I HATE POLITICS-- my views of Tuesday's election

I've said before and I will repeat, I HATE POLITICS, no matter what the outcome on Tuesday, next Wednesday will be my favorite day of the year because it is all over. On Thursday I will start to worry if I need to.
To preface my comments on this post let me tell you, My Dad took me to register to vote on my 18th birthday (Dec 1975), he took the day off from work to do it because registering to vote was that important to him. I registered as a Democrat that day and have voted for the Democratic Presidential candidate in every election since 1976, until this year. Maybe I am growing up, maybe I have more informed friends that I trust enough to listen to and believe when they talk about politics. Its even possible that 6 years of living with Leanne has worn off on me. What ever it is, I can't bring myself to support the Democratic candidate, this time.
My biggest worry of course is Barack Obama winning. It scares me how many otherwise intelligent people are willing to buy what he is selling. His policies and ideas will cause havoc, and plunge us as close to communism as we can get, hopefully without going over the edge.
As time goes on I keep learning newer and scarier things about what this person wants to do.
As much as I am against the war in Iraq, now that we are there, I believe pulling the troops out now would be wrong, and a slap in the face of the families that have sacrificed to have our troops there. I am also opposed to drafting women to fight in combat. I have serious questions about "Share the Wealth". Whose wealth are we sharing, in our house we have no excess wealth, I don't know anyone that does. Is it Obama's wealth we are going to share? I would seriously doubt he and his rich friends will be willing to share what they have. I believe people should work HARD for their money and what they have. If they don't, they should do without.
This story comes from http://www.candacesalima.blogspot.com/. Candace is a very intelligent woman who has spent a lot of time researching and blogging about the issues of this election.

THE ANT STORY

TRADITIONAL VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.' Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome."Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be very careful how you vote November 2008 .

Check out this video clip. Even though the case was dismissed it is disconcerting that we have a potential president who may not even be a Natural Born Citizen.

I have already voted. I have made my choices for better or worse.

I fully believe that Heavenly Father loves this country and won't let anyone lead it down to destruction yet, but he will allow us to suffer for our bad judgement if we elect unrighteous leaders. If you haven't voted, pray and fast about the choices you have to make, and go to the polls on Tuesday to make your vote count.

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Alaska anymore."

THE SENATOR

This has been around for a while but it is still funny.

While walking down the street one day, a senator is tragically hit by a truck and killed. His soul arrives in Heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in,it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in," says the senator.
"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in Hell and one in Heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."
"There's no need! I want to be in Heaven," says the senator.
"I'm sorry, but we have our rules." And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator, the doors open, and he rides the elevator down, down, down. When the doors open again,the senator finds himself in the middle of a beautiful green golf course. In the distance is a club, and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.
Everyone is very happy and in formal dress. They run to greet him, and they reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar.
Also present is the Devil, who is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that, before the senator realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves while the elevator rises. The elevator goes up, up, up, and the door reopens in Heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.
So 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by, and St. Peter returns.
"Well, you've spent a day in Hell and another in Heaven.Now, you must choose where you want to spend eternity."
He reflects for a minute and then answers, "Well, I would never would have thought it, I mean Heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better satisfied in Hell."
So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator, and down, down,down he goes into Hell. Now, the doors of the elevator open,and he is in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends dressed in rags,picking up the trash and putting it in black bags. And it's hot, hot, hot, and the odor is just horrible.
Sweltering hot. Hot and miserable. The Devil comes over to him and smoothly lays his arm around his shoulder.
"I don't understand," stammers the senator. "The day before I was here, and there was a golf course and club, and we ate lobster and caviar and danced and had a great time. Now all there is is a wasteland full of garbage, and my friends look miserable."
The Devil looks at the senator, smiles, and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted for us."
Received from George McLaughlin Jr.d for a while but it is funny and timely.

PROPOSTION 102

"ONLY THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN SHALL BE VALID OR RECOGNIZED IN THIS STATE."

It is very simple, it is the way marriage has been defined for 2000 years and it is God's way.

When you vote on Nov 4, please remember vote Yes for Prop 102 in Arizona.

MYSTERY FIRESIDE

We were told today to cancel all of our appointments for this evening and come to the Stake Center for a fireside presented by the General Authorities. In asking the people on LDS Forever Friends,if anyone else knew of this fireside, I discovered our stake would apparently be the only ones involved.
As happens with anything unexplained, there was a lot of speculation about the topic .

In Arizona, like in California, we are trying to pass a proposition (Prop102). Prop 102 simply states "Only the marriage of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in this state."
Our Stake has been very active in promoting Prop 102, from yard signs to door hangers. During the week the Stake Presidents in Arizona got a DVD that they were instructed to show to the adults in their Stakes. Our President chose to show it right away.
We started off watching this clip from a Prop 8 website.



Once the clip was done we watched the DVD from the church. It contained talks by M Russell Ballard and Quentin L Cook, given in California a few weeks ago. They talked about our need to do all we can to encourage people to vote for traditional marriage, to talk about it, to express our opinions, in a kind and respectful way.
Elder Ballard gave a very powerful talk , I wish everyone could hear it.
A lot of the text of the talks were taken from http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage .

FAMILY HISTORY FRIDAY

MARY BULLOCK

Part 2

(This is the end of the part of Mary's story she wrote herself. From here her daughters pick up the story.)Mother did quit school but later went back to nursing school for two years and had to quit again because of her eyes. The nursing training really came in handy in later years. It saved our lives many a day and also helped the neighbors a lot in times of illness.She married Carbon Dewey Donohoo who lived in Lonetree with her and grew up with her. They were married 21 September 1923 in Evanston, Wyo. They lived in Lonetree for awhile. When she was pregnant with her first child she went to Ogden to be with her mother for his birth. That baby was Adelbert Ross born Dec 3, 1924. Dad went down later and brought her and Ross home. That summer they moved to West Yellowstone and lived there for a year. Two an a half years later Ella Mae was born in Mountain View, Wyo. Later they moved to Lapoint where Barbara Ann was born on Oct 15, 1929.In 1930, Dad got into a coal mine accident and lost his eye and damaged one side of his face. He had to go to Denver to the veterans hospital. That left mother with chores to do and three small children. After he recovered from the accident, they moved to Logan, Utah so Dad could go to school. Shortly after, David was born on Dec 15, 1933 in the house on the corner of 1st South and 5th West. Dad was baptized a member of the LDS church on the 2nd of February 1934, the same day David was blessed. They were sealed in the Logan Temple for time and all eternity on July 7, 1936.In 1934, the family moved to North Logan to an old house without a bathroom or running water or any of the conveniences. We had to haul water in from outside to wash with and we had the outhouse that we had to use all the time. While there, mother taught the ten year old boys in Primary for awhile and was also the secretary to the primary for several years. She was very talented in the skills of sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting and rug making.When they started regional storehouses in the church, one was opened in Logan and the Relief Society sisters were asked to work at the storehouse to help the work to get started. Mother went to work and they were making men's overalls with patch pockets as there was no one who knew how to set in pockets. Mom showed them how to set in pockets. They asked her to come back to teach others how to set in the pockets. She worked there for a few weeks. She made all of the family's clothing from clothing that was given to her and she would tear them apart and make clothes for whomever was in the most need.Summers were especially busy for mother. She spent the whole summer collecting food and canning it for the winter.From the time the first berries were ready until the last of the harvest was in, she was out early gathering food to put away. We weren't able to go out and buy our produce so she picked fruits and berries on shares and when the peas were being harvested the fields were mowed and there was always a wide strip around the edges that couldn't be mowed. The farmers would let people in to pick the peas that were left in the fields. Many a year, mother and dad went to the fields at sunrise and picked all the peas they needed and then came home and spent the day shelling them and cooking them in the pressure cooker. Ruth and Lavor Allen would also be there and they would put us kids to bed and they played cards all night while they kept the cookers going.Mother would go out and pick strawberries and make jam. I remember some summers that she would get extras and make jam for Uncle Owen's family. Then when the sheep were sheared in the fall, there would come a nice wool blanket for us. Mom knew exactly how much produce she needed to fill the bottles for winter. She figured 13 peaches in each two quart bottle (when there were only six of us). That left one extra in case of company. The summers were just one canning project after another. All sorts of berries for jam and jellies, also fresh cherries, currants and some summers we went to the canyons and picked choke cherries for jam. All kind of pickles were also made. Most of this was raised or Mom would work hard at gathering it from other sources.Mother being the youngest of the family never had any of the childhood diseases as she was growing up, so she had all of them with her children. She had the measles when David was just a baby. The Allen family came down with scarlet fever just before Christmas one year and Dad went down to help them. A few days later he was down with it and was just getting over it when the other five of us all got it at the same time. They quarantined us for six weeks. Dad got some books from the public library and read to us. The neighbors would bring our food and leave it outside for us and knock on the window and let us know it was there. Because we were quarantined, we couldn't go out to the store. Each of us had a side effect from the illness that was worse than the disease. Ella Mae's was the worst and she missed the whole year of school. David was just a small child at the time. Eldon Lamar joined the family on May 14, 1941. A year later the family moved to Logan. The war had started and Ross enlisted in the Army. Mary Karen completed the family on Aug 27, 1943. Mother really enjoyed babies and when her two little ones came along when we were all older, she really enjoyed them. She especially loved to sew for Karen and she would pick up little remnants when she was shopping to make her little dresses. Karen was a rather sick baby. She seemed to have a lot of kidney infections, but her biggest problem was she didn't like to sleep. When she got to be a year or so old, if we let her nap past three in the afternoon, she would be up until very late in the evening. Mother spent many nights rocking to get her to go to sleep.When Karen was nineteen months old, Mother's gall bladder ruptured. She passed away on April 10, 1945. At the time of her death, there were a dozen wool quilting batts and the tops to go with them. She had been saving wool clothing for years and working on tops so she could make all new bedding for us. The Relief Society came in to help us get the house in order for the viewing. Dad gave all the quilt batts and tops to the R.S. to use as he knew we would never get them made up. Come Christmas the R.S. sisters were at our door on Christmas Eve with the quilts all made up for us and pajamas for all of us plus all kinds of food. She was buried on April 13, 1945 in the Logan Cemetery.She was a good mother and a very good person. She always taught us the right thing to do. She was an active member of the LDS church and was a good example to us. She tried to teach us the things we needed to know to live in the world. We were very poor but we never felt poor. That in itself speaks highly of the way we were raised. We never went to bed hungry. For many years our supper was bread and milk but we loved it so it was not a hardship. Being a farm family we always had our dinner at noon and a good breakfast. We had warmth in the winter (in the living room and kitchen). We dressed next to the kitchen stove most mornings. I'm sure Mother and Dad had many difficult years keeping things going around us but we were relatively happy.

TAGGED

I was tagged by my cousin Cindy so here goes.

The rules of the tag are as follows:
1.Post the rules on your blog.
2.Write six random things about yourself.
3.Tag six people at the end of your post.
4. If you are tagged, JUST DO IT, and pass the tag along.

1. I only sleep 4 hours a night. Now matter what time I go to bed I am wide awake in 4 hours (5 if I'm really tired).

2. I love LDS Fiction, and usually buy new books as soon as I can after they are published. Right now I have enough books waiting to be read that if all of my favorite authors stopped writing I could still read for an extended period of time, but please don't stop writing, I'll catch up someday.

3. I eat Pop tarts on the way to work every morning while I drive to work. I only like traditional breakfast foods like Bacon & Eggs in the evening for supper.

4. I don't like attending Relief Society. I never have. The aversion to RS comes from when I was a teen in Worcester Ward. Fortunately I have worked in Primary most of the time since my 12th birthday. I was called to the Nursery for the 1st time right after my 12th birthday and except for the times I was in Student wards in Utah, I have had Primary callings. I still do my Visiting Teaching.

5. I have a mental block against Math especially Algebra and Geometry. I can balance my checkbook, but anything more than that....... I'm pretty sure I got mercy passing grades so I could get out of High School.
One of my assignments at USU was to tutor a boy in Math----talk about Irony.

6. I hate doing anything that makes my hands dirty, and yes I do know they wash, but I just can't handle anything on them, and I can't work in gloves. I don't paint or garden for that reason.

If you are on my blog list or you stop by and read this consider yourself tagged. Have fun with it.

ELECTION

BREAKING NEWS

FBI FILE CALLS PRESIDENT HINCKLEY A LOYAL AMERICAN

October 20th, 2008 @ 6:08am By Mary Richards

FBI agents investigated President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1951, long before he became church president.

Apparently the government wanted to see if he was a spy, and the answer was no.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the FBI did a background check in case President Hinckley received a job with Voice of America, a radio network run by the State Department.

The FBI file, which was released last week, shows investigators found out he had above-average grades at the University of Utah, and former supervisors and friends called him a hard worker and loyal American. There are no disparaging remarks in the file.The bureau also looked for an arrest record, but did not find one. It's not clear whether Pres. Hinckley was offered the job.

E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~

Something To Make You Smile