Monday, March 30, 2009

LOST blog post...

I just finished watching the most recent episode of LOST. Now I normally just read and participate in my friend Jared's LOST blogs at www.goingguerilla.com. He hasn't done one in awhile so I thought I would add my thoughts on last week's episode. All I have to say is:

DAMN!!!

Jared's posts are better...

Remind me again why we love Israel...

Listen, I love the fact that we have a democratic ally in the middle east as much as the next patriotic American but Jews in America are not gaining fans when they put together support rallies like this and then spew genocidal slurs against an enemy that they no longer fight from their cushy New York residences.

At first, I laughed my head off at the ignorance of those in the video but that quickly changed to uneasiness and my "What-If" imagination took over. What if Israel did decide to nuke the Palestinians? You think Iraq was a mess...try maintaining a friendship with someone who would have just instigated World War III against the global Muslim community.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Hugh Nibley quote...

"The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism... the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances."

-Hugh Nibley

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Thomas Jefferson quote...

"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."
— Thomas Jefferson

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Draper Utah and the Shelby Clan...

We have officially landed in Draper, Utah . You can expect pictures to be coming soon because it is absolutely gorgeous here. Within about 3-5 minute walk we can look down on the newly constructed LDS Draper Temple , which at night is illuminated and beautiful.

I should apologize to Dave Prescott and Ryan Neder who didn’t get the memo that I wasn’t going to make it back to San Diego until this past Sunday morning. They eagerly showed up Saturday morning ready to flex muscles and help load our moving truck. Unfortunately, I was still in Utah signing lease agreements. Thanks for your willingness to help!

I also want to send a huge thank you to my brothers, Jared and Andrew. Without their help, we never would have left San Diego . Andrew spent nearly his entire birthday loading the moving truck. We started loading around 10am and didn’t finish until nearly 5pm. Not bad for only three of us…especially since we did not destroy my wife’s piano.

We had called the local Bishop to let him know that we would be moving in and he asked if we would like help unloading the truck upon arrival. I told him that if he could have just one person to help with the piano, I think we could do it. Chris and Heidi Maloy and Kelly Shelby would be there to help so I figured between Chris, I and one more person, we could tackle the piano.

Well, there was one person there when I pulled in. Within 5-10 minutes there were about 10 people helping to unload the truck. What took my two brothers and I about 7 hours to load was now completely unloaded in under an hour. How thankful I am for the generosity of virtual strangers demonstrating, with action, their belief in the spirit of charity and service. Many thanks to our new ward Church members whose names we have already forgotten. We’ll learn them soon…

Special props to Monica, er…Heidi, for completely setting up the kitchen for us on the first night! It was a blast to hang out with family, with 9 cousins running amok. It will be even more enjoyable as my brother Matt gets back from Iraq shortly and the fishing trips can begin! And apologies to Kelly for not keeping my phone on...

The Bishop's wife also brought over dinner for us. We feel so spoiled here so far. Why was I afraid of Utah?

Friday, March 13, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tuesday Morning TV - Scrubs

Scrubs is now on ABC Tuesday nights after an extended run on NBC.

This is my all time favorite clip from Scrubs:

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Prop 8 before CA Supreme Court today...

Today the anti-gay Proposition 8 debacle enters the California Supreme Court. We likely won't hear the decision for another 90 days. After that it will likely enter the petition for the US Supreme Court regardless of the result.

The thought did occur to me to do a new Prop 8 post and see how many people I could offend today in pointing out their joyous shredding of our State and Federal Constitutions and their egregious votes for discrimination, all in the name of Jesus mind you...

Well, I decided against it. I read a blog by Karin Wang from the APALC (Asian Pacific American Legal Center) on what the real threat of Prop 8 means for all Californians. Click here to read it and listed below were some of the highlights.

- "If upheld, Prop. 8 will set a dangerous precedent, where a simple majority vote is able to strip away the fundamental rights of a protected minority group."

- "The question before the California Supreme Court is whether a ballot measure can deprive one minority group of its fundamental rights. The answer must be no because any other answer puts all of our communities and our basic Constitutional principles at risk. In other words, if a simple majority can strip gays and lesbians of the fundamental right to marry, then there is nothing to prevent a simple majority from taking fundamental right away from other protected groups, whether its Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinos, women, or religious minorities."

- " Injustice exists; sometimes, it even results from the decision of a majority of the voters in an election. But all people, regardless of how we vote, depend on the courts to protect us against injustice. We should never allow the fundamental principles of our Constitution to be subject to a simple majority vote – majorities can turn on any group at any point and it is a basic principle of America’s democratic system that the courts, legislators and voters provide checks and balances against each other."

Monday, March 2, 2009

Abortion as a social policy - VOTE NOW.

I won't label this as Pro-Choice or Pro-Life because I hate the two categories, they are too absolute and too polarizing. In terms of governance, I don't believe the issue is so black and white.

Now I want you to do something that may be hard for some of you, but step outside of the morality box and do not look at this as Pro-Choice or Pro-Life but look at it from a legislative standpoint.

Would you allow or disallow abortions and give your reasoning...