Bill in SC would require kids to learn personal finance

An absolutely fantastic bill in South Carolina would require students to take a class in personal finance in order to graduate. Instead of learning relatively useless things like cursive (yes, I went there) this bill would actually help them in the real world and it deserves our support 100%. In fact, I can't wait to hear how someone could possibly be against this.

No, not all of the problems in society today are the fault of kids. In fact, regular readers will know how much I loathe people who fall into the cliche and blame all the issues we have on the younger generations. Teaching kids in high school and more importantly, making sure they can't graduate until they know the basics of personal finance (how to balance a checkbook, how not to go into credit card debt, how to pay bills on time, what happens if you don't pay bills on time, how important your credit rating is) is a marvelous idea and will help them out tremendously.

School district forbids student to wear a MAGA hat

A school district is barring a student from wearing a MAGA hat.  I'm sure they do the same thing with students wearing Colin Kapernick t shirts. Hillary Clinton buttons. Bernie Sanders scarves. If you think they do the same thing, you are very naive. Because the MAGA hat represents something that many, many educators despise, they are much quicker to tell anyone wearing one to take it off then they would be someone wearing what I described.

Don't get me wrong, a school district does have some right to restrict what you wear. Anything that proposes violence comes to mind, but I'm sure there are other valid restrictions. I think Bernie Sanders is a fool and I disagree with him on everything-but I would never tell a student she couldn't wear a t-shirt with his image. I would ask her if she paid for it-but she wouldn't get the irony.

Methodist church drama

Homosexuality might break up the Methodist church-apparently they are going though some discussion/dissent/debate over the topic.  Putting aside my personal feelings on the topic, I can see why churches struggle with this issue. The bible is clear on homosexual actions, and a Christian church has to do some pretty complicated footwork to make homosexuality acceptable or moral.

Before I go any further, it needs to be said that just because you think something is immoral doesn't mean you wish harm upon someone and yes, we are all sinners, every single one of us. Some traditional Christians (some, not all. Some) seem to think Homosexuality is a more serious sin while they ignore their own pride, arrogance, cruelty, etc. It isn't of course. Sin is sin.

I lived up north when Gene Robinson was elected. The media of course embraced his election as bishop and anyone who didn't also accept it was labeled has homophobic, bigoted, etc. It's far from the truth of course but the media is so biased it's impossible to expect decent behavior from them when asked to cover Christianity in an objective way. The Episcopalian church has had branches split off over the homosexual issue, and the Methodist church will as well. This is the beginning of the end to the second biggest Protestant church in the country.

Missionaries can now call home more

For a church that places such a high value on families, I was always a bit uncomfortable with how missionaries had strict limits on how often they could call home. Thankfully, that has changed and they can call home weekly. It's a welcome change and no, it doesn't mean that missionaries can't "cut the cord."

Going on a mission is an incredibly stressful thing for some people-no, I never served but I've always been close to those who have. Many of them I still talk to today and I count that as a great blessing in my life. Seeing these kids-all between 18-20 years old-going so far away from home to serve the church is both inspiring but a little scary. Many times when we go off to college it's close to our home, and there are no strict rules that have to obey. When going on a mission there are strict rules that they kids have to obey, and the stress is multiplied by the fact that they can't call home as often as they should be allowed to do.

It's all changing, and thank God for it.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 6:10-11

Sometimes we want divine justice to come down and destroy those who disbelieve or act against the teachings of the gospel, but it's important to remember that it might not happen that way. In fact, this passage makes me think that even those who have "hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel" will still be given a chance to redeem themselves. They shall be "smitten and afflicted" but in the next passage it says that "they shall not be suffered to perish, but due to the prayers of the faithful the Lord will be merciful to them."

We are constantly reminded to pray for those who persecute us and to pray for our enemies. It's difficult, in fact it's probably the hardest part about being a believer. But it's also commanded of us.

Patriots owner busted for solicitation

I know some people think it's funny, and everyone hates the Patriots. The owner, Robert Kraft was busted for solicitation at a Florida massage parlor.  I wouldn't even blog about something like this, but I'm so disgusted by everyones response to it, I had to say something.

The guy is 77 years old and lost his beloved wife a few years ago. He's extremely rich and a pseudo celebrity, so he would have no problem getting a girlfriend. In private, he decided to go to a massage parlor and unwind for a bit. Yes, it turns out he was trying to get companionship there as well. Frankly, if the woman is above 18 and is consenting to the action, it's none of your business. At all. Period. It shouldn't even be a news story.

To me, it's all about consent and freedom. If you don't like prostitution, than don't hire one. You have every right to speak out against it, but no, you shouldn't have the right to interfere with it anymore than they can interfere with your sex life.  This might seem odd coming from a blog that's religious in nature, but even though I'm a LDS, I'm also a libertarian.

Album of the weekend

Anvil-Hope in Hell

"Being completely honest here, the quality of Anvils songs were no where near to the level of Metallica and bands like that. They had moments, but I think they'd be the first to tell you that they didn't make consistently great records"-St. Eddie Trunk. He's right you know. I've gone on and on about how I much the passion of Anvil. They are one of my favorite bands due to their determination and refusal to change their style over the years. I'm a bit less harsh in my judgement of them-in fact, I think their last album Pounding the Pavement gets better each time you listen and Metal on Metal is one of the best albums in heavy metal history-both lyrically and musically. Not all of their albums are like that, and Hope in Hell is not a good album. 

"Badass Rock and Roll" sounds good-if you don't listen to the lyrics. But you can't avoid them, they are quite bad. "Shut the F Up" sounds like it was written by a seventeen year old boy lashing out at people who hurt him. I can understand relating to this song, I was once 17 too, but for grown men to sing it it sounds a bit strange, even unpleasant. I don't think the guys from Anvil are angry men, especially at this point in their career, they don't need to act like it. Every Anvil album has a good song on it, and "Fire at Will", while not written great, is still the best song on the album. 

Anvil is Anvil, to quote the album that came out after this one. That's a tautology of course, but it's got some truth to it. They are who they are and they will never change. You either love or hate that. 

Abandoned cruise ship to become housing for homeless.

I don't know if the story is true or not, but it's an interesting idea. It also doesn't address a key issue about homelessness.

Time for some blunt talk on homelessness that no one seems to want to admit. Yes, some homeless people are mentally healthy and not addicted to drugs and alcohol. It's horrific that anyone has to deal with homelessness and food insecurity.  But you know what? A large, large, large amount of homeless people are mentally ill, sometimes severely. And a large portion of them are addicted to drugs too.

You can build the most amazing, technologically advance homeless shelter out of a former cruise ship, and an undiagnosed mentally ill man will not live there. In fact, he might try to burn it down because the voices in his head tell him to do so. You can give money to a homeless woman-but if she's addicted to alcohol she won't use to it buy food for her baby. Throwing money at a problem doesn't help it. You need to look much, much deeper.

Man arrested for slapping his step daughters bully

I know what you are thinking. The man is a hero, a role model, and you'd do the same thing.  But he isn't. At all.

A grown man has no right to slap a 12 year old. No, not even if his daughter is being bullied. No, not even if it is your own child. When I was in high school, a neighbor threatened to "kill me" for driving fast in our neighborhood. Sadly, he didn't get in trouble for it-and I didn't either.  The cops should have arrested him for threatening a minor back then, but nothing happened. Interesting postscript-the guy likes to drive fast too and almost hit my mom when she was going on her walk. 

Let's say this father slaps the kid, the kid falls down on a rock and dies. He would be charged with manslaughter, and rightfully so. He'll go to jail for 4-6 years and have the lifelong guilt of killing a child for something that, looking back, is rather meaningless. He's also opened himself up to litigation. If I was the parent of the 12 year old, I'd probably sue him.

I get it, we like vigilante justice. It makes us feel noble and like white knights. But a grown up attacking a child is always inappropriate. Period.

Sixth grader arrested for refusing to stand for the pledge

A sixth grader was apparently arrested for refusing to stand for the pledge.  Putting aside my feelings about standing or not, arresting a sixth grader (!) for doing so seems very inappropriate to me.

In a public building like a school no one should be forced to stand for the pledge. While it's true, a sixth grader doesn't have full constitutional rights, they do have some kinds of protection and freedom of expression is probably one of those protections. Second, even if they didn't have that protection arresting a child simply for refusing to stand for the pledge is massive overkill. You send him to the principals office, give them detention, then wait for the impending lawsuit.

Fake hate crimes

I'm not going to give this actor anymore attention that he already has, so I'm not naming his name. Needless to say, if you haven't heard about it, an actor apparently made up getting attacked in a "hate crime", saying he was assault by two men wearing MAGA hats when in reality, it appears that two Nigerian men were paid to beat him up.

People on the left want to believe that two people wearing MAGA hats would randomly beat up someone who was a minority-it fits their narrative that all Trump supporters are racist and bigoted. Hate crimes are horrible-when they actually happen. However lying about hate crimes is perhaps worse, because you are smearing innocent people who have done nothing wrong.

This isn't a first time thing. It's convenient to forget about people making fake hate crimes-but it's actually much more common than one might think.

Scripture Sunday Omni 1:7

Omni might be the shortest chapter in the Book of Mormon. This passage is short as well, but it's powerful in it's message. We don't think of the judgement of God very much in 2019, and when we do think of it, it's often serious and severe. We think of a God bringing forth the four horsemen and cleansing the world of evil.

But there is a flip side. While He will cleanse the world of evil on His judgment day, He will also do what this passage says which is "spare the righteous that they should not perish but will deliver them out of the hands of their enemies."  It's a comforting to thought that evil will be punished and that the righteous will be saved, and it's up to us to choose what side we will be on.

A former Miss UK is rejecting chemotherapy

A former beauty queen and actress has developed a fatal tumor. That's sad. What is even sadder is that she is rejecting traditional treatments in order to focus on "natural cures".  When I see stories like this, I find them heartbreakingly sad. First off, just getting a tumor or cancer is tragic. What is just as tragic is stopping chemotherapy and believing that "natural cures" can cure you better than legit medicine can.

To be clear, I don't blame anyone with cancer. Part of the Kubler-Ross stages of grief and depression is denial and seeking out natural cures is part of that denial process. I blame the people peddling these "natural cures" 100%. They are profiting off the misery of others. There are two kind of snake oil sellers. Those who know they are selling snake oil and don't care, or those who are honestly deluded and truly believe that they can cure horrendous diseases by using peach pits. Seriously, I read about someone who had AIDS in the 1980's and went to Mexico to seek a cure using peach pits.

This story is just incredibly sad all around.

Album of the weekend

The Struts-three songs

These three songs don't seem to be on any one album. So I'm cheating a little. This isn't an "Album of the weekend" it's a "Three songs of the weekend".

"One Night Only"-Typical fantastic Struts song. Boastful, a little dangerous and sounds just like classic Kiss/New York Dolls. The content is slightly risqué, it's obvious what they are talking about. Doesn't matter though, this song is another gem by what might be one of the best rock bands out there today.

"Put Your Hands Up"-Rock is in need of new anthems, and why this song isn't played more at parties, sporting events, and by people who need motivation to do their workout is beyond me. The ultimate party/concert song and one that shamefully, is not more well known.

"Primadonna like Me."-This song reminds me of "Strutter" (no pun intended) by Kiss. It's a song that demands that you look at the singer-even if it's not really about them-and won't allow you to look away. Luke Spiller from The Struts can command the stage like no one else and this song was made for him to do so.

Blackface controversy

Back in high school my school preformed the play "The Crucible". The girl playing Tituba preformed in blackface. Even back then I thought it was a bad idea, but no one agreed with me. That girl (who was one of my best friends growing up) hopefully better not run for office because if she does and someone finds a yearbook, she's in serious trouble.

You might think that getting upset about white people being in blackface is politically correct, thin skinned, or overly sensitive. You have every right to feel that way. However, society disagrees with you. If you ever put on blackface or are thinking about doing it now, you better think again. It's not something that you want to deal with. Fair or not (and frankly, it is offensive and stupid to dress up like that) you are going to be butchered and you could face serious controversy.

It's better to adapt to changing social customs than complain about them.

Elizabeth Warren

I don't expect hardline liberals to care about her resume fraud-after all, they'll care as much about her mistakes as hardline conservatives care about Trumps wretched personal life. To the rest of us though, her deciding to call herself a Native American when it was helpful to her career reeks of cynicism. It was wrong, repulsive, and yes, she's a total fraud.

Massachusetts doesn't handle change real well. They'll elect a serial killer as long as the guy running against them is a republican. Sure, they have had republican governors before but it's not called the bluest state in the union for no reason. I don't expect her senate career to suffer, but I'll be shocked if she gets the nomination for the 2020 presidential race.

Robocalls

Does anyone else get phone calls asking about your cars extended warranty? They used to bother me nonstop, now I have fun with them. I give them a fake name, lead them on with a fake credit card, take up loads of their time, then listen with glee as they angrily hang up on me. So far, they've been too stupid to take me off their lists, so I keep wasting their time.

Tennessee is debating a bill that would punish them $25,000 for falsely advertising that they are a local number.  It's a good idea. Even though I'm generally against the government taking action on private corporations, these people are a huge pain in the ass and deserve what they get. I'm sure they are committing some kind of fraud-so they probably should be shut down completely.

But I like my strategy better. Be a good citizen, waste their time so they can't defraud an old person.

A new football league

So, the Alliance of American Football, a new football league, started this weekend. In case you haven't heard (and judging on the attendance, you probably haven't) this new league isn't trying to compete with the NFL, and that's a good thing, because they'd get crushed. Most new sports leagues fail, and if I know this, I'm sure that the people who create the leagues know this as well. So why bother? If you want to make money there are much better ways to do so. Maybe it's because the owners and investors are rich-but not so rich they can afford an NFL team, so they figure this is the next best thing.

And don't talk to me about the ratings. Yes, they scored monster ratings where they beat the NBA game. That's to be expected. A lot of people will tune in for the first night. And never turn in again. Ask the XFL back in the early 2000's. They had monster ratings too-at first.

I don't see this succeeding long term. Sure, rabid football fans (and there's nothing wrong with being obsessed with football) will watch, but the casual fan will not. If I wanted to watch people play football who wen't as good as the NFL players, I'd watch college ball.

Scripture Sunday Enos 1:26

One of the most touching goodbyes in the bible is when St. Paul said "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7-8). While I don't think this passage is as beautiful as the last words of Paul to his good friend Timothy, it does remind me of those words. Paul is tired at the end, and seems resigned to his fate. Enos doesn't-he seems to want to go down swinging and prophesying until the end.

Enos also says something very touching to me-he wants to "rejoice in the truth of Christ above that of the world." I think that is something that we as Christians often forget. We sometimes wear sackcloth and ashes, complaining about the sinful state of the world and we forget that there is true joy in Christ and preaching His word. If Enos could do it at the end of his life, I wonder why we can't.

Junior college sports

For the first time in my life, I've gone to a few junior college sporting events recently. I live in a small town about an hour away from Gainesville, where the University of Florida is located. I frequently go to basketball and baseball games there-in fact, both sports are huge passions of mine. On nights where there is no game up there and I still want to watch live sports, I go to a junior college about 30 minutes away in Ocala.

Going to junior college games is like going to independent wrestling events. It's a smaller crowd and the level of talent isn't as high as the four year schools, but it's usually much cheaper and still a very fun way to spend an evening.  Local bands don't usually come to my town and with movies, there is always a risk if you'll like them or not. Junior college sports might not be thrilling and glamours, but they are still fun.

Album of the weekend

Anthrax-Among the Living

It's interesting how we all have different songs that we identify as the "big hits" of various bands. While I'm not the biggest Anthrax fan, I've always felt that "I am the Law" is one of their best songs and when I think of Anthrax, I think of that song, and this album. It's the best song on this album, but it's not the only song I like. "Indians" and "Caught in a Mosh" (their two other big hits) are also two of the better songs on this album.

Like I mentioned, I was never the biggest Anthrax fan. I have nothing but respect for them and their fans, but I've always been more into Megadeth and Metallica. This album is not as good as some of the classics by the other mentioned bands, but a few of the songs are worth downloading if you are into thrash metal.

Tae Kwan Do diares II

I recently achieved my yellow belt in Tae Kwan Do. I've gotten much further in other forms of marital arts but that was years ago-so I'm happy that I've "still got it", at least for now.

My friend and I were talking about what martial art would be best in a "real fight". He's big into Ed Parker style karate-in fact, I met him at a karate class we both took and he became a good friend of mine. He's a naturally bigger man-about four inches taller than me and about 50 pounds heavier. In other words, he could kick my ass. Very quickly.

No matter how skilled you are someone always knows more, is physically stronger, or is just nastier and meaner than you. Relying on any kind of marital arts to defend yourself and your loved ones is a phenomenally stupid idea. Luckily, almost all martial arts studios admit this-that fighting is a terrible idea and just by getting into a fight you've already made one grave mistake.  You shouldn't go into marital arts training with the attitude "This is going to save my life one day." The reality is that it probably will not.

My final thoughts on Vinnie Vincent

I apologize, I know I've blogged about this several times over the past week, but it's been on my mind due to my obsession with Kiss-and that I think at one point he was incredibly talented and slightly underrated as a guitarist.

1) It's over for him. He'll never come back from this. While it's true, if he announces another comeback concert someone somewhere will buy a ticket, the overwhelming majority of us have had it with his behavior.

2) He is one hundred percent at fault. Totally. You can blame his manager, his promoter, his attorney, bit no. It's all his fault. Every single event that he is attached to has some kind of drama surrounding it. When he canceled a music festival that the guys from Decibel Geek ran. When he canceled his original comeback concert. When he canceled an appearance at a convention. When he demanded more money for the Kiss Kruise event...it goes on and on with him.

3) His behavior in Atlanta was a lie. He was loved in in January of 2018 when he came out from two decades of being a total recluse. He promised to deliver on that famous box set that people bought. He talked about his book, he talked about comeback tours...all lies.

This entire saga is incredibly sad. His fans love him, and he refuses to love them back.

Local News station distorting the news

Sure, it's only the Super Bowl, but a local news station just showed why I don't trust the news. Look at this Facebook post they had: 


The local news station is apparently trying to show us how the fix was in. Tom Brady is fist pumping a referee! Horrific! Horrible! A conspiracy! 

Oh yeah, they neglected to show this picture: 

Governor of Virginia

Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, has had a bit of controversy lately. He apparently dressed in blackface or a KKK costume-though on his second press conference he said it wasn't him in either costume.. He has a history with questionable choices though, and apparently he dressed in blackface as Michael Jackson. 

We've all done stupid things before that we don't the world knowing, but if you go into politics, you give up the right to say "Hey, don't talk about that, I was young and stupid." Is it unfair? You bet. Is it how the world works now? You bet.

Virginia is a purple state, but it's relatively safe for the democrats. If the state swung to the right or was reliably red, the democratic caucus in the state house would not be calling for his resignation, and you are profoundly naive if you think otherwise. Yes, of course if the parities were reversed you could say the same thing about the republicans. It's how politics works, sadly.

Scripture Sunday 1 Nephi 7:21

I love this passage, because it talks about forgiveness, one of my favorite topics because I think it's needed more than anything else in society today. More than love, move than charity, more than peace.  After being tied up and basically terrorized, Nephi says "It came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did extort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness."

Nephi doesn't pull any punches in this. He forgives all of them for their terrible behavior. There are other passages in the Book of Mormon that also have this sort of behavior-placing forgiveness over anything else -but it's too often not spoken about in our society today.

I am constantly amazed how many sins are considered "unforgivable" by religious people, including LDS. Apparently no one told that to Nephi.

E-cigarette ban?

For a nation that seems to be moving closer and closer to widespread marijuana legalization, banning e-cigarettes makes no sense whatsoever.  Yes, I'm in favor of weed being legal but I'm also in favor of cigarettes of all types being legal. We should have this amazing ability to make our own choices on matters of personal health, if it be marijuana, cocaine, or God forbid cigarettes. Traditional or e-cigarettes included.

You'll never see a full ban on traditional cigarettes strictly because the tax revenue that they produce. A "sin tax" is supposed to deter people from engaging in dangerous behavior, but it doesn't. It's just another revenue stream for the state. I'm not sure if E-cigarettes are taxed outside of a regular sales tax, but I'd rather see that happen to them than an outright ban.

Like it or not, e-cigarettes helped a lot of us quit smoking, myself included. They might not be healthy but they are much less dangerous than real cigarettes. Banning them really shows how powerful the nanny state is.

Album of the weekend

Lovebites-Clockwork Immortality

A relatively new metal band from Japan, Lovebites takes it's name from a famous Halestorm song, and their chief influences appear to be classical heavy metal like Iron Maiden and also some of 90's "big four" metal bands like Anthrax and Pantera. Whatever their influences are, Lovebites are one of the best bands out there and a wonderful breath of fresh air in the metal scene.

Night Demon is another relatively new heavy metal band that I really like, and they sound almost exactly like the classical bands. With Lovebites you can hear the influences but their sound is a bit more innovative and fresh. The lyrics to this album are also a lot more uplifting than what you might find in traditional heavy metal. The song "Rising" has an incredible guitar solo along with inspiring lyrics about never giving up.

I hope this band is around for a very long time.