Fulness of Times

 I had a thought as I was reading in Isaiah this morning. The thought was related to verse 25 in Doctrine and Covenants section 112. Here's that verse, along with a few around it. "23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face. "24 Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. "25 And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; "26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord." The thought was why will the Lord start with vengeance upon his house? And then, is there any time between ...

So...you can get covid-19 but you still have to act and be treated like you're a leper. Doesn't matter if your symptoms are minor. You are shunned and have to be isolated, as well as anyone who may have been exposed to you. But... If you get the vaccine you're treated like a hero. And there's the mistaken belief things will go back to normal after some "herd immunity". And for those who actually got covid-19 they will still need to get vaccinated because actually getting the illness is somehow inferior to the vaccine. Even though if you get the illness you're probably 100% likely to have antibodies, while getting the vaccine might be (if you believe the marketing) 95% effective at preventing a COVID-19 infection. Do you really believe the push to wear masks and social distancing will go away after 80%+ of the population are immunized? Not a chance. While mandated mask wearing may be eased, there will be a push for masks for a long time. Did many of the Chi...

 I sincerely hope that President Biden will do as he promised: "My fellow Americans, I close the day where I began, with a sacred oath before God and all of you. I give you my word, I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I’ll defend our democracy. I’ll defend America and I will give all, all of you. Keep everything I do in your service, thinking not of power, but of possibilities, not of personal interest, but the public good." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/01/20/biden-inauguration-speech/) Will he really defend the Constitution? What about in light of the outcry of many in public health, and many liberals, who want to limit freedoms for the "public good"? The so-called emergency powers and mandates all over the country, which were only supposed to last a couple of weeks, have dragged on for nearly a year. How is is in the best interest of the public good to lock down the economy? Or issue travel restrictions? Or re...

 With the hyper-fast second impeachment of President Trump by the Democrats, they failed to follow the rules of any preceding impeachment.  No formal inquiry. No trial at all...just members of congress stating why Trump should or should not be impeached. And what happened to the vote? Do we now vote based on opinions and personal biases? The accusations against Trump are all alleged. There was virtually no effort to actually prove anything. The only effort made was to get to the impeachment vote as quickly as possible. And why was that...are Pelosi and others afraid of something? Pelosi's words were inflammatory and inciting...while she accused Trump of inciting. Why the rush to impeach Trump so quickly, especially if it's something they could start now and then finish after Biden becomes president? The reason is because the Democrats hate Trump. The liberal media hates Trump. And there is probably something Pelosi and others are trying to hide. If Trump really is guilty, as h...

 If Trump actually makes it to the Biden's inauguration next Wednesday he will have completed his four years, which would mean he isn't a short feather and it throws out the idea of Esdras' eagle feathers being presidents of the United States. Even with the House voting to impeach Trump today, he is still in office and the Senate won't convene to vote on conviction or acquittal until after Jan 19. So, how could Trump be the first of the last six (short) feathers? Well... Trump has been impeached by the House and his removal from office only happens if the Senate convicts him, but that won't happen until after Biden is President, which means Trump would no longer be president. Here's the catch. The Senate can still vote to convict Trump after he has left office. A conviction will make him ineligible to run for any Federal office and, apparently, he'd lose any retirement-like benefits. Basically, and maybe this is a stretch, a conviction would terminate him as...

Back in early December we were driving along I-15 and passed through the Lehi area. A building off the freeway reminded me of the drab cement buildings I saw in Ulaanbaatar and Beijing many years ago.   The day was a big hazy, with smog beginning to choke the valleys. When we drove over the point of the mountain, both into Utah county and into Salt Lake County, it reminded me of driving into Los Angeles where you could hardly see the horizon, with smoggy-hazy obscurations hiding what was more than a few miles away. While smog has been increasing over the last few decades, and there are times of the year when inversions make things worse, it used to have a different feeling driving into the valleys. Several years ago I drove into one of the cities in the south Salt Lake area. Exiting the freeway it felt like I was driving into a city outside of Utah, there was the feeling of grit, dirt, and it felt darker.  It's hard to really describe but it used to be that walking up to a nat...