LET'S START THE DAY by wishing the happiest of birthday celebrations to three of the most interesting people I know: Lori Anderson Schmucker, Stacy Beintema and Dharma Barsotti. Lori, a long time "secret pal" from my high school days at Pleasanton's Amador Valley High who is involved in everything from School Security and Muni Services to Mary Kay Cosmetics (in addition to being a full-time wife and mother); Stacy, a close friend and the former warden at Stockton, CA's Willow Glen, who now is a key supporter of other people's birthdays through her work with the American Cancer Society; and Dharma, a once scrawny kid running around backstage at concerts during my BGP days, who has now, among his other artistic endeavors, has built for himself a reputation as the master of creative environments and decorative splendor. The world is constantly changing and not always for the better, but of these two facts I will always be certain - the world as we know it is certainly a richer and more colorfull place because of these three individuals, and I will always be grateful that each of them crossed my path. Happy Birthday, gang...
MORNING BEVERAGE: Finally someone has come up with an answer to the supersillious waste of time the national political arena has become. In response largely to the well intentioned but calamitously mismanaged Tea Party circus, a group of folks from around the US have joined together to form The Coffee Party. No joke, this. In an attempt to keep the focus of radical, often incoherent mouthpiece organizations like Tea Party and MoveOn.org on topic, The Coffee Party asserts to keep the national debate on the issues instead of ten word answers and catchy slogans; the thought being to engage a conversation with the sensible 80% of citizens in the middle of the political spectrum and leave the 10% on either end to themselves, wasting time on talk radio and cable tv. And it looks like this puppy's got some legs. After just a few weeks, The Coffee Party boasts more than 160,000 members on FaceBook and has had premiere coverage in both Newsweek and The Nation, while with almost a year in existence, The Tea Party boasts just over 110,000, and the majority of the press has passed them by; not because there is a bias but because their Convention flopped and now even the untre-Conservative wing of the 'Pubs are using them for fodder at cocktailparties (no pun intended). For the first time in almost two years, since the passing of former Meet the Press host Tim Russert, it feels that someone has the backs of common sense Americans and not just the yahoo wackos on the far right and left. I am sure Timmy is smiling...
SPREADING THE WORD: My thanks to friend Colleen Costello-Kreidler, another dish from the "Don" days, who quite unintentionally, I'm sure, hooked me up with the NING Network, an "immersion-based" social network of passions, interests and vocations. Take a look at NING.com, what I believe to be the future of the Internet. There will certainly be more on this in the days to come. Colleen, a fine writer at SDSU and now in Davis, CA., who is still putting pen to paper (I hope!), is married to award winning scribe (Six Good Innings* was selected as Top 10 Sports Books of the Year by Booklist) / morning talk show host (The Rise Guys Show, Sports 1140 AM KHTK) Mark Kreidler. I am wondering if young Patrick and Ryan have their futures mapped out, as ink does seem to be in the genes. Though the word is Ryan swims like a fish and Patrick swings from the right side of the plate in a way NoCal hasn't seen since Matty Williams was guarding the hotbox for the Gnats two decades ago. Where does the time fly?...
SPREADING PT. II: Many thanks for those of you who leave comments about The Lounge on my FB page, but I'd really love it if you'd leave them here at The3Dot and maybe we can build a group of regulars and get a discussion going. More heads are always better than one. And yeah, in the historic words of Alan Whatshisname...Tell a Friend!...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday Fishwrap
REUNION FEVER DEPT:So I am perusing through on-line versions of the old hometown papers yesterday and I see, much to my astonishment, that two brothers in Pleasanton, CA were busted for running a full-blown meth lab on the premesis of their family home where both were residing with their mother. Certainly not the normal occurrance in the beautiful, quiet, mostly upscale East Bay community. Then comes the shocker...one of the brothers was an old classmate, Rob Magoon, the other his 40 year old brother, Matthew. Now I support my alma mater and those who have walked its hallowed halls, but if the reports ring true (and it looks like they will) and the brothers are convicted, here is hoping we don't see ol' Rob at a reunion for several decades. I'm all for rehabilitation and making ammends and all that, but when I see once decent people from a life of relative privelage making this particular choice, it makes me want to reopen Alcatraz...
THE TRICK NOT even David Blaine could pull off. It is my guess the forms being sent home to parents of IF Dist. 91 students right after this coming week's Spring Break ought to stir up quite a controversy, and understandably so. It seems the US Government, in yet another case of its infinite stupidity have decided that Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of our nation's population, are no longer considered a race. Nor is Latino, both now being placed under the category of culture rather than race. So now, those citizens with Spanish or Mexican heritage whill have to claim themselves as one of the following: Caucasian, Black, Asian, or Native American. Any chance the motivation might be that, if Hispanics no longer carry the race card, they can also no longer play the minority card, cutting a rather large swath in the entitlement budget. Hmmm...I wonder if we can arrange the same disappearing act for Stupid Old Elected White Guys?...
DISSENTION AT THE TOP?: Though such is noit stated anywhere within the Constitution, the conservative majority of SCOTUS recently ruled that corporations, and other groups were granted the same First Amendment freedom of speech rights as individuals. So much for the "by the letter of the law" mantra of the strict constructionists. I guess that only applies when they're trying to keep people from having rights. But that's not the big item here. Arguably the most conservative of the Justices, Clarence Thomas, spoke yesterday before a group of law students at Georgetown Univ. and when asked about quotas stated: "I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights." Now we'll hold the question of Thomas being admitted to both Holy Cross and Yale Law by way of the very quotas he rallies against for another time. My question now is how does the conservative wing of the bench justify ignoring the group rights of unions, gays, students and others while handing Big Biz an invisible seat in the 1st Amendment? No politics on the Court? Pshaw!...
PRODUCTION INTERRUPTUS: My apologies to those of you who popped in yesterday and failed to find the Thursday edition of The Lounge. EGD (Emergency Grandpa Duty) popped up and well, sometimes (ok, everytime) I just gotta say yes! Fortunately, about the only item of interest yesterday would have been Republican candidate for California Governor Meg Whitman's bungled taping for her 30-minute campaign infomercial. Slated to run throughout the Spring and summer at a cost of more than 100 million dollars, the leak of its existence has the state Dem's frothing at the mouth. It seems they are preparing to run an ad of their own, either immediately preceeding or following each airing of the former eBay CEO's ads that among other things, will highlight Whitman's appearances on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and several Faux News programs, denouncing a similar one-time run nationally telecast ad by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama the week before the '08 presidential election. I am beginning to think that Bush isn't the only member of the GOP with pointy-hat credentials...
REUNION DEPT, PART DEUX: Oh Happy Days, kudos and thanks to fellow AVHS (Class of '79) Alum Carolyn Hill for her fantabulous Boomerang Project, a company that works with educators and students to create positive school climates and productive work environments. One of the amazing offhsoots of Boomerang are BoomBoom Cards ( http://www.boomboomcards.com/ ), a part of the rapidly swelling Boom!Boom! Revolution, an army of ordinary, everyday people looking to spread good will through "intentional acts of kindness". Whether you are single or married, an empty nester or have a housefull, if you are tired of the same old dreary news, focus and outlook on the world many of us feel compelled to participate in, I urge you (with a smile!), to bop on over to Boom Boom Cards and check it out. This magic little idea of Carolyn and her friends will help you to brighten any rainy day...
THE TRICK NOT even David Blaine could pull off. It is my guess the forms being sent home to parents of IF Dist. 91 students right after this coming week's Spring Break ought to stir up quite a controversy, and understandably so. It seems the US Government, in yet another case of its infinite stupidity have decided that Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of our nation's population, are no longer considered a race. Nor is Latino, both now being placed under the category of culture rather than race. So now, those citizens with Spanish or Mexican heritage whill have to claim themselves as one of the following: Caucasian, Black, Asian, or Native American. Any chance the motivation might be that, if Hispanics no longer carry the race card, they can also no longer play the minority card, cutting a rather large swath in the entitlement budget. Hmmm...I wonder if we can arrange the same disappearing act for Stupid Old Elected White Guys?...
DISSENTION AT THE TOP?: Though such is noit stated anywhere within the Constitution, the conservative majority of SCOTUS recently ruled that corporations, and other groups were granted the same First Amendment freedom of speech rights as individuals. So much for the "by the letter of the law" mantra of the strict constructionists. I guess that only applies when they're trying to keep people from having rights. But that's not the big item here. Arguably the most conservative of the Justices, Clarence Thomas, spoke yesterday before a group of law students at Georgetown Univ. and when asked about quotas stated: "I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights." Now we'll hold the question of Thomas being admitted to both Holy Cross and Yale Law by way of the very quotas he rallies against for another time. My question now is how does the conservative wing of the bench justify ignoring the group rights of unions, gays, students and others while handing Big Biz an invisible seat in the 1st Amendment? No politics on the Court? Pshaw!...
PRODUCTION INTERRUPTUS: My apologies to those of you who popped in yesterday and failed to find the Thursday edition of The Lounge. EGD (Emergency Grandpa Duty) popped up and well, sometimes (ok, everytime) I just gotta say yes! Fortunately, about the only item of interest yesterday would have been Republican candidate for California Governor Meg Whitman's bungled taping for her 30-minute campaign infomercial. Slated to run throughout the Spring and summer at a cost of more than 100 million dollars, the leak of its existence has the state Dem's frothing at the mouth. It seems they are preparing to run an ad of their own, either immediately preceeding or following each airing of the former eBay CEO's ads that among other things, will highlight Whitman's appearances on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and several Faux News programs, denouncing a similar one-time run nationally telecast ad by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama the week before the '08 presidential election. I am beginning to think that Bush isn't the only member of the GOP with pointy-hat credentials...
REUNION DEPT, PART DEUX: Oh Happy Days, kudos and thanks to fellow AVHS (Class of '79) Alum Carolyn Hill for her fantabulous Boomerang Project, a company that works with educators and students to create positive school climates and productive work environments. One of the amazing offhsoots of Boomerang are BoomBoom Cards ( http://www.boomboomcards.com/ ), a part of the rapidly swelling Boom!Boom! Revolution, an army of ordinary, everyday people looking to spread good will through "intentional acts of kindness". Whether you are single or married, an empty nester or have a housefull, if you are tired of the same old dreary news, focus and outlook on the world many of us feel compelled to participate in, I urge you (with a smile!), to bop on over to Boom Boom Cards and check it out. This magic little idea of Carolyn and her friends will help you to brighten any rainy day...
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Solution Stew: The Federal Government
HUMP DAY: Middle of the week. The Center.
I have long believed the main reason the nabobs in WADC can't get anything accomplished is because the nut jobs (the 10% at either end of the spectrum) are yelling so loudly, no one can hear the semi-sensible 80% in the middle, including themselves. So, beginning today, the menu for Hump Day at The Lounge will be Solution Stew. We'll take a single topic for which there is a current disagreement, and we'll solve it. Your comments at the bottom of every column are, of course, more than welcome.
Today's topic: The Federal Government
"WOW!", you say to yourself as you read this. "Either this guy is an absolute genius for being able to correct the inefficiency and incompetence of the Federal Government, or a blithering idiot for believing he can".
While I am quite certain you'll find more people who believe the latter rather than the former, if we look at the actual cause of the problems in Washington, the answer is really quite simple. I took the "Backwards Approach", defining the problem, and then taking the logical steps backwards to where I wanted to end up.
The problems stem from the quite understandable desire of those interested in serving in elected office to be re-elected. This desire, combined with the high level of competitiveness for these relatively few positions, leads to an increase in the effort and thereby the resources (read: money) that are necessary to attain victory on election day.
Being that money does not grow on trees, persons wishing to win said election need to raise necessary financial resources, and therefore look at what they have that would be of value to those who can provide it. The answer: Should these candidates be victorious and attain a seat in either house of Congress or the Oval Office, they would then be in a position to vote for or support legislation that would be looked upon favorably by those heavy ticket contributors.
This has completely changed the dynamic of our political sysytem as it was meant to be. The individual is no longer a "representative", but a "politician", and the priority for the politician is no longer about representing the constituents of their district, state or nation, but rather about getting elected (or re-elected). The decisions they make, the votes they cast, and the laws they sign or veto are now at the behest of those individuals, organizations and large corporate interests who can help insure their continued stay in washington, instead of the electorate, and now you have the mess that currently exists.
So, how do we fix it?
Well, if the problem is created by the financial influence of the special interests, then that is what needs to be eliminated.
So the question now becomes: "How can the electoral process be financed so that these special interests have no influence?"
The answer is to make the electorate the only special interest. In other words, if "the people" fund the elections, then that is who the repesentatives will be beholden to.
So the question now becomes: "How can the people (the government) afford to finance the elections?"
To find that answer we need to ask one other: "Where do the government's funds that would be used for such a purpose come from?"
The answer of course is, from the individual and corporate taxes we pay.
"Oh!", but you say, "we're already paying too much in taxes, we can't aford any more and we certainly can't afford to put our nation deeper in debt. How do we do it?"
This is the easy part. And you'll be amazed to find the answer is to actually lower the tax rates on virtually all Americans and corporate interests. Now I can hear those of oyu on th efar left already screaming about "Trickle Down" and taking food from the plates of the poor. Relax, nothing could be further fromthe truth. And here's why...
In 2007, presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign did a massive study on what the effects of a flat tax system. The study found that the current Federal Tax Code was made up of nearly 80% of exemptions, set-asides, deferments, and deductions for a very small number of qualifying citizens or corporate entities. The results of this study, that the federal government would be much more financially solvent were they to elinimate these special interest deductions and simply lower everyone's taxes to a set, flat rate, were corroborated a year later when Mobil/Exxon posted 92 BILLION dollars in PROFITS for fiscal year 2008 however, because of the more than 3,400 pages devoted specifically to corporatins of which they were the only one fully qualified to take advantage of them, paid less than 112 million dollars if federal income tax in that same fiscal year.
Paul's idea in theory was brilliant, however being that he was running for office, the proposal was skewed just enough to hopefully attract voters, but also to make it wholly ineffective. Now, using Paul's research, I have devised the following Flat Tax Program:
1. Eliminate ALL individual and corporate tax incentives, deductions, set-asides, deferments and exemptions and reduce the Federal Income Tax Rate to 15%. This will now include ALL business done, world wide, by any business or corporation based in the United States. If those businesses choose to relocate outside the US, there will be a 22% tarriff on all goods and service transactions here in the US.
Small businesses (those with less than 100 employees and or a profit of less than $1 million), will have a FITR of $12%.
Individuals earning between $14,000 and $19,500 will have an FTR of 10%, with those earning between $9,500 and $13,999 will have an FTR of 5%.
Those earning less than $9,500 will be exempt from Federal Income Tax. Social Security, pensions, and 401k will also be exempt from taxation.
With regards to inheritance taxation, liquid assets (cash, stocks, bonds, real property, and saleable goods will be taxed at a rate of 10%, with non-durable goods (transportations, machinery, etc.) will only be taxed at the time of any future sale of the asset by the assignee.
Capital Gains tax will also be reduced to a flat 15%.
By making the stated tax burden for everyone the actual tax burden for everyone, and by eliminating the tax advantages for the privelaged few, conservatives will be getting what they have been clamoring for, for as long as anyone can remember...a fair and equal taxation system. Progressives will in turn, be getting what they have been shouting about for just as long, profitable corporations to pay their fair share.
What the American people will receive from this is the following:
1. Funding to rebuild or update EVERY public elementary, middle and high school as well as to provide states with subsidies to start ALL public school teachers at 100K per year, with raises (and job security) to be based on performance. Tenure no longer exists.
2. Funding for research into alternative fuels and 100mgp hybrid engines.
3. Permanent solvency for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid as well as a government funded universal healthcare coverage for those who can not afford coverage themselves. The universal "public option" will create a "real" competition in the insurance market, causing ALL insurance rates to drop and with the drop in lower and middle class FITR's, evryone should be able to afford their own coverage, thereby reducing the financial burden to the government.
4. Funding for transportation and utility infrastructure, those jobs helping to thereby decrease the unemployment rolls and welfare entitlements AND increase governmental revenue.
5. Increase funding for local, state and federal law enforcement as well as to our military and border patrol efforts.
6. And most important, full funding for all congressional, senatorial and presidential elections, thereby returning the jobs of our elected officials to be as they were always intended, to repersent the electorate.
The only real downside to this is the temporary increase by 65,000 to the unemployment rolls, as the lobbyists onK Street will now be out of work.
Now for the bad news.
This will never happen, because it does not benefit one very small group of American citizens.
The American Politician.
Were this to come to fruition, there would be no more tax payer funded flights for officials and their families to exciting, overseas locales, where they have no business in teh first place; no "junkets" to the golf courses and resorts on the islands while they research the rising tides and their effect on the economy of Jakarta; no more African safaris to help determine the need for protection of the three-toes sloth.
If the blowhards in the Tea Party want to make a difference, do this. If the American people want to get their government back and see the American dream truly be a reality accessible to ALL its citizens, here's your answer.
Continuing to vote for the next politician who tells you what you want to hear and expecting his or her fairy tales to come true...that will just make YOU the punchline at the next Georgetown cocktail party.
Note: We are grateful for the many, MANY e-mails we have received on this new blog. However, we would greatly appreciate if you would add your comments or questions to the "Comments" section at the bottom of each day's postings and if you would encourage others, through your FB or MySpace or your personal e-mail list, to join, visit, and participate. The more the merrier...
and the next round is on us.
I have long believed the main reason the nabobs in WADC can't get anything accomplished is because the nut jobs (the 10% at either end of the spectrum) are yelling so loudly, no one can hear the semi-sensible 80% in the middle, including themselves. So, beginning today, the menu for Hump Day at The Lounge will be Solution Stew. We'll take a single topic for which there is a current disagreement, and we'll solve it. Your comments at the bottom of every column are, of course, more than welcome.
Today's topic: The Federal Government
"WOW!", you say to yourself as you read this. "Either this guy is an absolute genius for being able to correct the inefficiency and incompetence of the Federal Government, or a blithering idiot for believing he can".
While I am quite certain you'll find more people who believe the latter rather than the former, if we look at the actual cause of the problems in Washington, the answer is really quite simple. I took the "Backwards Approach", defining the problem, and then taking the logical steps backwards to where I wanted to end up.
The problems stem from the quite understandable desire of those interested in serving in elected office to be re-elected. This desire, combined with the high level of competitiveness for these relatively few positions, leads to an increase in the effort and thereby the resources (read: money) that are necessary to attain victory on election day.
Being that money does not grow on trees, persons wishing to win said election need to raise necessary financial resources, and therefore look at what they have that would be of value to those who can provide it. The answer: Should these candidates be victorious and attain a seat in either house of Congress or the Oval Office, they would then be in a position to vote for or support legislation that would be looked upon favorably by those heavy ticket contributors.
This has completely changed the dynamic of our political sysytem as it was meant to be. The individual is no longer a "representative", but a "politician", and the priority for the politician is no longer about representing the constituents of their district, state or nation, but rather about getting elected (or re-elected). The decisions they make, the votes they cast, and the laws they sign or veto are now at the behest of those individuals, organizations and large corporate interests who can help insure their continued stay in washington, instead of the electorate, and now you have the mess that currently exists.
So, how do we fix it?
Well, if the problem is created by the financial influence of the special interests, then that is what needs to be eliminated.
So the question now becomes: "How can the electoral process be financed so that these special interests have no influence?"
The answer is to make the electorate the only special interest. In other words, if "the people" fund the elections, then that is who the repesentatives will be beholden to.
So the question now becomes: "How can the people (the government) afford to finance the elections?"
To find that answer we need to ask one other: "Where do the government's funds that would be used for such a purpose come from?"
The answer of course is, from the individual and corporate taxes we pay.
"Oh!", but you say, "we're already paying too much in taxes, we can't aford any more and we certainly can't afford to put our nation deeper in debt. How do we do it?"
This is the easy part. And you'll be amazed to find the answer is to actually lower the tax rates on virtually all Americans and corporate interests. Now I can hear those of oyu on th efar left already screaming about "Trickle Down" and taking food from the plates of the poor. Relax, nothing could be further fromthe truth. And here's why...
In 2007, presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign did a massive study on what the effects of a flat tax system. The study found that the current Federal Tax Code was made up of nearly 80% of exemptions, set-asides, deferments, and deductions for a very small number of qualifying citizens or corporate entities. The results of this study, that the federal government would be much more financially solvent were they to elinimate these special interest deductions and simply lower everyone's taxes to a set, flat rate, were corroborated a year later when Mobil/Exxon posted 92 BILLION dollars in PROFITS for fiscal year 2008 however, because of the more than 3,400 pages devoted specifically to corporatins of which they were the only one fully qualified to take advantage of them, paid less than 112 million dollars if federal income tax in that same fiscal year.
Paul's idea in theory was brilliant, however being that he was running for office, the proposal was skewed just enough to hopefully attract voters, but also to make it wholly ineffective. Now, using Paul's research, I have devised the following Flat Tax Program:
1. Eliminate ALL individual and corporate tax incentives, deductions, set-asides, deferments and exemptions and reduce the Federal Income Tax Rate to 15%. This will now include ALL business done, world wide, by any business or corporation based in the United States. If those businesses choose to relocate outside the US, there will be a 22% tarriff on all goods and service transactions here in the US.
Small businesses (those with less than 100 employees and or a profit of less than $1 million), will have a FITR of $12%.
Individuals earning between $14,000 and $19,500 will have an FTR of 10%, with those earning between $9,500 and $13,999 will have an FTR of 5%.
Those earning less than $9,500 will be exempt from Federal Income Tax. Social Security, pensions, and 401k will also be exempt from taxation.
With regards to inheritance taxation, liquid assets (cash, stocks, bonds, real property, and saleable goods will be taxed at a rate of 10%, with non-durable goods (transportations, machinery, etc.) will only be taxed at the time of any future sale of the asset by the assignee.
Capital Gains tax will also be reduced to a flat 15%.
By making the stated tax burden for everyone the actual tax burden for everyone, and by eliminating the tax advantages for the privelaged few, conservatives will be getting what they have been clamoring for, for as long as anyone can remember...a fair and equal taxation system. Progressives will in turn, be getting what they have been shouting about for just as long, profitable corporations to pay their fair share.
What the American people will receive from this is the following:
1. Funding to rebuild or update EVERY public elementary, middle and high school as well as to provide states with subsidies to start ALL public school teachers at 100K per year, with raises (and job security) to be based on performance. Tenure no longer exists.
2. Funding for research into alternative fuels and 100mgp hybrid engines.
3. Permanent solvency for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid as well as a government funded universal healthcare coverage for those who can not afford coverage themselves. The universal "public option" will create a "real" competition in the insurance market, causing ALL insurance rates to drop and with the drop in lower and middle class FITR's, evryone should be able to afford their own coverage, thereby reducing the financial burden to the government.
4. Funding for transportation and utility infrastructure, those jobs helping to thereby decrease the unemployment rolls and welfare entitlements AND increase governmental revenue.
5. Increase funding for local, state and federal law enforcement as well as to our military and border patrol efforts.
6. And most important, full funding for all congressional, senatorial and presidential elections, thereby returning the jobs of our elected officials to be as they were always intended, to repersent the electorate.
The only real downside to this is the temporary increase by 65,000 to the unemployment rolls, as the lobbyists onK Street will now be out of work.
Now for the bad news.
This will never happen, because it does not benefit one very small group of American citizens.
The American Politician.
Were this to come to fruition, there would be no more tax payer funded flights for officials and their families to exciting, overseas locales, where they have no business in teh first place; no "junkets" to the golf courses and resorts on the islands while they research the rising tides and their effect on the economy of Jakarta; no more African safaris to help determine the need for protection of the three-toes sloth.
If the blowhards in the Tea Party want to make a difference, do this. If the American people want to get their government back and see the American dream truly be a reality accessible to ALL its citizens, here's your answer.
Continuing to vote for the next politician who tells you what you want to hear and expecting his or her fairy tales to come true...that will just make YOU the punchline at the next Georgetown cocktail party.
Note: We are grateful for the many, MANY e-mails we have received on this new blog. However, we would greatly appreciate if you would add your comments or questions to the "Comments" section at the bottom of each day's postings and if you would encourage others, through your FB or MySpace or your personal e-mail list, to join, visit, and participate. The more the merrier...
and the next round is on us.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Spring Cleaning
MORE IS LESS: Is it just me or has the constant need for bigger, better, larger, louder, more flashy and too trashy brought us to a point where we have a lot less really good entertainment and a lot more...CRAP? The music of Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffett has been replaced by the incessant noise of Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga. Instead of movies like The Godfather and On Golden Pond , cineplexes now offer us The Wrestler and Hannah Montana: The Movie. Where we once had M*A*S*H* and The West Wing, the networks give us The Bachelor and American Idol. Classic tales in novels like Exodus and To Kill a Mockingbird have been replaced by Going Rogue and yet another tome of soft porn by Danielle Steele. Perhaps another blog may be in order...yeah...Quality.com...reviewing retreads which even 20 or 30 or 40 years later are far superior to the dung heep we're presented with today...
STICK A FORK IN HER: Until she does something else incredibly stupid (read: about a week or two), comedy is really the only value Sarah Palin has left to offer. Following last week's 'Snatch and Dash' in the pre-Oscar party Swag Suites, Ms. Foot-In-Her-Mouth spoke before a partisan crowd in Indiana where she defended using crib notes on her hand so that when asked, she could remember what her priorities were, by comparing herself to God. Then the next day, before a group of conservative Canadian legislators, Granny Sarah changed the facts of a story she told during her infamous "Wink and Strut" speech at the 'Pub Nat. Convention. Did she think no one was going to remember that convention speech or notice the changes? Persoanlly, I am thinking Lettermen has her on his payroll. She's just giving him too much material to be doing it for free. Ands since you're on the way out Sarah, could you please take Nancy and Harry with ya?...
IF MEMORY SERVES...just following the first year of the Reagan presidency, Ronnie was bottoming out in the polls and needed something to get himself back on track and more importantly, get the American people with him. He wallopped the Air Traffic Controllers Union and then stood up before the tv cams and said, "THIS is how it's going to be, end of story". Right or wrong, the people loved him for having a plan, sticking to it, and not letting congress push him around. It's time Pres. Obama followed suit. Lay out the "original" ideas you had for healthcare reform, tell Pelosi and Reid they either get in line and play nice with the other side of the aisle or you're going to take a couple of visits out west this summer...on behalf of their opponents...and kick those two to the curb. And yes, I know that's two items in a row where I suggest the political demise of the Dumbnamic Duo, but this is that important and they are that bad...
THEY DID WHAT?: My sports-fix guru Dennis Miller, editor of ACES: Northern California's Premiere Golf Lifestyle Magazine ( www.acesgolfmagazine.com due to hit news stands with the debut issue this summer!) tells me that San Francisco 49ers team owners Denise and John York have gone and signed yet another FORMER #1 NFL draft pick, this time Houston Texans' reject David Carr, at the QB spot. Two thoughts here: 1. These people must have inherited their wealth, because no one can be successful and still be this stupid, and 2. Football intelligence is NOT hereditary. Denise, do the world a favor and on his next brithday (or better yet, for St. Patty's Day!), give your brother Eddie back his team. Trust me, after what you and your hubby have done to this onc storied franchise, the NFL will not only welcome EddieD (owner of the epic Niner teams of the 80's and 90's) back to the fold, but if you play it smart (meaning have someone else lead the negotiations), you can probably get the league to pony up for the new stadium...
WALKING THE DOG this morning, I was thinking about the 72 cardboard boxes that remain, untouched, in my garage, where they have resided since we bought the Brandon Drive house more than two years ago. Lisa and a friend are going on a three-state Temple-hopping tour in late June and I was thinking this may be the perfect time to move the stuff we'll never use from the garage out to the storage unit. But then I figured, this WILL be the summer we'll decide to pull out the peuce and fuscia fondue pot...
TOMORROW THE LOUNGE will offer up it's Hump Day pot of Solution Stew. But for today, here's a quick and easy fix to stop the spitefull bickering and useless arguing between the people who are supposed to be representing us and doing our work in the nation's capitol: FIRE 'EM ALL! The ULTIMATE Spring Cleaning Job. If every voter commits to select the challenger, and all the incumbants from BOTH parties in BOTH houses of Congress are shown the door, then the new kids in town can start over, doing what we want them to do, instead of appeasing the lobbyists and their election donations. Stop and think for just a second...how totally cool, and American, that would be.
STICK A FORK IN HER: Until she does something else incredibly stupid (read: about a week or two), comedy is really the only value Sarah Palin has left to offer. Following last week's 'Snatch and Dash' in the pre-Oscar party Swag Suites, Ms. Foot-In-Her-Mouth spoke before a partisan crowd in Indiana where she defended using crib notes on her hand so that when asked, she could remember what her priorities were, by comparing herself to God. Then the next day, before a group of conservative Canadian legislators, Granny Sarah changed the facts of a story she told during her infamous "Wink and Strut" speech at the 'Pub Nat. Convention. Did she think no one was going to remember that convention speech or notice the changes? Persoanlly, I am thinking Lettermen has her on his payroll. She's just giving him too much material to be doing it for free. Ands since you're on the way out Sarah, could you please take Nancy and Harry with ya?...
IF MEMORY SERVES...just following the first year of the Reagan presidency, Ronnie was bottoming out in the polls and needed something to get himself back on track and more importantly, get the American people with him. He wallopped the Air Traffic Controllers Union and then stood up before the tv cams and said, "THIS is how it's going to be, end of story". Right or wrong, the people loved him for having a plan, sticking to it, and not letting congress push him around. It's time Pres. Obama followed suit. Lay out the "original" ideas you had for healthcare reform, tell Pelosi and Reid they either get in line and play nice with the other side of the aisle or you're going to take a couple of visits out west this summer...on behalf of their opponents...and kick those two to the curb. And yes, I know that's two items in a row where I suggest the political demise of the Dumbnamic Duo, but this is that important and they are that bad...
THEY DID WHAT?: My sports-fix guru Dennis Miller, editor of ACES: Northern California's Premiere Golf Lifestyle Magazine ( www.acesgolfmagazine.com due to hit news stands with the debut issue this summer!) tells me that San Francisco 49ers team owners Denise and John York have gone and signed yet another FORMER #1 NFL draft pick, this time Houston Texans' reject David Carr, at the QB spot. Two thoughts here: 1. These people must have inherited their wealth, because no one can be successful and still be this stupid, and 2. Football intelligence is NOT hereditary. Denise, do the world a favor and on his next brithday (or better yet, for St. Patty's Day!), give your brother Eddie back his team. Trust me, after what you and your hubby have done to this onc storied franchise, the NFL will not only welcome EddieD (owner of the epic Niner teams of the 80's and 90's) back to the fold, but if you play it smart (meaning have someone else lead the negotiations), you can probably get the league to pony up for the new stadium...
WALKING THE DOG this morning, I was thinking about the 72 cardboard boxes that remain, untouched, in my garage, where they have resided since we bought the Brandon Drive house more than two years ago. Lisa and a friend are going on a three-state Temple-hopping tour in late June and I was thinking this may be the perfect time to move the stuff we'll never use from the garage out to the storage unit. But then I figured, this WILL be the summer we'll decide to pull out the peuce and fuscia fondue pot...
TOMORROW THE LOUNGE will offer up it's Hump Day pot of Solution Stew. But for today, here's a quick and easy fix to stop the spitefull bickering and useless arguing between the people who are supposed to be representing us and doing our work in the nation's capitol: FIRE 'EM ALL! The ULTIMATE Spring Cleaning Job. If every voter commits to select the challenger, and all the incumbants from BOTH parties in BOTH houses of Congress are shown the door, then the new kids in town can start over, doing what we want them to do, instead of appeasing the lobbyists and their election donations. Stop and think for just a second...how totally cool, and American, that would be.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday Recap
MANY OUTSTANDING MOMENTS during Granpda Weekend. Aiden hangin' with Huck; like Rick and Louis at the end of Casablanca, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. The heart-melting smile the first time the little cowboy turned the light switch off by himself (it doesn't take much to entertain a 10 month old). The classic Bubblebath/Rubber Ducky Hour to bring a quiet end to each day. But for this extended four-day weekend, nothing topped the precursor to yesterday's mid-morning nap. 10:30 hits and like clockwork, a rabid case of the "crankies" set in...imagine Chucky having a really bad day. But a diaper change and a chilled bottle of 2010 Infamil Private Reserve...which usually sends him right into Sandmanland and...Mr. Cranky Pants still wants more. So, I fix him another bottle and when I return, he's not the least bit interested; instead, perfectly content to lay in my arms and have me rock him to sleep with a couple of less-than-stellar James Taylor covers, Long Ago and Far Away and Sweet Baby James. Fortunately, the lad has no musical ear yet, so my ick-apella lullabys were enough to put him to sleep...and I got to walk around the rest of the day with a case of the uber-warm fuzzies...
THE OSCARS FOR this family is as follows: didn't watch it, weren't all that interested in who won. I remember back in the days when Oscar Night was a "big" deal; in fact maybe the first actual "Must See TV". Mostly I remember the hosts. I recall Bob Hope when I was younger, then the Carson Years of the late 70's/early 80's, followed by the Billy Crystal/Whoopi Goldberg 90's, probably the longest stretch of great Oscar nights, highlighted of course by Crystal's opening sequences that were always funnier and more creative than any of the movies nominated. If the Academy was smart, they'd pay Crystal whatever he wanted, give him 100% control and sign him to a lifetime contract. As for last night, my thanks to gal pal Patty Santin for her live updates via FB chat while I was sitting at the keyboard catching up on work I put off to spend the last four days with Mr. Smiley Face...
AL GORE DEPT: Here in IF, two years ago we had our last substantial snowfall on June 11. Last year, May 21. Yesterday, March 7, was our third consecutive day with temps over 35 and the second in a row over 40, and in every yard on our street, it was hard to find more than a melting snowman's worth of the white stuff. Being a NoCal boy, I'm as happy as Tiger Woods in a hotel room full of b-cup bleach blondes, but I am wondering how the anti-GW crowd will explain this one. Maybe passing it off as a reasonable result from all the extra driving we've been doing since our community-minded friends at the oil companies lowered pump prices to less than $3 a gal? Uh....yeah! I am sure the eco-folks are glad the guys at ExMob are finally starting to see the light...
NEXT UP, MARCH MADNESS: Today, my 13 year old heads back to school, while the 11, 15, and 17 year olds have the day off. Reason: The elementary and high schools on this side of the Snake are on Trimesters, while the Junior High, located directly next to and across the street, respectively, from each, is on a Semester schedule. Public Education at its finest...Always a day late and several million dollars short, our local, county, and state governments, along with a couple of dozen large corps are hosting a mini economic summit and jobs faire at the Civic Aud. here in IF today. Among the scheduled speakers will be Idaho Governor Butch Otter and IF Mayor Jared Fuhriman. Coming on the heels of last week's Labor Dept. announcement that new job losses were 7.2% less than expected last month, do ya think if they'd had job faires like this all over the US two years ago, we might have avoided this whole economic slump all together? Personally, I think if the gov required the banks to either lend every last cent of bailout money to businesses for expansion or give it back, with interest, we'd have all been back in black months ago...Final madness of the month: my good friend Stacy Beintema, late of arch rival Foothill High in Pleasanton and the Grupe Co. of Stockton, CA, where in 1984 she lured me into the maelstrom of property management when I began my slow departure from the peace and quiet of the rock and roll biz, turns...a year older...on the 15th. Once again, the Ides have it, and I'd say she's doing ok. A retired SJCO cop for a hub (and a fabo guy in his own right), two awesome kids (one war hero and one recent Fresno St. grad who is taking the "girls always fall in love with men just like their daddy" WAY too seriously), and a fulfilling career helping people stay alive at the American Cancer Society. Not bad for a salty (not) old gal who still doesn't look a day over 35. Happy Birthday, B...
THIS WEEKEND WAS also my brother Bob's 48th birthday. He, his lovely wife Susan, and their daughter Alex celebrated a week early in Maui, where they took a much needed vaca. Not surpisingly, I received notice on their 3rd day in paradise that they had been "Bartmaned" again. It seems everytime these two leave the continental US, disaster ensues. Nine years ago, nary a month after their wedding, they hopped a honeymoon flight to Ireland (the lengths my lil' bro will go to play a new golf course!). In the middle of their trip...9-11. Last Saturday, it was the Chilean earthquake and the very real, albeit temporary, threat of tsunami waves overrunning the islands. In the end it was an oddly enjoyable afternon for them and the thousands of other tourists bunking beachside to pack up, cart their rental cars up to high ground and watch the tide come in and out until the all-clear was given. The NTSB has politely requested the next time they are looking for a get away spot, they should try Kansas. Happy Brithday, Bubba...
AND SO ANOTHER week begins. Senioritis has already started setting in on school teachers (along with some students), geese are starting to head back to Canada, ticked they missed the Olympics, and I'm sticking pins in voodoo dolls of my friends back in Cali who are enjoying their home golf courses while, because of the snow that remains, I'm lucky to scare up a good game of Wii Golf. But we live, we love and we pray for the best, all the while remembering how blessed we are just to be able to experience the madness.
THE OSCARS FOR this family is as follows: didn't watch it, weren't all that interested in who won. I remember back in the days when Oscar Night was a "big" deal; in fact maybe the first actual "Must See TV". Mostly I remember the hosts. I recall Bob Hope when I was younger, then the Carson Years of the late 70's/early 80's, followed by the Billy Crystal/Whoopi Goldberg 90's, probably the longest stretch of great Oscar nights, highlighted of course by Crystal's opening sequences that were always funnier and more creative than any of the movies nominated. If the Academy was smart, they'd pay Crystal whatever he wanted, give him 100% control and sign him to a lifetime contract. As for last night, my thanks to gal pal Patty Santin for her live updates via FB chat while I was sitting at the keyboard catching up on work I put off to spend the last four days with Mr. Smiley Face...
AL GORE DEPT: Here in IF, two years ago we had our last substantial snowfall on June 11. Last year, May 21. Yesterday, March 7, was our third consecutive day with temps over 35 and the second in a row over 40, and in every yard on our street, it was hard to find more than a melting snowman's worth of the white stuff. Being a NoCal boy, I'm as happy as Tiger Woods in a hotel room full of b-cup bleach blondes, but I am wondering how the anti-GW crowd will explain this one. Maybe passing it off as a reasonable result from all the extra driving we've been doing since our community-minded friends at the oil companies lowered pump prices to less than $3 a gal? Uh....yeah! I am sure the eco-folks are glad the guys at ExMob are finally starting to see the light...
NEXT UP, MARCH MADNESS: Today, my 13 year old heads back to school, while the 11, 15, and 17 year olds have the day off. Reason: The elementary and high schools on this side of the Snake are on Trimesters, while the Junior High, located directly next to and across the street, respectively, from each, is on a Semester schedule. Public Education at its finest...Always a day late and several million dollars short, our local, county, and state governments, along with a couple of dozen large corps are hosting a mini economic summit and jobs faire at the Civic Aud. here in IF today. Among the scheduled speakers will be Idaho Governor Butch Otter and IF Mayor Jared Fuhriman. Coming on the heels of last week's Labor Dept. announcement that new job losses were 7.2% less than expected last month, do ya think if they'd had job faires like this all over the US two years ago, we might have avoided this whole economic slump all together? Personally, I think if the gov required the banks to either lend every last cent of bailout money to businesses for expansion or give it back, with interest, we'd have all been back in black months ago...Final madness of the month: my good friend Stacy Beintema, late of arch rival Foothill High in Pleasanton and the Grupe Co. of Stockton, CA, where in 1984 she lured me into the maelstrom of property management when I began my slow departure from the peace and quiet of the rock and roll biz, turns...a year older...on the 15th. Once again, the Ides have it, and I'd say she's doing ok. A retired SJCO cop for a hub (and a fabo guy in his own right), two awesome kids (one war hero and one recent Fresno St. grad who is taking the "girls always fall in love with men just like their daddy" WAY too seriously), and a fulfilling career helping people stay alive at the American Cancer Society. Not bad for a salty (not) old gal who still doesn't look a day over 35. Happy Birthday, B...
THIS WEEKEND WAS also my brother Bob's 48th birthday. He, his lovely wife Susan, and their daughter Alex celebrated a week early in Maui, where they took a much needed vaca. Not surpisingly, I received notice on their 3rd day in paradise that they had been "Bartmaned" again. It seems everytime these two leave the continental US, disaster ensues. Nine years ago, nary a month after their wedding, they hopped a honeymoon flight to Ireland (the lengths my lil' bro will go to play a new golf course!). In the middle of their trip...9-11. Last Saturday, it was the Chilean earthquake and the very real, albeit temporary, threat of tsunami waves overrunning the islands. In the end it was an oddly enjoyable afternon for them and the thousands of other tourists bunking beachside to pack up, cart their rental cars up to high ground and watch the tide come in and out until the all-clear was given. The NTSB has politely requested the next time they are looking for a get away spot, they should try Kansas. Happy Brithday, Bubba...
AND SO ANOTHER week begins. Senioritis has already started setting in on school teachers (along with some students), geese are starting to head back to Canada, ticked they missed the Olympics, and I'm sticking pins in voodoo dolls of my friends back in Cali who are enjoying their home golf courses while, because of the snow that remains, I'm lucky to scare up a good game of Wii Golf. But we live, we love and we pray for the best, all the while remembering how blessed we are just to be able to experience the madness.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday Brunch
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Mormons.
As this is the first Sunday offering of The Lounge, let me begin by announcing that while every Sunday column will be spiritual in nature, it will never be a sermon; while I will as a matter of perspective, discuss from time to time my own and other faiths, I will never proselyte, and while I will offer my personal opinions, I will never feign to speak for the leaders or masses of my own, nor disreguard, disrespect, or denegrate another faith, or those without.
That said, on this initial Sunday, The Lounge is serving up not its usual panoply of multi-topic morsels, but rather a huge Sabbath Brunch that has been simmering in my heart for many months.
I believe that, to the best of my knowledge and however well intentioned, the humanity of the leaders of my Church overshadowed Church doctrine, their personal opinions and beliefs overuled the true meaning of their revelations; and I believe they ignored the existing, sacred foundations of the Church that have stood for 173 years, when they involved themselves and the Church in the fight for the passage of California Proposition 8, to make illegal the legal right for same sex couples to be married.
And I'd like to tell you why.
On August 17, 1835, adopted as and in Section 134 of the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, were the following passages:
"We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life."
"We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul."
"We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience."
"We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy."
The above four paragraphs are direct quotations and in so many words state that as a collection of people, we should not, can not, and will not use our organization, resources, faith, or influence to inflict that faith or our beliefs on others nor take or support any action that will deprive others, regardless of their beliefs, of the same legal and spiritual rights we enjoy.
Interestingly enough, the following paragraph explains this point in even more refined and exact detail, to the extent that had this quotation from the D&C been written specifically about Proposition 8, it could not possibly have been more accurate:
"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied."
These are points of contention that, unless and until my education is increased and I can be shown my interpretation misguided, no reasonable person can state that at the very least, there is a strong case for misstep by the Church heirarchy. Now these are good, decent, honest men, whom I look to for guidance, direction and direct revelation. I furthermore wholeheartedly believe they did look to prayer for revelation on how to address this particular issue. They are also however, human, and therefore capable of error, and while I am wholly unqualified to make that determination, I, in my heart, after an equal amount of prayer and consel, belief the facts support such a possibility.
These, however, are not even my most heartfelt points of disagreement nor my weightiest argument towards the proposition that the Church's actions on this matter were a gross miscarriage, of not only justice to the citizens of the state of California, but of our Heavenly Father's will.
From the day Church members attend their first Primary class in Sunday School, they are taught that the reason we are on the earth is so that we may learn, through experience in our earthly bodies and so that we may, with this knowledge, excercise the right of agency, of free will; to follow those commandments and laws put forth in the restored Gospel and to become worthy to rejoin our Father in Heaven, or, to reject them outright, and spend eternity in a lesser existence.
The choice is ours, as was always intended, since before the Creation.
Now, aside from the aforementioned examples of Church doctrine that have been ignored, can someone, anyone, please explain to me where or how any group of persons, much less those in His restored Church, have or were ever granted the ability and the right to take away from every person this all important right and ability to choose; a right that, was not only given to us by our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, as the lone gift that could, can and will restore us to His presence, but is in fact the only reason we were put here on Earth in the first place?
Now, does this mean I accept or agree with the idea of same sex couples being wed? It does not. In my heart, I believe He put each of us here with a plan that includes the creation of a family headed by one man and one woman. What it does mean is, the only person I have a place or right to make the choice to follow that plan, is myself.
Does it mean that I will tell people who are in or support same sex marriages that they are wrong and that my faith is the only way. It does not. I will be open and honest and explain that I believe my Heavenly Father did not include same sex marriage and homosexuality as a part of His plan for eternal life. I will explain that I believe every person has the ability to choose their path and I believe the greatest happiness will come from following His teachings. And I will tell anyone who asks that, because my Heavenly Father has instructed me to be respectful of all beliefs and those who hold them, including those that carry no belief at all, that I will always love them and be there for them should they ever need my counsel, support, or prayers.
What it means mostly is, I will never, as per my Heavenly Father's commandment to not do so, ever support any action that so resolutely and emphatically seeks to strip away from His children the one and only gift given us that will insure that we may return to His presence.
The right to choose.
As this is the first Sunday offering of The Lounge, let me begin by announcing that while every Sunday column will be spiritual in nature, it will never be a sermon; while I will as a matter of perspective, discuss from time to time my own and other faiths, I will never proselyte, and while I will offer my personal opinions, I will never feign to speak for the leaders or masses of my own, nor disreguard, disrespect, or denegrate another faith, or those without.
That said, on this initial Sunday, The Lounge is serving up not its usual panoply of multi-topic morsels, but rather a huge Sabbath Brunch that has been simmering in my heart for many months.
I believe that, to the best of my knowledge and however well intentioned, the humanity of the leaders of my Church overshadowed Church doctrine, their personal opinions and beliefs overuled the true meaning of their revelations; and I believe they ignored the existing, sacred foundations of the Church that have stood for 173 years, when they involved themselves and the Church in the fight for the passage of California Proposition 8, to make illegal the legal right for same sex couples to be married.
And I'd like to tell you why.
On August 17, 1835, adopted as and in Section 134 of the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, were the following passages:
"We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life."
"We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul."
"We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience."
"We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy."
The above four paragraphs are direct quotations and in so many words state that as a collection of people, we should not, can not, and will not use our organization, resources, faith, or influence to inflict that faith or our beliefs on others nor take or support any action that will deprive others, regardless of their beliefs, of the same legal and spiritual rights we enjoy.
Interestingly enough, the following paragraph explains this point in even more refined and exact detail, to the extent that had this quotation from the D&C been written specifically about Proposition 8, it could not possibly have been more accurate:
"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied."
These are points of contention that, unless and until my education is increased and I can be shown my interpretation misguided, no reasonable person can state that at the very least, there is a strong case for misstep by the Church heirarchy. Now these are good, decent, honest men, whom I look to for guidance, direction and direct revelation. I furthermore wholeheartedly believe they did look to prayer for revelation on how to address this particular issue. They are also however, human, and therefore capable of error, and while I am wholly unqualified to make that determination, I, in my heart, after an equal amount of prayer and consel, belief the facts support such a possibility.
These, however, are not even my most heartfelt points of disagreement nor my weightiest argument towards the proposition that the Church's actions on this matter were a gross miscarriage, of not only justice to the citizens of the state of California, but of our Heavenly Father's will.
From the day Church members attend their first Primary class in Sunday School, they are taught that the reason we are on the earth is so that we may learn, through experience in our earthly bodies and so that we may, with this knowledge, excercise the right of agency, of free will; to follow those commandments and laws put forth in the restored Gospel and to become worthy to rejoin our Father in Heaven, or, to reject them outright, and spend eternity in a lesser existence.
The choice is ours, as was always intended, since before the Creation.
Now, aside from the aforementioned examples of Church doctrine that have been ignored, can someone, anyone, please explain to me where or how any group of persons, much less those in His restored Church, have or were ever granted the ability and the right to take away from every person this all important right and ability to choose; a right that, was not only given to us by our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, as the lone gift that could, can and will restore us to His presence, but is in fact the only reason we were put here on Earth in the first place?
Now, does this mean I accept or agree with the idea of same sex couples being wed? It does not. In my heart, I believe He put each of us here with a plan that includes the creation of a family headed by one man and one woman. What it does mean is, the only person I have a place or right to make the choice to follow that plan, is myself.
Does it mean that I will tell people who are in or support same sex marriages that they are wrong and that my faith is the only way. It does not. I will be open and honest and explain that I believe my Heavenly Father did not include same sex marriage and homosexuality as a part of His plan for eternal life. I will explain that I believe every person has the ability to choose their path and I believe the greatest happiness will come from following His teachings. And I will tell anyone who asks that, because my Heavenly Father has instructed me to be respectful of all beliefs and those who hold them, including those that carry no belief at all, that I will always love them and be there for them should they ever need my counsel, support, or prayers.
What it means mostly is, I will never, as per my Heavenly Father's commandment to not do so, ever support any action that so resolutely and emphatically seeks to strip away from His children the one and only gift given us that will insure that we may return to His presence.
The right to choose.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
And the Oscar Goes To
IT LOOKS LIKE the 'Pubs nominee for Mrs. Wholesome America, Sarah Palin, has some 'splainin' to do. After openly chastizing her former, future son-in-law, Levi Johnston for being "too Hollywood", here was Alaska's "I quit" Gov. with her uber-wholesome...cough...daughter Bristol sliding into Tinsel Town in the middle of Oscar Week. Not a biggie you say; they can go anywhere and if they're in LA when the Oscars are being presented, so what?
Well they did go anywhere; to three pre-Oscar bashes (including loading up on freebies from several gifting suites; according to witnesses, like an impolite, starving child wolfing their way through the all-you-can-eat at Chuck-a-Rama). That was of course, in between the Queen of Crib Notes and Survivor producer Mark Burnett taking several Hollywood meetings, shopping a reality show for the "so not Hollywood" hockey mom, while her not-so poster child of conservative values daughter was taping a guest spot on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". Yeah, Levi is the one who has become too Hollywood.
You know, the neocon talking heads think the libs are afraid Palin will run for the Oval in 2012. I'm neither a neo, or a con, or a lib for that matter, but at some point each and every day, I do say a prayer that she will throw her newly gifted designer chappeau in the ring. It'll be 18 months of incredible comedy and our current CIC will get another four years to try and finish the job of AGAIN correcting the mistakes of yet another failed Bushie admin...
BETTER THAN OSCAR in the last ten years is the a debate of the Top Ten movies of all time. I love this discussion partly because my list is constantly changing, depending on my mood, and partly because I always hear at least one title I have never heard of or wouldn't have considered, which sends me surrying off (yes, I scurry) to Walkers (the local rental here in IF) to give it a try. AFI of course always puts Citizen Kane atop the list, and for filmmakers I undestand why. But as one of the regular folk who don't give two hoots about the technical aspects of a flick, I might put it in the top 15. For this time around, here, in order, are my Top 10 (and I'd love to hear yours): 10. Pride of the Yankees 9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 8. Dead Poets Society 7. Patton 6. Field of Dreams 5. The Sting 4. The Ten Commandemnts 3. Braveheart 2. 12 Angry Men 1. On Golden Pond. And if you're wondering, I just realized that my top two both star Henry Fonda. Complete coincidence I assure you, but hardly surprising. We miss ya Hank...
ANTI-TRUST DEPT: We are a family of big movie watchers and so we go through two of the 24-bag boxes of micro-wave pop corn a week. Looking to trim a buck (and cholesterol point) or two, I suggested we go back to the air popper. Figuring I could snag one for a good price, I headed over to the local Wal-mart and found...nothing. Nada. Zip. The first two W-M associates I asked for help had never even heard of such a thing. Knowing the highest profit margins come from their grocery aisles, I wonder...would they really go so far as to not offer an inexpensive air popper just to hike up the sales of Orville's nuked product? Oh, the things we give up in the name of capitalism. If anyone knows where I can find a good Hamilton Beach...
DEATH OF A SALESMAN: Hazzahs to James Cameron for his groundbreaking work with Avatar, however, seeing that the next two summer blockbusters (including the next Harry Potter installment) will be released in 3D to capitalize on the phenomenon, I fear this is the beginning of the end of the movie going experience as we have come to know it. At the Edwards theater here in IF, the non-3D version of Avatar is going for $7.50 a pop, with the 3D ducats hiked up to $11.50. Now add to that $13 for popcorn, soda and the obligatory box of Red Vines and you're talking $25 per person. $50 bucks for a movie date and that's not counting dinner beforehand. Remember the days when a guy could take his gal to dinner, a movie and hit Inspiration Point for less than 20 smackers. Well ok, 21, considering the smack she gave you at the Point...
WHO SAYS GOOD parenting is going out of style? Overheard at a local movie house last week. Boy: Well, can't I even put my arm around you? Girl: No, my parents are sitting in the back row. Boy: No they aren't. Girl: Yes, they are! You think they'd let me go on a date with you by myself? I'm only 16! Sure enough, at the end of the movie, the boy and girl head up for the doors and meet up with the girl's parents and leave the theater together. I sure hope my daughter Caroline, who turns 16 in June wants to go see the Matt Damon movie this summer...
A SURVEY FROM Good Housekeeping states that 87% of all diets or weight reduction programs begin on January 1st. So is it just bad marketing or utter cruelty towards the masses that causes the Girl Scouts to hold their annual cookie onslaught less than 2 months later? Can't you imagine how many more boxes of tagalongs they;'d sell if they did this in October? Personally, I smell a conspiracy with the people at Jenny Craig and think Congress should investigate. Nah, they have enough on their hands already. I'll just wait for the movie...
Well they did go anywhere; to three pre-Oscar bashes (including loading up on freebies from several gifting suites; according to witnesses, like an impolite, starving child wolfing their way through the all-you-can-eat at Chuck-a-Rama). That was of course, in between the Queen of Crib Notes and Survivor producer Mark Burnett taking several Hollywood meetings, shopping a reality show for the "so not Hollywood" hockey mom, while her not-so poster child of conservative values daughter was taping a guest spot on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". Yeah, Levi is the one who has become too Hollywood.
You know, the neocon talking heads think the libs are afraid Palin will run for the Oval in 2012. I'm neither a neo, or a con, or a lib for that matter, but at some point each and every day, I do say a prayer that she will throw her newly gifted designer chappeau in the ring. It'll be 18 months of incredible comedy and our current CIC will get another four years to try and finish the job of AGAIN correcting the mistakes of yet another failed Bushie admin...
BETTER THAN OSCAR in the last ten years is the a debate of the Top Ten movies of all time. I love this discussion partly because my list is constantly changing, depending on my mood, and partly because I always hear at least one title I have never heard of or wouldn't have considered, which sends me surrying off (yes, I scurry) to Walkers (the local rental here in IF) to give it a try. AFI of course always puts Citizen Kane atop the list, and for filmmakers I undestand why. But as one of the regular folk who don't give two hoots about the technical aspects of a flick, I might put it in the top 15. For this time around, here, in order, are my Top 10 (and I'd love to hear yours): 10. Pride of the Yankees 9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 8. Dead Poets Society 7. Patton 6. Field of Dreams 5. The Sting 4. The Ten Commandemnts 3. Braveheart 2. 12 Angry Men 1. On Golden Pond. And if you're wondering, I just realized that my top two both star Henry Fonda. Complete coincidence I assure you, but hardly surprising. We miss ya Hank...
ANTI-TRUST DEPT: We are a family of big movie watchers and so we go through two of the 24-bag boxes of micro-wave pop corn a week. Looking to trim a buck (and cholesterol point) or two, I suggested we go back to the air popper. Figuring I could snag one for a good price, I headed over to the local Wal-mart and found...nothing. Nada. Zip. The first two W-M associates I asked for help had never even heard of such a thing. Knowing the highest profit margins come from their grocery aisles, I wonder...would they really go so far as to not offer an inexpensive air popper just to hike up the sales of Orville's nuked product? Oh, the things we give up in the name of capitalism. If anyone knows where I can find a good Hamilton Beach...
DEATH OF A SALESMAN: Hazzahs to James Cameron for his groundbreaking work with Avatar, however, seeing that the next two summer blockbusters (including the next Harry Potter installment) will be released in 3D to capitalize on the phenomenon, I fear this is the beginning of the end of the movie going experience as we have come to know it. At the Edwards theater here in IF, the non-3D version of Avatar is going for $7.50 a pop, with the 3D ducats hiked up to $11.50. Now add to that $13 for popcorn, soda and the obligatory box of Red Vines and you're talking $25 per person. $50 bucks for a movie date and that's not counting dinner beforehand. Remember the days when a guy could take his gal to dinner, a movie and hit Inspiration Point for less than 20 smackers. Well ok, 21, considering the smack she gave you at the Point...
WHO SAYS GOOD parenting is going out of style? Overheard at a local movie house last week. Boy: Well, can't I even put my arm around you? Girl: No, my parents are sitting in the back row. Boy: No they aren't. Girl: Yes, they are! You think they'd let me go on a date with you by myself? I'm only 16! Sure enough, at the end of the movie, the boy and girl head up for the doors and meet up with the girl's parents and leave the theater together. I sure hope my daughter Caroline, who turns 16 in June wants to go see the Matt Damon movie this summer...
A SURVEY FROM Good Housekeeping states that 87% of all diets or weight reduction programs begin on January 1st. So is it just bad marketing or utter cruelty towards the masses that causes the Girl Scouts to hold their annual cookie onslaught less than 2 months later? Can't you imagine how many more boxes of tagalongs they;'d sell if they did this in October? Personally, I smell a conspiracy with the people at Jenny Craig and think Congress should investigate. Nah, they have enough on their hands already. I'll just wait for the movie...
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