Archive for March, 2009

Belly Laughs x12

I got about twelve good belly laughs out of this web production. I think it’s about an hour long all told.

Spiderman to the Rescue

This is a really heart-warming story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29875894/

When my daughter was about four I would call my wife’s cell and impersonate the various personalities that she loved on TV.

Golden Daemon

Oceanic Eldar Update- War Walkers

Ron Paul Fix- "Handle this in a deliberate fashion."

Google makes it ever so easy to find your representatives in congress (you have three: two Senators and one Congressman). Just start by typing in “Virginia Senators” for example. The official pages are usually right at the top and with a few clicks you can get them an email or a phone call.

I just googled “Senators from Utah” and the top entry was this:

U.S. Senate: Senators Home

I clicked on it and got the two phone numbers right off.

I then called and in both cases got a delightsome and pleasant young lady on the other end who took down my short message: “I am calling to encourage Senator X to support House Resolution 1207. Hey thanks, and have a great day!”

Total time: four minutes.

No need to call Chaffetz. I know he is doing the right thing.

Wow. Someone talking about the Constitution. At all.

Engine Idle

Quick Quiz

Please read this article.

1) What is the constitutional grounds for granting the power to sieze private firms and break contracts to the Treasury?

2) Name two other ways in which large “systemic” companies can or should be regulated.

3) Fill in the blank. The type of government in which the President and the board of a private bank (ie the Federal Reserve) can seize control of a private company is called a _____________.

4) Define “the economy” as used in this article.

If anyone answers, I will post it here later. So, stay tuned.

Labor of Love: functioning land raider

Peace

I am about to clumsily put some thoughts down. This is a rough draft.

There is a simmering anger in our country. I think that we are rightly upset and that good will ultimately come of it. However, I do not believe that violence is the way.

While being interrogated by Pilate, Jesus responds:

My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight..

Read the rest here.

This is part of the clarity that I am beginning to attain in my life. The question: what is the fundamental truth of the universe? How do things really work? Is there really an eternal light body fused with my physical body? I get the sense that some drift through life with the idea that these are questions for old age. It seems more like to me that these are questions for the early teens! Get the basics out of the way then everything else makes sense.

Now back to not fighting. It’s a question of real power. The Christ laid down a way to live. Turn the other cheek. Do good to those that persecute you. It is so counter-intuitive, and at first seems more of a burden. However, it taps into a deeper reality. A day of fasting and prayer is more powerful than a night of breaking windows and burning cars. The reason is that the former alters the sub-strate of reality itself and though the effects are not immediate, they are in the end more lasting.

It is the magma underneath that moves the tectonic plates. It’s a slow process but one by which mountain ranges are thrown up or ground to dust.

There is a soul in man. After death there is another world, different than this one in some fundamental ways, but no less complex and beautiful. Here are some differences:

1) Everything that you say, do, and think is recorded internally.
2) In the spirit world you will remember everything perfectly and will be able to recall every detail of your life.
3) The meat mask is gone, the way you really are is apparent, sense-able, and obvious when you meet others there.
4) People are allowed to form congregations of like-minded individuals.

When someone blows themselves up in a crowded market, there sure is an awkward moment on the other side. “Excuse me sir, but why did you just do that? I was just trying to buy some bananas.” This is only delayed for those that give the orders for bombs to be dropped. “Oh, hello, you’re the one that gave the order for that building to be blown up. I was working late cleaning the floors and never got to make it home to my family. What was so important that you had to do that?” There will be some hard questions. How will it get sorted out?

So, imagine a society where you can see plainly on someone’s face, as if it were radiating from them, what sort of person they are. How would that change things? I imagine some would be embarrassed until they found like individuals, their comfort zone so to speak. Some communities will rip each other to shreds in Jerry Springer-esque fashion, and a never-ending row of it.

If a soul with “issues” is stumbles into a community of virtuous individuals, he or she will feel deeply ill at ease and will leave soon enough. Conversely, self-disciplined, reasonable and happy individuals will create for themselves a paradise.

This happens to a limited extent in this life (eg sex offenders list), but for the most part it is all sorts of types all mixed together.

I am not pining away for some paradise to be achieved in the next world, so let’s just lay down. I am saying that the two are interconnected. Read on.

Now get back to the original idea. Government in general is usually an agent of oppression. But in the grand scheme of things it is better to be persecuted than to be the persecutor. For my part I found my peace in the New Testament. Jesus showed the way to deal with an oppressive state. The State will be gone tomorrow. Mastery of self and loving all men as a brother is forever.

In a hundred years, everyone now living will be dead. We will either be obliviated (ie the humanist view, in which case you had better fight like a rabid dog over every penny) or in a preliminary stratification in the spirit world.

This is not a weak position. It is the strong position of the long-view. The fortified point of The Truth. A place to be at peace, ready to act or be restrained as required.

I am very optimistic about the future. The best is yet to come.

Well, I feel like I am stumbling here so I’ll leave off. This is what I’ve been thinking about recently. It’s a rough draft.

Movie Dad Review

My life has hit a new low. I’m watching a movie called Pirates of the Salt Lake. Er, a local production.

When I was just out of High School and going to a singles branch I met a girl named Paula. We were good friends. One night she showed up at my house ordering me to pack my bags. We drove all night to Salt Lake City, a place I had never before been. And on to various other adventures in the desert and city blah blah. Flash forward to heading home two days later. As we were driving by the Great Salt Lake I insisted that we stop for a swim. The shore is composed of decomposing algae which has the texture and smell of a six inch layer of human feces. And it’s swarming with brine flies. The lake is two feet deep as far as you might care to walk out. Determined I headed out, swam around for a little bit and then trudged off for a rinse. Gross.

The real natural treasures are up in the mountains.

Caroline
I thought Stephen King had co-wrote this one. Great fun for teens and adults but unless you want your younger ones wetting the bed, skip it. I would have liked to have gone to see it with my wife.

City of Ember
A fun little tale with some political overtones and not too scary. There is one scene where they are chased by a giant cavern mole. And in another scene the mole eats someone (no blood or violence shown). The sets are incredible and the story worth paying attention to. It was about the right speed for a goldfish like me. My nine-year old daughter was engrossed. Again, very evocative… great sets and memorable characters. It made me want to read the book.

It was a long and lazy Sunday. We went to the dedication of the Draper Temple… My daughter and I that is.

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