What's up with the economy?

I don't do political posts here, though I may make mention in passing.  This is something I found interesting, thought.  It's a media press release from UCLA from 2004.  Given the economic woes we're having and the policies pursued to date, it's shocking to me that more people aren't paying attention to the data.

FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate

The two paragraphs that make me shake my head about current policy are:

"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."

Economies are big, complicated things, but it seems like maybe we should learn from history.

Aspiring vs. Coveting

Today in Church we studied Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, Chapter 20: Temporal Salvation for Ourselves and Others.

As we studied the lesson I had some interesting thoughts I want to preserve.  We were studying this passage:

Neither the rich nor the poor should set their hearts upon riches. 

“Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (D&C 56:16.) 

That is what the Lord says of the rich people who refuse to impart of their substance to those who are poor. But he says something just as serious to the poor man who is not doing his best. He says: 

“Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands!” (D&C 56:17.) … 

… Then he said further, “But blessed are the poor who are pure in heart.” There is quite a difference there, “… blessed are the poor who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance; for the fatness of the earth shall be theirs.” (D&C 56:18.) 

They are those who have not the wealth of the world but still have life and being and intelligence, and who are anxious to do the thing the Lord would have them do. … 

Now, my brethren and sisters, we have both rich and poor in our organizations. If we are poor, we can be worthy just as the Lord indicates here. We can be pure in heart and do our best, and he will not permit those who do their best to suffer for the necessities of life among the people who are in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. … 

I hope we are not going to become bitter because some men and women are well-to-do. If we are well-to-do, I hope we are not going to be self-centered and unconscious of the needs of our Father’s other children. If we are better off than they are, we ought to be real brothers and sisters, not make-believe. Our desires should be to develop in this world such an organization that others, seeing our good works would be constrained to glorify the name of our Heavenly Father. … 

We must not fall into the bad habits of other people. We must not get into the frame of mind that we will take what the other man has. Refer back to the ten commandments, and you will find one short paragraph, “Thou shalt not covet.” [Exodus 20:17.] …

The teacher brought up as an example (not an endorsement, he was clear) the attacks on Mitt Romney for his wealth.  Becoming bitter over wealth someone else has gained is not in harmony with the Lord's teachings.  What stood out to me was the difference between aspiring and coveting.

Aspiring is fine.  There's nothing wrong with wishing to do better for oneself, one's family, and wanting to expand one's capacity to help others.  As Jacob taught:

...before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.  And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. (Jacob 2:18-19).

Money isn't evil.  Aspiring to do better temporally isn't evil.  Coveting is evil.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  (1 Timothy 6:10)

Note that it doesn't matter whether we're coveting the wealth we've already amassed, worshiping it as a false idol and hoarding it instead of doing good with it or whether we're coveting the success of others, plotting to steal it through direct criminal action or by redistributing it via government.  Love of money will canker our souls, embitter us and distance us from God.

A great quotation

I needed to put this somewhere permanent since it's fantastic.  Naturally, blogger will never go away.  I may also write it down somewhere.

One of my friends mentioned at church yesterday something his wife said:  "God took everything that leads to unhappiness and called it sin."

It's simple.  It's brilliant, and it's true.

A Picture of a Flag

     I know this looks like any other picture of the American Flag that you might see flying anywhere in the US. I'll tell you why this specific photo has special meaning for me. I took this picture on March 9, 1996, at the Port of Marseille in Marseille, France. The night before, our Zone, composed of about 20 missionaries in the greater Marseille area, had been street contacting together down near the pier where there would be more people to talk to.  We rarely did this as a group, and focused our efforts on the town we were actually working in (Aubagne).  That evening we kept meeting Americans, who were so happy to see people who not only knew their way around, but also spoke English--AMERICAN English.  We ran into one young man who was the Elder's Quorum President on the aircraft carrier they all came from:  the USS George Washington, which was anchored out in the Port of Marseille.  Another friendly young man walked us back to the apartment where we were staying that night, with a promise to meet us the next day with the rest of our group for a tour of the ship. 
     The next day was our Preparation Day, so we had some free time to go see cultural sites, write letters to our families, and go see other interesting things, like American ships.  We all made our way down to the Port and saw the fellow we had met the night before.  There was a big line of French citizens waiting for a chance to go on the American boat.  He took us past all of them and onto the launch, which took us to the carrier.  We walked through the lower parts of the ship, saw the huge room the size of a gymnasium full of nothing but soda machines.  They had every flavor you could imagine, for 25 cents.  I hadn't had a root beer in over six months, but all I had in my coin purse was francs.  The man giving us the tour was kind enough to give those of us without any American money a quarter from his own pocket so we could have a taste from home.
     Then he took us up to the flight deck to see the planes.  What you see above is what stood out to me as we arrived up top.  I realized I hadn't seen this flag waving for at least six months, and my heart filled with overwhelming joy at the bond to this country.  While I was enjoying my time in France, I knew where my home was, and I was proud and grateful that I would be returning there.  I was filled with gratitude for the several thousand men and women on that ship who were working to protect that country, the place I loved.

Some Days

Today is kind of a "grab that pig and hold on tight" kind of day. Not sure what I mean? Here you go:

Bubbles texted, though, and said a friend mentioned to her that she'd been really helped by a scripture shared during our Sunday School lesson yesterday. It's nice to know we're making a difference.

8 Years Old

Spawn's a very special rather wonderful girl. I'm biased, but we received some independent confirmation yesterday.

She turned 8 on November 17th and that Friday had her birthday party at a local gymnastics place. She had tremendous fun with about a dozen close friends.

Queen of the Birthday Table:

The Parachute Game with Friends:

Yesterday was a different sort of fun. Spawn had been looking forward to it for a long time. She was baptized. The morning before she told us why she was excited. "All of my sins will be washed away, I'll be an actual member of the church, and Heavenly Father will take my prayers more seriously." I reminded her that Heavenly Father has always taken her prayers seriously. She'd also expressed how she was a bit humbled that Heavenly Father trusted her so much. We'd been discussing the baptismal covenant, and she liked what she heard.

Spawn's aunt Jean had made her an absolutely stunning dress for the baptism.

Each snowflake in that front panel is different from the others.

No ornate dress is complete without a proper belt.

Needless to say, Spawn was thrilled to put the dress on. She said it made her feel like a princess. It is the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given her.

Now, I'm old school. I hadn't planned on anything but the normal baptismal service. Bubbles had other ideas. "Everybody's done cake or cookies. We need to do that," she said. Okay, I can deal with cookies. We got cookies. "We have family coming in from Chico, and wonderful friends we haven't seen in far too long coming from the Bay Area and Antelope. They will need some refreshments before heading home again." Okay, very reasonable. Soon she'd turned our intimate get together into a Candace Party, though. Don't get the reference? The below video will help.

Okay, so it didn't really turn into a party. It was still a few close friends. And of course it was wonderful, just like everything Bubbles convinces me to do. The leftovers are also wonderful. Bubbles is wise.

The actual baptismal service was incredible. They always are, but it was especially so for me since it's my only child, and very likely the last time I'll perform a saving ordinance for family. I had a conversation with Heavenly Father thanking him for letting me take care of one of his daughters and acknowledging she was first and foremost His. I asked that it would be a great day for her and that He'd speak very clearly to her in the blessing following her baptism.

We relied quite heavily on our family from Chico, and they were amazing. Aunt Jean gave the opening prayer. Cousin Katie gave a lovely talk on Baptism. I am not sure there could have been a better source for that talk. Katie understands the topic well, and she conveyed the things Spawn needed to understand very clearly. Naturally, the message coming from her well-beloved cousin held Spawn's attention very well.

The baptism went really well. You have to understand, I'm a complete sap. When the Spirit is strong, that's magnified. It's no shock my voice cracked a bit as I said the baptismal prayer. I was grateful I didn't lose it altogether and have to try again.

Yes, this picture made me recommit to losing weight, but she's adorable:

How about one more with mommy in it this time? Okay.

And there were our behind the scenes helpers, too. Our good friends Tate and Angela made sure there was water on hand. Considering the number of cookies consumed, this turned out to be vital (it helped us avoid turning the gathering afterward into a "Got Milk?" commercial. Complete digression: we went to the adult dinner dance with them and some other friends. Friday night. Bubbles should write about that soon.

Spawn and I went to our respective changing areas after the baptism and I was delighted to find Spawn's soccer coach, who is a member of our faith, changing from soccer gear to church attire. He was sad to have missed the baptism itself, but I mentioned it was far more important to have him in the circle when she was blessed.

Once we changed, Uncle Mark gave a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He was great. Ellie sat paying attention, and Mark's talk was very well done. I have to write my talks out fully. He was able to do a beautiful job from notes only. I was impressed. Most importantly, Ellie got a lot out of it.

Coach Jared did make it to the circle for the confirmation. In fact, I felt strongly that everyone who cared about Spawn enough to come to her baptism and who was eligible to participate should, so I invited all Melchizedek priesthood holders to come forward and be part of her confirmation blessing.

There is something very special about confirmation blessings. They begin by confirming a person a member of the Church, hence the name. This is also the blessing in which the Gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred. No one but the Savior can actually give the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so the words used in the blessing are, "receive the Holy Ghost." I have never participated in a confirmation, or given a confirmation where the Holy Ghost did not become amazingly strong at that point of the blessing, and yesterday was no exception. It was poured out on the circle and Spawn. It was wonderful. The blessing was full of Heavenly Father's love for her and she was promised many wonderful things, including plenty of help navigating a difficult world. I couldn't have been more pleased. For those who haven't given a blessing of this sort, it might sound a bit funny to say it that way, but the person acting as the voice in the blessing really hasn't any say in what is pronounced on the person being blessed. The impressions and often actual words of the blessing come by the Spirit. I wouldn't have it any other way.

After we'd finished, and Spawn shook the hands of all the gentlemen in the circle (a baker's dozen or so), the bishop welcomed her to the ward family. Our bishop is a really nice man with 5 kids of his own. His demeanor with children is sweet, patient and seasoned with plenty of good humor. Spawn took complete advantage of this. He asked her questions, and she responded with her normal frankness, drawing quite a few chuckles from the crowd. I promptly dubbed the performance the Spawn and Bishop show.

The Primary presidency next welcomed Spawn to the ward. They were very sweet. Angela gave the closing prayer.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer service. Spawn was delighted with all of it. It more than met her expectations for the event. When we asked how she'd felt after being baptized, she told us it felt like a warm blanket was wrapped around her heart. She later decided it had to be a flannel blanket because it was so warm. We reminded her those feelings come from the Spirit. Since today was fast and testimony meeting, she happily went and bore her testimony about it in Sacrament meeting. I went with her, and of course my child expressing herself so well and spiritually caused me to lose my composure completely. I'm sure everyone understood.

It's been a wonderful weekend. I'm very happy for my little one, and more importantly, she's very happy.

Home Again (but with an awesome stop at Dreamworks yesterday)

Yesterday was a travel day, but we had a stop scheduled, and it was awesome.

Bubbles has a friend Rachel who works for Dreamworks. She invited us by for a visit. It was amazingly kind of her. When she first planned to have us come, she anticipated a major meeting on Friday which would be done by our Monday visit. The meeting got bumped to Monday. She fit us in anyway.



She treated us to an incredible meal (Dreamworks has top chefs handling food services on their campus, and the food is amazing). Spawn was her normal "selective" self and opted for a hot dog from the outdoor grill. She didn't finish the bun and while the adults chatted, she worked to attract a blue jay and pigeon to the crumbs she was tossing down. She succeeded brilliantly.

We then got a tour of the campus. Rachel showed us storyboards from movies, an incredible conference room where the executives can preview movies in 3D and a communications room where you can hold a meeting with two more locations as though the people were in the same facility with you (they had one going at the time, and it was cool). Ellie was more impressed with the picture of a dragon outside the room. She was pretty sure it was the Green Death from the "How to Train your Dragon" books.





We found out Dreamworks has a couple of physicians present on Campus, so you can visit one if you're not feeling well at work.

The tour culminated with a visit to Nico Marlet. If you're not into the art of Dreamworks films, you might not know the name. He designed all the creatures for several of the films using his unique style. Nico is the most pleasant, unassuming and completely humble fellow you'll ever meet. He was quite content to show Spawn page after page of original art for the How to Train your Dragon movies and Kung Fu Panda movies. (Each full page of character drawings takes him about a day.) Poor Rachel had to get on to another meeting or I think Nico would have just shared art work with us all afternoon and he'd have had our rapt attention. The man's art is incredible. We have some ideas about what's coming in How to Train your Dragon 2 based on the art, but Rachel mentioned no one has seen those drawings yet. From that I took that we probably shouldn't share details on the internet. I may be wrong, but after such a treat, I'll play it safe here. The new dragons look amazing. We also saw the original Baby Po drawings for Kung Fu Panda 2. Adorable!

What amazes me beyond Nico's art is how the modelers are able to transfer the drawings with such fidelity to the original art to the screen. Hiccup, the dragons, Po, and every other character and creature looks on screen exactly as he/she/it appears in Nico's drawings. It's incredible.

Nico also did a poster for Spawn's cousin Mason last year, who had cancer at the time. Mason's 5 now and doing great. Nico asked us to say hello to Mason and wish him well. It was very thoughtful of him.

We hustled back to the main building after the visit leaving Rachel with only 20 minutes until her meeting. She brought us some gifts from her office despite the time crunch. Spawn got new dragon figurines and a water bottle along with a notebook. Bubbles and I got some very comfy Shreck hats. Spawn had made Rachel a drawing of a Nightmare, but next time we'll have to plan a more thoughtful gift.

Then we hit the road. The drive was fairly uneventful, though if you're planning a trip in the near future that includes highway 99 Northbound near Chowchilla, detour some other way. They closed a lane and that part wasn't so awesome.

We made it home around 9:00 PM with some fantastic memories from this trip. The visit with Rachel was the perfect way to finish it off!