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Showing posts from April, 2017

Why Sunday is the Sabbath

Before the Savior's resurrection, the Sabbath was observed on Saturday, which is the last, or seventh day, of the week. The Jews still observe Saturday as the Sabbath. The Seventh Day Adventists observe their Sabbath on Saturday. Others also believe that Saturday is the Sabbath. There are even some Latter-day Saints who think we should be observing the Sabbath on Saturday. Somehow they have got caught up in some idea that it's wrong for Sunday to be the Sabbath. Some think the earlier Church leaders must've gotten caught up in the idea that since so many other religions observed Sunday Sabbaths, we (the LDS) should as well. First, the Sunday as the Sabbath started with the Savior's resurrection, which was on the first day of the week, or Sunday. But, most importantly in Latter-day revelation, received by the Prophet, Joseph Smith, we are told when we should be observing the Sabbath "And the inhabitants of Zion shall also observe the Sabbath day to keep it

Earthquakes Are A Small Trial of Preparedness

There was a 6.9 earthquake at Valparaiso, Chile, yesterday. A 5.9 hit the same area the day before. I've noticed that unless there is a lot of destruction, big earthquakes are usually not reported by the general media. I lived in Chile for 6 years when I was a youth. Quakes in the 6-range are not uncommon. Yes, there is some damage, but the people are used to it and most construction can easily take these quakes. It's when the earthquake breaks into the mid to upper 7 and higher magnitudes when the damage really happens. However, if you remember from August and October 2016, Italy was struck by 6.2 and 6.6 M earthquakes and it basically leveled some towns. They aren't used to it. If Salt Lake City had a 5-range magnitude earthquake it would not only be all over local news, but it would probably hit national news as well. In the past 30 days there have been 9 earthquakes of magnitude 5.1 or larger in the following areas: Chile (3 quakes), Philippines (2 quakes), Botswa

Earthquakes from 2001 to 2015

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I came across this animation yesterday, created by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, NOAA, and the National Weather Service. While it's fascinating to see the earthquakes light up around the world, the ending is particularly interesting where it shows "all earthquakes", then only those of magnitude 6.5 and higher, and finally those of magnitude 8 and higher. It's particularly interesting how scarce the big earthquakes become along the west coast of the United States. Unfortunately, it doesn't include several notable earthquakes that occurred in 2016, such as two that hit Kyushu, Japan, in April; Quito, Ecuador in April; New Zealand in November; and two smaller (6-range) earthquakes that devastated regions in Italy in August and October. Youtube video link: https://youtu.be/ph7Eczs-nTI From the description: "This animation shows every recorded earthquake in sequence as they occurred from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2015,

Small Iowa Farms Being Reclassified as Residential to Increase Taxes

I heard this on the radio this morning and had to look it up. Some small farms in Iowa are being reclassified from agricultural/farm land to residential properties because, essentially, their farms aren't big enough. This reclassification is for county property tax purposes. Sounds like money grabbing to me. Either through increased property taxes or to force the small farms to sell out to developers where more residential units can by built, and more taxes generated. "With improving housing markets in many counties, most questions are about increases in property valuations, assessors say." "Shari Plagge, Wright County’s assessor, said her office took a close look over the past year at properties smaller than 20 acres, given the growth of rural acreages." So, why did the county assessor decide to take a closer look at these properties, which had been classified as agricultural? Particularly when you consider that "U.S. farm income is projected to

A Middle-Eastern Temple Uncovered in America in 1930

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Just stumbled on this and thought it was interesting. In 1930, the Tennesse Authority found an "entire building" within a Hopewell mound while building a dam. After bringing in an Egyptologist, it was determined to be a middle eastern temple. Of course, don't expect to see the building. The video doesn't explain what happened to it. Maybe it got flooded with the water. As good as the Smithsonian and other scientific institutions may be, many of the scientists involved are equally good at covering up, discrediting, hiding, and destroying any potential evidence which may hurt, discredit, or disprove their theories. I read a comment on a Twitter feed which I found interesting. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something to the effect of, how many scientists actually make new discoveries? I know there are scientists who make new discoveries, but when you think about it, there are a lot of discoveries which are made by either non-scientists or am

Is World War III About to Begin?

Unless you've been hiding under a bush, you've probably heard of increasing tensions in the middle east (with the US bombing Syria in response to a gas attack), and North Korea pushing it's nuclear missile program (and the US sending a carrier fleet to the area). Some think World War III will begin soon. Personally, I think we still have some time before that devastating global war. Not that I think the world will be completely devastated, but it will likely make other wars look tame. My thought is when WWIII happens it will end up mostly cutting America off from the rest of the world. Because of the loss of the federal government and division of the country (due to natural disasters, plagues, anarchy, destruction, and foreign invasion), the country will essentially be at a reset and rebuild point. Other countries (particularly those outside of the Americas) will likely not be too concerned with the remnants of America. There will be no central/federal government le

Coming of the Chip

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It's been around for awhile, a small microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, that can be implanted into the area between the thumb and hand. A number of companies have used these experimentally for a number of years. For some reason, Epicenter, a Swedish company, is getting a lot of media attention this week for offering to implant these chips into employees who volunteer to do so. There are various articles about this, but one article stated that many of many of the employees were chipped two years ago. "Two years ago, Mr Mesterton told news.com.au many of Epicentre’s employees had already been chipped and used the technology in their everyday life." http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/swedish-company-epicenter-implants-microchips-into-employees/news-story/5c48700ebb54262ae389db085593ab12 So, the question is why if the company started the chipping program a couple of years ago, why is there a big media rush on it now? From my limited ob