Carborendum

Well, let's see...

Kinda Jibes with John 1:1 As an example: If we are expecting people to abandon all their beliefs and change their method of speech and behavior to ensure that they do not offend us. Command others in what to think, what to say, what to do, what to sacrifice... we're setting ourselves up as gods. And if they should ever offend us or hurt us, that it such a grave sin that we must be cancelled ... er... uhm excommunicated... That is an interesting take. But where on earth do we see such behavior? I can't think of anything like that...

I have an explanation. I don't know if you will like it. I thnk it will tend to offend quite a few people. And I don't know if it is even true. But it seems to answer the question for me. An aphorism of the LDS culture is "There is no more important work that a man can do than within the walls of his own home." Another is "No success in the world can compensate for failure in the home." @NeuroTypical showed that starfish story in his post with the explanation: Stop worrying about things outside of your control. I've spent a lot of my life trying to help people with big things and little things. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I was actually prevented from even doing anything. To be clear, it wasn't that I was ineffective or didn't know how to render aid in a proper manner. I simply was not able to begin, much less complete so many opportunities to serve which I was willing and able to perform. I recognize that the place where I make the most difference is with my own family. And those in my family can have a great influence on so many more people that I will never meet. Not a perfect analogy, I understand. My point is that we have the greatest ability to help those who are within our direct influence. It is very difficult to help those who are not under such influence. There are many good people in the world of all faiths and backgrounds. But God has made covenants with the Latter-day Saints. He has the greatest influence over us because of those covenants. So, He will perform miracles in certain ways that are much more prevalent (per capita) among LDS than other peoples.

They couldn't. The embassy/consulate refused to help them with so many people in such a short time. And Germany closed the borders before they could accomplish such a goal through proper channels. That was the book that the movie was based on. The photos at the closing credits indicated that the main elder (Siebold?) didn't know how to whistle. He'd never whistled in his life. But the Spirit told him to whistle LDS hymns as a signal. And missionaries came to him. Hitler's plans were to begin his invasion in 3 days. But he kept on coming up against roadblocks that delayed his invasion. After the last missionary was out, Hitler was able to begin his invasion the next day. After the last missionary was out of the country, Elder Siebold tried whistling again. He couldn't. He knew that his mission was done. So, he got himself out (another miracle). He was never able to whistle again. Hence: Mine Angels 'Round About. I don't know either. But I know I've been on the receiving end of such divine protection. They were miracles which defy the laws of physics as I know them. And the only thing I can fathom is that I needed to grow up and marry my wife and raise 7 of the most amazing children who are of the great and noble spirits "Saved for Saturday." The world must be peopled. And the Lord wants good homes for his choicest spirits. I feel blessed that he chose to protect one as clumsy as I am as to need His protection on that level. But He has protected me. People attribute it to Bismark. But who knows? I prefer Cmdr Will Riker's version: Luck! I protect fools, children, and ships called Enterprise.

In So. Cal. we had a weatherman dubbed "Dr. George". He had a master's degree which he parlayed into a teaching gig and then became part of several "science-based" events and programs. He was later given an honorary doctorate from which he justified his title "Dr." All that so he could be a weatherman. He was very popular. He published his autobiography shortly after Los Angeles honored him with "Dr. George Day" in the city. He passed away a couple of years later.

You know, they tend to get a bad rap. But they are actually a lot more accurate than pop culture acknowledges.

Think about it. Nearly everything is indirectly inferred. How do we even know we're not in The Matrix? How do we know how hot the sun is? How do we know the mass of the moon and other celestial bodies? We don't really know anything for certain. But we have pretty good guesses that tend to reliably predict future events. That said, we have recorded bursts of energy through (using a very broad definition) "visual means". Then because of interaction with other stellar bodies, we are able what strength and frequencies we're looking at. That is essentially using the universe itself as a type of radiation detector because that's how a hand-held radiation detector works on earth -- just replace the celestial bodies with terrestrial bodies. I don't know what source Traveler is referencing. And he probably has more data than I do at the moment. But what I understand is that these bursts happen all the time (considering cosmic time scales). And it tends to go all over the universe. But for some reason, the effects of the solar wind and other forces in this solar system (which, admittedly, I don't understand all of it) tend to repel dangerous radiation to levels that are less damaging to carbon-based life. But is this unique to earth? I have no idea. It is possible that any system of planets centered on a large enough star with sufficient stellar dust circling around it will be sufficient to provide this protective zone. Or it is possible that it is unique to earth because it is a culmination of so many traits that are found to be unusual throughout the universe that it is highly unlikely for such balanced conditions to exist.

That's still weird.

Ok, weirdo. .

I believe the original intent was somewhere in the midst of all those meanings. But each word conjures up different roles -- all of which are correct. It is somewhat an individual perception. When I interpret it as "by way of" or even "through", I feel more of the "advocate with the Father" role. But when I think of "because of" I get more of a sense of the Savoir role through His Atonement. He made it possible.

Back to the topic: I'd like to tell you the story of my wife's grandmother. She's in her late 90s. So, that puts her birth about 20 years after Susan B. Anthony died. And she fit right in with modern feminists today. But she had some noticeable differences. She married in the temple. She raised 5 children. Remained married to the same man until his death a few years ago. She had a career spanning several decades and was also an involved mother. She had many awards that came from her profession. So, she was fairly well accomplished. And all of her children are still members of the Church and actively attend. Unfortunately, the results don't end there. Of her grandchildren only three remain active outside of my wife's branch. For Grandma's other children: Their only son got divorced twice and is now single with no active children. One daughter divorced and remarried with only two children still active. The other daughters married outside the faith and have children who were either never baptized or all left the Church except one. Of my wife's branch, all but one are active and very strong members of the Church. Years ago, we were at a family reunion celebrating their 70th anniversary. And at a point where we were all mingling, Grandma said, "If I had it to do all over again, I never would have had any children." This was a matter-of-fact statement in front of all her children, spoken as casually as if she were talking about the weather. Fast forward. After her husband died. She came home to an empty house. And after many days, she began wondering why her children never come to visit her. The stories of her motherhood are sketchy. I hear some good tales, some bad. Some stories where she sacrificed. Others where she neglected. So, I don't know her whole story. What I can say is that after an entire lifetime of condemning the Church and its policy on women and the priesthood and roles of mothers, how much were the children (much less the grandchildren) inspired to believe in such a belief system? The grandfather was pretty much the model father. All the children agree on that point. He did things like teach my wife how to make stained-glass windows. That sounds like a "crafts" project that a mother or grandmother would teach. But this man saw it as a hobby that a man does in his shop. He created memories with his children and grandchildren. Grandma made memories of her going to work and teaching all the daughters to be working mothers and the son to be a weakling. At another family reunion, Grandma made a comment about how large her posterity was. The funny thing about that... Most of the other branches of the family had working mothers. But not my MIL. Of all the grandchildren, most of those with working moms lost their children in the gospel. I believe that all the other active cousins and spouses are fewer than those from my wife's branch. And when considering great-grandchildren, it's not even comparable. While it is possible to be a successful working mother while prioritizing family, there is always something that is lost. One generation was able to do it with minimal disfunction. The second generation paid the price for trying to imitate it. I hope that Pres. Johnson is able to prevent that from happening.

And as I stated, I've worked in 7 states as a central office. And I've worked for weeks or months in several other states. So, no. It is not Texas. BIM and Revit are not CAD. They are building modeling software that have specialized purposes that are mostly engineering/architectural. But we have both engineers and more advanced CAD techs who run that software. And they are specialized. In more residential/commercial fields, we'll see fewer drafters because they have lower budgets and lower salaries. We usually see one-man-shops who do it all. But if you have a big firm doing big projects with big budgets, division of labor makes it more efficient to have drafters who are separate from the engineers. My independent work is like that. And I can get away with it because I know CAD. Otherwise I'm working in heavy industry and government work. There is always division of labor in these fields. As I said, I got my degree at BYU, not Texas. And we did teach CAD there when I attended. But I had actually learned drafting before I ever went to college. So, that may be why I remember more than others. I know many who graduated with me who got an A in the class. But a couple years later, they had not done any CAD work, and couldn't use it if they tried. Nope. He now works at a company which I left. I was trying to get him to work for me when I was independent. But schedules did not align. By the time he was free enough to help me, I took another job that forbade moonlighting. I work in several different fields. And there has always been a dividing line between CAD work and Design work. Design can be done by either experienced drafters or by engineers. CAD work is usually done by drafters. 500 level is graduate level. Most engineers only have a Bachelor's degree. And I KNOW the engineers coming out of them from virtually every state in the country. And I KNOW that they can't differentiate a line from a polyline or an arc from a spline. Heck, most engineers don't know the difference between plastic and elastic material behavior and how to calculate capacities using both methods. Again, I don't believe you are familiar enough with the profession to understand the difference between engineering modeling software vs drafting software. And that may be obscuring your assessment of what people do and don't know. In some fields, that is true. That is because there really is no "pure drafting" in those fields. It is ALL design work. But in the heavy industry and government sectors, drafting is clearly a very strong field that most engineers don't touch. I know. And it is destroying the profession. Most of the work I've had to review from India has been messed up. They don't know the codes. They misapply the equations, and use the wrong sections of the code for the particular design elements they are working on. Their "pure math" is usually fine. But their understanding the concepts and ability to read the code is sorely lacking. I've spent more time correcting and re-correcting their work than it would have taken for me to do the work myself three times over. But, oh-yeah, it's "cheaper". Riiiiggghht.

I think JJ did a good job of summarizing. There is a concern about favoritism which (depending on legal arguments) could be real or imaginary. And there are specific zoning rules to consider. But that may be more procedural, more than legal. The things that I found to be foolish arguments were the subjective arguments: eyesore, doesn't fit into the community (especially when the neighboring residents are largely LDS) decrease the "character" of the neighborhood... Decrease land value??? Really? I'm reminded of the Denver temple (actually in Littleton, CO). It sits nested in a subdivision which is surrounded by light commercial zoning. It looks like it fits perfectly. She also made an argument about the heat island effect from the asphalt parking lot. I'd think that the Church would be perfectly happy with a concrete parking lot, especially in such a sunny/hot climate as LV. And although she said that concrete also contributes to heat island, it really doesn't -- at least, not nearly as much as a house or commercial building with composition (asphalt) shingles. And if we're comparing to native sand (Las Vegas is not known for its abundant greenscapes) it is about the same as concrete. And if she's thinking it will otherwise remain undeveloped, then she's asking for HUGE HOA fees to upkeep that greenspace -- and I'd guess that they already have several parks if it is a large subdivision.

I don't know who might have told you that. But the drafting profession is alive and well. And I've worked in 7 states (including Utah). Engineers and architects are being shoved into a box where they don't do any drafting at all. We use engineering modeling software that may look like CAD to the uninitiated. But CAD is a different animal. I was lucky in that I was in the transition phase where I learned three CAD programs in my engineering curriculum (BYU). When I got my first job, I found out that many engineering schools didn't teach any drafting at all. And if they did, most engineers didn't remember a thing from their classes. Today, there is a hard line between engineering and drafting. The more experienced drafters are taking the place of a lot of engineering work as well as a lot of architectural work. It is so completely separated that, a few offices ago, I had to have special permission to get CAD on my computer at all. The head of IT knew me and my background. The department head also knew my history (that's why he hired me) and he had to approve it. But the IT head had to talk to the technician who was putting my laptop together to ensure that I had CAD on my computer. It was so abnormal that the technician initially refused. It took some coaxing by the IT head to get the software loaded. Too many engineers were so incompetent with CAD that it was a greater danger that they mess up the file than produce any benefit from it. My current company allows engineers to have CAD by request. We only need to ask for it. It is so rare that, out of about 60 engineers in my department alone, I'm the only engineer with CAD on the computer. Additionally, there is a specialized design package that my son knows backwards and forwards. Of the 100 or so drafters I've known personally, only two others know it as well as he does. A couple of others knew a similar software under a different brand. Of all the others, I thought some of them were competent with the software. But one of those guys I knew (who is as old as I am) is now working with my son. My son looked at his files and was not impressed. He said it was like he had this huge toolbox with every tool imaginable. But he was doing all the work with a screwdriver and a hammer. And he may use the claw on the hammer as a screwdriver sometimes. My son produces 5 or 6 drawings a day. This other more experienced drafter produces 1 /day. As for engineers knowing that design package? Forget it. I'm the only one I know who uses it at all. And my knowledge is very poor. I know a lot of the tools, although I'm not practiced in it. So, I spend a lot of time going through all the menus to find a particular command. A trained drafter knows where all of them are. But apparently, some are better at it than others.

Not the way Trump is doing it. He's only using it as a punchline.

I was going over this week's CFM. I found an interesting change of wording on the Church website: They reference John 14. But it appeared that verse 6 has a misprint on the website: I was working with the footnote settings until I realized that I had been reading the Spanish version. And I had clicked on the option for English translation. Apparently, the "English translation" is not the same as the "English version" of the text. The English version still has "by". But the translation uses the word "for" because the Spanish word is "por." And this word can be translated as either one. So, I looked up the Greek to see what the meaning was. The word is διά /dee-ah/ which means: by for the sake of through by means of because of. Of all these meanings, I like "because of" best. I'll reword so it isn't so awkward in English: Man only comes to the Father because of Jesus Christ.

And I'm sure that the Pope is not calling for the extermination of the entire nation of people right next door.

After 5 years, it appears that this is a very concerning case to you. However, it appears to be in accordance with juvenile laws. When you called it "murder" it seemed much more serious. However, this latest link you provided would put it into 2nd or 3rd degree manslaughter. That is, he may have meant some physicality. But it is clear that he didn't have any intention to kill the man or even cause serious bodily harm. Additionally, police findings were that the method of "pushing" was more of a deterrent than an attack. And had it not been for the level of inebriation of the victim, he may not have fallen at all. Add all that together with the fact that he was a juvenile, he was given the maximum sentence.

I can't argue with that. You know exactly what I mean by it, though. Thank you for making my point. When I got my green card and was later sworn in to become an American Citizen, I absolutely wanted to be part of America and adopt its culture. While I still have interest in Korean culture as a matter of study and heritage, my identity is that of an American. Pretty good point. I don't know if I can differentiate. I just looked at a whole bunch of statistics on Palestinan Americans vs the numbers of people at campus protests and how many campuses... A whole bunch of math later... it didn't seem to fit. Then I considered how so many border crossings were clearly organized. They had people with specifically prepared backpacks that all seemed uniform in their contents with paperwork "from the UN" telling these people what words to say and what to put in their backpacks, etc. This was orchestrated. So, I have to ask: By whom? To your point that they have been backed by a bunch of non-Palestinian Muslims? Possibly, even probably. I guess we'll never know the percentages because no one has really looked into it.

Actually, it isn't the purring -- for me. I'm taking a nap. I wake up and find the cat sitting on my lap or chest. That slight pressure of size and weight of a cat, with just a little bit of warmth that feels like the softest blanket. It just makes me feel so relaaaaxxxxxed. I just want to go back to sleep.

I totally identify with this. When you're just resting and you realize a cat has taken up residence on your person, it is really relaxing to have that cat there. I hate to move it.

There is another angle to this that has seemed to fly right over people's heads. A great majority of the Pro-Palestine campus protesters are Palestinian illegal immigrants. They came here under the guise of asylum to create all these protests. The actual naturalized citizen population + Palestinian ethnic decent is not enough to count for the number of protesters at these events. The balance must come from a combination of illegal immigrants and non-Palestinians. But from the videos and photos I've seen so far, the vast majority appear to be ethnically Palestinian.

I'm kinda split on this. She does make very good legal arguments. And if that was the only motivation, then I'd say she's right. And we ought to look elsewhere. On the other hand, she's also making a lot of unreasonable arguments as well. And this reveals that the motive behind it is clearly prejudicial. If she was sincere, she would have stopped with just the reasonable legal arguments. Because she doesn't, I don't really want to listen to her.

This is a good point. Perhaps I should have used quotes "transistors" because they aren't the same as the original design of a transistor. But from the functionality that we receive as end users is about the same.

I spent some time thinking about this last night. I suppose a good counter to my question is "what does multiply mean in my interpretation?" I've come up with some answers, but they are not very satisfying. So, yes. I suppose, it simply means that there is going to be a lot of it. But that fits with my overall interpretation as well. The message being: life is hard. And for women, even more so. Female vulnerability is greater than that of men. Fact of life. And there are many such situations where that principle applies. Females are not as physically strong or fast as men. There is some evidence that points to women having greater endurance. But when considering the physicality of men in sports (especially now with trans athletes) I think that argument is falling apart. However, it does appear that for differing situations and different aspects, women can have greater endurance. So, in the endurance department, we appear to be different, but equal -- much like most of life.