Cover Up

Some female students at a Utah high school apparently broke the "modesty" standards for their yearbook, and discovered that their pictures had been "photoshopped", with sleeves and necklines added to cover their skin, and a tattoo removed.

The school says the students "should have known their scandalous tank tops and v-necks would be fixed in the yearbook."   The school claims the yearbook photos were altered to comply with the school's dress code, which bans "extreme clothing", including "inappropriately short, tight, or revealing shorts, skirts, dresses, tank shirts, halters, or crop tops."

Yes, this is Utah, where the majority of the students are Mormon, and follow the LDS church guidelines of modesty:  "Our clothing expresses who we are.  It sends messages about us, and it influences the way we and others act"..."Revealing and sexually suggestive clothing, which includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing and shirts which do not cover the stomach, can stimulate desires and actions that violate the Lord's law of chastity"..."Modesty is an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior.  If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves."

So here's the problem...or my problem with this issue.  If these young women showed up for their school pictures so "inappropriately" dressed, why were they not sent home to change?  More than likely, because it is the way they have been dressing all year.  And if it is not an issue for them to wear "revealing" clothing to school, why should it be an issue in the school yearbook?  And why were only some of the pictures altered? 2 girls wearing the same outfit, one gets airbrushed, and one doesn't?

 

Memorial Day

Just wondering, how many of my friends and readers ran out and bought a mattress yesterday? Anyone? See, I'm just trying to figure out what honoring and remembering those who have died serving our country has anything to do with mattresses!  All over the TV, radio, and newspaper were these ads for mattress sales.

Memorial Day mattress sales?  Is it because sleeping in on your 3-day weekend makes you more prone to notice how lumpy and sagging your current mattress is?  Because I could have just as easily noticed that on Martin Luther King Day, or President's Day.  $0 down, 0% financing, no payments for 90 days... Can't we just get back to the true meaning of holidays without turning each one into a shopping frenzy?  Ponder the picture below for a few minutes.  THAT is what Memorial Day is about.

 

Sacrifice For Me

Several years ago on Memorial Day, I recommended a book written by my friend Joe Bonsall, of the Oak Ridge Boys. His book "G.I. Joe & Lillie" is a beautifully written love story, about his parents - Joseph Sloan Bonsall, who served in the United States Army during World War II, and Lillie Maude Collins, who served in the United States Women's Army Corps. The story of G.I. Joe & Lillie helps us all remember that true love never, ever dies.

This year, I am sharing a song written by Joe, called "Sacrifice For Me" - remembering all of those who have paid with their lives so we can be free...

For The Record...

Some Mormon women sing...

Some Mormon women dance...

Some Mormon women write scary stories...

Some Mormon women have lots of money and really great hair...

I know hundreds of Mormon women. They do all kinds of different things and live all different kinds of lives.

This woman served as a leader in the Mormon church. She recently spoke to teenage girls worldwide. She encouraged them to stand up to peer pressure, strengthen their families and serve others.

None of the Mormon women I know look like this...

None of them are marrying off their teenage daughters and-- although some may joke about wanting a sister-wife (preferably one who is really fat & ugly, does bathrooms and changes diapers)--none of them really want to share their husband with anyone.

Furthermore...

Some Mormon guys can throw a ball...

Some Mormon guys yell at the ball...

Some Mormon guys make scary movies...

Some Mormon guys have a lot of money and really great hair...

I know hundreds of Mormon guys. They do all kinds of different things and live all kinds of different lives.

This is one of the leaders of the Mormon church. Last year he spoke about honoring women, especially mothers, and gave advice to husbands and children about how to treat the women in their lives.

None of the Mormon men I know look like this...

The Mormon men I know are honest and hard-working. They don't cheat, smoke, drink or gamble.

And TRUST ME....the last thing any of them want is another wife.

Another Sleepless Night...

I hear the train a comin', It's rolling 'round the bend.... and it's loud blasted whistle/horn is always waking me up or keeping me from going to sleep!  Seriously, I've lived near trains before, and I've never had it this bad. I mean, I lived in a mobile home park in Utah, where the tracks ran less than half a football field away. Yeah, they were so close to my trailer, Steve Young could have thrown a football and hit a passing train. As it approached a crossing, it would give 4 short toots of it's horn, and 2 long ones.  Not like you needed them, the floor was already shaking like San Francisco.  Several times a day, every day, I would pray that the choo-choo, chug-chug, clickity-clack, rackity-racket vibrations of the passing Union Pacific wouldn't knock the walls down.

But that wasn't as bad as this train and it's whistle-blowing engineer!  We live close to a mile from the tracks, and from any at-grade crossing, but I hear him coming.  With the windows shut.  With the TV and fan on. Probably if I was wearing earplugs I'd hear him coming!  I have deaf friends, and even they would hear this train! Now I understand the need for warning -"hey, you - dude parked on the train tracks, get out of the way!"  Or even, "hey moron, you may think your car is fast but you will not beat me to the crossing!"  But this train is blowing his whistle constantly for his entire trip through Harlingen.  At 2AM!  What is the point of waking an entire neighborhood just because you have a fascination with blowing your horn???  Now he's got me singing:

I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day
I've been working on the railroad Just to pass the time away.
Can't you hear the whistle blowiung,
Rise up so early in the morn;
Can't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your horn!"  

Dinah won't you blow,
Dinah won't you blow,
Dinah won't you blow your horn?

Things As They Really Are

"If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradulally and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state.  And if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pizels, texting, earbuds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive ises of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person to person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer-mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience."

Wow!  Are you like me, and spending way too much time online?  Have you fallen into the trap of texting instead of real phone conversations?  These, and many other distractions are part of Satan's plan to make us miserable, just as he is.  For more on this subject, I encourage you to read David A. Bednar's full message, given May 3, 2009.

The Second Ten Commandments

1. Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

2. Thou shall not be fearful, for most things we fear will never come to pass.

3. Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one has yet succeeded in accomplishing this.

4. Thou shall face each problem as it comes.  You can only handle one at a time anyway.

5. Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

6. Thou shall not borrow other people's problems. They can care for them better than you can.

7. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!

8. Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different than your own.  It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.

9. Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustratio, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

10. Thou shall count your blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one!

The Fix

Ever since 1998, when the Utah Jazz faced the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals, I've been pretty much convinced of 2 things - 1) Instant replay was desperately needed, and 2) The games are fixed.

A bit of background:  The Jazz had the best record in basketball that year, but also are the league's smallest market city.  They went in to Game 6 against the Bulls, down 3-2, but playing in front of the home crowd in the noisy, friendly (for them) confines of the Delta Center.  With just under 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Jazz guard Howard Eisley hit a 3-point shot with 1 second clearly remaining on the shot clock, however, referee Dick Bavetta waved the shot off, and it didn't count.

Later in the game, with the Bulls behind 79-76, guard Ron Harper was credited with a 3 point shot that clearly left his hands after the shot clock had expired.  End result?  The Bulls won the game 87-86, and their 6th NBA Championship, and Michael Jordan walks away a hero.  Fixed?  Most certainly.  There is no way the NBA would allow the small market Jazz to send Michael Jordan with his billions of dollars in merchandise sales, and billion dollar endorsement deals, home as a loser.  The Jazz as NBA Champs? Who, outside of Utah would have bought those hats, jerseys, and t-shirts?  Clearly, for those watching at home, who enjoy watching the game without taking sides, the time for instant replay had come.  With it, the Jazz win by 5, that is of course, assuming the refs wouldn't have controlled the game in other ways....

Fast forward to Tuesday night.  Instant replay has been in use for several years now, to determine matters of shot clock, and possession.  What happened at the end of the Clippers/Thunder game is a travesty of justice, and proves that even with instant replay, the refs can STILL control the outcome of the game in their favor. Everyone in the world watched the ball go out of bounds off Reggie Jackson's hand, never touched by Matt Barnes of the Clippers.  The call on the court?  Out of bounds off the Clippers, Thunder ball.  Time for the replay.  Even with 2 versions clearly showing the ball off Jackson, and the ball should go to Los Angeles, blind ineptitude prevailed.  The refs give the ball to Oklahoma City, and they hit a 3-point shot to win the game.  What else should we expect?  The Clippers to actually have a chance at an NBA Championship? The Clippers - the joke of the NBA? The Clippers - LA's ugly step-sister to the Lakers?  The Fix is in.

Mormons and Television

Isn't it funny how 50% of the population refused to vote for a Mormon as President of the United States of America; and many will refuse to allow those young men - you know the ones - they ride bicycles, wear white shirts and nametags, and look too young to shave -  into their home?  Yet at the same time, how many of these same citizens WILL allow a Mormon's invention into their home?  More than one even! Not only will they allow it in their home, they give it a prominent place in the living room, and all of their furniture faces it. They spend countless hours in front of it, being "entertained".  Yes, that's right, I am talking about the television!  Philo T. Farnsworth, a Mormon, invented the "boob tube" and demonstrated the first working model on September 7, 1927.

Although he was paid royalties by RCA, who purchased his patent, Farnsworth never became wealthy from his invention.  That is a sad irony in itself, when you think of the billions of dollars spent annually on TV ads alone!

Farnsworth claimed he invented the television for educational purposes, and after it became widely popular, his son Kent claims his Dad stated  "There's nothing on it worthwhile, and we're not going to watch it in this household, and I don't want it in your intellectual diet."  This statement does conform with how Latter Day Saints try to be selective with their entertainment, by consuming media that "inviteth and enticeth to do good" and by avoiding media "that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way" or that "presents immorality or viloence as acceptable."  That is because what we see, hear, and read influences what we desire, and therefore, how we act.  Many Latter-Day Saint families have developed a policy of not watching any movies rated "R".   Philo Farnsworth passed away in 1971, and if he was repulsed by what he saw in TV in the 1950's, can you imagine how he would feel if he turned on his invention today???

Sterling/Silver

Rather than jump right in the middle of this heated controversy, I thought it best if I waited until some of the dust settled before speaking my mind.  When news of Donald Sterling's racist comments first broke, I was shocked.  I'm not so naive as to think that racism doesn't exist, but to hear such contempt coming from someone in power, just blew my mind.  Those emotions settled quickly though, as I started to wonder if it was really Mr. Sterling whose voice was on the tape.  Right from the start, everyone from Magic Johnson to Barack Obama were playing judge and jury, violating Mr. Sterling's rights, making him GUILTY until proven INNOCENT.  That question only led to more questions, such as why his private phone conversations were being recorded, and how I would feel if I knew my private phone conversations were made available for the world to hear.  Not that I have anything to hide, but some things to me are sacred, especially what I discuss with my wife.  What we do or say within the walls of our home is our business, no one else's.  Then I got to thinking about the Declaration of Independence, and again was outraged that such prejudice and hatred is allowed to continue in this country.  I'm pretty sure Thomas Jefferson wrote "ALL Men Are Created Equal", not "All White Men", or "All Hispanic Men", or "All Men Whose Religion Is The Same As Mine"... Unfortunately, my next step for a resolution in my mind was to visit the United States Constitution, where we read about the right to free speech.  Is this what Mr. Sterling thought he would stand behind?  That the constitution says he can be a bigot and express those views without fear of punishment?  Thankfully, NBA commissioner Adam Silver did his research and determined that Mr. Sterling did indeed make those comments.  Based on the National Basketball Association's constitution, Mr. Silver's reaction was swift, necessary, and appropriate.

A lifetime ban, forced to sell his team, and a hefty fine.  Several players have "tweeted" that there is no place for racism in the NBA.  So true, so very, very true.  But this is much bigger than the NBA.  There simply is no place for racism in America, or even in the world as we know it!