Final!!!

Gas prices put a strain on springtime play lists.
"I don't think I will be going out as much as I would like to ." Said Jerry Green a resident of Lehi. "It is just too expensive when Diesel is over $4 dollars a gallon. That is just to fill the truck, that doesn't include the toys!"
Martha Hammond stated another worry for senior citizens.
"It is ridiculous and outrageous to expect people with a fixed income to have to pay these prices. I am not getting any raises on my social security but I am supposed to pay out more and more. I just can't afford it!" Hammond said.
What is it that is driving up the prices of gas? The excuses are many and varied, ranging from needed repairs on existing refineries; the fact that no new refinery has been allowed to be built in thirty years, and the dependency on foreign oil and where it is located (Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia to name a few).
One quote from a notable businessman has brought a shadow of doubt on all of these claims however.
"If I ever need some extra money to work with all I have to do is raise the price of gas by one or two cents for a month and I have the one or two million that I need."
With that kind of a statement how can the oil companies possibly deny price gouging when their record 11 billion profits over a quarter state a different response? How much more can the American people put up with before they decide to do something about it?
People are on the verge of taking drastic measures into their own hands. Whether that is by means of a simple protest, or an all out lockdown as truckers did for two days around the first of April. What would happen if an entire group of people (lets stick with truckers) decided to shut down for one week? If there were no trucks at all on the road for one week what would the state of affairs be in each state? That time may not be too far off judging from the response of people to the rise in gas prices. Only time will tell if "Big Oil" will listen to the "small voices" that are screaming for relief.


Word count: 394

What if you knew?

Could you imagine what you would feel like if you knew everything that went on in this world? What would you do if you had an absolute knowledge of exactly what every government was doing? was researching? was planning to do? If you had a pure knowledge of this would it alter your feelings toward your own government? I think I can safely say that to some extent there is evil and "Conspiracy" in every single government on the face of this earth. Some perhaps more than others, but the implication is the same and that being that WE ALL HOLD BLAME FOR THE WORLD AS IT IS.
Lets be honest here shall we. Would you trust your only child to go anywhere in this world by themselves? I think I can speak honestly when I say that I for one would not trust mine to the world, and I don't think the majority of the world would either. How would it be if you KNEW that you could trust your child anywhere on this earth, to anybody on this earth, and they would be not only watched over and cared for but raised and nourished as their own child. How would it be to be able to go anywhere in the world and be welcomed with open arms and a laden table?
I think that God looks down on his children right now and WEEPS for this world. There is not a day that goes by that you open the paper to read about war, kidnappings, rape, murder, etc, etc!!!!! How can a loving God NOT weep when his creations treat each other like they do?
"For greater love hath no man than this, that he will lay down his life for another." I know I didn't get it exact, but the gist of the quote is there. People are willing to lay down their lives for their own flesh and blood, but not for a complete stranger. How are we going to feel when we are brought before God who died for us all and asked "What did you do for your neighbor?"
So many useless and pathetic excuses for death and destruction have been, and continue to be used. What is it going to take to finally get people to stand up and take notice of each other? I can think of one time in the history of this world when everyone took notice at once, that was when it was too late and the waters of destruction already started pouring down. What will be the next great thing to make mankind stand up and notice their own great nothingness in this universe? Who knows, maybe this time it will take nothing less than the Sun exploding to show them how stupid and senseless it is to fight and war among themselves.

How can people be so wrong?

I just finished watching a movie about Afganistan. It was a sad movie, but made even more sad by the truthfulness of what the Taliban were. I find it hard to imagine how people with such obviously wicked intentions can get themselvs situated into power. Men like Hitler and numerous others throughout the history of this earth. It is no wonder that God weeps for his creations here. He created us that we might have joy and yet "The love of man has waxed cold and they are void of affection one toward another." You cannot open up a paper and NOT find stories of this hatred. It seems like every day there is a war somewhere in this world, everyday someone somewhere has done hurt to someone intentionally. To quote an old phrase "Can't we all just get along?"
I feel saddened by this sensless and vicious violence that is everywhere present. I think that if the only way for this to end is for Christ to come again and rule on this earth then tomorrow is too long to wait. I wish he would come NOW, TODAY!! Then maybe I could travel anywhere in this world and visit my brothers and sisters and feel like a brother. Oh man this struck a very hard chord in me because I have such a strong love for ALL of my fellow men. Someday the Hitlers of this world will have their day in judgement and I pitty them. They may thrive for an instant here, but they will burn with guilt over what they could have been and could have done for humanity throughout eternity. That is a punnishment I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.
Ok, enough rambling for today, I think I have vented my fill for tonight.

Me

Article 4

Article 4


Comm 1610
March 25, 2008


Kurt Morris called the Tooele City Republican Caucus to order Tuesday night The 25th of March.
“ We will now have the electing of positions, and delegates for the precinct.” Said Morris after a reading of the standards adhered to by the Republican Party. Kurt was once again elected as Chairman, and the process continued from vice chairman, to county and state delegates for the party. There were no major formalities at the meeting, the people here knew each other fairly well and the good-natured jibs at each other made for a lighthearted meeting.
“Vida said that she would take that one on.” And Vida laughed and stated, “Where did you hear that from?” Continuing she further implicated “ Ok I will take that one if you will help me by doing this with me.” The good-natured atmosphere made it easy to flow and finish the necessary business early.
“Well that went well and we are even done a half hour ahead of schedule. If you have any questions please feel free to ask, and the new delegates will please stay here after so I can give them necessary information.” Morris requested, and that was it, the Tooele city caucus was adjourned and over with. It could have just as easily been a church meeting with assignments being handed out to volunteers, except these people really hope to make a difference in their government and laws. It resonates in their attitudes and comments to one another.

Pre-Interview disclosure

I have officially decided to go for it. I am going to conduct an interview here on my blog and I hope that I can express my thoughts and feelings about this subject. I want to make this ABSOLUTELY clear that this in no way represents any official doctrine of any church, or any official standpoint at all. It is simply some questions that I am putting forward and trying to answer in my own way with the scriptures. In other words this is MY opinions and MY interpretations of how I think answers would come. I am taking an enormous privilege speaking on behalf of the Lord, but I think that he would excuse any inaccuracies as long as I am trying to use the scriptures to drive the main answers.

Please if any of you feel that I am in error, or that I have miss interpreted a passage then feel free to leave a comment and I will take serious consideration of your thoughts and try to even answer them.

The format is going to be a simple question posed by "Me:" and an answer given by "God:" It could even be reversed like God asking the questions to me. I want it to be in as real life an experience as possible. so for example something along these lines.

Me: So God, is it OK if I call you that or would you prefer another title?

God: No that is fine, I have been given many names in the course of history and I have answered to all of them. They were given to me by people who earnestly were seeking me out and I find no offense in it.

Me: OK, I just don't want to offend or use too much of the name of Deity, or as you put it to "Take the name of God in vain." So how would you have me address you?

God: I understand your concern and appreciate your thoughtfulness on my account. How about for the sake of keeping that commandment that you simply call me Father.

Me: I can go with that. Very well Father, I want to thank you for the chance you have given me to interview you. It means allot to me to be able to get some answers from you about some very troubling questions that I have. Are you comfortable with me asking these things to you?

God: Of course my child, but I need you to understand that I will be pointing out the answers that I have already made available to you through my words that I have given through my servants the prophets. I will not be delving into what some people call "deep doctrine" in order to satiate yours or anyone desires for a quick and easy answer to life. Are you agreeable to that?

Me: Possibly, could you give me an example of what you would consider "deep doctrine?"

God: Certainly. The world at large is obsessed as to when the second coming of Christ is, many many people profess to know times, they prophesy times, and when those prophesies fail then a new one pops up in its place. I WILL NOT tell you the time of this event. only that it is at your doors. That is a subject of "deep doctrine."

Me: Fair enough, if I happen to cross a line you let me know and I will try to deviate to a more agreeable subject. I want to start this entire process with a simple subject, who are you?

That is where I will end this for today. I will pick up exactly where I left off and continue as long as I feel good about where I am going. I have to admit that I am searching myself for some very fundamental answers and I am hoping that by studying the Lords responses to these questions that I will find what I am looking for. Good enough for tonight.

Me

Not sure yet

I am still wondering if I want to take on a project as difficult as the interview would be. I will keep thinking about it and see what happens.

Ok, Have you ever felt like a horrible parent? I had a few things happen lately that make me feel about as horrible as ever. I had to take away my sons room because of his grades. He seems to be more interested in his toys and other things than he is with school (Imagine that). As a result when he brought home his latest grades and we saw many missing assignments I couldn't take it anymore and I "Cut him off." He is now without ANY toys and comic books and whatever else was in his room. I feel horrible that it came to this, but I also feel like I need to be a Father more than a friend. OOOHHKKKAAYYY, there is my spill for the day. I gotta go so I can think about what I am going to do for my test I have later.

See ya

Me

Assignment 3

Article Three

Comm 1610
Douglas Stowe
3/4/08

Teacher’s biggest frustrations are classroom sizes and lack of parent involvement.
“It is really hard to give children their personal one-on-one time they deserve when you have 28 individuals asking for the same attention.” Said Kathy Mecham, a first grade teacher at Middle Canyon Elementary.

Class size is the common complaint that teachers express concern over.

Teachers feel that they just can’t give each student the time they need in order to reach their full potential and this has teachers frustrated.

Another frustration is the lack of parent involvement.

“Parents need to step up to the plate and help out, this isn’t just a drop off zone for babysitting, this is their children we are talking about.” Said Teresa Orourke President of the Middle Canyon Elementary P.T.A.
According to State law a preschool classroom cannot exceed a 12 to 1 ratio of children to adults. Governor Huntsman himself has stated in 2007 that his goal is to reduce classroom sizes to a 20 to 1 ratio. That time cannot arrive quickly enough for teachers.
“If we could have twenty students that would be great. It would make the classroom more manageable by far.” Said Mecham.
But beliefs in Governor Huntsmans ability to deliver on his promise are not holding strong among teachers or P.T.A. representatives. The common quote when asked this question is “ I will believe it when I see it.”

Shana,

I have tried to paste pictures to this and it is not letting me. I have two pictures just for this and they will not work. I will e-mail this to you tomorrow and let you see what I have with "Word" is that ok?

Thanks

Doug

A possible change of course?

I have been contemplating today what kinds of things effect my life. It is interesting how much of a "rut" we can find ourselves in. Life has a way of making habits that are hard to break whether that be our eating, sleeping, or whatever habit we may be in. I have thought long and hard about this and in some way I want to break up the routine of my day and try something new. Something that has a satisfaction to me. The only problem is that I can't figure out what that something is.
I have been running an idea through my mind but am very nervous to even attempt it. For one thing it would be assuming a HUGE, oh what is the word?, aaggghh oh well for lack of a better word lets say privilege (although that is NOT what I am looking for). Anyway, the idea is that I would conduct an interview. I would ask the questions and I would also write the responses. The catch is that I would use the scriptures that would give me the answers. You see, the person I would be interviewing would be God. It would follow a question/answer format and would be asked and answered very openly. Now, what do you think of that? I will have to toss the idea around for a few and see what I come up with. If nothing else it would MAKE me find the answers I am looking for. Where I would feel very uncomfortable is by trying to put those answers into words that I can understand. Oh, I could mumble on like this forever! Let me think about it and see where I go. If I do start it up it will be my blog from now on and I would start with the title "The Interview". Maybe, Just maybe I will do it and see where it takes me.

Me

Crazy day

Holy cow! I just spent ALL DAY LONG working on homework and trying to catch up. I thought all of this school stuff was behind me, but NNNOOOOO I had to go and try to get a BS! OOOHHHMMM, whew I feel better now. Great thing these blogs, ya can vent and nobody really cares at all. Everyone should get one of these things.

Ok, have you ever felt like you wanted to do something in your life but you just weren't sure what? Or have you ever felt that something was missing and try as you might you just couldn't find it? Thats a weird kind of feeling isn't it. Here I am __ years old and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Well not entirely true, I do know what I want to be I just don't know if I can. Have you ever read something that just made you feel what the person was trying to say? I want to be able to write things so powerful that people live what I write. Wouldn't that be awesome? I have a long way to go, but ya never know what life might bring ya.
See ya later

2/7/2008

Ok, is it just me or does life seem to get more crazy the older you get? I don't remember ever being so nuts in my life. School sure does take its tole on a person, but I guess if it didn't then half of its purpose would be lost right off the bat. I had an idea the other day and on a whim I just took off and started with it. I started my own web-page and wanted to see if I even had any hits on it. Guess what? I got one! (does a teacher count?) Anyway she got into the spirit of it and left me an article to post. If anyone wants to see it here it is. http//monthlycontest.weebly.com
You should check it out and lets get the ball rolling on it. Anyway, I have way too many things to do still tonight and I have to hurry. I will be back on later to see how things are going.

Me

What a day

Ok, have you ever had one of those days that start out ok and just steadily go downhill from there? Kinda sucks don't they. I guess all in all it isn't that bad, especially when you look at other peoples' problems, but still whenever you go through any kind of difficult time it is hard to look past the tip of your nose. Sometimes it feels like life just hands you a raw deal and you have to wade through all of the sludge to get where you want to go. I will say one thing for sure, I WISH I had known what I wanted to be when I grew up about twenty years ago. Maybe I would have been able to avoid some of the feelings of worthlessness I have now. (Not that bad though, just ranting because I can)
Ok, on a brighter note there is almost always a light at the end of the tunnel. If anyone reads this and my words can touch your heart in some way, don't give up on your dreams. You never know when something is going to turn your life around and BOOM you are right where you always wished you could be. What is my dream you ask? Whoa, now there is a tall order. Ok, I will share it with you, but ya gotta keep it a secret ok? Here it is. could you imagine being able to write so powerfully that when a person reads it they actually FEEL what it is you are writing about. If I was writing about someone breaking down in tears of frustration I want the reader to feel that gut wrenching feeling that only those who experience it can understand. I want to be able to write so poetically, so completely, and so intensly that the reader is sucked in and simply cannot put the words away. Then after being able to do that, I would write about the one subject that this whole world needs to know about. I would write about the one person who has done more for this world than any other being EVER. Could you imagine being able to feel and understand in a way never before what it is that Christ has done for you personally? Being able to feel his pain in gethsemany (Uncomprehensable as that is) being able to walk with him as people ridicule and spit upon him, revile him and taunt him. and through it all it is almost like you were there witnessing it and living through it with him. How powerful and yet wonderful would that be to be able to read and understand those events. It may not even be possible to do that but wouldn't that be a dream worth bringing alive? Well here is to dreams. One day we will each understand and know what Christ has done for us and I can't wait to be able to bath his feet with my tears of grattitude for what he has done for me. For ME! think about that, NOBODY KNOWS ME yet he does and did the greatest gift in the world for ME! next time your feeling down think about that and maybe you will feel a little better. anyway that's my dream, shhh don't tell anyone 'k'? (wink)
see ya later.

Me

Answers, I need answers

Ok, I was just reading through the Deseret News and came across a story about Osama-Bin-Ladens son. He would like to work in peaceful means to bring understanding to the west. I admire that greatly because I agree with him that military might is not the answer. I have some questions to pose though. I would like some one from the Arab world to answer me if they can please, and I will be as honest and open as I can. All I ask is the same in return.

1. Why does the Arab world hate the U.S so much? I reason this because it seems that the Arab world really wants to do harm to the U.S. Ok maybe not all of the Arab world but it seems like whenever some disaster happens in the U.S that costs life the (Palastinians for an example) are dancing in the streets, the Iranians have a famous picture of the statue of liberty and the face is a skull, etc. What gives? Why are you guys so mad?

2. Maybe question 1 and 2 are grouped but here it is. Why do you want to erase Israel? The Iranian president has been quoted numerous times as saying Israel is a "blot on the map that needs to be erased". Ok, first of all they are PEOPLE! nobody deserves that kind of language. Even Hitler didn't recieve that kind of lashing, when Germany was beatten the allied armies didn't obliterate the people. they recognized them as people who have every bit as much a right to live as you and I. I am being honest here ok, there is a saying that gets circulated here among some of our (Ohh how shall I put this nicely) uneducated. "They are a bunch of ragtops and we should just nuke em and be done". I get so mad at that kind of thinking and speech, the first thing that I do is to tell them to knock it off, then I try to educate them on just a few of the things that the Arab world has given to the world. I look at the Arab culture and there are so many wonderful examples of history, beauty, majesty. There is ALOT of good in those cultures. can you not see any good in ours as well?

3. The Arab nations have a deep and abiding love for their religion, I love that and respect your conviction. Can you not respect mine as well? I would NEVER dream of defaming or ridiculing your beliefs, instead I look for what is admirable in them. I was told a story once by a friend who had visited and lived in an Arab state (can't remember which one it was) and she told me that you could leave a 1,000 dollar bill on the sidewalk and walk into the store, when you came back out it would still be there. Is that not a VERY praiseworthy remark? I don't know of any place in the US that you could do that. That is what I would call bragging rights. In otherwords that is an admirable trait that I want to follow. Couldn't you find something like that in my religion also?

4. Why can't we all just get along? I often tell that to my children when they fight and argue. I don't see any reason why we can't learn from and help each other out. I don't know where my line of thinking is so off but I am asking anyone from the Arab nations to write me back. give me a comment and explain to me what your answers are to my 4 questions and I would love to hear from you.

Me

What a life!

Is it just me or does life seem to get more and more crazy the older you get? I look back at how life was for me as a teen and I would give almost anything to go back to those years. (Of course it has nothing to do with how out of shape I feel HA,HA) There are so many things that I am thankful for so don't get me wrong I do love my life and how good things are to me, I just wish they would SLOW DOWN sometimes.
Ok, enough of that, I have beatten that one to a veritable pulp. I have had some interesting things happen since my last entery. I have an internship with our local paper and they are sending me on my first story tomorrow (smiles). I am going to do my best to write a terrific story for them and hopefully I can get my mom to relax a little as well. Ya see, my story is on a nail salon, and since I know sooo much about nails it is going to be great! yeah my thoughts as well, which is why I figured that if I take my mom and spoil her a little I could use the time to watch and learn; then I could relate to the reader what I saw.
I am still pluggin away at school and sometimes I wonder what in the #@% I was thinking about taking so many classes. But I do enjoy them so far, the teachers make it alot of fun and I get alot of hands on experience. I dream of the day that the schooling is done and I can maybe make something of myself. Even though I have a book out, "The Chosen Chronicles Book One" I haven't had any time to write book two (Frown) I will eventually and then my reader base (all twelve or so) will know what happens next (Wink).
Ok I think I have rambled endlessly on enough for today. I will try to pick it up again later.
See ya around
Me

First time blogger

Hey!
This is a first for me. (Smiles) I have no idea what I am doing but it seems fairly cool. So let me get this straight, this is basically an online journal that the world can read? What a scary yet at the same time cool idea. What kinds of things can possibly interest the world at large to look at and read someone elses personal daily life? Especially one as mundane as my own? I guess maybe to see that they are not alone in this world and that maybe, just maybe, someone else has some issues that are similar to their own. Hmm novel thought, that could be very interesting and encouraging at the same time. Yet wouldn't that open up a pathway for possible preditors as well? Think about it, what if a "hunter" for lack of a better word, looked at these blogs just to try to find people who were open and vulnerable just so they could prey on them. Isn't that a possiblity as well? Scarry thought! So can anyone post on this? or can they just read it and reply to me? (Like I said I have never done this before). Ok, well I suppose that I will end on this note for now since I have NO idea what else to write down. Hmm thoughts to ponder.
Talk later