Now For The News

Tucson Weather Today

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While listening to a couple of old political hacks interacting with a young, attractive, long-legged, highly made-up young female news anchor, I heard one of the aging pundits proclaim about the American people: "They are not dangerously mad or demonstrably angry, it;s just that they suffer from an everlasting angst."

Of course I had no idea what that statement meant, if anything, and so, being the nosy- parker I am -- always -- I went online to inform and to further educate myself.

At one dictionary, here is what I found:

angst
noun
a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general.
informal:
a feeling of persistent worry about something trivial, as in, "my hair causes me angst".

Wikipedia says: "Angst means fear or anxiety."

After a short time of deep reflection, I decided that the conversation wasn't worth much to me, so I sat back down in my comfortable lounge chair, stretched out, relaxed with my feet up, and just continued to enjoy the sight of a brightly and tightly sheathed young female body with long  shapely, naked legs prominently displayed who smiled at me so often and so femininely fetchingly.

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This Is Who I Am

Politics Sucks

Tucson Weather Today

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Bloviate [blo'-vee-ayt]
verb

To use ornate and incomprehensible prose.
In American English, a Midwestern word for "to talk aimlessly and boastingly; to indulge in 'high falutin'" talk.

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Primary Elections

     

Tucson Weather Today

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"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people." 
--Virginia Woolf

Too many recorded political phone messages that talk on and on even though only the answering machine answered. I had more than fifteen of them yesterday. Enough to make me want to skip voting this year. They are all liars. They are all phonies. Every one of them.

But I will vote for some of the poseurs anyway.

Geez!

Note: A poseur is a person who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance,  sentiment, etc., other than his or her true one.

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Did You Know . . .?

Prostitutes in ancient Greece marked the soles of their sandals to imprint the message "follow me" on the ground to attract prospective customers.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1956 seven army ammunition trucks exploded in Cali, Colombia, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring thousands more.  The trucks were parked in downtown Cali overnight. Just after midnight, all seven trucks suddenly exploded in a quick chain reaction. A nearby rail station was demolished, as was an army barracks. Five hundred soldiers in the barracks lost their lives in an instant. A three-block area of the densely populated city was absolutely razed. Virtually every window within several miles shattered.

The president of Colombia, General Gustavo Pinilla, publicly charged that terrorists were to blame for the disaster, but no evidence was ever found that the explosion was deliberate. The cause of the explosions remains a mystery.

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WORD FOR TODAY

lucubration [loo-kyoo-BRAY-shun]
noun
1. laborious work, study, thought, etc., especially at night.
2. the result of such activity, as a learned speech or dissertation.
3. Often, lucubrations. any literary effort, especially of a pretentious or solemn nature.
4. a derisive reference to a pedantic, over-elaborate or muddled attempt to make a point.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

David William Duchovny

(born August 7, 1960)

David Duchovny is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fox Mulder on The X-Files and Hank Moody on Californication,

Margaret Emily "Maggie" Wheeler

(born August 7, 1961)

Maggie Wheeler is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the TV show Friends.

Wayne Eliot Knight

(born August 7, 1955)

Wayne Knight is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld and Officer Don Orville in 3rd Rock from the Sun. Knight's other roles include Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, Stan Podolak in Space Jam, Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2, Tantor in Tarzan, Zack Mallozzi in Rat Race, Mr. Blik in Catscratch, and Haskell Lutz in The Exes.

Abbie Cornish

(born 7 August 1982)

Abbie Cornish is an Australian actress known for her film and television roles, particularly her award-winning lead performance in 2004's Somersault, and internationally for her role as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star and her appearance as Sweet Pea in Sucker Punch.

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"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” 
--Albert Einstein

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

The Mystery Of Poetry

     

Tucson Weather Today

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At The Writer's Almanac there appeared a poem and a short bio of Robert Pinsky. I did not understand the poem and I do not agree with a quote of Pinsky's published therein.

Here is the quote:

He said: "I think that if an audience for any art is having a good time, they are willing to suspend the need for comprehension for a while -- that's part of the pleasure. [...] And if it doesn't sound good, it is boring even if we understand it. That's the trouble with a lot of boring art: you understand the stupid cop show, or the tedious sitcom gag, too soon and too completely. Same for the stupid middlebrow poem."

LINK

If anyone can explain either the poem, the quote, or both of them to me it would be appreciated.

If not, well... that's all right.



Politics!

Please excuse me for using such a detestable, distasteful, foul, frightful, ghastly, gross, gruesome, hateful, hideous, horrid, horrific, icky, loathsome, lousy, macabre, monstrous, nasty, nauseating, obnoxious, odious, offensive, outrageous, repellent, repugnant, revolting, rotten, scandalous, scuzzy, shameless, shocking, sleazy, stinking, vile, vulgar, yucky excuse for a word.

I believe it was Aristotle who said, "Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers." Well, that's the kind of thing I heard time and time again when I was growing up in rural Indiana; I heard, over and over again with only slight variations... "What we gotta do is git them dad-blamed lawyers and college perfessers out o' the guv'ment."

Even though I have said (written) before that I am going to start ignoring (stop watching) the TV and Internet National News about the disgusting machinations of government, I am now saying (writing) it again.

Watching the Sunday morning train wreck that is called 'the news' is the first thing I am going to address. Viewing them is a habit, and I have always heard that the best way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with another habit... a better habit. So, instead of sitting in my easy chair in front of the television set staring and cussing at the heavily made-up goons doing their best to persuade me that they are not lying to me, I intend to instead sit before my keyboard and write, write, write.

What's so bad about that?


Oh yes, by the way, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is being accused of government corruption, by members of his own party:

...one of the most notable additions to the 35-page bill was a $2.1 billion increase in funding for a dam under construction on the Kentucky-Illinois border, which just happens to be the home turf of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It has raised the alarm bells of conservatives, who have long complained about Republicans who spend heavily on their home states. One group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, immediately christened the dam project the “Kentucky Kickback.”

Read more

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Did You Know . . .?

 The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year  because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the  weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, October 21 in 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order transferring the brilliant rocket designer Wernher von Braun and his team from the U.S. Army to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Von Braun, the mastermind of the U.S. space program, had developed the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during World War II.

At Huntsville, Alabama von Braun oversaw construction of the large Saturn launch vehicles that kept the United States abreast of Soviet space achievements in the early and mid 1960s. In the late 1960s, von Braun's genius came to the fore in the space race, and the Soviets failed in their efforts to build intricate booster rockets of the type that put the first U.S. astronauts into a lunar orbit in 1968. Von Braun's Saturn rockets eventually took 27 Americans to the moon, 12 who walked on the lunar surface. Von Braun retired from NASA in 1972 and died five years later.

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WORD FOR TODAY

machination
noun
1. The act of plotting.
2. A crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Carrie Frances Fisher

(born October 21, 1956)

Carrie Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and performance artist. She is best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. She is also known for her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge and screenplay for a film of the same name, as well as her autobiographical one-woman play, Wishful Drinking, and the non-fiction book she based on it.

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu

(born October 21, 1949)

Benjamin Netanyahu is an Israeli politician and the current Prime Minister of Israel. He also currently serves as a member of the Knesset, the Chairman of the Likud party, Foreign Affairs Minister and Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs.

Joyce Randolph

(born October 21, 1924)

Joyce Randolph is an American actress, best known for playing Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners.

Will Estes

(born October 21, 1978)

Will Estes (born William Estes Nipper) is an American actor best known for his role as JJ Pryor, on the NBC drama American Dreams. In 2010, he joined the cast of Tom Selleck's CBS police drama Blue Bloods. In the series, he plays Jameson "Jamie" Reagan, a New York Police Department officer and the younger son of the police commissioner, played by Selleck.

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Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.
--Mark Twain

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Just Fell Off The Turnip Truck?

  
Tucson Weather Today

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Courage is being scared to death
. . .  and saddling up anyway.
--John Wayne


I have come to the conclusion that the phrase,'The fact of the matter is...' should be deleted from the speech of every politician, elected official, and former military big-wig that stoops to using it. All it is good for is that a speechifier can use it as a verbal pause for gaining time to mentally form the next easily recognized sound bite. It's a hackneyed and near meaningless term. I hate it.

Hate it!


I flipped on the TV at noon yesterday and saw a news clip of Joe Biden giving a speech, ranting and shouting about how he is 'sick and tired' of this and is sick and tired of that. Joe Biden says he is sick and tired of so many things. But he can't seem to do anything about any of those things.


We always hear so much about which political party has captured the Hispanic vote, the Womens' vote, the Black vote -- Why the splits and divisions? Why can't candidates just be satisfied with being honest and straightforward enough to win the hearts and minds of the majority of American voters? After all, that's how one should go about getting elected... right?

E pluribus unum, and all that jazz.


By the way, what exactly is a knee-jerk liberal? I am too lazy to thoroughly research it.

The dictionary defines a knee-jerk liberal thusly: "a person of strong liberal convictions who reacts predictably and emotionally to certain events."

That indicates to me that a knee-jerk liberal is a person who has made up his mind that he is absolutely right about his views on social issues and then closed that stubborn mind, and will not change it no matter how much and how many times his liberal efforts are proven wrong.

Something like that.

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My Newest Favorite Fruit Juice

Yum!

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TRIVIA

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 22 in 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI bill to provide financial aid to veterans returning from World War II. Upon signing the legislation, Roosevelt voiced his belief that ensuring veterans' employability was critical to a sound postwar economy.

In his speech at the signing of the bill, Roosevelt acknowledged the sacrifices of America's men and women in uniform and emphasized the moral responsibility of the American people not to let their veterans down once they returned to civilian life.

More details HERE

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WORD FOR TODAY

pestilence
noun
-  a deadly or virulent epidemic disease.
-  any epidemic outbreak of a deadly and highly infectious disease, such as the plague.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Meryl Streep
(born June 22, 1949)

Meryl Streep is an American actress who has worked in theater, television, and film. Streep made her professional stage debut in The Playboy of Seville (1971), before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season (1977).

In that same year, she made her film debut with Julia (1977). Both critical and commercial success came quickly with roles in The Deer Hunter (1978) and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and then has appeared in Sophie's Choice (1982), Out of Africa (1985), The Iron Lady (2011). In 2013, she will appear in the comedy drama film adaptation of Tracy Letts' play of the same name, August: Osage County with Julia Roberts.

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson
(born June 22, 1936)

Kris Kristofferson is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and film actor. He is known for such hits as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in forming the country music supergroup "The Highwaymen".

As an actor, Kristofferson appeared in Blume in Love, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Convoy, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Vigilante Force, A Star Is Born, Flashpoint, Heaven's Gate, The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, Millennium, Lone Star, Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, Payback, Planet of the Apes, Dolphin Tale, and was in Joyful Noise with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah.

Lindsay Jean Wagner
(born June 22, 1949)

Lindsay Wagner is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman (for which she won an Emmy Award), though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.

Freddie James Prinze
(June 22, 1954 - Jan. 29, 1977)

Freddie Prinze was an American actor and stand-up comedian. Prinze was the star of 1970s sitcom Chico and the Man. He was also the father of the actor Freddie Prinze, Jr.

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Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
--Albert Einstein

NASA TV

  

Somewhat Better Today . . .

 

Tucson Weather Today

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Our Representative in Congress:

A three minute video wherein Arizona representative Grijalva explains Why the Keystone pipeline is a bad idea.

LINK

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TRIVIA

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 4 in 1989 Chinese troops stormed through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States.

LINK

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WORD FOR TODAY

tantalize [TAN-til-lize]
Verb
-  Excite the senses or desires of (someone).
-  Torment with the sight or promise of something unobtainable.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Angelina Jolie

(born June 4, 1975)

 Angelina Jolie is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for her work with refugees as a Special Envoy and former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has often been cited as the world's "most beautiful" woman, a title for which she has received substantial media attention.

Noah Strausser Speer Wyle
(born June 4, 1971)

 Noah Wule is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his roles as Dr. John Carter in ER and as Tom Mason in Falling Skies. He has also played Steve Jobs in the 1999 docudrama Pirates of Silicon Valley, Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff in the cult hit Donnie Darko, and Flynn Carsen in The Librarian franchise. Wyle was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People magazine in 2001.

Ruth Westheimer
(born June 4, 1928)

Ruth Westheimer is an American sex therapist, media personality, and author best known as Dr. Ruth. The New York Times described her as a "Sorbonne-trained psychologist who became a kind of cultural icon in the 1980s.… She ushered in the new age of freer, franker talk about sex on radio and television—and was endlessly parodied for her limitless enthusiasm and for having an accent only a psychologist could have.

Bruce MacLeish Dern
(born June 4, 1936)

 Bruce Dern is an American actor. He frequently takes roles as a supporting character actor, often playing villains of unstable nature. Dern has appeared in more than 80 feature films, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work in Coming Home. Dern is the father of actress Laura Dern (1967) by his ex-wife Diane Ladd; married 1960–1969.

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Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.
--William E. Simon
    

The Rich Get Richer And . . .

Tucson Weather Today

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The divide between the HAVEs and the HAVE NOTs is said to be ever widening. There are wealthy citizens of several nations who have personal fortunes of millions and even billions of dollars. And there are many, many more people who live in almost unbelievable poverty with no hope of ever escaping it.

For the mos part, the rich posses power along with their great wealth, and they know how to use it and to hold onto it.

For the most part, the poor possess no power and little or no money, and would neither know how to use money and the power if they did obtain them, nor how to hold onto either of them. The Earth's total wealth will not be equitably redistributed.

The poor cannot do so, and the rich will not.

That's how things are and will continue to be.

Unless some unforeseen event should occur.

(extraterrestrial alien invasion, international biological pandemic, thermo-nuclear war, or sudden ultra-severe global warming)

Or an unlikely miracle happens and some GOD appears to set things aright.

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All the disingenuousness and downright lies in the form of misleading sound bites from bloated political speeches emanating from the candidates running for office in the upcoming election will change absolutely nothing for the better.

*Copied from Anthony Dauer, on Facebook

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WORD FOR TODAY


redistribute
verb
allocate, distribute, or apportion anew

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 BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 Annette Funicello

  Born Oct 22, 1942

Age: 70 years old.

Annette Joanne Funicello is an American actress and singer. Beginning her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve, Funicello rose to prominence as one of the most popular "Mouseketeers" on the original Mickey Mouse Club.

 As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess", as well as newly establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.

Personal Note:
 When I was a teenager back in the 1950s I was captivated by the young Mouseketeer known as Annette Funicello. In later years I would never miss any of her Beach Party movies. Remember the old song, Puppy Love?

Now, as a doddering old man, I am still mesmerized by the memories I have of Annette, and the fact that she, at 70, is still alive but caught in the clutches of Multiple Sclerosis.

There is a video, that when I first viewed it, struck me emotionally; it struck me HARD. I am a product of the mid-20th century, back when we were taught that "Men Don't Cry" -- but, when I watched the video, well ... well, that's enough about that.

LINK to video

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Curly Howard

Birthday: October 22, 1903
Date of Death Jan 18, 1952

Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz, better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine.

Curly is generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He is well known for his high-pitched voice, vocal expressions ("nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!", "woo-woo-woo!", "soitenly!" and barking like a dog), as well as his physical comedy, improvisations, and athleticism.

Christopher Lloyd

Born Oct 22, 1938
Age: 73 years old

Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. Among his best-known roles are Emmett "Doc" Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and its sequel Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi.

Jeff Goldblum

Born Oct 22, 1952
Age: 59 years old

Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day. He starred as Detective Zach Nichols for the eighth and ninth seasons of the USA Network's crime drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

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. . . man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.
--John F. Kennedy

Mormonism, Politics, And Insanity

Tucson Weather Today

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Question: What Is Mormonism?

Answer: The doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church based on the Book of Mormon.


The Latter Day Saint movement, including Mormonism, originated in the 1820s in western New York. Restored by Joseph Smith, Jr., the faith drew its first converts while Smith was dictating the text of the Book of Mormon.


This book described itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas, portraying them as believing Israelites, who had a belief in Christ many hundred years before his birth. Smith claimed that he translated over 500 pages in about 60 days, and that it was an ancient record translated "by the gift and power of God". During production of this work in mid-1829, Smith, his close associate Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers began baptizing new converts into the Christian primitivist church, formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ. Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day prophet.

The following Articles of Faith were taken from mormon.org:

13 Articles of Faith

1.
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.


Okay . . . but what is Faith?

According to Dictionary.com --

faith
noun
1. Strong or unshakable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

So, faith then is believing a thing without any logical reason for believing that thing.

How can I, a person who believes in logic, vote to put a candidate who professes to believe things without any logical reason for believing them into The White House as President of the United States of America?

And yet I suspect that voting for President Obama will merely help to continue the nation's current direction toward a government that will soon grow so big and so powerful that a future unscrupulous leader can (and will) be elected who then will turn that government into the most dangerous and unstoppable dictatorship the world has ever known.

And there will be no God The Holy Father to step in and miraculously intervene, no Mighty Moses to lead the oppressed people out of bondage into some glorious promised land.

There will be only Big Brother.

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WORD FOR TODAY

hallucinate
Verb
Experience a seemingly real perception of something not actually present, typically as a result of a mental disorder or of taking drugs.

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Faith: not wanting to know what is true.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

A Word About Politics . . . Ugh!

Tucson Weather Today

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George Will's Obamacare constitutionality column in Sunday Washington Post exposes some points that the Supreme Court just might take into consideration... or then again, it might not. It seems to me that these points are valid, and should not be ignored.

But that's just my opinion.


Bob Schieffer announced that starting next Sunday Face The Nation expands to a full hour.

'Ugh!'

And that's my last word on the subject of politics.

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Word For Today

maar
n. volcanic crater without a cone, usually filled by a lake.

The maar at Birkat Ram, the Golan Heights

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sarah Jessica Parker

Born March 25, 1965

On May 19, 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick
(May 19 is my birthday.)

Sarah Jessica Parker and spouse Matthew Broderick

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"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."
--Flannery O'Connor
Note:
I found the above quotation at The Writer's Almanac

Who Should I Vote For?

Who would believe that I, an avowed unbeliever, might stifle the nearly overwhelming urge to vomit and vote for a Mormon to be the Republican candidate for President of the United States in the Arizona primary?

Why would I do that?

Let's face it . . . I seem to have no better choice. Huntsman, Santorum, Perry? I don't think so. Ron Paul, the Libertarian? No. Newt? Hell no! I've read the literature on them all. Without intending too much disrespect, I find myself thinking: 'What a bunch of evangelical carnival-barkers.'

Again . . . why vote for Mitt Romney? Well, there are some things about him I like.

Here is one of those things:

According to Wikipedia Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts as a political outsider saying he was "not a partisan Republican" but rather a "moderate" with "progressive" views.

A moderate with progressive views. I like that.

Willard Mitt Romney

born March 12, 1947

Governor of Massachusetts

January 2, 2003 - January 4, 2007

At Wikipedia, I read some excerpts (supposedly) presenting Romney's views.

In a 1994 debate with Senator Ted Kennedy, in response to the question "If abortion is morally wrong, aren't you responsible for discouraging it?" -- Romney said:

One of the great things about our nation . . . is that we're each entitled to have strong personal beliefs, and we encourage other people to do the same. But as a nation, we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want and not to impose our beliefs on other people. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a US Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law, and the right of a woman to make that choice, and my personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of other people, should not be brought into a political campaign.

When Kennedy then accused him of being "multiple-choice," Romney replied:

I have my own beliefs, and those beliefs are very dear to me. One of them is that I do not impose my beliefs on other people. Many, many years ago, I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. It is since that time my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter.

Sincere?

Who knows?
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Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
--George Orwell

Still Hot In Tucson

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Tucson Weather Today

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Since I usually devote Sunday morning to watching the TV news shows, I did not do my fitness walk. Which is just fine because today is another extremely hot day here in Tucson. It is terribly difficult to differentiate between the bald-faced lies, the constant political evasions, and the downright obfuscation of the Democrats and those of the Republicans.

And I am not smart enough to see through and to discern exactly who is behind and responsible for the government charade that plays itself out on television time and time again.

So, why should I even try to make sense of it?

I should not.

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. . .

_____

. . .

__________

To paraphrase from the novel, 1984 --
If you want to know the future... picture
a foot stamping on a human face forever.

Death, Taxes, etc.

Politics.

Yuck . . .

How I despise those repetitively featured same-old faces of government officials I see on the TV. Time after time after time. The very sound of their professionally rehearsed oily-smooth voices on the radio brings a silent but ugly animal snarl to my lips.

That's my reaction to the media-borne representations of the existing thinly-disguised rule of Big Brother. The radio and television news departments spew forth daily a plethora of electronically transmitted public revelations and reminders of the workings of big government as they applaud this government's supposedly-paternal authority over the child-like dumb masses. Never-ending is this human struggle to gain and retain its Dominance Of Power.

But . . .

A new opposition website http;//www.onlinetaxrevolt.com opened its virtual doors yesterday.

It is an experiment that some believe could have profound repercussions for American life. Or it might (and probably will) fall flat. Who knows?

The opening paragraph of the website's "About Us" section states:

The first-ever Online Tax Revolt, a free, interactive march on Washington was launched using state of the art technology. Concerned Americans can have a voice on tax policy, culminating on April 15 with events in Washington, D.C."

This brand-new website will allow anyone who wishes to simply log in, select an avatar, and then follow the progress of this selected cyber-stand-in creature as it joins its group and marches toward Washington D.C. where an actual, real-time rally will be held on April 15, 2010.

The best of all worlds. You, a pissed-off citizen, can become an active, vocal, protesting marcher against the elitists oppressor, all those arrogant, stuck-up, rich-ass politician thugs...and you won't have to do a thing except sit at your computer and follow your avatar's progress on Google-Earth, and you don't even have to do that if you'd rather not. You can just follow the news as the media report on it.

Death And Taxes. The Inevitables.

There is a reason why I believe that elimination of the Income Tax and instituting The Fair Tax (or any other National Sales Tax) is a bad idea. Stated simply, my objection is that the Fair Tax if enacted into law would eventually become an 'additional' tax, because 'concerned' lawmakers will absolutely reinstate the present-day Income Tax (and still keep the Fair Tax) as soon as they can find a way to do it. And the public will then be paying double the present-day amount of taxes.

Politicians and Lawmakers are ALL unscrupulous manipulators. Such is the intuitive opinion of The Many.

Ah well . . .

Sandi drove me to the post office yesterday and I mailed out six boxes of books, 45 pounds in weight, and $30 was the total Media Mail fee. Not bad. They were the books I absolutely could not leave behind. I will be trying to sell the rest of the books that are still resting on my big shelf in a couple of weeks when I have my big yard sale.

I will be leaving Florida near the end of March and I still have not separated and packaged for shipping all of my "To Be Saved" photographs from those in my growing "Dispose Of These" pile.

Procrastination abides with me always.