Link to another blog...

I'm done with finals (forever), so I can start wasting time again on blog sites! I don't know if anyone still reads this blog, but if anyone's interested, here's an interesting point on gas prices, currency exchange, and politics made by a mutual friend of Chris and me:

Brian Bowen Was Here: The Price of Gas

Seemed like the kind of thing people on here might like. He welcomes comments.

p.s. - What does it mean when a blog relies on cross-references to other blogs to generate discussion?

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Google Calendar Funny Feature

If you try to add a new appointment to your Google calendar, you type text in the box, then you click, "I'm feeling lucky", you get an interesting appointment set up for yourself...

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Feed the Warrior

this is my new favorite commercial.

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Mission Miracles

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Anyone there?

If anyone is still reading, Who do you think should get the money?

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7742685?source=rss

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Great Mormon Literature

Hey folks,

I don't know whether any of you remember me posting around LYMA in the past... I'm a good friend of J.D. Payne, who introduced me to the Church in 2002-2003. I'm now back after serving in the Belgium Brussels / Netherlands Mission.

Now that I've been home for three months, I miss the elevated spiritual atmosphere of missionary life. I've been meaning to get into some good Mormon literature in my limited free time, but I'm not sure what the best books are. So I thought we might use this thread to post brief reviews of great Mormon literature we've read. That could give me, and possibly others, good direction for our free-reading time.

I'll start us off by commenting on the two non-canonical works that have touched me the most.

James E. Talmage's "Jesus the Christ": I'll bet we've all read this one, but I can't say enough good things about it. I read it almost three times through during my mission, and gained a better understanding of and appreciation for the Savior's ministry, especially the portion described in the New Testament. Page after page of profound insights amazed me; the fact that Talmage wrote most of it inside the Salt Lake Temple really shines through.

Richard L. Bushman's "Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling": I imagine that a lot of you have read this, too, but I'll put in my own little endorsement anyway. Bushman is an terrifically gifted historian, with a talent for understanding each development in the Prophet's life in the context of the big (even eternal) picture. I especially liked how Bushman addresses other scholars' lingering questions and concerns, and with calm, even-handed analysis, puts many to rest and sheds better light on others. I could hardly read this book for ten minutes without underlining some new piece of evidence for Joseph's divine calling that I hadn't known before.

So what are your favorites? I know that numerous volumes by Talmage, McConkie, Kimball, Hinckley, and others could be wonderfully enriching, but I want to know what you all have to recommend. What should Chris (this Chris) read?

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Looking for 3 good reasons...

Obviously, my summer internship is far and away less exciting than all of your summer associate-ships. And to think of the exponentially less wages I am earning. Sniffle.

Well, beware LYMA lawyers: money corrupts. Look no further than any news outlet in America. Every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of American sports seems to be hiding something awful, something corrupt, something greedy. The word "sports" fails to conjure up the memories it used to: "John Stockton from midcourt..." or the first year I snuck over to my friend's house to watch Superbowl XXV or cheering Sid Bream home during the 1992 NLCS.

Nowadays the word "sports" takes me to a place where the greatest bicycle race on earth is now a traveling joke. A place where the all-time homerun record makes more people shake their head in disgust than excited. A place where one of the world's richest men electrocutes animals. A place where the mob - THE MOB!! - has tarnished the integrity of professional basketball.

In short, sports are dead. I'm done. I haven't watched a single sporting event for 3 months. I was tired of the controversy last May. And recent events have only validated my decision.

Can somebody please give me 3 good reasons to care again? I'll even accept suggestions sent from your Blackberries.

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Reptiles, Horses, and Felines...oh my!!

What do alligators, free-roaming horses, jungle cats, and an ancient Greek citizen have in common? Each represents a mascot for the winning college football team in last year's Bowl Championship Series. In the intervening 6 months since Florida "upset" undefeated Ohio State by 4 touchdowns, USC beat a disenfranchised Michigan team, Notre Dame surprised nobody by getting thumped by LSU, Louisville beat Wake Forest in the most forgettable game in history, and Boise State beat Oklahoma in one of the most exciting football games in history, the excitement and controversy surrouding collegiate athletics has been overshadowed by doping, dogfighting, gambling, and Barry Bonds' huge skull. But as the ESPN College Gameday crew begins their cross-country trek to Berkeley, California for Cal's opening day matchup vs. Tennessee, I'd like to reignite the fire.

College athletics, generally, are an interesting creature. Many programs provide an opportunity for like-minded and able-bodied students to learn teamwork, get exercise, and compete (like more expensive alternatives to the chess club). For many students, watching these spectacles is an inseparable part of the university "experience" and "culture." Most programs have a goal to turn a profit, but most struggle to just break even.

College football programs, specifically, are no different. Except for a very small handful of schools (those perenially ranked in the top 25), most schools are lucky to break even. BYU and the University of Utah are on the cusp. While both programs lost money in 2002-2003, they have fared better more recently. In 2005-2006, Cougar football generated just less than $10.5 million in revenue, but had over $8.5 million in operating costs. Add to the mix all of the scholarships, financial aid, and personal tutors and the program generated about $1 million of pure profit that year. The situation is similar at the University of Utah, although the numbers were smaller ($9.3 million in revenues, $7.9 million of expenses). Powerhouse programs like the University of Southern California, Ohio State at Columbus, and Florida University consistently generate almost $30 million of revenue each year, and more than $10 million in profits. Smaller programs like Tulsa, Utah State, New Mexico State, and Marshall in "mid-major" conferences like the WAC, the MAC, Sunbelt, and Conference USA lose money every year. And their future is not bright.

Much of the controversy surrounds the structure and rewards of postseason play. For many teams, a trip to a bowl game is icing on the cake. It's a chance to play on national television, show off for NFL scouts, and get a all-expenses paid vacation to a sunny destination in December (or January if you're lucky). Unfortunately, the financial rewards are less exciting. Travel and accommodations for close to 200 people usually eats up all (and sometimes more) of the bowl's payout. For too many schools, the "reward" of a bowl game is a line of red numbers in the budget. The exception, of course, is the Bowl Championship Series.

Five bowl games comprise the 9-year old BCS. Whereas non-BCS bowl games have payouts between $325,000 to $4.25 million per team/conference represented. Each BCS game, however, pays out $17 million to each conference represented (and an additional $4.5 million if the conference has 2 teams). There are a host of procedures for determining who qualifies to participate. For the official, comprehensive, constitution-like explanation of these procedures, click here. I'm curious what you (dormant) readers of LYMA think about the system. To lure you out of your non-blogging slumber, here is a list of 5 specific questions that I'd love your thoughts on:

1) Should college football teams remain attached to universities under the thinly-veiled guise that they are merely extracurricular programs that provide an outlet for otherwise studiously-minded college students?

2) Should college football programs secede from their university affiliations and form a semi-pro, for-profit developmental league?

3) Do the benefits of a multi-team postseason playoff outweigh the (not only financial) costs?

4) Should Congress have a mandate to intervene in the college bowl game (BCS and non-BCS) and/or a playoff payoff structure? Is this really an anti-trust issue?

5) Tennessee at Cal. Who wins? (Or if you insist on remaining Utah-centric: Utah at BYU on Nov. 24, what are the odds we see another 24-21 game?)

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Circumcision

There is a post at The Gray Sheep about circumcision that got me to thinking about my role as a soon-to-be parent. The author of that post shares a similar sentiment with me: what kinds of decisions am I morally supported in making for my children before they are able to make decisions on their own? Beyond decisions related to their survival.

On the one hand, here is an empty canvas for my wife and me to use everything we've learned to create something we want. This is how it works with parents and kids - it's what defines parenthood and makes it special. We'll take him to Church, teach him primary songs, and read the scriptures together. This is our responsibility, no?

On the other hand, one of those things that I've learned is that agency and individual responsibility is the purpose of our life here, for better and for worse. And whereas I'm comfortable straying from this idea on issues that are important (to me) like the gospel, I don't know where I stand on other - more arbitrary - decisions. Like what toys he'll play with, or what sports he'll play.

Or whether he should be circumcised.

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Always Have Some Wine and Cheese On Hand, For Safety

I know I am kind of monopolizing the blog, but this is just too bizarre.

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Go Forth With Faith (but please try not to incur any liability)

An Oregon court ruled today that the church has to turn over its financial information (which it has long kept secret) to the attorneys for a man who is suing, claiming that his home teacher molested him. There is still some legal battling before the records actually come out. Basically the Plaintiff wants to be able to say to the jury, "Hey, these guys are really rich so you should give me a whole lot of money". That issue could be a post of its own, but that is not what interested me about this story.

Law school and working at a firm have changed the way I read a lot of news stories and the thing that caught my attention about this one is that having a lay ministry could be an ENORMOUS liability for the church. In this case the plaintiff is suing the church for something a home teacher allegedly did because the home teacher is acting on behalf of the church. Of course the church is saying that he was acting simply as a friend of the family, but imagine the possible slippery slope! Most LDS church members have a calling, most men in the church hold an office in the preisthood, if this legal tactic works a whole lot of what the members do could end up leaving the church liable. What if I am in my home teaching companion's car and we get in an accident? What if there is an accident at a playgroup that was sponsored or organized by the releif society? What if I go to give someone a blessing and catch what they have? What if I go nuts and assault a random stranger on the street and they sue and their attorney finds out that I am an Elder in the LDS Church? With the deep pockets of the church there would be no shortage of people wanting to make a claim. Hopefully not realistic, but kind of scary.

Maybe I better play it safe and not go home teaching this month.

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Costco makes me hate human kind

Don't get me wrong, I really like Costco. Few things are nicer than a berry smoothie and buying copius amounts of delicious food I never knew that I needed, but there are some things that must go.

First, the parking lot. you do not need to sit and wait for a parking space when the person leaving is still a hundred yards away from their car and there is a line of six other cars behind you that can't get buy because you stopped right in the middle of the lane. Just take the spot that is open twenty feet further away.

If you can manage to park before the store closes you get your cart. Why are they always full of crap? I have never gone to Costco and gotten a cart that is not filled to the brim with soggy ads, used napkins and tiny sample cups.

Once you scrape someone else's filth out of your cart you get to enter the store. Inside you will find that the store is packed regardless of what time or day it is. There will be no rhyme or reason to the cart movement. People will be right in the middle of an aisle wandering aimlessly, weaving back and forth, stopping suddenly at a wierd angle so that no one else can get by. you will be rammed or nearly rammed various times by people going full speed as they leave the side aisles and enter your path. I suggest applying simple traffic rules. Slow traffic to the right, stay in your lane, stay on the right side of the road, yield when turning and don't stop on the middle of the freeway.

It seems to me that the slightest awareness that there are indeed other people that would also like to shop for giant fifteen dollar fruit tarts would solve these outrageous offenses to humanity.

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This Can't Be Real, Can It?

Can stuff like this really exist in America? I am afraid.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1845385.ece

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Congratulations Chris and Janelle!

Elliot Isaac Patton
Originally uploaded by cypryt.

From all of us here at LYMA to the parents who started this little "blog" experiment, we say congratulations on a healthy delivery.

Welcome to the world, Elliot. We look forward to inculcating our Nietzschean blog-osophies on you when you come of age. (We also expect you to set us straight with your Kemsley-Patton wisdom).

Congratulations!

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I love ESPN

Best commercials ever.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnShow?showID=SRDA

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So it goes, Mr. Vonnegut, so it goes...

Kurt Vonnegut died today and I am sad. I was 14 when I read "Slaughterhouse Five"; 17 when I read "Cat's Cradle" and "Breakfast of Champions." And for almost the entirety of my teenage years, I proclaimed Kurt Vonnegut as my absolute favorite author.

Several weeks ago I was browsing at Barnes & Noble and I picked up one of his books. I realized that, as a teenager, I had know idea what Vonnegut was really trying to say. He's a socialist, a secular humanist, etc. -- all in all a pretty wacky left-winger. He's one of those authors you read as a teenager and it makes you feel smart, like you know that everyone around you is missing a out on a secret that you know. Today, (as a much wiser, and more moderate, 27 year old...ha!) I doubt I'd agree with much that Vonnegut proclaims.

But I can say that his novels had an effect on me that persists even today. "Cat's Cradle" instigated the "existential crisis" that led me to really ask myself why I believe what I do (i.e. in the LDS Church). My wife laughs when I say how much I love Kurt Vonnegut because, she reminds me, he's the one who started me on the path that led to a period of inactivity in the church. She's right, in a way. But I must say that walking that path was crucial: it led me to decide things for myself, to ask questions and to make sure I was doing what I was doing for the right reasons. So, I think Vonnegut would be happy with that. Looking back, the philosophy underlying his novels wasn't all that deep, nor was it particularly original, but his sarcasm and satire made me ask some serious questions of myself. And more importantly, his writing was really, really funny.

As someone who has a kid that is set to be born anytime now, I found this Vonnegut quote particularly good. I may relate it to my son when he arrives (probably without the expletive):

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”

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Mormon PBS series

Here is the trailer for the upcoming PBS series about Mormons:

http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/2514.html?&c=3wm

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Where is all the outrage!!!!

I really am starting to feel like I'm the only one shocked and amazed by what is happening in Iran.

They took what from who? They've kept them for how long? Why isn't any one else outraged?

All we get is one lousy CNN story a day?

Where is the "IRAN PRISONER CRISES DAY 4" headline? Well, let me tell you. No one wants to put up the illusion that there may be in issue out there, somewhere, that we all agree on. In today's political world, the only thing worse than being Bush, is looking like you agree with Bush. We can't possibly all be outraged together. We tried that after 9/11 and look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into.

We are a two party country. We must make sure we appear divided on everything. You don't want to be the one to concede the other side is right because that means you've lost.

What a sad way to go through life.

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Wife 1.0

In the interest of trying to revive Chris' blog, I am now forced to post e-mail forwards -
* * * *
Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0

I soon noticedthat the new program began unexpected child processing that took up alot of space and valuable resources.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and nowmonitors all other system activity.

Applications such as Poker Night10.3 , Football 5.0 , Hunting and Fishing 7.5 , and Golfing 3.6.I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to runmy favorite applications.

I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0 . Please help!

Thanks,Troubled User.....

* * * * * *

REPLY:Dear Troubled User:

Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 , thinking that itis just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATINGSYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run everything.

It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0 . It isimpossible to uninstall, or purge the program files from the system onceinstalled.

You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to notallow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings-Alimony/ChildSupport.

I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application "Yes Dear" to alleviate software augmentation.

The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE! because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway. One way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0.

WARNING!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Secretary With ShortSkirt 3.3 . This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system!

Best of luck,Tech Support

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Things I Did Not Know: Angel Moroni a Registered Trademark

A leading news item on CNN says, "Mormons miffed over coffee-swilling angel image" - some coffee shop in Taylorsville, UT is selling shirts where coffee is being poured into the Angel Moroni's trumpet.

What's interesting is that the Church's argument against the t-shirts is that the Angel Moroni is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK. Who knew?

"Church spokesman Scott Trotter confirmed to the Deseret Morning News on Thursday that the image is an LDS Church trademark"

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Democracy in the post-Gilligan era - our attention span is limited to a 3 hour tour...?

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No Church Apology for Ordination of Sons Without LDS Father's Permission

According to the Trib:

The Utah Court of Appeals today heard a father's lawsuit claiming the LDS Church ordained his two sons without permission.

Michael Gulbraa says all he wanted after his two sons were ordained by the LDS Church without his permission was an official, written apology.


When officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declined to compel a general authority to produce one, he sued.

The father, a member of the LDS Church, said church leaders breached a secular agreement by performing religious ordinances without first obtaining his consent,
usurping his parental authority. He sought an injunction barring similar actions in the future.

After a 3rd District judge threw out the suit, Gulbraa took his case to the appellate court. Today, his attorney sought to have the suit reinstated.


His lawyer, Kevin Bond, noted that Gulbraa has been awarded sole custody of his sons.

"Mr. Gulbraa has the legal right to decide his children's religious upbringing," Bond argued.

Church attorney Matthew Richards said the dispute is really between Gulbraa and his former wife; it was she who asked ecclesiastical leaders to perform the ordinance.

Because of that, Richards argued, the LDS Church is not liable for the ordinations.

"The church has the right to minister to its members the way it see fits," Richards said.

What say you? The dad had sole custody - does he have the right to say to the Church "don't ordain my kids"? If he does, should the Church be obliged to apologize? Is the reason the Church isn't liable just because the former wife asked to have the kids ordained - would it make a difference if the Church leader in question knew one way or the other that the father did NOT want the kids to be ordained, or that the father had sole custody? If the Church has the right to minister to its members the way it sees fit, should it exercise that right to disregard custodial rights in deference to "higher laws"?

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The "Michael Scott" of Japanese Politics

This Japanese dude reminds me of Michael Scott from "The Office."

This from CNN on Japanese Foreign Minister (expected to be next Prime Minister) Taro Aso:

Blond, blue-eyed Westerners probably can't be as successful at Middle East
diplomacy as Japanese with their "yellow faces".
"Luckily, we Japanese have yellow faces."

He offended South Korea with remarks in 2003 that were interpreted in Seoul
as trying to justify some of Japan's actions during its 1910-1945 colonization
of the Korean peninsula.

He also drew criticism in 2001 when, as economics minister, he said he hoped
to make Japan the kind of country where "rich Jews" would want to live.

Aso said then he had not intended to be discriminatory.

According to Wikipedia:

he predicted that information technology developments would lead to a future in which paper was replaced by "floppies."

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Happy Birthday, Mr. Beard...

CHRISPY, IN YOUR OLD AGE,

May your beard follicles continue to grow even as your body shrinks with old age;

May your heart have fewer congestion problems than DC traffic;

May you have fewer wrinkles than antitrust jurisprudence;

May your bowel movements be as regular as Congressional inquiries into Bush White House "mistakes";

May [CENSORED] as Bob Dole after the advent of [CENSORED]...

Happy 27th Birthday.

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I Wanna Drive The Zambpni

I have nothing left to accomplish.

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Dear Zoobies: Is it true that "The Campus is [Your] World"?

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Reptiles, Horses, and Felines...oh my!

What do alligators, free-roaming horses, jungle cats, and an ancient Greek citizen have in common? Each represents a mascot for the winning college football team is last year's Bowl Championship Series. In the intervening 6 months since Florida "upset" undefeated Ohio State by 4 touchdowns, the excitement and controversy surrouding collegiate athletics has been overshadowed by doping, dogfighting, gambling, and Barry Bonds huge skull. But as the ESPN College Gameday crew begins their cross-country trek to Berkeley, California for Cal's opening day matchup vs. Tennessee, I'd like to reignite the fire.


College athletics, generally, are an interesting creature. Many programs provide an opportunity for like-minded and able-bodied students to learn teamwork, get exercise, and compete (like more expensive alternatives to the chess club). For many students, watching these spectacles is an inseparable part of the university "experience" and "culture." Most programs have a goal to turn a profit, but most struggle to just break even.


Football programs, specifically, are no different. Except for a very small handful of schools (those perenially ranked in the top 25), most schools are lucky to break even. BYU and the University of Utah are on the cusp. In 2005-2006, Cougar football generated just less than $10.5 million in revenue, but had over $8.5 million in operating costs. Add to the mix all of the scholarships, financial aid, and personal tutors and the program can reliably be counted on for about $1 million a year. The situation is similar at the University of Utah, although the numbers are smaller ($9.3 million in revenues, $7.9 million of expenses). Powerhouse programs like the University of Southern California, Ohio State at Columbus, and Florida University generate almost $30 million of revenue each year, and more than $10 million in profits. Smaller programs like Tulsa, Utah State, New Mexico State, and Marshall in "mid-major" conferences like the WAC, the MAC, Sunbelt, and Conference USA lose money every year. And the future is not bright.

Much of the controversy surrounds the structure and rewards of postseason play. For many teams, a trip to a bowl game is icing on the cake. It's a chance to play on national television, show off for NFL scouts, and get a all-expenses paid vacation to a sunny destination in December (or January if you're lucky). Unfortunately, the financial rewards are less exciting. Travel and accommodations for close to 200 people usually eats up all (and sometimes more) of the bowl's payout. For too many schools, the "reward" of a bowl game is a line of red numbers in the budget. The exception, of course, is the Bowl Championship Series.

Five bowl games comprise the 9-year old BCS. Whereas non-BCS bowl games have payouts between $325,000 to $4.25 million per team/conference represented. Each BCS game, however, pays out $17 million to each conference represented (and an additional $4.5 million if the conference has 2 teams). There are a host of procedures for determining who qualifies to participate. For the official, comprehensive, constitution-like explanation of these procedures, click here.

I'm curious what you (dormant) readers of LYMA think about the system. To lure you out of your non-blogging slumber, here is a list of 5 specific questions that I'd love your thoughts on:

1) Should college football teams remain attached to universities under the thinly-veiled guise that they are merely extracurricular programs that provide an outlet for otherwise studiously-minded college students?

2) Should college football programs secede from their university affiliations and form a semi-pro, for-profit developmental league?

3) Do the benefits of a multi-team postseason playoff outweigh the (not only financial) costs?

4) Should Congress have a mandate to intervene in the college bowl game (BCS and non-BCS) and/or a playoff payoff structure? Is this really an anti-trust issue?

5) Tennessee at Cal. Who wins? (Or if you insist on remaining Utah-centric: Utah at BYU on Nov. 24, what are the odds we see another 24-21 game?)

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Shameful Plug

Since my permissions have been down-graded and I am no longer able to add links to the template, I thought I might make a quick (and yes, shameful) plug for the public policy blog to which I contribute and ask you to visit us sometime.

We can be reached at http://www.policymatters.net/. I should also mention that I am the Editor-in-Chief of the policy journal by the same name (PolicyMatters) and we are currently acceping submissions by policy-conscious individuals (that includes all of you law school students - and you too, Chris' mom) who are looking to publish a 2,500 - 3,000 word (10-12 page) memo about an issue that means a lot to them. The deadline is this Friday. We welcome rough drafts.

For more information, click on the "Submissions" link on our blog. Please pardon some of our formatting difficulties as we are changing to a new host.

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Three-Hundred Dollars to bring John Lennon Back from the Dead

Sufjan Stevens is coming to DC to play a free concert at the Kennedy Center next month and both Janelle and I love Sufjan and his wacky music. The only hitch was that you had to wait in line to get a hold of the free tickets last saturday. We didn't go wait in line because it was cold and because I'm trying to savor my last few months of uninterrupted sleeping in. Our thought was this: "free would be nice, but we could probably just buy the free tickets on ebay or craig's list for 30 bucks, so why be cold."

Well, I guess Janelle and I are not only Sufjan Stevens fans in DC and I guess we weren't suckers for sleeping in either because flocks of crazy people lined up ridiculously early in the morning for those tickets and a ton of line-waiters were turned away emptyhanded. Now those previously free tickets are selling for ridiculous prices on craig's list. This article says $300, but I searched craig's list and found people willing to pay anywhere from $90 to $999 for them. Obviously, I'm not as big a Sufjan fan as I though because I'm not willing to shell out $300 to see the guy in all of his glory.

All this got me thinking: what band would I pay $300 to see? To make my little game more interesting, I decided that I could ressurect dead and/or defunct bands to include in my answers. I was surprised when I could only come up with two - the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I love U2, and have payed something like $80 to see them before, but I don't think I could pay $300 to see them again.

So my question to you is this: what bands would you pay $300 to see? They can be alive or dead. If you don't like music, then what performer or sporting event is worth that much to you?

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Orphans Should be denied the Blessings of Baptism...

So some law school friends and I were discussing the merits of adopting orphans, and I pointed out that when I was a missionary in Rio de Janeiro, after we baptized the manager of an orphanage, about 15 young orphan souls were brought to the light of the gospel - all of them between 15 and 18 years of age. On Sundays, we would take sometimes 30 orphans to Church, singing songs as we go, "Nos andamos iguais, nos andamos iguais! por lado, por outro, para frente para tras, nos andamos iguais!"

Now, I feel no remorse about providing the blessings of baptism to these orphans but one person said that baptizing them is just wrong. I said, "so orphans should just be denied the blessings of baptism?" the response was, "well, yes...!!!"

Similarly, should homeless people not be taught and/or baptized? what about people who are near death? We had one gentleman with AIDs, near death, and many of the members said that he shouldnt be baptized because he was too close to death. I believe it was proxy discrimination for his AIDs - and proxy discrimination against the homeless - and proxy discrimination against orphans who are seen as a "drain" on resources, too outside the regular framework to care for?

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