Title credit to Thomas Paine

Sunday, December 3, 2017

MELANIA TRUMP, RACISM, AND CHRISTMAS

It is really sad the liberal media cannot even leave Christmas alone. Now they have criticised Melania's Christmas decorations as being too "white," and "racist." Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and the lights represent God. This is racist?

Melania did not seem to think so, and her heritage is not white European. She was born in Yugoslavia
.
I even heard a reporter criticise her accent once. She speaks Slovenian (her native tongue), English, French, Italian, and German. Which of these 5 languages did the reporter want her accent to be in?😊 And as a humorous note, how many languages was the reporter fluent in? When did we start mocking education?

This election seems to have polarized our Country more than any in history. To that end I offer the words of John Wesley, the 18th Century Methodist leader, who stated in his diary;

"I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them,

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy:

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against:

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side."

Personally I feel the way some have behaved after this election is because we are losing the core of our Country, or our original Judeo-Christian values.

One of my favorite quotes was given by John Adams to the Massachusetts Militia in 1798 wherein he stated:

"Our Constitution was written only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Judeo-Christian values has always been the glue holding our nation together. If we turn away from this, we have nothing in common to bind us together.

Monday, July 3, 2017

A PERSPECTIVE

President Barack Hussein Obama gave his last speech to the United Nations.  During his speech he,
·         warned Americans against ultra-nationalism.
·         stated, “we can choose to press forward with a better model…”
·         or “we can retreat into a world sharply divided… along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion.”  http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/barack-obama-un-diplomacy/index.html.

73 B.C.
The people in America had become complacent in their wealth, and would not listen to their leaders.  So, Moroni took a pole, and placed his rent coat upon it calling the Title of Liberty.  He then prayed to his God for the blessings of liberty… as long as… Christians remained on the Land.

Summer.  1776
Thomas Jefferson began to pen the Declaration of Independence.  Within its prose, he spoke of God, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  And that governments are instituted by men to guarantee these rights given by God.

Oct. 12, 1816
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America stated, “Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”


During the 27 years of the Bush’s, Clinton, and Obama in the White House, religion in America has been in a great decline.  It started earlier in the 60’s, and then began to decline rapidly in the 90’s.  http://religionnews.com/2014/01/27/great-decline-religion-united-states-one-graph/

This loss of religion is coupled with a loss in economic freedom.  There is a parallel.

THURS. Oct 11, 1798
John Adams, the first Vice-President, and second President of the United States of America stated in a letter to the Massachusetts Militia, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102

About 600 B.C.
Jared, his brother, and his people travel to America, and as decreed by God, it is a choice land, but those who possess it must serve God, or be swept off. 

American Presidential election 2016.
The lead up, and aftermath of this has shown that corruption is rampant in both political parties, and is nearly complete.  Only a handful remain who understand the Constitution, and are faithful to it.

This is also true for the major media outlets who have abandoned investigative journalism for political persuasion, lies, and obfuscation.  This is evil, whatever your political persuasion may be.

About 92 B.C.
Alma the younger had a religious conversion, and no longer went about trying to destroy the Church.  He then became a great defender of it.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_the_Younger

Tue. Nov. 8, 2016
As election night of 2016 ended, Donald Trump had won 39 States to Hilary Clinton’s 11.  He also won over 2500 counties across our Country compared to her 500.  Something had awakened in America!

Friday, Jan. 20, 2017
Donald J. Trump, a man who has not showed much Christian faith previously, became the 45th President of the United States of America.  In his inaugural address, he stated:

·         We are now joined in a great effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
·         We are transferring power from Washington, D.C. back to the people.
·         For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
·         A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions.
·         The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
·         And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
·         God Bless America.

Since then he has,
·         Called on God to bless the world after launching military strikes in Syria.
·         Asked God to bless the new Supreme Court Justice.
·         Invoked the Lord’s help in the war on opioids.
·         Pushed socially conservative positions.
·         Felt an increased faith in God, and an increased need to pray since becoming President.

Trump is not a Republican.  Trump is not a Democrat.  Trump is not a politician.

Why would a rich Billionaire give up his lifestyle to be vilified and maliciously attacked by the media and existing power structure in Washington?  There is no money trail to follow.  There is no power trail to follow.  Is it all an act to achieve some unknown end? 

Or has he raised the Title of Liberty to save our Country?

Friday, June 9, 2017

AN INCONVIENIENT EDUCATION

This is not a political tome, but begins with a political thought.

Since Trump’s election in 2016, the reaction by the liberals has been so far beyond vitriol, it has risen to a dangerous level.  In years past, conservatives have won elections, and liberals have won elections.  And in all these contests there were always two common threads to the aftermath.  First, there was a winner and a loser.  Second, the losers were gracious about it.  Not so this time around.

In reading news from many sources, I am laying the blame for this on poor education.  Poor education from public grade school all the way to ivy league graduate schools.  The corruption is nearly complete.

Now what do I mean by corruption?  There are many sides to many issues, and good points and theories to be made by all, however education has failed to do this.  Most of the blame for this must be laid at the feet of liberalism.  For it is in liberal schools, that thought has been suppressed.

A good education will teach a bright person how to think.  This is done by presenting the student with at least two sides of a controversial issue.  Positives and negatives are given on both sides of an equation, and then education and learning is achieved when the individual sorts through all of this and comes to an independent conclusion.

Sadly, in the liberal schools this process is not taught anymore.  For example, in the sixties, students at Berkley in California rioted for free speech.  In the fall of 2016, they rioted against free speech.  What happened?

Rather than educating students, students are indoctrinated with the school’s philosophy.  Failure to recognize different points of view shelters the students and makes them terrified of things they don’t understand.

So now to my main point, and why I titled this, “An Inconvenient Education.”

One if the things I struggle with is educators promoting “theories” as “facts.”  And there are two major areas in which this is done.  Evolution and Earth age.  I am going to focus on earth age, and leave evolution for another day.

There are two main theories concerning the age of the earth.  One is the earth is billions of year old, giving man time to evolve.  And the second is the Biblical perspective, in which man was created and the earth is around 7 thousand years old.  Scientists prefer the former, people of faith prefer the latter.  But in recent years, an interesting phenomenon has been occurring.  Religious people are trying to blend science with religion because they think scientists have proven themselves.  We shall see that they have not!

So now I am going to present some material that is not taught in school, however it is out there.  And to ignore it is ignorance.

A billion’s year-old earth is taught in school as fact, but is it?  First, let’s look at what is known as the Scientific Method.  Many people are under the impression that scientists observe some facet of nature or whatever, then make an educated guess as to the facts.  This is hardly the case.

Wikipedia has a good as definition as I have seen, and is presented below:
1.      Something in nature is observed.
2.      Questions are asked about the observation.
3.      A hypothesis is formed.
4.      Testable predictions are developed.
5.      Data is gathered to test the predictions.
6.      General theories are developed.

You have been taught by well-meaning educators that the earth is billions of years old.  Now I will show you some observations that will make you realize this is only a theory with many holes in it!

But first a disclaimer, I believe the Bible literally.  It is God’s word.  Period.  I cannot “prove” the Bible, but I can show a multi-billion-year-old earth philosophy cannot make it past the theory stage of its own evolution!

For my own belief, I will quote the words of Joseph Fielding Smith in October 1952.

So far as the philosophy and wisdom of the world are concerned, they mean nothing unless they conform to the revealed word of God.  Any doctrine, whether it comes in the name of religion, science, philosophy, or whatever it may be, if it is in conflict with the revealed word of the Lord, will fail.  It may appear plausible.  It may be put before you in language that appeals and which you may not be able to answer.  It may appear to be established by evidence that you cannot controvert, but all you need to do is to abide your time.  Time will level all things.  You will find that every doctrine, every principle, no matter how universally believed, if not in accord with the divine word of the Lord to His servants, will perish.  Nor is it necessary for us to stretch the word of the Lord, in a vain attempt to make it conform to these theories and teachings.  The word of the Lord shall not pass away unfulfilled, but these false doctrines and theories will all fail.  Truth, and only truth, will remain when all else has perished.”

And now to the fun stuff!

Geologists have developed a time scale based on radioactive time clocks, and claim to have calibrated the age of rock formations.  The problem is several “clocks” have been used, and they don’t all tell the same time!

Radioactive time clocks, at first glance, provide a good way of measuring rocks and things.  If one knows the decay rate of a material, one measures the current amount of the original element to the products of the decay process. (Science and Mormonism, Melvin A. Cook, 1967).

The problem with this method however is we do not know, or can we know, what the original condition was!  In other words, we know that 10-3=7.  It is impossible to know that 10 minus an unknown quantity equals something.

Radiocarbon forms in the earth’s atmosphere as a by-product of cosmic radiation.  Dr. Libby, who invented carbon dating assumed that the radiocarbon in the earth was in a state of equilibrium.  In other words, the amount of radiocarbon dying (half-life is 5760 years) equals the amount of replenishment by radiation.  As it turned out this was not true.  Unless we know the amount of radiocarbon in the biosphere when something died off, we have no way of measuring the change between then and today.  Or from the beginning to when it died.

And the most interesting part of this is assuming a radiocarbon free earth at its creation, the earth would have to be less than 30,000 years old!  And radiocarbon dating can be used on the atmosphere as well as rocks.  And it dates the atmosphere at a maximum of 12,500 years!

A book entitled “Prehistory and Earth Models, 1966” bears studying.  “The only way to tell time by radio time clocks is to know the ratio of the radioactive material at the end to that at the beginning of a specimen.”  This cannot ever be know!

Dr. Libby discovered that radiocarbon dating did not work, yet he had great faith in his creation because he ignored the problems the “scientific method” led him to.  He “just knew” the earth was billions of years old, regardless of the problems with his theorem.


So, did Dr. Libby prove anything?  No.  Can the Bible prove anything?  No.  So rather than teach theories as facts, all sides should be taught.  This is education!

Sunday, February 19, 2017

HEALTHCARE


OK people.  We’ve got some learning to do on healthcare, so let’s dive in.

A friend of mine gets credit for the best comment when she said, “It can be good or not so good depending on your situation.”  This is brilliant, because healthcare should be good and affordable for all.  Obamacare should not be a lottery as to who it works or doesn't work for.

Now before we can address healthcare, we should review a basic economic function of government, and this will be uncomfortable for some.

 Governments do not have incomes.  The only source of funds governments have is taxes it places on its citizenry.  So, to say socialized medicine is best because it costs less is the wrong way to look at it.

Let me explain by asking two questions.  First, and remember where governments money comes from when answering, “How much of the money I earn do you think you are entitled to?”  And second, “Why?”

You see, if you need $10 to go buy a burrito, and steal it from your neighbor, you will be going to jail.  But if you need $10 for a particular medicine, the government takes if from your neighbor and we don’t call it stealing.  See the problem?  There is no difference!

Now this is the hard part to accept.  “Health care is NOT a right.”  You have no right at any level to get your needs from your neighbors.  They don’t owe you.  So why do we call it OK when government does it!  To those of you who want to explore this further, please read, “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat.  Frederic was a French economist and this was first published in 1850.  The book outlines basic economic principles, how much power governments should have, and how socialism ALWAYS degrades into communism over time.

I have a friend in Australia who needs their socialized medicine as her daughter has horrifically high medical expenses.  But to say the government pays for it is a misnomer.  From the most recent stats I could find, the USA spends 17.8% of its GDP on medicine, or $9990 per person per year.  This is way too high!  Australia spends 9.4% of its GDP on medicine, or $5479 per person per year.

The money has to come from somewhere!  In the USA, it is through private insurers or Obamacare that costs too much.  But Australia is not that far behind.  Australia’s Medicare is funded by a 2% tax levy + money from general revenue.  The USA does not have this.  So, to say Australians pay dramatically less than Americans for healthcare is a misnomer.  Americans pay at the door.  Australians are taxed.  Same money, just different ways to collect it.

In an international comparative study, Australia ranks highest on health lives, so their system seems to be working well, however there are strong hidden currents of underlying problems beginning to manifest themselves.  HealthWorkforce Australia in a 2012 study predicted in the near future there will be a shortage of 3000 doctors, over 100,000 nurses, and more than 80,000 registered nurses.  And Australia's system has been only in place since the mid-80s.  The system is starting to crack.

Also, Australia’s healthcare system works only in the more metro areas.  From the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, people in remote areas had decreasing life expectancies that increase the more remote they are from major cities.  An average of 7 years less in lifespan.  It is also noted, that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait island people have horrible health care.  Their system seems to be nearly non-existent in rural areas.

America does not have this problem in rural areas.  Where my sister lives in Blackfoot, ID, a small town, they have nationally ranked doctors in several disciplines.  However, this does come with a cost.

So, what is the solution?  The only economic system that does not degrade over time is the free market system.  Which the US does not have by the way in Healthcare.

Companies competing for your business in a free market society will maximize the cost/benefit ratios in the most effective manner.  And then a re-insurance system for catastrophic illnesses so families with problems such as Cynthia’s daughter and my wife don’t go broke!

Unfortunately, to take this conversation further, I would have to write a book and who has that much time?  The point of this tome is not to solve the problems of high healthcare costs, but to show that the money healthcare costs is paid by the people in one form or another.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.

And whatever systems exist, they must be voluntary.  In about 1985, I read an article that stated since WWII the US population had grown 150% while the federal government grew over 900%.  This is the communistic road all countries are on if we want the government to solve all our problems.  And when any government system degrades to this healthcare will degrade as well.

Canada is supposed to have a great medical system like Australia, however when my Canadian friend shattered his kneecap in a 4-wheeler accident, it took 6 months to schedule the surgery to repair his knee.  That is not a good system by any reasoning.  And it was due to rationing health care imposed by government controls.

My hip surgeries cost a lot personally, but they took 5 minutes to schedule.  Think about it.

Also, where does medical technology and advancements come from?  NOT from socialized countries.  I know the US system is expensive, but it produces.  In the last few years, the US has produced 7.87 million papers and citations on medical advances.  China is number 2 with 3.1 million.  Australia is number 11 in research with 782,000 research papers.  Of the top 25 institutions producing biotechnology, 23 of them are in the US.  Basically, if a socialized medicine country uses a technology to save someone, chances the device or drug was invented in the US.

It is easy to say socialized medicine is great, and America’s system is too expensive.  But these two statements don’t even begin to address the issues.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

A FEW QUESTIONS TO PROTESTERS

Why do you think inconveniencing people will sway them to your beliefs?
Why do you think scaring people will sway them to your beliefs?
Why do you think destroying personal property will sway people to your beliefs?

If you are passionate about something, be constructive about it, not destructive.  Learn everything you can about all sides of an issue and engage in thoughtful reason.

When our Constitution was formed, there were as many ideas about government as there were people in the room.  So during a long hot summer in 1787, these men from different backgrounds and ideologies created a new form of government where the people ruled rather than the elite.

Contrast this with breaking into buildings and burning things.  You are better than this.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AFTERMATH


I have never seen the kind of hostility toward a new president as I have seen against Donald Trump.  In fact, the only time more Democrats decided to pout and refused to attend an inauguration was when Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President!

Many of my friends and acquaintances have, and probably still hate Trump with a passion.  Honestly, I don’t understand it, so let me share a few observations.  You see, I believe the media has falsely accused him to a tremendous degree.

 Most Trump haters do not like him as he seems to have had a somewhat sordid past.  OK.  Point taken.  Ten years ago, he was less than stellar morally and maybe we saw some lingering traces of that in the first debates.  Obama was a druggie in college.  So what?  Who are these men today?

First, I am more interested in who Trump is today than his past.  And it is quite appalling to me how so many self-righteous sanctimonious so-called Christians are so quick to condemn him to Hell by forcing him to live in his past.  Isn’t the primary belief of Christianity forgiveness and Christ-like love?  Didn’t Christ die so we may be forgiven of our sins?  The only thing we should be concerned about is the man today.  He won the election fair and square.

During his first inauguration, there were 6 Christian prayers offered, more than any other inauguration in history.  And in Trump’s speech he said, “We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE ARE PROTECTED BY GOD.”

This appears to be Donald Trump today, a God-fearing man.  Is he sincere?  I don’t know.  Is this all just a farce to get elected?  I don’t know.  What I do know is he seemed to invite God back into America. 

Who among you is ready to cast the first stone?  Which of you is ready to turn away from Christ’s teachings and refuse to forgive him for any past deeds?  I am not, and will never be that person.  I have committed too many sins of my own to worry about others.  Also, in a spiritual sense, one the hardest things people trying to follow Christ must deal with is false Christians who won’t let them repent.

Secondly, the media has put forth the “fact” that Trump hates Mexicans.  I do not believe this.  Why?  I have never heard him say this.  Only the fake news media has said this.  I HAVE heard Trump say he was against illegal immigration.  There is a big difference between the two. 

In 1775 Patrick Henry warned the people against indifference, complacency, and apathy.  Are we today heeding the Constitution?  One of the President’s first duties is in the Oath of Office states, “defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.”  What does this mean!  Congress is given the task to make laws, and the President’s duty is to uphold them.  The President cannot make laws.  It is the right and privilege however of our President to enforce laws enacted by Congress that deal with national security.  If someone enters our Country illegally, measures must be taken or we will end up with nothing to call our own.  This is fulfilling the Oath of Office, not racism.

Thirdly, I do not believe Trump is a misogynist.  Again, this is something the mainstream media has raised as a banner to try and destroy him.  Oh how we love to wave about big words.  I am still waiting for some proof of this, and I haven’t seen any yet.  The only things I have heard about occurred many years ago.

Fourth, I do not believe Trump hates Muslims.  Trump has NEVER said this.  However, he has raised some legitimate concerns.  Most Muslims are peaceful people as most Americans are.  However, studies show that 10% to 15% of them are radicalized, or very dangerous.  All I have ever heard Trump say is we need to vet those wanting to enter our Country.  We need to find a way to filter them, and no one knows how to do this yet.  If there was a 10% chance your new neighbor wanted to rape and kill your daughter, would 10% be a risk level you would be comfortable with?  All he wants to do is fulfill the Oath of Office, to protect us from enemies, both foreign and domestic.  This is NOT racism.

And lastly, I would like to quote some lines from Trump’s inaugural address on January 20th, 2016:

… today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you, the American people.  THIS IS VERY CONSTITUTIONAL.

… for too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have born the cost.  Washington flourished—but the people did not share in its wealth.  DOES ANYONE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS STATEMENT?

 … what truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.  THIS IS VERY CONSTITUTIONAL.

…an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge.  ANY ISSUES?

…for many decades we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;… we’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own… and spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay…  ANY ISSUES?

I could go on.   Would those of you that don’t support him, at least give him a chance?  He has the potential to fill the history books as one of the greatest presidents ever.  Will he?  I don’t know, but his inviting God back into our Country is a good place to start.

A LITTLE BIT CYNICAL AND A LITTLE BIT IN YOUR FA


The democrats are running around telling everyone the Russians stole the election from Hillary Clinton.

 1. How does our government know Russia is responsible for hacking into the DNC when the DNC won't let the government inspect their servers to see who hacked into them? This seems like a really good question!

 2, Whoever the culprit is, they did not force anyone to vote for anyone. All they did was expose how the DNC operates. And I think this really nauseated everyone!

3. Shouldn't this culprit be commended for good public service? Eight long years ago Obama promised the most transparent government in American history. Wasn't the culprit just helping Obama keep his promise?

 And while I am at it, NO, the President should not be elected by popular vote. We have the electoral college for a reason. Donald Trump won 30 States to Hillary's 20, and Donald won 2600 Counties to Hillary’s 500. All Hillary won was a few large population centers, so although she won the popular vote, she does NOT represent the vast majority of Americans!

Back in 2008, Obama expressed his frustration that a majority of Americans cling to their guns, Bible, and religion.

Guess I will continue to do so!

75 years ago my Grandfather's brother, Mervyn S. Bennion was killed at Pearl Harbor and received the Medal of Honor for his service and commitment to duty. He was hit, refused medical treatment, and continued giving orders until he succumbed from his wounds.  He was the commander of the USS West Virginia, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet.

The young men of his day stormed the beaches of Normandy so we could have the freedoms we enjoy today. In fact, the Kohima War Cemetery has a plaque which reads,

"When you go home tell them of us and say 'For your tomorrow, we gave our today'."

Over the last few years, the young men of our Country have grown a need for a safe place to cry and pet kittens. Good grief! What has happened?
 
Goodbye Obama, pajama boy and snowflakes. Welcome back alpha males!