inevitable result of growth," and that "no nation so powerful and so dynamic and as rich as our own could hope to live in isolation."

Of course, JFK recognized the difficulties that arise from this change in policy,

"We find ourselves entangled with apparently unanswerable problems in unpronounceable places. We discover that our enemy in one decade is our ally the next. We find ourselves committed to governments whose actions we cannot often approve, assisting societies with principles very different from our own."

These difficulties, President Kennedy said, caused many people to advocate retreat from our influence in the world.

Kennedy's response to the isolationist advocates? Impossible. As much as we may want to retreat from the world and its problems, we cannot. He reminded his audience that it took Brigham Young over 100 days to cross the United States to the Salt Lake Valley, but that it now took 30 minutes for a missile to cross continents. Technology has made the world a much smaller place, which in turn has made isolation a fairy tale,

"We cannot return to the day of the sailing schooner or the covered wagon, even if we wished. And if this Nation is to survive and succeed in the real world of today, we must acknowledge the realities of the world."

This speech was given in 1963, and if anything the world has gotten even smaller in the 45 years since then. Technology has advanced at an incredible rate, making our influence even greater. We have spent much of the last 5 decades knee deep in world affairs, and have received a lot of criticism for it. Still, much like President Kennedy said, because of our size and wealth, the United States is always looked to in times of political and humanitarian crisis. Which begs the question, was JFK right?

Brian Regan - "I Walked on the Moon"

This guy's hilarious, and this is one of my favorites.

Baseball Hall of Fame

Today this year's baseball Hall of Fame votes will be announced. Jayson Stark over at espn.com has a good article on who he voted for and why. Some of what he writes coincides with the baseball-related thoughts I've been having lately.

I got into baseball in the late 80's. I started collecting baseball cards and became stat obsessed. Bo Jackson and Jose Canseco were huge back then; my card collecting buddy chose Bo as his favorite player, and I chose Canseco. In 1988 he batted over .300, was the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season, and had 120+ rbi's. He won the MVP that year, just a couple years after he had won Rookie of the Year. He was the game's current and future star. Sadly, he stopped being the good all around player that I loved and became a home run hitting, .250 batting average getting, injury riddled, defensive liability best known for letting a fly ball bounce off his head and over the fence for a home run. Even more sad was that once his quest for 500 home runs ended because no one would give him a job anymore, he wrote a tell-all book about steroids, naming names and incriminating players all over the game, including himself. In a way it was a fitting end to his career, as he became the face of the steroid era for me, and his book was a big step towards exposing all the secrets.

What this has to do with today's Hall announcement is that Canseco's career ushered in an era of huge offensive numbers. An era that was directly preceded by very low offensive output. Home runs and batting averages were way down when compared to the 90's. When Cecil Fielder hit his 50 and 51st home runs on the last day of the 1990 season, it was the first time since 1977 that a player had reached the milestone. In fact, only one player hit 50 or more home runs between 1965 and 1990. The 80's are the only decade in baseball without a 50 home run hitter. Coincidentally, these are the stars currently up for enshrinement. And they've been waiting a long time.

Jim Rice, Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and Tim Raines come on down!

Their numbers don't compete well with the stars of the next decade. None of them reached 500 home runs. None of them broke single season or all-time hitting records. But compare them with their contemporaries, and they shine. All of them were the stars of their era. And all of them belong in the Hall of Fame.

Kathleen H. Hughes, "Remembering the Lord's Love"

"The Savior's invitation is clear and direct, and importantly for us, it is constant: 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. . . . Take my yoke upon you, . . . for . . . my burden is light'(Matthew 11:28-30). This is the Lord's promise to me and to you."My prayer for each of us is that we will remember when the Lord has spoken His peace to us and has encircled us in the arms of His love. And just as important, will you, if you haven't felt that love for a while, seek to see it and feel it as you go about the ordinary tasks of your life. As you do this, over the days and months and years of your life, the memories of those interactions with the Lord will become sweet gifts to open a second time--or many times--to bolster you when life is difficult." 'Peace I give unto you,' the Lord promises, 'not as the world giveth, give I unto you' (John14:27). Peace. Strength. It is what we long for and what is possible. We only need to turn toward His reaching arms."

Kathleen H. Hughes, "Remembering the Lord's Love," Ensign, Nov. 2006

Perpetual Education Fund

I recently wrote about LDS humanitarian services. One of my favorite programs is the Perpetual Education Fund.

Announced in 2001 by LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley, the program provides education funds to young men and women around the world. It is patterned after the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, which the Church used to help pioneers cross the country to Salt Lake City in the 1800s. Tens of thousands of Church members received the means to come to Utah, many coming all the way from Europe, and once arriving and establishing a home here paid the money back so that it could be used for others in the same manner.

The new PEF works in much the same way. A fund has been established through the continuing donations of members and friends of the Church. These donations are then used to make loans to young people, generally men and women age 18-30, so that they can get an education in a needed field in their home communities. After graduation, and once employment is secured, the loans are paid back so that they can be used again by others.

When this plan was announced, I rejoiced and along with many others immediately donated to the fund. As a missionary in Uruguay I had often wondered at how fortunate I was to be born in a country that offered so many advantages and possibilities, while many of the people I had come to love did not. The Perpetual Education Fund offered a way for these very people to learn a trade that could enable them to leave their poverty behind and change the course of their family for generations.

The fund has been a great success. None of the donated money is used for administrative costs; all goes towards education. Over 10,000 loans have been made, with the average age of the recipient being 26, 45 percent of whom are women. The program not only offers funds for schooling, but also incorporates training in goal setting, budgeting, and managing finances. Before training, the average income for participants is $135 a month. After training, that increases to $580 per month. Initially, the program has been offered in Latin America, the Caribbean, Philippines, and southeast Africa, but ultimately will only be limited by the number of donations.

As the year ends and we reflect on the past and make plans for the future, might I suggest a worthy cause for our money? By following this link, you can donate to the Perpetual Education Fund and help people in some of the most poverty stricken areas of the world.

O Holy Night

Last year I wrote about the origins of one of my favorite Christmas songs, Silent Night. 1b on my list of favorites is O Holy Night, and it too has an interesting history.

It was written in 1847 in France by a poet named Placide Cappeau, when he was asked by the parish priest to write a poem for Christmas mass. December 3, while on a trip to Paris, Cappeau pondered Luke 2 and pictured himself there on the night of the Savior's birth. Using that imagry as inspiration, he wrote "Cantique de Noel". Though only asked to write a poem, Cappeau felt it should have music, so upon arriving in Paris he asked his friend Adolphe Adam to compose a tune.

The song quickly became a Christmas favorite, though it suffered through some persecution as it was banned by the Church because it's author later became a bit of a rebel with strong anti-slavery views, and it's composer was accused of being a Jew. But the song could not be kept down, and continued to be sung and loved by the masses.

It made it's way to America in 1855 when it was translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian minister and journalist who was drawn to the implied abolitionist tone of the song. It was Dwight that translated Cappeau's words to say,

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.

O Holy Night quickly became a favorite in the US.

Of note is that on Christmas Eve 1906 a Canadian (yes, Canadian) inventor in Massachusetts, Reginald Fessenden, played O Holy Night on a violin for the first ever AM radio broadcast. He also read from Luke 2 and played Handel's "Largo" on a phonograph.

O Holy Night is one of my favorite Christmas songs, but one of its weaknesses is its difficulty. It's often sung by those who should have passed on the opportunity, as demonstrated in this hilarious rendition. Granted, that version was done badly on purpose, but I often prefer instrument-only versions to those that are sung. I enjoy listening to the power of the music, and silently supplying the words on my own.


Sources:

hymnsandcarolsforchristmas.com
wikipedia
The Amazing Story of O Holy Night

Logan

In my inbox this morning...



Here's what the youtube user had to say by way of background:

(A Frank Lozano Production) We have had a lot o... (more)
Added: November 09, 2007
(A Frank Lozano Production) We have had a lot of requests to replay the phone call that Pastor Mike shared during our church service on Sunday, Nov. 11th, 2007.

Here you'll find the video clip that was created just for you. We've placed the video on YouTube so that you can watch it and share with family and friends.

Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian Radio station 89.3FM KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Logan called the radio station distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years.

Since airing the audio of the phone call and now the making of the video clip, it has taken on a life of its own. People are forwarding it all over the world. We encourage you to share the love of Christ with anyone you can.

(**Sky Angel is a family safe broadcasting service that is offered on satellite. KSBJ is a local Houston Christian music radio station. Video clip produced with love by www.FrankLozano.com Hear the entire message at www.ValenciaHills.com)

The SAVE Act

I received this letter regarding the SAVE Act from Representative Jim Matheson in my inbox the other day:

Dear Cameron,

Illegal immigration is an issue that has generated a lot of talk, but not enough action. I continue to look for ways for Congress to make progress on this issue. Recently, I signed onto a bill that I believe offers some common sense fixes to the flaws in our current system. The bill is the SAVE Act--Secure America through Verification and Enforcement.

Our current immigration system is broken. I am opposed to amnesty. People who try to play by the rules are often penalized. We don't know the identity or the whereabouts of millions of people who entered illegally. There is no transparency or accountability when people conduct business under the table.

I have long supported strong border enforcement, together with a viable guest worker program. I do not support amnesty. The SAVE Act's approach to combating illegal immigration has been endorsed by border security advocacy groups because of its strict emphasis on border security, employer verification and enforcement. Specifically the bill:

-Increases the number of Border Patrol agents by 8,000

-Creates a pilot program to increase aerial surveillance, satellite and equipment sharing between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense

-Increases cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICW) and state and local law enforcement

-Provides employers with an inexpensive, quick and accurate way to verify employee eligibility

I recognize that many Utah businesses rely on immigrant workers and that an accountable guest worker program in which everyone plays by the same rules is essential. Currently, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses Web Basic Pilot or E-verify. Here's a description. Employers who participate submit information, including a Social Security number, over a secure connection to the Internet. If it checks out, the employer is notified. The system has strengths and weaknesses and improvements are being evaluated.

I will continue to be an advocate for immigration reform that addresses these important areas.


Sincerely,

Jim Matheson
U.S. Representative
2nd District of Utah

Here's the text of the bill, which was introduced to the House by Rep. Heath Shuler. You can follow its progress at this website, which also links to other versions of the bill.

It seems to be very much an enforcement-laden bill, beefing up border security and eliminating much of the lawlessness that currently exists with illegal immigration. It would reduce the ability of illegal immigrants to use stolen or bogus social security numbers, and provide employers with a simple way to verify the work status of potential and current employees.

Enforcement, or the lack thereof, is what caused the last round of immigration reform to fail. Opponents worried that it amounted to nothing more than amnesty without fixing the problems that cause illegal immigration in the first place. "Enforcement First" was a standby of immigration reform advocates. So this bill seems to be in response to that call to action.

However, "Enforcement First" necessarily implies that there is more to do. Which seems to be Albert Ruiz's point in his NY Daily News column. He comments on a letter sent from the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform to Congress and explains,

The SAVE Act, among other measures, imposes mandatory electronic employment eligibility verification. It will screen out the undocumented farm labor force, but as the coalition points out, it does not address the question of who will take their place.

The reason is clear: Contrary to anti-immigration rhetoric, there are no throngs of domestic workers lining up at the farm gates to take over the jobs the undocumented have performed for years.

It's a very good point, and one that emphasizes the importance of remembering that enforcement can only be a first step. Once existing laws are consistently enforced, it is very likely that much of the US labor force will disappear.

If the SAVE Act is successful, the next question for Congress to answer is, what now?

The Screwtape Letters

I finished up reading the Screwtape Letters a while back, and thought I'd post a few excerpts. It's written by CS Lewis and is a satirical compilation of letters written by a devil named Screwtape to a field tempter offering advice on how best to tempt humankind. It's a really cool book, and I recommend it to all. Here are the excerpts:

He has balanced the love of change in them with a love of permanence. He has contrived to gratify both tastes together in the very world He has made, by that union of change and permanence which we call Rhythm. He gives them seasons, each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always felt as a novelty yet always as the recurrence of an immemorial theme.

The game is to have them all running about with fire extinguishers whenever there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under...Cruel ages are put on their guard against Sentimentality, feckless and idle ones against Respectability, lecherous ones against Puritanism; and whenever all men are really hastening to be slaves or tyrants we make Liberalism the prime bogey.

The grand problem is that of "Unselfishness." Note, once again, the admirable work of our Philological Arm in substituting the negative unselfishness for the Enemy's positive Charity.

Don't forget to use the "Heads I win, tails you lose" argument. If the thing he prays for doesn't happen, then that is one more proof that petitionary prayers don't work; if it does happen, he will of course, be able to see some of the physical causes which led up to it, and "therefore it would have happened anyway." Thus a granted prayer become just as good a proof as a denied one that prayers are ineffective.

The long, dull, monotonous years of middle aged prosperity or middle aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere. The routine of adversity...provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition. If, on the other hand, the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him.

He did not create the humans - He did not become one of them and die among them by torture - in order to produce candidates for Limbo, "failed" humans. He wanted to make Saints; gods; things like Himself.

Larry O'Donnell on Mormons and Mitt Romney

I haven't had a chance to write down any thoughts on Mitt Romney's speech, but here's what one pundit thought:

Christmas Tree Facts

Christmas Trees

3 – Number of seedlings planted for every harvested Christmas tree
8 – average number of years it takes a Christmas tree to mature
50 – Number of states in the U.S. that grow Christmas trees (yep, all fifty of them,including Hawaii and Alaska)
98 – Percentage of Christmas trees grown on Christmas tree farms
2,000 – Number of trees planted per acre
12,000 – Approximate number of cut-your-own Christmas tree farms in the U.S.

Mitt Romney's Mormon Speech

Titled, "Faith in America", here is presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's speech from this morning.

Transcript

Video

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

LDS Humanitarian Services

Hat tip to Adam for linking to this blog post about Mitt Romney showing up at someone's house, press free, to help dig out a huge tree stump after the California fires. Kudos to Governor Romney for doing some good work. Incidentally, I've dug out a tree stump or two in my time, and it's really hard work. Kudos again.

Which brings me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' humanitarian and welfare programs. The LDS Church strives to fulfill James' declaration of "pure religion":

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world"

The Church donates man hours, money, food, clothing, and medical supplies to countries around the world each year, and the numbers, $900 million in the last 20 years, are staggering. It's amazing to me to think of the far flung locations that the Church's aid can reach. But even more impressive, and inspiring, is the many ways that service can be carried out in my own home, by me and my family. The Church's organization is such that in addition to local community based service opportunities, we can also contribute items for urgent, specific needs locally as well as globally.

For instance, a small group of LDS members got together four years ago and began making wooden toy cars. To date, they've made 14,000 of these cars, and in addition to passing them out on their own, they use the Church's existing humanitarian groups as a means to get them to children all over the world.

It's wonderful to have so many opportunities to serve, and to know that even small efforts can do much good.

Baseball Quote of the Day

"If the Red Sox get Santana," said an executive of one NL team that's grateful to be in the other league, "they might be the best team in the history of the frigging universe."

From Espn.com's story on the Boston Red Sox sweeping in and possibly trading for multiple Cy Young winner Johan Santana to add to World Series MVPs Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling, as well as Japanese superstar import Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The rich get richer, but at least it ain't the Yankees.

Save The Planet, One Baby At A Time

The Telegraph had an interesting analysis of the US economy vs the world economy the other day. It's basically a pep talk, or perhaps a warning to the rest of the world; the gist of which is that while the US economy is showing signs of slowing and the dollar continues to fall in value, the US is still and will continue to be the world's economic leader.

Which is all very well and good, but something else altogether jumped out at me. Read this:

"At the end of the day, the US remains the only major power still producing babies a rate high enough to survive through the 21st century as a dynamic society."

Babies? You mean, we need people? For thirty odd years, and perhaps longer, we have been taught that the world had too many people. I remember sitting in an Environmental Science class in college and having a class discussion on the overpopulation problem. Not surprisingly, much of the problem was blamed on religious people, specifically Mormons. Apparently, big families were dooming the planet. We had an entire section devoted to this crisis, and what must be done about it.

Problem is, they got it wrong. Hard to believe, I know.

According to the UN, the developed world is facing an underpopulation crisis. Seems all those "too many people" lessons in college really hit home and we all stopped having babies. Japan's running out of people, Europe's running out too, and Russia recently had a "Conception Day" designed to remind people to, you know, reproduce when they have sex.

A major part of the Telegraph's reasoning for US economic optimism is based on the underpopulation crisis:

"China's workforce will peak in 2015. The country will then tip over into the steepest demographic decline ever recorded. It will be old before it becomes rich, doomed to second-tier status.

Japan began to shrink in 2005. Russia will shrivel to 104m by 2050, on UN data. Germany, Italy and Spain are all going grey, succumbing to that status quo outlook that comes with age. Their economies may even start to contract. Yes, birth rates can rise, but only by cultural revolution, and with long lags."

It sure would have been nice to have had this data handy in that class discussion a fews years back. As one of the few "Big Family" Mormons in the group, I could have been hailed as a planet saving hero.

Christmas Music Online

I love Christmas music. I've been listening online at work for some time now, mostly via local radio stations. But I recently found a website with worldwide Christmas-music-playing radio stations available online. So I've been listening to stations from all parts of this country, as well as from Europe and I couldn't be happier. While most stations play the classic standbys, it's been interesting to see the slight variations in playlists depending on the station.

Here's the website, for your listening pleasure. Now you can wow your coworkers by blasting your favorite seasonal music

all

day

long

Dr. Henry Eyring

Geologists search for the meaning to be read into the piled-up strata of the earth much as an historian might turn the pages of an ancient, damaged manuscript. The astronomer seeks the answer to his questions in the depths of space. Still other men concentrate on the scriptures alone. The wise man searches of these and other sources, knowing that all are communications from the same divine source and certain that, if followed far enough, all will guide him back to the divine Presence.

- Dr. Henry Eyring

The Root Of All Evil

Yesterday my wife and I were at a grocery store and found a $50 dollar bill on the floor. As my wife picked it up we both looked at each other with the same thought, "can we keep it?" We looked around to see if anyone was there searching for it but there was no one. As we walked towards the aisle that had the item we needed, we went through all the reasons why we should just keep it. Nobody would come for it. If we turned it in to the store, the clerk would just keep it. All real possibilities, and all very tempting. But we finally looked at each other one more time and knew what we had to do.

We took the money to the customer service desk and told the lady what happened. She took down our names and number and told us she'd let us know if someone came for it. We left feeling a little better knowing we had done the right thing, but not expecting to hear anything more about it. Instead, a little while later when we were back home my wife got a phone call. It was the lady who had lost the money. It dropped out of her pocket while she took her keys out. She thanked my wife over and over again for turning in the money, crying as she did so. It was a great warm fuzzy moment for us. We almost didn't do the right thing, but I'm glad we did.

He-Man and She-Ra Christmas

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and therefore the Christmas season has begun. To kick off the season, I present everyone's favorite holiday show, the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special:

I'm Thankful For...

I'm thankful for my wife, Holly. There is nobody better.

Last year I wrote a Thanksgiving post. Go read it.

Today, KBYU replayed the BYU-Utah football game. We taped it, and I watched from about midway through the third quarter all the way to the all-time amazing ending. You can watch it in my previous post.

The Deseret News has a few articles with videos about the game today too. There's this one which has a video taken by a BYU fan in the stands using a camera phone and has the audio of a married couple talking and screaming through the final play. Then there's this one with the final call and in the background you can hear the stats guy screaming like a little girl. It was truly an amazing game, which makes the anticipation for this Saturday's rematch even bigger. That is what makes college football so great. The fans have something invested in the game, and the players are often fans themselves. Rivalries mean something.

Remember Last Year?

Rivalry Week

It's rivalry week in Utah, as BYU and Utah play this weekend. Today's sports radio talkshow had fans call in with their favorite jokes. Here's a sampling:

What do you get when you cross an Arkansas Razerback and a BYU Cougar?
Nothing. There are some things even a pig won't do.

What does a BYU co-ed do after she fills up the tub?
Turns on the water.

How is a BYU co-ed like a blow up doll?
Put a ring on her finger and she inflates.

Why isn't there any ice in the BYU cafeteria?
The only one on campus that knew the recipe graduated last year.

How do you know if you're a Cougar?
You eat ice cream and get a buzz.

What's the difference between a Ute and a dollar bill?
You can still get 4 quarters out of a dollar bill.

What does a Ute get on the SAT?
Drool.

What do you get when you cross a Ute and a groundhog?
6 more weeks of bad football.

How do you keep the Utes out of your backyard?
Put up goalposts.

How do you get a Ute grad off your doorstep?
Pay for the pizza.

When OJ was running from the cops in the white bronco, why was he headed for the Utah campus?
Because nobody would look for a Heisman trophy winner at Utah.

Why has Utah never been able to have a nativity display?
After an extensive campus-wide search, they couldn't find 3 wise men or a virgin.

It's Official: Iraq Showing Signs of Progress

If NPR is reporting it, it must be true. The surge created a much greater sense of security which is allowing life to resume. People are moving back in, shops are opening, and Iraqi citizens and security forces are now invested in success.

Veteran's Day *Updated*

*Update*

Bubblehead has another post up about veterans and statistics that I thought deserved a link. So here it is.

It was Veterans Day yesterday, and as always I wonder if it's really properly recognized. I mean, I realize banks are closed today, and some people might have the day off from work, but it still feels like something's missing (Yes, that's sarcasm). But at least now we know, just in time for Veterans Day, that 25% of veterans are homeless.

It's an interesting statistic. I understand the purpose of publishing it now, and certainly more can and should be done to welcome veterans home, and to sustain that support through the years. As the NY Times notes, today's veterans aren't met with the same kind of venom that they received during the Vietnam War, though I would argue that the toned down anti-war movement of today has the same objective and same consequences of those in the past. The Times does make a good point that little to no sacrifice has been required of the general public in the current war, though by that they mean raising taxes.

The Stupid Shall be Punished is an Idaho blog on my blogroll that is run by a retired submariner calling himself Bubblehead. He has a post up for Veterans Day that also tackles the homeless vet stats a bit, and the comment section has some really interesting commentary - more so due to the fact that he and his readers are vets themselves.

FYI Department:

Two links concerning veteran homelessness,

NY Times article on a few of the non-profit resources for homeless vets.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs website concerned strictly with homeless vets:

"VA is the only Federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to homeless persons. Although limited to veterans and their dependents, VA's major homeless-specific programs constitute the largest integrated network of homeless treatment and assistance services in the country."

Biofuels: Environmental Kneejerk Disaster

A common argument for human caused global warming is "even if we're wrong and it's not mankind's fault, shouldn't we do something anyway, just in case?"

Biofuels is the perfect example of why not. Here's the chain of events: Fossil fuels, oil, is blamed for causing global warming. Since everything uses oil, government is petitioned to find alternative sources of energy. As government is wont to do, they identify a solution that is really expensive, provides massive benefits to big business, has been proven to fail in the past and has little prospects for success in the future, and will wind up hurting the poor in the end.

Ethanol and its cousins are the biofuels of choice for most of the world, including the US government. It is made from corn and other plant products. Although it was tried and failed in the past, the recent excitement over global warming has convinced our Congress to shovel money into a failed product. The current farm bill would allocate billions of dollars to biofuels, the majority of which uses corn. Coincidentally, the Senate committee head overseeing the bill is from Iowa, where 12.5 million acres of land is used to grow corn. In addition, the Department of Energy recently gave a Spanish corporation half the cost of building a $35 million biofuels plant in Nebraska.

All of this public money flowing to private coffers, and for what? A highly suspect fuel source that, according to the UN, will be catastrophic for hungry people around the world as it diverts food and land from human consumption. The riches of business and politics come at a heavy price, as the number of starving people, which now takes the life of a child every 5 seconds, stands to increase exponentially.

VOTE!

I'm on my way to vote in a few minutes. The only thing on my ballot this year is Referendum 1, the school voucher issue. As I've noted below, I'll be voting in favor of vouchers. Incidentally, Representative Urquhart gave this humble little blog a nice plug at his place, so thank you. All you new visitors, please come again.

Oh, and go vote.

Voucher Debates

There have been some really good voucher debates around the state. Through the wonder of the internet, I don't have to actually be there to hear them, or be in a position to listen on the radio. I've listened to all of these debates, and it's been great. So without further ado, here they are:

Paul Mero and Rob Miller at Utah State University on KVNU

Rep. Greg Hughes and Richard Eyre against Pat Rusk and Rep. Sheryl Allen on KCPW

Carmen Snow against Rep. Steve Urquhart at Dixie College

These are the debates I have listened to so far, if there are others out there, please let me know and lend a link.

-UPDATE-

The Senate Site has a really good link page of op-eds, tv commercials, voter guide info, and newspaper articles. Check it out.

Heroes, And Yes, Desperate Housewives

Over the last couple of months we've discovered old seasons of two TV shows: Heroes and Desperate Housewives. Heroes is kind of a no brainer for me. But Desperate Housewives? Well, my wife dragged me into it after she was dragged into it, and I watched pretty much all of season 1. I admit it, I liked it. Now, I've seen a few episodes of later seasons and it looks like it went downhill from there. But that season 1, man, had me rolling. Here's a sample dialogue that pretty much sums up the humor for me. It's the Terri Hatcher character talking to her on again off again love interest about a murderous neighbor:

"There he is, a murderer, living right there on our street, and there's nothing we can do about it, because you're a convicted felon and I burned down that stupid house. It's not fair"

It's just a bizarre mix of characters and plot twists where everything is shocking, and yet at the same time nothing is. And I say shocking not in the stupid way, but a really really funny way. Unfortunately, it seems that they couldn't keep it going with the following seasons. So for me, the fun's over with Desperate Housewives.

Now Heroes is just really cool. Cool concept, great characters, fun show to watch. We really devoured the DVD's with this one. As an added bonus, now I feel a little more in tune with pop culture since I know what "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" is all about.

My favorite character is Hiro Nakamura, the Japanese idealist and all around good guy. The man just always has a smile on his face. This was actually my biggest complaint with the show was that all these people with super powers seemed so bummed out about it. I realize the cheerleader is a teenager and all, but come on, what person in their right mind would realize they were indestructible and not think that was the coolest thing ever? Hiro can manipulate time, and he loves it. My favorite is when something good happens and he thrusts his arms in the air and grins.


So go see it.