Supreme Court Precedent

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Senator Leahey claims the court "substituted their own preferences for those of the duly elected congress despite hundreds of years of their own precedence". To listen to him, once decided, even if an error, it must stand if the precedence be set. Yet, these same men will quote Jefferson as an excuse to "change with the times" as is enscribed in his memorial. If a thing is wrong, it ought to be changed, no matter what the courts or the congress say.

If today's court had to uphold old precedent, then Dred Scott would still be valid. So would cases upholding Christianity as the nation's religion.

You argue what's convenient to you. I will stick with what the Constitution actually says. What it does not say is just as important as what it does.

Depends on the Word You Modify

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I heard the President say something about how he could "unequivocably stand here and say that lobbyists are not a part of my administration". As a student of the English language as well as several others, I can understand how he can say this and completely mean every word he said. However, I also know that he does not mean what he wants you to think it means.

Most other languages I know use word order for emphasis. In English, the position of the word matters too, and since English comes from French, Latin, German, and a slieu of other dialectics throughout time, some of those rules can be manipulated to reflect correct English grammar with hidden meaning. The President wants you to think that "unequivocably" refers to the presence of lobbyists in his administration. That is neither true nor what he actually said.

Although adverbs can go anywhere in a sentence, correct grammar rules require that they be placed as close as possible to the words they modify. As such, unequivocably modifies the word that immediately follows it. Simple analysis of the antecedant demonstrates that the President told us the truth, that he will "unequivocably stand", or stand there without moving. Duh. That is not what most people will read. They will read that the President denies that Lobbyists exert influence in his campaign. He neither said that nor meant it.

English is a tough language. Back in October of last year, I first said this:

English is one of the worst languages in which to communicate because it obfuscates meaning, omits detail, ensnares the senses, misleads the mind, and expresses nearly enough to any number of putative interpretations that you can say almost anything and mean either everything or nothing at all depending on how recipients take it.

In English, there is an exception to every rule, except this one. English is as close to the language of Babel as anything spoken on earth, and although I won't get into dialectics, I could show you a myriad of things that people commonly say with which I get annoyed because they don't mean what the speaker intends. Just the other day I said to my sister "Don't you look nice today." What I meant was that I thought she looked nice, so I went back and corrected it without the confusion of that negative modifier; what I technically said and to which she originally blushed was that I thought she did not look nice, the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what I meant.

What people don't say is just as important as what they do say. The President stands there unequivocably. Good for him.

**Although communication is not his forte, the author has a width and bredth of experience beyond that of the more common parlance. The author attended school for two years in Oxfordshire England. The author also reads a lot of old documents written in prose and with rhetoric that is accurate albeit uncommonly used in the United States. The author speaks several languages fluently and several besides that with some degree of competancy. He also catches himself in and corrects common errors as often as possible.**

Policy Versus Philosophy

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Some people wonder what I would do if I were in a political office. Some of them fear what I would do because they know how I live and what I believe and think I would hold them to my standard. Truth is that I know how hard it is to live the way I live because I have to prove that I believe what I say I believe every minute of every hour of every day. I hold no man to my standard, but if you tell me yours, then I will hold you to that.

This is an excerpt from a previous journal entry:
In an endeavore to describe my own political platform and to describe how I would affect change in our political environment, many might question how I rationalize ideas given my religious beliefs. Like some, I answer first that it is my duty to isolate my politics from my religion insomuch as they are separable in order to not impose my belief upon my countrymen. Secondly, I answer that government exists not as conscience and judge of human action but to establish an environment where every citizen can choose whom they will serve and let them govern themselves. Our forefathers immigrated to this nation to choose their destiny. Many of them concerned themselves only with financial matters, but they found freedoms in other ways unknown to them in their homelands. If a man chooses to do something that is morally wrong in my opinion but concerning which the law has made no preparation, government can only by the will of the people create a new mandate that forbids such a behavior if such mandate is constitutional. Our constitution was not written to guarantee morality. That responsibility lies with every adult, especially parents, to preserve the moral fabric of our society. Our Constitution was written to prevent oppression by the elite or the few so as to preserve the desires of the many and guarantee their right to choose. Sometimes we create penalties for behavior, but ultimately, correct behavior must be taught in the home. We cannot delegate this responsibility to schools, social programs, friends or the popular culture, especially if the ideals these institutions foster contradict our own. Claim the right to raise your children to be intelligent enough and strong enough to stand their ground. As a politician, that is not my job nor my right, aside from to enable you as parents to train your children well. If you think government was designed in this country to make people good, you are wrong. That is a theocracy, not a republic.

In this blog, you can read what I personally think. I have deeply rooted personal beliefs and convictions that govern my attitudes, values and norms. However, my political philosophy is that people should govern themselves. If you promise you will do something, I expect you to do it, but I will never demand that you do what I do in order to gain or keep my favor.

Despite the claims of others, I am the perfect religious candidate. Unlike other Mormons who have run for office, I believe what I say I believe, and it shows in my actions. Also contrary to them, I have no desire, intention, or letter of marque to compel the citizenry to live according to my personal creed. I claim the privilege to live as I think best serves my safety and happiness, and I allow all men the same privilege. You have less to fear from me than from anyone else in the 2010 campaigns because I am the only one who seeks office to serve liberty and glorify God. Like Daniel Webster says, the others who seek office "mean to rule well, but they mean to rule".

The So-called "Law" of Attraction

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An old High school friend of mine posed this question last night on his blog.

How did there get to be a "Law of Attraction". I believe this Law was not properly ratified. More like the "Rule of Attraction" or a "General Principle of Attraction", or maybe just "Selective Attention".

He makes some interesting points on verbiage and on theory which I feel impressed to address.

Just Tuesday night, I told a class of students about laws and the theory of human behavior. There is a fundamental misconception that science, observation, and experimentation can link A to B. As I tell my students, "Science never proves anything. It removes all other possibilities until only the truth remains." Concensus of opinion by imperfect beings does not make perfect laws. Evidence may suggest, but that's more of a General Principle or trend than anything else.

Trevor's postulate also makes waves in the last part of his note. He mentions "selective attention". We get better at things in which we persist, and we tend to become that to which we honestly aspire. That being said, as soon as you turn your attention elsewhere, especially where other people come into play, you can reset to absolute zero.

I understand and appreciate the concepts. You send out energies from your personae to which other energetics respond. If you want to enjoy the presence of happy people, sending out depressing vibes will never get you there. However, the premise that simply using the "Think System" and whatever you desire will magically transform 100% of the time on time in your life is complete hogwash. Agency remains. They still have to agree to be on the same page with you, and they can often tell when you are disingenuous. Being able to think the Minuet in G will not necessarily enable you to play it.

In life the only guarantees are things God himself decrees. He knows what will happen. We know what can happen. We know that if it's good then it is likely, but we also need to keep in mind that some people seek their own good at the expense of all others.

Just so you know, I have read "The Secret". Unlike other books I have read, I no longer own it. Everything in it that really mattered I already knew, and everything else basically rehashed the same basic premise that could be distilled down to this: whatever you invite into your life by your actions, your rhetoric, your choices, and your attitudes will dominate your life in time. Now if only I could get people to pay me $12.95 to email them that sentence...

Help Through the Right Channels

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Everywhere I go, people ask me if I want to donate money to relief efforts in Haiti. Then, I read about how my suspicions are correct and the money goes not to the victims but to other people inbetween us and them.

The president was all excited to send basically $1 from every American to help Haiti. He took much longer to respond to a terrorist plot on Christmas Day 2009. There's no recognition in that for him, but he can seem like a standup guy giving our money to Haitians.

The FBI regularly posts reports about scams in charitable giving. These "corporations" allegedly only do good, but they are only as good as the people of which they are comprised. If you want to give, give where it will do the most good. There was a time in America when all social welfare fell to churches and townships where men of good report and character could watch with close scrutiny the actions paid for by their neighbors. Government will never do the most good to the most people. Give it to people you trust.

Body "Art"

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I know plenty of people with tatoos. I know why they have them. Some of the reasons make sense if I put myself in their shoes; some of the reasons make me shake my head. Would I ever get one? No way.

Today, Actress Helen Miren admitted that her tatoo was her only regret in life. Of all the things to regret, that's a very interesting choice.

Personally, I oppose any alteration to your body that is "permanent". I know that with surgery, almost anything can be changed, from looks to damage to even gender for crying out loud. However, without artists, this kind of change doesn't naturally occur. You cannot do this without the help of someone else.

If you have one, fine. I know many many fine people who do. Some people criticize the beard. In 10 minutes, I could be clean shaven. Nothing I do is permanent. Behind this beard is a face, but it is not me and more than I am the muscles and bones beneath that. The beard is not the man. I will be me no matter how I appear, and so will you. I have learned through the grace of God and the experiences he gave me to get to know the man behind the mask, and I promise I will do the same for you.

Do You Love Your Children?

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Every now and then, I see an RV with some variation of a sticker that disturbs me. It proclaims that they occupants are "out spending their children's inheritance". I have no problem per se with anyone who enjoys the fruit of his own labor, but I have a problem with people who enjoy the fruits of other people's labor.

A dear friend of mine was saddled with the debts her father incurred in his twilight years when he died suddenly about five years ago. Having spent his last days in riotous living, he had liquidated his assets, including his home through a reverse mortgage, without any provisions to cover the debts in the event of his death. Although he had far more holdings than he could possibly spend on such a binge, in the end, when the estate was settled, my friend was left with a debt from her own father in addition to the costs associated with his interment. It left her emotionally and financially bereft, and it took a heavy toll on her.

What parent would bankrupt his own children? Yet, that is exactly what Democrats in office do. They heap fiduciary obligations on the as-yet unborn (while they attempt to abort them) for their own aggrandizement. They never worry about how they will pay for it. There are always more rich people to tax. Yet, they are also often among the rich they propose to tax and they never seem to pay anything.

Government has nothing unless it first takes it from you. There is barely enough wealth produced in this country to cover the expenditures proposed by the current administration assuming that the government confiscatorily took every red cent from every person in this nation. They do this ostensibly in your name.

When the bill comes due, Reid, Pelosi, and perhaps even Obama himself will be long dead. A coworker of mine said it was a "plus-minus": on the plus side, he'll be dead, but on the minus side "my kids and you guys will be saddled with this shit". They don't worry about a fiscal exit strategy. They'll be entombed in effigy before we have to worry about it.

The Constitution was established to free men from bondage. Debt is a bondage. Yet, only one president ever literally reduced the Federal deficit, and he died in 1826. The basic secret to success is this: never spend more than you make. In fat times, put money away for the lean times.

When Joseph went before Pharaoh to interpret his dream, he prophesied seven years of plenty in Egypt followed by seven years of famine. During those years of plenty, the government of Egypt put grain aside, and by so doing Egypt saved much of the known world from starvation. In times of plenty, our government expands itself. That has created a huge deficit that now threatens the livelihood of everyone everywhere. My own governor, who should have laid off state workers last year, finally agrees that if 50% of the state budget pays for salaries and benefits then the state has too many employees. The new expansion must be supported by ever increasing taxes, which don't make any sense at all when people fall on hard economic times.

Do you love your children? What man among you if his son ask him for bread will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent? Give your children, and the children of your neighbors, an America stronger than the one we were given, prouder than the one we found. Taxes can never be too low. Government can never be too small. The government that governs best governs least, and I believe that.

Everything Comes Around

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Several months ago, I purchased several of Einstein's books to read for myself as much as I could understand of what he wrote. While I take it on faith due to my own weaknesses in math that his equations are correct, the spherical coordinate system employed in his theory clearly make the case for a circular nature of the cosmos. What this equates to resembles (although this particular example is more elliptical) is the different cocentric lanes on a jogging track and it explains some other metaphysical phenomenae.

It has been widely proposed that karma round trips on individuals who send out acts or energies of varies wavelengths. If Einstein's model is correct, eventually the energies you send out round trip upon you or upon other people on the planet when it completes its orbit of the universe's axis and returns along the path length to the starting place. Some of these paths are longer because they lie further from the axis. Some of them are shorter because of the energetic properties of the acts of karma involved. Some of them never round trip because along the path they interact with other energies of disparate vectors and do not return.

Eventually, I believe that you reap what you sow. Sometimes things take a long time to get back to us, but most things eventually do return. This is why when people change behavior they seem to still reap the rewards of coarse behavior because the energetics are just now manifest in their lives after a trip aroun the core of the cosmos.

The presence of other energies along the path length explains another observation. Sometimes people who do reform never catch their due, and sometimes we avoid it after we reform ourselves. This is because the Creator of the universe knows how to intercept those energies with other phenomenae along the path and keep either good or bad things from the return orbit.

I do not know why God chooses to keep from me the highest and righteous desires of my heart. I have some suspicions. Some of my friends find it odd that a person who tries as hard as I do to always be on his best behavior doesn't get what he "deserves". I know my weakness, and to be honest, I am grateful that I did not get what I deserved for the times when I acted less than that of which I know myself to be capable.

My suspicion about the absence of certain blessings in my life is simple. If you live in a higher energy valence level for a protracted amount of time, that will stretch the path length, which means that although anything bad you do takes a long time to return, it also means that good things take time too. I am willing to wait, and He knows that. When I get my due, everyone who knows me will know that I earned it.

Campaign Finance Judgment

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Some people I know seem upset about the Supreme Court's decision this week on the auspices that it will introduce excessive corporate power into the political process. Any time you allow money to influence politics, you run the risk of people making choices for the wrong reason. However, prior to this decision, that was exactly the case.

The type of money available prior to this judgement are directly responsible for the current situation under the current administration. Under McCain-Feingold, the only businesses that could comment on political campaigns were news organizations. Most of them endorse the exact same candidates from the exact same parties in every city in every election. The President will almost certainly speak in the State of the Union of his "tax credit" which as I previously commented has already worn itself out without making much of a difference. Work no longer pays, and it didn't pay us very much.

I know you worry about the supreme court case, but when I see which politicians are unhappy with this decision (like McCain who touted himself during the '08 campaign as pro-free speech), I know it's the right decision. Besides, there was a time when every home was essentially a small business. The women kept the household and kept the books and exchanged the goods and services either provided, produced, or procured by the men for the disposition of the family.

Now that the court has rolled this back, we will find more involvement in politics by corporations. I am pro-laissez-faire, not because I am pro-corporation, but because I am pro-freedom. Corporations may only be as conscientious as those who control them, but governments inevitably devolve into the hands of tyrants or those who desire so to be.

This also means that YOU can do whatever you like now. If you are now successful or ever hope to be, conscientiously conservative capitalism is the only way to empower you to compete with demagogues who continue to write special rules for themselves and a double standard for us.

Endorsement: Monopoly

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Monopoly has really never been one of my favorite games. I lack the cutthroat business saavy necessary to attack and defeat my opponents. That being said, in college I played it a lot because I had this software program on my computer where I could save it for class and play whenever I felt like it. Eventually, both the computer and I had so much money and properties in the right spots so that neither of us would ever win.

Monopoly did help American win a war. It was first brought to my attention today, although the story first broke last September, that Monopoly was used to help Allied POWs escape from the camps in German occupied Europe.

So, in recognition and commemoration of this event, I will go out and purchase a copy of Monopoly, from Waddington's if practicable, in gratitude and recognition of those individuals who helped our servicemen over sixty years ago.

When Are You Going to Run?

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On the topic of why good men don't run, I heard an interesting and illustrative quote on the subject. Many people, as posts here already show, think that what they do suffices. Do we do enough?

Mark Levin asked former Red Sox player Kurt Shilling yesterday:
When are you going to run for office?
I dont' know that I ever will. My family gave 19 years of our life; my wife, my kids gave their lives to Major League Baseball and my career, and I'm not sure. I look at public office, and I look at that job as 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days a year. There's never an off day when you're serving the people, and I don't know if I can do that to my family again. When it got down to it, I just don't feel like I'm qualified to do something like that.

The Red Sox are actually the only team I have ever seen play live. Baseball does play a fundamental part of American history and culture. Although Kurt poured effort and sweat and tears into baseball and sacrificed, he won't do it for the freedom that allowed him to play that sport. Much as I value baseball's contribution, I do not think that 19 years in baseball excuses you from your duty. Years ago, I swore this oath:

On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. -Boy Scout Oath, Lord Baden Powell

There is no reference to baseball in there per se, but it does mention God and country. Those with the capability have the responsibility.

Since I cannot say this any better, I trust to the Founding Fathers to say it for me:
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors; they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." -- Samuel Adams

Freedom came at a great price. It does not maintain itself. Everything without an investment of work tends to disorder. Entropy and chaos increase unless we resist it. What do you do? At what price will you maintain them? Do you struggle? In the end, all we have is our integrity. It is an inch and it is small, but only in that inch can men truly be free. People may think that what I offer doesn't matter very much, but JRR Tolkien through his character Frodo reminds us that even the smallest person can change the world. In that small inch of my integrity, on my honor, I set out to prove that truth, justice, and freedom are more than words and that they matter.

The Lexington Minutemen did not stand on the green contingent on whether they thought they could win. They showed up anyway. I owe it to their memory, and to the memory of those who died at Tripoli, Trenton, Iwo Jima, Gettysburg, Fallujah, Wonsan, Chihuahua, Omaha Beach, Grenada, New Orleans, Antietem, Pearl Harbor, the Hanoi Hilton, and hundreds of other places known perhaps only to those who were there, to show up and stand fast.

"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." --Captain John Parker, Lexington Militia, 19 April 1775

My First and Only "B"

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I put off taking "Molecular Genetics" in graduate school until what I thought was my last semester in hopes that someone else would teach it. In the end, I ended up with a teacher I would rather not have had who ended up giving me the only "B" I ever scored in school. When I asked him why JR received an "A" and I a "B" for comparable work, he replied that it was because he expected more from me than from JR. This kind of double standard has always bothered me.

It extends into every facet of existence. Most people hold dulpicitous rules for everyone in their lives. They expect you to forgive them but they do not reciprocate, expect you to trust them but don't reciprocate, expect charity from you but do not return it. When you don't live up to expectations, they either use it as an excuse for their own weaknesses or criticize you for it. It's a no-win scenario with these kinds of people.

People worry that I hold them to my standard. Since I have lived it all of my life, I know how taxing it can be. I know enough about human nature to know that unless other people choose it, they cannot possibly do what I do. However, if you tell me your standard, if you promise that you will do something, I will hold you to your word.

Some of those who have scapegoated me on this topic claim I do not see the good in things. A friend of mine told me the other day that I have the ability to see the good of which people are capable and expect them to live up to it. I know you can be much better than you are, but my rubric for myself is valid for me because I chose it. Share your rubric for yourself with me, and I will hold you to it, but I ask no man to follow me. There are better examples.

Most People Don't Look Up

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Yesterday, I took a group of people and we went for a hike at White Rock Canyon AZ. When we reached a critical bottleneck near the destination we sought, we discovered that a ladder, crucial to our ascent at that spot, was absent. Attempts to climb up the rope on a slippery surface with water falling down failed. We headed back the way we came in search of an alternative route.

On the way in, I had noticed that it was odd how there were pieces of biohazard bags tied to bushes just above the rim of the crevice. I looked up as we came to that place again and saw two people headed up the escarpment. We followed them. Other people followed us.

The ascent was difficult. The markers were spread far apart. The ground was treacherous, but we eventually crested the hill safely with a dozen other people in tow some distance behind and descended to the rear of our destination. Tyler commented that if not for the fact that I looked up, we might not have found this alternative route at all, especially not that quickly.

Last night I watched The Return of the King. In a scene near the end, Frodo looks around and misses the giant spider because it's above him. Too often, we look around us but despite being creatures of a 3D existance, we ignore that third dimension and therefore miss out on opportunities.

When times are tough, people look around for somewhere else to go, something to use. Most people don't look up. They don't look to something higher than themselves, something bigger than themselves. Some turn to government, but government, because it is made of men, is on the same plane as we.

When in doubt, we must look upward. When we are lost, we must go up higher. Most people do not look up, and so they miss whatever is higher than they are and never reach the heights to which they could climb and also miss their goals.

To those who left the markers. Thank you. Those who came behind me have you to thank that I saw your more excellent way.

It's a Choice

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On my way to Pennsylvania, I finished a book about Ronald Reagan's speeches and writings. In part of the book, it details the exchange between Gorbechov and Reagan at Rekjavik that illustrates the difference between men who do and men to whom things happen.

I don't know what else I could have done. --Gorbechov
You could have said yes. --Reagan

At the end of the conference, Gorbechov wanted people to think he had done all he could. What he really wanted was to have things his way. That's not a win-win scnenario, so Reagan told him "no deal".

It depends on how we choose to see things. We shut our eyes against painful truths and listen to the song of a Syren until we conspire with her to rob ourselves of reason. Most people will try to put responsibility onto you. Reagan put the responsibility back on Gorbechov who made the decision to accept or reject the ovation.

There's a good reason few people are given responsibility. Responsibility is something that must be taken and taken seriously.

When Everyone is Super...

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Politicians conveniently harp on a single phrase of the Declaration of Independence while they ignore the rest. They focus on "equality" without really defining what they mean by that and how it differs from the equality the Founders meant. Everyone comes into this world exactly the same- naked, hungry, and crying. What most politicians mean is not equality of station but rather equality of results.

Their policies will render every man the same as everyone else. Then most people will be like most people. The oft to Lincoln misattributed quote of "You cannot make a poor man rich by making a rich man poor" (William Boetker 1942) brings it down to the bottom line. When everyone is equal nobody will be.

Under its auspices, liberalism will make everyone equal and keep them that way. Even then, they cannot guarantee this. Even if we all have the same tools, spend the same amount of time, and do the same job, some will reap 10 fold, some 50 and some 100. Free Labor, Abraham Lincoln wrote, is the only answer, for freedom "has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope. The power of hope upon human exertion and happiness is wonderful. The slave-master himself has a conception of it. … The slave whom you cannot drive with the lash to break seventy-five pounds of hemp in a day, if you will task him to break a hundred, and promise him pay for all he does over, he will break you a hundred and fifty. You have substituted hope for the rod." Incentivize performance and people will exceed expectations.

Years ago, I worked for WalMart Stores Incorporated. Every day, there was a set amount of work to be done in the warehouse during our shift. It was always more than we could do if everyone just did what was expected of him. It required the best of every person on the team. Some people did it because it was right. Some people only did enough. Some people went above and beyond in hopes that they would be rewarded. That's why I was the one selected for overtime and others were turned away. I may never have received a performance incentive, but if it had ever been earned, I would have earned it every time.

The reality that liberalism will make is that everyone will be poor, miserable, and worse off tomorrow except for those who grow rich at the expense of our labor. Free market principles provide the only hope for men to become better than their station, which is why people continue to flock to our shores where the streets are paved with gold if only you can get people to pay you for what you choose to do.

Federal Reserve and the Mint

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The president asks private banks to compensate what they have cost the American people. What about what the federal reserve through poor fiduciary policy has cost us all in terms of inflation, devaluation of the dollar, and debt so deep that generations as yet unborn will not be able to pay it all?

I'll Tell You What I Know

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The fact of the matter is that I don't know all the facts. I live by a mantra that guides me to stick to what I know until something happens that changes my views. As such, the opinions of others provide insufficient impetus to change my views since they reflect only the views of other people around me who have different "facts".

For now, I believe and follow what I follow because of the reasons I put forth. As I learn and grow by study as well as by experience, I expect my views to change somewhat. By and large, life is kind of like how traveling a route you know well in the opposite direction gives you different perspective on the same truth. You gain experience and knowledge and it changes how you see things.

If I change my views, I will tell you why.

Life Happens When You Make Other Plans

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Last year was wrought with disappointment and challenge. I feel like it was worth it in spite of the fact that I didn't get closer to the goals I had for my life.

Unlike many other people I know, I held my own. Unlike I expected, the challenges lead to other opportunities, and in the fourth watch, reinforcements arrived to safeguard my citidel. I was blessed this year.

I know that if my life had turned out how I imagined it, I would have never met some of the people I know, seen some of the things I have seen, experienced some of the things I have experienced or become the man I have become. If you are grateful for the man I am today, then thank God, for it is His work and His hand that guides my way.

Harry Reid is a Good Man

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The president has forgiven Senator Harry for his racist comments. So should we. Why? Excellent question.

Wil asked me today what I thought about the news. I asked him, "What law did Harry break?"

Since Senator Harry broke no law and gave no offense to me, it is irrelevant what I think of his words. As a public servant, I am concerned with the law. If you think he broke God's law, then let God come and arrest him and try him for his offense. If you think he offended you, then you hold him accountable. I will not be a Capulet and let blood in the marketplace.

Some might be tempted to leverage his comments for political gain. I am content to let them. I know that if I make him an offender for a word, he will return the favor tenfold.

When I "defended" Tiger for his indiscretions months ago, I made this the final part of my argument. If some time in the future you do what he did, what would you like to be said of you?

When Harry Reid goes down in defeat, I intend to make it a matter of policy and principle. His verbal faux pas is just a symptom of the fact that the world of today left him behind.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

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Early to bed, early to rise, and your girl goes out with other guys. I told this to a friend's wife right around the new year. I just really don't understand the fascination with staying out until the wee hours of the morning when they know that in a few weeks school starts back up and they will have to meet deadlines and show up to class.

If they stay out until 2AM, then when they go to sleep I am half way through REM. When they are half way through REM at 5AM, I am half way through the New Testament.

I know this makes me strange. I put first things first.

You show what matters to you by the things you choose. When I went on my mission, we were asked to "retire to our bed early and arise early that our bodies and our minds might be invigorated". Since my return from the mission field, I have continued to keep that schedule as well as the personal study opportunities that come with the fact that I am up at a quiet hour that allows me to finish first the things that matter most to me.

If you do today what others won't, tomorrow you'll be able to do what others can't. This is a major reason why, at 30, I have so much life experience and know so many things about so many topics. Instead of visiting the same haunts and hanging out, I go new places, read new books, and meet new people. Live life.

Why Work No Longer Pays

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I looked at my check and wondered why my income tax withholding for this pay period increased $5.52 and then I realized the Making Work Pay credit expired.

I guess work no longer pays...

Why I Am the Best Candidate

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People ask me what the difference between the other candidates on the ballot is and myself. I have looked at the websites of my esteemed colleagues, and while I think them to all be patriotic and capable, I disagree on one major point and on that I make the claim that I am the best candidate.

Daniel Webster wrote during the revolution of people such as this. He said, "While they mean to rule well, they mean to rule." All of the Republican contenders and most assuredly the Democrat incumbent, all seek greater control of your life in the hands of government. Even those among them who intend to use this power to direct your lives for good intend to use that power. I do something else.

It is my policy that every man might have an equal chance. You know more about how to find your happiness, protect your property, preserve your life, and follow your conscience than any bureaucratic intellectual in a distant capital. I follow the admonition of Thomas Paine that "The government that governs best governs least." Naturally, there are legitimate activities of government, and I propose to scale it back to just those and nothing else.


The above illustration shows a projection of what one might expect under the various candidacies. I have chosen Tarkanian as a representative Republican. The other candidates agree on every facet of policy except the rate and the degree to which government should control your life. I am the ONLY candidate who proposes a reduction in government intrusion. If you are now successful in life or ever hope to be, conservative values are the best road to that end.

How does this serve your favor?

Many people challenge my contention for office on the auspices of deeply seated personal beliefs. Every person carries these with him into office, whether part of a religion or a personal mantra. I am the only one who promises to divest his own personal bias from that of his official duty. As the people's servant, I will do what you ask.

Whereas most politicians have fallen out of love with America and her people, I have a great deal of faith in the American people. I believe that it is common that the greater part of the people desire that which is right. Even then, if the majority desires that which is wrong, it makes little nevermind whether you are ruled by a little intellectual elite or the body in general. For when wicked rule, the people mourn, and if the people are wicked then who else shall rule them? I will make it my business to do the will of the people.

In the absence of common consent from the constituents, I will vote for things that will expand your liberty. If I disagree with common consent, I will explain how such a law will contract your liberty. Governments have an obligation to protect life, safeguard private property, and hold sacrosanct the free exercise of conscience. Sometimes, they will pass laws for the "general welfare" that intrude upon those ideals. I will not let them.

I am the best candidate in this race. If you are better than I am, get on the ballot. If not, I ask for and appreciate your vote.

Thank you.

Projection and Prediction

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When I taught introductory biochemistry lab in graduate school, we taught the students how to measure unknowns. Before each assay, we asked them to build a standard curve, similar to the one below, using a known substance of known concentration.



The students would then test their unknowns and report back. Inevitably, there were errors in their logic.

When a student told me that his sample registered at 83ug/tube, I gently reminded him of a salient fact. The standard curve represents the only known values. If you assume that the curve continues said behavior outside the parameters established, you will come into an error. We do not know, and most of the machines cannot measure, outside the parameters we taught the students. So, to find out if it was accurate, they had to dilute their samples to get it within the range. Sometimes they found out that their first guess of 83ug was really 88ug, because the line follows different behavior outside detectable limits.

Similarly in life, people project things outside detectable limits. We know about the past, and we observe the present, and we presume that gives us sufficient to predict the future. When I graduated from high school, I was voted most likely to succeed. Nobody foresaw the events through which I have since passed.

People meet other people and assume they will be that way forever. What we are however is a result of what we experience, and unless we only experience in perpetuity that which we already know, we will change. Plus, if you only experience things you know, you will never grow... Just because someone is cute now doesn't mean they will always be. Just because someone is rich now doesn't mean they will always be. I could tell you stories...

The future is in motion until the moment of choice. Our reality results from our choices. So, if you don't like what you have, dilute it, get a fresh sample, remeasure your life, and get it to a place you know.

Praise that Made Me Smile

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For the past two weeks, I have attended another ward than that to which I actually belong. I do this for two reasons. First, because there's something in my ward I wish to avoid for the next few weeks. Second, because the bishopric has asked me to keep an eye on people I knew who moved out.

So, last Sunday I introduced myself to Bishop Clark as Jennifer's former home teacher. When he saw me there again today he said, "You must be the best hometeacher in the church." I certainly hope not, but it was a nice thought.

Bad Things and Good People

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I don't have all the answers to this, but I had a few thoughts.

About a month ago, a friend of a dear friend died of leukemia. That night I told her boyfriend as I have told her since that I felt it was the best thing for everyone involved that he die. As I take stock of 2009, I have come to the belief that if it were as important to God as it is to me that I have a family, I would have one. If it were as important to God as it was to me to baptize on my mission, I would have. Obviously, it was more important to God that I serve in Austria and that I remain single for now. If not, I would not have had the experiences and met the people I have, for which my life is greatly enriched.

I don't know Robert. I don't know why he died of leukemia, but I knew the night he died that it was for the best. One thing I do know. I know that all matter is intelligent, that it obeys its creator. Only humans have the right to exercise agency. So, nothing bad will happen unless God allows it, and neither will anything good.

When I spoke to my friend about Robert's death, I told her, "You cannot get any disease unless Jesus gives it permission to get you." It was obviously more important, either for Robert's sake or for our own, that he catch, suffer and die from leukemia than that he be cured. Who knows what difference that will make to change the lives of others for the better?

2010: Year of the Doug

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From several people now, I have heard that 2010 will be my year. Not that it was bad, but I am glad to see 2009 go. I held my own that year, which is quite an accomplishment, but it didn't bring me closer perceptively to my highest choice.

All the confusing but promising messages this year lead to big things when they pan out. -Thom Truelove

As I go into 2010, I will continue to follow good advice.

Enjoy and be honest. Be observant and patient, but most of all be open.

This will be my year. Will you make it yours?