Load the correcting and payback on the kids?

The Dream Act under consideration by Congress would grant to children of illegal immigrants, who have grown up in the U.S., instate tuition, student loan eligibility, legal status by serving in the military. It would require they have essentially no criminal records.

Some oppose in seeming knee-jerk reaction, being opposed to anything that would benefit illegals in any way, crying “No amnesty!" They refuse to recognize that our businesses have employed and our economy benefitted from the immigrant parents; and because of this our federal government has largely winked at their coming. So now we should load the correcting and payback on kids who have grown up as much [U.S.] Americans as you and I?

Congress – The hurrier they go the behinder they get.

So with the hurry of the current bill to extend Bush tax cuts for all (including the high incomes) the Senate both stimulates the economy (Obama wanted this) and aggravates the deficit (the Republican tea-partyers strenuously opposed this.)

If the economy continues to recover, perhaps spurred by these extended tax cuts (who can tell?), then how do we rate them? Deserving our votes next time around for helping economic recovery or undeserving for aggravating the damaging deficit. And then there are those senators, like Bennett of Utah, who don’t have to care – they’re lame ducks anyway.

Divorce law prevent quarrels over children? . . .

Recently a family counselor complained that the current system of divorce law often turns children into something to fight about. The law proscribes parents using parent time, custody as bargaining chips, but parents will do it anyway, despite their attorney’s best efforts. The blame for the quarreling does not lie at the feet of the state or the law, but the parent or parents, as the case may be.

No state and no law can prevent parents quarreling over the children, and co-parenting works only where both parents are willing. States are not good at meddling in family affairs, never have been and never will be. Unfortunately, in our society, they must meddle anyway.

We all spy, but must never admit it.

Mr. Assange of Wikileaks believes revealing the U.S. spied on the U.N. in violation of U.N. security protocols helps keep the government honest. Others think his leaks have jeopardized diplomacy and endangered our soldiers. Who knows the truth? Time was when one U.S. President shown diplomatic mail someone had intercepted said, “Gentlemen do not read other people’s mail.”

It is said Eisenhower shocked State Department people when he forthrightly admitted we were over-flying the USSR for surveillance after they had brought down the U-2 flight back in the ‘50s. State department rules are that everyone knows you do these things, but one must never openly admit it. Why not? Eisenhower’s admission provided a refreshing breath of candor in the formalistic world of diplomacy and pretended secrets.

LAST LAUGH

We had a conflict - he and I.
Was not a hot impassioned fight,
but more the kind where reason's clash
becomes a contest who is right.

He said man was an animal
whose end was death and life a dream,
And I said that might do for him
but I held man in more esteem.

He quoted Neitsche, Satre, and I -
prophets Moses and Malachi.
I own I thought I came out best
but with no judge, we let it lie.

Still, if I'm right and he is wrong
then I may shout it loud and long.
While he - though right as right may be
can never do the same to me.

Wow! I knew Mike Lee when he was 5 yrs old . . .

In home day school in Virginia with my daughter Ellen and the Ted Bell’s son. Now he’s a U.S. Senator elect, doesn’t yet know his way to the Senate washroom, but already has [see DesNews 12/5/10] a National Security Coordinator. Hope he's got an office manager too.

U. S. Rep Charlie Rangel . . . flaunting dishonesty.

Long-time, influential congressman Rangel of New York finally censured by House on 11 of 13 counts brought, including false financial statements (“misleading”) and failure to pay income tax on condominium in [somewhere foreign] country. How could he, long-time chair of the tax writing Ways & Means Committee not know his income from the condo (presumed) rentals was subject to tax? If he knowingly failed to report it, that’s criminal tax fraud. Commenting to the press, he had the unmitigated gall to say, “At no time has it ever entered my mind to enrich myself or to do violence to the honesty that’s expected of all of us in this House.” What an insult to the U. S. Congress!
Amazingly, New Yorkers just re-elected him by a wide margin. Assuming his Republican opponent wasn’t an absolute klutz there seem to be three explanations for this, each successively more damning than the one before: 1) A lot of New York voters just vote the Democrat party line, period; 2) a lot of black voters just vote for whomever is black; and 3) a lot of the voters reasoned “if he cheats on his tax return just like I do, he’s my kind of man.

Utah’s migrant worker proposal vs. Obama’s Pride. Guess who wins.

Utah representative Lopes, with others, is proposing a Utah law allowing worker cards for illegals who can show no criminal record, etc. that would let them work legally in Utah with taxes withheld, etc. Trouble is, that law cannot take effect without setting aside the Federal law imposing penalties on employers who hire these people.

So a whole lot of sweat and effort is being invested into a futile project. The Arizona law directing enforcement by police does not require any adjustment to Federal law, but yet Mr. Obama’s off-ths-hip criticism of it is now being protected in hare-brained litigation all the way to the Supreme Court to have it declared unconstitutional as interfering with Federal pre-emption of laws re immigration.

If Obama’s Atty General will go to such inane lengths to sustain his criticism of the Arizona law, then the chances of a getting special exception for the proposed Utah are like those of snow ball in you-know-where.

So Uncle Sam plans to embezzle our earned retirement

The DesNews this morning publishes one of those wise uncle editorials about how we just can’t really reduce the Federal deficit by more taxes or salary freezes, etc, but must come to grips with those monster entitlements, you know – social security, medicare, medicaid. Trouble is they define entitlements as government-bestowed benefits so long relied on that people feel entitled to them as a matter of right.

Whoa! Stop right there. Social security is not a dole, a benefit dished out just because you got old. You worked and paid for it. And reliable studies show that if your funds had been invested even willy-nilly in blue chip stocks you would have wound up with more than the SS benefit you get now.

So DesNews and everyone else, if you’re going to put SS benefits on the bargaining table to balance the budget, you had better acknowledge up front and give full weight to the fact that it always was a right, bought and paid for. And if you cause Uncle Sam to welch on that obligation, you’re performing what would be treated as criminal fraud in almost any other context.

In too many of these instances Congress and the White House just shrug and say in effect, “Oh yeah, but this is government.”

Assault on religion.

The works of those who set out to root out religious words deeply rooted in our history and tradition, such as “In God We Trust”, “One Nation Under God” , Christmas songs, represent a calculated assault on religion in public life, per statement of First Presidency of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of LDS in 1979.

Suppose Lincoln were President today.

In the heat of the Civil War Lincoln was visited by a group of ministers expressing their support for the North. They said, “We’re praying for the Lord to be on our side.” Lincoln responded, “I’m more concerned that we be on His side.” Can you imaging Barack Obama saying that to anyone? Does he ever talk in terms of humbly seeking God’s direction?

Contrast Lincoln with a president who announces to the world that America is no longer a Christian nation. Saudi, Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. may be Muslim nations but America is not a Christian nation . . . or at least not according to our president. With the Courts’ collusion he is turning separation of Church and state into rejection of church by state.

Benjamin Franklin said, “He who will introduce into affairs the principles of a primitive Christianity, will change the face of the world. I believe that he who will expunge from public affairs the spirit of Christianity will destroy the very fiber that enabled America to change the face of the world.

What gay activists need to understand.

First, thinking people won’t buy the "haters" label they want to apply to anyone who doesn’t approve the gay lifestyle. To hate thievery is not to hate everyone who has ever committed a theft.
Second, there is absolutely no scientific evidence of different genes that make people gay, notwithstanding how fervently it is claimed.
Third, abundant studies evidence the substantial advantages enjoyed by children raised with a mother and a father, and serious risks to a child without at least a mother and a father figure in his/her life.
Fourth, Extending marriage protections, aids, and tax benefits to gays would seriously damage the families foundations of our country. It would denigrate the high status of marriage, give the message to our youth that gay pairing is just as desirable as marriage, and lead many of them to pursue gay feelings they would otherwise recognize as unhealthy.
Fifth, the gay lifestyle is statistically far more fraught with infidelity, multiple partners in sex, disease, depression and suicides.
Sixth, the Church of JESUS CHRIST of LDS teaches love and respect for all, including those who are gay; but it also seeks to help them mend the error of their ways as it does anyone who is living contrary to God’s plan of happiness.

Not to worry about national debt?

According to Nov. 10th Time magazine expert, national debt is not to worry. Interest is only 3% of Gross Domestic Product, and it’s been that high before.

On Nov 12th, at 9:20am the debt was stood at $13.7 trillion while Gross Domestic Product was at $14.6 trillion. Put in terms of your family budget, Time’s man says that if your gross income for the year is $80,000 you needn’t worry over household, un-secured debt that is $74,400. You don’t worry, and I know a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

You also needn’t worry, that one fifth or $14,880 of your $80,000 income goes to pay interest on your un-secured debt. Why not worry? Because, says Time’s expert, you had just as bad imbalance in the past few years and the bear didn’t eat you then.

Common sense says this family must get rid of debts as soon as possible to keep from being eaten up by the interest. Time would have us believe it doesn’t matter because the bear didn’t eat us last year. Besides the U.S. can print its own money, as Mr. Bernanke did just this week to the tune of $800million, or was it billion? Pretty soon we’re talking real money.

So if one of your sons can print counterfeit bills and have other family member accept them for legal tender . . . problem solved? Not quite, because your creditors will not accept the bills in payment of your debts. Even if you are a huge family (the U.S .) and have millions of members who will accept the newly minted cash, as you print more and more and your creditors see it’s worth less and less, they will demand security, deny you credit and/or require payment in some more real value form. If they deny credit, i.e. refuse to buy U.S. bonds, then the government will be suddenly so deeply underwater that tinkering with military and entitlement items won’t begin to solve the problem.

Why don’t we do anything about this debt problem? Apparently because Obama, and Congress listen to blather such as this from Time’s expert.

His House -- Reunion Place

REUNION PLACE

A soaring ceiling tops the room
filled full with those that we hold dear
all dressed in white as pure as him
whose house this is and who is here.

He takes these two in glow of youth
and through his proxy binds them to
the covenants of joy and light
that open heaven to their view.

We whisper here to reverence him,
and so the voice of spirit still
will not be lost in noisiness
nor drowned by other voices shrill.

And viewing mirrors' myriad forms
remind ourselves how once we knelt
where they now kneel and cov'nant make
how they will feel as we have felt.

How wise, how provident is he
who tells us only here in white
can we receive his promises
that point us upward to the light.

For this is his reunion place.
Where we secure and renew ties
that bind our family with his
for gathering beyond the skies.

© Edwin H. Beus

McDonald's Happy meals going! What's next?

So San Francisco moves to take the happy out of happy meals -- no more toys if the meal continues to be all that fatty fries and burger stuff. They really know to hurt a kid. [And these are the same folks who want to legalize marijuana??] But give 'em enough slack and time: they'll all together handle this parenting stuff for us.

Also, a little adult hypocrisy here? You know: "R rated movies, cigarettes, and liquor are forbidden to you. . . but they're OK for me."

KSL's Doug Wright supposed a space on report cards for the teacher to grade parents on their involvement.

Adding insult to injury (if you're a smoker) a Utah child advocate wants to make it a crime to smoke in your car if there are children present.

Sandy Police (and Sandy's no trend setters here) must report any striking of a family member if they are called in via 911; there follows, misdemeanor charges, a drag through court, and minimum six months probation. No more "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Use the rod and spoil the adult.

Partisan bickering or bad law?

President Obama says he’s sorry for the partisan bickering over his health care “reform” law. He still thinks the people wanted the law, and it cost him politically only because Republicans in Congress went on bickering about it. He doesn’t get it, does he. He’s a little like the kid who kicks sand in the big guy’s face, gets beat up, and blames the big guy for being quarrelsome.

THE GLORY DAYS HAVE COME AGAIN . . .NAUVOO

THE GLORY DAYS HAVE COME AGAIN

I see the white majestic walls
rising up where they did before.
I hear the chink of steel on stone --
their quarry work now lives once more.

To Nauvoo – city beautiful –
the glory days have come again.
Redeemed at last, their heritage
by great grandchildren grown to men.

No one who saw their harried haste,
their wretched flight that winter drear,
would guess their offspring would be back,
to dedicate a Temple here.

Though killed were servants of the Lord,
though mobs did rage and tyrants reign
though hundreds died in winter’s blasts,
to Nauvoo, home, we’ve come again.

What is Man? A bundle of needs?

Some socical scientists, e. g. Maslow, view man as a bundle of needs – needs for food, water, shelter, sex, etc. A bundle found in a world of scarcity, inviting the view of others as competitors so you’d better get yours while the getting is good.

Contrast that with: You are a son or daughter of god with a bundle of talents in a world full of needs; your goal is to discipline your own wants and apply your talents to bless others and lead them back to your Father. What a difference the view makes!

Fact is, the body requires constant nourishment, but so does the spirit. If only the worldly needs are listed or recognized, then the spirit perishes, and the spirit is nourished more by giving rather than by taking. "Man does not live by bread alone."

But Pansies Flourish Under Snow

BUT PANSIES FLOURISH UNDER SNOW

Two straight and stately sapling ash
cling to their autumn cloak of red,
when the petunias down below
have left their blooms and gone to bed.

The honey locusts, asp and elm
have dropped their finery to the ground;
the daffodil, primrose and phlox
cast earlier their blossoms down.

The naked trees bereft of leaves,
the flowers’ now abandoned show,
could seem to signify the end,
but pansies flourish under snow.

Elephants & donkeys, tea & sympathy

Election day!

Republicans expect to win control of the House, dream of Senate – many of them are so-called tea-party candidates, conservatives who’ve displaced the regulars via primary defeats in several states. Sympathize with tea partyers -- that the profligate spending that has added $5 trillion to the Nat’l debt in two years threatens us all with likely runaway inflation and a bloated Federal Government.

Pres. Obama’s health “reform” bill promises to add to the debt. Worse, it violates the constitution in a)trampling freedom of contract -- forcing citizens to buy health insurance – even healthy people who don’t want/need it; and b) usurping to the Federal government health care management powers never granted it in the Constitution, which expressly reserves to the states the powers not enumerated for the Federal government.

Force kids to take more math?

Just returned from hearing Mr. Coroon’s gubernatorial campaign pitch for requiring two more credits of math and science for Utah high school graduation. This aimed as response to claims a thousand math/science related jobs lie unfilled for lack of qualified applicants. Trouble is we’re already requiring seniors who hate math and are not good at it to take algebra, trig, or calculus classes 99% of them will never use again in their lives.

If we need better or more math classes to prepare kids who are so oriented, then let’s provide them. But no more just adding required-class burdens to pretend we’ve fixed a problem. That is already not working and it will only do more damage to push math-challenged kids into more math classes. Leave them the two hours for use in music, literature, mechanics ... something they have interest in and aptitude for.

The Great Millennial Time

THE GREAT MILLENNIAL TIME

Election time’s come with the snow
Elephants rage and donkeys fret.
The former group proclaims reform
of health care laws, taxes and debt.

But they’ve been just as profligate.
Creating ills they now bewail.
Both elephants and donkeys quake
lest “throw the rascals out” prevail.

The econ’s stuck, stock market’s down,
radical gays want marriage banns;
our border South’s awash in blood
and myriads live employment sans.

We drift afar from virtues prized
by founders who laid out the plan;
the god in whom they put their trust’s
become a stranger in the land.

But those with vision still can see
that prophecies are being fulfilled;
That troubles, earthquakes, wars, disease
are harbingers that god has willed –

preceding when he comes again
to brush away the dross and grime
to set aright the affairs of men
and bring the great millennial time.

We take these precious names

LEAVES OF LIVES

We take these precious names
as leaves of lives, faded and worn,
ethereal as the beams of morning sun
yet representing beings known and loved.

Having weight and taking space
in unseen realms we know not of,
and yet we do know Father’s grace
extends to them in special place.

That they might with us share one day
the light and truth the Father gives,
perfected by His son’s own life ,
who died yet still, exalted lives.

Is grandpa here or can he come her still?

GRANDPA'S CABIN

(A Weber Winter Day)

Hopeful, we labor on through knee deep snow.
Some steps the crust holds firm, other sink in
to leave us puffing down the drift filled road.
Tin roof awakens tales of long ago.

The family camped in tents, the cabin rose.
River bank, bridge, and grove were all his too.
He pondered here the tree-filled site he chose.
His soul found peace, eyes rested by the view.

Anxious, I light, relight the fire...no flame.
The wood we brought too green, the woodpile wet.
Freezing, must we retreat the way we came?
With bark and bits at last a fire is set.

O glorious, sylvan, sun-splashed afternoon!
E'en birds keep silence here, or else have flown.
High window seat - whiteness below in tune.
A space, a time, a peace not elsewhere known!

The river rippling sends the only sound.
Silence awakens awe of God's display.
Waters, escaping bars of ice and snow,
on ceiling cast a shimmer through the day.

Is Grandpa here, or can he come here still?
To see his children's children here at play?
To see God's gifts bestowed by his good will,
or share the shimm'ring sunlight's bright display?

Social Security rule favors the rich over the working man

If you claim SS retirement benefits at the earliest age, but continue to work, you have a strict limit on what you can earn before you begin to owe one of every two dollars reimbursement to SS at the end of the year. However, if you live on investment income – even triple digit income – you need not reimburse SS at all.

Given the current crisis about SS funding, this loophole should be the first closed. Incredible that Congress set this up to penalize the person who has to continue working and reward the rich who can live on investments without personal labor.

Plato’s philosopher king idea has bad company.

Many men of their own reasoning have concluded with Plato that that men cannot govern themselves wisely. Unfortunately many of these such as Hitler, Ghengis Kahn, Ceasar, Napleon, Rousseau, Marx have determined that special men have talents to govern and should be in charge, e.g. Plato’s philosopher king, Hitler’s Ubermensch. History teaches that righteousness and obedience to \the Lord lead to prosperity with freedom; that man-designed utopias inevitably fail. Put succinctly by Book of Mormon prophets: Obey God and prosper in the land. Disobey and be cut off from his presence – bringing despair and desolation. America began with men of vision who put their trust in God, but is now steadily losing its way by trusting in the widsom of men – in particular Obama who has announced to the world that America is not a Christian nation.

Or interest in this regard is The Overton Window, a NY Times Best Seller by Glenn Beck. It’s a fun, fast-moving tale of political intrigue, which examines the ideas of Thomas Payne, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Plato, Marx, and others on how to solve man’s self-governance problems.

Church of JESUS CHRIST of LDS seeks to help gays.

After Elder Packer of the LDS Church states that homosexual behavior is a curable illness – comes an activists’ march and flurry of protests. After the Deseret News does a series on pornography – comes back an overload of pornographic emails from the porn industry. “ The guilty taketh the truth to be hard for it cutteth them to the very core.” 1 Nephi 16:2, Book Of Mormon.

Both President Packer and the Church act on their love for people who are gay as brothers and sisters – who have a problem which can be helped. We all have problems which can be helped, and the damage to families and individuals from gay lifestyles is serious enough to need special attention. The Lord and His Church necessarily offer help.

As for the porn industry folks, they have a problem with which they need help, but are likely more immune to help, because they do what they do for filthy lucre.

Was I not in Gethsemane?

WAS I NOT IN GETHSEMANE?

I was not in Gethsemane
for His hard labor, all alone,
which wrought the greatest miracle
the world has ever known.

He asked that they should “Watch and pray.”
Confronting all, he wanted friends.
But they, exhausted, fell asleep.
An angel came to make amends.

Did mighty Garbriel’s comfort tell
how millions watched for Him that day?”
Did His Atoning need our faith?
Did we unsleeping, watch and pray?

For whom do we vote?

President Obama declares that America is not a Christian nation. The psalmist writes: “Blessed is the nation whose god is the Lord.” Psalms 33:12. So we believers pray the nation is blessed . . . . but we're between a rock and a hard place.

We ought not suppose the morals of a man have no bearing on his merit as a political leader. But if a man cannot be true, for example, to marriage vows, how can you expect him to be true to vows of integrity in public office? Bill Clinton, John McCain, seem able to convince the public that marriage infidelity and fidelity in public office are entirely irrelevant. Too many other bad examples to be worth naming.

“No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of patriotism . . . thank God my life has been spent in a land of liberty.” Andrew Jackson.“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” Horace Greely. “What is liberty without wisdom and without virtue?” John Locke. David O McKay considered the personal integrity of a candidate more important than whether you agreed with his stated policies.

What if you were Latino and living in Arizona?

I bypassed a long left-turn-waiting line driving my daughter to school by taking the right lane past the light and making a U turn to come back for a right turn. A Sandy police lady ticketed me for illegal U-turn. I pointed out U-turns are legal when there’s no oncoming traffic and clear view of road ahead, but she replied, “We’ve been told to give anyone who U-turns there in the mornings a ticket. When I got to court the mediator threw it out, saying, “If they want to do that they’ll just have to put up a sign.” So this a case of the lieutenant inventing law
.
An officer pulled me over for making several short honks at the driver in front waiting to make a right turn, because the way was open, no traffic, and she had the right of way to go ahead. I asked why he stopped me. He said, “Why did you honk at that lady?” I told him, and unable to come up with something to charge me with, he let me go.

Small examples of how easily a little police power can go astray. Not that police in general are scoundrels. They are mortals like the rest of us, who, when we get a little authority will almost always begin to exercise unrighteous dominion over others. And the powers of arrest and imprisonment entrusted to these officers are substantial ones.

This is why some people are very upset at the new Arizona law directing police to inquire into legal status, if there’s a “reasonable suspicion, for anyone they stop. “Reasonable suspicion” is not a standard recognized in the law, is something less than probable cause, and almost invites a prejudiced officer to stop and harass Latinos. It is not hard to understand the desperation of Arizonans over the flood of illegals over their border, and the Federal Government’s gross negligence in the matter; but neither is it hard to understand Latinos’ opposition to this law. The law borders on police-state tactics. Imagine what police would have done with such a law for Jews in Nazi Germany. Anyone an officer stops on reasonable suspicion may be hauled in for questioning and anyone’s ID papers may be suspect. If you were a Latino citizen of Arizona, you might feel it necessary to pack your birth certificate everywhere you went. Not unlike Jews being required to wear a star on their sleeves in Holland in WWII days.

Who would want twelve children?

We decided before we married we wanted twelve children, and looking back now with eleven married happily and one single, still in college, I has been a great, challenging, marvelous and continuing adventure. If you struggle with three children, just multiply that by four and you have some idea of our undertaking.

The movie “Cheaper by the Dozen” has become a favorite, presenting a realistic look of the humor, trials and triumphs. The family council where father humorously vetoes having a dog, and they get one anyway; the parents’ struggle to maintain modesty and moral standards in an ever-encroaching world; mother’s heroic stepping forth to provide when father is gone (in our case when I had serious injuries).

The hilarious visit of the Planned Parenthood lady to recruit mother, and her shock when the twelve children assemble and father says, “Isn’t there someone missing dear?” She indignantly exclaims, “And within twelve miles of national headquarters!”

I see where “Cost of Raising a Child” website [probably Planned Parenthood] estimates at $266,690 the cost of raising a child, so our twelve would cost over $3,000,000 today. Well, we raised them for considerably less than that. The numbers seems inflated to discourage would-be parents. For us, the rewards in love, fellowship, learning together and continuing associations far outweigh the costs at any figure – then add the delight of thirty-nine grandchildren and counting!

We’re told many young people are afraid to bring children into this troubled world – afraid of the risks of failure, the trials and troubles, the heavy responsibilities. But we have found great comfort and truth in the words of the Lord:“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the dearth . . . .” Genesis 1:28. ”As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them . . . “ Psalms 127:4-5.

Eight of ours have bachelor’s degrees, three with advanced degrees as well. One is aimed for law school, and one more finishing a bachelor’s. So the education hurdle has been cleared – partly with scholarships & government loans and partly with their own part-time jobs.

We have encountered the expected criticisms along the way and find them easy to answer:
1. You can’t afford to educate them. Their college degrees amply refute that.
2. You’re overpopulating an overcrowded world. The creator himself said,
For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, . .” D&C 104:17.
3. Your kids cost society too much to educate, etc. We see that our children will be paying for our contemporaries’ retirements, with the shrinking workforce and the burgeoning retiree numbers.
4. You can’t give adequate attention to so many. We do not hear the gripe that our kids didn’t get enough individual attention in such a large group, in fact they often say how grateful they are for growing up in such a large family. Some have large families of their own.

How precious, father’s interviews.

How may a father gain the confidences of his son or daughter in an interview? Prayer helps. Serious listening is essential. Helping him, when young, write in his journal, and reading from it does wonders for his self esteem and confidence in your interest. Offering and giving father’s blessings provides sweet occasion for expressing your love and teaching how that love relates the Lord’s love for them.

How should a father correct a child? Only at necessity very carefully, kindly, with no exaggeration, and then showing an increase in love.

Some fathers want to be buddies with their children, especially sons, and therefore cannot bring themselves to correct. But we are not called to be buddies at the expense of failing to correct. Alma is a beautiful example of this when he chastens his son for chasing after a harlot: “I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good. But behold, ye cannot ahide your crimes from God; and except ye repent they will stand as a testimony against you at the last day.” Alma 39:7. Plainly he speaks from love, not from any desire to punish, because he knows the son will have to account to the Lord if he does not make a serious correction. Alma 36 thru 42 provides a great guide for father’s interviews.

A worthy father stirs up the faith of his sons and daughters, challenges and inspires them with faith in the lord and themselves as they obey the Lord. He helps them realize that heritage as sons and daughters of God carries with it great power and promise; that, as Paul wrote: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Fields Gathering Blackbirds for Their Caraven Away . . .

AWAY!

I have heard wind whistling through the birches
white bark contrast to brilliant strokes
of gold and red and brown that deepen with passing nights.

I have seen long trailing Vee’s of geese
beat their way south to winter's home,
and fields gathering blackbirds for their caravan away.

Something within me strikes sweet chord with them,
and cries "Away!"

I do not know whence comes the call
but it seems stronger every Fall –
"Away! Away!"

The law of family dinner time.

My mother insisted on a family dinnertime. She required us to be there, be courteous, on-time and properly dressed – no elbows on the table, and we began with kneeling family prayer. I’m amazed at families whose dinner times consist of a note about what’s in the fridge to microwave.

In our home of eight children dinner time was a time for sharing, complimenting, recognizing, reviewing, advising, discussing. Family sharing in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, on a regular, daily basis. In “Cheaper by the Dozen” father directed the conversation – requiring table wide conversation (TWC), not tete-a-tetes between seat mates, and quenching conversation not of general interest (NGI).

“The statistics are clear”, writes Michael Elias in Time, “Kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier and better students, which is why a dying tradition is coming back. . . Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words and know which fork to use:.

"If it were just about food, we would squirt it into their mouths with a tube," says Robin Fox, an anthropologist at Rutgers, about the mysterious way that family dinner engraves our souls. "A meal is about civilizing children. It's about teaching them to be a member of their culture." Elias, supra. My mother would have agreed in spades.

Uncompromising politics?

Someone defined politics as “the art of compromise”. Compare a recent news report of one ultra-conservative candidate saying he would never compromise or reach across the aisle in Congress. If that attitude had prevailed among the colonists assembled to declare independence there would not be a United States of America. The northerners who despised slavery had to compromise in order to gain a majority for independence from England. Similarly Lincoln, though he wanted to abolish slavery, had to put the preservation of the union first and delay and give piecemeal effect to the Emancipation Proclamation, in order to preserve the union – his first priority.

In Utah many have pilloried Senator Hatch for joining Ted Kenned in sponsoring legislation, because he was Ted Kennedy – not because the legislation was necessarily bad. Lincoln’s response to partisans who wanted him to destroy his enemies: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

What’s to be done about the Mexican border?

Arizona is being flooded with violence from drug cartels and unscrupulous coyotes smuggling people across the porous U.S. Mexico borders. The Bush administration had a bill with a worker pass system and re-enforced borders. Judging from the equally loud screams of protesting “conservatives” and “liberals”the bill was a workable compromise, but the Republican senators (including both Utah senators to their shame) defeated it.

Now Arizona authorizes its police making stops to also inquire into legal resident status when there is reasonable suspicion of illegality, and Obama’s laggard administration has the gall to sue to declare the Arizona law unconstitutional!

Some claim we cannot secure the border, but Israel has done so for the Gaza strip. Yes our border is much longer but a fraction of our humongous budget for making war in the middle east would suffice. As to worker passes, we cannot pretend that our economy does not need the migrant workers, who surround us in jobs that others won’t take.

In gross negligence the Congress has substituted employer fines for border enforcement. Our employers should never have been thrust into this role of law enforcement. They do not want it, they are not good at it, and it creates constant conflicts between them and the ICE agents. If the border were properly enforced, there would be no need for fining employers, for the Arizona law, or for suspecting everyone with a Latino look.

What is Conservatism?

“What is Conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried against the new and untried?” – Abraham Lincoln. Balanced budgets instead of profligate spending. Man and woman marriage, not gay marriage. Fidelity, not promiscuity. Gentle reason rather than name calling. [Too many of today’s self-proclaimed conservative commentators have abandoned this one.] Sobriety, modesty and temperance and happy marriages represented in music and arts, rather than drunkenness, obscenity, lewdness, lust, and decadence.

Critics of the old ways often cite the following quote attributed to Socrates by Plato, as example of how people are always complaining of loss of old ways and gentility among the young. "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

However, these critics fail to note that it was indeed that generation of youth who led the decline of Athens. Some sentiments of the current tea party folks appeal to the true conservative, but it appears the Republican establishment has so far left its conservatives roots – as exemplified in Lincoln – that they no longer value or recognize the conservative values.

In morals and manners old ways are the best, and our serious digressions from them cannot bring happiness. An ancient prophet’s words regarding th restoration of the resurrection apply here: “Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. Alma 41:10, Book of Mormon.

How Do We Preserve Our Constitution?

There is a healthy aspect to the current political buzz about the Constitution, its drafters’ intent, its elasticity, and whether it should or should not be read to allow the constant erosion of state’s powers by the Federal Government. The document is not written only for lawyers and judges to understand. It is not filled with the arcane, fractured, language all too common to the law in our days, but is for the most part easily understood.

However, the tortured meanings read into it by our judges often boggle the mind. Flag burning becomes speech; providing for the general welfare now includes “rights” to abortion (formerly a felony); “gay marriage” becomes a Constitutional right – protecting a relationship the founders considered a crime. The formerly sacred freedom of contract gives way to the government forcing individuals to buy health insurance.

There is an old adage in law that close cases make bad law. Why? Because the the stretch to do justice in one case, implies rules that don’t work at all in similar cases. Prime example: The high court made a huge stretch of the commerce clause to let Congress order whom a restauranteur must serve – so stop racial discrimination (a seemingly good end). Since then, the plain meaning of “interstate commerce” is so distorted in the case law, that Noah Webster himself would barely recognize the words, and there seems to be nothing that Congress cannot govern through that clause.

So what’s a country that value freedom and the Constitution not bent all out of shape to do? We must curt-tail our reliance on the rulings of the one court of nine judges on some of these earth-shaking issues – especially where they rule against the majority views in society. Remember that the Constitution its self does not give to the Supreme Court unbridled power to overturn statutes or acts of the President. Those power was developed by the Court itself by John Marshal in Marbury v. Madison and related rulings.

Trouble is, the rule is so deeply revered it would take a Constitutional amendment to alter it. Despite all the hundreds of pages of citings and distinguishings of precedents, the judges really do just what they think is right in the end. It’s a poor lawyer indeed who cannot wind his way to the desired result in these seemingly close cases. These decisions tempt one to side with the old Welsh definition of a lwayer: “He wiggles in and wiggles out and leaves the people all in doubt of whether the worm that made the track was going to hell or coming back.” We cannot rely on the rule of law alone when bad judges sit.

So what is a solution? That we labor with all our might to put into public office capable people with faith in god and high moral standards, with the emphasis on the latter. We get plenty of talented people – but too few upright, strictly honest, people of integrity. If we get more of these kinds of people in public office, we will get more appointed to judgeships, and they will be more receptive to the kind of inspiration of the almighty that made our founders great.

Without a good dose of these, which seem sadly lacking today, we will continue to get wayward, unguided leadership into forbidden paths such a gay marriage, trampling of personal freedoms, abortions on demand, and denigration of personal responsibility.

Christian values a political liability?

I do not know much about Christine O’Donnell the tea party favorite who won the Republican primary for the New Hampshire senate seat, but recent cable news had on a female commentator making fun of her for advocating Christian values.

An extraordinary man who wrote some two thousand eight hundred years ago saw our day and warned: “Woe unto them that call evilbgood, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! --- Isaiah 5:20
I’m not beating the drum for Miss O’Donnell. I do not know whether she practices the high Christian standards she advocates. But I do stand with Isaiah when widely viewed or read commentators mock Christlike virtues. When these nihilist doctrines govern us we invite the destructions foretold by Isaiah. As one man recently said: “If we do not come unto Christ, it will matter little in the end what else we do turn to.

How powerful is humility?

“Be thou humble and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to they prayers,” says the Lord. D&C* 112:10. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:29. How does meekness and lowliness of heart bring rest? It brings rest from the posturing, the maintaining of a public face, the worry about what others think. When one senses his great worth to God and seeks not status among men, referring upward for his approval instead, he saves himself great supplies of mental and emotional energy – energy and power to do and to be good, in freedom from fear of man.

Moses was one of the most powerful men to walk the earth and the scripture says of him: “Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Numbers 12:3. One of the great secrets of the laws of heaven is that Christ has limitless power to do good, largely because he is humble, meek and lowly of heart, i.e. he seeks not the honors of men.
* Doctrine and Covenants, Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints

Our desperate struggle for an immortality already assured

From the Egyptians who buried treasures and servants with their pharaohs, to Ponce de Leon’s quest for a fountain of youth, to those who freeze bodies and tout organ donations – man is obsessed with the prolonging of life, the restoring of youth, the desperate grasping so somehow hold onto mortality. How pitiful this ignoring of the great gift given to all by the Christ: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”1 Cor 15:22. How many trillions could be saved for use to benefit the living, and how much anguish and fear and grief are washed away by simple faith in the promise of the resurrection. Yes, you will live again, your body in its prime will be restored never to age, wear out or die again. “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.” –Alms 40:23, Book of Mormon.

The Terrible Threat of Chinese Engineers

Regarding U. S. Education, it is popular to complain that China is graduating thousands more engineers than we are. But how many of these touted foreign degrees aren’t worth the paper they’re written on? U.S. teachers serving in China find the schools riddled with favoritism for kids of party bosses.

Is it a matter for alarm that China graduates more engineers than we do? China’s population is numbered at 1,324,665,000 while ours is 307,006,550, so they probably have need of over four times as many engineers. Of what quality are these China degrees? As I’ve posted before, my brother computer science professor found that the Asian students, though good at memorized processes and formulas, were at a loss compared to the U.S. students when given open-end problems requiring original thinking. My engineer son works for a microchip maker that finds most of its Japan-educated engineers cannot match the U. S. hires.

It’s time for the public education critics to lay off this “Chinese engineers” malarkey.

What is a Christian?

We all do well to allow people to determine their own labels if we’re going to use religion labels. If a man says he’s a Christian, then we ought not to try to go behind his statement because we have particular beliefs about Christ with which he may not agree. “Judgment is mine sayeth the Lord.” He warned that many shall cry “Lord! Lord!” and many use his name to do miracles, cast out devils, but He shall say to them at the last days “Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” Did He warn so we could judge and condemn others, or rather so that we could examine ourselves and be careful whom we follow?

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

The laws of heaven do not offer much reward for mere belief in Christ. As James wrote: “Thou believest that there is one God? Thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know O vain man, that faith without works is dead.” Job’s devotion to God survives even through loss of his family, all his worldly wealth, his health, his wife’s support. Through all this, he does not simply believe in God, but still trusts Him enough to say after all the losses: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Get past myths about public education

Published “My View”, Deseret News, Aug 16, 2010

MY VIEW
Recently, again we read (DesNews 4/11/10) John Florez’ laments that Utah public education does not get the “global economy”. He bemoans that the U.S. has only 14% of the world’s college graduates, that all the Utah legislature can do is “[defy] the Federal government” in education matters. Its time that we put to rest some of the popular phrases for pillorying our public schools.
A Global Economy as it relates to education, merely means a larger group of potential competitors for jobs or business. Mr. Florez thinks that “global economy” suddenly demands ingenuity, resourcefulness and initiative. Wrong! Those have always been in demand, and our supply of them developed through the public schools system, has helped make America Great.
It is popular to complain that: 1) china is graduating thousands more engineers than we are; 2) students in Europe and elsewhere surpass our kids in math proficiency, 3) We must have charter schools to re-invent public education, 4) we must have Federal intervention and funding for our public schools, 4) our students were/are a “Generation at Risk” - the gloomy U.S. Office of Education report.
Take these one at a time. Thousands of Chinese engineers: How many of these touted foreign degrees aren’t worth the paper they’re written on? U.S. teachers serving in China find the schools riddled with favoritism for kids of party bosses. My engineer son works for a microchip maker that finds its Japan-educated engineers cannot match the U. S. hires.
Our kids surpassed in math: Typically these tests measure all our high school kids against the selected-out college-bound kids in other countries. In Germany at abt age 13 kids test into a college-bound track or not. My math professor friend says the Asian kids memorize well, but can’t compare to the U.S. educated when original thinking is required. Charter Schools Some of these may do well, but they are simply re-inventing the wheel. Public schools began as neighborhood-organized, local schools and grew into school districts. If these charters are required to teach all comers, teach English as a second language and have loaded on them all the bells & whistles we demand of public schools they’ll become . . . public schools.
Federal Tests & Funding No Child Left Behind created monster problems. Congress’ meddling generates thousands of wasted hours of duplicate testing time, teaching-to-the-tests and paperwork. One size does not fit all, the genius of federalism gives us local ingenuity and design for problem solving. “
A Generation at Risk” That same publically educated generation addressed in the infamous report of the US Office of Education, is now (still) producing far more patents than ten times its numbers of foreign inventors. U.S. worker productivity ranks us far above nearly every other economy or nation. It is too bad that President Reagan failed in his plan to dismantle the U.S. Office of Education. As for Mr. Florez, it would indeed be refreshing if he could once go behind his favorite cover phrase (global economy) and articulate some form of logical reasoning about it. He and others think entrepreneurial types like Bill Gates should design our schools. Did Bill Gates even go to college? His version of a well-rounded college grad is probably a Microsoft employee. And he’s supposed to be expert in public education? We’re far better off to stick to the business of investing in, supporting, and improving our existing public school system, continuing the local control and funding that has succeeded so well, and leaving the nay sayers to their own doom and gloom.
NOTE: Mr.Beus is the father of twelve children educated in Utah public schools

When fall is come as now . . .

JEWELER'S FROST

When fall is come as now I long for eagle wing
to soar aloft and search the woods below
for that first tree from whence the myriad colors spring
from tree to tree the harbingers of snow.

Perhaps with leaf from first- turned tree and jeweler's glass,
I might discover answers there to why
the cold-struck trees don brilliant hues the self-same night
the frost has brought the news the leaves must die.

Contentious world could use James’ age-old advice

“Be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath”

How many troubles we could avoid by heeding this counsel from the Apostle James. Husbands with wives, parents and children, neighbor and neighbor. In disagreements, planning our next remarks leaves no ear for words of the opponent. Helping a friend: Our advice so quick we can’t hear the nature of the problem – unaware that a good listener is half the solution.

The panelists on cable news may be entertaining – interrupting, contradicting, never listening. They bring two “experts” on opposite sides, they’re like two ships that pass in the night – barely enough running lights to notice there’s someone else there, let alone actually hear his views. Let us not imitate them, for their manners corrupt all communication.

Try a day’s resolution that you will not interrupt anyone all day, amazing how much discord is avoided. “Be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath”.

Amend the Constitution against babies?

So now Governor Herbert, the So Carolina Senator and others have joined the cry to amend the Constitution to bar US born children from citizenship – I guess unless their parents are citizens.? What a tiny portion of the flood of Latinos they so much fear this would affect. Couple that with the tremendously difficult task of amending: they would strain at gnat to swallow a camel.

Supposedly, crowds of pregnant women are swimming the Rio Grande to have their babies here. Poppycock! Blow away the smoke and there might be as many as a few hundred a year. This campaign against newborns sounds a lot like the haves against the have nots. No more “Give me your tired, your poor . . . .”

I’m glad the President Prays but . . .

The White House has given us a glimpse into the private worship of the President. “He is a Christian and prays daily.” I wonder, as Shakespeare had it, whether he “protesteth too much.” I hope not. A New York Times pundit writes Obama should go ahead and attend the church near the White House once to quiet people’s doubts he is Christian. But “Simply going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in the garage makes you an automobile.”

From what we can tell of Obama’s long-time attendance at the now infamous mega-church in Chicago, it supplied a lot more connections with community organizers and America-bashers than with God. His private worship is his own business. It’s nice to know he prays. But use of the fact as a PR announcement by the press secretary doesn’t go down well.

God and the Signers of the Constitution

We get a lot of noise about whether our founding fathers were Christians, Deists, Athiests, etc. John Adams was a devout believer in God and a strong defender of Chrisianity. Jefferson’s favorite quotation collection was made up of clippings from the New Testament. Franklin insisted on prayer in the constitutional convention because as he said, approximately: “If a sparrow cannot fall without His notice, then it is doubtful a nation can rise without His aid.” Washington did not pray in his extremities at Valley Forge because he thought with the Deists that God had no further interest in his people.

An ancient prophet Mormon in the Americas saw our day and wrote “the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts.” Does not the currently popular debunking of the founder’s beliefs in God fulfill his prophecy? Surveys of ministers and priests today report the majority do not believe in miracles anymore, do not believe Christ lives with a body of flesh and bone. As Paul wrote in the New Testament: “In the last days perilous times shall come.”

US Government doesn’t embezzle . . . does it?

Walter Williams’ column calls on elder citizens to abandon social security “entitlements” because they’re bankrupting the country. He claims the average retiree in 2000 gets back all he paid in within 20 & ½ yrs. Not so fast Mr. Williams – three gaps in your logic: 1) you’ve neglected the time value of the use of money, that is interest. We’re told the same funds randomly invested in the stock market would produce more return by retirement age than the social security benefits; 2) when the retiree and spouse (if any) die early the government keeps a windfall; 3) if a private company misused its pension reserves for other business, we call it fraud or embezzlement. Governments, however, aren’t held responsible. It was last decade’s Congress and President who promised that reserve – we new guys aren’t responsible. Besides we had to have the funds to offset against our deficit spending.

Will some things have to give in the tug between the generations? Maybe. But let’s not let Williams to pretend social security benefits are something for nothing – or even a fair return on amounts paid in. They're Not!

Don’t Blink . . Your Lights

My daughter Kate saw a Sandy police speed trap, and continued on, blinking her lights to warn oncoming drivers. So she gets stopped by one of Sandy’s finest who gives her a ticket (no, you didn’t guess it) failure to dim lights. A bright, sunshiny mid-day. So Kate pleads not guilty. I look up the city code which prescribes when lights must be on, then adds that at such times they must also be dimmed for oncoming vehicles. I’m just looking forward to the fun in court with the city prosecutor when Kate gets a notice: Case dismissed for lack of evidence. Of course it wasn’t lack of evidence but lack of law, lack of officer discipline, abuse of authority. I appreciate Sandy’s finest, but this one ought to be slapped upside the head. Do you have a tale like this to share?

Arlington Cemetery Crosses at Risk

So now these Tenth Circuit judges have found (or should we say invented) a so-called freedom of religion that forbids roadside crosses honoring Utah highway patrolmen lost in the line of duty. The next logical point of attack would be Arlington National Cemetery – which is just chock full of these offensive, religious symbols. And the cemetery doesn’t even have the defense that its crosses and their sites are privately funded. These ACLU folks will also want to blast off the facade of the U. S. Supreme Court the depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandmens.

Congress tell you how to tie your shoes? Absolutely!

The Commerce Clause of the Constitution is used by the Supreme Court to authorize Federal authority over airlines, interstate highways, and railroads – matters unknown at that time. The Constitution reserves to the states authority over matters not named for the Federal government. Court rulings have continually stretched the commerce clause far beyond obvious extensions – even to telling an Alabama restauranteur whom he must serve. Explained: Some of his foodstuffs came across state lines. Now Congress mandates health insurance, buys GM stock, etc. Not much reserving powers to the states. They need only five justices to agree and voila!, it’s all commerce clause stuff.

How you tie your shoes may undoubtedly be regulate-able because some of the materials in the laces (or the shoes) have come across state lines. There may be carcinogenic substances in the laces, or they might strangle a baby who gets tangled in them. So when you tie you shoes tomorrow morning, be grateful Congress hasn’t gotten there yet.

School for 3 and 4 yr olds? What are they thinking?

“People used to believe little babies were all just kind of blobs," according to Ms. Campbell –a leading advocate for schooling 3 and 4 yr olds. "Now there's so much more awareness that learning starts at the very beginning." Where in the world did Ms. Campbell get the “blob” idea? Has she ever been a mother? My mother, my grandmother, and their mothers before them knew very well that babies begin learning from birth, and even before, and are literally sponges soaking up knowledge of every kind imaginable.

The Israeli Kibbutzim reared by the community instead of their mothers, demonstrate damaging consequences to the child’s sense of family, of safety, and of belonging. No one else can teach with the ingenuity, love, and patience of a devoted mother. Not only would such schools be an utter waste of taxpayers’ money in budget crunching times; they would do serious harm to our children in deprivation of mother’s influence in early learning. It’s a Brave New World concept, leading towards the kind of amoral society portrayed in Huxley’s book of that name.

“Richer than me you could never be. I had a mother who read to me.”

Criminal Law Trend Aggravates Victims' Pain

A current fad in criminal law pushes “victim’s rights”, including victims appearing in tears at sentencing hearings, and before parole boards to bewail their loss. One lady whose famiy member was murdered bewailed her having to spend years at trials, sentencing, parole boards. Sad indeed. She could instead have been learning to forgive, so she could get on with her life.

By promoting this victim involvement, we promote a revenge factor in the criminal process. We lose sight of the great principles that it is the state’s, not the victim’s business to punish. More seriously, we lend credence to the view that it is almost a civic duty for the victim to pursue the criminal through the process to achieve something called “closure”.

How far more blessed is Corry Ten Boom’s forgiving, described in "The Hiding Place". She survived a Nazi prison camp and made presentations on forgiveness after the war. A man came up to thank her after one of her presentations and she recognized him as an SS guard who had perpetrated the atrocities that led to her sister’s death in Auschwitz. Corry could not bring herself to take the man’s proffered hand until she prayed God to give her strength to do so. Afterwards she felt a flood of relief through the prayer and forgiving process. Isn’t that why Christ taught, “Of you it is required to forgive all me” and “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”

Of course we seek restitution where available, but we must not invite victims to prolong, re-live, and renew their agony over and over again in the criminal process. We only exacerbate the original injury by doing this.

Beware Young Crusading Lawyers in Pinstripes

One such group -- Youth Law Center -- did immeasurable damage to Utah's children and Department of Child and Family Services by a lawsuit accusing the department of neglecting foster children. They bombarded the Court with half-baked allegations and statistics, got a trustee place over the department, and orders for rushed placing of children and hiring of social workers. The hurried hiring, training, and placing process burned out over half of the new workers who quit -- costing Utah millions then and after.

Amazingly, during this same time the national association of such agencies rated Utah's department one of the ten best in the nation. Watch out for these young lawyers-with-a-cause, who staff the so-called "public interest law firms" granted charity status by the IRS. Most share an acid, cynical view of our society -- reflected by such groups as ACLU activists, GreenPeace, PETA, and gay lesbian activists. these crusaders gain exciting trial experience and notoriety, do their damage, and then they mellow, grow temperate, and ride off into a law career elsewhere.

But the damage thy do, the contention they stir up, and the costs to society are immeasurable. Rue the day the government decided to subsidize them with charity IRC 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Let people with causes fund their own litigation, I say.

Amateur detectives – TV news channels

TV's 24/7 news channels (especialy FOX News) fill their hours playing amateur detective when they can't find any real news. Let a U.S. girl disappear in Aruba and Greta Van Susteren and her cohorts are on it in a flash -- for hours, daily. They know just whom the authorities should have detailned, what questions they should have asked, and where they should have looked. Do they do any harm? They do if you seriously watch this stuff. With media technology they can find, daily a murder, mysterious disappearance, or violent crime to tickle the appetite for the bizarre and the gruesome. Applying the editorial preference for spectacular bad news, they're like the newspaper's police blotter on steriods. Thank goodness your peace of mind and world view do not depend on FOX News or CNN. Their programming resembles that of the New York Times famous masthead phrase, with an added phrase: "All the news that's fit to print" . . . and a whole lot more that isn't.