Still_Small_Voice

I don't believe a lot of stuff I have read from InfoWars but I believe that Venezuela really is in crisis because of what the government has done to the country.  I found my information and verified it from other sources.  There are food shortages there in that country.

I am getting quite weary of the Federal over reach on many issues.  The lords of Washington D.C. want to tell the peasants how to live their lives in the land of America.

I am getting quite weary of the Federal over reach on many issues.  The lords of Washington D.C. want to tell the peasants how to live their lives in the land of America.

‘We Will Not Be Blackmailed’: Conservatives Slam Obama Administation After Transgender Bathroom Directive to Public Schools
May. 13, 2016
Conservatives across the country are slamming the Obama administration telling public schools to either let transgender students use the restroom of their preference or risk losing federal funding.
Speaking at the Texas Republican Convention on Friday, Lone Star State Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was one of the latest politicians to weigh in on the controversy.
“This will be the the end of public education if this prevails. People will pull their kids out. Homeschooling will explode. Private schooling will increase. School choice will pass,” Patrick told reporters in Dallas.
Read more at:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/05/13/we-will-not-be-blackmailed-conservatives-slam-obama-admin-after-transgender-bathroom-directive-to-public-schools/
 

I am getting quite weary of the Federal over reach on many issues.  The lords of Washington D.C. want to tell the peasants how to live their lives in the land of America.

This is a perfect example of Federal Blackmail.
FIGHT TO GET SCHOOLS BACK TO LOCAL CONTROL!
Standardization can be achieved through State competition and not Federal mandate.

I hope I am wrong, but I think our nation will possibly be torn apart in the future (who knows when).  We are living on borrowed prosperity right now and robbing future generations.  There are too many who wish to glut themselves on the labors of others hands and too many amoral people who think character does not matter and they are free to sin with no consequences. 
On the other side are those who believe in the spirit of the American worker and who wish to live by decent morals.  All the current selected President candidates show what path America has decided to go down.  May the LORD have mercy on those who follow Him and call on His name. 
"Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people."
"And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."  -- Mosiah 29:26-27

Yes, I've been thinking this too. The nation is so divided now, and I don't see that changing any time soon. And demagogues are happy to exploit those divisions, and add fuel to them.
Before Christ came to the Nephites they broke up into warring tribes. That's the road we're on, even though I hope we don't get to that end point.
Proud people cannot get along. It's what destroyed the Nephites. Proud people take offense easily, and also give offense to others.
I just hope the church itself can avoid the divisions. We're actually supposed to be heading the other direction - becoming Zion, one in heart. What is that going to take? I partly afraid to find out. In my opinion, Mormons, like many Americans, are too focused on and caught up in fighting about politics, which is a worldly thing and not often very close to what the gospel is about.

I hope I am wrong, but I think our nation will possibly be torn apart in the future (who knows when).  We are living on borrowed prosperity right now and robbing future generations.  There are too many who wish to glut themselves on the labors of others hands and too many amoral people who think character does not matter and they are free to sin with no consequences. 
On the other side are those who believe in the spirit of the American worker and who wish to live by decent morals.  All the current selected President candidates show what path America has decided to go down.  May the LORD have mercy on those who follow Him and call on His name. 
"Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people."
"And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."  -- Mosiah 29:26-27

Taking all the green politics out of it, battery electric cars are good.  It allows for competition against gasoline internal combustion engine cars.  Oil companies have had a monopoly on cars for far too long.  
Battery electric cars are about 60 percent efficient at turning energy into motion.  Gasoline cars are about 15 to 20 percent efficient, but gasoline cars have the advantage of quick refuels.  I plan on owning an electric car for my everyday trips in the future but a gasoline car for my long travels.
If I can get a 2014 BMW i3 electric with a 60 mile gasoline range extender in it for less than $12,000 in about five years I can have about a 70 mile per gallon car.
Edit: After looking into the cost on BMW replacement parts I will never own a BMW.  Parts are probably marked up about 35 times what the actual manufacturing costs are.  The cost to repair a BMW i3 electric charging port from what I read is $2,000!!  No thanks BMW.  Now I am looking more into at a future Nissan electric car that gets about 109 miles on a full battery charge.  Hopefully that is the 2017 Nissan Leaf model.

I hear you there with a Tesla Model 3.  I would love to have someone give one of these cars to me.  They are very nice.  I have test drove two electric cars already and I loved the experience.
Thou shalt not covet.  Very hard to not do with a Tesla car.

I like what the Prophet Gordon Hinckley said on this subject:
“People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are. "
Just because people are tempted to be homosexual does not mean they have to give in.  We are called to overcome the flesh relying upon the grace of God.  Some people have a weakness, with alcohol, others pornography, some struggle with their anger.  Do not excuse yourself in sin.  Cry unto the Lord and begin to work to overcome your weaknesses and sin.

I have become more jaded in my advancing age.  I don't think the minimum wage issue in the US is a misguided attempt at compassion.  Rather, I believe that the minimum wage issue in the US is the American equivalent to what Filipino political candidates do - paying you money to buy your vote.  At least, in the Philippines, the vote-buying expense ends at the ballot box.  The US equivalent spends and spends and spends to secure more elections to come.

In other words:
 

I don't think their goal is to eliminate religion per se, but rather to force it to conform and validate them.  "Live and let live" isn't good enough for these people, they want you to acknowledge the moral equivalency of their choices to your own.  If Christianity in general were to do that tomorrow, I guarantee the pressure on religion would cease. 
(Yes, Judaism and Islam also condemn homosexual behavior, but those aren't the majority in this country, and the LGBTQ community do not see them as a threat.  Muslim owned bakeries won't do same sex wedding cakes either, but nobody bothers them.)

I hear you there with a Tesla Model 3.  I would love to have someone give one of these cars to me.  They are very nice.  I have test drove two electric cars already and I loved the experience.
Thou shalt not covet.  Very hard to not do with a Tesla car.

When I read the title for this subject I started thinking of the Disney "Tangled" movie song.
My dream is to acquire around $950,000 in assets and retire around the age of 64.  After retirement I want to pick up volunteer work and gardening or a part time job to have fun at.  I just realized need to dream more and think about some fun things to do in my life.

Actually, they are both for government control over everything.  The Democrats are overt and the establishment Republicans are covert.  Both are crony capitalists and both are socialists.  They only differ in their brand of socialism.  Democrats are democratic socialists who push openly for a rapid acceptance of socialism without calling it socialism.  The establishment Republicans are Fabian socialists who are working covertly for a slower acceptance of socialism without calling it socialism.  The funny thing is, both are succeeding quite handily.

This is why you put on the superuser gloves only when you need the magical superuser incantations.
sudo undelete

I wish they would sing Hymn 166, Abide with Me.  It's been a while since I heard it in church.  The verses are below:
 
1. Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!
 
2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day.
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me!
 
3. I need thy presence ev’ry passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Thru cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me!

My wife and I have been looking into adoption as of late. This was a concern of mine. I don't know anyone who is adopted intimately enough to know if they "GOT to find their birth parents", so my unwarranted concern could have only come from TV/Hollywood. I sat next to a young woman (sports therapist) on a plane a couple of months ago. Turns out she is adopted, from Texas and Korean too (no lie). So I explained my concern and she instantly said, "I never have felt that way. My adoptive parents are "my parents" and that is all I need". It was great to have that talk with her. She says that her and her brother go back to Korea occasionally to help others adopt from Korea to the US. 

This isn't something I normally do, but here's my full-length review as published in the Copperas Cove Leader-Press Newspaper back on the 26th. - http://www.coveleaderpress.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/coveleaderpress/ . The published version is behind a paywall, but this is the original. 
 
**
 
Risen

Darren Blair

Standard disclaimer applies. I’m openly religious. This is a religious film. I’m merely focused on the film itself. Et cetra.

Films about the Holy Bible have been in production for decades now. Everyone from individual religious groups to Hollywood itself has tried their hand to produce material. There have even been attempts to “update” the material or reinterpret it based on someone’s personal whims.

This film, in contrast, attempts a reasonably novel approach to making a Bible-based film: presenting a specific event through the eyes of people who are *not* already believers.

Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is a Tribune, a high-ranking official in the Roman military. Clavius is ambitious, his goal being to get a promotion that takes him to Rome itself. But first, he has to survive his present assignment to Judea. If he’s not dealing with his demanding superior – none other than Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) himself – then he’s dealing with the local politicians and the local violent uprisings.

At the start of the film, he is assigned to lead a unit of soldiers against one such uprising; although there are only a dozen or so rebels, they hold a surprisingly well-fortified. Clavius returns to base in the hopes of resting himself and his men, but he is met by a messenger who tells him that Pilate wants him… and it can’t wait. As Pilate explains, he was recently obligated to crucify a would-be Messiah figure named Yeshua (Cliff Curtis). However, the local religious leadership will not be happy until Yeshua is dead, and so are pressuring Pilate to finish the job. Clavius is to personally ensure the deaths of Yeshua and the two others who are being crucified alongside him, and he’s being assigned an aide named Lucius (Tom Felton) to assist him in this and future efforts.

Clavius personally assures everyone that the trio are dead, but this isn’t enough; Yeshua reportedly prophesied that he would rise from the dead after the third day, and so the politicians demand that the tomb be guarded. Clavius is sent to ensure that Yeshua’s tomb is sealed tight and that a guard is posted, but he’s so exhausted from everything that has happened of late he forgets to send the guards their evening meal. The guards try to silence their empty stomachs with alcohol, and are quickly asleep. As such, when the tomb is discovered open and Yeshua’s body has gone missing, Pilate blames Clavius and orders him to search until he’s discovered where Yeshua and his followers are.

But Clavius isn’t prepared for what he finally does discover…

I will give this film credit for one major thing: its depiction of the Romans. Most such works I’ve seen depict the Roman military, barring specific individuals such as the centurion in charge of the crucifixion site, as a faceless horde. In this, Clavius and Lucius are merely military officers trying to grapple with a problem they don’t understand through the few means that they do. In other words, they’re everyday human beings trying to do their job.

However, the film does have one big weakness: the closer we get to the end, the more the writers insist on directly inserting Clavius into the Biblical account of what took place. Past a certain point, it almost feels like Clavius is an insert character in someone’s fan-fiction. This is a shame, as it detracts from what is otherwise a well-written and well-acted movie. It’s worth seeing all told, but the MPAA isn’t kidding with that “Intense Violence” warning.

Total: 8 / 10

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 107 minutes.

"As long as judges tinker with the Constitution to 'do what the people want,' instead of what the document actually commands, politicians who pick and confirm new federal judges will naturally want only those who agree with them politically."   --  Scalia, 2004

We need to pray that Congress does not approve Obama's appointment to the court and they leave the seat vacant until he leaves office.  This will take a miracle.  Obama will appoint another to the Supreme Court that does not care about the Constitution or our liberties.