How Stupid Are We?

Something happened this week that is extremely disturbing. But it seems to have slipped past most people's radar as if it were a joke. Trust me this is NO JOKE!

Our own Homeland Security has just released a study to identify those people who are a threat to America because they:

Are unimpressed by America's first "African-American" president.

Objecting to tax hikes.

Disliking big government.

Talking concernedly about the state of the economy and job loss, especially in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

Opposition to abortion, gay marriage and gun control.

NO I am NOT making this up!!! Read it for yourself -

In a report sent to sheriff and law enforcement offices across the country called "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" the report is nine pages long and recounts all the ways conservatives might be drawn into committing terrorist attacks against the United States. If you can't stomach the full report maybe a news article about it will do? How ever you prefer to get your information I don't care, just please read about this! We need to wake up collectively and become aware of what is going on around us.

A quote I found from George Q. Cannon seems appropriate:

"We cannot as a people close our eyes or our ears to that which is going on around us. No people on this continent are more interested in public movement than the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So many predictions have been made concerning the future of our nation that we would be a very stupid people if we were not deeply interested in the fulfillment of those predictions and in watching the signs which will precede or accompany them."

George Q. Cannon, Sept. 1, 1896

What is he referring to? What predictions?

This prophecy was first credited to Joseph Smith and then repeated multiple times in every generation by almost every prophet since that it surely is embedded in the heart every Latter-day Saint?

"Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction."

The Prophet Joseph Smith (M8d 155Bx4, Joseph Smith, Church Historian's Library)

I fear that maybe we are too familiar with this prophecy that it no longer has any effect on us anymore. Or heaven forbid, we haven't ever heard of it at all? Maybe we have become too complacent? Maybe we just assume that this will happen with no effort or preparation on our part? Are we so smug and so stupid that we think the Lord will bless us with so great a task when we have taken no effort to prepare? How bad does it have to get for us to wake up and do something now?

President J. Reuben Clark said:
"I say unto you with all the soberness I can, that we stand in danger of losing our liberties, and once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of the church will, in order to keep the church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known, heavy as our sacrifices and grievous as our sacrifices of the past have been."

Yikes! This was said in 1944. And if we were in danger then we are under direct attack today. If you don't believe it then just look at what happened this week. Every American should be outraged, but outrage should have been arrived at long before this. Again I ask, "How stupid are we?"

The prophet Nephi had this to say about our day in 2 Nephi 28:20-25
20 For behold, at that day shall he ^arage in the ^bhearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

21 And others will he ^apacify, and lull them away into carnal ^bsecurity, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the ^cdevil ^dcheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

22 And behold, others he ^aflattereth away, and telleth them there is no ^bhell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful ^cchains, from whence there is no deliverance.

23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be ^ajudged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a ^blake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ^aease in Zion!

25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!

Where is the Outrage???

This letter was sent to the Wall Street Journal on August 8, 2008 by Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. of Beverly Hills , CA . in response to the Wall Street Journal article titled "Where's The Outrage?" that appeared July 31,2008.

Really. I can tell you where the outrage is. The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman. The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice. The outrage is here, but no one is listening for who am I?

I am not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement. I am not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates. I am not a film maker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public.

The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don't know how to reach those who feel similarly in order to effect change. Why am I outraged? I am outraged that my country, the United States of America , is in a state of moral and ethical decline. There is no right or wrong anymore, just what's fair.

Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure? Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment?

When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford. Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased. But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we could not afford. The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.

I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler's Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.

I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally. That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt it incumbent to send my child to private school, that every time I go to the ATM, I see "do you want to continue in English or Spanish?", that every time I call the bank, the phone company, or similar business, I hear "press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish". WHY? This is America, our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.

I am outraged at our country's weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee. Tennessee , last I checked, is still part of the United States . If Muslims want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.

In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed's wife, Aisha due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims. When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want? It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.

I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do. An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective. Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do. Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran's nuclear program? Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews - one which they would be unlikely to survive? When does it end?

As if the battle for good and evil isn't enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a Bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the recycle police in San Francisco. I do my share for the environment: I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit. But when and where does the lunacy stop?Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong, good from evil.. So what does California do? Tax grocery bags.

So, America , although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it. I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.

Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Beverly Hills , California

The Proper Role of Government

This is perhaps the best short summary of the proper role of government – and the development of our own nation – that I have ever seen. It is a YouTube video that takes less than 10 minutes to watch. Please take the time to view it. As we've often been told, "Those who know nothing of history are doomed to repeat it." We should be thoroughly informed and clearly understand where our freedoms come from, and how they are best preserved. Please take the time to watch this short piece, and share it with others.

The Time is Now...

To Raise the Standard of Liberty...

• For Our God
• For Our Liberty
• For Our Peace
  
• Four Our Families

What is the Standard of Liberty?

It is the Constitution!

We must return our government to the standard our Founding Fathers intended it to be! There is a ground swell of change happening. People are finally beginning to "awaken to their awful state." And what we are waking up to is a nightmare. But YOU can do something about it. But you must get involved!!! You cannot afford to sit idly by and do nothing anymore, the stakes are too high, the consequences of apathy are too great.

What if I told you that there is a movement going on right now to return government back to the people, restore power to the states and lift the Standard of Liberty back to it's rightful place?

If I told you there is a way to hold politicians completely accountable would you be interested?

If I told you that we can revolutionize the way politics are done in this county would it be enough to get you off your couch to join in the fight to take back our great country? Would you do it?

Well we can! And it is happening!!! You have the chance to be part of something huge if you are willing! At this very moment the pieces are falling into place and the time is coming that this plan can and will be revealed. BUT you can still act now, today if you trust me and trust that I am telling you the absolute truth. I would stake my life and reputation on it!

The Time is Now for you to become involved! What can you do? How do you get started?

• Send a link to this post to everyone in your email list
• Join the Utah County Republican Women even if you are NOT a Republican or a Woman or even live in Utah, if you hold the constitution dear, join anyway! The cost is $20 a year. It will be the best $20 dollars you EVER spent!
  
• Start talking to your friends and neighbors to find others who are like minded in their love for the Constitution.
• Stay tuned for more information! It will be come fast and furious!!!

"Grassroots" means: "People or society at a local level rather than at the center of major political activity." ONE person can make a difference, but many people united in just one cause makes up true grassroots cause for positive change. And that effort can spread like wildfire if properly done. Join the UCRW today! Begin to unite your voice with ours! You have the opportunity to be a part of something amazing! Come and join me!

Feel free to contact me for more information on how you can make a difference! Call me at (801) 492-4080 or email me at debbie.hunnybee@gmail.com

How Did I Get So Old???

Ashley just had her senior prom this past week. It was a truly bittersweet time. My baby, my last born has past this right of passage. As it turns out she didn't have a date (stupid, stupid boys!). But as it turns out at her school it is no big deal to go without a date. So she pressed forward and went anyway...I am sooo proud of her for taking the higher road and choosing not to pass up this once-of-a-lifetime opportunity. I means a lot that she was there and didn't stay home and hide. Way to go Ashley! As you will see it is some young mans loss...not hers that he didn't ask her to be his date. So with great swells of love I give you my beautiful Ashley -



One of the things I love about Liahona Academy is the tradition they have to make everyone in the senior class the kings and queens of prom. So here is Queen Ashley -

I am especially amazed as we face this new phase of Ashley's life. In her life she have overcome much to get to this place. Ashley was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 5 years old and then if that was not enough she was diagnosed with OCD 3 years later. I can remember sitting in the doctor's office crying as she told me the prognosis for this combined diagnosis. ADHD alone is enough to scare parents to death. The expectation for them is that 75% will end up in some sort of serious trouble - drugs, alcohol, teen pregnancy, school drop outs, just to name a few. I listened intently and with horror as Dr. Echert explained to me that out of all children diagnosed with OCD only 5% of them will ever graduate from high school. Out of that group only 1% will go on to college. This dim view of my daughters future left me feeling helpless and all alone in my grief. I was so overwhelmed by the task ahead that I had to take medication myself just to be able to face it.

I told Ashley what the doctor had said. Then I said, "This is what they say will happen to you, but I want to know what do you think will happen to you?" There is great power in what we think and believe about ourselves! Ashley sensed this power and replied, "I am going to graduate from high school and I am going to college!"

Since that day I have been dedicated to helping her achieve her goals. Sometimes it has taken creativity and ingenuity. I have home schooled her, taken online classes, worked with her for hours on homework and sent her to a private school. All of these things have brought us to this place, a crossroads if you will in Ashley's life. She is going to graduate. She has been accepted to attend UVU and is going to college!!! Wow! Anyone who does not believe in miracle should spend time with Ashley!

It hasn't been easy. In fact, it has been harder than it needed to be. Ashley has needed lots of love, support and understanding to make it. She has had that support from the adults in her life but the reactions of her peers has been anything but loving and supportive. Ashley has spent much of her life lonely and alone. It has been so heartbreaking for me as a parent to see her shunned and left out of school and even church circles of friends. They say that "that which does not kill you, makes you stronger." Ashley is indeed stronger for her experiences but there were times I was sure it would kill her. NO WONDER that kids with disabilities end up on drugs, in prison or pregnant as they search for acceptance and love in their relationships.

it will be interesting to see what she does now. Where she goes. What she does. She is quite remarkable!!! One of the good things about OCD is she has the ability to hyperfocus on a goal and achieve it will gusto! This is what she did when she set her mind to earn her Young Woman's Medallion as quickly as possible. Without my knowledge she set out to chip away at a goal that takes most young women 6 years to acheive. Ashley earned her medallion in 13 months! No one can tell me, or her, that she cannot do anything she sets her mind to doing! Way to go Ashley!

Ashley's Senior Pictures -