Saturday 31 March 2012

EMS: Visiting Professor Brother Merrill

Sorry class, I'm out of town today.  In preparation for General Conference, Brother Merrill and some friends made this video.  Feel free to journal or just discuss amongst yourselves.  Hugs!




Saturday 24 March 2012

i got gwadzilla'd

i'm not sure who gwadzilla is, but he had a luke skywalker vibe so ... i let him take my photo.  i like it.

my grandfather always gave us a membership to the national geographic society, which makes this photo even cooler to me ;)





friends in frugality: Subscribe & SAVE

dearest friends in frugality,

should you share the insatiable need to buy things in bulk and have 8 lbs of butter on hand at all times -- cuz ya never know.  (see law of consecration)

yet realize the the impact on the environment and pocket book are reduced when one plans ahead. "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

if any of this rings true ... then i might have the deal for you ;)

in my quest for equality -- my very own version of utopia where everyone has what they need and even a wee bit of what they want. but not so much that they forget what want feels like -- i want to share with you my new costco that delivers. its called amazon.com subscribe & save

its pretty awesome because i've been able to buy in bulk exactly what i want.  but the best part: it comes to me.  i don't have to deal with the costco parking lot and the lines and all the temptations to buy crap i don't need etc.

it gets even lazier.  for stuff i know i go through at a certain pace, you set up a delivery schedule ... and they give you a discount!  so here are some of the things i have purchased that i feel like are cheaper than most stores per item AND are of the exact quality and social values i want.  i feel like it gives me more freedom to use my money as a statement of values because i can clearly compare choices and get what i believe is the most value -- VALUE -- which doesn't always equal cheapest, or fastest, or highest rated, or  imported or domestic.  i get to decide.

so ... friends, enjoy
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Friday 23 March 2012

car v. bike

for the recordthat is not me
but i might have to write this on myself this summer

EMS: Visiting Professor Sister Knight -- Law of Chastity

Sorry class,  I'm home sick today, so Sister Knight offered to teach, but she got called away for work.  She got a couple of work friends together and made this medley for you when I told her the lessons topic ...

after the video, please journal about what you learned about chastity from Sister Knight.



Thursday 22 March 2012

Senior Corps help Veterans & Vet families -- Grant Oppertunity

For Immediate Release
 

 Jan Newsome, CNCS 
jnewsome@cns.gov;  202-606-6625


National Service Agency Announces RSVP Funding Opportunities

Washington, D.C. – The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced the availability of federal funding for the agency’s RSVP program, part of Senior Corps.

This competition will award funds to new RSVP programs in the agency’s six  focus areas outlined in the CNCS’s Strategic Plan: disaster services,  economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.  CNCS will invest in organizations in geographic areas where RSVP projects were voluntarily discontinued by the previous sponsor.  The effected geographic service areas can be found in the NOFO. 

The competition also will provide grant augmentations to current existing RSVP sponsors to incorporate activities that support veterans and military families into their portfolio.  A broad description of each of these areas is outlined in the Senior Corps Notice of Funding Opportunity  

“Senior Corps is a vital part of the National Service family. For four decades, Senior Corps programs have proven to be a highly effective way to engage millions of older Americans in meeting national and community needs and delivering lasting, meaningful results,” said Robert Velasco, II, Acting CEO of CNCS. “As communities and organizations around the country are facing increased demands and tighter budgets, Senior Corps volunteers provide a much needed resource.”

The deadline for applications is May 15, 2012, 5:00 p.m. EDT.  All applications must be submitted via egrants, CNCS’s grants system at https://egrants.cns.gov/espan/main/login.jsp.
CNCS will host six technical assistance calls and/or workshops to answer questions about this funding opportunity, including how to submit the an application.   Calls for new grant applicants are taking place on March 26, at 2:00 pm Eastern; April 9, at 1:00 pm Eastern; or April 11, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.   Calls for existing RSVP grantees interested in augmentation grants will take place on  March 27, at 2:00 Eastern; April 10, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern; and April 12, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Senior Corps taps the skills, talents, and experience of more than 330,000 Americans age 55 and older to meet a wide range of community needs through three programs: RSVP; Foster Grandparents; and Senior Companions.  

Established in 1971, RSVP is now one of the largest senior volunteer organizations in the nation and engages older Americans in volunteer recruitment and management, environmental projects, mentoring and tutoring, and disaster response. RSVP volunteers serve in commitments varying from a few hours to 40 hours per week in a location of their choice.

###

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service each year through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Service America programs and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.  For more information about Senior Corps and the Corporation visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/

---

Tuesday 20 March 2012

mothers of the stripling warriors?

here is some awesome journalism about actual things happening in the world ... like the making the world nuclear-free south of the US border.  every country south of the US, starting with mexico is now nuclear-free.

also, many of the people doing this death-defying work are women. for some reason the Dept of Energy person driving with Maddow made me think of the one of the stripling warrior's mothers ...






maybe it wasn't overly trusting.  maybe ike had a longer view.

i'm sure realizing that he had the power to blow up the world was terrifying.

resolution requires diplomacy either before or after a war.  lets never get to the "blow up the planet"option.

how do we get there ... we have to have faith that man is good and then we have to pray that man is good and work like crazy to contain the power.

but had we not shared the knowledge, evil and designing people would have eventually learned what we had learned ... as iran in near to learning ... and might have used the force.

i think it was bold diplomacy that really punctuates the american belief that all men are created equal with unalienable rights and that democracy is the most humane form of government.  the more people know, the safer we all are.

easy stuff to say, but when the stakes are this high, not easy to put into practice.  but true to form, the American president does it.  first with Truman, and now Obama ;)

Monday 19 March 2012

INVITE: Call with Surgeon General on Affordable Health Care

The HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

in collaboration with

Faithful Reform in Health Care


Invite You To:

The Affordable Care Act -  2nd Anniversary
Conference Call

With Guest Speaker

The Surgeon General of the United States
Dr. Regina Benjamin

March 22 at 2:00 pm ET

To RSVP for the conference call, click here and add your email address. The telephone number will be provided 24 hours in advance.

Please send any questions you may have prior to the call to ACA101@hhs.gov.


Please note that this call is off-the-record and is not for press purposes.


Friday 16 March 2012

beautiful diplomacy: 1st anniversary of "Libya"

the following beautiful statement was released today to celebrate the first anniversary of the UN security council resolution on libya.

i felt an amazing peace when i read it.  grateful to be american.  grateful to be part of this country right now that is part of the global movement of the underdog.

i want to be part the uprising of the underdog.

i want to be in the chorus of the quieted when we all finally find our voice.  i imagine the harmony of those voices would bring would bring that chill that accompanies true beauty.

i want to be like gandhi.  gandhi was modern prophet to me.  he never lifted a finger against another person and he freed the oppressed.  he taught that love and self control can heal the world.  maybe what jesus started spiritually (for those in abrahamic faiths), ghandi started politically -- liberation of all that were oppressed. more on that later ...

people died in libya that shouldn't have died.  had the leadership of their country been willing to put their greed aside and not get trapped in their own selfish desire for control, many lives would be over.  the good news, is that the lives that were lost are being honored by the peace that is taking hold around the world.

it feels to me like the prophesy of malachi got closer to fulfillment with gandhi and experienced another boost last spring, culminating in libya. "the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers shall turn to the children, lest i smite the earth with anathema"







Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, 
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 
on the First Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 
on Libya

Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 
New York, NY
March 16, 2012




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tomorrow, the United States will join in solidarity with the Libyan people and our international partners to mark one year since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1973. I have never been more proud than to cast that historic vote on behalf of the United States and President Obama that saved countless thousands of innocent lives. As President Obama said at the General Assembly last September, Resolution 1973 showed “how the international community is supposed to work—nations standing together for the sake of peace and security, and individuals claiming their rights.”

Tomorrow’s anniversary also recalls the brutality that confronted the Libyan people as Muammar Qadhafi’s forces massed on the outskirts of Benghazi. We remember Qadhafi’s vile pledge to hunt down ordinary people like “rats.” We remember young women and men who were arrested, beaten, and indiscriminately murdered as they tried to assert their human rights. We remember the bravery of those who took unprecedented risks to call for the world’s help, including the Libyan delegation at the United Nations. And we remember the international solidarity forged by the Arab League’s historic request for intervention. We will always remember those who fought courageously throughout Libya and behind the front lines to bring down a tyrant.

One year later, the United States is full of admiration for the accomplishments of the Libyan people, who have embraced democratic principles and begun the hard work of rebuilding their nation. We look forward to the next steps of this remarkable transition—from the June elections to the drafting of a new constitution—and remain mindful of the work it will yet take for Libya’s people to build a strong, just and unified nation. As they do, they will continue to have the United States as a friend by their side.

Throughout this period of extraordinary change, the United States has been guided by a set of core principles—including support for universal rights, political and economic reform, and opposition to violence and repression—and a belief that all people deserve dignity, opportunity, and freedom. Though circumstances, challenges, and the appropriate response will inevitably vary, these core principles will continue to guide U.S. policy in the months and years to come.
###

Thursday 15 March 2012

Kid Writes Supremely Epic Letter to Weatherman (Mentions Unicorns)

a gift from my friend ben this morning  ...

If anyone ever questions why people have kids, this letter is why. A youngster named Flint crafted this fantastic note after his local Austin, Texas, weatherman visited his fourth grade class. He. Is. Supremely. Awesome. Even more awesome than a lightsaber horned unicorn who brings you doughnuts. I'm stealing Flint's words there.

Dear Mr. Ramon,
Thank you for coming to our school and teaching us about weather.
Some day when I become supreme Ultra-Lord of the universe I will not make you a slave, you will live in my 200 story castle where unicorn servants will feed you doughnuts off their horns.
I will personally make you a throne that is half platnum and half solid gold and jewel encrested.
Thank you again for teaching us about meteoroligy, you're more awesome than a monkey wearing a tuxedo made out bacon riding a cyborg unicorn with a lightsaber for the horn on the tip of a space shuttle closing in on Mars while ingulfed in flames ... And in case you didn't know, that's pretty dang sweet.
Sincerely, Flint.
P.S. Look on back for drawing. (You can see it here on Happy Place.)

Sunday 11 March 2012

Mormon Doctrine-ing

during the teenage existential crisis that led me to the from my catholic/buddhist/atheist-self into mormonism was a deep spiritual quest to know if joseph smith's articles of faith were true.  i felt like if i could believe that part, the rest was all still a work in progress that could be fun to be part of.

the church was presented to me as a restoration of the broken catholic church.  i'd grown up with family members who had been abused by priests and all sorts of other authority figures.  my family love/hated "the Church".  i was supposed to go to parochial school, but my mom insisted i got to school in Guadeloupe so i could learn spanish and understand more about the world. etc etc etc ... my parents wanted me to know the world, others wanted to protect me from it.  but i just kinda ended up hit life head on and early.

my first god-related panic attack happened in 2nd grade in our first communion prep (catechism) class where the nun was explaining the godhead ... she was hard to pay attention to because she was scary, but she also was contradicting the basic arithmetic we'd just learned about how 1+1+1=3.  i wanted her to make it make more sense, she couldn't ... i got mad and left.  (well sent to the head father's until i cried and then humiliated (yes that can be a verb) my way home)

my family german-catholic family who fought for social justice had deep enmity towards mormons.

my clan are suffragists and social justice pragmatists both politically and theologically.  the church betrayed the family, but the values of the clan remained.  my mom clung to the church, but it failed her too; convincing her to stay in an abusive marriage...

mormon families seemed happy.  they were nice to each other.  they always had the best comfort food.  eating at a mormon's house is like getting a giant hug from your perfect grandmother.  i needed the hugs and the food and the happy.

i was concerned about the raciest/misogynistic history, but i was convinced that it was ancient history ... the church had grown.  the "gospel is perfect, not the church and not the people" often served with a side of, "that is why we need you to be part of us.  help us fix these negative aspects."

i always like a good fight.  insurrections are the most exciting battles.  the trojan horse is historic for its obvious silly genius.  that's the only kind of genius i have so ... why not dive in and be as good at it as you can be and see if that helps all of you?

first, can you believe the articles of faith? joseph's bulleted one page campaign platform.  church mission statement.  can you sign up for this?  again?

he wrote them to a reporter during his presidential campaign.  the reporter just wanted a concise statement of belief.  john wentworth -- who went on to be the mayor of Chicago, and long time congressman from the city -- was joseph's pen pal & editor of the Chicago Democrat.

i know all to well the thrill of having a chicago democrat reporter friend ... its brutal and exciting.  the world is your oyster and you are the star of a unique universe that is going somewhere. they help you tailor your message -- they believe in you enough to know you have one.

still sometimes you have to wonder whose team they are actually on.  i was lucky to be part of "team awesome" which i think might still be awesome 'cept we are working in different stratospheres right now ... for  john and joe, i'm not so sure ... i bet there are some historians out there who have ideas.

the story goes that joseph was responding to a request from john.  one of john's friends was working on a history of new hampshire and joseph's name and the church kept coming up so wentworth asked for a clear statement of belief and some history.

joseph, classic of all mormons, just turned it all over ... he wrote a full history of the "Latter-day Saint Movement" to date and then include a 13 point statement of belief.

the letter became known as the Wentworth Letter (can be found in the History of the Church 4:535-541) and was first published in the Times and Seasons in March 1842. "On 10 October 1880, the Articles of Faith were formally accepted as scripture by the vote of the members of the Church and were included as part of the Pearl of Great Price."

i'm revisiting that original question, do i believe these things?  i'm going to use my blog to explore this a bit.  i welcome your thoughts ...  i can't say yes or no just yet.  some yes, so no, some i just want to be sure we are interpreting things the same way, because i think we read these words differently !!


The Articles of Faithof The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 We abelieve in bGod, the Eternal Father, and in His cSon, Jesus Christ, and in the dHoly Ghost.
 We believe that men will be apunished for their bown sins, and not for Adam’s ctransgression.
We believe that through the aAtonement of Christ, all bmankind may be csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
 We believe that the first principles and aordinances of the Gospel are: first, bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, cRepentance; third, dBaptism by eimmersion for the fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ghands for the hgift of the Holy Ghost.
 We believe that a man must be acalled of God, by bprophecy, and by the laying on of chands by those who are in dauthority, to epreach the Gospel and administer in thefordinances thereof.
 We believe in the same aorganization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, bprophetscpastorsdteacherseevangelists, and so forth.
 7 We believe in the agift of btonguescprophecydrevelationevisionsfhealingginterpretation of tongues, and so forth.
 We believe the aBible to be the bword of God as far as it is translated ccorrectly; we also believe the dBook of Mormon to be the word of God.
 We believe all that God has arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
 10 We believe in the literal agathering of Israel and in the restoration of the bTen Tribes; that cZion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will dreign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be erenewed and receive its fparadisiacal gglory.
 11 We claim the aprivilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the bdictates of our own cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them dworship how, where, or what they may.
 12 We believe in being asubject to bkings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in cobeying, honoring, and sustaining the dlaw.
 13 aWe believe in being bhonest, true, cchastedbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to gendure all things. If there is anything hvirtuousilovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith.

Saturday 10 March 2012

LOC: The Profound Impact of Stress -- March 26-27


Kluge Center to Hold Conference, “The Profound Impact of Stress,” March 26-27
Recent scientific breakthroughs in the biomedical field have made it possible to concretely measure the physical effects of stress. Stress, according to Dr. George Chrousos, plays a sizable role in the health of the individual, as well as of society as a whole, and can be implicated in numerous psychosocial factors, such as addiction, obesity and poverty.

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress will present "The Profound Impact of Stress: Human Biology and Social Implications for the Individual and Society," a two-day conference from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 26 and Tuesday, March 27 in Room 119 on the first floor of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The conference is free and open to the public. Reservations are not needed, but appreciated. Call or e-mail Elizabeth Gettins at (202) 707-7678 or eget@loc.gov.

At the conference, experts will present focused and accessible information emerging from the most recent biomedical research. They will also discuss research on the interrelationship of social conditions and human health and what might be done to mitigate the effects of stress.

Topics of discussion will include physical, neurological and psychiatric diseases related to stress; the effects of stress in utero; societal problems associated with stress; chronic pain; and post-traumatic stress disorder. The conference will conclude with a discussion on methods of stress reduction, such as meditation, which can mitigate the effects of stress in a biologically measurable way. Panelists and a detailed conference agenda will be announced in the coming days.

Chrousos, who is an organizer of the two-day conference, is a former Kluge Center Chair of Technology and Society. He is chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Athens University Medical School in Greece and a professor at Georgetown University Medical School. He was previously director of the Pediatric Endocrinology Section and Training Program and chief of the Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. Chrousos is internationally known for his research on the glucocorticoid signaling system of the cell, on the diseases of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and on the physiological and molecular mechanisms of stress.

Dr. Philip Gold also is an organizer of the conference. A member of the Library’s Scholars Council, Gold has been at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center since 1974, where he served as chief of neuroendocrine research in the National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program. His research has focused on the anatomic, molecular, and physiological aspects of the generalized stress response and its relationship to major depression.

Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library of Congress established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the world’s best thinkers to stimulate and energize one another, to distill wisdom from the Library’s rich resources and to interact with policymakers in Washington. For further information on the Kluge Center, visit www.loc.gov/kluge/.

Friday 9 March 2012

Risk Management?


100 largest economies in the world 51 are corporations.  has the balance on work shifted from inside to outside, or did we simply decide that those that sat around creating economies should make the most money, and the people doing all the work are just are risks.




Wednesday 7 March 2012

Early Morning Seminary: Women's Health

Joseph F. Smith wrote to his wife Sarah chastising her working too hard.  He told her that it gave him “no pleasure to hear you say you have worked early and late to get your days work out of the way,” for he “would rather know you had taken more time over it.”[6]  
Joseph Fielding Smith to Sarah Ellen Richards Smith, May 14, 1874, Sarah Ellen Richards Smith Collection, Box 1, Folder 2, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.



His concerns that too much exertion would strain her system, leaving her health and that of her yet-to-be-weaned children compromised, reflected general concerns during the nineteenth century that exercise might over tire young women and their mothers and might be bad for women in general.  Many nineteenth-century doctors advocated that women not exercise or study too vigorously because their bodies were fragile and needed the energy to function.  Even the columns published by female doctors in the Woman’s Exponent and The Young Woman’s Journal reflected common ideas about women.  The Exponent’s complaints about puffs and panniers, for example, were part of a general movement towards dress reform.[7]  Women were no longer to be primped and pampered till they could nothing but “toddle” about like a small children.[8]  Instead, they were to dress sensibly to provide maximum movement.  The lives of nineteenth century Mormon women reflected those of other American women.  Although they were sometimes involved in polygamous marriages and were seen as helpless creatures that needed to be saved from their husbands, they turned old rags into menstrual pads, weaned their children, and cared for their bodies in ways that were no different from women living in New York or Boston.

hopefully soon MoTab will sing this soon ... ;)