Joy

Some commandments are easier than others.  

 9 And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.
 10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;

Perfection is intimidating, but joy is not.

The Boy Scouts of America recently changed their policy.  This is their statement:

 "Boy Scouts of America's National Council approved a resolution to remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone. The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting."

This is one of the strongest moral statements out there so I don't understand the fuss about the change.  This new policy eliminates any questions related to homosexuals behavior related to the young men.  Kicking someone out of scouts must be awkward.
Is there a better plan?

Roof top solar is a scam

There is an argument in Arizona over solar power because the utilities are losing money due to a scam created by government subsidy on roof panels.  The latest shot fired in the new solar war is that solar power customers will be required to pay a monthly service fee.  It is currently set by regulators at $5.   This is far lower than the $50 fee the utility wanted but it is sure to cause problems because it establishes an additional fee for solar customers.   That will place a damper on the new solar panel fad.  This new action will not solve the problem, which is caused by government action in the first place.  The utility is forced to pay customers for electricity generated by their solar panels, sometimes at a rate higher than the utility supplies to the customer.  This electricity costs more than the electricity that the utility can generate on its own.  Why would the utility buy it?  They have no choice.  The utility must pay because power generated from solar is considered such a good idea that people prefer it over free market principles.  It is so preferable to some that they also offer a subsidy to have the panels installed on houses.   Where does the money come from?  From the government.  And the government has a great source of money.   All of us.   We the people pay for some select people to get a subsidized product for their personal use.  But better than that, this product generates electricity which we get to pay for because the utility passes on the cost of the specially generated, high cost electricity to all of us.  What a scam, and your friendly neighbors are not helping.  I can't blame them I guess, it is the American way to try to get a great deal.  Just remember that if solar panels were such a good idea then they wouldn't need subsidies.  People are buying them only because the government has skewed the market.  The utility is trying to fight back but they will lose because solar power is more important than principle.


Additional facts:
1. Those that buy solar panels are still dependent on the utility because the panels will not meet all of their needs.  For example, you could not run A/C and a washer and microwave at the same time off the panels.
2. Solar panels are less efficient at generating electricity than power plants.
3. Solar panels are not as "green" as you think.  While it is true that electricity is produced by photovoltaics without carbon dioxide emissions, it takes a lot of energy to create a solar panel in the first place.  This process uses fossil fuels and generates carbon dioxide (not that there is anything wrong with that).  Some estimates are that it takes 4 years in the sun for the total output to equal the energy put into making the cell.  Average cell life is 20 years.  

FDA bans trans-fats?

The FDA does not understand its purpose.  The goal of the food and drug administration was to protect consumers from fraud in terms of medications and from food-bourne illness caused by bad handling practices.  I actually disagree with that being a federal problem.  That can be handled by states and the feds have no authority there.  However, let's leave that alone for now because I want to make another point.  Again, the purpose of the FDA has gone astray.  The FDA is banning trans-fat.  Didn't New York City ban transfat?  Has anyone noticed?  Everyone is living longer, right?.

Here is the article that made the yahoo news page.  It is a stupid article that I don't really recommend reading (but I felt like providing a reference).  This is the website for the history of the FDA.  FDA has been around for a hundred years in different forms.    But notice the new motto for the FDA on their website.    "Protecting and Promoting your health."  Sound nice?  Actually I think it is really scary, especially in light of the recent obamacare nightmare.  That motto is a long way from the 1906 Pure Foods and Drug Act.  How far can this idea be stretched?  What is the limit of protecting and promoting my health?  What if I choose not to have my health protected and promoted?  Do I still have that liberty?  The treatment of smokers as criminals will show that many people think health is more important than liberty.  I disagree.

   LIBERTY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HEALTH.

You may only implement your socialist schemes for health as long as they do not infringe on my liberties.  Transfats are a good example.   The FDA could point out that doctors think they are unhealthy.  That might be helpful.  Information and education is good.  Discussion of effects and benefits is a good debate.  Banning?  When did they get the power to ban substances because they didn't like them.   Oreos are legal.  It is just a cookie.  I freely give my money to Nabisco.  I know that an orange is better for me.  Shut up.  I like to hold Oreos under the milk until the bubbles stop.  Thanks for the advice but you can pack up your nanny-state and go away.  The government has no permission to interfere in my health.  That is my choice.

10 People I want to meet

Who are the ten people I want to meet?
Not sure, there are several but I guess I should think more about what has influenced me.  Not in order

1. CS Lewis
2. Uncle Chick
3. JRR Tolkien
4. Frederic Bastiat
5. George Washington
6. Benjamin Franklin
7. Nicolai Tesla
8. Winston Churchill
9. Joshua Chamberlin
10. Paul of Tarsus

My Favorite Hymn

We had some confusion at church this morning.  Bishop was gone and so there were no speakers.  Whit called some members from the congregation to share their favorite hymn and then we sang them.  I thought of what hymns I like.   There are several I love, but here is one of them.  It represents a daily testimony and yearning for hope.

Abide With Me!, LDS hymn #166

I often think of the second verse:

2. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day.

Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away.

Change and decay in all around I see;

O thou who changest not, abide with me!

I am a mechanical engineer and work mostly with mining professionally. It is a rough environment. We spend a lot of time figuring out how to make equipment survive.  Constant wear and chemical attack take their toll and shorten the life of everything.  Even non-moving parts will corrode.

At home I have five boys and they are pretty rough on things.  I've glued plates, patched walls, fixed iPods and just thrown things away that I couldn't fix.  And my knee hurts.

Everything I deal with daily tells me that the world will die and grind itself to dust.  But there is more to life than what I learned at work and college.  There is a renewing power not available to textbook physics.  I know that God lives and has a plan for his children.  He comforts me during hard times of life and we will live with Him again in joy.

Tithing

In our sunday school lesson we talked about tithing.  The teacher asked if everyone knew what tithing was.  Everyone said they understood that it was to pay 10% to the church.  Since that was covered the teacher, my friend Brian, asked what experiences people had with tithing and what stories they could share.  I normally keep my mouth shut.  But I tried to attempt to endeavor to share a story.  Not mine, but I share again without permission.  Somethings are a challenge and others are not.  I never have a hard time paying 10 percent of my money to the church.  My dad said once that he was promised that if he paid his tithing he would always be able to provide for his family.  It worked for the most part.  We never lacked for anything.  I understood from a young age that there were always people that had more money than us.  It seemed logical that I would get a fraction of what others kids did because they had a small family to buy for.  Simple math.  We moved a lot, however, and I ended up going to several different elementary schools as my dad chased work in mining.  For various reasons he had to change jobs.  During at least one period that I recall he was out of work for some time.  Things were bad enough that I noticed.  We had some food given to us.  (I was not thankful for the nasty grape juice.)  My dad earned some money and paid tithing on it which made no sense.  If we were receiving help then why pay tithing?  It didn't make sense to pass the money around and get it back.  But he said that the rule is followed regardless of the amount and circumstances.   I recall thinking he was silly, I always had the highest respect but not always understanding.  It is hard to explain what I thought and I didn't do it well in class and won't try here either.  It was a long time ago and I don't think registered in conscious thought but this is what came of it.  I wondered where he had failed to live up to the reward of providing for us. If people had to give us food then something in the promise was broken.  I don't recall my dad struggling with that dilemma, but I think I did.  Perhaps I had to see the demonstration in order to learn.  I learned that he paid tithing anyway.  I observed that he didn't lose faith in a trial.   That a promised blessing delayed or temporarily removed is not a lie but a challenge and growth opportunity.  Brian came to my rescue since I couldn't wrap up the story.  His comment was that sometimes a parent is given a challenge in order to demonstrate to the children how to overcome it.  That nailed it.  I never had a problem with tithing because I saw my dad deal with it when I was 10 years old.  It was the right thing to do and I adopted it without much thought.  I hope to receive the same promised blessings, even though I ended up in mining too.