Take death, itself, and search for an antidote. Among the herbs that have been here as long as man has been here. Among the medicines of the ages that have been gone over by the Chinese and the Native American medicine men, and the herbalists and the modern doctors.
Take the things that have been searched the most and search them more.
Be like the crime investigator who decides to go back over all the evidence, searching for something that might have been missed.
Today's medicine centers on finding new pharmaceuticals. There is money in a new pill, fresh from Barr Pharmaceuticals or Pfizer. And, where the money is, so goes the effort.
I ran across this on the Internet, about chamomile: "Considered by some to be a cure-all . . . Few studies have looked at how well it works for any condition."
Few studies, you say? It's been here all along, and we yet need to study it?
Let us have a large, bally-hued investigation, going back and studying each of the herbs and their benefits and properties and effects.
Look at death anew, too. Old Age. What causes it? Inflammation and arthritis, and brain discombobulation -- how do they all fit in? And, which herbs are we overlooking in treating them?
I read on the Internet, again about chamomile: "Considered by some to be a cure-all, chamomile is commonly used in the U.S. as ananxiolytic and sedative for anxiety and relaxation. It is used in Europe for wound healing and to reduce inflammation or swelling." I about bounce out and buy it. Inflammation, you say? Inflammation may be what is killing me, as much as anything.
No, if all these herbs have been here all along -- used and reused and tried and tried again -- it does not appear we are going to find the answer to death in them. Someone would have happened upon it by now.
But, then again.
Like chamomile, I'm guessing many of these drugs -- I mean, herbs -- haven't been adequately studied. Why not? It's time. Turn over every rock until you find one that hides an answer.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Will the Free Beacon Information Ever See the Light of Day?
Something called Fusion GPS. Just before it hired someone called Christopher Steele and came out with something called the Steele Dossier, it did its investigating of Donald Trump for a something called the Washington Free Beacon -- a wildly conservative publication.
This all started back when Trump was a Republican outsider. Once he became the presumptive nominee, the Free Beacon dropped Fusion GPS and Fusion GPS had to find someone else to fund its work against Donald Trump.
Enter someone called Hillary Clinton.
Here's what I wonder: With all the talk on what is in the Steele Dossier, why no mention of what was in the initial investigation?
Why?
In October 2017, the Free Beacon said "none of the work that the Free Beacon received appears in the Steele dossier." That would mean the Free Beacon did received work from Fusion GPS. What did the little publication do with it? Did they publish it? Or, as Trump gained steam and began to find acceptance with the mainstream in the Republican Party, did the Free Beacon decide to hold its fire?
Launched in 2012, the Free Beacon said it was "dedicated to uncovering the stories that the powers that be hope will never see the light of day."
Will the information that something called Fusion GPS gathered -- the information it gave to something called the Washington Free Beacon -- will that ever see the light of day?
This all started back when Trump was a Republican outsider. Once he became the presumptive nominee, the Free Beacon dropped Fusion GPS and Fusion GPS had to find someone else to fund its work against Donald Trump.
Enter someone called Hillary Clinton.
Here's what I wonder: With all the talk on what is in the Steele Dossier, why no mention of what was in the initial investigation?
Why?
In October 2017, the Free Beacon said "none of the work that the Free Beacon received appears in the Steele dossier." That would mean the Free Beacon did received work from Fusion GPS. What did the little publication do with it? Did they publish it? Or, as Trump gained steam and began to find acceptance with the mainstream in the Republican Party, did the Free Beacon decide to hold its fire?
Launched in 2012, the Free Beacon said it was "dedicated to uncovering the stories that the powers that be hope will never see the light of day."
Will the information that something called Fusion GPS gathered -- the information it gave to something called the Washington Free Beacon -- will that ever see the light of day?
Monday, July 29, 2019
Would President Trump's Character have Allowed Him to Collude?
There are signs enough that if the Russian could help, Trump would have welcomed their help.
Shout me down, saying, "You cannot prove that! What a vile thing to say! What an unfounded accusation! Have you no common decency!? Innocent until proven guilty!"
But, with the conduct of our president before and after taking office, I suggest it is a valid concern. If Trump could have benefited -- from what we know about his character -- he would have welcomed that help.
This, alone, should make us wonder. No conspiracy? No collusion? I suggest we begin by asking if we have a president who would have been capable of conspiracy and collusion. Was it something that might be natural for him to accept? Would the confines of his character allow it? Do we see any signs in his firings and hirings now to suggest he might have an inclination to take such help?
What does his character tell us? Does his character leave him open to the possibility of colluding and conspiring?
When you study crime, you often start with motive. I think it not wrong to study whether the president could be motivated to collude and conspire in order to further his chance of being elected.
And, if we did find that, I would not find it a shocking revelation, at all.
Might edit it to this:
Shout me down, saying, "You cannot prove that! What a vile thing to say! What an unfounded accusation! Have you no common decency!? Innocent until proven guilty!"
But, with the conduct of our president before and after taking office, I suggest it is a valid concern. If Trump could have benefited -- from what we know about his character -- he would have welcomed that help.
This, alone, should make us wonder. No conspiracy? No collusion? I suggest we begin by asking if we have a president who would have been capable of conspiracy and collusion. Was it something that might be natural for him to accept? Would the confines of his character allow it? Do we see any signs in his firings and hirings now to suggest he might have an inclination to take such help?
What does his character tell us? Does his character leave him open to the possibility of colluding and conspiring?
When you study crime, you often start with motive. I think it not wrong to study whether the president could be motivated to collude and conspire in order to further his chance of being elected.
And, if we did find that, I would not find it a shocking revelation, at all.
Might edit it to this:
There are signs enough that if the Russian could help, Trump would have welcomed their help.
Shout me down, saying, "You cannot prove that! What a vile thing to say! What an unfounded accusation! Have you no common decency!? Innocent until proven guilty!"
But, with the conduct of our president before and after taking office, I suggest it is a valid concern. If Trump could have benefited -- from what we know about his character -- he would have welcomed that help.
This, alone, should make us wonder. No conspiracy? No collusion? I suggest we begin by asking if we have a president who would have been capable of conspiracy and collusion. Was it something that might be have been natural to him? Would it be outside his nature -- or within it? Would the confines of his character allow such a thing? Do we see any signs in his firings and hirings now to suggest he might have an inclination to take such measures?
What does his character tell us? Does his character leave him open to the possibility of colluding and conspiring?
When you study crime, you often start with motive. I think it not wrong to study whether the president could be motivated to collude and conspire in order to further his chance of being elected.
I would not find that a shocking revelation, at all.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Business Deals can Curry Favor and Bring Election Help
Sometimes, you can't prove bribery. The Mueller investigation detailed three business deals Donald Trump pursued at the time of his campaign. Yes, that very well may have been coincidence. I understand he long had business interests in Russia. What do three more prove?
There is, in politics and business, as well, a practice of doing something in hope of receiving something in return. When applied right, it is bribery -- but a bribery no one can prove.
If not bribery, then at least an inappropriate enticement, but I believe the word bribery applies.
If President Trump did lay these business deals out, with the hope that the Russians would notice them and choose to help his campaign, that is collusion.
But, you cannot prove it. If you investigate it, you will have to come up with something proving the pro-quid-pro. You will need Trump or one of his officials to go on record saying business is being done in hopes that you, the Russians, will return the favor.
Little chance of that. Little chance Trump would show his hand.
So, you can get away with collusion. None dare call it conspiracy. And, you can deny it all the way to the New York Times.
There is, in politics and business, as well, a practice of doing something in hope of receiving something in return. When applied right, it is bribery -- but a bribery no one can prove.
If not bribery, then at least an inappropriate enticement, but I believe the word bribery applies.
If President Trump did lay these business deals out, with the hope that the Russians would notice them and choose to help his campaign, that is collusion.
But, you cannot prove it. If you investigate it, you will have to come up with something proving the pro-quid-pro. You will need Trump or one of his officials to go on record saying business is being done in hopes that you, the Russians, will return the favor.
Little chance of that. Little chance Trump would show his hand.
So, you can get away with collusion. None dare call it conspiracy. And, you can deny it all the way to the New York Times.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
How do We Know for Certain the Election was not Stolen?
Election systems in all 50 states were targeted for hacking? But, none were believed compromised? Some attacks leave no trail. The hacker designs them so the evidence is erased. We might suppose none were compromised, but I am wondering if there is no way of knowing that for certain.
And, if this is true, we cannot know for certain that the election was not stolen. That does not mean President Trump stole it, but it does mean someone might have stolen it for him.
And, if this is true, we cannot know for certain that the election was not stolen. That does not mean President Trump stole it, but it does mean someone might have stolen it for him.
There is Cause for Outrage that the President Believes Facilities Okay
The migrants are stacked into space so tight they cannot all lie down at once to sleep. Showers are lacking. Hygiene necessities are absent.
This, President Trump, and yet you tweeted this morning, "As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient and well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
I join with those not pleased with his characterization of the Baltimore area Elijah Cummings represents. Nor do I approve of the accompanying attacks on Cummings, himself. Cummings stands as a sterling member of Congress and an honor to the nation he serves.
He deserves no such attack.
But, with all the discussion of Baltimore and Cummings, let us not overlook the first part of President Trump's tweet. With all that has been found reprehensible with the border facilities, we should be mortified that the president sees them as being in good order.
This, President Trump, and yet you tweeted this morning, "As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient and well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
I join with those not pleased with his characterization of the Baltimore area Elijah Cummings represents. Nor do I approve of the accompanying attacks on Cummings, himself. Cummings stands as a sterling member of Congress and an honor to the nation he serves.
He deserves no such attack.
But, with all the discussion of Baltimore and Cummings, let us not overlook the first part of President Trump's tweet. With all that has been found reprehensible with the border facilities, we should be mortified that the president sees them as being in good order.
To Make it a Beacon City, do the Things that Will Make it a Beacon City
Do we look at scripture and suggest that Utah might become a place where all nations will come? I wonder, if we were to want to help bring this to pass, what would we do to bring the world to the Salt Lake Valley?
That passage in Isaiah, where it says that in the last days, "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains," does it not end with, "and all nations shall flow unto it"?
I don't know that it is doctrine -- this belief that Isaiah 2:2-3 is speaking of the Salt Lake Valley -- but, it is certainly a common belief among the people, whether official doctrine or not.
In our modern world, much of the travel -- when you are going from one nation to another -- is by airplane. So, if you are to have all nations flowing unto you, many of them are likely to be arriving by plane.
If you were to want all nations to flow unto you, then build the things that bring the air passengers, do the things that will cause all the world to fly into Salt Lake City International Airport.
Maybe they will come naturally. Maybe they will come simply because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is here, simply coming to see it, to learn its ways.
But, I see no wrong with planning. I see no wrong in laying plans to make this valley the world's beacon city. Planning is a plus. Sometimes, goals aren't achieved unless you make the plans that get you there and do the leg work that allows your goals to be achieved.
So, the world's visitors largely travel by airplane in these latter days? And, surrounding our airport we have a vast stretch of undeveloped land? In all the time since Brigham Young arrived here, the land to the west has gone undeveloped. Such a happenstance; Such a fortune. Has ever a city thought to place the things that bring visitors right next its airport? Convenience, they call it. Location, location, location.
Decide who you want to attract, and built the things they will come for. Tourism? Surely, surely so. All of the world's visitors are tourists, of sorts. But, sort them out. Just as Las Vegas attracts one set of tourists and Branson a little different set, set your sights on who you want.
Maybe you just want to attract them, and then let them hear your message once they arrive. If so, make the Salt Lake Valley the home of sporting tournaments, hobby festivals, and conventions. Have the facilities necessary, and go after the gatherings of bird-watchers, chess players, fiddle players and all else. Invite associations to have their conventions here, and create your own events. No reason Salt Lake City needs to wait for the United State Chess Federation to bring a tournament here. It can set up its own chess tournaments.
And, quilting gatherings, and horseshoe tournaments and model train confabs.
The scripture says the latter-day location will be "exalted above the hills." Why not seek to make this area a place the world comes for commerce, and government, and education?
One possible idea is to make this a place where issues are discussed. Bring in authorities and experts and politicians and scientists to discuss the world's issues and needs. Bring in, as well, the common people for similar discussions and studies. Make it so convenient to come and participate that all the world comes. Have it so convenient that they can fly in one day, and take a walk or a shuttle to a symposium just to the west of the airport -- and then fly out that very same day. No taxi or hotel required. The price of your airfare is the price of your visit.
Say a news story breaks -- as it did this past week -- suggesting that one of the most effective ways of fighting greenhouse carbons is to plant trees in every spot worldwide that you can. Bring in the experts who are suggesting this. Invite a few Congress members. Invite other experts. Invite in those who do not believe in climate change. Have them all sit down and discuss the proposal. Have a large auditorium (separated from the stage by bullet-proof glass to protect the participants) where public from around the world can come in and listen and perhaps even offer input.
Utah can become a place where governing matters are weighed. It can become a beacon city in so many ways. But, becoming a city such as I've described is not likely to happen unless you plan it to happen.
That passage in Isaiah, where it says that in the last days, "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains," does it not end with, "and all nations shall flow unto it"?
I don't know that it is doctrine -- this belief that Isaiah 2:2-3 is speaking of the Salt Lake Valley -- but, it is certainly a common belief among the people, whether official doctrine or not.
In our modern world, much of the travel -- when you are going from one nation to another -- is by airplane. So, if you are to have all nations flowing unto you, many of them are likely to be arriving by plane.
If you were to want all nations to flow unto you, then build the things that bring the air passengers, do the things that will cause all the world to fly into Salt Lake City International Airport.
Maybe they will come naturally. Maybe they will come simply because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is here, simply coming to see it, to learn its ways.
But, I see no wrong with planning. I see no wrong in laying plans to make this valley the world's beacon city. Planning is a plus. Sometimes, goals aren't achieved unless you make the plans that get you there and do the leg work that allows your goals to be achieved.
So, the world's visitors largely travel by airplane in these latter days? And, surrounding our airport we have a vast stretch of undeveloped land? In all the time since Brigham Young arrived here, the land to the west has gone undeveloped. Such a happenstance; Such a fortune. Has ever a city thought to place the things that bring visitors right next its airport? Convenience, they call it. Location, location, location.
Decide who you want to attract, and built the things they will come for. Tourism? Surely, surely so. All of the world's visitors are tourists, of sorts. But, sort them out. Just as Las Vegas attracts one set of tourists and Branson a little different set, set your sights on who you want.
Maybe you just want to attract them, and then let them hear your message once they arrive. If so, make the Salt Lake Valley the home of sporting tournaments, hobby festivals, and conventions. Have the facilities necessary, and go after the gatherings of bird-watchers, chess players, fiddle players and all else. Invite associations to have their conventions here, and create your own events. No reason Salt Lake City needs to wait for the United State Chess Federation to bring a tournament here. It can set up its own chess tournaments.
And, quilting gatherings, and horseshoe tournaments and model train confabs.
The scripture says the latter-day location will be "exalted above the hills." Why not seek to make this area a place the world comes for commerce, and government, and education?
One possible idea is to make this a place where issues are discussed. Bring in authorities and experts and politicians and scientists to discuss the world's issues and needs. Bring in, as well, the common people for similar discussions and studies. Make it so convenient to come and participate that all the world comes. Have it so convenient that they can fly in one day, and take a walk or a shuttle to a symposium just to the west of the airport -- and then fly out that very same day. No taxi or hotel required. The price of your airfare is the price of your visit.
Say a news story breaks -- as it did this past week -- suggesting that one of the most effective ways of fighting greenhouse carbons is to plant trees in every spot worldwide that you can. Bring in the experts who are suggesting this. Invite a few Congress members. Invite other experts. Invite in those who do not believe in climate change. Have them all sit down and discuss the proposal. Have a large auditorium (separated from the stage by bullet-proof glass to protect the participants) where public from around the world can come in and listen and perhaps even offer input.
Utah can become a place where governing matters are weighed. It can become a beacon city in so many ways. But, becoming a city such as I've described is not likely to happen unless you plan it to happen.
Friday, July 26, 2019
If Winning is what Matters, Stanton Kidd is Your Man
One of the guys sitting at the bottom of the Utah Jazz roster, Stanton Kidd -- I'm excited about him. If teams went after players with successful team records, not just glossy personal stats, Kidd would be someone they'd jump at.
In high school, he led his team to its first-ever city championship. He helped South Plains JC to a 36-0 record and a national championship. A revitalized Colorado State went 27-7 his senior year there. Limburg United reached the Belgian League semifinals. Durussafaka won the Euroleague Cup title. Nomad? He's the definition. Bounced around even in college (three schools). And, he's a great defender, which is something the Jazz look for.
In high school, he led his team to its first-ever city championship. He helped South Plains JC to a 36-0 record and a national championship. A revitalized Colorado State went 27-7 his senior year there. Limburg United reached the Belgian League semifinals. Durussafaka won the Euroleague Cup title. Nomad? He's the definition. Bounced around even in college (three schools). And, he's a great defender, which is something the Jazz look for.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
If You Can Do It, Why Not?
This is the thought: Surround the airport with uses accommodated by air travel -- tourism, conventions, etc.
All this undeveloped land around the Salt Lake airport. Could we be so fortunate, that in all the time since the pioneers arrived, it has remained free and open, so that it is yet available to what might be its highest use?
Tourists, and convention-goers, corporate visitors and family friends -- these are they who come by plane. If you would have them, then, give them more of what they come for. And, place those things right next to your airport, if you can be so lucky.
Capitalize on this. Convenience sells. Location sells. Place your attractions right next to door to the avenue of transportation. If you can do it, why not?
All this undeveloped land around the Salt Lake airport. Could we be so fortunate, that in all the time since the pioneers arrived, it has remained free and open, so that it is yet available to what might be its highest use?
Tourists, and convention-goers, corporate visitors and family friends -- these are they who come by plane. If you would have them, then, give them more of what they come for. And, place those things right next to your airport, if you can be so lucky.
Capitalize on this. Convenience sells. Location sells. Place your attractions right next to door to the avenue of transportation. If you can do it, why not?
Is not Committing a Federal Crime Enough Reason for Impeachment?
Forgive, but is committing a federal crime not enough for impeachment? Is obstruction of justice not serious enough of a matter? I see all the calls for this to go away. Those with President Trump say, "Can't we just get on with life and let this go?"
If a president of the United States obstructed justice -- multiple times -- is this somehow acceptable behavior? To me, we should impeach. Justice calls for as much. Turning our heads and looking the other way, saying, "Move along, move along. There is nothing here for you to see," is not a reaction we should honor.
If a president of the United States obstructed justice -- multiple times -- is this somehow acceptable behavior? To me, we should impeach. Justice calls for as much. Turning our heads and looking the other way, saying, "Move along, move along. There is nothing here for you to see," is not a reaction we should honor.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
What will Elected Officials do about Russian Interference?
If the Russians' attack on our 2020 election is going on and is as serious of a threat as Robert Mueller testified today, shouldn't we be hearing more from our leaders on what they are going to do to counter it?
Shouldn't there be news stories in abundance saying what our leaders are saying they will do? Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump: What are each of you suggesting that we do? Can we do anything? Step up.
If we aren't hearing from our elected leaders on what they are going to do, doesn't that mean this is being ignored?
Shouldn't there be news stories in abundance saying what our leaders are saying they will do? Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump: What are each of you suggesting that we do? Can we do anything? Step up.
If we aren't hearing from our elected leaders on what they are going to do, doesn't that mean this is being ignored?
World Leaders should have to Say Whether They will Support this
I find myself wishing the media would take a recent climate-change solution to President Trump and other world leaders and ask them if they are going to do this.
Say, we posed this question to our president: "The study suggests this would do as much to to curb climate change as just about anything. Planting new trees everywhere -- maybe a trillion world-wide -- might counter two-thirds of the carbon monoxide emitted since the dawn of the industrial revolution. President Trump, do you endorse this action? Will you be calling for trees to be planted in every available space?"
Ask congressional leaders if they endorse the plan. Ask world leaders. Ask the president.
After all, if there is a suggestion that could seriously curtain global warming, shouldn't the world be considering it? Shouldn't our leaders be asked whether they will give it any heed?
Here's a quote from a news story, from Thomas Crowther, a co-author of the study: "The point is that (reforestation is) so much more vastly powerful than anyone ever expected. By far, it is the top climate change solution in terms of carbon storage potential."
Say, we posed this question to our president: "The study suggests this would do as much to to curb climate change as just about anything. Planting new trees everywhere -- maybe a trillion world-wide -- might counter two-thirds of the carbon monoxide emitted since the dawn of the industrial revolution. President Trump, do you endorse this action? Will you be calling for trees to be planted in every available space?"
Ask congressional leaders if they endorse the plan. Ask world leaders. Ask the president.
After all, if there is a suggestion that could seriously curtain global warming, shouldn't the world be considering it? Shouldn't our leaders be asked whether they will give it any heed?
Here's a quote from a news story, from Thomas Crowther, a co-author of the study: "The point is that (reforestation is) so much more vastly powerful than anyone ever expected. By far, it is the top climate change solution in terms of carbon storage potential."
(Index -- Climate change info)
This Cuts at Climate-Change Skepticism as Deep as Anything
A stake to the heart of the belief that the earth simply goes through cycles of warming, and that today's global warming is just another if we look back at the history of the planet.
Two studies published today suggest the earth's warming during the past 150 years far exceeds and is more widespread than any warming in the past 2000 years, thus suggesting natural occurrences are less dramatic, and giving credence to the claim that this time, it is man-made.
The article calls it a stake through the heart. I wonder if it isn't as serious of a stake to the heart of climate-change skepticism as we have seen.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/climate-scientists-drive-stake-through-heart-of-skeptics-argument/ar-AAENJE2?li=BBnb7Kz
Two studies published today suggest the earth's warming during the past 150 years far exceeds and is more widespread than any warming in the past 2000 years, thus suggesting natural occurrences are less dramatic, and giving credence to the claim that this time, it is man-made.
The article calls it a stake through the heart. I wonder if it isn't as serious of a stake to the heart of climate-change skepticism as we have seen.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/climate-scientists-drive-stake-through-heart-of-skeptics-argument/ar-AAENJE2?li=BBnb7Kz
(Index -- Climate change info)
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
They MIght not be 'Pioneers,' but the Similarities are Many
The immigrants -- these are the pioneers of today.
I imagine someone reading what I just said, and answering, "Not. A pioneer is a first settler, a first to the valley, a first to explore. The immigrants, on the other hand, enter a land so much already populated that we have no room for them."
Still, there are likenesses. The LDS fled persecution. So do the immigrants. The LDS pioneers dredged across a nation on foot. Even so, immigrants often cross all of Mexico on foot in order to get here. The LDS pioneers were people of faith and religion. Likewise, many of the immigrants come clinching their Bibles and gathering in morning prayer circles.
Now, get this -- if you will: The LDS pioneers crossed the borders into a foreign land without permission. The area was Mexican territory. I could be wrong, not being studied, but, I do not think the LDS received permission from Mexico to come here.
I do not even need to point out the likeness there.
Today, we worry of the immigrants becoming so numerous, they will become the dominant culture. It will become their land, not ours, is the fear. Even so, the LDS people did become the dominant people. The land ended up belonging to the nation they came from, becoming part of the U.S., instead of any more belonging to Mexico.
People worry about sharia law taking over. Even so, many non-LDS in Utah are upset at the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They might not be pioneers, but the similarities are many.
I imagine someone reading what I just said, and answering, "Not. A pioneer is a first settler, a first to the valley, a first to explore. The immigrants, on the other hand, enter a land so much already populated that we have no room for them."
Still, there are likenesses. The LDS fled persecution. So do the immigrants. The LDS pioneers dredged across a nation on foot. Even so, immigrants often cross all of Mexico on foot in order to get here. The LDS pioneers were people of faith and religion. Likewise, many of the immigrants come clinching their Bibles and gathering in morning prayer circles.
Now, get this -- if you will: The LDS pioneers crossed the borders into a foreign land without permission. The area was Mexican territory. I could be wrong, not being studied, but, I do not think the LDS received permission from Mexico to come here.
I do not even need to point out the likeness there.
Today, we worry of the immigrants becoming so numerous, they will become the dominant culture. It will become their land, not ours, is the fear. Even so, the LDS people did become the dominant people. The land ended up belonging to the nation they came from, becoming part of the U.S., instead of any more belonging to Mexico.
People worry about sharia law taking over. Even so, many non-LDS in Utah are upset at the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They might not be pioneers, but the similarities are many.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Pride Comes with Ownership; Give Them Ownership of Classrooms
Solid and meaningful. I wonder if we could reap very real improvement in our education system if only we would see we aren't going about things quite right.
Teachers need to be in charge.
We put a layer on top of them -- administrators -- but is this wise? It is the teachers who are hands-on to what is happening, and what works best. It is they who are at the forefront. They who are implementing
And, it is they who should be considered our experts.
Why do we put a layer on top of them? Why do we pay district superintendents so well, making them rich, when the money would be focused better if it went straight to the teachers?
If a person is to do a job well, he (or she), has to be given enough free rein. As they do the job, and see what is happening, they will have their own observations and inspirations as to what should be done. Plus, they will be more likely to be driven to succeed if it is there own program. Pride comes with ownership. Give them ownership of their own classrooms.
Teachers need to be in charge.
We put a layer on top of them -- administrators -- but is this wise? It is the teachers who are hands-on to what is happening, and what works best. It is they who are at the forefront. They who are implementing
And, it is they who should be considered our experts.
Why do we put a layer on top of them? Why do we pay district superintendents so well, making them rich, when the money would be focused better if it went straight to the teachers?
If a person is to do a job well, he (or she), has to be given enough free rein. As they do the job, and see what is happening, they will have their own observations and inspirations as to what should be done. Plus, they will be more likely to be driven to succeed if it is there own program. Pride comes with ownership. Give them ownership of their own classrooms.
The Waters of Long Life, are the Waters of Insanity
Sailing was never such an art. No, never before. But, when I launched from Bermuda, I looked at the waves with a new glint in my eye. When I cuffed my hand over my eyes to shield out the blinding sun, I saw everything differently.
Life will never be the same.
I will begin by saying, If I will sail, I must sail on. I am old at this time -- by some accounts, 64 years of age. But, if I am to get anywhere, I must sail right into old age and keep on going.
Same ship, same sail, for the body I've got is the body I've got.
But, the boat doesn't sail itself. It doesn't call the shots. It is the captain who sails the ship, and he must listen to the Lord who guides him. Death may come to the seaman; Some say, it always does. But, there is a voice in those winds. You can hear it clearly through the crashing waves, if you listen carefully. You can hear it in the whistling winds.
It says, Quiet. Be still. The winds and the waves and the storm tossed sea, and demons and men and whatever might be. . . . Quiet. Be still. Fear not their dangers, but sail on into the ravaging sea.
And, if death should come, there's an ocean of love for thy spirit.
I spent a fortnight in the Strait of Hormuz. Enemy waters. But, if the freight is to come through the watery' pass, this is the point of passage. I carry luggage. I carry freight. So, I pass through the Strait of Hormuz in search of an open sea.
Two weeks there. Racked with the pains of a damned soul. Everyone has their luggage, and mine was failing to be patient enough with the soul of a friend. I sent him to death, possibly, by scoffing at his needs, by failing to see that he, too, was in deep waters.
I am in different waters now. As I said, I just launched from Bermuda. Quiet waters. Quiet land. Peace, be still. Peace. my soul, be still.
I must shield my eyes against the sun. I must not look at it straightly. This is a trick I learned from a fellow sailor, one who had been driven insane by life on the open sea. All the insane know this method, this trick. In order to protect themselves, they look away. They refuse to see life as it is. Our faults can be so great, we cannot bear them. If we would look at them straightly, they would burn us up, fry us right down to our shoes.
So, it should be said, The sane find their protection in insanity. They remain sane only by swallowing a measure of insanity. Since this is a sailor's story, I shall state it this way, The sane drink from the waters of insanity.
You must know the sailor doesn't drink from the sea. Waters all around him, but he can not take his cup from them. Kidneys, you know -- they do not work when given so much salt.
So, if the truth be the waters before him, the sailor must drink from a different cup.
The storms abound on the sea of life. Some days the sea might be calm, but you cannot escape when the storm does come. You are there on the open sea, with no place to hide, no place to run. You must face the storm.
But, I will tell you, you can take your strength from the sea, and from the storms that spray the waves up over the bow, onto the deck, slapping you in the face with salt stinging your eyes.
Cover your eyes then, cover them.
Yes, the lessons of life are learned on the sea. And, strength from the sea. And, life of the sea can weather you, or you can weather it.
Now, I must only half lay down this analogy to the sea, if I am to tell the full of my story. I will begin by telling you of one of the biggest keys of life: Excitement. I refer you back to your birth, when you burst from a little ocean of water called the womb and came forth in life, everything new, everything exciting.
Now, as it is that I am suggesting excitement is a key to life. Look at what youth is! All is a adventure; All is a discovery. The babe gaggles at the world around him, and the child explores the by-ways and strange streets.
Now, in life, there are two buttons to push: You can push the Like button, or you can push the Don't Like button. Every time something crosses into your life, you are given that choice.
Will you notice this: In childhood, there are a lot of Likes to push. Pushing that button comes naturally. As I said, life is an adventure, a discovery. Even 20 years in, leaving home, the world lies in all its excitement before you.
But, sooner of later, the newness of life wears off. And, the fun gives way to fear. I think of a basketball player the Jazz just signed, and of how a few voices suggested he might make it as the top pick in the NBA draft in 2015. Four years later, he is signing a league-minimum contract. What happened? Did he get jaded when the following year Jamal Murray took his job? Did he get scarred and scared somewhere along the way?
So, we burst from youth to adulthood in excitement, pushing the Like button with so much furry. But, it is not always so. I will tell you of a friend. Yes, he pushed the Don't Like button well before leaving home. But, it was perhaps leaving home when things really soured for him, times he was so poor, food was hard to afford.
I remember he once moved in with me in Evanston for a short period of months. I had no clue what he was going through. I treated him indifferently. Short years later, if even that, it became clear his sanity had left him.
Cruel worlds have no mercy.
Now, I have drifted time and again from the focus of what I came to say. Life is a never-ending series of choice. Each time something happens, you can push the Like button, or the Don't Like button. It doesn't matter if what happens is a negative, you can still push the Like button. It is a challenge, a chance to make the best of it. Push Like because . . .
Only in Like is there life. When you push the Like button, bodily fluids are released -- call them adrenaline. If that is exactly what they are or if they are just something kin to that, I do not know. If you push the Don't Like button, fluids or electricity or whatever is released that can paralyze and shake you being.
I do not know but what brain tumors and seizures and strokes all fit into this. My thinking is, they do. And, death.
I witnessed a nearing 100-year-old man walk near me yesterday. I overhead some of what he said, and noticed the excitement in his words.
Still pushing the Like button, he was.
Then today, while at a political event, I met a man who when I first spoke to him, I almost asked him (maybe I did) if he was old enough to vote. It turns out, he was 36. In him, too, I found nothing but pushing the buttons of excitement. When he spoke of choosing between running for governor or president, of course I thought that a little much. But, at least he is pushing the buttons of youth.
So, if you would live long, look to the sea. The lessons of life are the lessons of the sea. When the sailor goes out that first time, he is excited. He gazes ahead, and as far as the horizon reaches, nothing but beautiful, sun-kissed waters. And, when the storms come, the sailor reacts with excitement, scurrying to fight the elements.
We speak of crusty old sailors. I wonder at them, of how they draw excitement from facing the storms. I wonder if they die quicker from all the storms, as they eventually wear them out, or if they draw strength from answering to the bell of life.
It might somewhere have been said, More people die from retirement than die from work. When they retire, they relax. The things that push adrenaline through their veins are gone. And, when that ceases, they curl up and die -- literally.
Much of this is postulate, much of it is theory. I don't know for certain that excitement is one of the most definite factors in a long life. But, I think it might be clear that it definitely plays a role.
Smile at the storms, and there will only be sunshine. There may be insanity in this, but long life may be only for those who dip often in the waters of insanity -- if insanity is said to be blocking out the things that should bother us.
At any rate, keep pushing the Like button of life. Push the button that says you can, not the one that says you can't. You are no older than you feel, and all that I've said is the essay on that.
(Note:To be edited later. 'Tis too late to edit tonight.)
Life will never be the same.
I will begin by saying, If I will sail, I must sail on. I am old at this time -- by some accounts, 64 years of age. But, if I am to get anywhere, I must sail right into old age and keep on going.
Same ship, same sail, for the body I've got is the body I've got.
But, the boat doesn't sail itself. It doesn't call the shots. It is the captain who sails the ship, and he must listen to the Lord who guides him. Death may come to the seaman; Some say, it always does. But, there is a voice in those winds. You can hear it clearly through the crashing waves, if you listen carefully. You can hear it in the whistling winds.
It says, Quiet. Be still. The winds and the waves and the storm tossed sea, and demons and men and whatever might be. . . . Quiet. Be still. Fear not their dangers, but sail on into the ravaging sea.
And, if death should come, there's an ocean of love for thy spirit.
I spent a fortnight in the Strait of Hormuz. Enemy waters. But, if the freight is to come through the watery' pass, this is the point of passage. I carry luggage. I carry freight. So, I pass through the Strait of Hormuz in search of an open sea.
Two weeks there. Racked with the pains of a damned soul. Everyone has their luggage, and mine was failing to be patient enough with the soul of a friend. I sent him to death, possibly, by scoffing at his needs, by failing to see that he, too, was in deep waters.
I am in different waters now. As I said, I just launched from Bermuda. Quiet waters. Quiet land. Peace, be still. Peace. my soul, be still.
I must shield my eyes against the sun. I must not look at it straightly. This is a trick I learned from a fellow sailor, one who had been driven insane by life on the open sea. All the insane know this method, this trick. In order to protect themselves, they look away. They refuse to see life as it is. Our faults can be so great, we cannot bear them. If we would look at them straightly, they would burn us up, fry us right down to our shoes.
So, it should be said, The sane find their protection in insanity. They remain sane only by swallowing a measure of insanity. Since this is a sailor's story, I shall state it this way, The sane drink from the waters of insanity.
You must know the sailor doesn't drink from the sea. Waters all around him, but he can not take his cup from them. Kidneys, you know -- they do not work when given so much salt.
So, if the truth be the waters before him, the sailor must drink from a different cup.
The storms abound on the sea of life. Some days the sea might be calm, but you cannot escape when the storm does come. You are there on the open sea, with no place to hide, no place to run. You must face the storm.
But, I will tell you, you can take your strength from the sea, and from the storms that spray the waves up over the bow, onto the deck, slapping you in the face with salt stinging your eyes.
Cover your eyes then, cover them.
Yes, the lessons of life are learned on the sea. And, strength from the sea. And, life of the sea can weather you, or you can weather it.
Now, I must only half lay down this analogy to the sea, if I am to tell the full of my story. I will begin by telling you of one of the biggest keys of life: Excitement. I refer you back to your birth, when you burst from a little ocean of water called the womb and came forth in life, everything new, everything exciting.
Now, as it is that I am suggesting excitement is a key to life. Look at what youth is! All is a adventure; All is a discovery. The babe gaggles at the world around him, and the child explores the by-ways and strange streets.
Now, in life, there are two buttons to push: You can push the Like button, or you can push the Don't Like button. Every time something crosses into your life, you are given that choice.
Will you notice this: In childhood, there are a lot of Likes to push. Pushing that button comes naturally. As I said, life is an adventure, a discovery. Even 20 years in, leaving home, the world lies in all its excitement before you.
But, sooner of later, the newness of life wears off. And, the fun gives way to fear. I think of a basketball player the Jazz just signed, and of how a few voices suggested he might make it as the top pick in the NBA draft in 2015. Four years later, he is signing a league-minimum contract. What happened? Did he get jaded when the following year Jamal Murray took his job? Did he get scarred and scared somewhere along the way?
So, we burst from youth to adulthood in excitement, pushing the Like button with so much furry. But, it is not always so. I will tell you of a friend. Yes, he pushed the Don't Like button well before leaving home. But, it was perhaps leaving home when things really soured for him, times he was so poor, food was hard to afford.
I remember he once moved in with me in Evanston for a short period of months. I had no clue what he was going through. I treated him indifferently. Short years later, if even that, it became clear his sanity had left him.
Cruel worlds have no mercy.
Now, I have drifted time and again from the focus of what I came to say. Life is a never-ending series of choice. Each time something happens, you can push the Like button, or the Don't Like button. It doesn't matter if what happens is a negative, you can still push the Like button. It is a challenge, a chance to make the best of it. Push Like because . . .
Only in Like is there life. When you push the Like button, bodily fluids are released -- call them adrenaline. If that is exactly what they are or if they are just something kin to that, I do not know. If you push the Don't Like button, fluids or electricity or whatever is released that can paralyze and shake you being.
I do not know but what brain tumors and seizures and strokes all fit into this. My thinking is, they do. And, death.
I witnessed a nearing 100-year-old man walk near me yesterday. I overhead some of what he said, and noticed the excitement in his words.
Still pushing the Like button, he was.
Then today, while at a political event, I met a man who when I first spoke to him, I almost asked him (maybe I did) if he was old enough to vote. It turns out, he was 36. In him, too, I found nothing but pushing the buttons of excitement. When he spoke of choosing between running for governor or president, of course I thought that a little much. But, at least he is pushing the buttons of youth.
So, if you would live long, look to the sea. The lessons of life are the lessons of the sea. When the sailor goes out that first time, he is excited. He gazes ahead, and as far as the horizon reaches, nothing but beautiful, sun-kissed waters. And, when the storms come, the sailor reacts with excitement, scurrying to fight the elements.
We speak of crusty old sailors. I wonder at them, of how they draw excitement from facing the storms. I wonder if they die quicker from all the storms, as they eventually wear them out, or if they draw strength from answering to the bell of life.
It might somewhere have been said, More people die from retirement than die from work. When they retire, they relax. The things that push adrenaline through their veins are gone. And, when that ceases, they curl up and die -- literally.
Much of this is postulate, much of it is theory. I don't know for certain that excitement is one of the most definite factors in a long life. But, I think it might be clear that it definitely plays a role.
Smile at the storms, and there will only be sunshine. There may be insanity in this, but long life may be only for those who dip often in the waters of insanity -- if insanity is said to be blocking out the things that should bother us.
At any rate, keep pushing the Like button of life. Push the button that says you can, not the one that says you can't. You are no older than you feel, and all that I've said is the essay on that.
(Note:To be edited later. 'Tis too late to edit tonight.)
Friday, July 19, 2019
If the Teachers Made Their Own Decisions, Education Might be Better
Just pay the teachers, and fire their bosses. No principles, no superintendents -- hey, I wonder if we even need a school board.
If all the money went to the teachers, they'd be paid more. And, if the teachers were making the decisions on how to educate, then the people in the best position to see how to do it better would be the ones calling the shots.
Have a lead teacher, perhaps. Maybe even have him or her elected. Or you could have a school board comprised of teachers, and you still elect a board -- but only from among the teachers. That way, those making the decisions are those who are hands-on in what is happening and who are in best position to see what needs to be done.
Let the lead teacher be elected by the teachers' board. We believe in a Republican form of government, don't we? This is it: You elect the teachers' board, and they are informed enough to elect the top leader.
If we set up our education system this way, perhaps we could cull out some of the financial waste. And, I wonder if we would not be placing those who are most passionate about education in position to do something about it.
If all the money went to the teachers, they'd be paid more. And, if the teachers were making the decisions on how to educate, then the people in the best position to see how to do it better would be the ones calling the shots.
Have a lead teacher, perhaps. Maybe even have him or her elected. Or you could have a school board comprised of teachers, and you still elect a board -- but only from among the teachers. That way, those making the decisions are those who are hands-on in what is happening and who are in best position to see what needs to be done.
Let the lead teacher be elected by the teachers' board. We believe in a Republican form of government, don't we? This is it: You elect the teachers' board, and they are informed enough to elect the top leader.
If we set up our education system this way, perhaps we could cull out some of the financial waste. And, I wonder if we would not be placing those who are most passionate about education in position to do something about it.
This is Part of the Reason Higher Education is so Expensive
I would not have made it through the eighth grade if I had not received that scholarship. Then, in high school, I took out that student loan; It really saw me through.
There is a rule of economics: You put money on the table, someone will sweep it up. There is another rule: As much money as you can find, that's how much they will take.
Elementary school doesn't come with scholarships, nor does it have student loans. If it did, though, the price would shoot up. The reason elementary education has neither scholarship programs nor student loans is that it is so inexpensive, they aren't necessary. The government pays for public education.
And, provides it.
If we let things swing, this could change. We could find ourselves with a system where we have private schools, but they are financed by government. I warn, if we go this route, the cost of elementary education will increase. The governments pockets are deep, and the capitalistic system drains out every dollar it can extract.
There is a rule of economics: You put money on the table, someone will sweep it up. There is another rule: As much money as you can find, that's how much they will take.
Elementary school doesn't come with scholarships, nor does it have student loans. If it did, though, the price would shoot up. The reason elementary education has neither scholarship programs nor student loans is that it is so inexpensive, they aren't necessary. The government pays for public education.
And, provides it.
If we let things swing, this could change. We could find ourselves with a system where we have private schools, but they are financed by government. I warn, if we go this route, the cost of elementary education will increase. The governments pockets are deep, and the capitalistic system drains out every dollar it can extract.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Get Government Out of Private Education
Off top -- with perhaps more thought yet due -- I'd say get government out of all private education. If private concerns want to educate, let them, but don't let them do it on the government's dime.
This includes student loans. The government loans money, and the private colleges benefit. I say, put an end to that. And, no government-funded scholarships. The government gives the money to the students, but it all ends up in the pockets of the schools.
If a private school wants to charge for its services, let it. Perhaps it will only be able to attract the rich. That is fine. If it believes offering higher wages than are being offered in public schooling is the answer, let them bring in high-paid teachers and charge the students' parents the bill.
I'm not sure that is what is happening. But, maybe that is what should be the reason for opting for private schooling.
This includes student loans. The government loans money, and the private colleges benefit. I say, put an end to that. And, no government-funded scholarships. The government gives the money to the students, but it all ends up in the pockets of the schools.
If a private school wants to charge for its services, let it. Perhaps it will only be able to attract the rich. That is fine. If it believes offering higher wages than are being offered in public schooling is the answer, let them bring in high-paid teachers and charge the students' parents the bill.
I'm not sure that is what is happening. But, maybe that is what should be the reason for opting for private schooling.
Don't Mix Socialism and Capitalism
Problems come when you mix socialism and capitalism. When private enterprise gets hold of government money, it digs deep and rakes in as much as it can. I wonder, if you are going to have government do something, let government do it. Leave private enterprise out. If you are going to have private industry do it, that might usually be fine. But, when you look at something and say, This is something government should be doing, don't drag private enterprise into it, as it will only find a way to make a buck.
At the taxpayer's expense.
You'll find yourself saddled with a huge national debt.
Witness the USA. Folks there never figured this out. But they better.
At the taxpayer's expense.
You'll find yourself saddled with a huge national debt.
Witness the USA. Folks there never figured this out. But they better.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
The First Amendment Speaks Clearly that the Detainees have this Right
It appears certain, to me, we are depriving the detainees of a Constitutional right. In the First Amendment, it says Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to petition government for a redress of their grievances. Those in the detention camps are suffering grievances. The First Amendment doesn't say that it is only citizens who should be allowed to petition government; It says, "the people." Now, this is the First Amendment, which is about free speech. So, it becomes the detainees right to speak to the press, in order that their grievances can be appealed to the federal government.
Even without the expressness of the First Amendment, free speech is an inherent right of humanity -- an inalienable right. That our government does not allow the media free access to the detainees not only violates the express language of the First Amendment, but it violates the dignity and inherent free speech right of all humanity.
Oppressing the detainees in the way we are -- stacking them so tight they cannot all even lay down and sleep at night and leaving them without adequate facilities to even shower much, so that there is a stench in the camps -- is clearly a mistreatment of these people. This in America? Then, to add to that, we deprive them of their First Amendment right to cry out against how they are being mistreated. We must ask how we have let our nation sink to this, and under whose watch it occurred.
Even without the expressness of the First Amendment, free speech is an inherent right of humanity -- an inalienable right. That our government does not allow the media free access to the detainees not only violates the express language of the First Amendment, but it violates the dignity and inherent free speech right of all humanity.
Oppressing the detainees in the way we are -- stacking them so tight they cannot all even lay down and sleep at night and leaving them without adequate facilities to even shower much, so that there is a stench in the camps -- is clearly a mistreatment of these people. This in America? Then, to add to that, we deprive them of their First Amendment right to cry out against how they are being mistreated. We must ask how we have let our nation sink to this, and under whose watch it occurred.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Government by Decree has always been the Province of Kings
Government by decree has always been the province of kings. So, how have we arrived at this point? In America? How is it President Trump is decreeing that asylum applicants passing through other countries will no longer be eligible here?
U.S. law says refugees can request asylum when they arrive in the U.S., regardless. It doesn't even say you must apply at a port of entry or within 100 miles of the border or whatever distance. The law just says, apply when you are here.
So, along comes our president and banishes the migrants by banishing the law that allows them. Kings would do it this way.
I will take this further: Kings think the land is theirs. They take it as their power to say who comes and goes.
But, regardless whether you agree with that last point, you must consider that doing away with our current law by presidential decree is not the way America was intended to be operated.
U.S. law says refugees can request asylum when they arrive in the U.S., regardless. It doesn't even say you must apply at a port of entry or within 100 miles of the border or whatever distance. The law just says, apply when you are here.
So, along comes our president and banishes the migrants by banishing the law that allows them. Kings would do it this way.
I will take this further: Kings think the land is theirs. They take it as their power to say who comes and goes.
But, regardless whether you agree with that last point, you must consider that doing away with our current law by presidential decree is not the way America was intended to be operated.
I'd Touch Up the Hippocratic Oath
Perhaps I would rewrite the Hippocratic Oath, to insert what I thought was already there, the promise to do those things medically that bring health to the patient.
You will say that is already in the oath. And, perhaps it is. It says, "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism." (Nihilism is the rejection of religious and moral principles, with the belief that life is meaningless.)
How about, "I will seek to do the medical good that medicine can do." Some would say that goes too far. Indeed, the oath warns against "overtreatment," and later says the medical practitioner shall consider "economic stability."
We could keep a lot of people alive if expense were not a concern.
I will only say, I think sometimes the value of the patient's life should be preserved even if it comes at great expense. I think of the old adage, that money doesn't matter when it comes to your health.
If it really doesn't, let's keep more of them alive.
You will say that is already in the oath. And, perhaps it is. It says, "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism." (Nihilism is the rejection of religious and moral principles, with the belief that life is meaningless.)
How about, "I will seek to do the medical good that medicine can do." Some would say that goes too far. Indeed, the oath warns against "overtreatment," and later says the medical practitioner shall consider "economic stability."
We could keep a lot of people alive if expense were not a concern.
I will only say, I think sometimes the value of the patient's life should be preserved even if it comes at great expense. I think of the old adage, that money doesn't matter when it comes to your health.
If it really doesn't, let's keep more of them alive.
Monday, July 15, 2019
Truth is a venture more than a conclusion
We speak of the pursuit of truth, and of how the honest will seek it out. But, they often know not for certain if they have found it, for it can lay shrouded in faith.
The sky is blue, the sun is a giant fireball, and the earth is round. Many truths are absolutes, but not all. Perhaps as often as not, truth has evidence but lacks absoluteness.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Saturday, July 13, 2019
I Wait to See if the Deseret News Will Publish My Comment
Below a Deseret News article on how undocumented people live in fear of ICE agents -- even without the current raids -- I submitted a comment, only to be told it has been put on hold for further review. The Deseret News does have rules on civility, and on being overly speculative and such. By suggesting I do not know some things, but wonder about them, I may have been drawn the flagging. At any rate, now I wait to see if the comment will be published.
I wrote:
One wonders at the harm of allowing Laura and Janet and their families to stay. They seem to be wonderful people. Why would we deport them? (Because they do not have paperwork, of course.) I do not know if they were asylum applicants, but, if they are, we should let them stay based on the merits of whether they qualify, which I am guessing are probably great. They may be here illegally, but the law still allows them to apply for asylum, and you should still be fair and just in rendering decisions on whether they stay. If there is something in the law that punishes them for coming, or overstaying their visas, then apply that punishment. I wonder if there even is. So, we get so worked up about poor people fleeing from other countries that we say they shouldn't be allowed asylum. We call it a loophole. I do wonder if we could find a little more charity for the poor who come here.
-- John Jackson, also once known as Immifriend, but the DesNews no longer lets me use those tags.
I wrote:
One wonders at the harm of allowing Laura and Janet and their families to stay. They seem to be wonderful people. Why would we deport them? (Because they do not have paperwork, of course.) I do not know if they were asylum applicants, but, if they are, we should let them stay based on the merits of whether they qualify, which I am guessing are probably great. They may be here illegally, but the law still allows them to apply for asylum, and you should still be fair and just in rendering decisions on whether they stay. If there is something in the law that punishes them for coming, or overstaying their visas, then apply that punishment. I wonder if there even is. So, we get so worked up about poor people fleeing from other countries that we say they shouldn't be allowed asylum. We call it a loophole. I do wonder if we could find a little more charity for the poor who come here.
-- John Jackson, also once known as Immifriend, but the DesNews no longer lets me use those tags.
Friday, July 12, 2019
The Look of a Man Stung is Found in the Vice President's Eyes
It can be an interpretive matter, but the look in Vice President Mike Pence's eyes in pictures of him visiting immigrant detention centers is . . .
One of a person who is stung and embarrassed.
President Trump dispatched the vice president to the centers (can I call them prisons?), to show people how good things are going there. Well, maybe some detention centers are in good order. But look what turned up at the second of the two McAllen, Texas, area centers the vice president visited.
From a USA Today article, we read: "A reporter traveling with Pence described a horrendous stench in the facility and said that nearly 400 men were housed in sweltering cages so crowded it would have been impossible for all of them to lie down."
Later in the story, we learn many of the men had not showered for 10 to 20 days. No shower facilities were even available until a shower trailer arrived Thursday.
Whether it arrived in anticipation of the vice president's visit, I do not know.
I only know we cannot do this. This in America? Should we be indignant that these are called concentration camps? I read in the same USA Today article of how the immigrants cried for food.
The look in the vice president's eye might have been just what it seemed: The look of someone stung by how dreadful conditions really are.
The way we are treating them: This is not America's finest moment.
One of a person who is stung and embarrassed.
President Trump dispatched the vice president to the centers (can I call them prisons?), to show people how good things are going there. Well, maybe some detention centers are in good order. But look what turned up at the second of the two McAllen, Texas, area centers the vice president visited.
From a USA Today article, we read: "A reporter traveling with Pence described a horrendous stench in the facility and said that nearly 400 men were housed in sweltering cages so crowded it would have been impossible for all of them to lie down."
Later in the story, we learn many of the men had not showered for 10 to 20 days. No shower facilities were even available until a shower trailer arrived Thursday.
Whether it arrived in anticipation of the vice president's visit, I do not know.
I only know we cannot do this. This in America? Should we be indignant that these are called concentration camps? I read in the same USA Today article of how the immigrants cried for food.
The look in the vice president's eye might have been just what it seemed: The look of someone stung by how dreadful conditions really are.
The way we are treating them: This is not America's finest moment.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Let the Inland Port Authority Allow the Public at its Meetings
The governor called on people of goodwill to denounce the way protesters conducted themselves in a rally against the Utah Inland Port Authority.
Borderline terrorism, he called it.
I read the story hurriedly, searching to determine what acts of violence occurred. "Punches were thrown in several clashes with police," says the Deseret News story. And, later in the story I learn both the protesters and the police threw punches.
Pushing police away might be considered throwing punches. A light jab to the chest is surely to be considered a punch. I guess, I wonder how serious the punches were and wish someone would have recorded the protest.
Where was social media, this time?
I wonder if "borderline terrorism" is too harsh a judgment, but do not know for not knowing exactly what the violence was.
I also wonder whether the Port Authority was holding a meeting, and whether the public, along with the protesters, were excluded. I read how there has been no meeting since the one last month, and that no meeting has been scheduled for this month because of the protesters, But, I also read, "the port authority was holding a stakeholder meeting at the same time."
"Stakeholder meeting," you call it. That does make me wonder if you are holding your meeting, not even advertising that you are meeting -- just putting a disguise on it and holding it anyway.
No, violence is not good. I do not endorse or condone even slight violence on behalf of the protesters. But, I wish for a video to know how severe the violence was.
And, I do not agree with the Inland Port Authority meeting without the public being invited. The public's business should be taken care of with the public allowed to enter.
Borderline terrorism, he called it.
I read the story hurriedly, searching to determine what acts of violence occurred. "Punches were thrown in several clashes with police," says the Deseret News story. And, later in the story I learn both the protesters and the police threw punches.
Pushing police away might be considered throwing punches. A light jab to the chest is surely to be considered a punch. I guess, I wonder how serious the punches were and wish someone would have recorded the protest.
Where was social media, this time?
I wonder if "borderline terrorism" is too harsh a judgment, but do not know for not knowing exactly what the violence was.
I also wonder whether the Port Authority was holding a meeting, and whether the public, along with the protesters, were excluded. I read how there has been no meeting since the one last month, and that no meeting has been scheduled for this month because of the protesters, But, I also read, "the port authority was holding a stakeholder meeting at the same time."
"Stakeholder meeting," you call it. That does make me wonder if you are holding your meeting, not even advertising that you are meeting -- just putting a disguise on it and holding it anyway.
No, violence is not good. I do not endorse or condone even slight violence on behalf of the protesters. But, I wish for a video to know how severe the violence was.
And, I do not agree with the Inland Port Authority meeting without the public being invited. The public's business should be taken care of with the public allowed to enter.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Patriotism
Patriotism comes
not in being proud of your flaws,
but in having enough pride
to overcome them
Patriotism is helping your nation outgrow its warts. It is fessing up them while still being proud of who you are. Patriotism need not defend the faults, nor endorse them. It can say, Hey, we have something here that needs improvement. So, let's do this. Let's fix it.
Patriotism takes pride in what the nation can become, not just in what it already is. It values bettering the nation more than it values defending its flaws.
True patriotism does not wallow in its faults, but seeks to swim clear from them. It is not proud to wear them, but instead seeks to shed them.
Patriotism is not an embrace of faults, but an admission, and a vow to do better.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
What if there were a Newspaper Covering Immigration as if a War?
Day of the Rose, the first newspaper to cover immigration as if it were a war. I picked up a copy of it while in El Paso.
Those who oppose undocumented immigration speak of it as if an invasion. And, the Trump administration did call on the National Guard to oppose the flow of immigrants. The same, do not suppose Day of the Rose a paper that just sides with the anti-immigration effort.
The writers and editors aim to tell what happens on day-by-day basis. No, they do not settle for estimates from the government on how many people are entering this country illegally each month. They go right to the battlefront, meeting the migrants as they cross the border, ferreting out as many of them as they can, both those who turn themselves in for asylum consideration and those seeking to stay illegally.
Both.
Day of the Rose, trying to give you a daily count, not a monthly estimate. And, it does it with stories of those who come. The paper's writers interview the migrants, telling their stories, day by day. They follow the Border Patrol agents, covering the agents as they make the arrests. They interview the border agents, daily, asking what they experienced that day. They interview the townspeople in the border towns, asking them if they have seen any new migrants each day. When casualties come -- migrants who die while seeking to cross -- they cover their stories. When ranches are raided by the newcomers, they report it. When asylum cases reach the courts in those border towns, they are there to report them.
Your newspaper at the battlefront, Day of the Rose. I wish such a paper existed. Why can't we have this kind of coverage?
Monday, July 8, 2019
Now is the Time to ask if the Money has Arrived
Can I give "Follow the money" a new meaning? Now that $4.6 billion has been allocated for taking care of the immigrants being held in detention centers, we should follow the money. We should be asking, Have you started using the money? What changes, what improvements are there? Can we come in and see the difference?
Don't wait. How long should it take to cut the checks and go out and buy the toothbrushes? And, since toothbrushes hardly add up to $4.6 billion, shouldn't we be able to see some definite, shiny changes? If you are spending $4.6 billion, the changes should really be visible, really be evident.
Show us.
And, remember, the idea was to improve the conditions. If you are spending it on something else, you are miss-spending taxpayer money.
I suppose on that last point, there is room for dissent. The Republicans might well have opportunistically sneaked in money for enforcement, rather than care.
But, it remains, the idea was to provide care for the detainees. That's what this was all about.
"Follow the money" also should mean it is time to follow the taxpayers' money in other ways, as well. We are hearing that hundreds of dollars per day are being spent on the immigrant prisoners. There should be an accounting of that money. If -- way before this massive $4.6 billion was allocated -- you were spending hundreds a day, however does this translate into tent cities, no toothbrushes and care that is in any way second-class?
Account for your spending. Tell us where the dollars are being spent. We, the taxpayers, are here to do a taxpayer's audit.
Don't wait. How long should it take to cut the checks and go out and buy the toothbrushes? And, since toothbrushes hardly add up to $4.6 billion, shouldn't we be able to see some definite, shiny changes? If you are spending $4.6 billion, the changes should really be visible, really be evident.
Show us.
And, remember, the idea was to improve the conditions. If you are spending it on something else, you are miss-spending taxpayer money.
I suppose on that last point, there is room for dissent. The Republicans might well have opportunistically sneaked in money for enforcement, rather than care.
But, it remains, the idea was to provide care for the detainees. That's what this was all about.
"Follow the money" also should mean it is time to follow the taxpayers' money in other ways, as well. We are hearing that hundreds of dollars per day are being spent on the immigrant prisoners. There should be an accounting of that money. If -- way before this massive $4.6 billion was allocated -- you were spending hundreds a day, however does this translate into tent cities, no toothbrushes and care that is in any way second-class?
Account for your spending. Tell us where the dollars are being spent. We, the taxpayers, are here to do a taxpayer's audit.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
If You will Ponder this Scripture, Wonder if it is about Immigration
Scriptures of the last days, if you will believe them, and if you belief they indeed apply to the last days. Consider Isaiah 10:1-2, if ye would.
"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
"That turn aside the needy from judgement, and take away the right of the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!"
Asking it straight up, Does this apply to how we are treating people at our southern border? Is it fair of me to even suggest this?
Look at the world about us, considering that we are in the last days. Search your thoughts and cast your eyes on all that is happening.
Is there anything else going on that fits this scripture? Because, if there is not, we are just to wonder if what is going on at the border is the fulfillment of this prophecy. I do not say it is (for sure), but believe we must wonder.
"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed"? There are decrees on immigration. There are laws. They are grievous to the poor.
"That turn away the needy from judgement." They line up at the border, seeking judgement on their asylum appeals. We turn them away, back into Mexico, not even wanting to let their cases be heard.
"And take away the right of the poor of my people." We say they have no rights.
"That widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!" The widows and the fatherless are, like the rest of the migrants, subject to the cartels as they cross the desert. And, as they arrive and live in America, if they are robbed, they live the fear of going to the police, lest they be deported.
No, I do not know this scripture refers to the immigrants. But, we are told to ponder the scriptures. How can you ponder if you view these thoughts out of line? I think it not wrong to wonder, to ponder on it.
Yes, city ordinances can be troublesome to the poor. That could be the "unrighteous decrees." Turning aside the needy from judgement could be not giving our homeless true justice. The widows and the fatherless? The weaker members of any group are always the most vulnerable.
Still, even if you sweep all the homeless population into being a fulfillment of the scripture, what is happening at the border would remain a part of that fulfillment.
"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
"That turn aside the needy from judgement, and take away the right of the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!"
Asking it straight up, Does this apply to how we are treating people at our southern border? Is it fair of me to even suggest this?
Look at the world about us, considering that we are in the last days. Search your thoughts and cast your eyes on all that is happening.
Is there anything else going on that fits this scripture? Because, if there is not, we are just to wonder if what is going on at the border is the fulfillment of this prophecy. I do not say it is (for sure), but believe we must wonder.
"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed"? There are decrees on immigration. There are laws. They are grievous to the poor.
"That turn away the needy from judgement." They line up at the border, seeking judgement on their asylum appeals. We turn them away, back into Mexico, not even wanting to let their cases be heard.
"And take away the right of the poor of my people." We say they have no rights.
"That widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!" The widows and the fatherless are, like the rest of the migrants, subject to the cartels as they cross the desert. And, as they arrive and live in America, if they are robbed, they live the fear of going to the police, lest they be deported.
No, I do not know this scripture refers to the immigrants. But, we are told to ponder the scriptures. How can you ponder if you view these thoughts out of line? I think it not wrong to wonder, to ponder on it.
Yes, city ordinances can be troublesome to the poor. That could be the "unrighteous decrees." Turning aside the needy from judgement could be not giving our homeless true justice. The widows and the fatherless? The weaker members of any group are always the most vulnerable.
Still, even if you sweep all the homeless population into being a fulfillment of the scripture, what is happening at the border would remain a part of that fulfillment.
Breaking Down the Utah Jazz Acquisitions
Did the Utah Jazz sign more free agent acquisitions than any other team? I don't know.
But, you take this handsome bunch -- Mike Conley, who arrived in a blockbuster trade, and the four free agents who hopped aboard -- and you have one of the biggest roster overhauls in the league.
At least three of the new Jazzmen are coming off the best years of their careers. One owns what was once the biggest contract in NBA history. One was once hailed as possibly becoming the number-one pick in the draft. One is one of the best defenders and rebounders in the league. One has twice scored more than 40 points in a game.
The fifth one? One of the best sharpshooters in the league. This last season, he was a lights-out 49.7 percent from the field, and 42.5 from long range.
Three were top-five draft picks, one was a 13th pick. Such a disappointment -- the fifth was all the way down at a 31st pick.
Guys who are capable of opening it up and scorching opponents. Now, they fire their shots for the Jazz.
Let's start with Mike Conley. Not a free agent, he arrived in a blockbuster trade. Mike Conley, you know him: In 2016, he signed what at the time was the most lucrative NBA contract in NBA history, $153 million for a five-year deal. The Jazz have inherited that contract.
Mike Conley, perhaps the most-decorated long-term player in the NBA never to have been named an all-star. Meet "the Conductor," as they call him. Meet "MAC-11." (His full name is Michael Alex Conley and he wore jersey No. 11 with the Memphis Grizzlies, thus "MAC-11.")
Meet the one they've called "Mr. Clutch." Not every year has he been great in the clutch, but he has been a clutch player enough years that he has earned the nickname. Game-tying and game-winning shots about. He's been known to jump up and play his best in big games. There was a 35-point outburst in the playoffs in 2017 in an overtime win against San Antonio, and there was the time in 2015 when he was returning from a broken face, wearing a mask, and he scored 21 points to lead the Grizz to a playoff victory against the Golden State Warriors. They called him "the Masked Assassin" for that.
Meet the good guy. In all his years in the NBA, he's only been whistled for a technical once -- and the NBA office overturned that one. Nobody currently comes close to his streak of games played without a tech.
He's a two-time winner of the Sportsmanship Award. He's been voted the best teammate in the league. He's deep into Christianity. "Jesus means the world. Jesus means everything," he has said. He's one of the league's most notable players in community service.
Like some of the other new Jazz acquisitions, Conley is coming off perhaps his best season. His career points per game average is only 14.9, but he came in at 21.1 this past season. There was that 40-point splash -- 19 coming in the fourth quarter -- in a 120-111 win against Portland. Earlier, in November, he scored 37 points and had 10 assists in a 131-125 double overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets.
One week this past season, in March, he was named the conference player of the week. Also this past season, he became the Grizzlies all-time leading scorer, though that came in large part due to his long tenure -- until the Jazz picked him up, his entire career had been in Memphis.
He didn't come cheap. The Jazz gave up their first-round pick this year, a future first-round pick, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, and Jae Crowder. Korver ranks as one of the NBA's best three-point shooters. Allen is the only Jazz rookie other than Donovan Mitchell to ever score 40 points in a game. Crowder was a key player and lead contributor this past season.
And, the others in this crowd of new Jazz players?
Start with Emmanuel Mudiay might be the least of them, What a resume. He forwent college to play in China. He once was touted as the possible first-pick of the 2015 draft. He ended up going seventh to the Denver Nuggets. He scored a career high 30 points that year in a 116-98 win against the Phoenix Suns. Then. later in the season, he went off for 30 again as the Nuggets defeated the Boston Celtics 123-107.
This past season, playing for the New York Knicks, he had a career-best 32 points in a 126-124 win against the Boston Celtics. Then, three days later, he scored 32 points in a 128-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Mudiay, a 39.3-percent shooter for his career, shot 44.6 percent this year. His career points-per game average is 11.8, while he was 14.8 this past season.
But, he's not without his weak points. He made only 53 percent of his shots when within three feet of the basket last year, one of the poorest averages in the NBA. He scored only 0.89 points per play in transition plays last year, one of the worst figures in the league. His assist-to-turnover ratio was sub par.
In him the Jazz have a refugee. During the Second Congo War, his family applied for asylum and came to the United States.
After Mudiay, look at Ed Davis. He ranks as one of the best back-up centers in the league. This past season, his coach in Brooklyn called him the glue that kept the team together. Teammate D'Angelo Russell hailed him as "a rebounding sensation," and, indeed, he might be one of the best rebounders in the league. This past season, he averaged 8.6 rebounds per game in only 17.9 minutes of play per game. He carries one of the better put-back stats in the league.
And, he's a defensive monster. He ranked second to Rudy Gobert this past season in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus defensive stats.
He's an NCAA champion, having played for the NCAA-winning North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the 13th pick of the 2010 draft.
The Jazz also picked up Jeff Green, the 5th pick in the 2007 draft. His coach at Georgetown, John Thompson, once called Green the smartest player whoever played for him. The Big East player of the year in 2007, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, who traded him to the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma Thunder, where he made the All-Rookie first team. During that first season, in April, 2008, he broke open for 35 points against Denver. In 2010, he amassed 37 points in one of his games.
In Green, we have a heart patient. He missed all of the 2011-2012 season due to a heart aneurysm. Kevin Durrant, his former OKC teammate, dedicated his season to Green.
In his first season back, he scored 43 points for the Celtics, who had acquired him back, in a game in March of 2013. In March, 2014, he had a 39-point outing.
A career 44.1 percent shooter, he seared the nets at 47.5 percent this last season. Only seven other guard-line players shot that well.
Finally, there's Bojan Bogdanovic, one of the top free agents this year. The 31st pick of the 2011 draft, he had perhaps his best year this past season. A 46.3 percent shooter, he shot a sizzling 49.7 percent this last year. His career 13.3 points per game average compares to 20.0 this year. Big jump.
High points in his career include a 44-point effort in 2016 while with the Brooklyn Nets. While with the Washington Wizards in 2017, he set a franchise record by going 16-16 in free throws during one game.
This season, he scored 31 points in a game on Feb. 2 and 29 in a game on Feb. 7, leading to his being named conference player of the week. But, his season best was yet to come. On Feb. 28, he went for 37 points in a 122-115 win against Minnesota and on March 24 he scored 35 points in a 124-88 win against the Denver Nuggets.
If he produces for the Jazz the way he did for the Pacers, he will be a huge contribution to a successful season.
But, you take this handsome bunch -- Mike Conley, who arrived in a blockbuster trade, and the four free agents who hopped aboard -- and you have one of the biggest roster overhauls in the league.
At least three of the new Jazzmen are coming off the best years of their careers. One owns what was once the biggest contract in NBA history. One was once hailed as possibly becoming the number-one pick in the draft. One is one of the best defenders and rebounders in the league. One has twice scored more than 40 points in a game.
The fifth one? One of the best sharpshooters in the league. This last season, he was a lights-out 49.7 percent from the field, and 42.5 from long range.
Three were top-five draft picks, one was a 13th pick. Such a disappointment -- the fifth was all the way down at a 31st pick.
Guys who are capable of opening it up and scorching opponents. Now, they fire their shots for the Jazz.
Let's start with Mike Conley. Not a free agent, he arrived in a blockbuster trade. Mike Conley, you know him: In 2016, he signed what at the time was the most lucrative NBA contract in NBA history, $153 million for a five-year deal. The Jazz have inherited that contract.
Mike Conley, perhaps the most-decorated long-term player in the NBA never to have been named an all-star. Meet "the Conductor," as they call him. Meet "MAC-11." (His full name is Michael Alex Conley and he wore jersey No. 11 with the Memphis Grizzlies, thus "MAC-11.")
Meet the one they've called "Mr. Clutch." Not every year has he been great in the clutch, but he has been a clutch player enough years that he has earned the nickname. Game-tying and game-winning shots about. He's been known to jump up and play his best in big games. There was a 35-point outburst in the playoffs in 2017 in an overtime win against San Antonio, and there was the time in 2015 when he was returning from a broken face, wearing a mask, and he scored 21 points to lead the Grizz to a playoff victory against the Golden State Warriors. They called him "the Masked Assassin" for that.
Meet the good guy. In all his years in the NBA, he's only been whistled for a technical once -- and the NBA office overturned that one. Nobody currently comes close to his streak of games played without a tech.
He's a two-time winner of the Sportsmanship Award. He's been voted the best teammate in the league. He's deep into Christianity. "Jesus means the world. Jesus means everything," he has said. He's one of the league's most notable players in community service.
Like some of the other new Jazz acquisitions, Conley is coming off perhaps his best season. His career points per game average is only 14.9, but he came in at 21.1 this past season. There was that 40-point splash -- 19 coming in the fourth quarter -- in a 120-111 win against Portland. Earlier, in November, he scored 37 points and had 10 assists in a 131-125 double overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets.
One week this past season, in March, he was named the conference player of the week. Also this past season, he became the Grizzlies all-time leading scorer, though that came in large part due to his long tenure -- until the Jazz picked him up, his entire career had been in Memphis.
He didn't come cheap. The Jazz gave up their first-round pick this year, a future first-round pick, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, and Jae Crowder. Korver ranks as one of the NBA's best three-point shooters. Allen is the only Jazz rookie other than Donovan Mitchell to ever score 40 points in a game. Crowder was a key player and lead contributor this past season.
And, the others in this crowd of new Jazz players?
Start with Emmanuel Mudiay might be the least of them, What a resume. He forwent college to play in China. He once was touted as the possible first-pick of the 2015 draft. He ended up going seventh to the Denver Nuggets. He scored a career high 30 points that year in a 116-98 win against the Phoenix Suns. Then. later in the season, he went off for 30 again as the Nuggets defeated the Boston Celtics 123-107.
This past season, playing for the New York Knicks, he had a career-best 32 points in a 126-124 win against the Boston Celtics. Then, three days later, he scored 32 points in a 128-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Mudiay, a 39.3-percent shooter for his career, shot 44.6 percent this year. His career points-per game average is 11.8, while he was 14.8 this past season.
But, he's not without his weak points. He made only 53 percent of his shots when within three feet of the basket last year, one of the poorest averages in the NBA. He scored only 0.89 points per play in transition plays last year, one of the worst figures in the league. His assist-to-turnover ratio was sub par.
In him the Jazz have a refugee. During the Second Congo War, his family applied for asylum and came to the United States.
After Mudiay, look at Ed Davis. He ranks as one of the best back-up centers in the league. This past season, his coach in Brooklyn called him the glue that kept the team together. Teammate D'Angelo Russell hailed him as "a rebounding sensation," and, indeed, he might be one of the best rebounders in the league. This past season, he averaged 8.6 rebounds per game in only 17.9 minutes of play per game. He carries one of the better put-back stats in the league.
And, he's a defensive monster. He ranked second to Rudy Gobert this past season in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus defensive stats.
He's an NCAA champion, having played for the NCAA-winning North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the 13th pick of the 2010 draft.
The Jazz also picked up Jeff Green, the 5th pick in the 2007 draft. His coach at Georgetown, John Thompson, once called Green the smartest player whoever played for him. The Big East player of the year in 2007, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, who traded him to the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma Thunder, where he made the All-Rookie first team. During that first season, in April, 2008, he broke open for 35 points against Denver. In 2010, he amassed 37 points in one of his games.
In Green, we have a heart patient. He missed all of the 2011-2012 season due to a heart aneurysm. Kevin Durrant, his former OKC teammate, dedicated his season to Green.
In his first season back, he scored 43 points for the Celtics, who had acquired him back, in a game in March of 2013. In March, 2014, he had a 39-point outing.
A career 44.1 percent shooter, he seared the nets at 47.5 percent this last season. Only seven other guard-line players shot that well.
Finally, there's Bojan Bogdanovic, one of the top free agents this year. The 31st pick of the 2011 draft, he had perhaps his best year this past season. A 46.3 percent shooter, he shot a sizzling 49.7 percent this last year. His career 13.3 points per game average compares to 20.0 this year. Big jump.
High points in his career include a 44-point effort in 2016 while with the Brooklyn Nets. While with the Washington Wizards in 2017, he set a franchise record by going 16-16 in free throws during one game.
This season, he scored 31 points in a game on Feb. 2 and 29 in a game on Feb. 7, leading to his being named conference player of the week. But, his season best was yet to come. On Feb. 28, he went for 37 points in a 122-115 win against Minnesota and on March 24 he scored 35 points in a 124-88 win against the Denver Nuggets.
If he produces for the Jazz the way he did for the Pacers, he will be a huge contribution to a successful season.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Persuade the Masses You are a Patriot, and All is Yours
I both welcome President Trump's Fourth of July speech, and decry the event. It is not wrong, but rather it is good to praise America and to speak well of its ideals and achievements. But, I think of the money diverted from the parks, and of how I have heard the parks do not have enough money to keep up their restroom facilities. And, I think of President Trump issuing tickets to Republican committee members and to political donors. Yet he turns around and promises this is not a political event.
And, I think of this: If you can paint yourself a patriot, and convince the populace that that is all you really care about, you can win the upcoming election and solidify all your objectives. If people view you as a patriot, they will say you are right in all you do with immigration and other matters.
Convince them you are a patriot, and all is yours. Tie your image to that of America. You first ran on the slogan, "Make America Great Again," tying yourself to all that is good about America, and suggesting it is you who will return this land to its values and greatness.
Trump is America, and America is Trump. Make that connection. I am not so fool as to not see this is what you are doing. Persuade the people you are the one great patriot -- do everything you do in the name of patriotism -- and the masses will fall in behind you.
And, I think of this: If you can paint yourself a patriot, and convince the populace that that is all you really care about, you can win the upcoming election and solidify all your objectives. If people view you as a patriot, they will say you are right in all you do with immigration and other matters.
Convince them you are a patriot, and all is yours. Tie your image to that of America. You first ran on the slogan, "Make America Great Again," tying yourself to all that is good about America, and suggesting it is you who will return this land to its values and greatness.
Trump is America, and America is Trump. Make that connection. I am not so fool as to not see this is what you are doing. Persuade the people you are the one great patriot -- do everything you do in the name of patriotism -- and the masses will fall in behind you.
Friday, July 5, 2019
What is Our Immigrant Mortality Rate?
Wonder if anyone has ever thought to measure the immigrant mortality rate? So, for every thousand who attempt to enter, how many die?
And, I wonder how the U.S. border with Mexico would rate.
And, I wonder how the U.S. border with Mexico would rate.
A Multiracial Flag
With the Nike taking a U-turn on the Betsy Ross flag, I wondered what flag they could have put on a shoe this Fourth of July.
How about a flag whose stars are multicolored, representing the different races. You have black, brown, yellow, and maybe even red stars.
How about a flag whose stars are multicolored, representing the different races. You have black, brown, yellow, and maybe even red stars.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
The Last Person We Would Call an American Might be the Best
On this Fourth, I salute those who most embody the American spirit, coming to this country in search of freedom, with a love of this nation in their hearts, and a joy to be reunited with family already here. I salute those coming to work for bottom dollar. I salute those who are poor and humble and God-fearing.
And, I salute those who face an oppressive and unjust ruler.
This time, it is not the rulers of their own lands, but the one in America who fights and persecutes them. It is ironic, to me, that President Trump is wrapping himself in the American flag this day, holding perhaps the grandest military display in history as a gesture to say, America equals me and I equal America and patriotism this day is ours.
The last person on his list of patriots? Surely the unwelcome immigrant, coming in search of asylum. A salute to them on this day would surely draw our leader's wrath.
Yet, it is many of them who are the builders of this nation. It is they who labor where no one else will labor. It is they who earn their living by the sweat of the brow. While Trump represents the aristocrats who oppress the poor, they are the poor and the humble.
This day, as I celebrate the Fourth, I tip my hat to those we shame, to those we disown, to those we decry as being the least Americans of all, to those we yell at, saying, Go back where you came from.
I salute them. We deny them the right to be called Americans, and make it as difficult as possible for them to ever achieve the right to remain here, but it is they who embody what America is about.
Patriotism honors them -- or should.
And, I salute those who face an oppressive and unjust ruler.
This time, it is not the rulers of their own lands, but the one in America who fights and persecutes them. It is ironic, to me, that President Trump is wrapping himself in the American flag this day, holding perhaps the grandest military display in history as a gesture to say, America equals me and I equal America and patriotism this day is ours.
The last person on his list of patriots? Surely the unwelcome immigrant, coming in search of asylum. A salute to them on this day would surely draw our leader's wrath.
Yet, it is many of them who are the builders of this nation. It is they who labor where no one else will labor. It is they who earn their living by the sweat of the brow. While Trump represents the aristocrats who oppress the poor, they are the poor and the humble.
This day, as I celebrate the Fourth, I tip my hat to those we shame, to those we disown, to those we decry as being the least Americans of all, to those we yell at, saying, Go back where you came from.
I salute them. We deny them the right to be called Americans, and make it as difficult as possible for them to ever achieve the right to remain here, but it is they who embody what America is about.
Patriotism honors them -- or should.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Betsy Ross and the Shoe that got the Boot
My initial reaction to the Betsy Ross flag controversy was to say Nike was wrong in dropping the shoe. Why blame Betsy Ross and everyone else who lived at that time? If there were faults, let those faults rest with those who made them, not with everyone who got off on the same boat, so to speak.
Colin Kaepernick is wrong on this one.
Well, after expressing that sentiment, I studied a little. And, I learned white supremacists have taken up the Betsy Ross flag as a symbol. Nike should have (and perhaps did) traced back to who it was who suggested they should make the shoe. And, if it was someone who might stand with racism, they were right to drop the shoe.
Colin Kaepernick is wrong on this one.
Well, after expressing that sentiment, I studied a little. And, I learned white supremacists have taken up the Betsy Ross flag as a symbol. Nike should have (and perhaps did) traced back to who it was who suggested they should make the shoe. And, if it was someone who might stand with racism, they were right to drop the shoe.
Nobody Gets a Full Health Screening Thanks to the Price Tag
No one gets a full physical screening these days, no one. And, I'm thinking everyone should.
I mean, a brain scan, all heart tests -- everything. Every test money can buy.
And, there's the trick -- money. The insurance companies limit which tests can be run, saying there needs to be reason for running the test before it can be done. The price of a stress test is so high that they are not going to let it be done unless there is apparent reason for it.
This is not right. The price for a full health screening must be brought down till everyone can afford it. It is like a colonoscopy: There may be no symptoms present to indicate it is needed, but it can still be a good idea to get one anyway.
I mean, a brain scan, all heart tests -- everything. Every test money can buy.
And, there's the trick -- money. The insurance companies limit which tests can be run, saying there needs to be reason for running the test before it can be done. The price of a stress test is so high that they are not going to let it be done unless there is apparent reason for it.
This is not right. The price for a full health screening must be brought down till everyone can afford it. It is like a colonoscopy: There may be no symptoms present to indicate it is needed, but it can still be a good idea to get one anyway.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
We Would Keep Them in Mexico for Years?
I've a friend who came to America as an asylum refugee, coming from Columbia after living there shortly, but being originally from Venezuela.
He has a sister who he says also came seeking asylum. He tells me she has been here five years awaiting an asylum hearing.
And, I think of the Trump plan, to leave them in Mexico while their hearings are pending.
Where would my friend's sister be, if she had been told to wait in Mexico? Five years later, would she still be there?
Suggesting they wait in Mexico is a good way to sidestep justice. If you can keep them in Mexico for so long, you can effectively keep them from coming. If your goal is not justice, but rather to prevent them from coming, this becomes a clever way to deal with them.
A cruel and unjust way to deal with them.
We wonder about the values of our president. We wondered about them before he was elected. Ah, but he will be fine, we said. And, now that he is elected and serving, rather than seeing the wrongness of his ways, we endorse his values. We see no wrong in keeping the immigrants in Mexico five years waiting their immigration hearings.
Good idea, we say.
He has a sister who he says also came seeking asylum. He tells me she has been here five years awaiting an asylum hearing.
And, I think of the Trump plan, to leave them in Mexico while their hearings are pending.
Where would my friend's sister be, if she had been told to wait in Mexico? Five years later, would she still be there?
Suggesting they wait in Mexico is a good way to sidestep justice. If you can keep them in Mexico for so long, you can effectively keep them from coming. If your goal is not justice, but rather to prevent them from coming, this becomes a clever way to deal with them.
A cruel and unjust way to deal with them.
We wonder about the values of our president. We wondered about them before he was elected. Ah, but he will be fine, we said. And, now that he is elected and serving, rather than seeing the wrongness of his ways, we endorse his values. We see no wrong in keeping the immigrants in Mexico five years waiting their immigration hearings.
Good idea, we say.
Cuba's People in Need of World's Help
Food rationing has hit Cuba. And, with it, we must consider what we, as a world, can do to help its people.
Foreign aid? I do not know.
UN aid? Can the UN afford to feed every impoverished nation?
Aid from churches and charities?
I only wish the world to take notice, and step in to help the people of Cuba
Foreign aid? I do not know.
UN aid? Can the UN afford to feed every impoverished nation?
Aid from churches and charities?
I only wish the world to take notice, and step in to help the people of Cuba
Cuba: An Island of Genocide
"More than 140,000 Cubans perished under the Castro regime, according to certain estimates."
I read this and wonder. While the ills of that island nation are well known, I did not know genocide was among them.
I read this and wonder. While the ills of that island nation are well known, I did not know genocide was among them.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Immigration Courts Should be Right in the Home Countries
If you want a purer strain of justice, open immigration courts in Mexico, and Honduras, and every country where a large number of immigrants are coming from.
Let them not only apply for their asylum there, but let the courts that decide their cases be located right there in their home countries.
These would be Americans serving as the judges -- Americans who had moved there -- but, they would be living more in the environment of the applicants. They would have first-hand knowledge of what is going on. You may say this would bias them. Experience does that. By the same token, when witnesses speak, a bias in favor of what they say can be created.
Having first-hand knowledge is not a negative, but a positive.
Our Constitution calls for being tried "in the state and district where in the crime shall have been committed." Immigration trials are not criminal matters, still -- the same -- these are trials and following the spirit of the Constitution suggests we should have these courts in their home countries.
The Constitution says a person being tried shall "have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor." Character witnesses are much easier to bring to the trial when they are right there in that country. And, if there are stains on the applicant's background, they are more likely to be known and found out by those living near the applicant.
Let them not only apply for their asylum there, but let the courts that decide their cases be located right there in their home countries.
These would be Americans serving as the judges -- Americans who had moved there -- but, they would be living more in the environment of the applicants. They would have first-hand knowledge of what is going on. You may say this would bias them. Experience does that. By the same token, when witnesses speak, a bias in favor of what they say can be created.
Having first-hand knowledge is not a negative, but a positive.
Our Constitution calls for being tried "in the state and district where in the crime shall have been committed." Immigration trials are not criminal matters, still -- the same -- these are trials and following the spirit of the Constitution suggests we should have these courts in their home countries.
The Constitution says a person being tried shall "have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor." Character witnesses are much easier to bring to the trial when they are right there in that country. And, if there are stains on the applicant's background, they are more likely to be known and found out by those living near the applicant.
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