What a Day!

I was at a seminar today in Dallas and was able to see Dick Hoyt speak. He is the father who competes in marathons and triathlons with his son, Rick, with cerebral palsy in tow. He drags his son in a boat for the swimming, has a seat on the front of the bike, and pushes a three wheeled wheelchair for the run. His story is inspiring. The website is here: http://teamhoyt.com/. They have competed in hundreds of races over the past 25+ years.

Oh, Happy Day!

As easy as it is to point out trouble in the world, there is some good news out there: baseball's spring training has started. No society can be all bad that comes up with spring training. Go Rangers!

Econ 101

Here is an interesting article on economics from Thomas Sowell. A few highlights:

My hope is that Economic Facts and Fallacies will expose some of the worst fallacies and leave readers sufficiently skeptical that they will take other political “solutions” with a grain of salt and stop to think before they join a stampede.

Fallacies can sound very plausible if you don’t stop to analyze what is being said and don’t bother to check out the facts.

Some of the fallacies examined in various chapters of Economic Facts and Fallacies include the following:

1. Government programs are needed to create “affordable housing.” (Actually, government intervention is what has made housing so unaffordable in places where even hovels are expensive.)

2. Employer discrimination is the main reason for differences in income between women and men. (Tons of evidence point in other directions.)

3. College tuition is going up so fast because of rising costs. (Only if you call voluntary increases in spending “rising costs.”)

4. Foreign aid helps poor countries become more prosperous. (Only if you don’t look at the evidence.)

5. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. (It all depends on whether you are talking about flesh and blood human beings or statistical brackets.)

Economic Facts and Fallacies is not just a demolition derby. It also brings out some facts that seldom get much attention in the media.

1. The poverty rate among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994.

2. The average income of the elderly is several times their earnings, and their wealth is far higher than among younger people.

3. Just as blacks are turned down for mortgage loans more often than whites, so whites are turned down more often than Asian Americans. (What does that do to racism as an all-purpose explanation?)

It stands out to me that societal problems become more apparent when we depart from the free market and the family in this country. There was a time when the black family unit was the strongest in the United States. Now, most blacks (African-Americans - I never know what I am supposed to say) are born outside of marriage. As I remember, whites and hispanics born outside of marriage have similar crime rates, high school drop out rates, and drug use rates as the blacks. The trajedy is not as racial as it is familial.

Should Mormons Consider Voting for Obama?

The short answer is yes. But to consider voting for someone and actually voting for someone is not the same thing. An old friend has given some thought as to why it would be good to vote for Barack Obama. I thought I would deal with some of the points he makes here.

I will start with some general observations about Obama. His tone is different than any politician currently on the national stage. Obama has an ability to connect with people who disagree with him. Case in point: me, I am considering voting for Obama. McCain, despite being the heir apparent of my party, is very much a cranky old man. His attacks on Mitt Romney infuriated me. But, I do agree with McCain on one core issue: the war in Iraq.

If anyone looks for coverage on Iraq in the newspapers, it probably won't be there. The old adage - if it bleeds, it leads - is true. Now that American casualties have dropped dramatically, the war is no longer on the front page. I have several friends here at A&M who are Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. One told me that the media does not get it. He said they don't understand the good or the bad that is happening on the ground. (Here is one website that has real reporting.) President Bush has already started drawing down the troop levels in Iraq. If the situation on the ground continues to improve militarily and politically, Iraq may not be that big of an issue come November. If that is the case, I will be more open to the Obama campaign.

Part of me also considers the delicious irony of a narrow Republican win (or dare I say, loss) in Utah. My problem with Republicans has been that they aren't really conservative any more. They presided over insane spending increases, from No Child Left Behind, to Medicare part D, to earmarks. Republicans are not supposed to preside over the massive expansion of the welfare state. (The joke goes: What is the difference between Republicans and Democrats? Republicans will raise spending, but tell you they feel terrible about it.)

The Huckabee sham makes me want to send a statement that says Mormons won't tolerate anti-Mormon behavior from a leading candidate. If Huckabee is McCain's running mate, I am even more likely to vote Democrat. I do not trust the Huckster.

In regards to government spending, the war effort is not that expensive compared to all the entitlement programs. I love the idea of government only buying what it can pay for, just like the rest of the nation. The best solution is to cut spending, not raise taxes. People living in Manhattan get farm subsidies. Soon, 70% of all government spending will be on entitlements. Government largesse does not satisfy the Christian imperatave to care for the poor and needy. I would far rather the government get out of the way of individuals and businesses, so that real assistance could be given.

Now, regarding taxes: the argument that people who make over $250,000 a year should pay more taxes is hollow. The expansion of the economy depends on the success of small businesses. Entrepreneurs may make that kind of money, but it is because they are the ones who are willing to take the risks. If they are taxed more, job creation will slow. Cutting corporate and individual tax rates will have a profound impact on capital investment. Capital investment means new factories, new jobs, and higher wages as skilled workers are in higher demand. (Yes, I am in business school, so my vision is colored by that experience.)

Immigration is a big problem. I know there are people in the Church in Texas who are in this country illegally. The problem is the other illegal activity they engage in. Illegal immigrants are massive perpetrators of identity theft. This harms real people. Illegals lower wages in inner cities. If people are really concerned with poverty, how about finding ways to naturally increase wages like limiting the cheap, illegal workforce. Law enforcement works. After states have increased enforcement of immigration laws, many people are returning to their homes. There is nothing dehumanizing about that. I welcome immigration, just do it right.

Interestingly, on many of the issues I am concerned about, McCain is not really that different than Democrats. I didn't get in to man-made global warming, judges, free speech, taxes, closing Guantanamo (I say leave it open - if those terrorists enter the American judicial system, they will have the rights of the very citizens they want to kill), and class warfare, but McCain has long parroted Democrat talking points.

My conclusion is, I have no conclusion. I don't know who I will vote for in November. I am open to being persuaded. But I am not just interested in style. I want substance, also. Who wins the Democrat primaries matters: I will vote against Hillary in a heartbeat. Running mates matter: Romney on the McCain ticket will help him in my view. John "Maverick" McCain vs. Barack "Audacity of Hope" Obama would be an interesting race. Many campaigns are a race to the edges to shore up the base. For the first time in a long time it could be a race to the middle to grap as many moderates as possible.

So, Mitt's Done

Now that it looks like John McCain is going to be my party nominee, I need to find a way to support him... or do I? I loved Mitt's speech at CPAC, and McCain's was actually one of his best. But one speech does not agreement make. As much as I like listneing to Obama, I don't know what substance he has. There is no way to really tell how he will actually govern.

A week ago, I would have said there is no way McCain could get my support and there is no way Romney could be the veep nominee. But the way Romney dropped out, it seems there is a door there where none was before. If Romney were on the ticket, I could vote for McCain without holding my nose.

Amen

Praise to the Man

I write with a heavy heart tonight. I just learned that Gordon Bitner Hinckley, prophet of the Lord, has died. President Hinckley was one of the truly great prophets with a vision of the Lord's work unmatched by almost anyone. I am sure much will be written of his legacy. Presidnet Hinckley built and dedicated more temples than anyone in history. He published two great and inspired documents: one setting forth the significance of the family in the work of the Lord, and one testifying of Jesus Christ.

I want to spend more time talking about this great Prophet's impact in my life. I could detail many years of his talks at General Conference, but I will just pick a few events to highlight. First a general observation: It was a tangible Spirit of peace to be in the presence of the Prophet. It was often a large, crowded room, with people buzzing like before any other meeting. The instant the Prophet entered the room the Spirit would come in waves. Almost instantly the whole room would stand up and become silent.

In August of 2005, President Hinckly gave the whole Church a challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I have read it several times before and since, but there was something different about that time. President Hinckley promised, "Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God." I found that to be true. That challenge increased my love for the Book of Mormon and the testimony is bears of Jesus Christ. I came to know even more fully that Jesus lives and is involved and concerned about my life.

In October 2006, President Hinckley gave a talk to the Priesthood of the Church where he challenged the men to obtain all the education they could. That one talk inspired me to enter grad school here at Texas A&M University. I took the GMAT two months later and was acceped into the MBA program. My experiences over the past five months have been the happiest of my life. I have been genuinely stretched academically and have met some friends who will be friends for the rest of my life. I have never been so happy. There have been three times in my life when I have had the calm assurances of the Spirit telling me I am at exactly the right place in my life: when I started my mission, when I started my undergrad at BYU, and when I started the MBA program. President Hinckley's teachings affected each of those stages of my life, but without his challenge that October, I would have been robbed of the great experiences of the past few months of my life.

I thank God I was ever able to hear the testimony of the great Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley.

John McCain is a Liar

I have been following the early presidential primaries very closely. (Too closely, I should be studying more for school.) I have come to realize something lately. John McCain is just like Hillary Clinton. Hillary has attacked Barack Obama relentlessly. She acts as if she were squeeky clean. The Clintons made today's South Carolina primary all about race. As a result, white Democrats over thirty went for Hillary. On the other hand, in Iowa, Obama won the white vote.

It seems thoroughly ironic that the party that claims to be champions of diversity and multicultural understanding could become so divided. I just listened to Obama's victory speech in South Carolina and was very impressed. I may disagree with him on many issues, but I appreciate his rhetoric. I could see myself voting for Obama. (Especially if McCain is the Republican nominee. See.. this post is about McCain.)

No to how McCain and Hillary are similar. McCain is lying about Mitt Romney's statements. (See here, and here.) McCain seems willing to say anything to win, just like Hillary. Pretty disturbing from a guy who claims honor is his watchword. Even McCain supporters and Time magazine agree that McCain is in the wrong. A man who will lie to win the presidency will not get my vote over a guy I probably disagree with.

Prophets Have Warts!

I have recently run across many poisonous accusations against the Church in comment sections of online news sites. I marvel to see Joseph Smith, a man I revere, portrayed as the basest scoundrel ever to walk the earth. As a member of the Church, I am guilty by association. Apparently I am a racist, a simpleton, an idiot, anti-modern, anti-science, intolerant (OK, that one may hold some water sometimes), and people like me are the source of all the problems in the world. I am apparently no different than Mahmood Ahmadinejad.

I am reminded of a story about Joseph Smith from late in his life. Joseph was the mayor of a beautiful and thriving Nauvoo. The city rivaled Chicago at the time as the largest city in Illinois.

Many converts were coming from Britain. They would arrive on the Maid of Iowa, the paddle boat that served Nauvoo on the Mississippi River. One time, Joseph showed up at the dock to greet the new converts in rough clothing. Joseph asked the first convert off the boat why he was there. "I have joined the Mormon Church." Joseph asked, "What do you know about Joseph Smith?" "He is a prophet of God." Joseph then asked, "What if I told you I was Joseph Smith?" "Then you are a prophet of God." Joseph must have smiled, shaken the man's hand, then said, "I am the prophet, but I have worn these rough clothes to let you know that if you expect me to be anything other than a man, that you should get back on that boat and go back to England."

Joseph might have taught a lesson like that because people seemed to have the idea that a calling to be a prophet should make him perfect. Too many had left the Church because even a prophet called by God still has warts. I forget if it was Lorenzo Snow or Wilford Woodruff, but one of them said that they were thankful to see Joseph's imperfections. I echo their sentiment: If God could use Joseph for His work, maybe there is hope for me.

Ready for a New Year!

I am ready for the most amazing year ever. I can just feel it in my bones that everything will change this year. I will put another college degree under my belt. I will have some great business opportunities (some known, others unknown). I will pay off my truck. I will come close to finishing my oil painting of the Nauvoo Temple.

In my ward, I teach the Elders' Quorum. The lesson manual this year is on Joseph Smith. When I was a missionary, I loved teaching the Joseph Smith principle of the first discussion. The Spirit was always there to testify of the truth of Joseph's experiences. Nothing is greater than telling someone that there are prophets again on the earth.

The World Tries to Escape Natural Consequences

This article from the Wall Street Journal illustrates a symptom of a much broader problem. The writer compares the subprime mortgage problems to the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. The foolish virgins bet tons of money on subprime mortgages, and had huge profits for a time, followed by the current huge losses. Now, the government is coming to bail out these foolish lenders. The article says, in part:

There were five other virgins. They worked hard in industry rather than finance, saved rather than borrowed, paid their taxes, didn't speculate on subprime mortgages and didn't run hedge funds. They didn't get fat bonuses, either, during the bubble or during the crunch. They weren't running risks -- or, at least, that's what they thought. The snag is that, after the Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke and his French cousin, Jean-Claude Trichet started spraying around cheap cash to bail out Stan, Chuck, Fannie and the like, inflation started seeping into the economy. That eroded the real value of the "wise" virgins' savings.

The real disease is the desire to escape the natural consequences of foolish choices. This disease manifests itself in all aspects of life. People everywhere refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and then expect someone else to come in behind them to rescue them from the law of the harvest.

This echoes another time in history when people thought there was no benefit to wisely following the commandments of God. The wicked were fat and happy:

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

The only problem is that "the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin." CEO's artificially inflated stock prices with these subprime loans, took their huge bonuses, and left their businesses in shambles. Lots of innocent people are being hurt because these businesses are in such trouble, and now, all of us that have been wise with our finances are faced with higher inflation and lower value of savings.

Heeding the Prophet's counsel from way back in October of 1998 would have saved many troubles both in the post-Clinton recession and 9/11 recession. That same counsel, if applied today, would have saved many from the risk of foreclosure and the whole US economy would be stronger.

My Life in the Chruch

In response to Elder Ballard's challenge, I will tell a little about my experience as a member of the Church. I attended a religious seminary class every morning before school all four years of high school. Since then, I have read the scriptures essentially every day. Daily scripture reading changed my life. Before I started reading, I was a terrible high school student. The spiritual nourishment of seminary and scripture reading gave me purpose. I became a stellar student and that all combined to prepare me to serve a mission for two years preaching the Gospel in Philadelphia. I was never happier.

On my mission I learned to express myself to others. I learned the Gospel by giving all I had to the work. There is no other opportunity to offer all my money, time, and energy to the Lord. That sacrifice has set the path of my life. I then attended BYU, where I took religion classes from the best teachers in all the Church. I took classes on Isaiah, the New Testament, The Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and anything else I could fit in my schedule. I was never happier.

A little over a year ago, President Hinckley, the prophet of the Lord, issued a challenge to the men of the Church. He said to obtain all the education we could. I took that challenge seriously. After that challenge, I prepared for and took the GMAT. I have started the MBA program at Texas A&M University. And I have never been happier.

I have learned from all these experiences that the happiest times in life come when I follow the prophet. Nothing has been easy, but it isn't supposed to be. I believe more and more that the greater the challenges, the greater the joy. Jesus certainly experienced that. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. In life, we all have our own crosses to carry. The cross I have had to figuratively carry has taught me that God lives and knows me. Not only that, but He is interested in the affairs of my life. I could never have planned the course my life has taken, but I can plainly see that God's hand has directed my path. Whatever price I must pay to become acquainted with God is worth the price. Nephi was highly favored in his afflictions. Really, it is only through affliction that anyone realizes how highly favored they are.

Elder Ballard Spoke at BYU-Hawaii Graduation

I thought this was an important challenge Elder Ballard gave graduates.

We have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves instead of letting others define us. Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from the news media reports that are often driven by controversies. Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on peoples’ perceptions of what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is.

There has been so much said about the Church by people who know so little about it. News reports focus on the sensational and ignore the nitty gritty of who we are as Saints. Some news coverage is ridiculous. There are a few talking head who have intense hatred for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One thing Mitt Romney's campaign has done is bring these people out of the woodwork. Even a few of his opponents have ventured into anti-Mormon fare.

A Great Speech on Freedom and Religion

I never thought I would want to quote the President of the University of Utah. But, I believe he is a BYU grad and he was speaking at BYU-Idaho, so it is OK. The link is here. This is a very good way to make the point Mitt Romney was trying to make in College Station in his Faith in America speech when he said: "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom."

Protecting one’s freedom of religion necessarily and inescapably presupposes the propriety of allegiance to something higher than that government. Any government that respects freedom of religion must necessarily wrestle with, and accept, its own limitations. If you believe that a government must provide freedom of religion, then you must also believe – and that government must also believe – that there are appropriate limits to government power, that there are parts of our lives into which a government cannot intrude.

There is also a warning for when a country starts limiting religious freedom:

If you see a government trying to suppress and control freedom of religion, then you know trouble is on the way. It is like the canary in the coal mine. It is the first signal that a government is beginning to abuse all the human rights or soon will.

Ahh, School!

I have spent the past five months in the MBA program at Texas A&M University. I love it. It is, of course, my excuse for never posting anything here. Especially early on, a twelve hour day (including class and homework) was short. I park at the LDS Institute of Religion and am usually the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave at night. Various things have combined to make this the happiest time in my life, despite (or is it because of) being overworked. I wish I could be a student forever. Well, there's always a PhD... We'll see about that.

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band

I have a couple of pictures of the band. They are quite the spectacle.
This is the best picture I could get of a formation at the t.u. game since my seats were so dang good.

The precision marches are impressive to watch. The old computer programs that helped bands learn marches have two people in one spot for the Aggie Band. It took a better program for the Aggies.

My First Aggie vs t.u. Football Game

I attended the A&M vs. t.u. football game for the first time this year. I sat at about the 45 yard line on row 28. I have never been to such a loud football game. The 12th Man (that is the student section for non-Aggies out there) was yelling even during time-outs and commercial breaks. The football team was mediocre most of the year, but they showed up to play that day. It was great to BTHO t.u.!
This picture is the 12th Man. He is a walk on who represents all the students on the field.
This was my view of the game from the student section.

My First House

When I started school, I bought a house in Bryan, TX, just a few miles away from Texas A&M University. This picture was my first week in August. The house had been vacant and the lawn was long. Yes, that is three foot grass you see. And yes, that is a rented brush mower. It could barely handle the tall grass. Come to think of it, in the August heat, I could barely handle the tall grass.

Andrew's wedding

This picture is of most of my cousins. With the family scattered between Seattle, Houston, Oregon, Dallas, and Virginia, it is hard to get many more together at once than this. Somehow, we didn't get a picture with all of us and Andrew. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding.

Trip to Washington

I have been immensely busy with school and have not updated anything here in months. More on that later. Here are a few more pictures from my trip to see my cousin's wedding in the shadow of Mount Rainier. On day 3 (June 28) we rode horses with Mom's sister and two of her kids.