inSOHMnia

Mormon church in need of reform?

2012-02-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

Recently I read this article published in the Washington Post.

Mormon Church in Need of Reform

I think the timing may have had something to do with a certain Presidential candidates good performance in the polls. . . . .

It starts off giving a snapshot of recent gallup polls concerning church members, pretty standard stuff about how the general public perceives us, and then she throws in a line about how the church "isn't exactly welcoming of outsiders."

Huh?

How many missionaries are there in the world trying to bring 'Outsiders' into the church?

And of course, using that phrase paints the picture in the mind of her readers of a group of paranoid zealots, afraid of anyone or any culture that is different from the fundamentalist, small town Utah culture. Many readers probably instantly thought of the scary polygamist cult leader on Big Love.

She then goes on to establish her credentials as an Ex-Mormon, even naming a few former Mormons who are famous (I guess).

Her explanation for being in the church is that she had prominent Pioneer ancestors, whose story was well established in her own family, and that the 'mantle' of her pioneer forebears weighed heavily on her mind. She also talks about how the church is a big part of her identity.

But then, when she gets to college, she starts to discover differing viewpoints. Different types of scientific evidence seem to contradict claims made in the Book of Mormon. She's concerned and brings her concerns to the people around her. These people get angry with her, tell her to just not read that stuff, and to just get married and not worry about it. One guy told her it's ok to question, as long as you don't tell anyone else.

Distraught at the advice given to her, and not wanting to risk leaving her community, she eventually leaves the church. Doing so gets her shut out of her parents home for five years, and some of her friends shunning her.

She tries to make the argument that the church is too stuck in it's ways, and needs to get with the times, and that this is what you vote for if you vote for Romney.

It occurred to me that the people who she talked to, who gave such bad advice, are idiots. They obviously don't understand the doctrine. Nowhere does it say that we should avoid learning about history and science. Nowhere in the scriptures are women told to turn off their brain and just get married if they have doubts. Nowhere are mormons told to respond by shunning or disowning a friend or family member with doubts.
That's BullCrap. Very Easily Dismissed if you understand the doctrine and know for yourself that God and His Son are at the head of the church.

Then it occurred to me that her story of her faith was not about how she studied the scriptures, and prayed, developing a familiarity with the God, and how she therefore knew that the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be. She didn’t talk about the moment of comprehension when the truth of it all became perfectly clear in her mind.

No, her foundation was that her ancestors, over a hundred years ago, had joined the church and walked across America, and that her all her current friends and family were Mormons.

She hadn’t paid attention. Her whole life, she had missed the point of three hours of church each week, plus youth activities. Sure, she probably learned a lot of facts along the way, memorized all the talking points. But the biggest takeaway point of nearly every discussion, and the subject of a whole hour of sacrament meeting once every month, is that each church member needs to learn for themselves that the church is for real. It’s also known as gaining a testimony.

A testimony is gained by study and prayer. You need to study the Bible, Book of Mormon, whatever, and then ask God for a confirmation of the truth of what you read. It’s not a Ouija board; if you have no intention of acting on the answer you‘ll receive, then you probably won’t get anything. Why? It would do you no good if you weren’t intending to act on the knowledge.

When a person has faith in something, they believe in something so strongly that they are willing to act on their belief. When you pray about the Book of Mormon, and intend to let the answer define your life from that moment forward, then you will start to see some results, answers to your prayer.

The reason it works this way is that God cares about every single person. He wants all of us to become better people. He wants all of us to improve, to be the very best that we each can be. He doesn’t just want Keith Sohm to learn improve himself and make sure his kids are enrolled in church, he wants Keith’s grandson Dave to learn the truth and humble himself, and become a better person, and want to return to God’s Presence.

He wants the best for everyone, individually.

Carrie Sheffield, the writer of the article that appeared in the Washington Post, missed this. She didn’t take it seriously. She attended church to keep up appearances, because her Pioneer forebears and all her friends would be disappointed if she didn’t.

Lacking the spiritual foundation, she couldn’t dismiss the callous and wrong advice given to her. She couldn’t tell herself, when confronted with slyly crafted ‘evidence’, that she KNEW that the Book of Mormon was real, and that it didn’t matter what anybody else said.

She coasted through all those years of instruction, her mind elsewhere, or just content to be descended from people who had great faith. And now she has admitted as much to the whole world.

And by the way, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints IS God’s church. The Book of Mormon IS a religious history of a society that lived on the American continent before even the Vikings discovered it. The priesthood IS in fact the power of God to bless and heal, shared with worthy men on earth, right now. I know that it is. And you can know too.

Funny things said by children around christmas time

2011-12-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

During our travels, we have heard goofy sayings from kids.

"Ok, maybe we can take our shoes off and put up some Christmas Lights or something."

"Let's Decorate. Let's decorate. . . . . the car! Let's put a Thomas up on top and uh, a snowman!"

"Oh look! It's a dog! It's a Christmas Dog! Oh wait, that's not a dog, that's a kid!"

Eric Holder should be in Prison

2011-09-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

I heard the latest development of 'Fast and Furious' from Michael Bane's podcast.

This is a photo of a letter to a gunshop owner, ATF Supervisor David Voth specifically said that he was authorized by the government to buy 6 AK pistols, and hinted that the guns would be exported to another country.

The letter was published along with this story from Fox News.

Emphasis added by me.

Link

U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast and Furious,' Documents Show

By William Lajeunesse

Published September 26, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.

This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.
Related Interactive

Documents Detail ATF Involvement in 'Fast and Furious'

The following documents detail the role the ATF played in buying and selling weapons as part of its controversial "Fast and Furious" operation.

Operation Fast and Furious began in October 2009. In it, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives encouraged gun stores to sell weapons to an arms smuggling gang, then watched as the guns crossed the border and were used in crimes. Each month, the agency allowed hundreds of guns to go South, despite opposition from some agents.

All told, the gang spent more than $1.25 million for the illegal guns.

In June 2010, however, the ATF dramatically upped the ante, making the U.S. government the actual "seller" of guns.

According to documents obtained by Fox News, Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy six semi-automatic Draco pistols -- two of those were purchased at the Lone Wolf gun store in Peoria, Ariz. An unusual sale, Dodson was sent to the store with a letter of approval from David Voth, an ATF group supervisor.

Dodson then sold the weapons to known illegal buyers, while fellow agents watched from their cars nearby.

This was not a "buy-bust" or a sting operation, where police sell to a buyer and then arrest them immediately afterward. In this case, agents were "ordered" to let the sale go through and follow the weapons to a stash house.

According to sources directly involved in the case, Dodson felt strongly that the weapons should not be abandoned and the stash house should remain under 24-hour surveillance. However, Voth disagreed and ordered the surveillance team to return to the office. Dodson refused, and for six days in the desert heat kept the house under watch, defying direct orders from Voth.

A week later, a second vehicle showed up to transfer the weapons. Dodson called for an interdiction team to move in, make the arrest and seize the weapons. Voth refused and the guns disappeared with no surveillance.

According to a story posted Sunday on a website dedicated to covering Fast and Furious, Voth gave Dodson the assignment to "dirty him up," since Dodson had become the most vocal critic of the operation.

"I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn't want to be hung out to dry by Voth," a source told the website "Sipsey Street Irregulars."

Subsequent to this undercover operation, sources told Sipsey, "Dodson just about came apart all over them (his supervisors). In a 'screaming match' that was heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, 'Why not just go direct and empty out the (ATF) arms room?" (to the cartels), or words to that effect.'

After the confrontation, ATF managers transferred Dodson to a more menial job. Months later, after the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, Dodson blew the whistle and went public about the federal government's gunrunning operation.

The Watergate Scandal, the one that built the careers of legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, that forced the resignation of Richard Nixon, was about a cover-up of a burglary. Mexico is saying that at least 200 mexican citizens have been killed using guns smuggled into Mexico by the United States Government. 200. That's about the size of the University of Utah Marching Band.

And that's just based on the numbers or weapons that have been recovered at crime scenes so far. A couple of thousand weapons made their way into Mexico as a result of this evil, hideous act of our government.

The people responsible, up to and including Eric Holder, (and probably President Obama as well) need to be prosecuted and thrown in prison for a very long time.

Idaho Sunsets

2011-09-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Whoever said that California has the best sunsets, obviously hasn't spent any time in Idaho.

Sabbath Day Thoughts

2011-09-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

Our bodies and our spirits are much more similar than I had previously thought.

Today in Sunday school we were discussing the importance of the sacrament, why we have it weekly, and it got me thinking.

Our bodies are performing a continual balancing act, between the amount of force we exert, or exercise, and the need to conserve energy. Muscles don't just appear and make us look good, we develop muscle as we apply resistance. I've been riding bikes with my family recently, and the first time we rode an 8 mile loop around our town, I was dead tired and filled with rage when we got back, but just a few days ago when we rode it again, no rage and a good worked out feeling.

What happened?

I made my body perform at a higher level than it was used to, and it adjusted to meet that demand. If I were to go on 8 mile bike rides every day, or try to do the 8 miles faster, then my body would adjust more quickly.

Our spirit gets exercise by learning truths, following promptings, praying and getting answers, etc. . . Except I think that it's nearly impossible for us to strike a balance between activity and inactivity, spiritually. We are either growing, learning and progressing or we are lapsing into atrophy. One purpose of God calling prophets to direct the church on earth is to push us to continually exercise our spirit. The job of the church is to get us to expand our spiritual capabilities. Our spirit does not have the same physical limitations that our body does, and therefore we can continue to learn and increase our understanding and perception of the world around us, forever.

Taking the sacrament is a weekly reminder for us to improve ourselves. When we take the sacrament we renew our covenants and commit ourselves to do better. If we really want to get more out of it each week, then we put in effort during the week to improve, and then the sacrament on Sunday has greater personal meaning.

On the flipside, if we just think about repenting during the 6 minutes that sacrament takes place, then it will become an empty routine. Our minds will get bored and will start to wander. We will see church as a chore, a set of well-meaning rules that don't work out in real life. Eventually we just stop going to church, then we start forgetting things we've learned, and on and on.

For our bodies to stay healthy, they need exercise. They need something to push against, to make them tired, to make muscles grow. For our spirits to be healthy, they need to constantly be learning, stretching, growing. Taking the sacrament every week to renew covenants is a good place to start.

A really stupid opinion posted in Forbes

2011-07-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

For some reason, after a big shooting incident that makes the news, it seems like a number of writers for news papers need to comment about how it's a good thing that none of the victims had their own guns, because it would have been SO much worse if they did.

The recent Evil in Norway has proved to be no exception.

Some smart guy wrote a short article for Forbes Magazine.
Click Here

First off, he says, "In fact, it’s quite likely that more people shooting guns in such a scenario would lead to more confusion and possibly more deaths, some of which might be accidental." Yeah, and it's also quite possible that the good guys with guns would clearly identify the man shooting innocent teenagers and direct their bullets accordingly. And it's quite possible that Godzilla may decide to show up and smash your office building, so why even go to work every day?

I can imagine very few situations where it would be unclear who the homicidal maniac was. Especially a situation that is consistent with the historical record of the acts of violence. The Columbine shooters were a bit of a fluke because there were two of them, but most of the time there is only one person involved, because if they had tried to involve anyone else, they would certainly be turned down, and probably reported to the cops.

The attacks in Mumbai involved multiple attackers, but even there the attackers quickly identified themselves by shooting innocent people. So walk with me here, you are at a mall and hearing loud pops and screaming. You turn the corner and see people running away in a panic, others lying on the ground, and one man going from person to person, shooting each one. Who do think is the bad guy?

Also, the killer picked a summer camp being held on an island miles away from shore. There was no way to escape and no way for a rapid response time. The killer had over an hour before the SWAT team pulled up. He killed SEVENTY THREE people. How could this possibly have been WORSE if one of the camp counselors had pulled out his own Glock 19 and fired back at the killer? What could be worse than this?

I think people who make comments like this can't think rationally about a situation like this. It's too stressful to think about finding yourself in a situation like that, and so they never get beyond, "Gosh that would be terrible." And then when they do get into a situation like that, all they think is "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this is happening." Then they freeze. It's what happened to Colin Goddard, he stuck in "I can't Believe this" for like ten minutes. It's not because he's stupid, or bad, he just hadn't really thought about it before.

Well, the people who apply for concealed carry permits HAVE thought about this type of thing. Those thoughts are likely what led them to purchase a handgun and apply for the permit in the first place. They've "gamed out" a response in their mind. Usually it involves running away.

But the people who write editorials like this would never carry concealed, and therefore don't think of these situations in terms of them winning. They think of it in terms of the bad guy will stop when the police show up, or he'll just eventually kill himself.

I used to have an attitude of 'if I die, I die.' But that all changed when I got married. I married the most beautiful, smart, affectionate and valuable woman in the whole world. If she and I were had been at Trolley Square that in February, she would have been in danger of being brutally murdered, and I would have had nothing but my shoes to fend off the bad guy. That was simply unacceptable. I felt helpless, because I had been at work, she was at home, and the shooting had already long since ended by the time I heard about it. The panic I felt at being unable to protect her even if we had been together set the gears in motion for carrying concealed.

So, in conclusion, don't believe everything you read in the paper. Use your own brain, do research, and make your own decisions. Don't let anyone discourage you from taking measures to protect yourself just because they don't like guns, or don't want to think about a scary situation.

Pen and Paper

2011-04-12T16:34:00.001-07:00

(Hint: if you click on the page of handwriting, it will magically grow to a legible size)

Temple Visit

2011-03-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

I went and visited the Manti Temple yesterday. It was the first time in a long time that I've gone to the temple to do work for someone. I've been to a few weddings recently, and those are nice, but I felt better doing work for someone else. The guy I got endowed for was named William C. Perry. He was born in Texas in 1875, I guess they couldn't find a death date because it wasn't printed on the card. He was probably a cowboy. He became an adult at a time of major technological advances. Steam engines, automobiles, airplanes, modern manufacturing practices, automatic pistols, rifles and machine guns.

I guess I've lived in a similar time. When I was born, CD's were brand new technology, there weren't cell phones, there were CB radios. The internet was a military experiment involving Stanford, MIT, and the University of Utah. Video phones were a special effect in Star Trek movies.

Cameras used film, and the fancy ones would advance the film automatically after each shot. Now you can fit a telephone in your pocket, and can use skype to see the face of the person you are talking to. Phones can take pictures now, the only people who use film are artists who have time to make chemical prints. Photoshop is a computer program now, not a workshop where you develop pictures. You can now buy TV's that have a better picture than some people are capable of with their own eyes.

The computer I'm using is not physically attached to anything, just sitting here on my lap. The first test of the internet was a text message that crashed the internet halfway through. Now I can upload HD videos to youtube, and there are millions of videos on youtube.

So hopefully William C. Perry's existence is more enriched now, mine certainly is. I really should go more often. All the stuff I let get in the way really isn't worth much.

Carrying a Handgun at School

2011-02-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Recent events at the University of Utah have brought up the subject of guns and self defense on campus. I would like to address a few points that are brought up by people trying to discourage on-campus self defense.

The first that is stated by people who haven't thought the issue through, "When the police show up, how will they know the difference between the bad guy and the good guy?"

Easy.

The good guys comply with the police commands. The bad guy shoots at the cops.

Carrying a gun, having it in an active killer scenario does not mean that your brain turns off. Plus most active killer scenarios involve one psycho shooting at the crowd. The Mumbai style assaults are thankfully really rare. So there is only really one place where there is danger. This thought was recently made in the Daily Utah Chronicle: The likelihood of stopping a rampaging shooter is muddled by the misdirection and chaos of such events—a nightmare for responding police.

In an event where there is only one bad guy, sure there will be confusion and chaos, but it will be crystal clear where the shooting is happening. It's where the gun shots are coming from. People may be running around, but they will be running away from the shooting. If your goal is to stop the shooter, then you move toward the shooting and shoot the guy who is trying to kill defenseless people in the crowd, or who is moving from room to room, shooting the people inside.

When the police arrive, they will make a lot of noise, it will be hard to miss, especially if you are expecting them at any second. So when you hear the cops, put your gun away, take cover and point to where the bad guy is.

In addition, the police only know something is happening if someone calls them. After the shooting starts, it will take some time for someone to call the cops, then the dispatcher has to get information out of the caller, like where it's happening and what the guy looks like. Then the dispatcher has to sort out the information, summarize it and pass it on to the officers, who have to fight through traffic on the street or the University's sidewalks, and then find the bad guy.

If the bad guy is in your classroom, or right outside your classroom, you are going to have to deal with the bad guy before the police arrive. And if you don't fight back, you are going to die.

Another is that there is a risk that the student may miss the bad guy and hit other innocent people. Honestly it could happen, if the armed student doesn't practice or is unfamiliar with how firearms work. Anyone who has a concealed firearm permit is at least 21 years old, and they have taken a class that reminds them how dangerous, both legally and physically, a gunfight is.
They have invested time and money into getting the gun and permit. They probably go shooting periodically. They may seek out some private training to help them to shoot accurately. If they've ever gone out in the desert to 'shoot stuff' then they are aware that bullets go through things. All those factors will be going through their mind as they move through the building, looking for the bad guy. (or better yet, an exit)

It has been shown that in most active shooter incidents, the bad guy changes his plan at any sign of resistance. This doesn't mean simply holding the door shut. If the bad guy gets into the room, the occupants need to attack him. Throw books, backpacks, desks, any thing at him until he leaves or you can get his gun away. When he's being pummeled with textbooks and backpacks, his attention will diverted away from shooting people. The longer his attention is diverted, the more opportunity the class will have to tackle him. There is danger in rushing toward a man with a gun, yes, but the alternative is to rely on a mass murderer to spare your life. The choice is between a 95% chance of being killed while cowering or maybe a 90% chance of getting killed while attempting to stop the bad guy. Doing ANYTHING will increase your chance of surviving such a situation.

We have seen from the Tucson shooting and even the Virginia Tech shooting that in the face of death, some people will still put themselves in danger to protect others. At Virginia Tech, a professor who had survived the Holocaust, held the door to his classroom shut, trying to use his body as a shield. He was killed, I don't remember if he prevented the bad guy from getting in, but I'll bet his last thoughts weren't, "Boy I'm glad I'm not allowed to carry a gun here at school."

The first person to confront the guy in Tucson was a grandmother in her 60's, who rushed him when she saw him attempting to reload. If she was brave enough to confront the guy with her bare hands, think of how much more effective if she had a gun? Maybe she wouldn't have had to wait until the bad guy ran out of ammo.

If people are willing to fight, even if it is dangerous, why should they not be allowed and encouraged to use a gun? A handgun allows someone to inflict damage on a bad guy from a distance, instead of having to charge him first. In an active killer situation, the targeted people are already at a disadvantage. Why should that disadvantage be amplified by making rules against students legally carrying a gun.

Another argument is that someone with a gun might flip out and start killing, that the stress of college is too much for some. First, do you think that making a rule banning handguns on campus is going to stop a flip-out? Second, and more importantly, people who receive a permit have passed a criminal background check. They have shown that for at least twenty one years, they have been able to avoid having a run in with the cops. They are not the type of person that flies off the handle and gets into fights with people, they don't drink too much and get themselves arrested, etc. . . They aren't in the habit of being dangerous to the community. The state trusts them to be responsible with a gun as they go about their business everyday, and enrolling in a University doesn't suddenly change their judgment or the years of good decisions they have made up until this point in their life. It's just common sense.

If I've left anything out, or been unclear on any points, let me know and I'll try to address it.

The Tucson Shooting

2011-01-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of opinionating on the shooting in Tucson. It was a tragedy brought about by a single disturbed person. It’s interesting that people still try to discuss the ‘violent rhetoric’ even after it’s been shown that this guy was obviously crazy. I’ve heard programs where the announcer basically says that yes, the partisan rhetoric probably had nothing to do with this case, but the rhetoric really is creating a situation that could lead to a situation like this.

Tom Ashbrook talked about how this kid had grown up in the current environment of nasty political rhetoric. But I think someone who is crazy will seize upon anything they hear and expand it into whatever crazy reason to hurt people. They don’t think rationally. There was no Tea Party or Sarah Palin when Hinckley took a shot at Reagan. He was trying to impress Jody Foster. The guy in Florida wasn’t whipped into a frenzy by Glenn Beck, he decided to end his life while killing school board members and the reason he gave was because they fired his wife. Two years ago.

The President, in his memorial speech, said that Right vs. Left rhetoric was not the cause of this, and yet people seem to be still trying to bring it up.

In fact, we have sort of similar situations between this and the guy in Florida. Except the Florida guy didn’t spawn a bunch of angry tweets about Sarah Palin. Why is that?

Could it be because that guy didn’t hurt anyone? Maybe it was because it was caught on video and his intentions were pretty irrefutable.

The Florida school board were all elected officials, Florida is a mostly gun friendly state, the shooter was deranged and bent on mayhem. Did the latest guy get more coverage because he succeeded in killing people? That could be part of it. I don’t want to think of news people as being so arbitrary as to run with the Arizona thing simply because Giffords is a Democrat in conservative state. That contradiction can’t be the only reason why this story got so much coverage.

Maybe it’s due to Cable news’s new found obsession with Twitter. They pay attention to Twitter and then it influences the way they edit their content. When Twitter got all bent out of shape, unleashing all the pent up rage against Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, the producers of news decided that the “controversy” was what people wanted to hear, and so they chased after the opinion of their audience, instead of trying to determine the facts. That could be a symptom of a lot of things wrong with the news these days.

So, instead of blaming media characters, let’s look at what allowed this kid to purchase America’s most popular 9mm handgun. Some say that we need a law to prevent dangerous crazy people from buying guns. Sounds reasonable.

What they don’t say is that such laws already exist.

Ok, then how do we define crazy? Is someone a crazy dangerous lunatic in the eyes of the law if they have had a session with a therapist? Most people would say no, because most people have had contact with psychiatrists at some point in their life, and are not crazy. What about people who are diagnosed with certain mental illnesses? Someone who is described as a paranoid schizophrenic or a sociopath, probably shouldn’t be able to buy a weapon, right?

What if the diagnosis was made 20 years ago? Can people change? (I don’t know about schizophrenia, personally, I’m just thinking with a keyboard here.)

As a child, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. It meant that I had to work harder than most kids to keep my attention span at an age appropriate level. It used to take me four hours to do 30 math problems in elementary school. Having the diagnosis and a mild ritalin prescription helped me to learn how to focus appropriately. I feel like I have basically addressed the problem by now.

But does it mean that I shouldn’t be able buy a deadly weapon? I don’t think that past diagnoses by themselves are a good predictor of future behavior. I have the opinion that past behavior is a better predictor of future behavior. The law agrees. (Or I agree with the law)

The Justice System punishes people according to what they have done, based on evidence that proves that they did it. It doesn’t work 100%, but the idea behind it is good. So if someone has never been convicted of a crime, could you legitimately call them a dangerous person? I mean, everybody has dark thoughts at some point in their life, everyone loses their temper and says hurtful things. But if they never physically harm anyone, they aren’t really a danger. They are able to control their impulses and not commit crimes.

People who are unable to control their impulses, or who decide that their own desires are more important than social norms are criminals. They break the law.

However, most humans live lives out of habit. So criminals make a habit out of committing crimes. Since people are mostly born good, they have to work their way across the spectrum to being hardened criminals. So most criminals start out with petty crimes like shoplifting. Once they start getting into the habit of committing felonies, our Justice system says they can no longer be trusted with a firearm. It may not stop them from getting their hands on one, but it carries stiff penalties when they get caught with one.

The instant criminal background check that is conducted when you purchase a handgun looks for felonies in your past, things that would prohibit you from owning a handgun.

So how was this wacko in Tucson able to go buy a handgun at Cabela’s?

He didn’t have a criminal record that would prohibit him from doing so.

He had admitted to smoking pot and he had some run-ins with the police, but I believe you have to be convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor within five years to be prohibited from owning a gun. That means you have to have a trial and a sentence passed against you. For most people this is a reasonable process.

But this kind of thing that happened in Tucson is so rare that it makes national news when it happens. This guy had a unique jump to the dark side, going from pot smoker to mass killer. He doesn’t fit the norm of criminal progress, so he kind of took us off guard.

That leads us to ask, Could we have done anything to prevent this from happening? Probably not a whole lot, since he seems to have been harboring a grudge against Giffords since 2007. I’ve read that he has had numerous interactions with law enforcement, perhaps at some point they would have noted his strange behavior and been able to get him an evaluation that would have made him a prohibited person.

But on the other hand, it’s not a crime to be disturbed or crazy, so maybe no one wanted to pry into this guy’s business.

In instances like this, we try to find a reason why something like this happened. As Michael Bane said recently, the why doesn’t really matter. As a society, we can’t predict when something crazy is going to happen, our models for prediction are based on reason, not random insanity. If we were to attempt to actually know enough about the lives of all Americans, we would get the surveillance state of the UK. And that experiment hasn’t worked, there is still violence there. In fact, it has become so expensive that they are beginning to dial back the government’s involvement in the lives of the citizens, encouraging people to be more responsible for themselves.

What we do know is that the situation could have been much worse if no one had acted. If I understand correctly, it was someone’s grandmother that was the first to tackle the bad guy when he attempted to reload his weapon. Other people in the crowd joined in and got his weapon away from him. Joseph Zamudio came running from Walgreen’s, prepared to shoot the bad guy, but found he had already been subdued. All of those people deserve medals. They acted with the safety of others in mind, at extreme danger to themselves. Our president needs to recognize the heroism of these people.

For the families left behind, all I can say is that I’m sorry, though I had nothing to do with the tragedy. I don’t know what to say to someone who has lost a daughter for no good reason. At least we can be confident that she is now in a safe, happy place, where she is free all cares and sorrow. And I hope that the man that cut her life short is punished to the full extent of the law.

Thoughts on God, Life and Death

2011-01-04T00:38:00.000-08:00

I’ve left that previous entry up for quite a while now. I mostly posted it because it had gotten me rattled and taught me that it’s incredibly stupid to argue with strangers on the bus. On the other hand, if someone were accosting me on a bus, I would hope that a fellow passenger would come to my aid, even if they felt like a fool afterward.

This past Sunday I fasted for the first time in a long time. I fasted to be able to get a job. Or to have more motivation to look harder for a job. It’s frustrating to fill out application after application, to send my resume to email after email, and to hear back from maybe 1% of the time, and then they tell me no 100% of the time.

But, and this is a pretty big but, nobody is obligated to hire me. I shouldn’t be upset that the employers that have a lot of money floating around, don’t want to take a chance on a College graduate who has not done an internship at a major agency. They have their own livelihood and reputation to think about, after all.

So I’ll keep looking, send applications to companies who say they are looking for someone with my skills. And in the meantime keep applying for the (allegedly) easier to get jobs that will get me a paycheck quickly.

In church, we were discussing how to persuade someone that they should accept the gospel. We said that accepting the gospel, getting baptized and all that jazz would bring happiness. The teacher replied with, “Ok, so if I join up and then terrible things happen to me, does that mean it’s not true?”

The answer, of course, is no. God exists whether or not bad things happen to you. Bad things may happen to you if you believe in God or not.

I thought for a minute and my answer was that if you have truly accepted the gospel, you will have peace and clarity within yourself, and so even then if you lose your job, get a disease or lose a loved one, you wouldn’t say that your life is horrible.

In 2010 I lost a couple of cousins. One died of a drug overdose of some kind, in front of her toddler children. I hope her kids can get over it, but kids as young as hers were can get over things like that. For her, it was the last in a line of very poor decisions. I wish she hadn’t died, it seems like such a dumb thing to die over, but she was the one that made that decision.

My other cousin, was a soldier in the 101st Airborne division, who was killed in Afghanistan. I guess in a way his decision to join the army and be in the infantry was what placed him in Afghanistan, but his death seems to be a lot more unjust than my other cousin’s. He was serving his country, had gone through grueling training to become a Ranger, had achieved the rank of Sergeant, he was a good person doing good things.

His death brought a lot of grief to the family. But I have to say that I felt his funeral was a positive, uplifting experience, and at the same time, very sad. I was sad for his wife, and for his mom, both of whom were overcome with grief. The worst part was when his casket was closed for the final time, and the funeral began. It will be a long time before it’s opened again, and Aaron steps out in a perfected state.

I’ve been to funerals before, but they are mostly for old people who have lived a full life, nobody is really shocked that they died, and everyone’s ok with it. It was really depressing to think of all the things that Aaron and his wife won’t get to do together, they hadn’t even had a one year anniversary yet.

On the other hand, I was impressed by the soberness of the military personnel, in the way they conducted themselves at the funeral. There was a great deal of ceremony and respect in the attitudes of all present. There was a group of soldiers who took shifts standing guard at either end of the casket. They stayed there through the entire viewing. The Patriot Guard Riders were in attendance, including a good friend and teacher of mine, to create a sense of safety and comfort by surrounding the church were the funeral was held, and the gravesite during the interment. Even Brandon, Aaron’s twin, executed his orders to the letter as Aaron’s official escort.

I felt happy to hear the loving tributes written by Aaron’s comrades, one of whom has joined Sgt. Kramer on the other side. I found myself wishing I could have known this man better. I feel good knowing that he is ok, now. If soldiers are treated with such care and reverence by those of us left behind, I can only imagine the amount of love and care they receive when they reach the other side. My grandfather, Keith, was undoubtedly the first person that Aaron met when he passed, and Aaron is not very far from his family here on Earth. I also feel optimistic about Sgt. Flannery, because Aaron is undoubtedly the first person he must have met when he passed.

The purpose of the gospel, in times like this, is not to diminish, or disrespect anyone’s grief. It’s not there to make us feel guilty about feeling sad at the loss of a promising, smart young person. I think that probably throughout human history and through all cultures, there is a wishful hope that we will see our loved ones again. Logic or prevailing ideas may try to drive that notion away, but most people want to believe that death is not the end of a person.

The restored, complete gospel of Jesus Christ affirms those instincts. It assures us that we will see our loved ones again, that they exist somewhere and are being taken care of. It eases the pain of death, by letting us know they aren’t gone forever.

I still feel a tremendous sense of regret that I didn’t know Aaron very well, I still feel a tremendous sense of waste that someone so smart and good could have so much time and money invested in them by the United States, only to shot out in the middle of nowhere, by people who want to impose their violent and evil perversion of Islam on others. But at least Aaron Kramer is not lost forever, even if we won’t be able to embrace him for a while.

If I ramble, I apologize, I didn’t get to write this all in one sitting.

"Public Space"

2010-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today while riding the bus on my way to take a test, there were a two young mothers with 2-3 year old kids. The kids were enjoying themselves, as 3 year old kids do.

Eventually a man about my age got on the bus. He on a ratty t-shirt, sweat pants that were riding a little low, and great big, Elton John-esque sunglasses. I remember thinking that he was probably heading to the university, because he seemed to exude the "look at me! I live an alternate lifestyle" vibe.

The kids eventually were rambunctious, laughing loudly and hitting the window while their mom's spoke to each other over the back of the seat.

Big sunglasses man says, in a loud voice, "This is a public space! Public space!" I thought to myself, "Did he just tell that young mother to get her kids to shut up? I think he did." That made me mad. Who does this guy think he is?

I don't think the mothers paid him any attention, but I started to prepare a response in case he tried it again.

He did. "Hey, you're in a public space here, you need to control your kids."

Me-"Hey buddy you're in a public space, too. She's not smoking or doing anything harmful, her kid is being a kid."

Him- "But she is in a public space, she has a responsibility as a parent to control her children."

When he responded, I learned that adrenaline dumps and the fight or flight instinct show up even in a non life-threatening situation, because my mouth got dry, my throat tightened, I felt something like cold water suddenly in the middle of my chest, and my arms and hands felt cold and slightly numb and tingly.

From here on out, I don't remember exactly what I said, neither of us were speaking very eloquently, we probably both had that confrontation response flowing through our veins.

I said something like, "There just being kids, they're too young to know any better."

He said, "They're giving me a headache, would you like it if I started screaming?"

Me-"No, but you aren't three." The noisy kid looked like he was three.

At some point I said that the mom didn't deserve to be harassed for taking the bus to save some money. He responded by pointing to the stroller she had brought on board, saying she shouldn't have it because it was made in China, it polluted carbon during the manufacture, and that it was taking up half the room on the bus.

It was in the space that was designated for wheelchair users, and there were none of those on the bus.

His comment about the stroller really took me off guard, so I said what I thought.

"Are you saying that she should have carry a forty pound kid in her arms everywhere she goes instead of using a stroller?"

He said no, but the kid was loud, he had had a seizure this morning, and that his heavyset, black-wearing, tattooed female friend could probably control the kids. At least I think that's what he said.

I wondered if he was being serious, that he was worked up enough that he would go over and try himself to quiet the kid. If he tried it, well, I wasn't going to let that happen.

But that's the kind of thing you think about when your lizard brain thinks a fight is on its way. Of course he didn't do anything like that.

During our conversation, I twice told him that if he was really that bothered, he could get off at the next stop and take another bus. He said that the mom had a responsibility to "control her kid" so that Mr. Sunglasses could ride the bus in peace.

My stop was fast approaching, the argument had run its course, and I was late for a test so I got off. It took me a really long time to fish out my electronic bus card out of my shirt pocket and untangle it from the iPod headphones that were in there.

It also took me a long time to consider, and answer the test questions when I got to class.

Guy thinks the bus is his own personal limousine, and that he has the right to impose his own will and values on other people, in the name of public space. What a self righteous, left wing jerk.

Why do people think Chicago is a good place to live?

2010-09-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

There is a blog written by a Chicago Police officer, that really illustrates the problems and corruption of the city government there.

This is the link, and since I can't link directly to their post for some reason, I'll just repost this article that is in response to an editorial in a local paper. I feel it sums up the Chicago Police Department's current situation.

I'll put the paper's words in italics.

Sun Times in the Tank
*** WARNING***

Long post. We're going to take the Sun Times to the woodshed.

No wonder the dead-tree media is dying. Get a load of this "editorial reply" to yesterday's whinny screed by J-Fled. Try not to vomit:

*

It is easily the most dangerous and frustrating job in Chicago. The hours you work are miserable. The respect you deserve is not always forthcoming.

Your pay could be better. And God help you if you should have a bad day, lose your cool and get a little too rough. People who have no idea what you go through and put up with every day will be the first to call for your head.

It is the most dangerous and frustrating job in Chicago -- cop.

So far so good. Now it heads downhill:

*

But here is the other side of the coin: If you can't handle the pressure, you shouldn't be a cop. If you torture suspects in a police station basement, you shouldn't be a cop. If you beat up a woman bartender, you shouldn't be a cop. If you pummel a man handcuffed in a wheelchair, you shouldn't be a cop.

Because all you do is sow distrust in Chicago's neighborhoods for all police officers, the vast majority of whom would never in their wildest dreams beat up a woman bartender or slug a man handcuffed in a wheelchair. What you're doing is hurting your fellow officers, sullying the reputation of an entire department.

Um, none of those people are cops anymore. Each of those cases cited went through the process and were summarily adjudicated. Maybe not in the rapid-fire manner so often preferred by media types, but the wheels of justice ground slowly to an outcome, none of which made all parties happy, but the cases ended.

* It was with that in mind that Mayor Daley hired Police Supt. Jody Weis three years ago to clean up the department's image.

Oh, so now J-Fled was hired for an "image" problem? That's the first we've ever heard about that. Nice to see the Sun Times is moving the goalposts again for Shortshanks to protect his legacy of hiring this ass.

* It was an image that sorely needed restoration. Chicago was going through a mini-spree of police brutality cases. The much-maligned Office of Professional Standards was seen as turning a blind eye to rogue cops. Seven members of the elite police Special Operations Section were charged with a litany of crimes, including a conspiracy to kill a fellow cop. And it seemed like everyone in the nation had watched the video of off-duty officer Anthony Abbate attacking bartender Karolina Obrycka.

"Mini-spree?" What? When? Who? Can someone cite these cases? SOS? Seven cops in a unit of 350? On a force of 10,000? And can anyone tell us what's going on with that "conspiracy" case? You have to love how the Sun Times cites an allegation that's about to be dropped shortly as entrapment to bolster their editorial. And the reason "everyone in the nation watched the video" is because every media outlet played it over and over and over. Honest to god, we'd see ABC News running a story about Chicago cops rescuing a dog on the lake ice, and the next shot would be, "You may remember the Chicago Police Department is under a cloud after a drunk asshole beat a bartender." It was a running joke at that point.

*

But three years later, all is not well inside the Chicago Police Department. Weis, in a long letter that appeared in Monday's Sun-Times, criticized the police union for trying to continue "business as usual." And an anti-Weis march by potentially thousands of rank-and-file officers is scheduled for Wednesday outside police headquarters.

Weis, a career FBI agent and the first outsider in nearly 50 years to serve as Chicago Police superintendent, clearly has made mistakes. Promptly replacing 21 of 25 district commanders left many officers on the street wondering if the top brass understood the challenges they face. His decision to wear a uniform even though he never was a street cop offended those who were. And merit promotions for two officers who worked as drivers for Weis angered cops who work the streets who had been passed over.

No one wanted business as usual. J-Fled refused to work with the union. He instituted changes in direct violation of signed contractual agreements and then had to backpedal constantly. His missteps were numerous and the advice he received was from people who had never operated under a contract in their careers, i.e., clout babies. The immediate replacement and shuffling of district commanders, along with the other brass, was a power move by Daley to break up the old guard. J-Fled had ZERO knowledge of the CPD, yet he's making 30 and 40 moves of exempt personnel based on what exactly? Oh yeah, phone calls. And when he wouldn't return Daley's phone calls, Shortshanks replaced J-Fled's Chief of Staff with well-known political insider Michael Masters Masters Masters, who's primary duty was to pick up the phone and tell Jody it was the mayor on the line and he better get his ass over to answer it.

The "business as usual" was all from the fifth floor of Headquarters, not the union. The superintendent's driver making "merit" sergeant was just the icing on the cake. Cline did it. Hilliard did it. J-Fled was signaling loud and clear that nothing had changed.

*

Most controversial was Weis' decision early in his tenure to call in federal authorities to probe the case of Officer William Cozzi, who had been caught on video beating a man shackled to a wheelchair. Cozzi already had been suspended for two years without pay.

Looking at that incident now, it's a legitimate question whether Weis reacted too quickly, coming down too hard on a veteran officer with an otherwise commendable record who already had been punished. And without a doubt Weis had a political tin ear for department politics, clearly never anticipating how deeply unpopular -- even loathed -- that one decision would make him among the rank and file.

Word is that Daley himself, after hearing about J-Fled's recommending the Cozzi case to Fitzgerald, asked aloud, "What the hell did he do that for?" J-Fled is backtracking this so severly he's leaving skidmarks on the pavement and in his shorts. We recall very clearly, though we can't currently locate the article, that J-Fled called this the "worst case of police brutality" he had ever seen in his career. As anyone with half a brain can attest, J-Fled must not get out much.

* But a thoughtful, respectful discussion of Weis' failings was never ventured. Rather, Weis has been subjected to the cheap-shot warfare of 24-hour anonymous bloggers.

Respect is a two way street. J-Fled held five town hall meetings and then never again. His Deputy Superintendent Bartender Bea took down names and had at least one officer dumped from his assignment after the first meeting - that kind of chilled the subsequent meetings. He visited maybe ten roll calls that we ever heard about. Pointing out bad decisions and poor moves isn't "cheap-shot warfare." That's legitimate criticism of a bad leader. J-Fled's whining about "it's everyone elses fault" speaks to a poor leader with no ability toward introspection - witness the Morale Survey that STILL hasn't seen the light of day. Ask the Lieutenant who got dumped from her spot after insisting the results should be released about that one.

And even if you add up all the hours blogged from here, Shaved and Crimefile, it doesn't add up to 24 hours a day. We do find it interesting that the Sun Times editorial was published without a name attached to it though - anonymously you might say.

*

For their part, the police union and rank and file officers need to show they don't want "business as usual" and are determined to gain the respect of citizens still terrified by the years of police torture under recently convicted former Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

Ummm, yeah. Because everyone we run into is oh, so terrified of Jon Burge. You can't find 1 person in 10 who even knows or cares about Burge. You people are morons.

*

Now that Mayor Daley is not running for re-election, it seems unlikely Weis will remain when his contract is up early next year. The next superintendent needs to stand up for officers when they're in a pinch, but must like Weis have zero tolerance for cops who cross the line.

God help him (or her) if he runs into the same ugly buzz saw that's taking Weis down.

Thank god he's gone shortly. He's been a disaster. And the reason superintendents haven't stood up for cops in a pinch is directly traceable to Shortshanks. You think Phil Cline went hat-in-hand to Meeks because Meeks was racially profiled? Meeks was wrong, but Daley needed Meeks' votes, so Phil was sent south to embrace a race baiter. It's about votes for The Machine.

And it's funny how J-Fled's tolerance seems to be endless when it's politically connected gold stars with their assorted body parts in the wringer. Ernie, Tony, Ruth, Bea, Penny, Frank, Mike, the list is extensive.

The buzz saw taking J-Fled down is of his own making. A litany of bad decisions; a complete inability to self-evaluate and adapt to the situation; the arrogance typical of an FBI product too wrapped up in his own importance; a history of attacking the messenger (FBI whistleblower Wright; Lt. Andrews); and of course, running from the sound of gunfire.

It sure seems that the Sun Times is fully on board with the "re-hab J-Fled's image" as much as they were with the "destroy the CPD" kick they were before. Who are they taking their marching orders from?

Gummy Bears

2010-09-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Funny, I am pretty sure that I remember Gummy Bears being made of, you know, sugar and gelatin.

Well after a recent trip to Smith's it turns out I've been wrong all along.

So if you are looking gummy bears, head to the whole grain section.

In other news, I didn't get picked for the Richter7 internship.

Interview

2010-09-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today I had an interview with Richter7 for a paid internship position. I think it went well, I feel qualified for the position, they are only interviewing six people for the position.

It was a little nerve wracking, but they had me fill out a personality profile survey that I feel is pretty accurate and speaks highly to my strengths, that I always have a hard time just explaining to people. I'm not accustomed to promoting myself.

Also, on my way to the interview, I stepped into a restaurant's restroom and I think I found somebody's hiding place for their crack pipe.

Doing some real work.

2010-08-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've been helping my dad with his Photography business. He showed me how to use some photoshop, my beautiful bride came up with an idea for the flyer for my Dad's Photoshop Elements class.

And here it is.

Enjoy!!!

Elana Kagan got confirmed

2010-08-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have a thoughts on this.

Remember when Bush nominated Harriet Miers? And how she was viciously attacked and shouted out of the nomination process because she had no experience as a judge?

So Kagan being an agent of the Clinton administration makes her qualified but Miers being an agent for the Bush administration makes here un-qualified?

This Sounds Familiar.

Kind of like the several thousand page Patriot Act that got passed without anyone reading it was a bad thing, but the several thousand page Healthcare bill that no one read is a good thing?

So basically if the Democrats are in power it's ok for them to do everything that the republicans did that was Bad?

There is so much Bull---- floating around, I can't believe more people don't see it. Maybe they don't want to, they feel that its their right to do this stuff, because the guys before them did it.

That's no way to run a country.

I don't really trust Obama's nominations because Sotomayor lied about her view of the 2nd amendment. In her confirmation hearing, she said that the Heller decision was settled law. And then she signed a dissent that stated that the Heller decision was wrong and should be overturned or reviewed. Therefore her opinion is that Heller isn't settled law, even though she previously said it was.

Displaying a Handgun

2010-07-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, my dad had a bad experience trying to return a small dresser with a chip taken out of it. One of my parents made the comment that if I had gone with my dad and been open carrying, then they might not have been so belligerent.

I then went on to have a discussion with my mom about the legalities and wisdom of open-carrying. She would kind of joke about how dad would be talking with the employees while I could just stand back with the gun on my hip, just staying quiet and standing there with my arms folded. And I'm thinking, "Yeah, like Guido, the local La Cosa Nostra Neighborhood Liaison Officer."

So I know she was just joking, but I didn't want to let her get by without getting my point across that what she was talking about was highly illegal. I explained to her that the only time it's ever appropriate to coerce someone with a weapon is when you feel that your life is in danger, not because you're mad because they're trying to bully you into keeping slightly damage furniture.

Would you be willing to give up your right to vote over a small wooden dresser? Because crimes involving deadly weapons result in felony convictions, and Felons lose certain rights for the rest of their lives.

Self defense with a deadly weapon is serious business.

Some pictures

2010-07-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

I need to clear some photos off of my phone, so here they are.

This first is of a dead moose I saw on the road to Heber. I knew it was dead, because this was the second day that I saw it, but it was so big, that I still didn't get too close to it, for fear that it would suddenly jump up and eat me.
I must have an irrational fear of dead moose.

These next pictures are from a project that Sohm Photografx is working on, a catholic church in West Jordan.

If you want to get aerial photographs, but you can't afford a helicopter or don't know how to use one, you can just use a blimp.

It's interesting how Barnes and Noble arranges its books sometimes.

I don't know if Larry would be insulted, amused, or flattered to see a rack of his book next to a bunch of copies of "Twice Tempted By A Rogue".

Maybe it's targeted to bored suburban couples, with perfect selections for husband and wife.

Makes sense because this was at the Fort Union Barnes and Noble.

Corps Encore 2010

2010-07-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome drum corps last night. The Troopers are really rockin' these days. I love the new uniforms and their show was the best I've ever seen out of the Troop. Their horns were great, drums were good. I didn't think they deserved to be 8 points behind Vanguard. However, one of their trumpet players lost his hat, and a snare player lost a drum stick and had no backup.

I really like Santa Clara. They have incredible horn players, great drumline, great style. However, this year's show kind of lacks energy. It took too long to get into the show, and there were too many dead spaces in the music. However, I think their show deserved a higher placement than they got.

I am not a huge fan of the Blue Knights, I think they have created so much tradition that they limit themselves creatively, and kind of don't try new things. However they were better last night than I remember them being. I thought that they and Santa Clara were about on par with each other. Their music was energetic, it was good. They placed higher than Santa Clara by 3 tenths of a point.

Blue Devils really blew the lid off the whole show. They used giant mirror panels and had some neat effects, for example they would have a string of horn players facing a mirror (the mirrors face the audience of course) then they would slide to the right while still facing the mirror, and when they moved past the edge of the mirror, another player from behind the mirror came out and was following the first player. The effect was that the reflection jumped out of the mirror and followed the reflected player. It was really cool. The Devils drumline, specifically the tenors were incredible. They did play quite a few measures of silence punctuated by single blasting notes, but when they would play groovy jazz music and rock out in place, and they did it correctly. Some other corps tried the 'stand in place and groove' visual effect, but they did not have the energy in their movements or in the music to pull it off.

The Blue Devils really were leaps and bounds ahead of the other corps at the show. I didn't take pictures, because I wanted to just enjoy the show, and not worry about taking pictures of it.

Trap shooting

2010-07-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

So who could have known that this shotgun would not have performed as well as this one at a trap shooting competition?

And to anyone who says that you can't miss with a shotgun? Well I missed. A lot.

But it was fun.

Independence Weekend, Part Two

2010-07-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

We took the Little Guy to a carnival thing and he . . . well, he'd never been to one before, so he didn't quite understand everything that was going on.

His thought process probably went like this. . . .
"Hey look a little swimming pool. Wow! It's got fish in it! I want one. Wait, a stick? What's this for? You want me to get fish with this? What do I need a stick for, the fish are right here. Why can't I just reach down and get the fish? Fine mom, I'll grab the stick. Hey Mom! You got a fish! Good job. Now I'll just get one for myself. . . . Candy? What's this candy for, I thought we were getting fish?"

Independence Day Weekend, So Far

2010-07-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Wife, for a few years now, has spoken very highly about the City of Moroni's July 4th celebrations, how they spend most of the yearly budget on Fireworks, they do a cool little parade, etc, etc. . .

One of the coolest things about the parade is that it is kicked off by a small airplane that buzzes the parade route and drops a mass of ping pong balls on the parade route. TLW's eyes would light up as she would recall the cloud which erupted from this plane and the chaos as balls would go flying every direction and kids fighting each other to get a ball, because some contained prizes.

Imagine my anticipation as I see the plane, flying low over main street, heading right for us, and then a handful of balls start falling out of plane. It doesn't quite block out the sun like I thought it would, but maybe the ball dropping mechanism jammed. It's ok, they'll come around again.

The plane had quit dropping them before it got to us, and I watch it as it flies past, and I see someone's hands sticking out a side window, shaking the last balls from a plastic Walmart bag.

So they fly around again and come down the street again, and this time they over shoot us. And the second time around was every bit as impressive as the first one.

Lovely Wife looks at me, and says, "I promise it was way cool when they started, they're cheaping out on us." To which I replied, "I guess they couldn't afford more than 1500 ping pong balls."

Maybe the oil spill is driving up the price of oil, and therefore plastic, so ping pong balls must be like $30 a pop.

Last year the Awesome Fireworks were canceled because of gale force winds and Thunderstorm. The Lightning was very spectacular and fun to watch, as loud and bright as any fireworks display, but you don't get that distinctive sulphur smell of summer.

Tonight will tell if Moroni will live up to The Lovely Wife's childhood memories.

In other news, the City is putting on a Trap Shoot, which I will be attending. Hopefully pictures and video to follow.

A Crusader Weaponry video.

2010-06-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

This is from the most recent rifle class. The next class coming up is a shotgun course on July 10th. $200, contact George Hill through MadOgre.com

Lots of moss and a Wedding, part one

2010-06-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

My cousin Neal got married recently, and the Lovely Wife and I were invited. Oregon is one of our favorite places. It's so pretty, green, and (when you get out of the city) wild. However, Oregon's Attorney General doesn't think that Utah's Concealed Carry Permit is up to par, so I decided to open carry the whole time. I did some research, and there are a few cities in Oregon that do not allow open carry, so I mostly avoided those cities.

First we stayed with some relatives in Hermiston, Oregon. They are cousins of my father-in-law, and very nice people. In the past, when my family would travel to Springfield, we would just push through, and it was pretty grueling. It was like a fourteen hour drive, and we usually didn't get onto the road until mid morning, like 11 a.m. So we would usually arrive in Springfield around midnight or later. We would also eat at fast food places along the way, so we would all arrive feeling pretty crappy.

After a refreshing night's sleep in a bed, and a delicious breakfast of real food from a grocery store, we took a leisurely drive along the Columbia River Gorge. We discovered that some really smart person built a whole legion of electricity generating windmills along the gorge. We got out of the car a few times and learned that the Gorge is a super-windy place.

They could power probably half of Oregon with all those windmills, the wind farm probably goes on for forty miles.

Next stop was at some waterfalls.

Horsetail is cool, you can walk right down to the pond that the water falls into, its cold, but that can be refreshing if you've been sitting in a car seat all day.

Have you ever been on a trip, and wished you could go to the gym? Well if you go to Multnomah Falls, then you can do just that. It has a trail where you walk up to the top of the falls, it's a mile long hike, and really good for your legs and butt.

Along the way, the Little guy learned the word for moss, and then discovered that moss is EVERYWHERE in Oregon.

We continued on up the trail, took a few more pictures, then arrived at the river that fed the waterfall.

Once you get to the top you walk down some stairs and onto a platform, where you can overlook the edge of the falls.

It is a long way down to the lodge and visitor center at the bottom of the falls.

Petition for a new law to make America safer!

2010-05-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

From WeTheArmed.com

Hey everyone, I'm trying to get some good old fashioned activism going. While gunshot wounds account for 30,000 deaths a year (Many of those are suicides), vehicular accidents claim the lives of over 40,000 Americans a year, and there's no pesky bill of rights getting in the way of strict regulation for these evil machines. Clearly, human error isn't the issue with this many deaths, its the inherently dangerous and evil nature of cars that kills people.

How many of you would be willing to sign a petition that bans or at least severely restrics ownership of this menace to society, the personally owned vehicle? After all, if you needed a ride somewhere, you could simply call a police officer or other qualified and responsible civil servant to drive you where you needed to go. Less cars means a safer America for our children after all. Sure, the ability to transport yourself around at will used to be a boon to a productive and civilized society, but lets face it, this isn't the old west anymore. We have public transit and a whole host of other options.

Even if we can't get an outright ban, (after all it will take time to wean Americans of their cars), we can at least ban the most deadly kinds of vehicles, the deadly type of cars just built for killing people. You can tell just by looking at them. We get rid of spoilers, high capacity gas tanks, hood ornaments, and a10 ll vehicles with aerodynamic shapes that make them vastly more lethal. All cars under 10' long would be taken off the streets, as they would more easily allow a criminal to evade the police and hide their vehicle in an alley or a garage somewhere when its not being actively used to slaughter innocents. Scooters, as long as they are registered as such, would be kept legal, though they would have to be registered to responsible owners, licensed and tracked by the BATVF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Vehicles, and Firearms). Of course, there will still remain those angry sociopaths who cling to trucks and religion, but a few years in the slammer will fix them but good.

Its time to make a stand for the children here people. Who's with me?

If this makes no sense to you, go read some of the stuff that the Brady Campaign puts out there.

Some Pictures

2010-05-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

The first picture is of someone sticking it to the man. 'It's not a motorcycle, it's a scooter.'

The second is a bizarre car accident that we saw. Some how the jeep ended up on top of a small white car, at first we thought that the white car had totally been smashed, but the roof was still intact. It begs the question of how the rear end of a car got on top of a smaller car, going perpendicular to the flow of traffic? I'll probably never know.

Post Graduation

2010-05-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

School is OVER!!!!! Now I can focus all my energies on investigating employment opportunities, and of course, actually becoming employed for money.

But yesterday I got to go out and film a Defensive Pistol Class for Crusader Weaponry, I plan on using this footage, to experiment with Motion, Livetype, etc. . . to make some cool promos and commercials for them.

But yesterday, in addition to creating some professional opportunities, I go to to shoot my gun a little. I got a major confidence boost when Larry Correia genuinely and persistently complimented my shooting accuracy.

Here is a video of me doing a fun exercise called the Zombie Drill. It makes feel good about practicing magazine changes so much in my spare time.

Enjoy. Go to my youtube channel or facebook to see more videos of the pistol class.

Also stay tuned for more videos to come.

It's availabe in HD, so if you want to see me reload in incredible detail, you can.

2010-05-07T12:55:00.001-07:00

I'm graduated! YAY!

Robbery - 4XX E. 400 SOUTH, SALT LAKE CITY, UT

2010-04-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

Robbery - 4XX E. 400 SOUTH, SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Observations

2010-04-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of school, so to celebrate we went to Rubio's for some delicious Baja Mexican food. I like Rubio's for many reason's, but a major one is that they play mexican/beach/surfer music in their restaurant. You may ask, 'Who cares?' but the last time I went to Cafe Rio, a decidedly Mexican restaurant, with thatched roofs inside, etc. . . the speakers were playing frakking doo-wop music from the fifties. I'm not kidding.

We go to Costa Vida more often than Cafe Rio because its closer, and my Blushing Bride likes the food better at Costa Vida. They also played mexican music for a while, but the most recent time we went in they were playing modern teen pop music. Maybe I'm cynical, but I think the teenage manager of that place was just playing their own favorite style of music. If you work at a Mexican restaurant, serving mexican food, and most of the people making that food speak spanish, what makes you think that you can just decide to plug in your iPod to the speaker system?

Also I'm liking Costa Vida less because one time when my Bride was eating there, a higher-up in the company was reprimanding one of the employees, making her cry, telling her to suck it up, in the middle of the dining area of the restaurant. With customers sitting all around. Classy.

I also noticed, when we were walking around the 400 south shopping district, that there was a security guard walking around with a full belt of gear, including handcuffs, a baton and a large pistol. I thought it was a little odd, because the only place I've seen a uniformed security guard that was armed was in D.C. In the most gun friendly state in the nation, this guy was the first armed security guard I've seen. (Armored car guys don't count, they're couriers)

So I wondered if there had been a recent crime spree at the shopping district. Today I checked and there had been a bank robbery, in the middle of the day, a couple blocks down from the 400 south shopping district, in March. So that explains it.

I wonder how long they'll pay that tough looking 50-year-old to walk around with a gun on his hip before they decide they don't need him anymore.

It makes me feel better about having a defensive weapon with me all the time. Hopefully I'll never have to use it. Hopefully that rental cop won't ever have to use it, either. I could probably get the same amount of firearms training as the security guard, as fast as I could pay for it.

In other news, it snowed a lot today. Almost May, and we're still getting blizzards.

Also, KC likes to Hop on Pop.

Media Bias? What Media Bias?

2010-04-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

At a Tea Party, a reporter asks a person in the crowd,

"Excuse me, but since you're a black man, aren't afraid that this mob of white angry tea partiers is going to try to lynch you?"

-Black Guy "Umm, no. I'm a tea partier, too."

Silly reporter.

Storm Photos

2010-04-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

On wednesday, there was a big storm, as I was heading out to the bus. The clouds over the mountains were getting blown north, and clouds over the valley were going south. And the sky was starting to turn green.

I thought for a few minutes that we might have another tornado, but no one reported one. Made for interesting pictures, and a musty class once I got to school.

Blood and Toenails

2010-04-21T10:42:00.001-07:00

Remember, if you don't practice correct nail clipping technique, this could happen to you.

It actually feels a lot better.

In my lifetime

2010-04-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

In my lifetime, the right to carry a concealed firearm has expanded to include nearly every state in our nation. This link is an interesting animation of how it has expanded.

Right to Carry since 1986

A return to the gym

2010-04-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't been to the gym in a while because of my school assignments. I finally went again toady, when Kris suggested that I should.

I tried a different program on the elliptical that required me to pedal backward. Wow. It really works different muscle groups.

But the best part of it all. . .

I feel much better about how I look after a guy fatter than I am came into the shower.

Clearance?

2010-04-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

We saw this delightful beverage on clearance for a really good price. You need to get over to the Dan's on Foothill to get your own bottle before people find out about this incredible deal.

2010-04-09T08:48:00.001-07:00

I just saw a bible in someone's car. The cover was digital camo

A new level of communication

2010-03-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

KC learned a new word today.

Antelope Island Buffalo Run

2010-03-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

My beautiful wife had signed up to run a race a few months ago, and then promptly developed foot pain and was unable to continue training. It was sad.

The race was today, and we went out to Antelope Island to claim our race packet, and just do something fun outside this week.

We found a hiking trail that just happened to be the route that everyone was running.

By the time we got hiking it was just about nap time, and for whatever reason, he just didn't want to be in his external frame baby backpack.

But after thrashing around for a few minutes, I took that video. Then I showed him the video, and he thought it was funny to see a baby crying like that, and calmed down.

He ended up having fun, though he got a little toasted, because he hates wearing hats.

That place is fun. You basically go back in time to see how Utah looked when the Pioneers rolled in. It's a very pretty, rugged, desolate place, and you can visit for only 9 dollars a day. It's very pleasant in March. Go check it out sometime.

We had an UltraSound today

2010-03-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

and it's a Girl!!! Everything is looking to be perfectly normal. It is a relief that we can see the baby and how all the organs are functioning.

Hooray!!

(By the way, we are having a baby. Did I mention that?)

Fitness update

2010-03-15T17:27:00.001-07:00

So I was trying to wait at least a month before I ran on my foot that had been hurting. But today the Ellipticon machines were all occupied, and since I don't think they are intended for tandem users, I decided to try running. I started out and felt pretty good, the running muscles were being worked out. At about 20 minutes, my shoe felt like part of it was coming loose and shifting around. Then after a few more minutes I realized that it was something in my foot that was shifting around, so I stopped. Dang.

I guess I'll have to wait a little bit longer to run. In the meantime the Ellipticon will be my heart rate elevator of choice.

Marching Band Package for Website

2010-03-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

The University Of Utah Marching Band

Security Package for website

2010-03-08T18:59:00.001-08:00

Package about security at the University of Utah

Photo 11 for website

2010-03-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sunset

Photo 10 for website

2010-03-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

Utah football players greet fans after win

Photo 9 for website

2010-03-08T18:48:00.001-08:00

Blast of Confetti during the awards ceremony after sugar bowl

photo 8 for website

2010-03-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

Rj Stanford greets the crowd

Photo 7 for website

2010-03-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

ON field band shot

photo 6 for website

2010-03-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Swoop in the Super Dome

video for website

2010-03-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Drummin in N'Awlins

photo 5 for website

2010-03-08T18:31:00.001-08:00

U of U drumline on Canal Street in New Orleans.

PHOTO 4 FOR WEBSITE

2010-03-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Mill Creek canyon in autumn

photo 3 for website

2010-03-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Surf near Heceta Head lighthouse

PHOTo 2 for website

2010-03-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

Kris and KC frolicking in the fog

Photo for a website

2010-03-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

Oregon Beach

Provo

2010-03-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

is pretty good. On our way to Manti, we stopped at this famous restaurant in old Downtown Provo called Los Hermanos. It was delicious and I found the area of town very charming. I was seriously considering checking out PR firms in Provo. It may be a nice place to live.

They have a delicious drink there called Diablo Verde. Everything that we ordered was simply delicious. If you get the Fajita plate, get the full plate and share it with your partner, because it is a lot of food. Check it out sometime.

Genius

2010-03-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes people throw around the word GENIUS to refer to entertainers, especially with Saturday Night Live. 'Tina Fey is a genius' 'Will Ferrel is a genius' 'Mike Myers is a genius'

I don't think that being good at making people laugh makes you a genius.

However.

This OKGO video is pure Genius

This Too Shall Pass

This Marching Band Version is awesome too, put on headphones and crank up the sound when you watch it.

This Too Shall Pass

What??

2010-03-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

I watched some of the closing of the Olympics last night, and the Russians are the next hosts for the winter games. As part of handing the torch to the Russians, the Russians sang their national anthem. I heard the same song from the 'Hunt for Red October', the old communist USSR anthem.

Apparently when the USSR fell, they got rid of the old anthem, then sometime recently they decided to bring it back, except they changed a few words.

This is coming from the country that allowed Putin to CREATE a new position in the government, Prime Minister, in order for him to stay in charge.

The same country where journalists who criticize the Government conveniently get shot to death on their way home from the grocery store.

They are now singing the old Communist anthem.

Am I crazy or is there a trend?

Foiled

2010-02-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

My goal today was to run at least 2 miles at the gym. I haven't been able to over this last week because of school, and wanted to get back into the groove. Two miles is 15 laps at the Field House, but today I only got four laps in, because of nagging foot pain. I think I need to stretch better. Oh well, more time for school work. Maybe run tomorrow.

We're Number One!!!!!

2010-02-22T18:45:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Utah for getting a ZERO in a recent Brady Campaign survey.

Ta-Da!!!!

I like living in a state that bothers these people.

To celebrate, you should all go out and buy AK-47's!!!

Today is also the first day when the National Park System begins following State gun laws instead of banning all guns outright. If only there were a National Park close at hand, I'd go have my picture taken with the ol' Sig on my hip.

Kids do need naps sometimes

2010-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

When I took this picture, KC had been frustrated with life, but was happy when I picked him up. He played for a little while after that but then everything was making him mad, or was a crushing blow to his self esteem and he would start crying. We figured it was time for a nap. The first time we put him in his bed, he was freaking out, it was like he was getting attacked by a predatory animal or something, so we brought him back out. He played for a little while longer, but was just unable to enjoy life so I put him in his bed.

I'm sure everyone in our building and in the parking lot could hear Kay as he went completely ballistic. At first he was sad, probably thinking I was punishing him, but then you could hear the rage growing in his voice just gaining in intensity. I think he actually got the clouds to start snowing. It's a wonder that he still has a voice because I think he was louder than most Utah Jazz fans.

After five minutes of COMPLETE meltdown mode, Mom went in and said the magic words, and left. Kay shrieked for a little when she left, but he was like a balloon that is left to fly around the room. It makes a lot of noise and is crazy for a few seconds, then runs out of air and plops onto the ground.

KC is asleep now.

Old stuff

2010-02-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

I was going through some old pictures for a class the other day, and I found this video that I had someone take at the Sugar bowl in New Orleans. It's called Push, and for the two years I played the tenors, it was the bane of my existence. My hands and arms would always seize up at the tenor solo because of the fast sixtuplet notes. I had a hard time getting the sticks from drum 3 all the way on the right to drum 4 all the way on the left. I swear that I tried to relax my arms so that I could play lighter, and therefore faster, but my forearms would seize up. I would have to muscle my way through the crampy arm muscles, which meant I played harder, which meant a loss of control and so it was always really dirty.

However. This night in New Orleans, we hadn't played really heavily for a few weeks, but it was at the end of the season, I was strong, there was no pressure to perform, only to have fun, and it was really warm. So as you can see, I was able to spit out those notes, my hands were really loose which let the heights of the sticks go way up, but I had enough strength to get the ends of the sticks back down on the head to play the music in time. And it was clean.

Just looking at that video now, I feel good that I finally did conquer that freaking cadence after two years of trying, and that it got recorded so I can go back to see it.

ATF

2010-02-17T17:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2010/2/17/feds_raid_defense_contractor

The ATF has raided another firearm maker, gave no comment on their actions or what they were investigating. Instead of locking the facility to secure the guns inside, they backed up semi trucks to the loading dock and took everything inside.
The ATF did the same thing to Cavalry Arms about two years ago, no charges were filed against Cavalry, and none of the property (guns and gun parts) have ever been returned to that company.

Please spread this around. If a government agency takes your stuff, and doesn't file criminal charges, then its called stealing.

-Update- 2/18/10
So it looks like some employees of Sabre Defence were selling some non-sellable items, and that's why the ATF is investigating. Some speculation i've read is that might refer to fully automatic lower receivers for M-16 type weapons. So at least there is a legitimate reason for the raid.

The ATF still hasn't filed charges against Cavalry Arms, though. Or returned anything that was confiscated.

New year's resolution

2010-02-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

I made it to February! I ran for approximately 30 minutes today, that's 17 laps at the Field House, or two miles and a bit. The initial warmup time when I start running is getting shorter and easier. I took a customary water break at five laps, and my legs were pretty tight, but were loose when I got back on the track about 20 seconds later.

So it only took five-ish laps to settle into the groove, last week it seemed like it took the whole first mile.

So there is improvement. I think that a person really starts to see some changes once they start exercising for a solid 45 minutes at a time. At least that is what my Beautiful Bride tells me.

School Begins

2010-01-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

First of all those are a gaggle of deer that occasionally wander through our living area.
It's interesting to see and it's fun to show them to the little Guy.

School:

The final semester is upon me. I have some good classes, today I had a web design, TV Journalism and Writing for Strategic Communication. That last class will be pretty good I think, it's been a while since I took the Writing for News class. It will be like an aerobics class for writing skills. I imagine that I may grouse a little at being forced to write and do it write, but it will be good for me.

My schedule will be pretty full, but I will continue to experiment with blogging, facebook, and stuff like that.

On the preparedness front, I discovered an alternate escape route in the LNCO building, it doesn't go through the main lobby and two of my classes are in a position to use the alternate exit. I figure someone would go through the main lobby in the LNCO building, because its a more central location, there are a couple of big lecture halls there. It's something I do at the start of the semester, find an escape route. For example, in the Marriott Library computer lab, there are columns that are made out of solid concrete that would be pretty good cover, I also found where the emergency exit is. (Go to the ARC and turn left.)

Speaking of defense, I'm going to try to post a video from facebook of me defending against a rabid pumpkin. Good old Remington, nothing kills a pumpkin like an 870.

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

KC successfully operated a doorknob today. Nothing is Safe!!!!!!!

Mormons Tend to be in shape

2009-12-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'm a pretty glaring exception, of course.

But one reason why we may be slimmer is that most LDS churches have a gym inside them. So if you get bored in sunday school, you can take a few laps around the gym, which is what KC likes to do.

Weird alarm

2009-12-02T13:24:00.001-08:00

I was leaving class last night and noticed an alarm console by the door as i was leaving. I don't know what it is supposed to be monitoring, but whatever it is, it's very dirty.

Fine art Photography

2009-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

KC got a hold of my cell phone this morning and took some interesting abstract photos.

So if a 16 month old baby can get these kinds of images by holding down the shutter button and running around the house, what does that say about some abstract, fine-art photographers?

hasan's power point

2009-11-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

So he did a presentation showing that Muslims in the U.S. Military, can be a threat to the U.S. goals.

From his conclusions page. -"Fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by force, is condoned by the Islam."

That was one of his conclusions, his interpretation of his religion.

Here is the actual power point on the Washington Post

Exaggerated stereotypes

2009-11-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

Exaggerated stereotype in transformers

Exaggerated Stereotype in a commerciall

I'm so giddy, oh so giddy. . . .

2009-11-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling pretty good right now. I finally finished the shotgun class project, got some clips off to the Ogre, and now my work is on his website via his youtube account. It's a little grainy, but I was using some presets on Compressor. I can ask how to get better quality results, but this might lead to some "filthy lucre" in my future.

If you want to see this video in HD quality, go to the Crossroads of the West Gunshow, and find the Crusader Weaponry table. Joe and George will be there talking about training and Slipstream!

And my video!

Here are the youtube clips.

2009-11-14T18:21:00.001-08:00

Why even have a mountain west network if it can't even run the biggest game in the conference? Its bs that i can't see my Utes play TCU tonight.

If you need a christmas idea

2009-11-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

I would like this book.

I think this is part of carrying a gun responsibility.

Knowing how situations have played out in real life, it can take some of the surprises out of a real confrontation.

Good Drum Corps

2009-11-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

This is the Cavaliers amazing show from 2002. Awesome.

This is the James Bond show from 2004. The Cavaliers are so physical, is it any wonder that when you meet a Cavalier in real life, they are skinny as a rail? Could you imagine rehearsing this show for half a day? Whew.

The University of Utah has been trying out some new moves with their Appalachian Spring, and I say good job. Audience, we should applaud their efforts so we can see more cool stuff.

Inaccurate stimulus numbers

2009-10-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

So a little while ago, the article doesn't specifiy when, but recently a report appeared that said that the Stimulus had created over thirty Thousand jobs. The White House immediately started using that number to show that the stimulus program is working and on its way to perfection. However, the number is overstated by at least 5,000. Thats as much as the AP could count from the basic, non-exhaustive search it did. These are numbers reported by companies with federal contracts, that counted jobs multiple times. So they said they had hired maybe five people, but only hired one, and kept the rest of the money. Here is a link

Is it any wonder why certain segments of the population are distrustful of the government? It gives contracts to companies and helps them out, sure, but there are so many contractors that it becomes easy to hide overbilling in all the noise. Its hard to draw any specific conclusions about the current government, because I'm sure this has been going on for quite a while. It is easy to think of all the possibilities for corruption that can flourish in an environment such as this. With this in mind, does it make sense that an enormous government program, like health coverage for all, would be spotlessly clean and honest and efficient? When such a relatively small amount of money spent on the stimulus is being wasted?

I'm sure it wasn't Obama's intention to waste money as part of the stimulus, and it likely isn't his intention to waste money with the Health Plan, but when you have so much money flying out to so many parties, some of it is going to evaporate. This number which is reported on the recovery.gov website is a survey from 9,000 contractors. Each one of those is a company, not just a person.

Maybe larger government programs with expanded powers isn't what we need, maybe all we need is just a government with less employees and more efficient spending, just on things that are absolutely necessary.

Vocabulary

2009-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin recently annoyed my mom by accusing the University of Utah of being Gay. It got me thinking about alternates to the word Gay when what you really mean is that it is bad or you don't like it. So, a new periodic feature, that I'll call Thesaurus Anyone?

In this case, Jordan just meant that he didn't like the U. Presumably because our football team has a better record this season. (So Far) So instead of saying, "The U is Gay" How about saying, "The U is Useless." Or "The U is Icky." "The U is Defective" "The U is Incommodious."

Have a nice day.

AR-15s aren't reliable and AK-47's are

2009-10-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Right?

Well, the AR won't do as good.

Hmm. . .

'It's for the Troops! Stop asking questions!'

2009-10-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a link I saw on Wethearmed.com
It describes how senators 'think' they are serving the public good.

Here is the wethearmed thread I saw it on.

And here is some expertly applied sarcasm by yours truly.
About Senator Kennedy "Sen. Kennedy served on the Armed Services Committee for 27 years, where he fought to deliver top-of-the-line body armor and armored Humvees to protect our troops and save lives. Educating Americans about these battles is a core mission for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, which showcases one senator's ability to make a difference,"

Translated as "Ted Kennedy was an incredible human being, much better than the rest of us. We must tell the world how he used to stick up for our country's soldiers by spending this money on a Center. Of course none of us are as good as He was, so we won't fund the soldier's safety, because we just aren't as generous as Ted Kennedy."

Mr. Wheeler said that senators took most of the cash for the projects from the "operations and maintenance" or O&M accounts.
"These are the accounts that pay for troop training, repairs, spares and supplies for vehicles, weapons, ships and planes, food and fuel," Mr. Wheeler said.

"The operation and maintenance title is fully funded," Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii Democrat, said during the debate on the bill. "There is no shortage. ... The committee is deeply concerned that the critical operational needs of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are met with the finest equipment available."

Translates to
"You took money out of military maintenance accounts. The military now has less money to fix and train with."
"No, we didn't"
"Uhh, yes you did. You took 655 million bucks out of the maintenance fund."
"Nope. Wrong. They are fully funded."
"How can they have less money and be fully funded?"
"It's the Magic of Government!! You wouldn't understand because you aren't out here every day, fighting for our troops."
"But you took money away from the troops."
"Look, Shaun, I understand that you are new here. The way this works is that you ask me a question, I give my answer, then we move on. Got it? Just one answer per issue, ok?"
"Oh, right. Sorry about that."

Mrs. Landrieu said she was "proud to fight" for money for the World War II museum, which is not just a "monument to the brave men and women who served during World War II," but also "a constant reminder to future generations about the tremendous sacrifice of millions of Americans." She added that the earmarked funds "will help to increase tourism to New Orleans."

Translated-

Everything is ok, as long as you say its for the troops. Even taking money from the troops. Maybe that New Orleans memorial should include a factory floor where tourists can assemble refurbished magazines or something.

$25 million inserted by Mr. Inouye for the Hawaii Federal Health Care Network. Mr. Inouye's Web site says the health care program "supports applied research, development and deployment of technology to improve access and the quality of care to service members, military families and impacted communities.

-IT'S FOR THE TROOPS!!! See, I said Military and Service Members. Now Leave Me Alone!

". . .reported the appropriation bills that the committee thinks will serve the public interest."

In addition to the $2.6 billion in earmarks, the bill includes $2.5 billion for 10 Boeing C-17 cargo planes that the military says it does not need, and $1.7 billion for an extra DDG-51 destroyer not requested in the Pentagon's budget proposal.

Update on Utah Construction

2009-10-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Since I put that photo of the plants growing through the floor on that building near my home, work has resumed. The floor is now poured concrete, and people are there everyday working on it.

Sponsorship

2009-10-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

I just volunteered myself to go to Vernal to film a shotgun class for Crusader Weaponry (http://www.crusaderweaponry.com/main.php) on October 24th. I need either a ride, or dinero to get myself out there and back. Let me know if you would be willing to be a sponsor.

Shooting between Conference

2009-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

We were in Manti for Conference weekend and went shooting. It was going to be really fun, except we forgot to bring the watermelon and giant zucchini that we were going to shoot. Or the 2 liter bottle on a string to practice hitting a moving target with. Oops. But we did set up a version of the Ogre Zombie Drill. Here is a video of Kristen doing the Zombie as well as one that involves reloading. I can't remember if it's the Farnam drill, or the Bill Drill, but any way here they are.

Utah construction

2009-10-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

There is a building that was built near where I live, as part of a slew of new office buildings that were put in an abandoned section of VA property. One of the buildings, which has been up for at least a year, had a great big banner that said "coming soon; Red Butte Bakery" or something like that. The coming soon sign has been up there for most of the time we've been married. There was street resurfacing a few days ago which forced me to walk by the building. I looked inside as I went past and noticed that there is just a gravel floor that has been so neglected that knee-high shrubs have appeared.

When I was a missionary in California, I noticed that their construction industry is cram packed with contractors. There are so many, that competition works for the public good. The projects are under pressure to get done quickly, so if a contractor takes too long on a project, or milks it for more money, or does a shoddy job, then they won't ever get hired again, because there are so many other contractors to choose from.

In Utah, it seems like there are so few contractors, that when they get a job, they take their sweet time, woops! go over budget, and drag it out as long as they can. Or maybe the only requirement is low cost. For example, when I lived in Sandy, every few years the major roads would get resurfaced. Lets say they had a total of five miles of street to do. The company would take one week to first put up cones and block off all the surfaces that need work. In reality, the coning can be done before noon on one day. So the cones would hang out for at least a week, with no sign of work on the road. Then the old asphalt would get stripped off at the rate of about an eighth of a mile per day, until they got the whole 5-mile area of road stripped. Then they wait two weeks, making a total of about a month spent on just stripping the asphalt.

Then they would start laying down new asphalt. They make some headway on this, and then it snows, because that's how long its taken them to do this. So they wait for a month for a lull in storms, and for the snow to mostly melt so they get going on the resurfacing again. This continues through the winter. They finish sections of road, but they don't take those cones down, because they aren't done with whole project. Sometime next spring, the asphalt is all down. Then we get to wait three weeks for the new roads to get painted. Once they get painted, the cones stay up for another week and a half, because apparently it takes a full eleven days for paint to dry. Then the cones disappear.

A week later, cones appear, blocking the other half of the road that needs surfacing.

If this happened anywhere on my mission, the original company would be dropped after two months, and a new one would be brought in and the job would be complete two and a half weeks later.

In the Bee Hive state, where the motto is Industry, why do these thing happen? Why let a building sit unused and unfinished for two years? Stupidity? Thievery? Legislative Conflicts of Interest? A sense of powerlessness from the general public? I don't know, but its a waste of time and money.

From WeTheArmed.com

2009-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a little segment from a post on WTA, Its the concepts that you must believe if you believe in gun control. Obviously its slanted in favor of gun rights but I believe there are some valid logic points scored.
Like this one.
That the "right of the people peaceably to assemble," the "right of the people to be secure in their homes," "enumeration's herein of certain rights shall not be construed to disparage others retained by the people," "The powers not delegated herein are reserved to the states respectively, and to the people," refer to individuals, but "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" refers to the states.

Here is the address for the whole post.

http://wethearmed.com/index.php/topic,5466.msg89587.html#new

Tickets for the Louisville game

2009-09-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

It took me about an hour of waiting in line to get mine and a guest pass. It should be a pretty big game.

Thunderstorm plus sunset equals

2009-09-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

This

ACORN did help out in Obama's campaign

2009-09-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

But only for a few weeks.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html

Citizens Services Inc. was given about $832,000 for a couple weeks of campaign work in February and March of 2008. CSI has its headquarters at the same address as ACORN's National headquarters in Louisiana. This article says that Obama's campaign amended a federal reoprt on what CSI did for them, but that is not uncommon.

So ACORN, among probably thousands of other organizations, did some legwork for Obama's campaign in 5 different cities. They got $800,000 for it. It's not a huge connection, but its there.

2009-09-02T09:38:00.001-07:00

Watching the 'steady' can footage i shot of the marching band has made me car sick.

The promised, More bear lake pictures.

2009-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Non Bear Lake Pictures

2009-08-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

These are pictures that have been taking up space on my phone.
-The first is a beautiful sunset. I like sunsets, but you know that if you read this blog.

-The next is of a delicious and cheap thing Kris discovered; Strawberry Freezer Jam!! Delicious!!

-I'm always on the lookout for a funny chinese product description. Check out the convulsions on this thing! I think its a nerf clone.

-This one is blurry, but you can tell what's going on. It's a young man, taller than I am, in his late teens, maybe even early twenties. He's with his mom at the grocery store. That in itself is not a big deal. But if you look closely, you will notice in his hands is a blue Light Saber. As he walked through the store, he would extend and collapse it, as if he were showing off a new toy. Cute when you are four, not so much when you much older than seven.

Bear Lake

2009-08-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

We went camping at Bear Lake and it is a beautiful place. I can see why all my wealthy neighbors (ok some of my neighbors) had bought cabins there. Makes me want to move near there, so we could go visit whenever we wanted. I had visions of hiking through the mountains, backpacking around with Kristen, and maybe Kay when he gets big enough. It reminded me of the time when I went deer hunting with the Miller's when I was in high school. Sure I was totally clueless on how to find a deer, and I knew that even if I saw one, I'd probably miss it, and if I did kill one, I'd have to gut it, but I liked being out in Nature and I was willing to learn about what I didn't know. I really loved it when we went shooting in Wyoming after our unfruitful expedition, and I was impressed that I was able to hit a small box at a long distance. It was farther away than I thought, so far that I fired the shot and I thought I had missed. I wasn't wearing earplugs, because the noise from the rifles (two .30-.30's and a .303 Enfield) didn't hurt my ears. I had to take a knee to steady the rifle, I remember seeing the sight moving around, I finally got it settled just a smidge beneath the box. I kept it there for a second, then I raised it a hair as I pulled the trigger. I heard a boom, then as soon as that sound evaporated into the cold air, I could hear a quiet hiss as the bullet traveled through the air. There was no echo of the rifle shot, because there weren't any hills big enough for the sound to bounce off. Nothing happened for a second and I assumed that I had missed, but then I heard a distant thud and the box jumped straight up into the air, spinning backward like an empty mousetrap when it goes off. This box was bigger than a six pack of coke, but not much. Maybe an eight-pack. I was pleasantly surprised that I had hit it in one shot.

Anyway, that was the nostalgic past. This week we stayed at a KOA campground in Garden City. Kristen said it was a nice one. I liked the showers and the running water and the real toilets that flushed. I didn't like how KC decided to talk to himself and whine for a couple hours in the middle of the night, after he had done the exact same thing the night before. I didn't like how he threw a fit for the first half of our canoe ride, making it so Kristen had to hold him while he flopped around in frustration.

But once he calmed down (slept) the canoe was really fun. I learned that the paddler who weighs twice as much as the other should sit in back. I also learned that I really should lose some of my excess pounds before I become a canoe or kayak fanatic. When the fat kid sits in the front of a canoe, then any attempt to propel the vessel forward makes it twirl like a fat ballerina in slow motion.

I also learned that there is a front and a back to a canoe, and that when you sit in the front seat and face backward, it makes my legs go numb and cramp. But it was fun, and who says you should afraid of sore muscles anyway?

Now. How about some pictures.

Here is KC and Kris the lovely woman relaxing in the Garden City Park. We had dinner there when we arrived in town, before we went looking for a place to sleep for the night. KC really likes strawberries, so we let him at some.

Then we walked down a path to the lake Itself and wow, what a blue lake.

More pictures to come. . . .

Testing out a new camera

2009-08-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

So tori dropped our old camera, and then my family offered to buy us a new one to replace it. We got it quick so we could get photos and video of Kay's first birthday.
I think it takes pretty good pictures.

KC is now a restaurant critic

2009-08-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

We were at Rubio's yesterday and kept trying to feed pinto beans to him. At first, the beans were a little hot, but by the time these videos were taken, they were only a little warm.

2009-08-08T23:11:00.001-07:00

I love the cool weather. It reminds me of football, halloween and cuddling under a warm blanket with my love.

He walks

2009-08-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

KC started walking yesterday. Before I took the video he walked all the way from the table to the couches. Then he walked a little bit for the camera.

Kitty

2009-08-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Do gun bans work?

2009-07-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a discussion on wethearmed.com A few nights ago twelve people were shot in one night in Chicago, no one was killed. The police do not know who did the shootings. Illinois does not issue concealed carry permits, and Chicago does not allow handguns inside the city. The U.S. Supreme Court said in its Heller decision, that the Constitution of the United States of America recognizes an individual's right to keep and bear arms. After that decision, the NRA filed a lawsuit against Chicago, claiming that Chicago's ban on all handguns is unconstitutional, using the Heller decision as precedent. The appellate court upheld the lower courts decision that the Heller decision by the Highest Court in the Country DOES NOT APPLY to States and Municipalities. So they are saying that the rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the Supreme Law of the Land DO NOT APPLY TO STATES AND MUNICIPALITIES. If the second amendment doesn't apply then maybe the first doesn't apply either. What about the third, maybe this means that Chicago can quarter soldiers in private homes in peace time, or conduct searches in private homes without warrants, or hold secret trials against people without telling them what they are accused of or even who is accusing them.
Those are all guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to every American citizen, but any city can disregard them because this court says they can.
The article also goes through the story of every single victim, one by one. I think this must have been a major story, because the people reporting this are Television reporters, and their time is limited and valuable. I wonder why the decision was made to devote so much (and therefore money) to this one story? Is it because the media is liberal? Possibly, but I think it may be more likely that they are playing to their audience, trying to capture the attention of the public, hit them where it counts, draw their minds to the safety of their children. The tv station doesn't care if they are just fueling mass hysteria, or pushing people to give up their own rights to the government in exchange for a promise of a safer society for all. The politicians who also believe that Government Know Best then get elected, and because they are The Government, have no problem taking rights away from people. Hence the Chicago gun ban. The only problem is that, in this case, the politicians are wrong. A gun ban, by itself, will not stop gun violence. It just assures that people who are willing to obey the law will not have a gun. Just like the guy who was carjacked by 5 (5!) people. A gun may not give you a significant advantage against a single car jacker, but it would help level the playing field against five assailants. Certainly a gun with an evil "high-capacity magazine" is a better weapon against 5 people than a baton, a tazer, pepper spray, feet and fists, or a personal alarm/whistle. Police used to say that you should just cooperate with the bad guy and give him what he wants so he won't hurt you. What if they want more than your car? It doesn't seem smart to put yourself at the mercy of someone will commit a felony to get what they want.

It's in stores now!

2009-07-28T20:55:00.001-07:00

Go buy yourself a copy of this book. It's summer release date is perfect because its like a summer blockbuster, however it makes more sense than say, Transformers 2, Revenge of Michael Bay. Its written by a guy who loves firearms and Monster movies. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and ultimately good wins over evil. Plus in the first chapter, our hero shoves his boss out of his office window onto the sidewalk. Who hasn't thought about that a time or two in their life?

It has good details like speed loading a shotgun, and vivid descriptions of the southern United States, and is a very entertaining read.
Check out a sample chapter at

http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/

and go buy it at Barnes and Noble.

Police Impostor?

2009-07-25T20:37:00.001-07:00

This first photo was taken on my parent's street. It's the area on the Wasatch Front just north of Little Cottonwood Canyon. I liked it because it's so green, and the clouds were making such cool shadows on the mountain side. It reminded me that I want to live somewhere close to nature.

These photos were of something that I thought looked suspicious. First of all, it's an old Impala, the kind that police agencies are trading in for this year's model. The light bar on top looks old and beat up, like it's really dusty, and the plexiglass looks faded and scratched. If it was part of a real police force, they would keep it clean and professional looking. The thing that really makes me suspicious is the un-named aspect of this car. The shield on the door has a weird color to it, like its cheap and has been in the sun too long, plus its a STICKER! Or a magnet. But its just stuck onto the car! The one on the back is really obvious, and all they say is POLICE. Not Salt Lake, not West Valley. Plus its got a U.S. Government License. Local police have state plates with an EX on them, and the FBI or DHS wouldn't drive a surplus patrol car with the words POLICE stickered onto the side. If this Guy tries to pull you over, I would call the real cops, and don't cooperate with the impersonator.

Here is exclusive Blue Devils video that they are trying to keep away from prying eyes. Its an exercise so revolutionary that if anyone else tried it, they would win every time they competed.

And finally, to give the public what it wants, a video of KC and grandma.

---Update--- A police guy said that it is a real police car. There is a statewide police training seminar and that car was probably from a smaller department that doesn't have a budget to buy the newest cars. The police guy said if you aren't sure if the policeman is the real deal, you can ask to see identification, and there is a number you can call if you want verify the authenticity of a highway patrol car that's pulled you over.