Romney lost Florida

Ok, so I think it is dumb for one person to get all the delegates when the other person gets 31% compared to 36%. What an absolutely dumb idea! It means that 69% of the people are not represented at all. The only fair question is, would I think the same thing if Romney had the 36%? Yes, just it wouldn't make me so cross. I just think McCain is too liberal. We need a fair way to deal with illegal aliens. We need workers here in Idaho to help with the harvests. But they need to come in legally. I like Romney's ideas so much better than McCains. McCain is better than Hillary, especially on Iraq, but I like Romney's ideas better. Oh well, unless California and the next Super Tuesday come through, we are going to lose better ideas, more experience in the real world, and a man who can get things done in the real world, to a man who is a politician and a veteran. The veteran is good. I guess at this point we look for anything positive.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Sara just called to tell us that President Hinckley passed away today. That is sad and happy. He missed his wife so much and his body was just wearing out. We sure will miss his spirit, his smile, his sense of humor, and his words of wisdom. Isn't it odd, shouldn't the tv stop, shouldn't it devote every second to a prophet dying? Backwards world isn't it.

GOP debate in Florida

I didn't get to listen to the debate last night, but it was on the Internet at MSNBC and so I downloaded it and listened. It was great. There was no sniping, no rudeness, just a good debate. The candidates answered the questions, you knew where they stood on the issues, and it sounded presidential. I think we have gotten so accustomed to the "reality" shows and the Jerry Springer mentality, that we think we need it. But it brings out the worst in people. I really enjoyed this one. It was educational, not sensational.

Social Security

Hi, I got this today, shouldn't be hard to research and see if this is true.

Your Social Security

Just in case some of you young whipper-snappers (& some older ones) didn't know this. It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what's what .and it doesn't matter whether you are Democrat of Republican. Facts are
Facts!!!

Our Social Security

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary,

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program.

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from
Their income for tax purposes each year,

4.) That the money the participants put into the Independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the
General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.


Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are Now receiving a Social Security check every month – And then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to "put away" -- you may be interested in the following:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the Independent "Trust Fund" and put it into the
General fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the
Senate, while he was Vice President of the US
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving Annuity payments to immigrants?
AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right!

Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65,
Began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them,
Even though they never paid a dime into it!
---------------------------------------- ------------------------------
Then, after violating the original contra ct (FICA), the Democrats turn
around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social
Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of Awareness will be planted and maybe changes will
Evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully Sure of what isn't so.

But it's worth a try. How many people can YOU send this to?
Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.

Checking candidates issues

Hi, if you want to look up the candidates issues, go on-line and google the name of the candidate. On the page there should be a link called Issues. Just check it out. You will see the things that the candidates think, or at least what they say they think.

January 19, 2008 Bountiful Temple

Don't they look great? It was such a beautiful ceremony. Such a gentle spirit and so much joy was in the room. What a great day. And just to make it a little more special, today was Grandma Olivia Katharine Magaro Williamson' s 100th birthday! Sorry we couldn't come to the dinner, but I hope all went wonderfully.

I got a letter from Ben

Hi, I got a letter from Ben. There was one part I thought was very enlightening that I wanted to share. He said "Our mistakes don't make us bad people, they are simply bad choices. the part that determines our destiny is whether or not we learn from them and change course or ignore the consequences." I thought that was so insightful and that you might see his growth.

Need information for Family History

Hi, I am trying to catch my family history information up to match with reality. I do not have a lot of information. If we can get out of the valley to get to the wedding tomorrow I will be trying to get births, places, years full names, etc. I have the birthdates for the calendar, but I have very few years and places. So if you could either e-mail them to me, or be ready for my questions, I would surely appreciate it. Thanks so much

Check out the candidates

I think it would be a really good idea to read all of the candidates issues statements. I am reading Mitt Romney's and I agree with everything I have read so far. I still need to read the other candidates issue statements. But, isn't it silly to say we like one candidate more than another, when we don't know what he plans to do. Huckabee is funny, Ron Paul has some interesting ideas, Fred Thompson seems like a good guy, but what are their plans for America? What are their plans for the world? And which of them has the ability to carry out their plans? I think it is time to start studying.

Romney who?

Currently Mitt Romney has more delegates than any other Republican. He has taken first twice and second twice. Yet when Glen Beck mentioned there was one Republican who had done that, the other guest had no idea who he was talking about. The media just ignores that Mitt Romney is far ahead of the pack. All we hear about is McCain and Huckabee. I am curious, if Mitt actually wins, do you think the media would start talking about him?

Lasiks

I just got back from a long week-end. Daniel just had lasik surgery (is that how you spell it) As soon as he came out of the office he read a sign clear across the parking lot. They have a tv screen so you can watch the surgery, it is kind of spooky, but it takes no time at all. We spent the night at Gran's. Then they checked his eyes again in the morning and I drove him back. It is amazing watching the process. They use these hooks to anchor the eyes open and then the drop lots of liquid in and and then do the radiation part and then clean the eye, scrub it, and then put cold water in. Daniel said that was the worst part, really cold. Then he has to put one kind of drops in every 20 minutes and three other drops in every four hours. He has to wear sunglasses outside for the next 6 months. It is amazing. Sara drove back home with us so she could take him home. That was nice of her to give up her night to help take care of her big brother.

A funny side note. As soon as they started, my eyes started aching and even now, 32 hours later, they still hurt! Mom's sympathy pains!

Did you read about the mean mom?

There is a story on the news service about the meanest mom. She gave her son a car at Thanksgiving, there were two rules, keep it locked and no booze. A summary of the ad says, Car for sale cause the snoopiest meanest mom in the world who needs to get a life is selling her son's car cause there was booze in it.

I love this story, but I think it is kind of sad that it is a news item. Shouldn't that just be normal, that parents set a rule, and when it is broken, they enforce the consequences? Think of the lives that would be saved if parents quit looking the other way and actually followed through. My mom used to say, "Don't threaten a kid with something unless you plan to carry out your threat." I think that is true, but we hate hurting their feelings, or we decide it was too harsh. Is it likely this mom just saved her son's life?

Prison in Littlefield Texas

48 prisoners are being released from the Prison in Littlefield Texas and brought back to Idaho - this is a small percent of the 375 Idaho prisoners held there. Idaho needs to get with it and bring all of their prisoners home. Idaho works hard to rehabilitate their inmates. Texas is just a paid overseer. I am sure they mean well, but Idaho wants these prisoners helped and integrated back into society. We need to get them all home. There are more than 500 Idaho inmates in Oklahoma and Texas. I think it is easier to rehabilitate people when their families are close enough to visit and that isn't going to happen when the prisoners are in Texas. People need to pay for their crimes, but the hope is to help them improve.

New Hampshire

I thought it was interesting that the media, while discussing the Republicans, said Huckabee and McCain have a chance while totally ignoring Romney's 2nd place finish twice. But, with Edwards coming in 3rd twice, the media said he still has a chance. Nice to know the media is not biased.

An interesting parable

A Modern Parable:

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River . Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India ..

Sadly, The End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages. TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WASN'T SO SAD IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

The Election

The question is, do we just vote for political celibreties? I mean, the media tells us who is most popular, and then we believe them. I don't think that is constitutional. There has to be a way to check out some of these politicians who are not of "favored media status."

Ok I think this is it

Hope you all enjoy this, let me know

Bear Lake Monsters

Hi, this blog is for our family, hope you visit and see what everyone is up to.