Among the Herbs Might Lie an Answer

   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.
   

 
 
 

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?

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.