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“And so we see that Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the source of the light that quickens our understanding, because his teachings and his example illuminate our path, and because his power persuades us to do good.” – Dallin H. Oaks, October 1987

For those who don't know, I'm the entertainment writer for a series of local newspapers. I do two columns a week, an op/ed and a movie review (et al). When it comes to certain major holidays, I try to find ways to mark them. In the case of Easter, I try to have both a column marking the day and a review of a faith-based movie (even if it's an older one). For the latter, I've got that sorted. Mom wanted to watch "The Cokeville Miracle" some time back, so done and done. But for the former... 2020 nearly destroyed me for how I had to parent my parents through the crisis as well as helping pretty much the entire town out. 2021 isn't much better, with a lot of personal issues hitting me as well as the disaster here in Texas. As much as I want to be grateful for what I do have and what I've been able to make it to, I'm just so badly drained from a solid year of drama that I'm having trouble putting thought to paper. Anyone else not entirely feeling the Easter spirit this year?

For the record, when I was younger I had a hard time convincing my parents that the odd pains I was feeling, especially in my back, were more than just the normal "growing pains". By the time I was an adult and able to get enough money together to go see a doctor, the "odd pains" had turned into scoliosis so bad that it had led to my hips and legs being warped to compensate. In addition to being in near-constant pain (it'd take multiple rounds of surgery and months of therapy to correct, as one leg is actually longer than the other), I also have a bit of trouble with steps and can potentially stumble if I'm not holding onto a railing or something similar. So I can understand Trump going for the railing or asking for a bit of help getting up and down if he's likewise got back or knee issues. But for Biden to just stumble like that, even when attempting to grab the railing, raises very unfortunate questions about his ability to move.

Well, the first thing that came to my mind was the Savior's words when He said: "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so" So I would say yes, the attitude of the people can affect teachings and operation.... To a certain degree. I don't believe that God surrenders to our opinions and sins and make compromises. However, I do believe that God adapt the church to work so as many as possible can be saved without violating the celestial laws

"The submissive soul will be led aright, enduring some things well while being anxiously engaged in setting other things right—all the time discerning the difference. Required, in particular, is meekness of mind which recognizes God’s perfect love of us and His omniscience. By acknowledging these reassuring realities and accepting that God desires our full development and true happiness, we are readied even as the learning experiences come." – Neal A. Maxwell, April 1985

Speaking of 'judges'... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Other sources say the judge also "headed 'Drag Queen Story Hour' " reading books to children. Helaman 7: 4-5

Update. We received the letter that the cancellation was granted prior to the sealing! Yay.

The newspaper I write for is rather short-handed even on a good day, so two nights a week I do deliveries in order to help pick up the slack. I often have a parent or someone else riding shotgun with me, both to teach them my route and because being together in a car for a few hours is a chance to talk in private. There have been more than a few instances where someone insisted on asking why I made this stop before that stop, why I used the route I used, and so on. "I did a major re-adjustment of my route so that I could factor in delivering newspapers to the schools during the school year. There are three schools along this seemingly indirect route between A and B, and it has the advantage of helping me avoid what is often a busy intersection." "Traffic flow at this particular intersection is such that I do multiple right turns in a row when servicing this neighborhood and simply loop around rather than attempting to turn left." "Deer live along this road, which is why I usually go below the speed limit when I take it." "I typically park *here* when servicing that business over there because the space most directly in front of it is a loading zone that is sometimes in use." "Even though the customer wants their paper in a specific slot on their mailbox, the shoulder of this road is crumbling into the drainage ditch and so it's not safe to actually pull up right next to it." Things like that. Usually, after a night or two of riding with me, they understand why I do what I do.

You probably know this, but one of the traps in evaluating any government expenditure is that we can clearly see the “good” that is done by money government spends. It’s a lot harder to see and quantify the “good” that those same dollars would have done in the hands of their original owners, the taxpayers. No one counts the investments that aren’t made, the new businesses that don’t open, the meals and hotel rooms and travel tickets that aren’t purchased, the gifts that aren’t given, the home renovations that aren’t undertaken, and so on. And what’s even more sinister is that these opportunity costs are, to a very great degree, being borne by a generation that is still children. Millennials are fond of pointing out how the Boomers screwed then over economically—but they’re turning around and demanding we do the same thing to the next generation so that they, the millennials, can get theirs. Take a look at the second link I put in my previous post, and bear in mind that the link is nine years old and the national (“household”) debt has doubled since then.

I heard the big reveal very clearly implied in a radio commercial before ever seeing the movie (it was probably at least a year or two after the show had been released). It was annoying.

What the school did to that kid sounds an awful lot like what used to be called “grooming”.

People will have to look at their own tax records to figure out how the stimulus compares to what they’ve paid in the past, I suppose. I can say that for 2020, our family paid (after tax refunds) about $680 in federal taxes and got in the ballpark of $10K as stimulus. The stimulus, in conjunction with some other developments, have been spectacular for our family—we’ve paid off nearly $30K in debt since January of 2020. The proposed $1400/head stimulus that Biden has been taking about would be even better. But I also know that this is going to have to be paid for someday; and that scares the bejeebies out of me. But frankly, I’ve evolved to the position that the USA as we knew it is pretty much done; fiscal default (if not worse) is inevitable in our children’s lifetimes if not in our own; so we may as well take what we can, get while the getting’s good, and bunker up for what’s coming next. If this government of the damned wants to keep handing out play money, I’m happy to use it to buy real-life goods for as long as there are vendors willing to accept it.

And just how does one determine who is fully employed or not? I had to do without last year because I had no clients for months. And I could not file for unemployment because I ran my own business. So, I should be penalized for trying to benefit the economy by creating a business? Yes, a small business often does not have the ability to file for unemployment benefits. There's a variety of stuff I can't apply for. I found this out last year. Others also have a problem filing for unemployment. Should they be penalized for being wise enough to build up some savings for such an occasion? The only thing that saved me last year was that I sacrificed enough over the years of plenty to save up. Now all that savings is gone. It took me about 6 months to get back to normal. And I'm finally getting back to building up my savings again. So, just how are you going to determine "who really needs it?" I honestly believe that a rich person who gets a $1000 check will have no motivation to keep it. They're not going to get all excited about it because it isn't all that much money to them. And if a public request was announced, I think you'd be VERY surprised at just how many people will simply pull money out of their own pockets to help others in need. I'd trust individuals to make value judgments about who really needs it because they are on the front lines, in the ditches so to speak. A government agency? They're far to detached to make such value judgments. And considering the welfare abuse I've witnessed first hand, I'd rather choose the mistakes that honest, well-intentioned individuals make than the mistakes a government agency makes.