Budgie Buddies

We've been having lots of fun with our pet parakeets (budgies).  The green one with the yellow face is named Mel Gibson.  The blue-white-gray one is Russell Crowe.  The white-sky blue one is Hugh Jackman.  We've been training them to do stuff by rewarding them with millet seeds a treat that they just love.  Anne especially likes to be involved with these cute little birdies.

Just some random updates...

I had five days of vacation time to use up so I've taken two long weekends.  Last week I went elk hunting up at Avimor in the Boise foothills with my father-in-law, Lynn Davenport, and my uncle Dave Mortensen.  We didn't get anything but it sure was nice to be up in the hills and cruising around on four-wheelers.  We could use the meat, so maybe we'll get another chance.  We saw lots of wolf tracks along with bear scat.  Pretty cool!

Yesterday we took the kids up to a great sledding hill at Avimor right off of Pearl Rd.  My dad, Wayne, Sherstine, and Liv joined us, along with our friends the Jensen's.  Being able to have a four-wheeler haul kids up to the top of the hill sure does make it more enjoyable.  The kids last longer than when they have to trudge up the hill and get worn out after just a couple trips.

The other day I started adding friends to my facebook account.  I really enjoyed the short-term popularity I felt as all of my friendly acquaintances and family members responded.  What a great way to network.

On politics...I wish Obama and Biden would quit trying to save their political-backsides by stating how this economy is so awful that they might not be able to fix it.  I wish they would continue with their campaign message of "hope".  We need a leader that will help restore consumer confidence along with restoring some much needed morality to our nation.

This whole Illinois-Chicago political mess is disturbing.  I think Obama cannot help but to have been tainted by what has been going on there for decades.  I think Blago really does think what he was doing was fine...because really it was just typical Chicago-style politics.   

...on meeting Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck is in Boise today for a live presentation of his "The Christmas Sweater" stage show. Jessica and I are going with my mom and dad. He was also doing a book signing as well. I'm not one to get too impressed by celebrity, but I thought, what the heck, I'll go and get him to sign my copy of his book.

Never having been to a book signing, I learned quickly that I'd have to buy a new book from this particular store in order to get a pass to stand in the book signing line. I was fortunate to be in the store before the huge crowd arrived, that had to wait outside and not be guaranteed a signed book. I was standing in line directly across the isle from where Glenn stood to sign the books. He spoke to the crowd for a few minutes telling us that its people like those in Boise that will save this country. It was fun to watch him interact so genuinely with the people, albeit briefly. They have that book signing down to a science where the assitants have the books opened for him and Glenn signs them with his right hand and shakes hands with his left. At one point he was holding a little baby boy and making pouty faces with him as the mom took a picture. Very charming.

I had made myself a cardboard sign to hang around my neck with a message on it for Glenn. I figured there would be other nut-jobs with similar things, but nope, I was the only nut job. When I got to Glenn he busted up laughing and said "What can I say?..." I said "We love you brother. Thanks for what you do." He said, "I love you too brother" then came around the table and pulled the sign to him, with me still attached, and signed it "One Show at a Time".

Here it is!

'Tis the Season

The true meaning of Christmas is under attack on many fronts.  We all know that Christmas is way too commercialized in the media and retail stores.  We know that kids selfishly only think of what Santa Claus is going to bring them.  We hear regularly about businesses that ban the salutation of “Merry Christmas” for the more politically correct, “Happy Holidays.”  

We hear every year about Christmas trees and nativity scenes trees being removed by the force of law.   We know all this is happening, but there is more.  Now even “good Christians” are taking Christ out of Christmas (and I’m not including Jehovah’s Witnesses).  They claim that Christmas is pagan holiday and that there is no Biblical foundation for celebrating Christ’s birth.  Nevertheless, they fully celebrate Christmas as a purely secular and cultural holiday.

 I declare boldly before one and all that Christmas is indeed the celebration of Christ’s birth.  It has been since its inception a purely Christian holiday.  We know that the baby Jesus was not born on December 25^th.  We know that the date for Christmas was changed by political leaders to coincide with a pagan holiday to help conquer/transition these new cultures into the Christian culture.  We know that many of our Christmas symbols have pagan roots.  All this does not mean Christmas is a pagan holiday.  Christmas and all of its symbols are what you decide to make of them! 

As for me and my house, we choose to have Christ in Christmas.  We choose to make every symbol of Christmas one that reminds us in some meaningful way of our Redeemer.  We choose to view Christmas as a celebration of not just Christ’s birth, but of his perfect example and of his atonement.  “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ…that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Ne. 25:26)  “For why not speak of the Atonement of Christ?” (Jacob 4:12)  

Why not celebrate Christmas?  We don’t need a Biblical mandate to celebrate our Savior’s birth.  The Lord expects us to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause” of our own free will (D&C 58:27) and I for one know that Christmas falls into that category. 

Christmas reminds me of eternal principles and of God’s plan of happiness for me and my family.  In the pre-mortal world, Jehovah, our elder spirit brother had already attained the title of “God.”  Under the direction of the Father, he created the universe and the world upon which we live.  In his love for us, Jehovah condescended below all things by becoming like us, yet even lowlier.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born in a stable among the flies and manure.  He was called “Jesus”, one of the most common and ordinary names of that time in Jerusalem.  Yet Jesus was no ordinary man.  

His father being God the Father and his mother the humble mortal Mary, Jesus the Christ had the ability to die as man, yet power over death as God.  He had the power to overcome all of Satan’s temptations.  He lived the perfect life of service and placed his own will fully on the altar of sacrifice to the Father.  He had the power to suffer infinitely for my sins and for all of yours.  He gave his flesh and blood for us.  He had the power to break the bands of death and he did so once and for all allowing us also to triumph over the mortal grave.  My faith in what Christ did for me personally leads me to desire to serve him better by loving him and my fellow man.  This is what Christmas truly is about! 

Is Christmas really sanctioned by the Lord?  Does He really approve of this holiday?  “Every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.”  “All things which are good cometh of God” (Moroni 7:12-13).  For all of those that choose to make Christ the reason for the season, that give to others because He gave, that walk before the Lord with thankfulness of heart; for those that love “the most wonderful time of the year” because he was called “Wonderful” (Isaiah 9:6); for all of you, I am absolutely certain that God will consecrate your celebration for your good.  And to all of you I say with all of my heart Merry Christmas and ¡Feliz Navidad!

Mission Memory: Rincón

The first area I served in was the quaint little pueblito of San Jose del Rincón (map), province of Santa Fe, Argentina. I was only there for three months and my memories of the place are a bit of a blur generally. I felt like my brain was on overload as I adjusted to the culture and struggled to learn the language. I never really learned my way around the town as I traipsed behind my senior companions who walked so briskly through the sandy streets that my shin-splinted legs could not keep up.

Some of the more wealthy people from the city of Santa Fe have nice vacation homes in Rincón, but most of Rincón was populated by the poor, many of whom lived off the land and the river. The house we lived in near the cemetery was not much more accommodating than a tent and was made of cinder blocks and plaster. It had a corrugated metal roof and a suspended ceiling made of thin styrofoam. We had no windows, but rather metal shutters on the openings where windows should be, securly latched together with a piece of wire. (You can fix anything in Argentina with wire.) Part of the house had a rough concrete floor, but the rest was dirt floor.

We had a refrigerator that didn’t work, but we kept our food in it anyway. We also had a bomba electrica (electric pump) that sent water from our well up to a large storage tank above the house which allowed gravity to feed the water to the sink, shower, and toilet. The toilet was typical, but the waste went to an underground pit in the yard known as a “pozo negro” (black-hole) that frequently backed-up through the shower drain.

The shower water was heated in a “calefón”; a five-gallon metal bucket with a heating element in it much like the heating element on an electric stove. It had a plastic spout and valve on it, so you had about a five minute shower if you turned the water off to soap up.

The one charming aspect of the little house that I remember with delight was the grape vine trellis over the front patio…but even that collapsed in a terrible lightning and thunder storm that had me believing it was the “end of days”.

I remember writing home every week about our latest adventures with Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom inside of our little “pench” (Americanized version of “pensión” meaning apartment). Perhaps it was more along the lines of the plagues of Egypt than the Wild Kingdom really. We had rats running along the ceiling beams and pooping down on us from above at night. We had spiders with round quarter-sized bodies, but legs that extended out so far that its entirety was larger than my hand. We once even had a scorpion in our bathroom. The mosquitoes tormented us day and night with their ear-buzzing and blood sucking. It was so hot and humid that we’d lie in our underwear with a thin sheet over us to keep the mosquitoes off of us, but they’d still get us through the sheet.

Speaking of bedding…I didn’t know I was supposed to bring my own bedding, so for a few weeks I had to improvise by using a dusty old curtain to cover me while I lay on the sticky bare foam used as a mattress. I ordered a fitted-mattress sheet and a sheet from Hermana (Sister) Delia Diaz, a nice church member lady who lived in the neighboring town of La Guardia. She was the local Avon lady so she ordered the sheets out of her Avon catalog. They were supposed to be white sheets, but when the order arrived they were pink with an awful flower print. I used those pink flowery sheets my whole mission, much to the amusement and possible concern of my compañeros.

We had an infestation of carpenter ants for a couple of days. We discovered them nesting in the ceiling. I removed one of the foam panels and poked my head up into the space and emptied a full can of Raid on them critters. It literally rained ants in our kitchen for half an hour while we choked on the airborne chemicals. Dead ants covered every square inch of our countertops, desk, and floor.

If you think that was gross, it gets worse…

Another time we had infestation of little frogs. We’d have to wash our dishes before we used them because frogs were all over them all the time. One time I had poured myself a fresh cup of milk and as I was drinking it down, I saw a frog frantically trying to swim upstream to avoid being washed down my gullet.

If you think that was disgusting, it gets even worse…

Our shower water started to reek something awful. For two weeks, the stench got worse and worse and the terrible smell clung to our skin. We thought maybe our well had gone bad, but the water storage tank above the roof was clean on the inside. One Sunday morning as I was showering before church I looked up and saw one of those dang little frogs on top of the bucket. Suddenly I realized with dread and horror what the source of our stink was. Carefully I took the calefón bucket off its nail hook and lowered it to the floor. With trepidation I removed the lid only to be overcome with the noxious fumes of a bucket full of boiled and re-re-re-boiled frogs.

'nough said

Double Disappointment

Brother Hall choked 6 times.  BYU's loss was a terrible disappointment for two reasons.  First, they lost to Utah, there arch rival.  Second, it prevents undefeated Boise State from going to a BCS bowl game.

It's just a football game, right?  So I'll try to get over my mourning quickly.  All three teams had great seasons.  BYU should still get a respectable bowl game.  BSU may not get a respectable bowl game in spite of a great season.  I just hope they don't choke against Fresno State next week.  Regardless, I will cheer for all three teams at their bowl games.  

May Utah kick some BCS-booty!

Why we should have elected Mitt!

Mitt Romney should be our President-Elect. Check out this Op-Ed piece !

Duplicity

My dad and I had a fun phone conversation this afternoon. He and I have enjoyed attending Building Contractor Association (BCA) meetings together this last year. Dad wasn't able to attend today's meeting as he stayed home with Mom as she is recoverying well from her hip surgery. The phone call was to give him a report of what went on in the meeting and I had to related to him the tale of of my latest rabble-rousing.

The BCA is made up of builders and their associates like trade contractors, real estate agents, title companies, etc. Generally, they are a pretty conservative group politically. Any time there is talk of a fee increase by the city or county related to building permits or impact fees, the BCA rallies the troops to stop undue government intrusion and regulation on our industry.

Incongruently, one of the prime goals of the BCA over the last couple decades, and much of Dad's personal effort, has been to mandate contractor licensing in the state of Idaho. Some of you may be laughing thinking that we are a backward state for not having licensing. We are in backwards in some ways, but I consider Idaho in this regard to be one of the last bastions of liberty and nearly a free market. Contractor licensing invites the government to regulate our industry all the more, so I just had to point out the hypocrisy of the BCA members working so hard on passing mandatory licensing. Sorry Dad!

I have to question the motive behind such a duplicitous move. As they talked in the meeting about why they want licensing I kept mutterling under my breath, loud enough for those near me to hear "Socialism!" It got a few laughs and after my rant the chairman said, "Tell us how you really feel about it."

"Real" builders would like to banish the fly-by-night builders that cheat customers. My dad was able to articulate to me a very valid point that his major concern is that if each city and county creates their own licensing rules that the result would be chaos, therefore a pre-emptive state licensing regulation would be the lesser of the evils. But what I think it really comes down to is that the "real" builders want to stiffle competition so they can make more money themselves. How anti-free-market is that?! I argued that the down-market is cleansing itself of the riffraff and that lenders will no longer lend to builders that don't have a good reputation and good credit. Trust the market to solves its own problems! It may not be in the time frame you would like and it may cause you to work harder to compete, but that is all a tolerable risk for the price of liberty.

My dad is probably the best natured and most lovable guys in the world. He agreed with me that it is human nature that we hate the laws that negatively impact us and we love the laws that positively impact us, even at the expense of others and our liberty. I love laws that expand our liberty and uphold our rights. I love laws related to punishing injustice.

Thanks for putting up with a rebellious son Dad. I love ya!

Additional Note: Dad wanted to remind me that he had other argument for the BCA supporting contractor licensing. The Idaho Building Officials would like first dibs at having the control over licensing. While there are good inspectors/code officials out there, there are some that seem to simply enjoy their position of power and abuse their role. It would be better to have some other state agency regulate licensing.

Scriptures on Equality, the Rich and the Poor

With all the scare of socialism from right-wingers like me and all the critisism of the problem of greed by the leftist-libs I started to wonder what was really correct.  I know that my faith embraced the law of consecration and has sought in times past to live as the early disciples of Christ did having "all things common among them".  This Zionist utopian living is something that we really want and is a true principle.  So how does capitalism and socialism play into this?  I rounded up all the scriptures I could about equality and the rich and the poor.  I discovered that the fundamental principle that must be left inviolate is that of agency, that free will to choose good or evil.  That principle of agency is what we must be protective of when it comes to our government policy.

Here is the long list of scriptures for our mutual edification:

Moses 7: 18

And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

DC 42:31

And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me…

DC 49: 20

But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.

DC 51: 3

…appoint unto this people their portions, every man equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs.

DC 56: 16-17

Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!  Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands!

DC 70: 14

Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.

DC 78: 5-6

That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things;

DC 82: 16-19

Behold, here is wisdom also in me for your good.  And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church— Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.

DC 101: 6

Behold, I say unto you, there were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritance

DC 104: 16-18

But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.   For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.   Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.

DC 105: 3

But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;

DC 136: 8

Let each company bear an equal proportion, according to the dividend of their property, in taking the poor, the widows, the fatherless, and the families of those who have gone into the army, that the cries of the widow and the fatherless come not up into the ears of the Lord against this people.

2 Ne 9: 30

But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world. For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god. And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.

Mosiah 4: 16-25

…ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.  Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.  For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?  And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.  And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.  And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.   I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.  And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.  And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

Mosiah 18: 27-29

And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.  And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul. And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants.

Alma 1: 26-27

And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength. And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.

Alma 4: 11-15

  And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people.  Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.  Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy; Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.  And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him.

 Alma 28: 13

 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.

 Alma 34:28

 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.

 3 Ne 6: 9-13

 And thus passed away the twenty and eighth year, and the people had continual peace.  But it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions;  For there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers.  And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches.  Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God.  And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.  Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.

 4 Ne 1: 23-26

 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.  And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world.  And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them.  And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ.

Mormon 8: 35-41

Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.   And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.  For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.   O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?  Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not? Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?  Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.

2 Cor 8: 14

But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

1 Tim 6: 7-10

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Viva Mexico!

From the new Preamble to the Mexican Constitution:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, even in the bedroom.

I couldn't pass up talking about the story linked on Drudge this morning about the Mayor of Mexico City making a regulation to provide impotence drugs to all men over 70.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard says the city is implementing the plan because sexuality "has a lot to do with quality of life and our happiness."

So, in world of socialized medicine, sexual felicity is an unalienable right. The next logical step is to mandate frequency!

Honey, we're movin' to Mexico!

Quote of the Week: J. Reuben Clark

A book came, I believe providentially, into my possession from the estate of my late maternal grandparents. "Stand Fast by our Constitution" is a compilation of writings and speeches given by J. Reuben Clark Jr., a servant and leader in the LDS Church as well as in the United States government.

This quote hit me profoundly tonight. I am sure I will have many more quotes from him to share in the future.

Check out this timely warning!

"And let me say here and now, that in the whole history of the human race, from Adam until now, Tyranny has never come to live with any people with a placard on his breast bearing his name. He always comes in deep disguise, sometimes proclaiming an endowment of freedom, sometimes promising help to the unfortunate and downtrodden, not by creating something for those who do not have, but by robbing those who have. But Tyranny is always a wolf in sheep's clothing, and he always ends by devouring the whole flock, saving none."