Alfie Evans

I've been quiet about this situation because I'm not sure about all the details. I say that upfront-if I'm totally wrong I apologize. Of course, the entire situation deeply disturbs me. From what little I understand about the situation, he had the chance to receive treatment in Italy but that was denied somehow. Why, I don't know. Shouldn't a parent whose child is dying have the right to try any treatment out there without the state getting involved? The same goes for the FDA in America of course. If my child is dying of cancer and a new treatment comes out-I should be allowed to try it without begging and pleading with the FDA, the NHS, or any other government bureaucracies.

His name will be forgotten in two weeks. That's how our news cycle works. Those people posting on social media will move on to the next issue. What I fear might be lost in the "discussion" is the fact that an innocent child died and his parents are going though Hell right now. 

When it's you vs the government, you will lose 99% of the time. Doesn't matter if you are a child or not.

RIP.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 33:5

This is one of the passages that I think is much more complex than initially shown. At first, it seems to state that anyone who is angry at the words of the Lord shall "be of the spirt of the devil." While I understand the original context, my fear is that too many people read this passage and might become arrogant or dogmatic. After all, there might be many reasons as to why people become angry when hearing the words of the Lord and no, you can't just count it up to demonic possession.  

In our society today, the words of the Lord are often times thought of to be "hateful", "intolerant" or just flat out rude. Sometimes, they are. There is a way to express yourself and be polite and loving, and all Christians are required to act that way. The best way to preach the word of the Lord is to do so with a kind heart. Since the culture of the world is so engrained to society today, people are more blinded by it than demonically possessed-I can't blame them for the mass confusion about what qualifies as the word of the Lord today.

Is the guitar on the decline?

Guitar Center, the that sells pianos (kidding) is reportedly about to go bankrupt. That does't always mean it'll go out of business, but that's not a good sign either.

Gibsons, the famous guitar maker, is also in serious trouble as well.

Obviously, it's not a good time to be associated with the guitar. I don't play the guitar (the lessons I took proved to me that I have no musical talent) but I certainly love the sound of it. I don't listen to top 40 or trendy new music, but I do see that there has been a shift to dance/R & B/electronica-leaving no room for traditional bands that relied on playing instruments like the guitar. That's depressing, and yes, I know I can't do anything about it. Hopefully it's just a phase and the music industry will change once again.

But I'm not optimistic. The greatest guitar players out there are getting older, and no one under 30 is famous for playing the guitar. That's a troubling sign, and I can see why these companies are going out of business.

Album of the Weekend

Stryper-God Damn Evil

First off, the title. Wal Mart and some Christian book stores are choosing not to sell the CD because of the title. There should be no debate on if they have that right or not. They do. But a Christian store not selling a Stryper CD is the epitome of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Stryper (aside from Creed, maybe) is the most successful and mainstream Christian hard rock band out there. Aside from putting out great albums that even secular metal fans enjoy, they've taken the gospel to people who otherwise never would hear it. Christian bookstores should keep that in mind.

Sorry for two recent album of the weekend posts from the same band, but their new album came out last Friday. 

Is the album good? Yes, but with some songs you might skip over. I have a feeling that 'Take it to the Cross" will be one of them. It starts off with over a minute of silence-I'm not sure what they were going for. The song also sounds much harder (the chorus has a machine gun sound) than recent songs by them. Listen to it first before you download. "The Devil Doesn't Live Here" is also among the harder songs on the album, it's one of my favorites aside from "Lost". "The Valley", at least in the beginning, reminds me of the classic "Harvester of Sorrow" by Metallica.

Michael Sweet has an amazing voice, it reminds me of Rob Halford from Judas Priest. I'm amazed that he still has that capability after all these years. I have huge respect for him, and Stryper. This album shows they can still release good music and hopefully have a few more albums like this in them.

Anti Bullying announcements

While watching the Yankees-Twins games a few nights ago, I saw that the Yankees players did something really touching. A young girl was bullied and the Yankees got together and publicly supported her on Twitter, showing her that they were behind her and that she was supported. This is great, and I applaud the Yankees for doing that. Shows that both the players and the organization has a lot of caring and class. I'm sure other teams would do the same.

Now for the negative part. I'm not sure anyone will stop bullying someone just because of what the New York Yankees said. I can't imagine a 5th grader or a 10th grader thinking "Well, I was going to make fun of someone, but the Yankees showed me how uncool it was, so I'll leave them alone." Remember those horrible TV shows from the 80's and 90's that would show a "Very special episode" that wasn't funny but instead preachy and annoying? Those didn't stop drug abuse or teen pregnancy, but they made the producers and actors feel better. It's the same with some anti-bullying campaigns. Sure, they are better than nothing, but they probably don't do much.

In reality, we should teach kids to stand up to bullies, because it's a life skill they'll need later in life. Too often they ones sticking up for themselves are the ones who get in trouble in school, so the schools are also at fault but not for the reasons thought of. Schools and teachers are blamed for too much in our society, but this is one where they do need some adjustment.

Still though, I'm proud of the Yankees. Their show of support for the girl was the right thing to do.

No, California isn't about to ban the bible

I'm not even going to share the "news" story because I don't want to spread fake news. Basically, some idiots (yes, strong words. Appropriate though) are claiming and worse-getting gullible people to believe-that the state of California is about to ban the bible. It's nonsense of course, but it shows all of us how gullible some people are and how much fake news has permeated the country.

I'm not outraged or offended by this-I'm saddened by it. Very much so actually. Nothing I say or do can change anyones mind or how we think, but our culture and society has to take a deep, long, and frustrating look at how we've become so gullible and so eager to believe anything that fits our political bias. Obviously, right wing Christians (and I'm much more sympathetic to them than I am the other side), for some unknown reason, want to believe that this is happening. Those people are as obnoxious as the social justice warrior left who loves seeing victimhood everywhere. This makes the hard right also believe they are victims in some way, I guess. It confirms their bias that the state of California, and the society in general, is against them. There is a small degree of truth to that, but it's also leads them to believe nutty stories.

:: sigh ::

The decline and fall of ESPN

I've talked about it before, and I apologize but I think the decline of ESPN (and make no mistake, ESPN is in serious trouble) is indicative of the the rapid change in our culture. ESPN could never understand that the way we get information has drastically changed. In the old days, we had to wait for Sportscenter to announce the scores and highlights of the games we might have missed. Now, we can get it online instantly or better, while they are happening. Sears, JC Penny, and Macy's are learning this lesson too-I can do everything from a computer of smart phone screen and I don't have to adjust my life/or schedule to check the score or buy pants-you have to adjust yours.

I'm not sure that politics has a lot to do with why ESPN is fading right now. Oh sure, maybe 1-2% of people won't watch because they don't like what they think is a left wing tilt to ESPN, but 98-99% of people don't care and certainly won't adjust their viewing patterns because of that-they'll adjust their viewing patterns for the reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph-they can get whatever scores or highlights they need from many, many other options now.

Overpopulation problem?

If you think that overpopulation is a problem, I want you to stop reading this and look up demographics of Japan, Russia, Italy, and Germany. Once you have a solid grasp of those numbers, then we can have a talk. Overpopulation is bullshit, pure and simple. We are running out of children at an alarming rate, and anyone who babbles about overpopulation does not have a clue what is going on in the world. I read something on the Facebook page of PBS that mentioned that overpopulation is a problem and all I could do is laugh. It's PBS after all, so I shouldn't expect cogent and coherent thought.

We need people to keep having babies. Even if you ignore the fact that it's humans that cure diseases, create music and movies, cook amazing meals, create iPhones, we need more humans so that our social security will be there when you and I retire. Fewer people working and fewer people contributing to the Social Security will mean that the Ponzi scheme will collapse eventually, unless we take in more and more immigrants (which no, I don't have a problem with). Germany is learning this the hard way right now. Greece already learned this, and the consequences are both tragic and humorous.

PD James wrote an amazing novel called "Children of Men". Sure, it's fiction, but it deals with a generation that has chosen not to reproduce. It's a future that I can sadly see happening in the centuries to come.

Scripture Sunday Jacob 4:10

While reading this passage in the morning a few days ago, it took me by surprise. After all, to think that we can counsel the Lord is a bit comical-yet we see it all the time today. Many organized churches want to preach the world to the Gospel, instead of the Gospel to the world. Rather than seeking out the Lord and His desires and then telling the world about them, it troubles me that many "churches" instead want the church to adapt to what the world preaches. 

This passage says something like that in a smaller scale. I wonder how often we tell the Lord what works best for us and then we expect him to adapt instead of the opposite. I'm just as guilty of course-so no, this isn't an indictment of anyone elses sins and weaknesses. We all could do a better job of trusting the Lord and his mercies, wisdom and judgment, myself included. 

Rudy Giuliani personal issues

Rudy Giuliani and his third wife Judith are headed to a divorce. This is just sort of sad. Normally, I wouldn't talk about the personal life of a celebrity (yes, there are exceptions, and yes, I've done so before) but I will always have deep admiration for Rudy and I'm sorry to hear that he is going though this yet again.

First off, after your second divorce it's fair to say that you have some baggage and you might be at fault for who you are choosing as a partner in a relationship. It's obvious that Rudy Giuliani has some issues when it comes to marriage and relationships. I also know that for a time, his children were estranged from him as well. I would think at his age unless the circumstances were absolutely horrible (and they might have been) you could pretty much fight through anything.

Rudy is a hero of mine. He was before, and he always will be. How he led NYC even before 9/11 was nothing sort of heroic. God does not give that leadership ability to many mortals, and in the case of Giuliani it was just what the city needed.  What's strange is that it was only twenty four years ago. Now, I can't imagine a republican (even a liberal one) being elected mayor in that city. Whatever his personal faults, Rudy will always have my respect and admiration.

Album of the weekend

All American Rejects-When the World Comes Down

This band reminds me of Blink 182 version 2.0. It's light pop punk for young people. The album generally lacks the political commentary of the Dead Kennedys, the existential dread atmosphere of Green Day and the snarl of Johnny Ramone. None of that means it's a bad album-it good if you that's what you are looking for. In fact, I think sometimes everyone needs music like this. You can just put it on and get your errands done and have it for background music.

I don't want to say I'm a fan of their music because it's the only album of theirs that I own. Some bands are like that-you only like one album or only a few of their most popular songs. This album is also somewhat "immature". You won't be listening to it and having your perspective of the world change, but you might like a few of the more popular songs. 

Starbucks

I'm a Dunkin Donuts guy. Every day I have a decaf coffee from them, been doing it for years. I'm like that guy who ate 30,000 Big Macs from Wisconsin. I've tried Starbucks before, and I feel like I'm being unfaithful to a twenty year marriage. Other than that, I find Starbucks pretentious, snotty and their coffee just ain't very good. Recently, they've got into some racial trouble when two African American men were arrested for loitering.  I don't know the details, but yes, I think it's overkill to arrest someone for loitering. 

Howard Schultz did the perp walk and begged forgiveness for this. He's closing down 8,000 Starbucks so that the employees can undergo racial sensitivity training. In other words, Howard Schultz is not letting a good crisis go to waste. 

The average Starbucks customer does not exactly have a "Make America Great Again" hat in their closet. Starbucks knows this. They know that shutting down the stores and forcing their employees to go to racial sensitivity training will them look even more politically correct and sympathetic to left leaning causes. Their customer base will love this, and more importantly-their customer base will despise them if they don't do this. Starbucks knows this. Howard Schultz knows this. He's playing us all like a fiddle. 

When the social justice warriors turn their backs on Starbucks, you know they are devouring their own. 

Spurs coach and right wing snowflakes

Snowflakes are thought of to be mostly left wing, and they are, but this is a great example or right wing snowflakes. Apparently some Spurs fans are frustrated with their coaches anti Trump comments.  Simply put, they need to put on their big boy pants and get over it. Gregg Popovich is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, and they are lucky to have him as a coach for their great team. Instead of stomping your feet about what you disagree with him, realize that 99% of basketball fans would give their first born to have someone like him be the coach of their favorite team.

We used to live in a world run by adults. Adults understand that you will not agree with everyone and you that's fine. Instead of organizing boycotts or taking your baseball and bat and going home, change your perspective and it'll do wonders in your life.

Chick-fil-A vs The New Yorker

The New Yorker has a new enemy in it's sights: Chick-fil-A. Read this article to see why the New Yorker is afraid of the dirty red state iconic restaurant invading their tolerant and progressive city.  I'm not surprised of course. In fact, I'd be stunned if Chick-fil-A even bothers to open up a store in New York in the first place. It's hardly a city that embraces the values that Chick-fil-A seems to support. 

The New Yorker has every right to tell it's readers not to eat at a certain restaurant, and I'm sure that it's readers will not support Chick-fil-A.  In fact, most New Yorkers won't eat there, it's only for the tourists. Even though I live in the south (and I love it) I've only been to a Chick-fil-A once or twice, and that was only to get a soda. I need the caffeine buzz on long road trips.

We should remember that just because someone works at Chick-fil-A doesn't mean they endorse all the values that their company supports. However, that doesn't apply to the New Yorker.  You'll find many people who are pro gay marriage and work at Chick-fil-A. You will find no one who supports traditional marriage who works at the New Yorker. In some ways, Chick-fil-A is the much more tolerant company.

More thoughts on Facebook

Facebook has changed the way we interact and communicate, much like the telephone did. I'm not an expert, but it wouldn't surprise me if people back in the 1910's-1920's were just as frightened and concerned about the telephone as they are about Facebook now in 2018. Whenever something new comes along, you can be certain that people who don't understand it will call it evil or try to demonize it in someway. It's human nature. It happened with the car, the radio, the tv, the personal computer-any change in technology frightens people who have a hard time adapting.

That doesn't mean Facebook is innocent. While watching the hearings on Wednesday, it became increasingly clear to me that Facebook censors conservative voices to some degree. The famous "Diamond and Silk" are the latest victims of this. I'm very eager to see if Facebook would censor voices that lean to the left. Zuck even admitted that his social environment is "very left  leaning" and if that's a surprise to you, than you don't have a clue how modern society works. That's a big admission. Most people who swim in that pool (elite, rich, overwhelmingly white) are so deluded by their views and their friends that they think left wing thought isn't left wing, it's just "enlightened". The other people are conservative but me and my friends? No, just reasonable and moderate. So that Zuckerberg knows his circle is out of touch with 50% of the American population is a good thing.

Facebooks dirty laundry is being thrown out in the open.

Scripture Sunday Alma 5:33

If you've ever gotten an invitation to a party, you know you don't have to go. You can just stay home and ignore the offer. You might have a good reason for staying home-after all, we all have things to do-but often times you don't know what you'll be missing at the party. Repentance is a bit like that, in my view. God offers it fully and no, we don't have to accept it, but we'll miss out if we don't.

If you don't know you are doing something wrong or refuse to believe it, then the offer of repentance is a weird thing to you. You could be in denial or you could be so lost in the sin that it clouds your judgement, but it's still sin and you still need to repent. For some people even the thought of repentance is somehow offensive, but I think it's just the opposite. God freely gives us the opportunity to always repent from our behavior, no matter how often we do it or how stuck in sin we might be. His arms are always open.

Billy Mitchell scandal

Billy Mitchell is/was the all time record holder in several classic video games, including Pac Man and up until very recently, Donkey Kong. I worked at one of the largest arcades in the world in high school, Funspot at Weirs Beach in New Hampshire. While I never met him, I do remember seeing him once there. I've always been into competitive gaming even though I've never participated in it. Now, he's been accused and found guilty of using an emulator to achieve the high scores.

Anyone who has seen the movie, "The King of Kong" remembers the scene where Mitchell talks about how fraudulent game scores shouldn't be counted. Now, he's been caught in his own net. He strikes me as an arrogant ass and a bully, so I get a lot of pleasure watching his fall from grace occur in real time. Apparently Billy also got special treatment from Twin Galaxies, the organization that keeps the scores of classic video games, and now they are found to be just as corrupt as he apparently is.

Billy Mitchell needs to answer these questions, and I'd like to sit down with him like Oprah sat down with Lance Armstrong.

1. Yes or no, have you ever used an emulator to practice or play retro video games? (he danced around the issue in an interview here (go to 12 minutes 43 seconds. He claims to have not have except for one time)
2. Yes or no, did you use an emulator to achieve your high score in Donkey Kong?
3. Yes or no, did Twin Galaxies know you used an emulator for your high score for Donkey Kong?
4. Yes or no, did you use an emulator for your Pac Man record?

Competitive gaming is an odd hobby, not very popular and certainly not for everyone. This scandal goes to show however, that human nature is the same no matter what your hobbies and interests are. If there is a way to cheat the system, some people will always take it.

Album of the weekend

Stryper-No More Hell to Pay

Stryper, and more particularly their lead singer Michael Sweet, has always reminded me of Judas Priest with the melodic yelling and how he sings. Believe me, that's a huge compliment. Stryper is the granddaddy of Christian metal and without them, the genre wouldn't exist. They took a long hiatus and I never thought they'd be back, but they've been back with some of their strongest work lately. No More Hell to Pay is among their better albums, and they've had several good ones.

"Saved by Love" is one of the best metal songs of the last ten years, by anyone, not just Stryper. It's energy and intensity has a very fresh feeling-you'd think that it was their first song off their first album instead of their 10th studio album. There are some songs on the album that don't seem to fit-Jesus is Just Alright sounds country-ish. It doesn't fit on the album. Neither does "The One" which sounds like a 90's ballad.

I'm nit picking though. This is a great album and one that you should seriously consider downloading.

Facebook drama

This isn't about sharing personal drama on Facebook. It's about Zuckerberg being called to testify about privacy concerns in front of congress. It's all political theatre to me. Most of the senators grilling Zuck have no idea what Facebook even is. The jokes and memes about this going through Twitter and Facebook are hilarious. Even though he is not really a sympathetic character (I refuse to have sympathy for anyone who is worth 60 billion dollars) I feel a little sorry for Zuckerberg.

No one is forcing you to be on Facebook, and you aren't paying money for it. If you don't like the terms and conditions that Facebook has, than don't go on it. Granted, I accept that it's not that simple. In todays society most young people need a Facebook account. It's viewed as weird if you don't have one. Sure, no one is forcing you to be accepted and yes, we all know people under 40 who don't have a Facebook account. However my point stands. The majority of us do have one and yes, at least at first you'll wonder why someone under 40 doesn't have an account. As you can see, I'm in the middle about this. You don't need a Facebook, it's free, but it's still sort of odd if you don't have one.

The Facebook privacy violations are disturbing, but did they violate the law? Did they violate their terms and conditions? If you agreed to give up your privacy to a certain degree, what right do you have to complain?  There is also a huge difference between a private, for profit company sharing your information and a government spying on you and violating your privacy-how quickly we forget, but the government lecturing anyone on privacy violations is highly amusing.

So I'm in the middle about this. I'm eager to see how it'll be resolved.

London calling...for your knives

We all know about how strict UK gun laws are. I'm no expert, but they are among the most severe in the entire world. Like I've mentioned before, gun laws do nothing but restrict law abiding citizens from protecting themselves. Now, London has a serious crime problem that seems to be escalating. Reports are showing that London has a worse crime rate than New York City. The solution to all this?  Knife control.

It's absurd of course. Criminals won't be turning in their knives and again, only law abiding citizens will suffer. How the left can't understand this is beyond me, but their hatred of all things used to defend yourself is highly amusing. Part of this is class snobbery of course. When you live in a bubble and you are protected by armed guards, self defense isn't something you worry about.

 One of the fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives is how they view human nature. Those on the left want to believe that human nature is soft, cuddly, and basically good. Those on the right believe that human nature is always evil (yes, these are generalities, but they are generally correct) . I'm in the middle-humans are capable of both great kindness, and great evil. Sometimes we need to take the action necessary to defend ourselves and our families. If that means carrying a pistol or a knife (actually a terrible self defense weapon, but anyway) you should have the right to do so.

Prager University Modern Art Video

The beauty about Prager University is that it's so popular. The videos shared by Prager University have been viewed millions of times, and it's only going to grow from here.  Sure, the majority of people who watch the videos already agree with Prager and I'm not sure that they'll convince anyone, but just that the videos are out there and making an impact reassures me with hope for the future. Do I agree with everything that the videos say? Of course not, but I agree with many of them and even when I disagree with them I find them informative and challenging.

I was watching this one on modern art recently. My personal tastes in art a little out there-I love the paintings of Jackson Pollack-but the guy in the video (Robert Florczak, an artist I've never heard of) makes some amazing points. Sure, artists have used their art as a political and social platform, but never at the expense of the actual artwork. Not so today. Florczak is exactly right about that. He's also right about how many pieces of artwork today are nothing but silly, pointless, and purely offensive.

The art set cares more about hip and with it than anything else. Most members of that community view themselves as better than the average person who works in a less glamours field. They grossly over value themselves and it's always a little interesting and sad to see them interact with people outside their own environment.

New Roseanne show

First off no, I haven't watched the new Roseanne show. Growing up it was one of the shows that my parents forbade me to watch. As a dutiful and obedient child, I did just that. I'm kidding of course. I watched a few episodes of Roseanne when my parents were busy or out of town, and I don't remember liking or hating it. That's not a good sign-if you remember hating something at least you didn't forget it existing in the first place-but I'm in the minority and many people seem to enjoy both the original and the remake of the show.

It's been mentioned that Roseanne the character is a Trump fan. Growing up Roseanne Barr the actress was the farthest thing from a republican, so I'm very surprised that the character she created is a Trump fan, and I'm even more surprised that the actress herself voted for Trump. No matter what my opinion is on the show or Barr herself, I admire her for being in Hollywood, thinking for herself, and making it public. That alone takes major courage, and I hope her show (which I won't watch, it has no appeal to me whatsoever) succeeds in 2018.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 5:13

Expanding further on the "You can't serve two masters" famous comment, this passage goes further and asks us, "for how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" It's a fair question, and a very good one. You can't serve a master you don't know.

The best way to get to know who your master is is to see your actions. It's been said 10,000 times before because it's accurate, but your beliefs don't define you, your actions do. We've seen people who claim to be Christians yet behave anything like one. We've also seen people who are atheists but are more virtuous than the most fundamentalist religious believer.  If your actions don't match who you claim to serve, it's probably time to reevaluate your life and make some changes.

Robots and the minimum wage

 In California, a robot is apparently flipping burgers. Yet another blow to the "lets raise the minimum wage" crowd.  If you are a business owner and you have to choose between paying a teenager 15.00 bucks an hour or paying a robot nothing per hour, what are you going to choose? If the robot is initially affordable (and it obviously is, that's why it's doing the job here), than you might save money in the long run.  If states keep raising minimum wages, this is what will happen to all entry level jobs.

Do you fear automation? You shouldn't. Automation makes our lives easier. Sure, it'll cause some people to lose their jobs but they'll adapt. They'll go back to school to learn new skills or they'll simply find another job that won't be automated. You can fear the future or, since the future is largely indifferent to your feelings, you can learn to adapt.

Album of the weekend

Stone Temple Pilots-2018 self titled album

While I wasn't waiting for this album with bated breath, I was eager to hear it. We all know that Stone Temple Pilots has gone though some serious upheaval lately-they've had two lead singers tragically pass away and the future of the band was up in the air. Stone Temple Pilots have released some great albums in the past but unfortunately this is not one of them. Some albums are able to stir up such passion in you that you either love or hate them. With this one, it's major crime is that it's just forgettable.

Many of the songs sound alike, and even the better songs aren't that great. I like the retro post grunge sound that Stone Temple Pilots are famous for (in many ways, they were among the better grunge bands out there) but this album just sounds old and tired. The ballad is terrible, something I'd listen to at the dentists office to help me fall asleep-it's so bad that I even forgot the name of it. Never a good sign.

Everyone has different opinions on music and I know there is nothing worse than someone speaking ill of your favorite band, especially one that has gone through so much trauma in their career. Sadly though, this album is mediocre at best.

Kurt Cobain

It's been twenty four years since Kurt Cobain passed away. Every year on April 5th, I take a moment to remember him and pray for his soul. That sounds strange, given that he wasn't a family member, but he touched all of our lives in a way that few celebrities ever could. He defined a generation with his talent, his attitude, and most importantly, his music. I don't have to wonder what could have been with him. Instead, I remember his tragic death and thank him for all the music he created. RIP Kurt. You will always be remembered. 

Death Penalty charges for the Florida shooter

The state of Florida will seek the death penalty for that psychopath, Nikolas Cruz. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever and I hope the state is successful in their prosecution and in their punishment.

I know that the death penalty is a controversial issue. I also know that, for a libertarian, being in favor of the death penalty is a little weird. No apologies, I'll always be in favor of the death penalty and it's because of cases like this. Do I think it's a deterrent? Not really. I'm not sure someone plans on killing someone else but doesn't go through with it because they think "If I get caught, I'll get the death penalty." However it should be a punishment.

Evil exists in this world. You can rationalize it. Ignore it, deny it, try to make excuses for it, but that doesn't matter. Evil still exists no matter what you think about it. Those who have showed a lack of humanity need to face the ultimate punishment.

Wal Mart removing Cosmopolitan?

The magazine Cosmopolitan (remember that?) is being removed from the checkout aisle at Wal Mart.  The "MeToo" movement is declaring victory over this I think, and the social conservatives are as well. Frankly, the real reason why they are doing this has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with money-magazines aren't selling anymore, and everything is going digital.

It's interesting to me though to see social conservatives and the MeToo feminists suddenly join hands. Of course at first, the two seem drastically opposed and that they'd have nothing in common. However both have always been uncomfortable with magazines they consider to be "pornographic". Seriously, name one other thing Andrea Dworkin and Pat Robertson had in common. Both were crusaders against Playboy, Penthouse and apparently Cosmopolitan. Which I've never read.

It's not a victory for either side, it's a defeat for traditional magazines. Digital content isn't even the future-it's the present and it's going to dominate the world in under ten years. Cosmo is fading away-and I'm curious as to if anyone under 40 even reads it.

Major changes to the LDS church

Wow. I miss General Conference and look what happens? I was busy with family stuff and baseball games so I didn't catch the events live as they unfolded, but apparently there has been some huge changes to the church. From what I comprehend the high priest group is being morphed in with the Elders Quorum, and visiting teaching/home teaching is being replaced with another form of counseling/teaching.

LDS are in an interesting situation. They are programmed to obey, not question. Even if the general LDS population had a huge problem with these changes, they'd go along with it. I'm not seeing anyone really get upset over the changes, but living in Florida aside from Utah and being inactive I admit that I'm not really running with the LDS crowd.

The change to visiting/home teaching is nice, and I'm sure it'll bring up the numbers for awhile. My concern is once the newness of the program fades away, people won't bother to go anymore and the numbers will go back to being the same they were with home/visiting teaching. No, I'm not a prophet, just a concern of mine.

I feel sorry for Elders Quorum leadership-now, they'll have to deal with an influx of older, more experienced high priests who will probably be quick to take over leadership roles in the quorum. I'm not sure this will help attendance rates or keep people in church-but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!