Simple Utah Mormon Politics

There exists a surprisingly large number of Christians, including a lot of Mormons, who think that the modern nation of Israel was created by an act of God. I happen to think that it was created by intrigue, something with which God does not involve himself. Even if Israel had been created by an act of God, it is safe to say that God would hide his face in shame at what Israel has become today. The Nation of Israel was conceived in war. It's my opinion that the world would be a much better place today had the nation of Israel never been born. The Jews have been persecuted like no other people in the history of the world. Hitler didn't start the torturings and killings--he just perfected Before the creation of modern Israel, Arabs and Jews had lived together in relative peace for many years. Since then, it seems, "peace" is no longer even an entry in the Middle Eastern lexicon. and systematized them. It's not surprising, then, that many Jews would want to le...

I just did a check on about ten different national news sites. Not one of them any longer has anything about the torture memos on its front page. Rather, the top item on the list is now swine flu hysteria. Swine flu is affecting thousands, but still you'd think that the American news media could juggle more than one important ball at one time. If this weren't the same news media that thinks anything that, for example, Angelina Jolie does is news of the utmost importance, you'd also think that the media could put the swine flu problems in their proper perspective. Have you heard very much in the news about the Obama's release of Bush torture memos lately? Did you know that, due to the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico City, the Mexican economy may be on the verge Not even a swine flu outbreak should be seen as a warrant for a cover-up of the realities of Bush-era torture. of collapse? Did you know that it was recently discovered that virus samples have may gone missi...

KNRS 570 radio talk show host Bob Lonsberry advocated waterboarding and other forms of torture during his show on April 21, 2009. More grotesquely, he was beaming with pride about his advocacy campaign. It's difficult to imagine then, that, by the same rationale, had Lonsberry been a German at the time of Hitler, or a Japanese during the Bataan Death March, that he would not have advocated torture of Jews in the concentration camps or the bayoneting and shooting of American soldiers on the Bataan trail. Torture, Torture, Everywhere! Nearly 80,000 American soldiers were captured by the Japanese in the To contemplate a discussion about whether or not torture is legal or whether it even works, it is first required to come to the conclusion that 'I am a child of God, but my adversary is a monkey'. Phillipines in 1942 and forced to march with no food and very little water for six days. If a man stumbled, if he didn't respond quickly to a command, or if he tried to get wat...

I applaud the Obama Administration's recent release of torture memos that were the primary legacy of the Bush administration. The release of the memos rings hollow, however, since Obama indicated that no further investigation would occur into the matter, let alone any punishment being meted out for this embarrassment to America. People around the world are outraged. I hope you're one of them. America's worst nemesis is its lack of integrity vis-a-vis the rest of the world. Unfortunately, Obama's recent determination Obama has made some good moves. Opening relations with Cuba is one of them. But in the things that really matter--that involve the restoration of America's integrity--he might as well be Dick Cheney. that the tortured interpretations and implementations of Bush era torture will not be investigated dilutes our integrity even further. The rest of the world was expecting a lot to change when Obama took office. They're starting to see that not mu...

In 1996, the number of LDS converts was just over 321,000. In 2004, 80,000 fewer people were converted to the Church. I was surprised to learn that in 2008, the numbers were only about 265,000--still a far cry from the trends of previous decades. What gives? There are many reasons. But I have a theory that most people probably haven't thought about. It's called "we don't live our religion very well anymore." Various estimates in the last few decades projected that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would have between 75 million and 175 million members by the year 2030. At previous growth rates, That's our biggest problem. It's not that it's hard to be a Mormon. It's not that people are spreading lies about our doctrine. It's that we don't have anything unique to offer. Mormons have become just like everyone else, and in doing so, we have become our own worst enemy. this goal would still seem probable. At the current...

Why are pirates attacking ships off the coast of Somalia? Because it's very profitable! You'll be surprised just how profitable. This got me wondering...is profitability the same reason that most bankers want to be bankers? In the past year, pirates in the area of the Gulf of Aden have accrued "tens of millions of dollars" in ransoms. I'd say that's a pretty profitable business. Yet still the owners of the ships that are being attacked balk at carrying weapons to defend themselves. Wouldn't that make you angry if you found out that pirates were stealing tens of millions of dollars from you? They are. How about if they were stealing thousands of times that much? They are. It's ironic that the Somali pirates are receiving hours and hours of news time for stealing from cargo ships during the same period of time in which global economic pirates are stealing far more from you. Global financiers are gaming you and me, and they're not even asking for a...

I've already documented how Obama is still using mercenaries , just like the Bush administration. I documented how Obama hires the same Establishment schmucks for his administration and how he's equally in bed with Wall Street as Bush was. But it gets worse. I told you it would . Now, with the Obama administration's stances on wiretapping, war in the Middle East, and secret and indefinite detention of enemy combatants, there's virtually no difference in Obama's stance from Bush's. If you are surprised, you haven't been reading Simple Utah Mormon Politics. The election is over, but it's still not too late to remind you that if Ron Paul were president , these same problems would be well on the way to not being problems anymore. With Obama, they're just about as big as they ever were. One thing that I appreciate about progressives: they are much better than I just didn't think Olbermann could get fit to be tied over something that involved a Dem...