Carborendum

You're both right and wrong about this paragraph. I have tremendous respect for Friedman. And I think 99.9% of what he says about economics is gospel as far as I'm concerned. So, what I'm about to post doesn't actually counter his ideas. First, when he won his Nobel prize, storage was different. Many people kept a dry pantry full of goods. Stores had much more dry goods with long shelf lives and less perishables. Inflation was largely controlled by our monetary policy. But then 7-Eleven happened. (Long explanation deleted. I'll explain further if someone asks). Today, we saw how fast baby formula disappeared when the major plant in the country was shut down. That's today. That was in a couple of weeks where supplies were noticeably low. And a month when it virtually disappeared. That's not 2 years. Why? Because it was not not just about the money supply. It was about actual changes in supply and demand. Biden's policies have specifically increased demand and lowered supply for virtually everything. When that happens in the commercial environment of today, we see almost immediate effects. It does not take 2 years. The famine we're finding ourselves in (and make no mistake, it has already begun) is a direct result of government. And it is mostly because of Biden. Trump did have something to do with this famine. He was the one who raised the red flag on COVID. As much as I supported his other Presidential policies, he messed up big time on this one. Yes, he left it up to individual states on how to handle it. But he raised the flag on it and when you give people in power an inch, they take a mile. Because of that, we ended up with a long train of secondary effects that has hurt our economy. And while I think it was a big factor in the inflation we see today, I don't believe it was the biggest factor. The following are not in any particular order. 1) Ukraine War. Yes, this has done a number on world oil prices. No denying it. 2) Biden's Oil Leases. I certainly hope most people are aware of what's been going on there. It's all over the news. 3) COVID relief. This was only a paltry amount under Trump. But under Biden, it has gone warp speed. Perfectly able-bodied individuals refuse to go to work. Why bother? They make more money on relief funds than at a regular job. My son started at national minimum wage ($7.25/hr) about a year ago. But because they couldn't hire anyone, they had to raise wages to entice more people to work. He now makes $11/hr. Many other places had to do the same thing. My daughter just got off her mission and got a retail job starting at $11.25/hr. And guess, what? They all had to raise the price of goods to make up for the higher wages they had to pay. 4) Businesses out of business. This was originally a result of Trump's COVID policies (exacerbated by certain governors). But again, Biden sent it into overdrive. That said, when the 2 years finally comes upon us, we'll find that near the end of 2023 to beginning of 2024, we'll be seeing hyperinflation rates or near hyperinflation rates. (My prediction is that we'll see about 50% -or more- higher rates than in the 70s). It is around that time that the craziest policies of the Biden administration will have full effect. We're only seeing the minor effects of his policies. Just wait until we feel the full effect. Get your storage in place before this fall. Right now, things are uncomfortable. Starting in September, we'll start to see people fighting over gasoline, groceries, etc. We will see restaurants going out of business because no one will be able to afford them. The weakest will start going out of business (oh, they were a pretty bad restaurant as it was). Then the better restaurants that were struggling through COVID will also fall. Then ... My prediction is that within a year, most middle class folk will not be going out to eat anymore. The poor who live in "food deserts" will begin to starve and riots will happen. By the end of 2023, we won't recognize our country. Heck, I already don't recognize it from the country I grew up in. But in the next year you'll see a LOT of changes that will make you wonder if we live in a 3rd world country.

Well, there's always that danger, I suppose. But I don't think I am. I ask that you don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying this in a voice of thunder. I'm rather concerned about you. Nothing wrong with that. But it seems you started from an innocent discussion topic and then drifted into defending the position that continues to ignore the things that we DO know. It began innocent enough. This is simply an "I wonder" kind of question. Nothing wrong with that. Here is where you start making arguments about why it is probably true while ignoring the doctrinal background on the subject. That doesn't seem like a simple "thought experiment". Now you're saying it is only an assumption and show that you're actually ignoring doctrine stating that it is NOT official doctrine. And, yet again, you speculate while ignoring the fact that Jesus himself said that these three would be changed in the twinkling of an eye (i.e. never taste of death). Yes, I see the note of humor in these last two quotes. But it seems to be layered on a foundation of actual belief that this is actually true. Am I reading between the lines here? Could be. You tell me. Am I? Do you actually believe those last couple of statements are true? Are you kind of "hoping" they are true? Even though this is a very vague reference to a very generic principle that could apply to anyone. You're chomping at the bit to apply it to this fanciful idea. A simple "I wonder" turned into a defense of an idea that requires that we ignore several known points of doctrine. Where does that leave you? You've heard of a slippery slope? It is often touted as a fallacy. But you've just shown a perfect example of how easily it can be a correct description. Again, idle curiosity... nothing more... perfectly fine. Speculation makes us ask questions. And there is nothing wrong with asking questions and seeking answers from the Lord. And for this doctrine, if you want to believe it, you probably can and it will probably do nothing to mar your salvation. It isn't about the belief in this idea. It is how you're going about trying to defend it. It requires that you ignore established doctrines and beliefs to believe what you want to believe. That's the dangerous part.

I have wondered about the phrase "death, disease, famine, and war" (the four horsemen). It seems that disease, famine, and war (DFW) all caused death. So, why was death its own horseman? I figured that there were other forms of death by means other than DFW. There's crime (murders), there's suicide, there's natural disasters. But one thing I hadn't considered was that it was not talking about death of individuals, but death of nations or entire populations. We know how nations are slated to be shrinking because of abortions. But the simple fact that so many nations are having birth rates lower than replacement rates says that the overall population of the earth will dwindle to virtually nothing in just a few generations. In fact, it means that programs like social security will not be sustainable. We've already recognized that in the US. That's why our social security payouts have been indexed to later and later age categories. Even if we avoid the biggest population killers in history (DFW) we are going to end up killing ourselves simply because of "fashion". Is that too flippant a word? I don't think so. I grant that there are many who don't or can't have kids for very good reasons. And for good reasons, some limit the size of their families. But what happened in the past 60 years that shrank the average family size by so much among the entire population? It was nothing but choice. Nothing but fashion. Who needs the four horsemen if the practices of the world make it so the world will no longer be peopled?

A few weeks ago, I noticed that all the gas stations in town stopped going up when it was $3.99/gal. The more expensive stations stopped going up. The cheaper stations caught up in a couple of days and stopped. It was weird. They all refused to go to $4.00/gal. Then all of a sudden (overnight) prices went up to $4.21/gal to $4.49/gal. Since then the prices went almost to $5.00/gal and came back down again. Today I was driving and found all the prices were at $4.49/gal. Both cheap and expensive stations all stopped at the same price. That tells me prices are about to make another jump. Later on, we'll probably see them stopping at $4.99/gal for a few days before it goes up. But we'll see it happen. I have a hunch they will only do this at even dollar amount afterward. Of course, this is Texas. Other states will probably see even higher prices.

@mirkwood, Thanks for posting this. I believe we all could be reminded to stop Monday morning quarterbacking.

Interesting. I also recently read a study which showed that only light or medium smokers became part of the statistic of lung cancer rates in smokers. Heavy smokers experienced something similar to what you described here. I don't remember the details or the exact numbers. But it was something along the lines that you described. The thing they didn't mention in the article I wrote was that they were still highly subject to other effects of smoking like emphysema and black lung disease.

It is not just "assumed". We also know that translated beings are changed from mortal to immortal in the "twinkling of an eye." (3Ne 28) And we also know that translated beings will undergo a process "similar to death". "equivalent to" is specifically worded to mean something that has similar results but is somehow different from death as we're familiar with it. All the literature you would need to point to regarding the belief that Moses and Elijah are the ones... that sure looks exactly like death that we're familiar with. ... If you're dead set on believing that Moses and Elijah are the ones who will be there at the great battle, then you're going to believe it. If you go through enough mental gymnastics, I'm sure you can come up with a reasonable way to explain why LDS beliefs would support such a notion. And it will likely not cause anyone a faith crisis if it were found out to be true. But I have to wonder, why are you willing to undergo such mental gymnastics to justify such a belief in the face of the known doctrines regarding translated beings?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220605130358.htm https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2201445 A cancer study was done on a small batch of patients with a new cancer treatment drug. For the first time in the history of cancer research 100% of the subjects were cancer free by the end of the study. It is only the preliminary trial with only 18 test subjects. But even with such a small sample size, there has never been a 100% success rate in history. The researchers are not ready to say this is a sure thing. But expectations are high when you get such a result.

I'm guessing you're asking me? This has long been my position on the topic.

They are more than translated. They are now resurrected beings ("twinkled"). So, they cannot die. In Doctrines of Salvation, JFS says that they were translated so they could bestow the keys upon Peter, James, & John prior to the Resurrection. Once they had done so, their Terrestial mission was complete they only had to wait for Christ's resurrection to be twinkled into exalted beings. Thia happened to all who were translated prior to Christ. It was as resurrected beings that Elijah, Elias, and Moses returned at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. They cannot die.

כְּרוּב (kuh-RUB)

What are you talking about? Don't you know that man's science is 100% infallible? It would never lead us astray.

I am wondering what has been the common practice for wards in various parts of the country: This Sunday will be the first Sunday of the month. It has been three weeks since the last Gospel Doctrine class. That means three weeks worth of reading and three chapters in the CFM manual. Does your ward only cover the most recent week? All the weeks since the last class? Or just "pick one?" Or try to find highlights of the entire set? Or ???

I'm thinking of the rats in Chicken Run "Yeah, aw'right." As long as he honors his priesthood and they are sealed in the temple, fine by me.

Totally agree. And if they came across some of that "Las Vegas" behavior there, they would have had the same reaction. But in this case, the objectionable behavior was as I descried above. I only point this out because simply "dating" for the LGBTQ people automatically chases the Spirit away. They REALLY felt it leave. There is a reason that father (described in the previous post) put his daughter's safety into my son's charge. All who know him, know he's somewhat special that way. He is very sensitive to the Spirit. Always has been. And he protects people. As you can imagine, my kids are well connected to the extensive homeschooling community in the area. They did not recognize most of the people there. The theory is that since it was published by word-of-mouth, some people who most certainly didn't qualify as "LDS Homeschoolers" caught wind of it and went to the website to sign up. They clicked all the agreements as if it were a software disclaimer form (as if anyone actually reads them). So, most of them were NOT LDS, and probably not homeschoolers. My problem with it was -- why didn't they have screeners at the doors saying that their clothing did not pass the dress code? That would have taken out about 95% of the "crashers" (if we can call them that.

A couple of weeks ago my two youth aged sons went to an LDS homeschoolers' prom. Many homeschooling groups got together to rent out a venue and invite LDS homeschoolers to this event. It became much more popular than they had anticipated. Tickets were selling so well that they didn't know if there would be enough room. My sons went on a triple date to this event (one couple came separately). They were really looking forward to it. They were laughing and having fun in all the precursor moments to the venue itself. When they arrived, everything seemed normal. But as soon as they got to the front door, my elder son (Bubba) just froze. The others didn't exactly freeze. But they just stopped laughing. They all looked at Bubba. He said "There's something wrong here." The others looked around. The foyer was empty except for the gatekeepers and security. But they all felt something. They knew something wasn't right with this event. They proceeded with caution. When they got into the main hall, they noticed about half the population were dressed in a manner absolutely NOT up to FSY standards. A good 50% of those were clearly of the LGBTQ variety (girls with girls, boys with boys, transgenders that absolutely would not "pass"). They met up with the third couple. Before the four of them could say anything, the third couple said, "Guys, we don't think we should be here. There's something wrong." Flashback: When the group went to pick up girl #3, the father of this girl, didn't address boy #3. He addressed Bubba. "If you get there and there's something wrong. You're in charge of making sure she gets home safe. Understand?" My son understood and agreed. I thought it was odd that her date (boy #3) was not the one in charge of keeping her safe. But because of this, they all agreed that they'd better leave. The rules of the event required that the youth had to get parental permission to leave early. It took about an hour to get permission for all six of them. But they finally left. (A fourth couple they knew was also there. They said they also felt it. But they weren't going to leave because of it. They paid a lot of money for these tickets.) Eventually, they decided to just go around and do something fun. They didn't go into details. But they did end up having a good time and they returned home safely. All of them eventually attended to smaller proms in the weeks that followed. But they had fun. Girl #3 had to go to three more. Prom #2 and #3 also had a similar phenomenon. Prom #4 was the charm. And she got to remain and have fun. We can try to be tolerant all we want, just as we're tolerant of all God's children. And guess what? All of God's children sin. But this was different. To hear my sons describe it, it almost felt like they were watching pornography. They had to get themselves out lest they be consumed. The biggest issue here is not whether someone sins (of any variety). It was that the sin was "accepted" as righteous behavior. No. Sin is sin. We all sin. But the thing that separates the righteous vs the wicked is whether we're striving to overcome sin vs accepting it (either giving up or believing there is nothing wrong with it). This was a room where half the people had apparently believed there was not only nothing wrong with it. But that it was actually "preferred" behavior. Yes, there was something very wrong there.

The economy is almost always booming in Texas. It is almost always the last place to go into a recession, and the first to come out of a recession. They do a LOT of things to be very business friendly. And that means more jobs. And those jobs often pay more than elsewhere, especially when you take into account the cost of living. I would make the same salary in CA as in TX. But no income tax, lower cost of living, lower sales tax, about the same property tax, other tax benefits (like lower transportation tax) better overall community. The only downside is the weather isn't as nice in TX. The property tax in Texas is not as high as one might think when considering we have no state income tax. For most people, the lack of income tax balances out the property tax. And for some reason Utah is weird when it comes to income tax. I paid more income tax in Utah than I did in California (back when CA was actually tolerable). You most likely don't have to pay taxes on the sale of your house. As long as you live in your home for 2 out of the previous 5 years, you get a $250,000 deduction (exemption) from the sale of your house. If you're married filing jointly, you can get a $500,000 deduction (in most states due to community property laws).

I'm not sure what you're pointing out. I actually wasn't impressed with the stuff around the area. It was a little nicer than the downtown area we were staying in (closer to the Alamo) that's for certain. But the Temple grounds themselves were what I was impressed with. The fact that it was on top of the hill gave it a 360 degree view of the entire area... which is pretty nice to have. But it would have been a pretty view if it were unimproved as well.

I told you, you could come by anytime.

Mu wife and I spent our recent anniversary in San An. We Toured the Alamo and did a sealing session at the temple. The temple itself seemed to be similar to the Ft Collins temple in Colorado. But the grounds were incredible. I wanted our kids to get sealed there. But a three hour drive would be too far for so many people.

It would seem that some people expect police to be agents of the Pre-crimes Division. The upswing in mental health issues is society's wholesale turning away from God and family structure. We've lost all sense of right and wrong. (That is a common clinical definition of mental health). The reason these crimes occur is that we live in a culture that has forgotten to value human life. The problem with "gun control" is that blaming guns simply takes the blame off the individual who perpetrated the crime. Blaming police for "not doing their job" also takes the blame off of the perp. The entire gun control lobby is about blaming everyone and everything else other than the person committing the crime. And people wonder why things keep happening? How about start preaching personal responsibility again? How about preaching the sanctity of life? How about encouraging stable family life? How about bringing God back into our society, our homes, and our hearts?

Yup. But let us not forget the upside: Then the coolest part... If they were ordained, of Nephi, then we're talking about baptism by priesthood authority. So, if that pattern repeats itself, almost all of Christianity and many from other faiths as well will be baptized into the covenant people of the Lord.

I believe something similar may be Pariah Outcast Abomination Anathema I kind of like the advice you gave. Here's what I've found in the four systems I've been involved in. Most mainstream martial arts have something to them. But people get this impression that they'll somehow get magically adept at fighting because of it. No. A large person will still beat a small person as long as both of them are at some minimum level of physical capacity. A quick person will still beat a slow person. A large fast yellow belt will still beat a small, slow black belt. And within similar levels of training and natural ability, there will be some individual students who just get a feel for it better than others and are able to make maximum use out of the methods they've been trained in. And you can tell the difference between a black belt who is really good and a black belt who just rose up because they put in enough time (and money) into the system. All four of the systems I was in were like this. It seemed no different than seeing a "College Degree" from someone who got straight C's vs someone with a 4.0. They both got the diploma. But one was obviously a lot better for the experience than the other.

@Jane_Doe, First, let me give a disclaimer. I don't think what you've described is something that has a realistic answer. The whole point in the New Covenant is that we're talking about an internal change which requires internal action, not outward observances. That said, we have some advice and counsel from scripture that tends to point the way. 1) Ordinances. I'm assuming she's gone through ordinances. The reason why we have them is that we are physical beings that require physical actions to reinforce reality to us. It isn't just a vague notion in our minds or hearts. The physical act links the mental and spiritual into a physical reality that we cannot deny. We "may" have felt or thought something. But we "know" that we went through a physical ordinance with records to back it up. So, study & ponder ordinances of the gospel. What they are, their history, their purpose, and what they really mean on a deep level. Ask: What does it men to ME? 2) Prayer. Again a physical action to make our thoughts a reality. Pray for faith, testimony, and knowledge. It would be helpful if she could pray vocally in a place where she can be free to talk without anyone coming in and listening. In that setting, there is no need to bow her head. I'd advise to look into the sky as she prays. Ask her to really dig deep into her own heart to see who she is now, and who she wants to become. Remind her that the beautiful lesson of the gospel is that we don't need to remain who we are. We can always strive to be better. And with the hope of Christ and faith in His Atonement, she can be. 3) Scriptures. Reading is one thing. But studying and pondering is another. I believe we've had several threads on this, so that should be enough. If you want more commentary on that, let me know. 4) Religious observance. Go to church each week. Participate in the activities as if you "expect" not just "let's see", but "expect" to feel the Spirit. Talk with her each week about how YOU felt the Spirit during church or during an activity. Ask her how she felt about the same thing. 5) Re-commit. I cannot stress enough how the entire point of the gospel is that we re-commit all the time to be on the Lord's side. Every time we fall, we get back up. The gospel does not say we'll never fall again. It reminds us to get back up each time we fall. The Atonement is not just a one-and-done fix. It is the hope that gives us the strength to get back up each time we fall. 6) Service. It is no secret that the Savior's life was spent in the service of others. To follow Him, we need to serve others in any capacity that we can reasonably do. Again, to the disclaimer: Cain obeyed the Lord in "action". But his heart was far from the Lord. That is why his offering was rejected.

I have no idea why you'd bash Giant Killer Robots. They can be so much fun when you... oh... THAT GKR. Sorry.