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"Due to mechanical problems, your flight has been delayed"

I took this photo in El Mirage, CA. There's an airplane junkyard. Occasionally, there is a limo out front with Hollywood types looking for parts.

A Mormon in the White House?

I just finished listening to the audio book "A Mormon in the White House?" by Hugh Hewitt. This book was written during the primaries last year, but is still relevant today.

First, Mitt Romney is amazing. I wish his reputation as "Mr. Turnaround" would have been fully exposed during the election. I don't know anyone that I would trust more with our our current problems than Mitt Romney. I also was surprised to find out how "Constitutional" he is.

Second, I was surprised by the discovery by the author that the biggest issue with having a Mormon in the White House is because it is "just weird". Even though most everyone knows a Mormon that they respect and people consider Mormon's to be good neighbors, a belief that Joseph Smith saw angels and found a golden book is supposedly too much to take for any rational, thinking person. Here's my response:

First, any rational, thinking person cannot deny the decay in morals, ethics and principles and general lack of integrity in our society. How can we restore or build these values in the character of the American people?

Why are Mormon's considered "good neighbors"?

• No drunken parties next door (Mormons don't drink alcohol or smoke)
  
• Your wife and children are safe (Mormons only have sex with their spouse, avoid pornography and R-rated movies)
  
• They are charitable neighbors (Mormons are used to giving as they pay a tithing or 10% of their income)
  
• They are kind, considerate neighbors (Mormons are taught to be Christ-like)
  

What does it take to get people to behave out of the norm like this? A belief in something amazing such as a belief that God lives, cares about us and cares who we are as people. That's what the Joseph Smith narrative gives us. If the fruit is good, don't cut down the tree.

Dogs will eat crumbs that fall from the table

The announcement recently by Gov. Schwarzenegger that he plans on cutting welfare to help balance the budget reminded me of a couple of personal stories.

First, I have been a recipient of California welfare in the past. Our daughter was born premature and the hospital bills exceeded our insurance coverage. I was in graduate school with limited income. Humbled, I went to the welfare office for help. I thought, "I don't belong here!". I told the case worker that I was embarrassed to be asking for a handout. She gave me great encouragement by telling me that it the system was designed for people like me and that I would most likely contribute more back to the system than I ever took.

The second story shows the other side of welfare. I had a home teaching assignment to visit a married couple from church. They lived in a humble house. The husband's hobby was toy trains and had an entire room dedicated to his trains and tracks. The wife's hobby was her dog Rachel. During one visit, they told me that things were tight financially. I said that I would talk to the Bishop, who has resources available (funds, food orders, etc.). I spoke to our Bishop and he told me he was aware of their need, but until the husband stopped spending money on trains, he wouldn't be helping.

A few months later, I visited and the husband was fuming mad! They were going to get evicted from their house. I was shocked to find out why. For the last 8-10 years, her father (his father-in-law) had been paying their rent and now refused to pay it anymore. They were being denied benefits that they had grown accustomed to. I did the math and figured that this rent subsidy was about $70,000. I tried to explain that he really should be thankful for the help that they had received. Not a easy message for an angry man.

After they were evicted, I got a phone call from the wife. She was now living with her dad and her husband was living with his mom. I commented that it must be hard to be separated from your spouse and asked why it wasn't possible for them to be together. Her comment floored me! There wasn't room for her husband and Rachel (remember, Rachel was her dog). I'm sure Rachel appreciated free housing.

The title of this blog refers to the story of the "woman of Canaan" in Matthew 15:21-28. Her humble reply to Jesus impressed him.

As services provided by the state of California are cut, there will surely be many who suffer, people that truly could have benefited like my family did. I hope and pray that those who are left helpless can find relief.

Push back and Obama in Egypt

I know that I've been critical of Pres. Obama but I just listened to his speech in Cairo, Egypt (today) and I have to admit that I agree with most of what he said (I still disagree with his domestic policies).

I remember my mom telling me once, "Ron, you've always been a peacemaker. Even when you were little, you would come home upset because the neighbors were treating their dog poorly." Yes, I'm a pacifist and I'm proud of it.

For those who prefer strength and force to the apparent weakness of pacifism, here's something to think about. I read once about a study done related to "pushing back". It involves two people. One person presses their fist lightly in the arm, chest or stomach of the second. The second person presses back with what they felt was the same force. Continue this back and forth and soon the two will be punching each other hard. (The study actually used sensitive digital sensors for this).

You can try this experiment with a friend, or if you are smart like me you try it with your two teenage sons so they can learn the lesson.

The point is that retaliation is always at least perceived as worse than the initial offense. This principle I thought was well addressed by Obama's speech writers.

A final word on pacifism: I think it shows tremendous strength to restrain oneself and to not overreact.

Unofficial FDR Poll and Surprising Results

Recently there has been comparison's between Obama and FDR[1]
and I've heard conflicting opinions FDR. Either FDR was nearly perfect and saved us from the Great Depression or his policies extended the Great Depression. I decided to ask the oldest people I know.

1. My Father - although he died 8 years ago, I had a school assignment to ask him about FDR. My dad grew up in a small town in Arizona and remembered huddling around the radio and listening to the fireside chats. FDR apparently was good and communicating to the people.
   
2. My Father-in-law - He had a good opinion of FDR. He grew up near San Francisco and his family struggled. He believes FDR created jobs and helped people out.
   
3. Lady I visit from church - grew up in a larger city. Had positive things to say about FDR.
   
4. My Uncle Jack - created his opinion on the comments from my grandfather (who died in 1960). My grandfather was a small business owner in Los Angeles and didn't like FDR at all. Grandpa even blames FDR for us going to war with the Japanese (That was a new one for me!)[1].
   

My verdict on FDR:

• He helped the people who were struggling at the bottom of the economy.
  
• He punished businessmen who were in a position to help the economy.
  
• He opened the worst Pandora's Box in history by knowingly provoking Pearl Harbor thus turning our non-interventionist country into a powerful war machine. Read Day of Deceit
  

The last item to me dwarf's anything to do with the economy.

How many union workers does it take to change a light bulb?

I had an interesting conversation today with a friend I carpool with (I'm in a carpool as part of my effort towards U.S. energy independence). I decided to ask my friend if he has any experience with labor unions. I've been hearing more about unions in the news than I have in a long time, so I was curious.

My friend's response: "Boy, do I!" (This was with a southern drawl, since he's from Tennessee). I knew that he had worked for Lockheed Martin, but it turns out he also worked in the Auto Industry. Here's a couple of his stories:

The Arc Welder

Lockheed had a portable arc welder that could be towed to different sites. one day a union employee drove his truck to work, hooked up the arc welder and towed it home. He then put an advertisement in the paper and sold it. You can't say union workers are not enterprising! The company that purchased the arc welder wanted the manuals, so they contacted the manufacturer. The manufacturer asked for the part number and then responded "That arc welder belongs to Lockheed Martin!". Lockheed was notified and they promptly fired the employee.

The union attorneys fought saying that Lockheed incorrectly terminated this employee and got his job back. When my friend left Lockheed, the employee still had his job.

How many union workers does it take to change a light bulb?

The union went on strike so non-union employees were reassigned to make up for the slack. Since my friend has an "Electrical and Aeronautical" background, he was assigned as an electrician. He was given a cart and had to respond to a pile of work orders. Most of them were changing light bulbs. After his first week of work, his supervisor came to him and said "You've processed more work orders in 1 week than my crew of union workers has done in the previous year". During this period, they found a building where these workers had beds tucked under counters for their naps. They also threw away more pornography than they have ever seen in their life.

"The Union has done so much for me"

A union worker was always telling my friend how much the union had done for him. The union worker was a talented painter and had a dream of starting his own motorcycle custom paint shop. He talked about it about as much as he did praise the union. Someone finally asked him, "When you start up your custom shop, do you plan on allowing the union into your company?". The union worker's response: "Absolutely NOT!"

Overtime

My friend went to lunch with a union worker. They got along great, laughing and joking. My friend had to test a system he was working on so he slid a couple of pallets across the system. His union worker "buddy" came over and yelled at him and wrote him up for his "violation". It turns out that he has a quota for processing paletts and if he doesn't meet the quota, he works overtime. Apparently working overtime is more important to a union worker than being efficient.

I've never been in a union nor worked for a company with a union.

H1N1 "Swine" Flu Closes Local High School

I'm still a little baffled. There have been less than 20 people killed by this flu. The "normal" flu kills about 36,000 Americans each year. The 1918 "Spanish" flu killed over 600,000 people. I still haven't heard anyone say what makes the H1N1 flu unique or a concern.

On a personal note, we found out tonight that my son's High School will be closing for 2 weeks. I included the letter to the parents.

Dear Parent/Guardian:
As you know, H1N1 influenza A virus (also known as swine flu) has been detected in San Diego County residents, several of them children. I want to share with you what the situation is at your child’s school, how the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency’s Division of Public Health Services is responding, and what you can do.
We have been working closely with individual schools to determine if students might have been exposed to the virus. We have determined a student that attends XXXXX High School has a probable infection with H1N1 influenza A virus. Under the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in a
decision made jointly between Public Health Services and the XXXXX Unified School District, we are closing XXXXX High School for a period of 14 days. The closure dates will be from 05/02/2009 to 05/15/2009 with the school being allowed to reopen on 05/18/2009. This closure includes all school-sponsored activities, such as sports or school dances.

Please understand this does not mean that your child has been directly exposed to the H1N1 virus. However, you should watch your child over the next 14 days to see if he/she develops the symptoms of: fever (100 degrees or higher), cough, sore throat, and runny nose.