Traveler

Sorry about your phone. Since I am retired and no longer require a dependable hot spot my wife wanted me to switch to a Chinese phone (iPhone) – I now have enough experience to understand your frustration. If you have an Android – it was not your phone that lost your long response. There is a difference between “nice” things and expensive things – anyone that can afford expensive things is not poor and should be paying the same tax rate as everybody else that is rich and can afford expensive things. There is a very big difference between someone in poverty and someone that that spends foolishly. You should read the book “The Richest Man in Babylon”. Pay particular attention to Arkad’s Seven Cures of Poverty (or how to generate money and wealth). I was raised by an extremely wealthy man that grew up with 13 siblings raised poor in a 3-bedroom house without running water, central heat or electricity. When I reached the age of 8, I was expected to have a job outside of our home and family and pay for my own clothing, school supplies and leisure activities. Most of our food we grew ourselves. We raised rabbits and chickens for meat – we hunted and fished not for fun but to have enough to eat. I am dyslexic and had great difficulty with school subjects that were not logical (most of them excluding math and science). I also have difficulty with emotions – especially in relationships. For me kindness or cruelty should not be based on emotions (like revenge) but rather on logic and what I consider intelligence (the ability to learn and alter one’s behavior). I do not understand the emotion of attachments to things that naturally decay. I very much regret that our society measures wealth by the accumulation of things. If we view economy in such a manner, we will fail at every attempt to end poverty and increase lasting wealth – regardless of if it is for ourselves or someone else. The only way to help the poor is one on one – something that government (local, state or federal) is incapable of. Bureaucrats are incapable of helping anyone – they are only capable of following some set of rules and showing others how to follow those rules. Everything in government is instituted through bureaucrats. Jordon Peterson makes a very good point about helping others. First begin with taking care of yourself. If you can succeed with that, you can start to take care of those closest to you. When you get good at that you can start to teach other how to do what you have learned. My father would always say – if you want to learn something never consider learning it from someone that has only failed at doing it. Learn from the most successful person at doing what you want to learn, that you can find. If you can take care of yourself and teach other to take care of themselves – you and your friends are rich. The most successful system I have found to diminish poverty is capitalism and a strong middle class. I believe if a government comes up with any idea that in any way diminishes capitalism and/or a strong middle class – you will fail badly, and poverty will expand until either a different way of achieved or the middle class is destroyed resulting in a system of the very rich living off the very poor. There is no example in history of diminishing poverty without a strong middle class. The Traveler

WWI? You are a lot older than I thought. How are you still breating? You should be studied in a lab. The Traveler

It is my belief that you just do not get it. All the principles of the Great Society are still 100% being utilized – both in regards to the poor and solving environmental problems. There is a joke about how many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb. Answer – it only takes one, but the lightbulb has to want to change. The great lesson of the universe is that nothing happens without incentive. If it was not for the incentive of gravity – water would not flow downhill. I really think you have it backwards – someone without a roof over their head or food in their belly is going to be much more motivated to learn about how to get a roof over their head and food for their belly. If they are not interested or will not pay attention when they have the problem – they will be less interested if the roof over their head and food for the belly is no longer their problem. I believe that ever one should pay taxes – even the poor and especially pay taxes on money or benefits coming from the government. This little principle would change the thinking about government spending, and it would become more obvious that government spending is seldom a solution. We will all have a better understanding of government if we all have skin in the game. The problem with federal government involvement is that their attitude is and has to be - one size to fit all. I have done a great deal of service with people in poverty and have learned that there are at least 5 very big categories of impoverished people. You may know more. 1 chronic substance addiction 2 Mentally or physically handicapped or incompetent. 3 The Hobo – someone that has chosen poverty as their preferred way of life 4 People living on the economic edge of poverty. These are what many point to as needing help and assistance from the government. They can survive but and illness of accident (or other form of bad luck) pulls them under. 5 The elderly that are in the final stages of their life cycle. Sadly, many in poverty qualify under more than one of the above categories. For example, for whatever reason there is a strong correlation between #s 1 and 2. Only those uniquely of only the #4 category can successfully be helped out of poverty. My point in all this is that we need to trash all of the current poverty programs coming out of the failed Great Society – I am glad you have at least an inkling for this. I am concerned that your chart is misleading. I do not like the idea that the age 65 and up are getting entitlement benefits. We have screwed over Social Security to the point of using SS funds for the millions coming across our borders claiming asylum (among other Great Society ideas). This points to another big problem I have – you are not being charitable if you are using someone else’s money. It is extremely rare that someone that contributes to SS gets more back than they paid in. The only reason that SS has had problems is because someone in government has provided SS funds to individuals that never contributed. Your other concern about people being underpaid magically goes away with Milton Friedman’s negative income tax (so does minimum wage). If the wage is not worth the work required (underpaid) they can quit and live on their negative income tax. The wonderful thing here is that people get to choose for themselves what works best for them. Without the labor the rich CEO’s would very quickly figure out they need to pay labor more just to compete. We would have a self-correcting system that provides incentives to both sides of the equation. The other sad truth is that anyone that has started up their own business knows that they will work for years without even earning minimum wage – I know this because I have started up more than one successful business. It is not unlikely that you will work for yourself for free. One business I worked for free for 12 years – when I sold the business the government took more than I was able to keep. If you deprive the rich of their sweat equity – the economy and ingenuity of this country will collapse. One thing I very much dislike about the Democrats (or just about anyone in a power position of government) is that they think that their thinking is the only thinking that matters. The Traveler

I will give you two. First – it is an idea that has never worked has whenever tried it has made poverty more abundant. A prime example is the Great Society established under President Johnston. It was argued that by taxing the haves (just 2% of the GDP) and transferring through government regulation the money to the poor that poverty would be eliminated. Currently through taxation the government is regulating money to the poor, that is almost 30% of the GDP and poverty today is worse than before the grand idea of the Great Society. The argument is always that with just a little more taxes on the haves we can overcome poverty. In light of history – I am of the mind that money (economy) is not the root cause of poverty in our modern society and money alone is not a solution. The second reason – is the problem of entitlement. Those receiving government subsidies begin to think they are entitled to those subsidies – perhaps even more. I am more in favor of Milton Friedman’s concept of “Negative Income Tax”. It is somewhat similar to guaranteed income but with a very important caveat. It must be established in a manner that whatever an individual is able to earn by their own labor – they will always end up with more income. Thus, there is always an incentive to work to increase one’s income rather than to petition more from the government or think the government can solve the problem on its own – that is truly an argument with no merit or example. The Traveler

Labels are a problem. I cannot criticize too harshly because I have used labels, but the truth is – labels are more propaganda than descriptive. Let’s start with liberals and conservatives. Historically liberals believed in individuals exercising their prerogative and conservatives historically believed that individuals must be governed and kept within the guidelines projected by authority. Considering the history – I would say I am a liberal. It seems to me that the current definitions of liberals and conservatives are ambiguous such that I do not think of myself as either. But there are other problems with conservatives and liberals. Which is most likely to borrow money and create debt? Are we thinking liberals? And yet it is considered a conservative principle to borrow money to purchase a house or start a business. I would think that liberals ought to be against money loans with compound interest. And yet it seems that liberals are the most likely to borrow money without any consideration of interest? What is really meant by the “left” and the “right”? The most common answer is that the left is for more and bigger government and the right is for minimal and smaller government. But then it would seem that everybody agrees that the Nazis were right wing? How can that be? The Nazis were socialists and believed in the government control of everything – including who should be able to live and reproduce offspring. As I understand history the Romans were very good at labeling things – especially things that they did not like. For example, the Romans called the land of Israel, Palestine and the people that lived there Palestinians. The people in the Middle East that today call themselves Palestinians are less genetically connected to the people that the Romans gave the name to than are the Jews that are claimed to have no right to Palestinians. Another example from the Romans is the label “Christian”. Initially the followers of Jesus were Jews but as more and more Gentiles converted – it seems that the label of Christian was not so bad. Jesus called those that followed him (especially in baptism) disciples. Today many refuse to call us LDS Christians. That is fine with me. Knowing where the label came from in the first place – I have no problem being excluded from that label. When I am asked concerning my religious faith – I always respond with, “I am a disciple of Jesus the Christ and a devout believer in G-d”. Hopefully, this will clear up the ambiguity of labels and give an accurate description of how I define myself. Politically, I have difficulty defining myself. I very much dislike the, “I am a social liberal and fiscal conservative”. I am kind of a Libertarian. But mostly I believe in state rights trumping federalism. I am mostly connected to the political philosophy Frederic Bastiat as published in his little book, “The Law”. His concept of legal plunder is profound for our day. The Traveler

Before I begin, I would make clear that I am not a fan of Trump – especially for president. But there are some things about your post that I believe ought to be addressed: First – I would agree that Trump has narcissistic tendencies. I am not sure that calling him a raging narcissist is clinically accurate. I would also interject that every professional politician (holding such a position as a lifelong pursuit) has narcissistic tendencies. I would also interject that those that resort to name calling in the political arena by the nature of such also qualify as narcissistic in my mind and also have a tendency towards what you call “raging”. I do not believe that a searl liar is capable of introducing the Abraham Accords and bring the world closer to peace. Second – I would agree that Trump tends to exaggerate issues that he is passionate about. I do not believe that qualifies him or anyone else that does so as a serial liar. Again, I have not encountered any politician that does not tend to exaggerate the issues they champion or skew what their opponents have said or done. I do believe that to testify falsely before an official magistrate fully qualifies as bearing false witness against you neighbor – the worse kind of a lie in my mind (which is exactly what was done to Trump at a FISA Court on 16 points of accusations). I personally believe that bearing false witness against one’s neighbor does technically qualify someone as a serial liar. I realize that in political arenas there is a tendence to talk about candidates. I do believe that on this forum we ought to avoid name calling (such as raging narcissist or serial liar and talk specifically about promises in campaigning as opposed to actual efforts and accomplishments.) I oppose Trump as president because I do not believe he is either capable himself or capable of putting together a team to address the corruption of Washington DC. This was what I thought was his primary issue when he ran the first time and I really to do have a clear understanding what he intends this time around. The only reason that I can see for anyone to support Trump is to keep the democratic party establishment from continuing down their demonstrated path as has been established during the past 3 democratic presidents. In particular issues surrounding Israel and even more so what was done under the current administration concerning the Abraham Accords. Congress has been so economically undisciplined I do not understand why any current member of the House or Senate should be reelected. The Traveler

Every one of which is a politician by definition. The Traveler

You realize that the ultimate poll is what we call the voting poll. You are correct that there is a great deal of intent to skew polls (especially political polls) for all kinds of reasons. This is why it is critical to ensure that registered voters are constantly validated to insure that individuals that have previously registered have not moved their residence from the district or died or for some other reason such that they are not controlling their ballot to insure it is a legal poll. It is sad that any effort to authenticate voter registration is labeled racists – I believe for no other reason than control and skew the official poll. The argument that there is not enough tampering to change results is also a divergent claim. Because politicians want to claim that the skewed vote is an overwhelming mandate. The Traveler

Information about fracking (hydraulically fractured and horizontal drilling). I have a brother that is an engineer that worked in upper management of a natural gas provider (he is now retired) that is an expert in fracking. Drilling is a mining process and everything humans utilize that is not grown is mined. Even water is basically provided via mining technology that relies heavily on drilling and transportation techniques. Petroleum products (including natural gas) come primarily from deep pockets of hydrocarbon deposits. Generally, most think of these deposits as some kind of underground reservoir resembling an underground swimming pool. In reality the deposits are more like a thin giant potato chip often stretching for many miles and winding through several layers of earth's crust. Hydrocarbons are one of the most plentiful elements of the universe but here on earth the reservoirs are deep in the earth’s crust. There are two important technical elements to fracking. The first is high pressure hydraulics that separate layers no more than the diameter of a grain of sand (sand silica) which maintains small area openings for the high-pressure petroleum to escape under controlled circumstances. The second is horizontal drilling. This technique allows drillers to extract the petroleum through a single pump that can replace fields of hundreds of pumps and drill holes using previous methods. This fracking process is more environmentally friendly than nature’s natural movements. The only problem are legal problems because the oil from many miles away (on someone else’s property) can easily be extracted. All of the argued points by uninformed environmentalists are without merit and it can even be argued that fracking is better for the environment than doing nothing and letting nature take its course. Worse that uninformed environmentalists are power crazy politicians with an agenda that is incapable of extending their intent beyond their personalized shellfish bubble. I believe that some day in the future that historians will look back on our era as a time of deliberate political unrest stumbling over false claims of pseudo-science and utter nonsense believed by an uninformed populous. Obviously, the age of enlightenment is over and has been replaced by an age of gullibility. The Traveler

You should contact the Salt Lake City brethren and suggest this be added to their archive and online library. The Traveler

I am well aware that those directly involved in the Korean conflict experienced and endured the horrors of combat. However, for a reason that I do not understand, why our politicians never declared war and were perfectly content to sacrifice our young men as well as vast populations of Koreans – both military and civilians without the proper support and preparations. I believed that history would well document (of the Korean and Vietnam undeclared war) why no one should be called upon to enter into combat in behalf of their country or under orders from their country’s leaders without a declaration of war. I have greatly underestimated how blindly, and apathetic a careless and uninformed population can become when they are not directly engaged or are required to sacrifice to ensure that wars are ended with the complete overwhelming of the enemy. Obviously, wars cannot be won by those unwilling to engage. Sorry for the problems your family endured. I compared it to the riots because the same kind of politicians are unwilling to even call such criminal and unacceptable. A conflict will never be resolved by those unwilling to engage with the intent to end it. For many decades I believed that if idiots and fools were allowed to have their way in politics – that the public would realize how sick and wrong things can become. But I was wrong – politicians can stand in the bright sun on a cloudless noon day and declare it night and their party faithful will believe it and hate anyone that says the sun is shining. The Traveler

It is my personal view that politics are corrupt here in the Good Old USA. Initially Trump hit a chord with me that the DC swamp needs to be drained. I am now more convinced than ever that DC is more corrupt than I thought. The question that I am grappling with currently is whether or not the corruption of DC has crossed the Rubicon. I have always believed that both the republican and democratic parties are deeply mired in corruption – with the caveat that the democrats are exponentially the more corrupt. For a few decades I operated on the theory of voting against incumbents. If all else seems equal that still is my default – but the method is no longer my primary initiative. Considering records is more difficult than advertised but I believe it to be a critical element of importance. But there is a caveat for this as well. I believe that there is a flaw of political records with claims to have voted against failed government initiatives. It would seem that records are only valid when initiatives are passed, put into place and succeed. I can only think of two political initiatives in the past two decades or so that I can honestly say that I am in complete support: Number 1 is the Abraham Accords – which was 100% a Trump initiative. This initiative took the world closer to peace in the Middle east than has ever been since the state of Israel was established. The failure to support the Abraham Accords has brought the world closer to nuclear deployment during war since the end of WWII. I believe closer than the Cuban crisis and this was under the record of the current opposition candidate to Trump. Number 2 is an executive order to secure essential and rare earth elements necessary to maintain the needed supply chain elements to maintain the USA economy. Again, this is a 100% Trump initiative. Part of this initiative included hydraulically fractured horizonal drilling. That was shut down by the current opposition candidate to Trump. Something few understand about fracking is that the equipment is state of the art and the workers exceptionally skilled. The putting a stop to this technology required that the equipment be mothballed and the exceptionally skilled workers laid off and forced into other employment. What few seem to understand (including Trump) is that reinstating this industry to previous levels will take at minimum 10 years. There are a number of other issues, but records seem somewhat murky. I would like to say that there is a definite candidate (Trump) but his record proves that he underestimates his political opposition and that he is unable to put together a team capable of dealing with the corruption that in my mind has crossed the Rubicon and is clearly in charge of policies rolling out of the now very visible DC bureaucracy, swamp or whatever anyone wants to call it – that is dictating policy in our news and social information institutions, education, sports and the definition of Title IX, economy (banking and financing), military industrial complex, even in how local police departments can enforce law and even if the Supreme Court will remain an independent arm of our government. I see no way out of this mess anywhere on the horizon. The Book of Mormon warns about leaders that are so corrupt that they destroy the very societies they govern – by design. I think I will put all my efforts and trust in the establishment of Zion. The Traveler

Military commanders that answer to politicians are extensions of the politicians. Politicians (especially professional politicians) tend towards corruption, waist, economic instability and moral dysphoria whenever they get control of something. This is another reason why I believe individuals should be required to fulfill a military obligation before becoming a citizen with voting rights and freedom of speech. The Traveler

It is my opinion that neither Korea nor Vietnam ought to be considered a war any more than the current handling of antisemitic riots at liberal universities. I was in the military (assigned for a time to an intelligence unit) during the Vietnam conflict. Though I was never in Vietnam I did have access to critical information. A short summary: North Vietnam had one railroad line that connected the country. That infrastructure was never targeted. North Vietnam had one industrial area that produced all inhouse war needs. That infrastructure was never targeted. North Vietnam had two agriculture areas that supplied most of the food for the entire country, including its military. That asset was never targeted. Over 90% of the resources supplied by China (including manpower) that was not shipped via boat to North Vietnam came via the Ho Chi Minh trail. A very inexpensive tactic was developed that completely shut down the Ho Chi Minh trail with almost zero risk to any US assets but was only utilized for one week then was ended with no explanation. If we would have dropped sandbags into the Hai Phong Port (entry of military supplies other than the Ho Chi Minh trail) of the equivalent weight of the ordinance dropped else where in North Vietnam – we would have done more damage to North Vietnam war effort and ended critical wartime ocean shipments. The USA could have won and ended the Vietnam conflict in a week or less. There would have been less civilian life lost (collateral damage). Less military risk (lives of our boys in uniform) and less cost had that conflict not been controlled by politicians. If I seem a little harsh – you have touched a very tender chord with me. The only involvement of politicians in war (or conflicts) should be to declare war. Without a formal declaration by our politicians, we should not engage in any war activities towards anyone. (PERIOD) Once war is declared the politicians should keep the #%$# out of the way. Likewise, all information (news) concerning the war needs to be controlled by those directly engaged in the war. War is not a good thing - ever! Obviously, war should (Must!) be a last resort – utilized only with the intent to win the conflict with overwhelming force pointed directly at the softest targets available at our disposal and put an end to the war and all those willing to fight a war against us. Otherwise we are the paper tiger. The Traveler

One thought about this. It has been my personal experience that there are spiritual things that one can experience, especially in the temples consecrated to G-d, that cannot be written. There is also a reference in scripture 3Nephi where the resurrected Jesus blessed children that could not be written or even expressed to others. The Traveler

I want the highlight and add to @JohnsonJones‘s post. Part of my military training had to do with dealing with the wounded. In essence in a critical situation, I was trained to determine which of those most likely to survive should be treated first. The more unlikely to not survive were to be left for later or in some cases left to die. This is a very hard thing to deal with. For whatever reason there is a popular attitude that we leave no one behind. The reality is that in combat it may be necessary to leave some behind in order to save the most and most likely. I am most grateful that I never have had to make such a decision, though I personally know of some that did have to deal with such. None of those that I know are able to reconcile their choices. I have known a few individuals that have decided to abort a unwanted pregnancy. But in all cases, they have wandered off into paths far from me and I have lost track of them. I know of a few that have given their unwanted (or unplanned) pregnancies up for adoption. In every case they have been able to recover and take a place in marriage and family so that no one would know of their past. It is also my observation that women are more lovingly and emotionally attached to their children than are men. Of course, I understand that there can be rare exceptions. My point is that I believe it much easer of a man to accept abortion of their genetic offspring than a woman. I seriously wonder about that woman willing to abort a life more genetically connected to them than any other life in the universe – especially with the understanding that I have, that human life is perhaps the rarest of all possibilities of this universe. Though I agree with @JohnsonJones – I believe that when we come to understand the importance of mortal life possibilities in this universe – that we would be more willing to go to much greater extremes to protect and care for human life. The Traveler

I will give my impression of the symbology of the Eden epoch. I have pondered a great deal about the fall and have come up with two possibilities – both of which seem to disagree with traditional thinking. The great problem that I have pondered is – how did the fall of Adam and Eve (man) justly have an impact upon all of mankind? Paramount to my thinking centers around our 2nd Article of Faith: Granted, Jesus suffered and gave us the Atonement (Kippur) that mitigates (redeems) Adam’s transgression but regardless of the Atonement (resurrection)– we will all pay the inevitable price of Adam’s transgression, and we will suffer death (both physical and spiritual). The question in my mind is why? How is it just that all will fall – and evitability die? Here are the only two reason I have logically been able to surmise. I would entertain any ideas I may not have completely considred. 1 The Garden of Eden epoch is a symbolic representation of the war in heaven where Lucifer (Satan) attempted to deceive all the children of G-d the Father to follow him. In essence we all decided (as symbolically represented by the epoch of Adam and Eve) that we choose to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 2 The Garden of Eden epoch is a symbolic presentation of a sacred ordinance performed by Adam and Eve where they represented themselves as well as all the covenant children of G-d by proxy and symbolically partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. And we accepted the proxy. I would note that from our LDS restored revelation (doctrine) that Satan’s part was not so different that that which had been done before (giving the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). But I have come to consider that Lucifer conceived a cleaver plan to thwart that which had been done before. That is that Satan conspired to divide the union (marriage) of Adam (men) and Eve (women) by tempting them separately and not allowing them to decide together to partake. Thus, Satan introduced a great sin to give him an advantage over the covenant of marriage. This sin was to convince married couples to make important decisions that affect them both – on their own without consulting with each other and working it out together. I think that many discount the capabilities of Satan to disrupt G-d and his intent. I believe that the scriptural mentions such evil efforts as capable of deceiving even the very elect. That regardless of how clever we think of ourselves – without G-d’s intervention, Lucifer will outwit us. This is the reason the scripture tells us that he did not know the mind of G-d – because he was not able to outwit G-d. Everyone else – he will outwit. The Traveler

It is my impression that the scripture you are referencing gives spiritual pieces into events that are part of our pre-existence and specifically into the Plan of Salvation. This is why the creation and Eden epochs are symbolically presented in scripture – they are critical in order to participate in the ordinances and covenants that comprise the Plan of Salvation. I think we also get a little insight into the war in heaven – among other things. @mikbone presents a most important element of “knowledge”. There is a difference of intelligence between being exposed to light and truth and embracing light and truth. Hugh Nibley believed that the role of the Messiah was to guide us through the fall. Satan, not knowing the light and truth of the Plan of Salvation sought not so much to destroy the plan as to insert himself and the darkness of his mind such that all would lose their agency and become bonded (in bondage) to him. In essence he is of a different mind than that of the mercy and compassion of G-d. We are told in scripture that without the Atonement (Kippur in Hebrew) the only possibility is that man would become trapped into the bondage servitude of Satan – I believe this would be true even without the fall of mankind. That the Plan of Salvation is the only means by which man can have agency and know good from evil in order to become exalted and worthy to reside as Celestial beings in the presents of G-d. I believe that there is much to be discussed in order to better understand what little glimpses we are given in scripture of that war begun in heaven that is still going on over the freedom or captivity of the individual soles of mankind. The Traveler

I am impressed with this topic of the sanctity of life – though I do not hold to all the ideas you referenced quite the way you expressed them – I do believe this is a topic worthy of discussion. As vast as our universe is – this earth is a very obvious exception as to what life can thrive and spread throughout our universe. Perhaps the deadliest threat to life as we know it is the ambient cosmic radiation (mostly gamma radiation) that is everywhere in our universe. As our voyager probes have reached the outer Kuiper Belt of our solar system, we have learned that the solar winds from our sun create a barrier to protect and shield us from most of the deadly gamma rays. Without this protection the DNA would be destroyed many times over with every second, putting an end to the evolution of life on earth. Because of the abundance of gamma radiation everywhere outside of solar systems, the DNA seeds of life could not have had origins elsewhere – the gamma radiation would destroy any unprotected DNA. Likewise, life within a solar system would be destroyed by the solar winds without strong magnetic shields similar to our earth. And yet with all our advancements and technology we have not yet reverse engineered life. Currently the only hope for our human species is through heterosexual reproduction and the respect of any existing life and especially human life. Once a life has ended, we have no means possible to restore it. Our only hope is from religious notions of a divine induced resurrection. Our first moral of any universal worth must be to protect innocent healthy life, especially life capable and willing to procreate healthy life – and if humans are to survive - human life. We human, as far as I have determined, are the only species known to exist that have the intelligence to learn to respect and maintain innocent life. I do not believe that there is any intelligent or moral reason to ever deliberately (or even desire to end) any innocent non-threatening life and especially an innocent human life. And one more thought – we have the technology to allow even those wishing to engage in heterosexual sexual activity for strictly selfish purposes to do so without hardly any need for abortions. The Traveler

I have spent some time working in Japan and their manufacturing. They have a philosophy that was first introduced to Toyota following WWII for improving manufacturing. The term used as the name for this method is kaizen. There is a lot more to this production method than just workers learning different positions. The formal kaizen is initiated with a hashing out of best production methods by top producers (chosen by each production level). Examples of things discussed are problem encountered, what makes things work best, who (or what levels) need to accomplish what, what would help productions, what hinders production, and various ideas or concepts that individuals or teams think could bring about improvements. Having worked through several kaizens, I would make one comment of note to the forum. Never have I ever encountered the concept of DEI in a kaizen despite the fact that diversity and inclusion are hallmarks of the process. The diversity and inclusion comes from those at the various levels of production – never by race or social status. What was interesting to me, is that the insights usually of least worth in a kaizen were those from management. The Traveler

I am of the mind that dealing with what concerns the ward members requires a different kind of preparation as well as thinking in preparing and encouraging discussion. It requires that those leading the discussion become more focused on others. This is very difficult for me because I am of the sort that I will not connect with others until they communicate and say something. Often, I am not prepared for various inputs and must rely on the assistance of others in attendance. Thanks for your input. The Traveler

I spent some time working in Tiawan some time ago. Having spent time with the Chinese of Tiawan – I gained a very different perspective of Chian and its history. Technically Tiawan belongs to China and should have been returned to China along with Hong Cong at the turn of the century. However, with the fall of the Quin Dinasty and WWII a lot has changed. Regardless China greatly wants Tiawan back. Also, the people of Tiawan want to be reunited – but not with communists China. The only obstacle prevent China from taking Tiawan back is the United States of America. China has been making moves to take China back. I have thought with the weak leadership of the current administration that China would have done something by now. Especially in the interim of confusion that is taking place with the election. It has been a very long time since I worked for the Defense Department (which was during the cold war). The military hardware and technology used by China is stolen and copied from the USA. But the copies are not as good. Coming more up to date – I have taken opportunity to purchase a number of Chinese products. Such as mother boards for appliance computers, compressors for refrigerators and pull starters for 2 stroke engines. These products are pure junk and, though the most inexpensive on the market, are not worth even considering. I have also learned that China does not have a very good reputation for military hardware. Could it be that for all the saber rattling going on that China is bluffing? Historically this would not be new at all. China has not done well in the modern arena of war. They were abysmal in the opium wars as well as WWII. I have come to believe China will not do anything but bluff in the pursuit of taking back Tiawan. The Traveler

I am going to add a little bit more to my previous post. Having been married now for over 50 years I have come to believe that men and women are different and that the difference is much more then physical. I believe that women are very different kind of spirits. That there seems to be an element of spirituality with women that is not present in men. As I ponder this scripture, I consider that there is hints that there is much more written between the lines so to speak. I believe that this scripture hints (at least to me) that there are elements of marriage included in the concept of spirit and physical elements inseparably connected beyond a resurrection but to include a covenant of marriage as well. This is not singular but a plurality of marriage and being sealed for eternity. Not just as a temple ordinance but as a sealing by the both covenant and by the power of the Holy Ghost. I sometimes think that the mission and purpose of the Holy Ghost is sometimes overlooked because we see the roles of the other individuals of the G-d Head – not realizing that salvation and exaltation is not finished and complete without the sealing power of the Holy Ghose. The Traveler

I have pondered for decades about that which is spirit and that which is physical. This scripture, though vague, has been a catalyst in my thinking that spirit is comprised of dimensions outside of our physical space time dimensions. In short, I theorize that our 3-dimensional space + time is intersected by spiritual dimensions. Since our physical senses are capable of realizing our space time, that which is spiritual is somewhat foreign. I do not mind discussing my dimensional theory; however, I have discovered few have a mind for such things and going into details of even why many theoretical physics are considering the effects of other dimensions on our universe – especially in explaining quantum physics and universal field theory. So it is that my theory and explanation of D&C 93:33 is as we, as beings capable of both physical and spiritual dimensions are able to transcend the limits of our physical space time and permanently extend our intelligence to encompass both our dimensional space time as well as the dimensions of that which is spirit – we (our intelligence) is capable of joy that includes all the physical pleasures as well as that of eternal (beyond the limits of time) the powers and enlightenment of the spiritual dimensions. The awareness and ability to comprehend and utilize all the dimensions available is that fullness of joy. The Traveler

What is interesting to me is how precisely things were known and prophesied. As a 5th generation LDS I was taught by my grandparents that just as many members walked across the planes and mountains to get to the safety of Utah (Deseret) that the day would come for a walk back to Missouri. I thought it might be a bit of an eye opener to @Phoenix_person to see how precise the prophesy of Isaiah was and how the events of history unfolded in a manner that could not possibly be understood by human insights. We just do not have access to the necessary parameters. A little bit of the thinking of my ancestors was that the government of the USA would collapse from corruption and that the only remnants of the freedoms and liberties guaranteed by the constitution that would exist anywhere in the world would be within the structure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in particularly with the devoted brethren of the priesthood. Much of this thinking from the past is currently being looked upon as fables. A lot has changed in the Church in my lifetime, but the possible fable stuff believed by my grandparents has yet to come close to the nonsense going on and in some cases there seems to be contradictions. For example, I was told that the Church would become a government in and of itself but that it would be after a great apostasy and serious violence in Salt Lake City – where blood would flow in the streets. Then the covenant Saints would return to Jackson Co, Missouri leaving SLC somewhat of a war zone. But this is a bit of a conflict with other stuff where Jesus would open the East Doors of the SLC temple and great things manifested – implying his return had taken place. I have concluded that for all we think we know – it really does not turn out as exactly as we think we understood it all. But once a prophecy is fulfilled, we see how preciously things occur without any variance including what we call the butterfly effect. The Traveler