Indivisibility of Liberty

Why do Republicans and so-called "conservatives" end up doing the same things that "liberals" do? Why would a "conservative" like George Bush the lesser ignore his principles in order to save them? He did this with the bailouts for Wall Street lenders.  I'll tell you why. It's because people like to divide liberty.

"Conservatives" like certain parts of liberty, such as keeping their money for themselves. "Liberals" claim to like certain parts of liberty, I guess. (I can't think of an example right now.)  I guess we do the same thing in our personal lives. We cling to our favorite parts of what goodness God has given to the world.  Some people are really interested in one part of the gospel, and some in another.

In politics, since the people we elect divide liberty by claiming to prize some parts of liberty while denying it to others, the door is wide open to deny all parts of liberty to everybody.  That's why W the lesser's actions are not much different than Clinton's. 

The only one who would maximize liberty for everybody is Ron Paul.  He understands that the same government that has the power to draft young men and wage war willy nilly (that is, without Congressional approval or declaration) has the power to deny you the freedom to worship.  Once we open the door for government to do good things, we give it the power to do bad things.  That's why men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson wanted to minimize government power and maximize individual liberty.

You cannot claim to love freedom and hate Ron Paul.

Making 400

I was listening to the Dave Ramsay show one time and one caller stands out in my mind.  He said that his wife was making 50K per year and he was "making" $400.00 per week from unemployment benefits.  Yes, he used the work "making."  Why is someone whose spouse is making 50K drawing unemployment benefits?

Gell-O-Milk Recipe

This is one of the recipes I have scrounged up over the years.  99% of them are not very good, but this one is alright.  Simply pour a couple of teaspoons of flavored, dry, gellatin powder (Jello-O will do) into a tiny ice cream bowl. Do not add water. Add at least as much powdered milk if not a little bit more.  Have a glass of milk ready at your side. The glass of milk should be no more than three inches tall.

Mix the two powders. Take a small spoonful of mixed powder and put it in your mouth. Then, holding the milk glass with your thumb and index finger with the remaining three fingers fanned out, take a sip of milk.  Swish around in your mouth before swallowing.  It's every dairy-lover's dream: Gell-O-Milk.

Don't Save the Unbrave (Politics)

I've read just a little bit about the Korean War.  It seems that when the North attacked the South, Truman sent a small force immediately to try to slow down the march of the North.  A man by the name of Colonel Smith was in charge on the  ground.  He commandeered some buses to transport the men Northward to make a stand against the North Koreans. The bus drivers, according to the account, after some arguing, left the buses because they did not want to drive toward the war. 

The lesson we learn is this.  If this ever happens, it should be a giant red flag to all Americans to get out of that country and let the people of that country get what they deserve--a dictatorship.  Why should I care whether cowards live under Communism or not?  So to the 30 thousand Americans dead and 140 thousand dead and wounded I say, "Sorry, but you died for nothing."

Wife Mom Tribute

Theresa is a good masseuse.  I wear glasses, and those can put some pressure on the ears.  It sure feels great when she massages my ears. Thanks, Theresa.

Mother's Day Tribute 4

My mom made me feel like I could ask her or talk about anything.  Thanks, mom.

The Black Boots (Army story)

The second phase every (I think every) enlistee goes through is called Advanced Individual Training (AIT).  I was at AIT when I saw soldiers wearing a different kind of boot, a kind that didn't have to be polished!  This was amazing to me, that the Army would issue a type of boot that didn't have to  be polished.

The drill sergeants of our platoon (Haack and Ingallinera) must have heard that some of their soldiers wanted the new boot, or were perhaps envious of soldiers who had the new no-polish boots.  One day, Ingallinera stood in front of the platoon and lectured us about how lucky we should feel that we had the old had-to-polish boot since it made us stand out from the crowd. 

Needless to say, it was not a persuasive argument.  In any case, everyone at Fort Stewart was later issued a non-polish desert-colored pair of boots.  I guess even the Army disagreed with you, Mr. Inagallinera. Cheerio!

Mom Tribute 3

My mom was extraordinarily dedicated.  In fact, she was surprised when she came home one day to find me walking because she never let me out of her arms when I was a baby.  Did I sleep with you too?

Mother's Day Tribute 2

I remember my mom bringing home a plate of food for me from church activities.  I was busy being self-absorbed, which is why I usually would not go to activities, so it was extra charitable of her to do it.  At the very least she would bring home sweet goodies.  I always thought that was very thoughtful and nice. Thanks, mom.

Mother's Day Tribute 1

One of the things I distinctly remember (and my remembering is really saying something) is my mother teaching me about stranger danger.  She wanted to protect her children.  She drummed into me that I should never let anybody touch me inappropriately, or let myself get lured into anybody's car.  In the case of being left at home by ourselves, she would say, "Don't open the door to anybody, even the three Nephites!"  I remember her lessons to this day, and have (I believe I have and am continuing to do) passed them on to the next generation.  It's a jungle out there, and this world cannot have too many moms who want to protect their children from predators.  Thanks, mom.

Gordon Ramsay's Quandary

As you may know on the show "Kitchen Nightmares," the same thing happens every episode, with just the people changed and location changed. First, Gordon walks supposedly unannounced into the failing restaurant. Then he orders several dishes and criticizes each one as he tastes. 99% of the time, each dish tastes horrible.

I've wondered what would happen to the format of the show if he tasted a dish that tasted good.  Gordon might say, "Wow, this is actually good. Hey Joe [the editor], we'll have to take that last comment out, got it?  OK. Turn off the camera, I have to talk to the chef."  Then Chef Ramsay might walk to the kitchen and tell the chef, "That dish actually tasted good. You need to make something that looks and tastes like pig slop, ok? I'll rip it apart, then you get offended, ok? Got it? OK. Let's try again."

Saturday Is My Day

When I was on my mission in Hannover, Germany, we were invited to dinner to the bishop's house. Remarkabley, I still remember the bishop's name--Bischoff Gaedeke.

Anyway, there were four missionaries assigned to the ward in Hannover, so there were four of us at his house.  I guess we had overstayed our welcome, because when one of us (not I) offered to give a spiritual thought (a little mini-devotional as most missionaries traditionally give after supper), he said, "No.  Sunday is the Lord's day and Saturday is mine."  I know I was somewhat shocked and I think the others were too. I find it quite humorous today.

A Soldier in Debt to his Country

I remember something that happened just before I deployed to Iraq in 2005.  I think it's kind of funny.

Whenever troops deploy, there's a small group that goes first. They set up stuff, I guess. I never volunteered for that group since I wanted to stay as long as possible with my family.  One soldier, whom I'll call Sergeant Wilson, did volunteer. He also had a family, but volunteered anyway.  He was that dedicated, I guess. Actually, he got promoted to sergeant while deployed, so  he was Specialist Wilson before he left from Fort Stewart, Georgia.  He was definitely a kiss-up and perhaps this was part of his strategy to get promoted.

Anyway, one day our little platoon office got a phone call.  Actually, it was  a walled-off section of a trailer, a cubicle. Each platoon had its cubicle within this trailer.  There was a small conference room and of course offices for the first sergeant and captain (company commander).  The cubicle was about 15 feet long and maybe 5 feet wide. There were only three walls. 

Anyway, I remember being in our platoon cubicle with the platoon sergeant (an E-6).  The phone rang, and-- I'll call him Sergeant Penn--answered the phone. I could tell from his body language and words that a creditor was on the phone.  I heard Sergeant Penn say, "He's in Iraq," sort of huffily and indignantly, as though to say, "How could you be asking for money while this person, who is 100 times more patriotic than you, is serving his country and risking his life for you?"  Penn (as most soldiers do) pronounced Iraq like "eye-rack" as opposed to "ee-rock."  I do wonder what Penn would have said had the creditor said "Well, sir, just because he's in Iraq doesn't mean we're not going to get 'im."  Perhaps the creditor had a snarly countenance, was dressed in a suit, and had beady eyes.  I imagine Penn would have grown red in the face, perhaps dropped the f-bomb, and hung up the phone.  Too bad, for entertainment purposes and a great story, it never got that far.

Speech Santorum would have given had he been honest

My fellow Americans,

I bow out of this race. I want you to think I'm being noble somehow because of my sick daughter, but I'm not quitting the race because of her.  Rather, the polling in my home state of Pennsylvania is too close to call. If I lose my home state, my political career is ruined. If I drop out now, I can run again in four years.

Mitt Romney will probably lose to Barack Obama, and in four years I'll be able to run for the Republican nomination.  You Republicans have a history of nominating the previous loser--John McCain lost to Bush, and Romney lost to McCain.  Reagan lost to Gerald Ford. So I hope Romney loses to Obama.

Another reason I'm quitting is Romney and I don't differ much on the issues. We're basically the same: we both want to spread our ideas through the force of arms, hysterically react to a podunk country like Iran, and search for monsters to destroy throughout the world. We're both big government conservatives.

My First Vote

Somebody actually voted for me today.  I nominated myself to be a state delegate and somebody actually voted for me. 

I gave a speech before the voting began. I said something like, "I'm Mario Thompson and I'm voting for a Ron Paul delegate because he's the only one who will stop the undeclared, pre-emptive, un-Christian wars!"
That's all I said.

Somebody actually voted for me today.  I nominated myself to be a state delegate and somebody actually voted for me. 

I gave a speech before the voting began. I said something like, "I'm Mario Thompson and I'm voting for a Ron Paul delegate because he's the only one who will stop the undeclared, pre-emptive, un-Christian wars!"
That's all I said.

There were about 90 people there in the room of Dixon Middle School.  Many were quite old.  Most were predictable Republicans, but there, I would roughly estimate, about 5 Ron Paul Republicans. I did form the opinion that only one person per family should represent each family.  I believe this because many people have small children. It's more difficult, although not impossible, to attend a caucus for them than it is for an middle-aged or elderly person.  I also believe having a simple primary, as opposed to a caucus, would be a good option.  Anyway, I understand now why, until the 19th amendment, only men could vote in many states--they were representing their families.  I believe this is more fair than our present system of suffrage if you're in a caucus state.

I don't know if I'll ever go to another Republican caucus meeting anyway. It's so pathetic. A young mother actually stayed until the end, with her infant, until around 11 p.m.  I assume she stayed to support a pathetic Republican like Romney.  Can you imagine making your infant stay uncomfortably out of bed just so you could support a Romney Republican?  I can't believe anybody feels strongly about him as a presidential candidate.  About half the caucus-goers were members of the Pioneer 1st Ward (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), which means my precinct is apathetic, that people who do not belong to the Church are the worst sort of apathetic American citizens if they are willing to let others choose delegates for them.  Maybe I err. Maybe they're all Democrats and they all attended that caucus.  It could have happened.