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Traveling for the Holidays?

2010-11-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

Strange, when I was a kid traveling this time of year we sang, "Over the River and Through the Woods . . ." now my kids are stuck with this?:

2010-11-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

2010-11-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

Please Help!

2010-08-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

My nephew and his aunt need your help. Please watch the video and donate here.

Thanks!

2010-07-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Mike, did you vote for the bailout?

2010-03-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

"Fear the Boom and Bust"

2010-01-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

2009-11-30T09:31:00.001-08:00

What if . . . ?

2009-11-18T20:27:00.001-08:00

Got your flu shot yet?

2009-11-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

"It's Hard to enforce fraud laws when the government participates in the fraud!" --Ron Paul

2009-09-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Law of the Harvest

2009-08-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

“What is the real cause of this trend toward the welfare state, toward more socialism? In the last analysis, in my judgment, it is personal unrighteousness. When people do not use their freedoms responsibly and righteously, they will gradually lose these freedoms. . . .

“If man will not recognize the inequalities around him and voluntarily, through the gospel plan, come to the aid of his brother, he will find that through a democratic process he will be forced to come to the aid of his brother. The government will take from the haves and give to the have nots. Both have lost their freedom. Those who have, lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way they desire. Those who have not, lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got something for nothing, and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.

“Under this climate, people gradually become blind to what has happened and to the vital freedoms which they have lost.”

(Howard W. Hunter; Speeches of the Year 1965-1966, pp. 1-11, The Law of the Harvest. Devotional Address, Brigham Young University, 8 March 1966.)

One Last Look . . .

2009-08-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

...Can't wait for the '09 season to start!

2009-04-27T20:59:00.001-07:00

Another good video to watch when you've got half-an-hour. Comments anyone?

2009-03-18T22:54:00.001-07:00

2009-03-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Emergency Broadcast!

2009-03-11T15:03:00.001-07:00

Not sure who OperationMindSeed.com is as they have yet to get their website up an running, but I do like this video:

Freedom

2009-02-02T17:49:00.001-08:00

I just liked this:

Ouch!!

2008-11-20T21:16:00.001-08:00

...Utah Man Am I...

2008-11-20T21:15:00.001-08:00

GO UTES!!

2008-11-20T21:09:00.000-08:00

Been a While . . .

2008-11-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

Haven't posting for a LONG time, so how about some videos?

Digital TV

2008-10-14T14:14:00.001-07:00

A Wasted Vote

2008-10-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Please read this:

How Many Presidential Candidates . . .

2008-10-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

McCain on the Bailout

2008-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

First, if you're THAT desperate for a car, come to Idaho and pick some potatoes for a day, make $300 and buy yourself a dang car.

Second, you've always aspired to be a dictator!?!? 'Nuff said.

Third, what is "Unacceptable" is that republicans are running this guy as their best choice for president of the United States of America.

If you haven't heard about Chuck Baldwin, or even if you have, I recommend reading an article published by him yesterday. See here.

Baldwin 2008!!!!

Arizona Senator

2008-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs

2008-04-27T23:01:00.001-07:00

Untitled

2008-04-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July this year, I will be in Latvia celebrating the marriage of my brother and my favorite new sister-in-law Gundega.

On the 4th of July 1776, 33 year-old Thomas Jefferson wrote:

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

Jefferson then went on to outline some 18 offenses which he found grievous to the people living on this continent.

Like Jefferson, I too believe that we are born into this world with inherent rights.

Life: we each have a right to life and a responsibility to protect it.

Liberty: we each have a right to maintain our freedom from a despotic government; we have a right to freedom from an external rule; we have a right to freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions; we have a right to speaking, thinking and doing according to choice as long as we do not rob the life, liberty or property of others.

Pursuit of Happiness: This phrase is based on the writings of John Locke. Additionally, I have found Frederick Bastiat's, "The Law" (first published in June 1850) incredibly insightful in attempting to understand what this phrase could mean. In it, Bastiat states that, "Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place."

It is to this end that I write this post. I have written previously regarding the 'balanced center,' I continue to feel that restoring Washington DC to this 'center' is the most important issue facing our country in the current presidential election. This balanced center is essential to ensuring that each of us is able to maintain our life, our liberty and our property (or pursuit of happiness). Many promises are being made by our current presidential candidates. It is our responsibility to decide if the candidates did deliver on these promises would the result maintain our personal rights, and our country's political balanced center?

I mention one such promise: health care. Of course we all want to be well and wish the same for others. Certainly, if every citizen of America was afforded health care this would aid in maintaining our goal of right number one: life. However, at what cost? Are we not trading one right at the expense of the other two? It has been said, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." I say, "Those who would sacrifice liberty and property for life deserve none."

Our country is in debt beyond comprehension; our dollar is deflating like an untied balloon, its' value against the Euro tanks daily; we spend money on existing programs and wars like they're going out of style; we continually bail-out (and consequently promote) bad investments. Look where the social security program is at today. We allow the government to rob us from each paycheck; in hopes that they will pay us back down the road. Fortunately, they do continue to pay us back, unfortunately it is with devalued dollars. Are we not smart enough to plan our own retirements? If you could opt-out of the social security program and instead invest 6.2% of your paycheck in your own retirement account would you participate? (At that point, maybe our employers would then be allowed to contribue their matching 6.2% to our personal retirement fund rather than the goverment's losing program!) Similar to social security, social health care would require that funds be taken from us in the form of taxes and be redistributed as best seen fit by Washington DC. Would this not tilt the scales further from toward tyranny?

Is Christianity the Problem?

2008-04-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Next time you've got a spare 90 minutes, consider watching this debate:

See Me

2008-04-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Sommer and I just got back from seeing Ben Stein's new documentary movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed."

I just looked the movie up on imdb.com's site to see how others are rating the film. Looks like it's definately a love/hate relationship with current statistics of 26% love, 57% hate and the remaining 17% anywhere in between. Thank you, Mr. Stein, for putting yourself out there and attaching your name to something you believe in.

I didn't know much about what the term Intelligent Design truly meant before seeing this movie. I, too, thought that the term Intelligent Design was synonomous with Creationism. I would be willing to bet that most Christians believe there is a bias in our public education system in America to influence children to accept evolution as fact. But why? What would such a conspiracy acomplish? What is the end-game? I felt Ben Stein did a fantastic job at attempting to answer these questions.

I recently watched a video online in which Dinesh D'Souza and Christopher Hitchens debated the topic of "Is Christianity the Problem?" A line D'Souza used reminded me of something my brother-in-law mentioned to me a few years ago, "T, it seems that you hate BYU more than you love Utah." (And, I'll have to admit that he was probably right in the pre-Urban Meyer days.) D'Souza said that although he doesn't believe in unicorn's, he doesn't spend day after day disdaining them, antagonizing their believers and writing books to disprove their existence. So, why is it that the scientists who believe in evolution would rather spend their time disdaining, antogonizing and discrediting Intelligent Design?

Similar to the pompous preaching of the Global Warming crowd, Evolutionists want it to be taught in our public education system that, "The debate is over!" I feel the federal government uses it's heavy hand more and more to sway what is being taught to our children. As Ron Paul teaches, the federal government does not own our children. Yet we act as if it does by letting it decide when, how and what our children will learn. This is not to say that I believe it is Intelligent Design that should be taught solely in education just as I do not like the current system of teaching solely Evolutionism in the classroom.

During the conclusion of his documentary, Ben Stein describes the acedemic arena in which profossors are forced to operate. He states that these professors are free to teach however/whatever they may, as long as they stay on the correct side of the wall. The problem is that the rest of us are not even aware that the wall exists. Go see his movie and decide for your self if the wall is there.

Easter . . . part II

2008-03-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Sommer just reprimanded me for not writing anything on my previous post; so, here's an Easter story for you:

On Easter Morning, Sommer and I woke the kids up telling them that the Easter Bunny had come and left them presents in their Easter baskets. Lily quickly piped up, "But, I didn't hear his hops." Too cute!!

Easter

2008-03-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Cartoons . . .

2008-03-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Say what you will about computer graphics . . . they just don't make cartoons like they used to:

2008-03-10T10:40:00.001-07:00

Who Does the Military Support for President (financially speaking)?

2008-02-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

February 3, 2008 11:45 am EST

Q4 FEC Reports: Ron Paul Receives More Military Donations Than All Other Republicans Combined

Total military donations nearly as much as the total of all other remaining candidates - Republican and Democrat

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – According to newly released FEC reports, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has received more military donations than the other three remaining Republican candidates combined.

“The latest numbers make it clear: the troops support Ron Paul,” said Ron Paul campaign chairman Kent Snyder. “Dr. Paul has worked his entire career working for veterans, and has many awards and endorsements due to his dedication to their cause.”

A search of the FEC database by employer reveals that Dr. Paul has received 1160 donations from military donors, nearly triple that of John McCain, and more than McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee combined.

Dr. Paul’s total military donations of $249 thousand are almost as much as the $260 thousand of combined donations received by the other five remaining candidates.

Congressman Paul is no stranger to military support. Former president Ronald Reagan once said, “Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country!”

According to the FEC reports, these are the total number and amount of military donations for each of the presidential candidates*:

Ron Paul: 1160 $249k
John McCain: 438 $83k
Mike Huckabee: 126 $37k
Mitt Romney: 126 $24k
Barack Obama: 443 $76k
Hillary Clinton: 154 $41k

*Methodology: Searched FEC reports for occupation/employer contains: "Army" "Navy" "USN" "USAF" "Air Force" "Marine" "USMC" "Coast Guard" "USCG" then removed duplicates and non-military occupations (i.e. "marine repair")

(I find it interesting to note that Ron Paul has had more contributed to his campaign from military employees than McCain, Huckabee, Obama and Clinton COMBINED!)

War

2008-02-09T00:28:00.000-08:00

Video

2008-02-05T12:48:00.001-08:00

I read that this 5 minute video was produced by a David Christenson of Salt Lake City. It is titled "Preserve, Protect, Defend–the LDS View of the Constitution."

It is of note that Ezra Taft Benson has said that the US Constitution would be saved by “enlightened members of the church” as well as “citizens of the nation who love and cherrish freedom.” So, it will not defacto be saved by LDS people, as many of them are part of the problem, part of that which destroys liberty, the “more part of the righteous” having been “seduced” to “believe in the works” of and “partake of the spoils” of the gadianton robbers, thus enabling “secret combination to flourish.”

Remember too that Ezra Taft Benson said this, and it applies to nearly all Romney supporters professing to be LDS, good people surely, but clueless on real issues:

“If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers - normally good Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free - Americans who have been lulled away into a false security.” (April 1968, General Conference Report)

Worth a Listen . . .

2008-01-29T17:00:00.001-08:00

Siblings

2007-12-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

I made this tribute to my siblings last Christmas and never gave them a copy. I thought they might enjoy to watch it again this year:

Liberty or Security?

2007-11-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

"Finally, when the going gets rough, we mustn't rush to Washington and ask Big Brother to take care of us through price controls, rent controls, guaranteed jobs and wages. [I add to this list: subsidies, social security, health care, or any other promise from the government that should be ours to acquire.] Any government powerful enough to give the people all that they want is also powerful enough to take from the people all that they have. And it is even possible that some of the government manipulators who have brought us into this economic crisis are hoping that, in panic, we, the American people, literally will plead with them to take our liberties in exchange for the false promise of "security." (Ezra Taft Benson, "Gold and the Balance of Payments")

I see some incredible similarities today. For instance, with the war on terror, we were--and continue to--hand over our liberties to the government in return for security. Just think about what we've done with allowing the passage of Patriot Acts I & II.

“Today the devil as a wolf in a supposedly new suit of sheep's clothing is enticing some men, both in and out of the Church, to parrot his line by advocating planned government guaranteed security programs at the expense of our liberties. Latter-day Saints should be reminded how and why they voted as they did in heaven. If some have decided to change their vote they should...throw their support on the side of freedom -- and cease promoting this subversion.”(Ezra Taft Benson Conference Report, October 1961)

"The War on Terror" on "The Holy War"

2007-11-20T11:16:00.001-08:00

It has been reported time and time again that our troops support Ron Paul (see here). But, just how do our troops feel about The Holy War? A picture's worth a thousand words:

Dancing Queen

2007-11-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

Lily had her first ballet performance Friday night at the Festival of Trees here in Idaho Falls. Of course I'm biased, but this was the cutest dance I'd ever seen . . . too bad the photographer (me) didn't get any decent pictures; all of the "action" shots are blurry. Hopefully my ballet picture taking skills will get better with experience. Good thing I get a second try in the middle of December!

Wood for Ron Paul

2007-11-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine owns a log home company in Rigby, and he is a HUGE Ron Paul fan. He decided to donate 7 years worth of leftover logs to Ron Paul. We spent a Saturday afternoon chopping up the wood . . . over 10 cords! We have since sold all of the firewood and donated the proceeds to Ron Pauls campaign.

GO RON PAUL!!

Defensive

2007-11-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder why us Ron Paul supporters might come across a little defensive? Watch this:

When the media likes of Glen Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh or Shaun Hannity pose you up to be a form of a domestic terrorist, I go ahead and say it's time to defend your position.

Forward

2007-11-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

In the past couple of weeks I've heard from Bryan, Sara and Mom that they quit reading this blog because all I do is post movies of Ron Paul. They feel that I need to post something of my own. So, I guess this is my attempt at doing just that.

Most people have that special someone who sends them forward after forward to their e-mail inbox. I hear a lot of people who say that they just delete any "fw:" that they receive from such a person, or better yet just add that person to their "Junk Mail" list. Well, for me, this person is my Grandma Romney. However, I do not delete her e-mails, nor do I have her in my "junk mail" list. My approach to her letters is to save them as unread messages, and then, when I am at one of those points where I feel like I need a bit of inspiration, I'll open up one of her letters.

Tonight, I was listening to music and watching family photos rotate on my xbox 360 while my kids took their nightly bath. I opened up a letter from Grandma titled "Fence". For obvious reasons you will see why this hit home with me. Below is what I received from Grandma:

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting Communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new Communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.

The young man said this was no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again.

You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies,dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms- just a little at a time.

Lets just say I couldn't agree more.

I've expressed this to both Sara and Mom in phone conversations, but for the benefit of all, here is how I see it.

I believe that this country was established to protect our civil liberties. I believe that our country's founders established a constitution which was the perfect combination of freedoms and government. Some refer to this as the "Balanced Center". I believe that the perspective the media and education try to push upon us is incredibly flawed. The media and education system do their best to teach us that the political spectrum is a left/right scale of democrat/republican. I see it differently. democratic and republican party platforms seem to change over time. What does not change is the truth that total government is called "Tyranny" and a complete absense of government is called "Anarchy". If we can use this political spectrum rather than the democrat/republican or left/right spectrum, I find that it is much easier to decipher what a political candidate is attempting to preach.

If you feel that our country has political tendencies of an anarchy, then it rests upon you to vote for a candidate who will introduce more governmental policy to help get us back to the center our founders established. Conversely, if you believe that our country has political tendencies of a tyranny, then it rests upon you to vote for a candidate who will remove some governmental establishments, programs or laws to help get us back to the aformentioned "center". Finally, a politician preaching the status quo should receive your vote if you feel we have not waivered from the originally established center.

Just as the story sent to me by my grandmother conveys, I too believe we are slowly being fed communism/socialism in America. I too agree that we could soon find ourselves fenced in. And this is why I choose to support Ron Paul.

2007-10-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I understand that this movie is over one hour in length; but, it's worth it. Even if you don't think you agree with Ron Paul, might I still suggest you watch the movie to learn a little bit about how things work in America?

Enjoy . . .

2007-10-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

I wish this guy would redo his video such that you could read the scrolling words without needing to pause, but until then . . . DON'T LET THE WORDS PASS YOU BY. Hit pause and see what he's saying.

Freedom?

2007-09-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

Who Is Ron Paul?

2007-08-20T15:09:00.001-07:00

More Ron Paul . . .

2007-08-20T15:09:00.000-07:00