Carborendum

Apropos of nothing.

Nice painting. I can appreciate your sentiment. If I can take the privilege of sharing my "time away from Church"... I looked at people going towards the rod as Nephi & Lehi describe. I couldn't see how to get there. Sometimes, I'd find myself near the rod. But I couldn't see the path or the tree to which it led. It was just a rod with no sign that it was something I was supposed to use for anything. It may as well have been a stick coming up out of the ground for all I knew. People all around me told me to grab hold of it. But I never saw them grabbing it. They just seemed to walk wherever. Some down the path (presumably towards the tree) some went away. But I didn't see them even acknowledge the rod existed. I thought it was strange that I at least acknowledged it existed. But I didn't see what it was for. I looked at the people in the great and spacious building. They looked like they were having fun. But for the most part, their fun was just mocking the people near the rod. And at the times I "randomly" found myself near it, the mocking included me. I was in a state of limbo. It was easy for me to say I didn't want to go into the great and spacious building. But I really didn't have any drive or ambition to go down the path that I couldn't see. Some say that we only have one step visible to us. I had none during that period in my life. I had no way of knowing if any step I took was going towards or away from the tree.

This is about what I was considering as well. The common stumbling block is "translation". And this is not only from language to language, but from culture to culture (be it Egyptian to American, or from 1800s to 2000s). When we consider the Egyptian "rod", I wonder the "rod of Aaron" actually was. Cecil B. DeMille rendered it a staff. But an Egyptian rod of rulership was shaped like a small shepherd's crook. The hook can be used as a weapon, or as a gathering device. I believe it is up to us which one it is. We accept it and are brought into the fold. Or we shun it and recognize the terrible power of the Lord. That "end of the rod" phrase takes on new meaning for me when we see it is a hook. Even the "clinging" then indicates that through the Atonement of Christ we are "pulled" along the path, as we cling to the end.

I'm usually very good at looking at cross references. But I just realized I've never done that with this vision. I noticed quite a different voice between the Biblical vs. BoM verses on the topic. So, here are the Biblical references. Certainly emphasizing the power and weapon aspect of the rod. That aspect of "fear of the crown" rather than "honor, respect, and reverence" is emphasized. I believe this to be a cultural thing. The BoM references (as you can imagine) are all from Nephi. And they pretty much say what we are familiar with. What stood out to me was: I found the use of the word "blindness" to be interesting. Atheists will often accuse theists of "blind faith" as a blanket pejorative over anything they consider religious. Here, Nephi points out that by giving into the great and spacious building enshrouds us in the mists of darkness which is the true source of our spiritual blindness. But what are the mists of darkness? I had understood it to be the veil -- or at least, that was a large part of it. I apply this to the argument of atheists as a warning that if we only trust our senses, we really are the blind leading the blind. It is only when we take hold of the rod that we can see the true source of light and knowledge and have a claim on "intelligence".

More hope for you, @MrShorty It just keeps getting better. My niece was just told that she will not need to go through the entire battery of treatments. She has responded so well to the treatment that she will be able to remove her back brace soon.

Here's some more hope to spread around. My family friend I spoke of: They finished the last treatment a little while ago. The testing said that he was ready for surgery to remove the pieces of the (hopefully) dead cancer that remained. Today he went in for surgery. The doctors said they were able to completely remove it. I understand this was a rare thing. But the remains came out in one big clump instead of breaking into tiny pieces which corresponds to a higher rate of relapse. He's completely cancer free. Now he just need to recover from surgery and he's good to go. Our prayers were answered. We're sure happy for him. But I'm sure we can't be as happy as his family.

All items on your list (save #4) fit with my narrative as well. And #4 has everyone confused. It just plain doesn't make sense. We can approach it from three perspectives Putin has become delusional (which is what the media and politicians would have you believe) He's just plain lying to try to get the Russian people behind him by telling the biggest whopper he could think of (which certainly hasn't worked out at all). He's saying something between the lines. Since the first option requires that I trust the media and politicians above common sense, I'm just not quite ready to believe that... yet. The second one would indicate that he's stupid. He may be evil. He may be a bully. He may be many other things. But I doubt he's stupid. That leaves me to consider the last option. He's saying something between the lines. Given the history I've outlined, I conclude that he must really be talking about the US that is only using Ukraine as a puppet government (in his eyes). After all, their president is a simple comedian. How could he have been duly elected by a free people. The only thing worse would be electing an actor to be president of the US... Now that is quite impressive, isn't it? After all this, the Finns may want to consider them blood brothers and apply their term Sisu to Ukrainians.

I'd been thinking about Lehi's dream and was surprised by a line from our Sacrament Hymn: God Loved us, so He Sent His Son. A line stuck out to me: At first I envisioned the iron rod as we see in all the artistic depictions. A person bowing below that "handrail" seemed pretty silly. But then it occurred to me that there may be an interesting alternative to the typical depictions. A "rod" is a synonym of what Occidental cultures would call a "scepter". It is an emblem of a king's power and authority. We bow to the scepter to show obeisance to the king. It is also a symbol of fear since the rod can also be used as a weapon by the King to strike down a subject who is being disobedient. (What fond beggar, but to touch the crown, would, with the scepter straight be stricken down?) Why iron? I was reminded that Nephi was educated in the manner of both the Jews and the Egyptians. To the Jews, iron was a strong metal. It was the very symbol of strength and durability. To the Egyptians, it carried an air of power and authority. They first came across it from meteorites. As such, they called it the "Metal of Heaven" or sometimes translated as "Star Metal." Nephi simply called it "the word of God". The Gospel of John called Jesus, Himself, "The Word." The rod spoken of here is not a weapon. At least, it is not extended as such. It is the Lord's way of offering a path for us to draw near unto Him. But those who see it as a weapon want to stay away from it, even mock those who cling to it -- as such naysayers remain far enough away that they can feel safe in the fantasy-land that brings only temporary comfort that will eventually fall apart (like, Idunno, a building floating without a foundation). The iron rod is The word of God The symbol of power and authority of God The invitation to partake of His love Our guide and stay The Iron Rod is the Atonement, the Church, the Commandments, and all the covenants we make. We can choose our own path and wind up in a very fanciful and comfortable building that will eventually fall; or we can bow ourselves beneath the rod.

I'm trying to put myself in his shoes. If I simply didn't want to talk to them, I would simply not meet with them. Why hold a conference to NOT talk to anyone?

It has to do with the video I posted a few days ago. Ever since Yeltsin, Russia's opinion has been that the continued expansion of NATO is akin to Hitler's continued expansion throughout Europe without a shot being fired. Here is an article that touches on some similar issues: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2018/our-biggest-mistake-is-that-we-trusted-you-too-much-geopolitics-donald-trump-and-vladimir-putins-historical-memory Reagan and Gobachev The Soviets and Americans were friends. They brokered a new world of superpowers wanting to help the world through an era of peace. The Soviets broke up the Warsaw Pact Nations and the Soviet Union would no longer exist. Only Russia would remain as a superpower. For our part, we agreed that NATO would not expand any further. Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Yeltsin: We added more nations to NATO and got closer and closer to the Russian Border. Yeltsin cried foul "Our mistake was trusting you too much. Your mistake was taking advantage of that." (paraphrased). Obama & Putin: "I'll have more flexibility after the election." Putin put it all out on the table for Obama. Obama disbelieved him, assuming he must have been lying. But he (Putin) wasn't ... for the most part. Obama responded, but didn't really accept anything Putin had complained about. Trump & Putin: Trump tried trusting Putin. And he pulled US troops out of Ukraine. Putin wanted to trust Trump. And he largely remained quiet. Calculating. Both sides were double faced in that regard. Biden... Have you ever heard of a meatball? Bottom line, everyone knows Ukraine simply isn't being run by Nazis. But it is very easy for Putin (and most Russians) to believe that America is doing the very same thing as Hitler did... nation by nation. To them, it doesn't matter if it is by treaty or by force of arms / economics. We're the bully who broke our promise to the Russians. That's all they know. And, directly to your point: No, Putin isn't making that exactly clear. Many Russians do think he's talking about Ukraine.

Can anyone explain what is going on here? Is this fake? It's gotta be, right?

Is it worth pointing out that it isn't "the Ukrainians" that Putin is calling Nazis. That is what he thinks of America. This is nothing more than a proxy war on a scale that we've never seen before.

I believe it to be completely accurate. But I don't necessarily believe it to be literal. I think there is a lot of figurative language in all scriptural accounts. But I it is very difficult to extract the literal facts from such figurative language when you're dealing with documents/languages/cultures that are over 2000 years old. So, we don't know. The Bible's primary purpose (as is the Book of Mormon) is to persuade men to come to Christ. And I believe the Bible does so because of an unacknowledged characteristic. There is in history/sociology the usage of the term "Founding Myths". This is defined as being a combination of fact and "urban legend" level oral history (fiction) that is combined into a narrative. After all is said and done, no one truly knows where one ends and the other begins. Nor does anyone really know the percentage of fact vs. fiction. But they remain very important to a society/culture regardless of the facts. Three characteristics of what constitutes a "Founding Myth". They provide a common origin story. They provide a common set of values for a society. They provide a common vision of where the future of that society should be headed. The Bible does provide those. Genesis, Ten Commandments, Abraham's Bosom. This is why Jordan Peterson recently said that even if it (the Bible) isn't "fact", it is really even "more true than truth". It is because it provides the basis of what we use to determine truth/error and right/wrong. Latter-day myth: We as Latter-day Saints, have some founding myths (which include the accepted revelatory facts). But one that at least appears to be a tall tale is the seagull miracle. As far as I could gather, there has not been one verified, contemporary, first-hand account of the miracle at all. And given the wealth of personal journals we have from the time period, it makes one wonder why no one wrote about it at the time. (If anyone can find a source, I'd certainly welcome it). Even if it is not fact, it is an important item in our history because it speaks to the belief that even in the midst of tragedy, the Lord is with us. And that is belief is always true. American myth: One myth I recently discovered was about "The Virginia Giant" (Peter Francisco). It was said he carried an 1100 lb cannon off of a battlefield because he didn't want the Brits to take it from them when they (the Colonies) were in retreat. But it was recently "modified" per the comments in the following video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwHWrRaVfQg (go to 26:00 for the bit about the cannon). While he didn't actually do this, he was nonetheless a very important individual in the Revolutionary War. And anyone who enjoys freedoms that were born of the American Revolution owe him a debt of gratitude. I'm perfectly fine saying "I don't know". But I will also say the Bible is 100% true (as far as it is translated correctly).

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-administration-russia-ukraine-war-nuclear-deal-iran https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/new-us-iran-nuclear-deal-why-biden-e2-80-99s-pursuit-is-dangerous-and-delusional/ar-AAVbzNM https://jewishjournal.com/news/worldwide/346158/russian-state-run-nuclear-energy-company-would-rake-in-billions-of-dollars-under-new-iran-deal-report-says/ https://nypost.com/2022/03/04/biden-on-verge-of-making-worst-deal-ever-with-iran/ But it looks like it won't make it past the Senate... We can hope Rand Paul's willingness to give the benefit of the doubt pans out. https://www.newsweek.com/rand-paul-only-republican-senator-not-oppose-iran-nuclear-deal-1687841 Only two liberal media sources reported on it, only to praise it. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/world/europe/iran-nuclear-deal-russia-ukraine.html https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2022-03-08/limits-new-iran-nuclear-deal -- difficult to tell if this source is for or against the dealings this time around.

This was really an important turning point for giving Putin an "out". This was the primary concern of Russians. Putin could declare victory and say that he obtained the objective. Most people didn't pay much attention to this. But this was the real reason behind the invasion to begin with. When Zelensky publicly announced this, I thought that the war could end soon. But then... Under any normal time, this would have been of no consequence. But these are not normal times. This was basically a declaration of war as far as Putin is concerned. So, be prepared for a longer war.

MrShorty, I just wanted to let you know that my family have asked for your name was when I mentioned "my friend" in our prayers. They noticed that I lumped you in with my niece, our family friend, so they realized you must have cancer. I didn't feel right calling you "Mr. Shorty" in a prayer. So, I've begun calling you "Marty". They know who I mean, and more importantly, the Lord does.

On a practical level, I understand where you're coming from. But "practical, earthly" limits have never stopped the Lord from performing his work. And if he requires it of us, there will be a way provided. For a practical explanation, I believe that is really the primary reason behind having The Millennial era. I'd say within four or five generations in, the entire earth will be involved in the work. And with the records being guided by and approved by heavenly hosts, I don't see this as a problem.

I'd like to disagree with something that has been said on this thread and many like it. I believe the notion that the marital covenant/sealing is more important than the parent/child sealing is a false one. Two facts we know: 1) To obtain the highest degree of the Celestial, we must enter into the marriage covenant. 2) We without our dead cannot be made perfect in Christ. Neither can they without us be made perfect in Christ. I've spent several years pondering why we cannot be made perfect without them. And I believe I came to an inescapable conclusion about that. I've since prayed for understanding, and I believe I've received personal revelation one exactly why. As such, I don't expect anyone to accept it, nor will I share it publicly. But it does explain point number two when nothing else does. And regardless of whether anyone received revelation on the matter or not, it is written in the D&C. We need them to be sealed to us or we CANNOT be made perfect in Christ. Sealing means a lot more than we tend to believe.

With regard to the bolded: Here's what I'd tell Psaki. US oil companies are, indeed, drilling. But they can't drill more than their current permits allow. Nor can they drill in new locations. And you also can't get milk from a rock. The rates of extraction are based on what is considered economical. This is true for any nation, company, or oil find. Bottom line, even with the "thousands of permits" our current resources are not sufficient to supply our own oil needs. One of the factors of "economical" is how much government interference there is. OSHA and EPA regs are stifling. While a lot of their rules make all the sense in the world, many of those "common sense" regulations are used as a bludgeon at levels that were clearly never intended. So, get the wrong administration with the wrong head of EPA or whatever, and you basically make it unmanageable to drill anymore. There is also another quirk. Our oil will not work with our refineries at the level we're talking about. The types of impurities and the percentages of constituent parts of crude oil in US finds is much different than foreign crude. The great majority of our refineries are made to separate the parts of foreign oil, but they would not be appropriate for domestic oil. The only thing increasing our oil drilling would be that we can flood foreign markets with oil, thus reducing the overall price of oil worldwide. And, yes, that would affect our oil prices as well. But don't believe that when we drill, we're somehow increasing the oil that is available for US refineries. It doesn't happen that way.

I fit the bolded line above. I don't consider myself an "expert" on this matter. I do consider myself more informed than the average person. My father had a gradual decline. Now, he's just "gone". Early on in the process,. my oldest brother simply stated "he's completely lost his marbles." But at the time, he just seemed a little "out of it" like he was completely exhausted. Physically, he seemed to have energy. He just had the mental awareness of someone who was very tired -- unable to focus, seemed to forget quickly a phase someone just said several times in as many minutes. It could have very well been that he was merely tired all the time. But for my brother, that was enough. He was willing to say what no one else was willing to. And as far as I know, he had never had any previous experience with it. He just happened to observe him enough to know that this was more than simple fatigue. Eventually, it got bad enough that several siblings and my mother decided to have him examined. But by that time -- even before the doctor looked at him -- they all pretty much knew "that child ain't right." And he's gotten a lot worse since then. And he's also lost his wife since then. I don't need to be an expert to see that what I see Biden doing now vs. how I saw him 6 to 10 years ago is very different. I don't need to be an expert to see that what I see in Biden is very similar to that early stage when only my brother was ready to declare my father "lost his marbles." I don't need to be an expert to see behavior that resembles a slap-stick comedy about an old man who is getting senile. I also don't claim I know for sure exactly what is going on with Biden. Sometimes I think I see real thought behind his actions. Other times I don't. So, I really don't know. I also believe that IF it really is dementia, we won't have to wait long to see on a very public stage that he truly is "gone".

There are two levels to this. FIRST: The primary thing to remember is that we make a fuss when politicians and the talking heads make a fuss. So, why didn't they make a fuss with Georgia? Georgia was not interested in being part of NATO. Georgia was not the lynchpin nation between east and west (militarily, economically, sociologically). Georgia was not a strong military nation with ties to the US. Georgia was not a critical nation with navy access to the Black Sea. We're making judgements about this war as it if is simply the act of a madman. It is much bigger than that. While I wouldn't want to be locked in a room with Putin, he's not the man the media and several politicians are making him out to be. This is entirely calculated to counter the expansion of NATO, and to provide strategic military positioning by the Russians. The very fact that the world economy is able to cripple Russia without firing a single bullet is evidence that they may have waited too long. They knew this was coming. And Ukraine joining NATO was simply the last straw. Basically, it is a proxy war. SECOND: I absolutely believe in secret combinations nudging here and there, without actually having to expose anything. We the people simply see a nation waging an "unprovoked" war against an innocent freedom loving people. The world leaders are well aware of the strategic positioning between nations. What the world leaders are NOT aware of is that they, too, are being manipulated. The whole reason why we're in this situation to begin with was that when there was not enough information to truly know what to expect, the right person was in the right place to whisper into the ear of a willing dupe. And this began a long time before our current President.

Has this been posted before? "How the United States Created Vladimir Putin" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7Ng75e5gQ Very illuminating lecture on Putin from 2018. It may sound like he's "blaming America". But he makes a very convincing argument. I believe what he's getting at is that at the time, the decision could have gone either way. And someone had to make a decision. Someone did (actually several someones over time). It was the wrong decision. I'd long held the belief that we should not be putting our G.I.s in harms way for another country unless there was a substantial national interest for the US. I didn't believe in most of the wars since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I was not for Clinton's wars. I was not for either Bush war. I was not for Obama extending Bush's war. But the idea that Russia began an unprovoked war against a country that was completely unprepared for it made me question my position. When I learned of our history of on-again/off-again support of Ukraine, I questioned my position. When I found out that they were vulnerable mostly because of promises (no treaty) made by the US, I questioned my position. When I learned of the broken promises to Russia by the US, I felt like "we broke it, we bought it." I was very happy that Trump was actually reducing our forces in Afghanistan. I was happy that he was able to keep us out of an actual war with Iran. I was happy to learn that he was trying to find the balance of helping Ukraine without putting out G.I.s in harm's way. I was split on Biden. He stopped the materiel (yes, that is spelled correctly) assistance to Ukraine. That was bad. He refused to put our troops in harm's way. That was good. Now... I'm throwing my hands up in the air and thinking...

Recently Ammo, Inc pledged 1 million rounds of 7.62 rounds for the Ukranian army. I wrote them and here is their response. I liked how they showed CARE's rating. Anything over 90 is a gold standard. I'm pledging.

I am so sorry to hear that. I'll certainly be willing to add you to the list. Just to give you hope, I'm already praying for one dear friend who's just finished his last cycle. He believes he has fully recovered. His doctors are still doing some final tests before they're willing to declare him cancer free. But all the evidence so far looks positive. I also have niece who is dealing with a lymphoma in her spine. We're all praying for people here.

Whoa! Car batteries. My car broke down and we found out it was the battery. A tiny battery for a 12 yo Nissan Versa was $185. Just two years ago I would have gotten it for around $50. The repair shop said they have been seeing prices for EVERYTHING skyrocketing over the past year. They're much busier than usual because new cars are less available and a lot of people are getting hit hard enough that buying a new car simply isn't an option. At this point, they're actually getting afraid that people will be out of cars soon. Parts are getting pricey enough to be prohibitive. And without new parts available... Whew!