Flag burning

Flag burning is repulsive, disgusting, abhorrent and shows a jarring disrespect for the men and women who died to give you that right you abuse by burning it.

But it's also protected speech, is legal, and should never, ever be banned. The blunt truth is that freedom of speech and freedom of expression protect things that are disgusting, not things that that we agree with. Look at the scumbags at the Westboro Baptist Church. They have every right to protest, even though 99.9% of people disagree with them and find that repulsive-they still should have the right to speak.

Trump has said he wants to make flag burning "illegal". He's playing to his base and they are, of course, eating it up. 

There are no "safe spaces" in the real world. If you don't like something, you have to be a big boy/big girl and ignore it. This used to be common sense but lately it's becoming controversial to say it. That's depressing, because society shouldn't be forced to accommodate your fragile feelings, no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on. 

Colin Kaepernick III

Sorry everyone, but Kaepernick is basically impossible to ignore. Even if you've talked about him as much I have lately. In that way, he has won. He's brought attention to himself and to his causes. 

In every other way, he has lost. The final straw for people-even liberals and those who agree with him!-is the news coming out now that he refused to vote because "it wouldn't have counted." Oh Colin, once again your naivety and ignorance is speaking volumes. Perhaps if Colin visited places in the world where votes truly don't count he'd change his mind. So often the left accuses the right of being insular and and cut off from the real world, but in reality it's the total opposite. Kapernick is very willing to critique his country, but he is not able to apply the same level of critique to himself. 

And now that dumbass was talking about Castro and how Castro did things "for the people" of Cuba. He was praising Castro from the comfort a country that gives Kapernick the freedoms that he'd never have in Cuba. Is Kapernick a coward? No, but he is a naive. 

In a way, Donald Trump should thank Kaepernick. It's because of people like Colin that Hillary Clinton lost. A large amount of people in the world are very tired of social justice warriors and those who enable them. This election was many things, but it was a reputation of what those people stand for. The establishment enabled them-but the establishment forget that the people who pay the bills and buy tickets to NFL games matter too. I'm not saying that Kaepernick shouldn't be allowed to protest-not at all. But just because he is allowed to protest doesn't mean he is allowed to pick the consequences of his protest. 

Fidel Castro, do not RIP

No, I hope he doesn't rest in peace. In fact, I hope he is turning a crispy brown right now. Sound harsh? It should be.

Generally, I don't wish death upon people I disagree with. Sure, I'm human and like every other human I'm an emotional guy who sometimes says things in the spur of the moment that he disagrees with later and wishes he did not say. However, in this case, I have no regrets. When an evil person like Castro dies, it's time to celebrate. No, nothing he did in Cuba was worth the deaths of his own people that he caused. No, he did not "advance" the cause of "regular people." In fact, most regular people were put to death or locked up in a Cuban prison because they looked at Castro funny or in some way angered him or his psychotic family. You need to ignore your leftist friends on this one-Castro was a serial killer who ran a country. There was a reason that people would flee Cuba on home made rafts to get to Miami. It wasn't because Cuba had all their shit together.

And that brings me to celebrating (yes, celebrating) when evil dies. The world is no nursery and bad things happen to good people. There isn't much justice out there sometimes. When someone like Castro finally dies, it's time to celebrate with the Cuban population of Miami-and they are celebrating, as they should.

In junior high school I was lectured to because I suggested that you should kill Hitler as a baby if you knew he'd do what he eventually did. Obviously this isn't uncommon - if I asked the question to random strangers I'm sure 85% of people would answer the same way. If you say "No, I'd let him live even though I know what the future would hold" then yes, you are a bad person and no, there is no getting around it. Castro would have been Hitler if he had the chance. I'm glad he is not resting in peace. I'm confident his eternity looks very bad at the moment.

Scripture Sunday 3 Nephi 13:5-7 part two

I like this passage so much that I split it in two passages.

When you pray, pray in private. This seems counter productive because like you, I am sure that we've seen people in public pray. These people are not breaking scripture in my opinion, unless they make a huge deal of it. If before you eat a meal in a restaurant you pray loudly to show how holy and wonderful you are, this passage is speaking right to you. Be humble in prayer, and do not be obnoxious.

Finally, this passage talks about praying in repetition. In direct contrast to Jesus telling us to pray the Lords prayer in the bible (Matthew 6:9-13). Most LDS don't use this pray, but I still do. To me this passage is a warning that you need to actually believe the words, not just repeat them foolishly and with no passion.

Hamilton

Mike Pence was recently in the audience of the wildly popular Hamilton musical. Apparently the cast saw him and decided to "speak truth to power!" and to "question authority!" and after preforming they called him out. I'm all for "speaking truth to power" and "questioning authority"-hell, I've been doing it since 2008-but I have some issues with this one.

First and foremost-the audience didn't vote for Trump. I'm guessing probably 75-80% of the audience voted for Clinton and out of that-the other 25% or so probably didn't even vote. It wouldn't be surprising to me if no one in the audience at the time, and I mean no one with the exception of Pence himself and maybe his wife-voted for Trump. So the cast of Hamilton did not put themselves at risk by calling him out. What they did at the time was high school bullying.

Luckily it went viral that they did that. It might cost them some tickets but in the end it won't cost them much. Average tickets to the show will probably cost about 250 dollars so it's out of range for many people-like those nasty, red state Trump voters. There is a lot of snobbery from the left in NYC and it probably cost them the election, at least in part.


I waited a bit to post this, I know it's "old news" but I wanted to see what would happen after the initial hype died down. I think all parties have handled it with class at this point. 

Album of the weekend

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Californication

Some bands try to be reborn or change styles and it fails (think Kiss with Music from the Elder). Some bands stick with the same sound and it gets stale after awhile. You can't force a band to go from frat-boy party rock to a deep album dealing with topics like regret, innocence lost, addiction and loss. No one forced the Red Hot Chili Peppers to do an album like this, but they did and it came out fantastic.

The Chili Peppers were just that-a frat boy party band that only occasionally had a deeper, more introspective song like "Under the Bridge", and that wasn't until Blood Sugar Sex Magic-one of their later albums. Californication is filled with songs that really make you think-we aren't talking Bob Dylan here but I didn't think Anthony Kiedis had the ability to write songs like this. There is nothing wrong with being a party band and the Chili Peppers did it quite well-but they proved their emotional maturity with this album. From what little I know about the lifestyles of members of the band it's fairly auto-biographical as well. This is one of the rare times bands changed their styles and sound and it came out successful.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We all have so much to be thankful for. It is my hope and prayer that all of us enjoy the day counting our blessings and celebrating what makes us happy in life.

JFK conspiracy

You want the truth? You got it.

JFK was killed by a psychopath who wanted to kill the president because he was, well, a psychopath. JFK was not killed by the CIA. He was not killed by Lyndon Johnson. He was not killed by the mafia. He was not killed by the Russians. He was not killed by multiple people. He was killed by a gravely unstable lunatic who couldn't hold a job, bounced from place to place (Oswald went to 14 schools or something), lived in Soviet Russia and hated it, was basically kicked out of the Marines for being such a degenerate loser, and would have killed many more people if he wasn't offed by a lunatic who owned the local nudist bar. While most people out there believe in some whack job conspiracy, there simply isn't enough evidence to support the theory. 

Conspiracy buffs will ignore books that don't support their own views and take "evidence" totally and drastically out of proportion. I have people whom I love and respect greatly that believe that Kennedy was killed by a wide variety of people/organizations and while I still love and respect them, they are wrong. I wish more people would turn their skepticism of religion/government into skepticism of conspiracies.

Scalia and Ginsburg

Justice Scalia passed away recently. He was a judicial heavyweight and his legacy will not be forgotten for many years. He was a loud, abrasive and pithy to those who disagreed with him. Frankly, he was correct more often than he was wrong. No, that doesn't mean I agree with him on everything but I generally do agree with him. You know who one of his best friends on the court was? Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Yes, that one. The ACLU member who disagreed with Scalia on virtually everything political. For all we know, that could have been why they were good friends.

"We disagree on everything so vehemently that it's quite a pleasure to drink with him."-Hunter S Thompson on his friendship with Pat Buchanan. To the shock and dismay of many Larry Flynt actually considered Jerry Falwell a friend too. In case you have to be told, Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell don't exactly agree on much. Neither did Thompson and Buchanan or Ginsburg and Scalia.

While my closest friends and I generally agree on things, there are exceptions. I'm super close to my little brother even though we disagree politically. Luckily we agree on music, sports, movies and books. When we do talk about politics it's always polite, which is important. He's taught me more about his side than I could ever teach him about mine. The same goes for several other close friends who I wouldn't vote for at gunpoint and I'm sure the feeling is quite mutual. Friendship is more important to me than politics and it's rare that disagreements ever become personal.

I can't recommend enough getting friends who disagree with you. It helps you remember that intelligent and decent people can disagree with you and remain intelligent and decent.

Experience, logic, and intuition

The older I get the more I distrust intuition and instinct. 

I have seen people follow their gut, follow their feelings and sometimes it leads to good experiences. On the other side, I've also seen people "follow their instinct" and it leads to disaster.  Following your heart on relationship drama is one of the biggest mistakes I've seen. I've mentioned it before, but you can save yourself a world of pain and difficulty if you judge your potential relationships with your head as well as your heart.  

Passion and chemistry are wonderful things and you certainly need them in a releationship. You also need to judge relationships with your head. You might think that the stripper you met and proposed to at your friends bachelor party has "long term potential" but it probably doesn't. Neither does asking your prom date to marry you after you graduate. Women, you might think the married man at your office will be faithful to you but he probably won't either. If the guy followed his heart, he'd marry the stripper and develop a nasty cocaine habit. The girl at the office would find herself on the bad end of two nasty divorces-the first being her boyfriends and probably within a few years, her own. 

Your instinct might lead you to believe that homosexuality doesn't occur in nature and isn't biological-even though it does occur in nature and is clearly something you are born as. Your instinct might also make you think GMO foods are "dangerous". After doing five minutes of objective science research-you would find out you are wrong and GMO foods are not only healthy, but could cure world famine. Yes, look it up. 

I don't think instinct is bad-Immanuel Kant did teach me that A Priori knowledge is important and an effective source of well, knowledge. But experience, thought and logic are also important. More people need to follow those than their feelings. 

Scripture Sunday 3 Nephi 13:5-7 part one.

This is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture.

What isn't talked about much in mainstream churches is how much Jesus detested hypocrisy, legalism and pedantry. They hypocrites are, in some ways worse to Jesus than the other sinners. CS Lewis also agreed that the sins of the flesh are secondary to sins of pride, hypocrisy etc.

Do people read too much into this passage?
We see so many people claim to be holy. They might avoid temptations like addiction and adultery-but they make sure everyone knows how holy they are. They pray louder than everyone else in church. They sit in the front and make sure everyone sees how involved they are in the church. In the LDS world, they are the first to tell you how often their husband has been bishop. Or how they know an apostle. Or how their family is so involved in the church and yours just isn't up to their level.

Christ warns them in this passage. "Verily I say unto you, they shall have their reward."

Women drivers

There is an annoying, incorrect stereotype that women are bad drivers and men are better. This is total, complete bullshit. I have yet to see a mom of four giving me the finger as she drives seventy five in a school zone. Men are much, much worse drivers than women and it's so blatantly true that it's actually a bit hard to understand why people believe otherwise.

Women get defensive about it and in fairness they have every reason to be. I bet you that some saw the title to this blog and immediately thought I was going to make stupid jokes about women drivers or claim that men are superior in some way. I don't blame them-even in 2016 women are innudated with stupid jokes and annoying cliches that portray them to be somehow incompetent behind the wheel. Hopefully any female readers will finish reading this and realize how I really feel about this.

Hack comedians are comedians that can't think for themselves or find things funny that weren't funny even back in the 1950's. They'll yell out "Men never stop for directions, ain't I right? Haw haw haw." or "Women can't drive. Know what I'm saying? Haw haw haw." Sure, they'll get some laughs from the neanderthal set-but that's not the audience you should aim for.

Album of the weekend

Metallica-Hardwired to Self Destruct

Metallica will never be as good as they were pre-the Black Album, and we need to accept that. This album is as good as Metallica will ever get. Older bands can create outstanding albums. Judas Priest and Megadeth both released great ones in the last three years. Metallica has always been the most popular and well liked thrash band-but they were never the best. This album is better than St. Anger or Death Magnetic that's the good news. The bad news is that it's still very hit or miss. Like Muhammad Ali when he fought Leon Spinks and to quote Megadeth-The end is near, it's crystal clear. 

The singles released from the album including the title track, "Atlas, Rise", and "Moth into the Flame" are the better songs on the album- though the best is clearly "Spit Out the Bone". It's loud, aggressive, angry and could easily be placed on Justice for All or Kill Em All. It's my personal favorite and a truly outstanding song. In fact, I think it's their best song in years. Better than anything off Death Magnetic or St. Anger. "Now That We're Dead", "Dream No More", "ManUNkind" are all mediocre to bad and would be filler at best on a better album. "Murder One" sounds a little like the classic song "Sanitarium" and it's actually a bit sad to listen to because it reminds you of better times and what they could do a long time ago. Not a pleasant experience. 

This is it for them. Sorry for the boxing metaphors but Metallica is like the boxer who can still win one round in match-but the lose the fight overall. 

Narcissism

I see a lot of people putting on their psychologist hat and proclaiming those who disagree with them or those they don't like personally are "narcissists". That's a loaded word and in all honesty, one that might be among the most overused words going around right now. When people say "Narcissist" they really mean "person I don't like". It's a term that should only be used by a qualified psychologist after many evaluations with the person they are talking about.

In the world of the internet and Godwin's Law it's easy to throw words around that you don't understand. Let's be frank-if you deliver pizzas for a living (a noble job that I've done before so no, this isn't an insult to pizza deliverers) you probably lack the institutional and educational training that requires you to label someone you don't like a "narcissist".  The anonymity of internet makes it easy to throw words and accusations around. Keyboard warriors unite. 

The other blunt truth is that everyone-yes even you reading this-can be condescending, arrogant, rude, disrespectful and nasty at times. That doesn't make any of us narcissists or sociopaths. It simply makes us human. In fact, the people who admit they have flaws and try to work on them are in much better shape than those who accuse everyone else of having flaws but can't look inward to discuss and fix their own.

Replica Titanic

It might be very realistic click bait, but apparently they are building a new Titanic.  It looks just like the real one too-like a prop from the Edwardian age suddenly thrust into 2016. It'll also be much "safer" than the original one-this time complete with all the life boats, radar, and things that in 1912 we're not even thought of. It's apparently popular too, reports coming in that tickets are in high demand. 

If you want to do this, knock yourself out. It's not for me though. I'm not a cruise ship guy first off and second-I find the entire thing kind of creepy and incredibly disrespectful. Imagine this-would an  amusement park experience based on the Orlando shooting be cool? How about a ride that simulates crashing into the Twin Towers. This time, instead of dying you shake it off and talk about how cool it was. Better yet you are charged two hundred bucks per person to enjoy the experience. Sure, if it's your thing and you should be allowed to do it. But lots of people died on the Titanic and they were innocent victims. It happened long before any of us were born, but their lives still matter. 

I am a raw, naked capitalist.  You should be allowed to do what you want, when you want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone in the process. So just because I think it's sick doesn't mean that you should. The really cool part about capitalism/freedom is that I can also voice my opinion, judge you, and even mock you-but I can't stop you. 

Kindness, love, peace and tolerance

Everyone is stressed out over this election and a lot of people are talking about promoting "peace, love, kindness to others, etc." It's sweet and very nice. We should be kind to others and we should of course speak out against injustice and cruelty if we see it happening. Or even if we don't see it happening.

"Everyone wants to change the world, no one wants to change themselves." Is a wonderful and very introspective quote. It's credited to Tolstoy, but I've seen it credited to other Russian writers. It cuts right though me. It's so easy to talk about others needing to show more kindness, tolerance and love while we scream at people who disagree with us. I also get the sinking feeling that people who are promoting "love" do so to feel really good about themselves one minute then cut the lady off in traffic ,snarl at the cashier and leave no tip when they go out to dinner.  The true sign of a "good person" is how they tip, in my view. This is how these people feed their families. Remember that.

Instead of telling everyone else to be kind it's probably best for all of us to remember that it's sure easy to critique everyone else but very few of us have the power to turn inward.

The Primus theory

As I've mentioned before (sorry for the self-plagirsm and repeating myself. I'm so egotistical that I repeat myself all the time and still like it) I had a cousin who was very fascinated with his "obscure" music taste. When I grew up it was without the internet and in the middle of no where there were no good radio stations. Sadly you were stuck with what Strawberries record store sold and the local pop classic rock station. First world problems aside it was another reason childhood sort of sucked.

My cousin was one of those ironic hipsters who loved to show off his obscure and cool music taste. He also liked to rub in our faces how "with it" he was and stupid we were for :: gasp :: liking more mainstream artists like Kiss, Megadeth, Metallica, The Ramones...etc. Think of Jack Black in High Fidelity combined with the snotty arrogance of a social justice warrior. He was the guy who wore the beret in freshmen English talking about how "deep" the book we were talking about was when in reality, he didn't read it all the way through.

So it was with great enjoyment one day when said to me "My favorite band is a band you've never heard of, Primus." Of course I answered back with the name of their most popular song (thank you MTV. Thank you) and he was crestfallen. I stole his thunder. I upstaged him. I became the one thing I never wanted to become-the music snob with the ironic taste and disdainful glare. But it really felt good.

I created "The Primus theory" after him. The Primus Theory states that the best way to show off your superior music knowledge and show others how hip and obscure your music taste is is to name an obscure band. But if you aren't obscure enough and the other guy starts rattling off songs by them-you will never be able to achieve the dominant position again. There are no second chances here. Once you jump, their better be a safety net or you will die.

Test it out in your private life and let me know how it goes.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 2:27

Jesus Christ and His (and our) Heavenly Father are great believers in choice and free agency. He will never, ever force beleif on you. If you choose to live your life without His assistance, you are certainly free to do so.  After all, you are free to choose your actions. What you are not free to choose, are the consequences of them. 

As a believer it should come as no surprise that I think choosing to follow Satan instead of Christ is a bad idea. A real bad idea that has grave effects for your soul in the next life. Even though I think it's terrible idea to choose to follow Satan, I can't stop you from it. I would pray for you and try to convince you otherwise-but I can't stop you. What I can tell you though is that you will not appreciate the outcome. 

The Simpsons and their fans

Do you remember the Simpsons episode where Itchy and Scratchy introduce Poochie, the new character that Homer provides the voice to? I'm a big Simpsons fan, but I'm not so big where I have every line from every episode memorized-so if I'm off by an episode or, my apologies. Comic book guy gives the great line "Worst. Episode. Ever" to express his disgust with the Itchy and Scratchy episode. It's a line that has broken into pop culture, for sure. In response, Bart says "What could they possibly owe you, they've given you countless hours of entertainment for free? If anything you owe them!" Well far be it for me to argue with an eight year old, but that line has always bothered me. Probably because it's exactly how too many people in Hollywood view their fans and the people who watch their shows.

At first, Bart has a good point. After all, we've been entertained by The Simpsons for over twenty years now. It is probably the best tv show in history and it's longevity and ability to stay fresh is truly amazing. Not many tv shows can do that. I love how fearless it is-taking shots at everything, including the network that puts it on the air. Without the Simpsons, we wouldn't have South Park or Family Guy. So don't we owe them?

Um, no.

Because of them entertaining peons like you, they've become rich. Very rich. In fact, they've become part of the one percenters they dislike and despise. They can afford lives that put them totally out of touch with the lowly commoners. Sure their jokes about Fox are funny as hell, but without the evil Fox network-they'd still be broke and struggling. The money puts them out of touch in many ways, but it makes them forget that at one point McFarlane and Groening were totally unknown and could never have imagined the heights their shows would take them to. Here's the part they need to remember-if their fans didn't watch their shows, regardless of how good they were-they'd still be broke and unknown. The world is littered with great bands and great tv shows that just never took off and their creators would sell their souls for what Matt Groening has.

Album of the weekend

Nirvana-Unlpugged

Like all unplugged albums there is an initial shock hearing your favorite plugged in songs that are stripped down. I'm not a musician but I've heard that electric instruments are bit more forgiving than acoustic ones. So you have really have to avoid mistakes and be very careful.  This album also has a particularly somber mood-I'm fairly certain it was the first release after the death of Kurt Cobain.

The album is (surprise!) outstanding. It's Nirvana after all, and I remain convinced that they simply cannot create a bad album. Nirvana is so acclaimed that they walk right up to the line of being almost overrated. In fact, some backlash has occurred against them-did they define the music of the era or did they just come along at the right time?

They defined not only the music, but the era as well. As a closing chapter to their band this album is five stars. Moody and sentimental but still with the giant middle finger to the world that Nirvana epitomizes-every song on the album is unforgettable. 

Stores setting up Christmas displays early

Like I mentioned last year, until very recently christmas hasn't always been a wonderful time of year for me. I don't have wildly positive memories of past Christmases. No, that doesn't make me a Scrooge because I don't spend my time ruining it for everyone. In fact, no one even knew I usually had a rough time at Christmas because I kept it to myself. So no, no Scrooge here. I try not to bring everyone else down if I'm not comfortable or wildly positive. That might be me acting "fake" but it's also me putting others feelings and consideration first. Aren't I wonderful?

I know that people like the Christmas season. Some people go insane and put up incredible decorations everywhere. In order to get these decorations, they need to buy them somewhere. Some people buy them at department stores. And if people like the Christmas season (I admit that me feeling uncomfortable around the season is not common) why do people complain about seeing decorations out early? Doesn't it make people feel better about the season? Stores are in a no win situation. If they put out Christmas decorations early, people complain. If they don't put them out till after Christmas they might be accused of being part of the "war" on Christmas. I've seen this happen on Facebook several times-people bitch about seeing early Christmas displays and then next week complain about stores being part of the war on Christmas. 

In other words, be like Punk on this one. If you don't like decorations being put out early, don't complain about it. If you like it, great. Enjoy.

This election is finally over, thank God.

It's brought out the worst in people but it's also brought out the best. There is so much to despise in both Trump and Hillary that most good people have spoken out against these lunatics and have really come together in their dislike of the major parties. Who says dislike and distrust can't breed unity? It sure has in that way. I admit I'm grasping at straws here.

It's important to remember that life continues. I've been a political junkie for twenty years now (I was a pretentious, obnoxious and yes, lonely child) and I've taken political losses with great agony and sadness in the past. I was devastated when my candidate lost and I thought life would end. While I'm still not happy when my candidate loses-I realize and understand now that life continues. There is a morning after and we still live in the greatest county in history. 

Why people post a lot about politics

I get it, some people who aren't political junkies don't understood why those of us who are post so much about politics. 

There are many reasons for this. One-it is an interest to us. Not everyone has the same interests as you do, and what you find terribly dull and boring some people might find very fascinating. in this society today, people take everything personal and can't fathom that their own interests might be boring to others. No, that doesn't mean you personally are boring-it means everyone is not the same. So while you love reading about true crime, zombies, Asian cooking-some of us prefer politics instead. Ironically just by me mentioning true crime, zombies and Asian cooking I'm sure someone might read into and think I'm insulting people who like those things. I'm not, just using them as an example. 

Next, people share political ideas to show others that they aren't alone. In 2016 it can be very isolating to not be in the majority. If you are in the majority, you don't know what I'm talking about. If you aren't, you know exactly what I'm talking about. When you think differently about everything it's a chilling feeling. The left knows how this feels and the right knows how this feels. Speaking from personal experience the internet has helped me a great deal in meeting people who have share interests. So those of us who are political junkies talk about that to reach out to others. 

And yes, we get it-we probably won't convince you to see things our way. You won't convince us to stop posting about it either. 

Things you learn about politics as you mature

I have always thought that it's a sign of laziness (and in some cases, stupidity) to be totally ignorant about politics. Sure, it can be frustrating to take the time to learn things about how politics and government work-but these things have a direct impact on your quality of life. When talking with people who are ignorant about politics you'll often hear "Opinions? Oh everyone has one and it's not worth a damn." Wrong. People who downplay or dismiss others opinions are usually intimidated by them or simply too stupid to form their own opinion about issues. 

As you grow up, you being to to learn two things about politics that the extreme right and the extreme left will never understand. One-good people can and do disagree. Two-the extreme right and left are truly the problem. 

The first one isn't obvious, but it should be. If you can't figure out how two people who are diametrically opposed in their views can still get along and be good people than congratulations. You are partially why things are so messed up here. Getting your morality from politics is a terrible idea for many reasons but perhaps the worst is because it teaches you to think that you are noble and wonderful and everyone who disagrees with you is a scumbag. Your own political heroes can be personally reprehensible people and yes, that goes for liberal and conservative heroes. If someone doesn't lie, cheat, steal gives to charity and thinks of others in their actions-they are a good person. Regardless if they are liberal or conservative. 

The second is obvious. The extreme right and extreme left are both part of the problem. This isn't an argument for the mushy middle-but as you get older you begin to realize that governments and politics require compromise in order to keep everything going. There is "sticking to what is right and sticking with your morals" and there is "being stubborn and unrealistic." The perfect examples of this are the right on abortion and the left on guns. Banning all types of abortion is impossible and will not happen-and it shouldn't. Sadly pro-lifers can't celebrate even minor restrictions on abortion because they demand all or nothing. What I just said about guns is the exact same. Leftists who want all guns banned are just as silly as the radical pro-lifers.

Scripture Sunday 3 Nephi 14:1-3

Ah, the famous "judge not lest ye be judged". Which has replaced John 3:16 as the most well known scripture quote in the bible. It's in the book of Mormon too, pretty much the same as it is in the bible. It's the most misread and misinterpreted scripture verse in history.

It says, "For with what judgement ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mere, it shall me measured to you again." That is sort of in contradiction to the judge not-because it says that applying certain judgements is okay as long as you are ready to have the same judgements applied to you.

So no, it's not saying never judge. It's saying don't judge unless you are ready to have the same standard of behavior applied to you.

True Confessions-Robin Williams

I don't like Robin Williams.

Let me be absolutely clear: Not liking him doesn't mean I'm glad he is dead and doesn't mean I dislike every movie he's ever been in. I like the movies where he isn't playing himself and his death is genuinely tragic and horrific.  So I truly hope you aren't "that person" who focuses on the wrong thing here.

Knowledge is knowing that the high school football player trying to juggle bottle rockets will get his arm blown off by doing so. Wisdom is not saying "you knew it would happen" when it finally did happen, because you'd get your ass kicked. Not because you wanted it to happen-but because people thought you wanted it to happen.

Knowledge is knowing that Robin Williams, when playing characters that were zany and insane for too long and without it being part of the character is not good Robin Williams. Wisdom is knowing that if you say that, be prepared for people to take it totally out of context.

One Hour Photo is good Robin Williams. It shows his exceptional acting skills and his ability to play a deeply disturbed character that is totally unlike his cute and cuddly persona. I greatly enjoy that movie even though it's tough to watch and disturbing in parts. Frankly lots of good movies can be unsettling.

Patch Adams is bad Robin Williams because of how manipulative it is. He shoves sentimentality down your throat and basically forces you to feel for the character. It's basically like screaming "Feel my pain damn you!" The amazing Roger Ebert said it better than anyone could about this movie, "it's like extracting tears from you one by one." Sadly I think Robin Williams too often did just that.  

Album of the Weekend

R.E.M-Out of Time

Feeling mellow? I am. R.E.M was always a relaxing band to me. Something to listen to when you need to chill out and relax for a bit. Not that metal and punk doesn't relax me-I actually find it incredibly soothing-but there are some rare times I need something softer to listen too.

And R.E.M is as soft as I'll get. This album is their apex. It didn't get better for them, it doesn't get worse. Everyone knows the song "Losing My Region" and even though it's a popular song, that doesn't mean it isn't good. It's actually fantastic. It's one of the very, very few pop-rockish songs from my childhood that I still listen to today. Contrary to popular belief it has nothing to do with atheism-losing your religion apparently means just losing your temper.

This album stops short of being a masterpiece because of the few songs that are, um, quite bad. "Shiny Happy People" gets stuck in your head and aside from complex brain surgery there is no way you can stop singing it. Believe me, I've tried. Radio Song, the opener to the album, is also an interesting take and an innovative idea for a song, but to me it goes nowhere. "Near Wild Heaven" and "Me in Honey" are pretty good though.

R.E.M has some songs that I really like combined with some songs that I really don't like. 

Evan McMullin

Two things come to mind when I see his candidacy: One, some LDS (and non LDS) are deeply misguided when they  think he'll win and two, some anti-LDS have nothing but screaming rage for our church, don't they? Both types of people are not exactly what you want to aspire too.

First off, I'm going to be blunt-Evan McMullin has absolutely no chance to win. Period. None. Nothing. Like it or not, in this country at this moment you need political experience to win the highest office in the land. Trump is proving that you can't just be a total outsider with no political experience and win. Evan McMulliin is much more polite and friendly than Trump, so many LDS like and admire him for that. He's still a political outsider who no one even heard of until a few months ago. He has no chance whatsoever and voting for him instead of Johnson, Hillary or Trump shows that you are really struggling with how politics works.

Second-there are idiots out there who think that McMullin is part of the grand LDS mafia (Lou Dobbs reference here) who sit back in our temples and conspire on how we are going to take over the world. Never has such power thought to be had by a religion so small. The LDS church is only 15 million people and the blunt truth is that people outside the religion don't care to much about what the LDS church does or thinks. 85% of non-members do not think much of the LDS church. No, that's not an insult-you don't think much of religions that you aren't part of either. Yet there are some people who let their ignorance of the church delude them into creating whack job conspiracies about the church. What bullshit.

Being right wing in music

An amazing article about how being left wing in music isn't as edgy anymore as it used to be. 

I am extremely surprised that the LA Weekly (basically like the Village Voice, another publication I follow)  had the :: ahem :: backbone to run this piece. I am 100% certain that the majority of their fans and readers can't get over their screaming rage when they see the headline, much less actually read the article.

The writer, Nicholas Pell, makes many brilliant points but his best quote is when he says "You will not get invited to the cool parties if you vote for the same guy as down on their luck rust belt Americans". Musicians like Springsteen claim to be for the common guy (sorry, I know I've said that many times) but in reality they are elitists who sneer at the little guy and their values.

If you really want to "speak truth to power" and "question authority" you'll do so to everyone, not just the other side. Sadly though, the people who have those bumper stickers are usually too obtuse to really understand that.

Parents Television Council and the Walking Dead

The Parents Television Council are a group of people who are making it their goal to censor violence and sexuality in television. They've been around forever and I remember them getting fussy and angry about the WWE back in the early 2000's. Now their target is the vastly popular show "The Walking Dead". I'm sure The Walking Dead is a great show and I've heard it's also a great comic, but I'm not a fan of the show. I'm sort of tired of the zombie thing in pop culture. Obviously just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't see how someone else could like it and that doesn't I think it's a bad show. 

I'm not a fan of the Parents Television Council either. I don't think they are "hate filled" or "intolerant". In fact, their heart is in the right place-honestly I don't want a seven year old watching The Sopranos or The Walking Dead. For a consenting, thinking adult though-knock yourself out. The real world isn't always a cuddly place and you can't really have a show about zombies or the mafia and have characters talk like southern belles from the antebellum period. There is nothing wrong with liking things that are R-rated-yes, I disagree with the church on this issue.

There is a big difference between adult-child and fantasy and reality. If you like watching snuff films and Faces of Death five for enjoyment-you need psychiatric help before your fantasy becomes reality. However if you like watching R rated movies or The Walking Dead-the violence and gore is in context. 99% of people can see the difference and achieve balance in this. You don't want to be the person who compares The David by Michelangelo to a Playboy centerfold. That's another blog for itself-the difference between "art" and "porn" and how there are people out there who can't grasp it. 

The Parents Television Council is fighting a losing battle. If they think they'll get sponsors to drop one of the most popular tv shows out there right now, I wish them the best of luck.