Farandolae must deepen

Charles Wallace is dying because of a problem in his mitochondria. His sister and friends are inside his cells trying to save his life.

"When Sporos deepens, it means it comes of age. It means that it grows up. The temptation for farandola or for man or for star is to stay an immature pleasure seeker. When we seek our own pleasure as the ultimate good we place ourselves as the center of the universe. A fara or a man or a star has his place in the universe, but nothing created is the center. . .

The balance of life within Yadah is precarious. If Sporos and the others of his generation do not Deepen, the balance will be altered. If the farandolae refuse to Deepen, the song will be stilled and Charles Wallace will die. The Echthroi (the evil) will have won.

But a child, why is one small child so important?

It is the pattern through-out creation. One child, one man can swing the balance of history."

I finally found the quote I was looking for from the book, "A Wind in the Door," by Madeline L'Engle. I think that a similar thing is happening to our society. Men who are looking for good wives can't find them, and women who are looking for good men are also having a rough time. Too many young people are refusing to deepen. In the book it talks about the farandolae whirling laughing mocking and playing instead of deepening. They are searching for happiness in all the wrong places, when deepening would bring them happiness. With some, they want more education, want more fun, want more freedom, while those who long to deepen, to grow and progress are searching among the wild dancers for someone who also wants to deepen. But they won't find them there. I see the news and we glorify the whirlers and pleasure seekers and denigrade the deep ones. Madeline L'Engle also wrote the book "A Wrinkle in Time." Both are interesting and very thought provoking. Her last book, well, I didn't like that as much, she seemed to have lost her spiritual sense. But these are really good.

Temple Sealer

Hi, we visited mom this week-end. We had a great time, but she told me she had heard wrong, Uncle Larry will be a sealer in the Nauvoo temple, not the President. I still think that is great. I wonder if he is a sealer there, can he come home and still do sealings? I mean, would that be great or what. Course he probably would just do sealings in his home temple, probably can't do the traveling sealing stuff, but it is still cool. Sorry for the mis-information.

Safest States

I just read the list of the safest states for children. They list as safest those states that have the most laws to protect children. Now, I agree, there need to be laws, but I don't think laws guarantee child safety. Actually, nothing can guarantee that children will be safe. But outlawing swings and jungle gyms aren't going to guarantee safety. Allowing children to run and play and grow up without fear, that is my idea of safety. Making sure that adults act like adults is a more sure guarantee of safety. When children feel safe at home, when their needs are met and they don't have to fear a nut with a gun or a bomb. That is my idea of child safety. We can't wrap them in bubbles or isolate them, but we can give them the freedom to learn, and to work, and to play. Idaho was listed as #24 on the list. But I think it is a great place to raise kids. They learn to work, to use weapons responsibly, they have some freedom to run free and explore. And if someone came to school with a weapon, our kids likely know how to take him out and disarm him. To me, knowledge is freedom, not unenforceable laws that take away that freedom.

This is incorrect!

Guess what? Uncle Larry Ostler is going to be the new president of the Nauvoo Temple! That is what we hear anyway. Is that just really neat or what? I am really excited. I remember when I was just little that Uncle Larry and Aunt Dolly came at Christmas and I thought she was the most beautiful lady. She still is. We stayed with Uncle Larry's mom, Grandma Leah when Aunt Chrissy was born. Ahh memories of good times.

Some sane ideas on immigration

Dealing With Illegal Aliens, from a sane person’s point of view (non-politician)

We have millions of illegal aliens. Attempting to deport of all them would be a major waste of time, nearly impossible, and would hurt many industries.

Allowing them to stay defeats our laws and encourages more law breaking. It also could allow people to enter this country who are opposed to its principles and could possibly engender terrorism.

Solution:

1. Do not round up illegals and send them home.
2. Require all illegals, including infants and children, to be fingerprinted and eye-scanned. These identification measures will be used to verify their status while crossing the border, for entry into schools, clinics, employment, in the event of incarceration, and in any other circumstance where identify needs to be established.
3. Children born to illegals will not be give citizen status.
4. One illegal in each nuclear family which consists only of mother and or father and their offspring, of one generation must have a job. If the job is lost, the illegal must get another job in under six months. If the job is not obtained, the family must leave the country.
5. Illegals are not eligible for Social Security unless they have put into the system for a minimum of 20 years. This is double the citizen’s requirement, but they are not citizens.
6. Illegals are not eligible for medicare.
7. Illegals are recognized as citizens of a foreign country. As such, they are not afforded the same rights as citizens. They are to be treated respectfully and decently. But, if they choose not to obey the laws of this country, they, and their immediate family will be deported immediately.
8. Children of illegals, whether citizens by birth or not, will be expected to attend school. They will be expected to obey all rules, learn English, complete all required work, and act as visitors should act, with decorum, modesty and self-control. If these children cause trouble in school, the family will be deported. The only exception to this would be if the problem is caused due to serious harassment that has been documented with the local authorities.
9. Illegals can apply for citizenship just the same as anyone else. Once they have obtained citizenship, the rules governing Social Security and medicare will be enforce as if they were regular citizens and the time limit for Social Security will be applied as for a normal citizen.
10. Illegals must remember they are here as guests. They do not have the rights of citizens and just as most other countries, if they do not conduct themselves in a seemly manner, they, and their immediate family, will be required to leave.
11. Illegals must register when they move or change jobs. If they do not register within one month, they will deported unless they can prove that it was physically impossible for them to do so. When an illegal loses his job, he must report it immediately.
12. Employers who do not check the status of ALL workers will be subject to fines.
13. Regions must have clinics available for all people, illegal and citizens alike. These clinics would have rotating doctors who would be eligible for a tax break for volunteering.
14. Build a fence - all those entering the country must enter through a station that will have a fingerprint and eye-scanner. This should take seconds and protect our border agents.
15. Encourage American citizens to become bi-lingual by requiring foreign languages in school starting in kindergarten. (It is proven that languages can be acquired more easily before the age of 11) The purpose for this is to allow the children of citizens to be able to participate in the world community and know what others are saying. However, English should be the language of this country.

Lunar Eclipse

Did you all see the lunar eclipse tonight? It was so fantastic! It has been total for nearly an hour now, and the moon looks like a planet and it is so beautiful. The creations of God are so spectacular we can barely imagine it all. We have been studying stars and planets in Science and I had the students create their own solar system, but nothing is as beautiful as the real things. Oh, my, I am overwhelmed.

Taxes

There comes a time when the people of a country say, this is enough. Sure, there are many things we could do forcing other people to give us their money. Oh, we say, you earn a lot more than I do, why shouldn't you pay more than me in taxes. Should they pay more than us for groceries? Maybe rich people should have to pay $15.00 for a gallon of milk? No, fair is fair. There is a philosophy in our country that people, like Romney, are bad cause they make a lot of money. Yes, but he also employed a lot of people, he was a job creator. But even the Republicans saw him as a bad guy cause he made money. No, that is the American dream, to work hard and not be punished for your work. And if you happen to have the skills, dreams, and goals that allow you to make more money, should you be punished? Not if you do it morally, legally and ethically. I got this story from a friend. It is tongue in cheek, but I think we forget that the rich should be treated fairly too. And I hope if I ever achieve rich that I will be treated fairly. Enjoy the story.

TRADITIONAL VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008.