askandanswer

We have to wait another 400 years until we get the words of this blessing from Moroni. 3 Nephi 18:3 he took of the bread and brake and blessed it; This makes it sound as if they ate quite a lot of bread - enough to be filled. 3 Nephi 18:4 And when they had eaten and were filled, The breaking of the bread is typically done by the Priests, and almost always involves two Priests and sometimes three. 3 Nephi 18:5 Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and bless it There is no mention of the wine being blessed. 8 And it came to pass that when he said these words, he commanded his disciples that they should take of the awine of the cup and drink of it, I'm just thinking about some of the other words that could have been used here. Always do FOR those who repent. Always do WITH those who repent. 3 Nephi 18:11 And this shall ye always do to those who repent It takes only the smallest chink in our armour for Satan to find his way in. 3 Nephi 18:18 18 I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. It was only after the death of many thousands of the wicked that none were commanded to go away. Perhaps by that time there were no more wicked to stay away. 3 Nephi 18:25 And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, Every broken commandment is evidence of having been led away into temptation and every broken commandment increases the likelihood of being led further away into temptation 3 Nephi 18:25 whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation. The same action - partaking of the sacrament - has very different effects, depending on the condition of the person doing the action. For one it saves, for the other it damns. 3 Nephi 18:29 For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul; Does this suggest that there is a set, definite number of people who will follow Christ? 3 Nephi 18:31 for behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered. Another reminder about disputations, given not very long after the previous reminder. 3 Nephi 18:34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you.

Lessons can be read in lots of different ways. I would be focussed on reading the lesson in such a way that it would have the biggest impact on those who hear it.

THanks @zil2 I'm just about to start my scripture reading now and now I know where to read.

Why was this necessary? Had this knowledge been lost? 3 Nephi 11 —He sets forth the mode and manner of baptism it may be possible that this chapter reveals something about the character of God. He is very clear and specific here in laying out exactly what He wants His children to do. He wants this, and not that. When we make these kind of pronouncements we are making choices, and choices reveal character. God is saying very clearly here that He wants His children to repent, believe in Christ, and be baptised by one having His authority. A general, casual acceptance of Christ and His teachings is not what God wants, that is not enough to please Him, repentance, belief and baptism by one not having the authority is not enough to please Him, keeping the commandments and living a moral life, without believing in Christ is not enough to please Him. This could suggest that God attaches some value to formal acts that indicate belief and acceptance and some value to doing things in a very specific, ordered manner. There are probably many more hints as to God's character that could emerge from a dedicated study of this chapter, I have just hinted here at the possibility. 3 Nephi 11 —Christ’s doctrine is that men should believe and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. Perhaps the distinguishing feature of contention is not the content of a discussion but the nature, purpose and intent of a discussion. Two pairs of people could be saying exactly the same words to each other, but depending on how and why those words are being said, one more might be contending and the other pair might be having a discussion. 3 Nephi 11 —The spirit of contention is of the devil Bountiful is not listed in chapter 9 as one of the places that was destroyed, but the fact that while they were in Bountiful they were showing each other the great and marvelous changes which had taken place suggests that Bountiful was not unafffected by what had happened. 3 Nephi 11:1 1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; This is so similar to Helaman 5:30 And it came to pass when they heard this avoice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a bstill voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul 3 Nephi 11:3 they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul , This seems a bit odd that they heard this soft piercing voice but did not understand what it was saying. The value of speaking is greatly reduced if what you are saying is not understood. When Joseph Smith had a similar experience there is no indication that he misunderstood anything he heard. 3 Nephi 11:4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not. They had finally understood what the voice was saying, and it was God introducing His Beloved Son, but still they mistake him for an angel. Perhaps the intent of the law of Moses also failed with this group as well as with the Jews. The intent of that law was to prepare people for, and point them to CHrist, but when He appears, despite having been introduced by His Father, they still don't recognise Him. 3 Nephi 11:8 and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. Having God introduce His Son was not enough for them? They still needed more proof? 3 Nephi 11:14 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. I still haven't worked out how the continuing scars of the crucifixion align with the idea that we receive a perfect body when we are resurrected. Was their something incomplete in the resurrection of the first person to be resurrected? Perhaps Christ wants to perpetually carry these scars as a reminder to all who see them about what He did for us. If that is the case it introduces the possibility that we may have some choice about how we will appear in the resurrection. 3 Nephi 11:15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; So its only after they have each personally evaluated the physical proof that they come to the conclusion about who has appeared to them,. 3 Nephi 11:17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him. This is puzzling. Nephi had been such a powerful prophet and surely during his successful missions he had already baptised many people. 3 Nephi 11:21 I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven. It seems as though for the Nephites, it was very hard for them not to dispute. 3 Nephi 11:22 ; and there shall be no disputations among you. This teaching has some similarities with, and differences from, teachings on the same topic in Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, Mosiah 18: 8-9 and Moroni 6: 1-3. 3 Nephi 11:23 23 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

Next time you're feeling like this, I recommend a dose of the Book of Mormon. Perhaps anywhere in 3rd Nephi after chapter 9. Or Alma 17 - 26. Or 2nd Nephi 4. Or Mosiah 2- 5. or Moroni 10.

Given the frequency and speed of the pride cycle at this point in Nephite society I can't help wondering about the wisdom of repeatedly blessing people with something - in this case prosperity - that almost invariably set off that cycle of pride. Surely there was something else that God could have blessed them with that did not lead to pride.

I think what was established was many leaders, who perhaps could be described as kings, over many smaller areas of territory. 3 Nephi 7:1 1 Now behold, I will show unto you that they did not establish a king over the land; Something similar seems to be happening today but the basis of the tribes today seems to have more to do with personal identity rather than family and kindred. 3 Nephi 7:2 and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; Instead of having a single chief judge over the whole land they had many tribal chiefs over smaller parts of land. This seems like a devolution of power at the cost of national unity. This really makes me wonder about the value of the system of judges. That system lasted about 120 years during which there were many wars, some political assassinations, a disasterous military defeat when the Lamanites took over Zarahemla, one or two insurrections, numerous other divisions and dissensions within Nephite society and numerous and dissenters who turned their backs on Nephite society. Perhaps the demise of the judges was not such a bad thing. 3 Nephi 7:3 And every tribe did appoint a chief or a leader over them; and thus they became tribes and leaders of tribes. This vaguely reminds me of the demise of the English monarchy in India and the partitioning of India to create Pakistan. 3 Nephi 7:4 therefore their tribes became exceedingly great I suspect that there are quite a few countries that would be better off if some regulations of the government were destroyed. Here in Australia under the Abbot government we started having annual repeal days when dramatic announcements were made about how much government regulation had been cut. I don't think its happening now. 3 Nephi 7:6 And the regulations of the government were destroyed, Those who held senior positions in government and the church probably share some of the responsibility for this state of affairs. 3 Nephi 7:8 And thus six years had not passed away since the more part of the people had turned from their righteousness, The king men finally prevail although with the coming of Christ within a few years, they didn't prevail for very long. 3 Nephi 7:10 And they did call him their king; therefore he became a king over this wicked band;

Where I used to live, and where my kids still live, the government there is about halfway through a 20 year scheme to replace a form of sales tax with a land tax. The sole reason is to smooth out fluctuations in government revenue. At the moment, when you buy a house you pay a kind of tax known as stamp duty that is only paid on house purchases. When you are in the house you annually pay what is known as rates, with the amount you pay being calculated on the value of your land. The plan, over 20 years, is to gradually reduce stamp duty to zero, and to replace that revenue by increasing rates. At the moment, when the property market is on the rise the government has lots of money and when it tanks, the government has very little. By linking their primary revenue stream to rates rather than stamp duty, the government is hoping to have a more stable revenue stream. Other states have had a look at the scheme but are generally scared off by the 20 year time frame. Economists and tax experts seem to think it is a good idea.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by this Carb? I think its a generally well accepted principle in economics that more money in the hands of more people generally leads to prices going up, which reduces the purchasing power of that money.

I haven't seen any credible work on the inflationary effects of UBI. It seems to me that if more people had more money, prices would go up, with the net effect being that the poor would have more money but their purchasing power would stay about the same.

Yes, you are probably right. 2nd Kings 2: 1-11 gives a detailed account of the translation of a prophet. Knowing that he was about to be translated, he went out for a walk and made several attempts to dissuade others from following him.

Is there a connection between stars and people? Could each star represent a person in a glorified condition, with one star differing from another star in glory even as one person differs from another person in glory. Has a star been a person before it became a star? Or does a star become a person? Or is a star a home for a god. This would be consistent with the idea that God dwells in the midst of everlasting burnings, as taught by Joseph Smith. A star starts its existence as matter unorganised. A star only comes into being when enough matter joins together into an organised, single whole. All progress is achieved by the joining together of parts - matter with intelligence to form a spirit, then a spirit combines with a body, then two bodies join together to create a family. It is only the coming together of unorganised matter in an ever tighter form that causes what was a cloud of gas to ignite in a burst of light and power that lasts for billions of years. It is only through becoming subject to law, the law of gravity, that the conditions are brought about whereby creation becomes possible as each component, each atom, of that unorganised matter, becomes organised and entwined with every other atom. Gravity is the means by which unorganised matter is formed into something that creates light. The first commandment, in Genesis 1:3 was let there be light. Perhaps knowing more about gravity would provide a link, or a portal, through which we can gain a greater understanding of how God does what He does and a means by which He exerts His will on the physical world. Perhaps we could go so far as to say that God created light by using gravity. Consider if any of this fits with Doctrine and Covenants 88: 7, 9, 12. 3 Nephi 1 The sign is given, and a new star arises Is this a merging of the political and the judiciary? It seems to me that when you merge the roles of Chief Judge and Governor, you get something that closely resembles a king. The Book of Mormon gives little information about the emergence/development of this role of Governor. Almost a year after writing the above, and having gone through parts of Alma closely a second time, I see that in late Alma there are perhaps 3 or 4 references to the governor and the chief judge being the same person. Lachoneus was the chief judge and the governor over the land. This sounds like a resignation. 3 Nephi 1:2 And Nephi, the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, After 600 years, this must be quite a sizeable collection. Its interesting that from more than 600 years of sacred records, plus the record of the Jaredites, after these records have been refined and distilled by Mormon, all we get is the Book of Mormon. My opinion is that if someone was to go through all of the General Conference talks of the last 200 years, and come up with a text as long as the Book of Mormon, we would get a far superior product in terms of doctrine, teaching, exhortation, and testifying power. I think the relevance, power and clarity of our General Conference talks far outweighs almost everything we get in the Book of Mormon. It seems as though at this time, control/stewardship of the records had reverted back to religious authority. I think it was somewhere in Mosiah that custody of the records passed to political authority. 3 Nephi 1:2 giving charge unto his son Nephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the plates of brass, and all the records which had been kept, and all those things which had been kept sacred from the departure of Lehi out of Jerusalem. Not just a resignation, but a runaway. I'm guessing he must have left instructions that he not be followed and that he be left alone, otherwise people would have gone looking for him. 3 Nephi 1:3 Then he departed out of the land, and whither he went, no man knoweth; Matthew 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: Matthew 16:4 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Given what has been said and taught about signs, why were there signs and who were they for? Perhaps the problem is not with the signs themselves but the seeking after the sign. And why does God give something that an adulterous generation seeks after? I suspect that anybody who follows the findings of the James Webb Telescope is quite frequently seeing amazing things, the likes of which have never been seen before, all of which are manifestations of gravity, mass and energy, some of which is light. Perhaps those sights could be seen as being signs. 3 Nephi 1:4 4 for there began to be greater signs and greater miracles wrought among the people. THis might suggest that among the ordinary people, the practice of keeping track of the passing of time might not have been widely practiced. 3 Nephi 1:5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite. What manner of person would rejoice over the seeming failure of another person's faith? This is not a good thing to rejoice about unless their abandonment of that faith is necessary for them to embrace a higher faith in something more true and holy. 3 Nephi 1:6 And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain. So five years later, the words of Samuel were still having quite an impact. It seems obvious that many people clearly remembered what he had said. 3 Nephi 1:7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; It sounds like they began to be doubtful but not doubtful enough to give up. 3 Nephi 1:7–8 and the people who believed began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass.8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night Governance must have become pretty bad if large scale killings such as this could be easily and openly planned. It makes me wander what sort of governor Lachoneous was. At the very least there seems to have been an abandonment of the practice/law that a man could not be punished for his beliefs. 3 Nephi 1:9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death Was Nephi the only one concerned enough to do this? It would seem to be a good idea for the senior religious person to encourage all the believers to pray for the same thing. 3 Nephi 1:11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people This is either poorly worded or seriously wrong. Their faith should be in God and His gospel, not in the traditions of their fathers. 3 Nephi 1:11 yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers. I wander what it is that determined the amount of time that Nephi had to pray for. Why was it that the answer came at the end of the day rather than some other time? Was there a particular benchmark that his faith and prayers had to meet before they could be granted? Did it take all day for him to show the required degree of faith and humilty for his prayers to be answered? There is some reason why prayers are anwered at the time they are answered but I dont know what that reason is. 3 Nephi 1:12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; It would seem that in this instance, this prayer was answered by Jesus. I'm not sure if Jesus is the one who answers all our prayers, or if sometimes they are answered by the Being we pray to. 3 Nephi 1:13 on the morrow come I into the world, The extent to which Christ's will is aligned with, separate from, or the same as His Father's will might be brought into question by John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. See also Luke 22: 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 3 Nephi 1:14 to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son This disposes of the idea that the Earth was tilted on its axis, because if that was how it happened, the sun would stay in the sky. So the light must have been coming from a source other than the sun. 3 Nephi 1:15 for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; Usually night is defined by the coming of darkness. If its not dark, its not night. I guess in the North Pole, during that time when the sun doesn't set, they would define night by time rather than the amount of light or darkness. 3 Nephi 1:15 because there was no darkness when the night came. it was still more than 30 years before He would appear to these people. 3 Nephi 1:17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; Somewhere, somehow, somewhen, there is always a time of reckoning. At one point we will all be held accountable for our beliefs and our works. 3 Nephi 1:18 and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. This is another fact that argues against the earth being tilted. At the north pole, the light at night is a weak, faded kind of light. quite different from what you see at mid-day. I guess another possibility is that in reality the level of light remained the same but their ability to see in the dark was temporarily adjusted. Another possibility is that there was a nearby supernova, although from what I recall, astronomers have considered this possibility and found no evidence for it. 3 Nephi 1:19 there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. You'd think that this would be a very convincing sign and that there was no way that it could be explained away. In this instance, the most logical explanation was because this is what the prophets had prophesied. 3 Nephi 1:19 And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. I wonder if any of these dissenters fled to the Lamanites, or did they all go to the robbers? 3 Nephi 1:28 because there were many dissenters of the Nephites who did flee unto them,

An alternative view The successful operation of the Plan of Salvation is predicated on the existence of someone/something fulfilling the role that Satan is now fulfilling. He is being far more diligent in his stewardship than any mortal has ever been. We grow through overcoming opposition, and a great deal of that opposition comes from opposing Satan. So perhaps we should all be grateful that he is working so hard and is so good at what he does. It is helping all of us become better.

How did you escape? O, wait, your'e in Florida - you didn't escape, you got dragged down even deeper.

It was my family's turn to clean the chapel a few weeks back. We typically have two families rostered each week. One family does the "wet" areas - toilets, kitchen and cultural hall, and the other family does the chapel, library, classrooms and offices. For vacuuming the classrooms, library and offices, most people choose to use the backpack vac, and for the chapel, most people use the upright vac. For some reason, there was no chapel cleaning roster prior to the visit of Elder Christofferson in May, and the chapel often looked uncared for.

This is the same accusation that was made in Alma 10:24 and Alma 14:1. I wander if/how and by whom this accusation is being used today. Helaman 8:2 Why seest thou this man, and hearest him revile against this people and against our law? It wasn't all that long ago that the Lamanites had vacated Zarahemla and other Nephite lands that they had won in military conquest. Helaman 8:6 And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us. How much or how well does President Nelson know about the things which will befall us. I'm sure he knows a lot about the generalities, as do many latter-day saints but covid seemed to catch him by surprise. Helaman 8:8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities; It's a little surprising and vaguely troubling, that they had to reference the actions of a man about 1300 years ago from a culture so far removed from their own as an example of the pwoer of God. But then again, there are references in 2nd Nephi and I think Mosiah indicating that these people still lived the law of Moses. Helaman 8:11 Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Se It takes a whole lot more than simply looking upon the Son of God with faith and a contrite spirit. It would be nice if it was that easy. Helaman 8:15 even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal. he problem with this argument is that it is only likely to appeal to those who believed in the scriptures he is referring to. I think that those who were opposed to Nephi had already demonstrated their disbelief or disregard of the scriptures. I think I would have tried to build an argument along the lines of how nice and good Nephite society is when they live the gospel and how bad and dangerous it becomes when they set the gospel aside and give prioity to the ungodly. Helaman 8:20 And behold, also Zenock, and also Ezias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, I suspect this is a little optimistic of Nephi. Quite possibly those who he was talking with and heard of these things and been taught them but I'm not sure if they actually knew them. Helaman 8:24 And now, seeing ye know these things The things both in heaven and in the earth can be convincingly explained and interpreted to support opposing beliefs and viewpoints. They are an unreliable guide. At best they can be used to support a viewpoint or belief one has already arrived at and are less effective at helping one to arrive at that belief. Helaman 8:24 And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.

I guess this is better than contending about whether they should have judges or kings. Helaman 1:2 therefore there began to be a serious contention concerning who should have the judgment-seat among the brethren, who were the sons of Pahoran. Both roles in the one person. I'm not sure if there were any checks and balances in place, similar to what the Romans had at this time. Helaman 1:5 Pahoran was appointed by the voice of the people to be chief judge and a governor These Nephites sound like difficult people to govern. Helaman 1:9 Now when those people who were desirous that he should be their governor saw that he was condemned unto death, therefore they were angry, I think this is the first episode of political assassition in peacetime that we encounter in the Book of Mormon although it nearly happened between Gideon and King Noah. Helaman 1:9 Book of Mormon I think this is the first episode of political assassination in peacetime that we encounter in the Book of Mormon although it nearly happened between Gideon and King Noah. Helaman 1:9 they sent forth one Kishkumen, even to the judgment-seat of Pahoran, and murdered Pahoran as he sat upon the judgment-seat. I wander how many of these Lamanites had made an oath in the previous battle not to fight again against the Nephites and how many of them were people whose lives the Nephites had spared. Helaman 1:14 14 that the Lamanites had gathered together an innumerable army of men, So once again you have a Nephite dissenter leading Lamanite armies against the Nephites. Helaman 1:16 Therefore, the king of the Lamanites, whose name was Tubaloth, who was the son of Ammoron, supposing that Coriantumr, being a mighty man, could stand against the Nephites Internal conflict and division about political matters had been the major reason for their previous military difficulties as well. Helaman 1:18 And it came to pass that because of so much contention and so much difficulty in the government, that they had not kept sufficient guards in the land of Zarahemla; This reminds me of the German blietkreig during the second world war with their initially very rapid advance into Poland and elsewhere. Helaman 1:19 and their march was with such exceedingly great speed that there was no time for the Nephites to gather together their armies. And this reminds me of recent Hamas activities in southern Israel Helaman 1:20 Therefore Coriantumr did cut down the watch by the entrance of the city, and did march forth with his whole army into the city, and they did slay every one who did oppose them It looks like Coriantumr had taken a crash through or crash approach and he ended up crashing along with those he was travelling with. A costly blunder for both sides. Helaman 1:32 And thus had Coriantumr plunged the Lamanites into the midst of the Nephites, insomuch that they were in the power of the Nephites, I think I would have found it to be difficult to take this approach. Having shown peace and largeness of soul in the Alma wars does not seem to have helped the Nephites in any way. I would have felt inclined to reduce the likelihood that these Lamantes would ever be involved in future wars against the Nephites. Helaman 1:33 And it came to pass that Moronihah took possession of the city of Zarahemla again, and caused that the Lamanites who had been taken prisoners should depart out of the land in peace.

A lot of the times, in the Philippines, the privileges of serving mostly flow to those doing the "serving." To some extent, that's why they want the office so much. I'm suggesting that situations like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines should be avoided. The current constitution of the Philippines recognises the harms of political dynasties and specifically stated that "The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law." Over the years several Congressmen have presented to the Philippines Congress various bills seeking to, amongst other things, disquality electoral candidates from running for certain positions if they are related to the second degree of consanguity to certain categories of elected officials. Unfortunately, only one such bill has actually been signed into law and that only applies to elections for neighbourhood community youth councils. That law prohibits "individuals from seeking a youth council appointment who is closer than the second degree of consanguinity (have the same grandparents) from any elected or appointed official in the same area.[4] This article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_families_in_the_Philippines provides a reasonably good discussion about the extent and harms of political dynasties in the Philippines. I'm not as familiar with the situation in Indonesia, which has a shorter history of self government, but in that short period, several political dynasties have emerged. Their Parliament passed a law in 2015 preventing relatives of incumbent Members of Parliament from running for certain political positions but that law was overturned by the Courts as being unconstitutional. I don't know if there was any family relationship between the judges who made that finding and the politicians who benefited from it, as there is at the moment between the President and the Chief Justice. https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/opinion-and-analysis/political-dynasties-indonesia/

Not even turkey flavoured Pringles?

In this part of the world, political leaders are finding ways to lessen the impact of term limits by arranging for their children to be put into powerful positions. In the Philippines which has a strict one time only, 5 year Presidential term, in their Presidential election last year the outgoing President found ways for his daughter to be elected as Vice-President. In Indonesia, which as a two term limit of 4 years each, the brother in law of the current President, in his role as Chief Justice, found a novel way to interpret the constitution to get around the requirement that you have to be at least 40 years old to stand as a candidate for Vice President. This opened the way for the President's 36 year old son to stand as Vice President in their presidential elections next February. In both countries, the Presidential children received their political training by serving as majors of large cities where their father had previously served as major, from which they then became Presidents, and in both countries, they are the youngest ever Vice Presidential candidates.

How much death could have been prevented if Moroni had written this follow-up letter sooner? Alma 60:1 1 And it came to pass that he wrote again to the governor of the land, This answers yesterday's question about whether the chief judge and the governor were the same person. Alma 60:1 Pahoran, in the city of Zarahemla, who is the chief judge and the governor t looks like both military and political leaders might have been chosen by the people. Alma 60:1 and also to all those who have been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war. I think this is a judgement that Moroni is not in a position to make. Alma 60:10 ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance; Here is the failure of civil government - it failed to deal adequately with this division, notwithstanding the extreme measures Moroni took in Alma 46:35 Alma 60:15 For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies that they could have gained no power over us. There may have been something deeply unpopular about the system of judges or very popular about the previous monarchical system that people were still willing to lay down their lives fighting for a monarchy, against the judges, more than 70 years after the monarchy had been abolished. Alma 60:16 Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves; yea, were it not for these king-men, who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, at the time we were contending among ourselves, if we had united our strength as we hitherto have done; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and united with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; Chapter 58 ended with some Lamanites retreating all the way back to their own lands. Alma 60:17 17 But behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, taking possession of our lands, Pahoran was indeed seeking for authority - he was seeking for a restoration of the authority that had been taken away from him by the king-men and this is something that Moroni helped him to achieve Alma 60:18 For we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority. The lack of communication between the political and military leaders is really hard to understand. Alma 60:19 Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies? This is a bit of a contrast to Judges 7: 5 - 7. Alma 60:21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us? It seems as if Moroni's response to something that he disagrees with, or anything/anyone that runs counter to his political beliefs, is to kill it/them. This is what he did to the dissenters who didn't defend freedom, its what he did to the Lamanites and now he's threatening to do it to his own government Alma 60:27 behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct. If the sword of justice falls on those who are wicked, then surely a bigger sword will fall with greater ferocity on those who are more wicked, ie, the Lamanites and Zoramites. But this has not been the case for much of the last five or so years. I think if you are threatening a less wicked people with the sword of justice it is also incumbent upon you to explain why it has not fallen on a more wicked, more deserving people. Alma 60:29 Behold it is time, yea, the time is now at hand, that except ye do bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones, the sword of justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall fall upon you and visit you even to your utter destruction. The wisdom of this strategy is not easy to see. In effect, Moroni is saying that if you don't send me more people to fight the enemy, I'm going to make you the enemy and come and fight you as well. It's usually a good idea to minimise the number of enemies you have rather than increasing the number. Alma 60:30 Behold, I wait for assistance from you; and, except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom. The Lord certainly seemed to be willing to let the Lamanites wax strong in iniquity and destroy righteous people. Alma 60:31 For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people. I think that the propagandists appointed by Amalickiah in Alma 48 might have had a lot to do with the level of hatred. Moroni raises an interesting question here. Is wickedness resulting from the traditions of the fathers more, less, or the same, in terms of wickedness resulting from the love of glory and the vain things of the world? How much does the source/cause of the wickedness affect culpability? Alma 60:32 when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred, yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us, while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of the world? From what we know, which is incomplete, it seems that the only evidence that Moroni has to make these accusations is that he didn't receive the number of men and the amount of supplies he needed. Alma 60:33 Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet. I think that Joseph Smith in Missouri and Illinois, and Brigham Young in the Salt Lake Valley provide better examples of how to deal with opposing political leaders. Alma 60:33 If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them. These are the same proclaimed motives of many dictators and tyrants, but in this case, it was true. Alma 60:36 I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.

And for those who live downunder where everything is upside down, its 11/11/11

I've been pushing hard for a few years now to have a National Koala Week as a week long public holiday, when we all do for a week what koalas do most of the time, which is sleep for up to 20 hours a day. So far the idea hasn't taken off yet. That hasn't stopped me from leading by example and celebrating my own koala month every second month.

Fixed it for you

I had to think about this for a moment. It's business as usual here today with no turkeys and no family gatherings. The only days we officially note in November are Remembrance Day, on 11 November, to remember the signing of the World War 1 armistice, which occurred at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, which is not a public holiday, and the first Tuesday in November in the state of Victoria, which is public holiday in that state, known as Melbourne Cup day, when the Melbourne Cup horse race is held.