Fulness of Times

  A YouTube video, titled President Benson Speaks on the Last Days, was sent to me recently. But before you watch it, you should know it's 14 minutes long and seems to be taken as excerpts from a 35 minute talk that he gave on April 14, 1981. So, don't believe that it's the full talk as it is missing some good counsel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXNda6qL0no&feature=youtu.be Here's the link to the talk  https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/prepare-great-day-lord/ One of the things not included in the video is a quote from President Harold B. Lee (which was given in January 1973). Here's the quote: "There are among us many loose writings predicting the calamities which are about to overtake us. Some of these have been publicized as though they were necessary to wake up the world to the horrors about to overtake us. Many of these are from sources upon which there cannot be unquestioned reliance. "Are you . . . aware of the fact that we nee...

 Here's the background.  Bluffdale, Utah, earthquake, magnitude 3.7 Time: 2019-02-15 05:09:51 (UTC-07:00)  Location: 40.463°N 111.948°W  Depth: 8.6 km Magna, Utah, earthquake, magnitude 5.7 Time: 2020-03-18 07:09:31 (UTC-06:00)  Location: 40.751°N 112.078°W  Depth: 11.9 km  Pursuing some thoughts I've had, I measured the approximate distance from Bluffdale quakes to the Magna quakes. It's about 33.8 km from the latitude/longitude locations of the 3.7 and 5.7 quakes. Incidentally, the line runs straight through the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. I drew out an equilateral triangle, and then started to measure to various locations around the area. Primarily I focused on distance from the Bluffdale quake as it was the first. It's about 33.8 km from the first Bluffdale quake epicenter to the southwest corner of the University of Utah, which happens to be the corner of the parking lot for the Rice-Eccles Stadium. That happens to be 19 km from the Magna quakes...

This Tweet is highly opinionated and very subjective, with several factual errors. First it appears to equate racism with a serial killer. So, in the authors’ opinion, are those with racist tendencies (at least “racist” by definition of the authors) the same as serial killers?  There’s another problem in that the Tweet seems to imply serial killers target skin color. There are some serial killers who do, but there are many who don’t fit that profile. There are white serial killers who may only target women, or white women, or immigrants, or some other group. The argument “You can be my friend and still be racist the same way a serial killer still has friends that are alive” assumes the killer wants to kill everyone. The additional statement “Stop using your relationships with people of color as proof of non-racism” is purely subjective.  Using similar logic I might as well assume anyone with a computer and/or smartphone is technologically savvy and doesn’t need any tech suppor...

 Last night I had a realization. I wear a mask mostly because it makes others feel comfortable. I also wear a mask if I'm around someone who is in the more vulnerable population and if their health is compromised. But I don't like to wear a mask. And I don't like to be told that I have to wear a mask, especially when I'm not ill. Here's my realization. Being told to wear a mask is akin to being guilty without having the chance to be proven innocent. But even if you take a COVID-19 test and it comes back negative, you are still guilty. You still have to wear the mask. And even if you keep your distance from others, and are around them (within 6 feet) for less than 15 cumulative minutes (such as in a store), you still have to wear a mask because you are guilty.  Mask mandates are telling the people they are guilty. If they don't wear a mask they are guilty of spreading disease, even if they don't have an illness, they don't have any symptoms, and even if t...

A mask may not be as effective as you think it is, and it's not the mask's fault. It's the human wearing it. Isn't it interesting that since mask use has increased infection rates and deaths have also increased. But people, especially the "experts", blame the increase on people not wearing masks, people being casual in groups, and students returning to school. While all of these are factors, I believe improper mask use, poor masks/face coverings, and increased complacency with mask use (basically the human factor) all contribute to the ineffectiveness of masks. A Pew Research study on mask use at the beginning of the summer had a graph at the end of the article that showed an increase in deaths in counties where increased mask usage was reported. An interesting correlation, most likely not the mask's fault but the wearer's. https://fulnessoftimes.blogspot.com/2020/06/is-increased-mask-use-related-to.html  Supporters of mask mandates point to studies ab...

 I need to get to some drafts I've been writing and finish them...didn't realize how long it's been since I posted something. We're post-election now and Biden is claiming victory, although there are enough close counts that Trump is hoping for a victory. What would Biden supporters (and the media) think if it turns out Trump won? There'd be riots all over the place. For some reason liberals (generally speaking) are more willing to infringe on the rights of others, damaging property and threatening others through fear and violence. Maybe it's because they don't value life the same as most conservatives, since most liberals support the killing of unborn children. Anyway, I didn't think Trump would get assassinated before the election. Now that the election is over...there are still plenty of Trump haters. Maybe he will just become incapacitated in some way. In any case, for the interpretation of the Esdras' eagle feathers corresponding to US president...

A couple things from a conversation I had today with someone's whose wife is a nurse practitioner who works with the COVID patients in a local hospital. First there are certainly some people who get very ill from COVID-19 and for some the added complication of this virus is enough to overwhelm their compromised immune and/or respiratory system, which is usually from pre-existing/underlying health conditions. Second, the director told this guy's wife that for every new positive COVID test there are estimated to be at least 10 new asymptomatic cases. Guess what that means...if there are 800 new tested cases, then there are probably 8,000 new asymptomatic (or even low symptom) cases. So, if the death rate is 0.26% for the confirmed cases, the actual death rate is much, much less. Probably by at least a factor of 10. So...maybe a death rate of 0.026%. For the vast majority of people COVID-19 is not a serious illness. The guy I talked to mentioned that he had been really sick for a ...

Do you like bullying? Maybe if you are one. I personally don't know anyone who likes people who act like bullies, or who are bullies. I guess I should be a little more clear. What I don't like is the actual bullying. The person may have some good qualities, but it's the bullying that I don't like. Should we encourage others to submit to the demands of a bully? No. I don't believe we should encourage anyone to submit to the demands of a bully. If the bullying happens in a school, the student is encouraged to report it. How do we deal with bullies outside of school? How do we deal with adult bullies? So, let's get some common ground. A bully is a person who seeks to harm or intimidate others, particularly those the bully sees as vulnerable and susceptible to the bully. The act of bullying is to seek to harm, intimidate or coerce someone who is perceived as vulnerable. The website stopbullying.gov ( https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/what-is-bullying ) states th...

After watching videos of protests and reading about various protests from over the last several weeks, I have come to a conclusion that some will complain about. Before I get to my conclusion, allow me to make some observations. Protests that are a Constitutional right are for the people to peaceably assemble to voice their grievances to the Government. Peaceably assembled implies that those assembled to voice their grievances (protest) are doing so lawfully. That is, the protesters have followed any and all local, state, and/or federal laws that are applicable to the peaceful assembly. In other words, they have a lawful protest. By complying with laws protesters can not only safely and lawfully exercise their right to voice their grievances, but they also protect the Constitutional rights of all others, i.e. those who are choosing NOT to participate in the peaceful assembly. Any protester who infringes on Constitutional rights of others is not peaceably assembled. Protesters nea...

As I was writing my last post I wrote the following: The acceptance of allowing anyone in any public position of influence, control, authority, or power to infringe, limit, regulate, mandate, order, legislate, adjudicate, control, usurp, or restrict any Constitutional right or liberty is like allowing the fox to guard the chickens.  As I wrote it I came up with more about the chickens and foxes, which I originally included between the last few paragraphs. I removed the paragraphs about the foxes and chickens for that post but thought I'd make a new post with them. Here is how the end of the previous post was originally written: The acceptance of allowing anyone in any public position of influence, control, authority, or power to infringe, limit, regulate, mandate, order, legislate, adjudicate, control, usurp, or restrict any Constitutional right or liberty is like allowing the fox to guard the chickens.  For most people who seek for influence, control, authority, or power over...

Do you remember the 2002 movie Minority Report? Tom Cruise starred in it as a police officer in a special unit called PreCrime. PreCrime's task is to arrest would-be murderers before they commit the crime. They identify these future would-be murderers based on visions of the future that some mutated humans called PreCogs receive. If you haven't seen it, it's worth viewing. But it's almost eerie some of the similarities that can be drawn to today's environment. While today's pandemic environment is not arresting would-be future murderers, we are all, in one way or another, being affected by what I will call our nation's PreVirus units. PreVirus units are comprised of public health officials, disease experts, media outlets that promote public control and restrictions on liberties and rights, politicians who take advantage of opportunities, reasoning, and justification to increase their control, influence, authority, and power over the people, any person or oth...

I just read an article about George Washington owning slaves. Yes he did. As did many others of that time.  Was it right? No. And I'm not going to try to justify it based on the culture, attitudes, expectations, etc. of that time. Nor will I condemn the person (in this case George Washington) and say he was a bad man just because his knowledge, understanding, values, etc. were different. But, we need to be careful about judging people who lived 200, 100, or even 50 years ago using our present day understanding, knowledge, ethics, and values. Think about this. In 200 years, how will you be judged based on who knows what ethics, values, standards, etc. society will have at that time? The morals and values of society are fickle, often influenced by those who want control and power over the people. For some reason too many people feel justified in condemning others because of past imperfections, misdeeds, trespasses, etc. Even if that person has changed their life and turned it around ...