Greg Book Review - Homeschooling - A Family's Journey / Gregory and Martine Millman

I saw this book in the Browsing Library section at the SLC Library and decided to take a look at it. Alternative ways of educating our children have always been an interest of mine as I feel that some public schools don't have the student's best interest in mind. Before I go any further let me make a disclaimer - I love the teachers my children have had at Overlake Elementary School. For the most part, they have been incredible with the children, they are dedicated and resourceful, they make do with large class sizes and students who are not interested in the subject matter at times. Kathryn and I both love these teachers and what they do for our children. However, as a parent, we also feel a great responsibility in educating our children. Just like Primary and Sunday School, we feel that public schools should reinforce and support what we teach in our home, they should not be the primary source of teaching in our childrens' life.

Kathryn and I have talked about homeschooling before but we both don't feel it is the right time for us to do that. It is very intimidating to us, especially with the number of children that we have. We try to be as involved as we can with helping the children in their schoolwork, to promote the love of learning, to not learn just for a test or to pass something off, but to learn and retain, being able to put what you learned into context. We try to do this by different means and I can't say they have always been successful. Each child is different and each has a unique way of learning that needs to be enhanced and developed over time. Zachary and Josh learn by touching and manipulating things, they both love Legos and are very good at video games. Lauren is a reader, she will read anything you put in front of her and go find stuff on her own. Brennan is more auditory, he will hear something and immediately that subject starts to blossom in his mind, but he has trouble staying focus and concentrated on one thing. But he can remember something you said 5 years ago like you had just said it. Especially promises made many moons ago. Each require a different approach and it is wonderful.

This book was amazing, I love the approach that they took. The Millman's have 6 children and each of them has been, or is being, home schooled through experiences they are having that don't involve formal ways of learning. This way of learning through different ways is only possible when individual attention is given to each child and their style of learning. It can be accomplished through travel, through practical exercises like budgeting or cooking, through group learning by subject-matter experts, through sports (they single out judo), and by literally observing the world around them. Sure, they have some formal learning and lessons but it hearkens back to a time when the main goal of education was not to pass a certified exam but to educate the child on what was most important and what mattered.

Here are some quotes that really stood out to me -

"Everything that happens in life can be part of a child's education, as long as the child pays attention and asks such questions as "why" and "how" and someone is paying attention to help the child find the answer."

"Questions that are peripheral to the problem at hand may be central to a child's development."

"Music was indispensable to our study of history."

"Authentic education takes place in the immediate context of a personal relationship, and extends to a tradition of learning."

"So much of our homeschooling is digression that digression sometimes seems to be the whole point of it."

"There are many methods and texts and curricula, many organizations and approaches and styles, but we think that no methodology or recipe or formula will give you what you really need. The choice to work together with your children to help them learn is one that you need to make for a reason great enough to sustain you even through doubt and fear. "

"We found in the course of our homeschooling that the most important part of education is a close personal relationship that folds a child in arms of love and deep respect. This is a relationship in which the parent makes a perpetual self-gift. It means that a parent never has a moment for herself (or himself), never ever tries to take anything just for "me." This idea now seems as countercultural as our attachment to freedom. America is all about the self: self-esteem, self-sufficiency, self-improvement, self-development, self-satisfaction. It seems to be as much about the self as it is about fear and anxiety, and the more time we have spent trying to make a gift of ourselves to our children, the clearer it seems that there is a connection between attachment to selfishness and fear."

Kathryn and I admire those parents who have made the decision to homeschool their children, it takes a special parent to take on that responsibility and we know the decision is not made lightly. The kids we are acquainted with that have been homeschooled are wonderful. We have made the decision to try and enroll the children in a new charter school in Tooele in Fall 2009, the Excelsior Academy. We are hoping that this will help us address some situations we see with our own childrens' education and will provide them a wonderful, and more personal, environment in which to excel.

If you have an opportunity to read this book please do. I loved it and am seriously thinking about making it a permanent part of my library. Two thumbs way up for perhaps the best book I have read this year.

Roland Burris Can't See or Hear

Let's say you have aspired to a certain political office all of your life. In fact, you ran once for the office but were defeated in the primaries and have since held the office of state Attorney General and state comptroller. You have had a nice career and are a man of integrity and honor despite some of the political shenanigans pulled by other members of your state government.

Now along comes a governor who is discovered to be selling the very position that you aspired to so many years ago. You have made campaign contributions to this governor ($4,500) and the outgoing person who previously held this position. You are entitled to something, right? Isn't that what politics are all about? You scratch my back and I will scratch yours? Isn't it about who you know and who knows you? Isn't it about an African-American replacing the only other African-American in the United States Senate?

Roland Burris was chosen by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the Senate seat of President-Elect Barack Obama. Gov. Blago is under fire for trying to sell this Senate seat to the highest bidder and there is ample evidence to prove it. There are impeachment proceedings being mulled over and federal charges have been brought against the governor. All 50 Democratic Senators signed a letter to Gov. Blago stating that they would not seat a candidate appointed by him, and President-Elect Obama has also stated that no appointment should be made by Gov. Blago. The Illinois Secretary of State, who is required to certify the appointment, has stated he will not do so.

If you are Roland Burris, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? If you accept this nomination from a heavily tainted governor you will always be viewed under a cloud of suspicion, many will believe that your appointment is invalid. HALF OF THE SENATE WON'T AGREE TO YOU and the man you are replacing doesn't want you there. Roland, buddy, can you see that your nomination is not legitimate? Are you willing to endure questions, whispers, investigations into your finances to see if you actually bought the seat like Jesse Jackson Jr. tried to do? Is this the way you want to be remembered?

Gov. Blago is defiant and prideful, he is a man heading for a great fall due to his selfishness and his false feeling of power. He has no power. He lost his authority when he committed crimes that will one day land him in prison (unless George Bush will try to pardon him too before he leaves office, although he hasn't been found guilty yet :)). Does Roland really want to earn his Senate seat this way? Take the honorable path and have nothing to do with this dirty man, Roland. When you associate with him and grant him legitimacy by accepting this nomination, you become soiled yourself.

Very interesting thoughts on what could happen in a Senate showdown if Burris is rejected for the seat. This could be the beginning of the end of Harry Reid (D-NV) if he does not show some strong leadership among Senate Democrats. Not that this would be a bad thing . . .

Matheson gets it right

An article in the Deseret News today talked about how Rep Jim Matheson (D-UT) is fighting the self-imposed raise Congress is trying to pass this year. The raise, about $4,700, would increase the salary of most members of Congress to nearly $175,000. Here is some of the quotes by Jim Matheson on the pay raise -

"In a situation where there aren't many people in this country who are seeing their salaries go up, and in fact a lot of people are losing their jobs, the notion that Congress should be having an automatic pay raise without even a vote just doesn't pass the smell test."

"I think there's a lot more interest in saying, 'Wait a minute, is this the right thing to do at this time?' Again, whether or not Congress deserves a pay raise, there ought to at least be a vote. This year in tough economic times, I think Congress should tighten its belt just like everyone in America is."

He has fought the pay raises each year he has been in Congress and the raises he has received he donates to charities within his district.

Kudos to you, brother! Jim Matheson and I don't agree on some issues but there are a lot more that we do agree on than we don't. If all Democrats, and Republicans, would think in such a way we might not be in the mess we are today. Now it is time for Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz to jump on board the NO-PAY-RAISE-FOR-CONGRESS train. Email them when you have a moment and let them know how you feel. I feel fairly confident that they will have the same sentiments, but there is no hope for the two Senators who have already proven that they will give your tax dollars to bailouts and themselves before thinking what would be best for their constituents.

Israel Says "No More Messing Around"

The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip made a fateful error several years ago when they elected Hamas, a Palestinian terror organization, to lead government positions replacing the more peaceful Fatah movement. Hamas was aligned with the PLO, led by the twice awarded Time Man of the Year Yassar Arafat, who did more to inflame terrorism in the Middle East than any other person over a 40 year period. Hamas has been trouble for the Palestinians ever since that election, now ruling from a position of power, by harassing Israel through missile attacks, suicide bombers, and placing their people in harms way. They lob missiles at Israeli towns from inside the Gaza Strip and when Israel responds in kind, Hamas calls foul and the international community (read UN) froths at the mouth and tells Israel to knock it off. It's kind of like your little brother whacking you and when you punch him back he goes crying to Mom. Mom sympathizes with him and you get sent to your room.

Well, Israel is punching back now and doesn't care what Mom says. They have had enough and after Hamas launched missiles at the end of a cease-fire last week the Israelis have come back with a vengance and have launched air and missile strikes that have killed an estimated 400 and wounded 1,400. Palestinians are crying and the international community is in an uproar (the head of the UN has issued a statement that says the world failed to stop this tragedy and that Israel needs to cease operations immeadiately). Heh, nice try to place the blame somewhere else, spread that guilt around.

While I certainly don't like violence and don't advocate war, I can see where Israel is coming from. They voluntarily removed troops from the Gaza Strip, even though they knew what was coming within a couple of years. They were right. Hamas are cowards, the ruling body of the movement does not live in the Gaza Strip but in Damascus, Syria, safely behind thick walls and many guards. There they feel they can safely issue outrageous statements about how terrible Israel is and how repressed the Palestinian people are. They have called for an infatada for the third time in 8 years, don't know how well the others have worked out . . . President Bush and Clinton tried for a long time to broker peace in this area of the world but it is nearly always the Palestinians who broke the agreement and then blamed Israel for various infractions. President Bush issued a statement last week correctly blaming Hamas for the latest violence and called on them to stop the agression.

Meanwhile, Hamas has placed vital military and state security targets in residential areas so that when missiles do strike there seems to be a lot of collateral damage in the form of civilian casulties and wounded. When will the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip wake up and throw Hamas out? After all the victim-playing that Hamas is doing, they still continue to launch rockets at southern Israeli towns and villages.

What is even more aggravating is to see how some react to the situation and try to use it to further their own cause. Riots in European capitols have given Palestinians and their sympathizers an excuse to burn and run lawless, the UN is being given a platform to bray, and even a former US presidential candidate, Crazy Cynthia McKinney, tried to bring relief supplies to the Gaza Strip but her yacht was rammed. Go back to Georgia Cynthia, go help President Carter on the peanut farm. Israel has said they would treat Hamas with an "iron fist" but Gaza citizens with "kid gloves" and it has shown as they have let many supplies and aid through to the Gaza Strip from international relief agencies. Except for those that sympathize with Hamas, like Cynthia McKinney.

Let's pray that this conflict ends quickly with both sides coming to an agreement that they can live with. Read an interesting article by Jed Babbin about the comparison of Hamas/Israel to Iraq/US, he makes a lot of good points and proposes a tough outcome if we continue to allow state-sponsered terrorism.

The Creating of Caroline

By know you have probably formed an opinion on who should (in many cases should NOT) fill the vacant seat of Hillary Clinton as one of the two senators from the state of New York. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy, has asked Gov. David Paterson to include her name in the selection process. Other that are being looked at include New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, actress Fran Dreshcher (please no), George Meeks from Queens, and many others pushed by certain special interest groups. Chelsea Clinton, with all of her vast experience, is also being mentioned. However, the only two that are prominently mentioned are Kennedy and Cuomo, and it will most likely come down to those two with Meeks running a distant third.


So what are there qualifications you ask? Andrew Cuomo was elected to be the New York Attorney General in 2006 and previously served in President Clinton's cabinet in the Department of Housing and Urban Development where he served for nearly 8 years, 4 of them as the HUD secretary. He was born and raised in New York, went to school there and practiced law in NYC. His father is the former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo. He has run unsuccesfully for governor and that is what led him to run for Attorney General in New York later.



Here are Caroline Kennedy's qualifications - (crickets chirping). She has lived in New York off and on for years. She is the mother of 3 children. Neil Diamond wrote a song about her called "Sweet Caroline." She graduated from Radcliffe and Columbia Law School. She is on the Board of Education in New York to raise private money for public schools although her own children attend an exclusive private school in Manhattan. She is on a couple of other boards as well. She was previously known as Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg but she prefers to go by Caroline Kennedy now. She has written a patriotic book. She has failed to vote in several elections since living in New York, including for the senate seat she would like to occupy. Here is her comment on that -

"I was really surprised and dismayed by my voting record," she told the Associated Press. "I'm glad it's been brought to my attention."

Not exactly stellar. Why would the voters of New York want this woman to represent them and their interests in the Senate? Hillary had much better qualifications, although she was a carpet-bagger. Caroline would not have to face an election for two more years. She has never held an elected position before. It feels like she is using the Kennedy name as justification for her entitlement to this position.

So what is Gov. Paterson thinking? Coincidentally, he is not really an elected official either, but rather appointed. He was the lieutenant governor to Eliot Spitzer before Spitzer resigned this year in the wake of a prostitution scandal. He faces an election in two years as well but he may not want to run so what is the risk of appointing an unpopular candidate to a Senate seat if it nets him a golden parachute after he is out of office?

Or might there be another reason that she is receiving so much attention and funding?

I think there is and it is not exactly apparent at first. Guess who is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations? Not Cuomo. Not Meeks. Caroline Kennedy is though. Hillary is a member of CFR as is Bill, as is Chuck Schumer, the other Senator from NY. CFR needs to replace Hillary with another member of the CFR and they have unlimited funding to do it.

I don't advocate or support either candidate but the appointment of Caroline Kennedy to a Senate seat for the state of New York seems imminent. If you are wondering how in the world Caroline Kennedy is being considered a serious candidate for a US Senate seat then you need to look at who she knows, who she is connected to, and what could she bring for the organizations she represents. Not her qualifications.

Grandpa's Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you and miss you. Hope you have a good day doing what you are doing today, make sure and watch out for Grandma and the rest of us.


Hope that you also like the pie that was left for you on Thanksgiving, it looks like you enjoyed at least one bite. You are still the only one I know that likes mincemeat . . .

China's Opening Move

In order to "combat" pirates threatening container ships off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, China has announced that they are sending two warships to help control the problem. This is the first international mission of sorts for the Chinese Navy, they have not yet ventured this far from home and it will be interesting to see how they react to being in the same waters as US, Indian, Iranian, and French naval vessels.
I see this as an interesting move as the US is the naval force that usually patrols international waters. They used to be rivaled by the intimidating Soviet navy but since the Cold War ended, the US has gone unopposed. China has been building up their military for years but for what reason? They have no enemies that would require forceful military action (with the exception of Japan and South Korea but they have the smarts to not take on China militarily) so why the buildup? Well, here is the opening move. I see this as an opening challenge to US military authority and the start of an ongoing set of situations where the US and China vie for control of the world's waterways. India is also starting to open the door to international military action but they are a bit more experienced as they have had to deal with Pakistan for centuries. India and China have some border disputes but nothing that would lead to conflict or military action. This is a move aimed at the US. Don't be surprised to see an incident, however small, come from the Somali pirate situation between the US and China that could be part of a much larger developing conflict between the two.
Let's also hope the US isn't as stupid as they were last time they were in Somalia and go inland to fight the pirates using the same rules of engagement that allowed Somalia to defeat the US forces. President-elect Obama will have some difficult decisions to make by the end of January and they will have nothing to do with meeting federal prosecutors regarding Chicago/Illinois politics.

Washington Crossing the Delaware on Christmas

When I was 16 years old I remember my family bundling up after we had unwrapped presents that cold Christmas morning in Wilmington, Delaware and off we went in the mini-van to watch the re-enactment of George Washington crossing the Delaware river. Yes, Mom and Dad, I do remember it and I wish I could take my children to see the re-enactment like you took me. Thank you for "making" me attend, I would love to do so with my family some day. It was very cold when we were there and, thank goodness, the re-enactment took place during the day, not under cover of night as it really happened. I don't think I appreciated the sacrifice and the significance of that event until much later in life. Last year I read 1776 by David McCullough and enjoyed it so much, it helped to fill in a lot of gaps of American Revolution history that I hadn't thought about up until that point. That book was most likely the best book that I read all year, I highly recommend it.

George Washington was not having a good year in 1776. The army that had been recruited to fight the war of independence from Britain was not being paid and most men were more interested in going home and taking care of their families than they were fighting against the better-trained British soldiers and the Hessians, German mercenaries hired by King George to help the British regain the colonies. Washington's men were poorly trained, poorly equipped, and malnourished with very few supplies when they arrived at McKonkey's Ferry, PA on Dec.23 A majority of the soldier's commissions were up on Dec 31 and Washington anticipated a mass exodus if some sort of a significant victory was not soon achieved.


He and his generals planned a three-prong attack on the Hessian forces quartered in nearby Trenton, NJ but it had to be a surprise if the Continental Army had any hopes of succeeding. Big Durham boats were brought down and hidden at McKonkey's Ferry, which now housed about 6,000 men fit-for-duty. Due to treacherous ice flows that year in the river, Washington instructed men from Mass. to pilot the boats, hoping that their experience would prove valuable for the crossing. General James Ewing was to bring across his men to the south of Washington and just outside of Trenton while Lt. Col Calwalader was to cross to the north of Washington and attack the Hessians at Mount Holly, NJ.

The password for Christmas Day 1776 was "Victory or Death" which held the same grave sentiment that Thomas Paine had published earlier in the month -

"These are times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."


As darkness crept up early, the men loaded the boats, carrying extra supplies for the planned battle at Trenton. When it was night Washington crossed the Delaware to secure a landing site on the New Jersey side and proceeded to bring all of his troops and artillery pieces across safely. The plan was that all of the troops were to be on the New Jersey shore by midnight but a sudden sleet and hail storm, combined with the dangerous ice flows, delayed the final boats getting across until 3:00 am. All men and equipment in Washington's company made it safely across.

To the south, Gen. Ewing was too afraid of the storm and ice floes and did not attempt the crossing, leaving Washington and his army to fight the Battle of Trenton alone. Lt. Col. Calwalader moved his men across but could not get his artillery across so he recalled his men back to the Penn. side of the river. Washington's armies split into two columns, marched 9 miles south and attacked the Hessians at Trenton. The Germans retreated to the city and then surrendered to Washington and the 2,400 men who had made the crossing, providing the Americans with a huge victory that was beneficial not only in terms of morale but supplies and weapons as well.


The next winter the Continental Army would have another difficult battle with the elements as they set up their winter camp in Valley Forge. Experiences like these forged men and women that sacrificed all they had, even their own lives if necessary, for their freedom and for ours. Let us not forget their sacrifice for us and do all that we can to preserve the cause of freedom in our country before it is taken and we are required to make that same type of sacrifice.

Sec of State Hillary Clinton? Pt. 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an entry on Hillary Clinton and her quest to be appointed the next Sec of State by president-elect Barack Obama and how it was against the Constitution to do so. I cited the emoluments clause in Article 1, Section 6. Well, bless her heart, she has graciously stated that she will work as the Sec of State for what the previous salary was, before she voted for the increase. Isn't that special?

However, there is still a problem.

I was reading an article this morning that pointed out that the Sec of State is a civil office, not an elected office. Nobody elects the Sec of State or any other member of the cabinet, they are appointed by the President and then confirmed by a majority in Congress. That is fine, except in that same clause in the Constitution there is a snag for Madame Sec Clinton. Here is the opening section of the clause -

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any Civil office . . .

Whoa, hold on there. Hillary Clinton was elected to a 6 year term in the Senate in 2006 by the voters of New York state. Her term expires in 2012 and she is eligible for another office in 2013. It is now 2008, she is still in the term which she was elected for and she is being appointed to a civil office (Sec of State). That can't happen, that goes against the Constitution.

This issue came up with Gerald Ford and the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew back in 1973. The 25th amendment gave the President (Nixon) the authority to appoint a Vice President and for Congress to confirm the appointment but was Gerald Ford (a representative from Michigan) eligible for the appointment per Article 1, Section 6? Is the office of Vice President, since Nixon was appointing him and the people had not elected him to that office, a civil office? Yes it is. But the nomination went through anyways and Gerald Ford ended up being President of the United States after Nixon resigned.

Even if Hillary resigns her Senate seat, which she will and let us all pray that Caroline Kennedy or Fran Dreshcher are not appointed to that seat, she is still not eligible for the seat. Not until 2013 when her elected term is up.

Here is the article that prompted these thoughts, the author does an excellent job of laying out the case against Hillary's nomination. The Constitution? Bah, who needs the Constitution!

The Book of Mormon and Conspiracy Theory

One of the things that has been weighing heavily on my mind lately is the patterns of secret combinations in the Book of Mormon and how they are manifest today. I have been studying a book entitled The Hidden Things of Darkness by Christopher S. Bentley that goes through the secret combinations found in Helaman, Ether, 4th Nephi, and Mormon and shows how they were established, how they thrived, what defeated the societies of murder, and what caused them to ultimately triumph. It is a very good book and is very helpful in pointing out what these combinations had in common.
Are there secret combinations today? Absolutely and it is right under our noses, hidden in plain sight. One of the greatest advocates of the Book of Mormon in pointing out the traits of these combinations is President Ezra Taft Benson. He tirelessly, and not without controversy, counseled members to use the Book of Mormon to combat false ideas in government, education, financial systems, and religion. He talked endlessly about communism but many never lent credence to his ideas and pooh-poohed that such a vast system of deceit could remain hidden and under cover.

He was right. He was dead-on right. He is a prophet. Here is a clip of him talking about the Book of Mormon and one of my favorite quotes - "There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon, it is a conspiracy fact."



He recommends a book by Gary Allen entitled "None Dare Call It A Conspiracy", I would also like to endorse the book. You can find it online on this site. Read it, think about it, it will require you to stretch mentally and emotionally but it is well worth it. I would encourage you to take seriously President Benson's warning and educate yourself on the things that are going on. Barack Obama and John McCain were not the problem, they are only players in the game. Communism is not the problem, it is the vehicle with which to carry out the goals and purposes of the men behind the curtain. FDR said that nothing happens by accident in politics, if it happens then it was planned. If anybody should know, it would be him. Fight for your freedom, don't be blinded by that which David Rockefeller and his buddies in the CFR want you to believe is right and true. A New World Order or world government (read EU and UN) are not the best things for this world. Systems like these are designed to take away personal freedoms and place the power in the hands of the few, which allows them complete control. The Constitution must stand and it will with the help of freedom-loving people around the nation.

Twilight - A Guy's Review

Yes - I did the see movie. No - I didn't read the books. Kathryn saw the movie first then read all of the books. I mean, she didn't put the books down for about 2 weeks, I have never seen her digest any series like that before. So after she read the books we went to see the movie for my first time, her second time. It was date night, a Thursday (I work 4 1o's for the state), and there were only 2 other couples in the theater - a far cry from when Kathryn went on opening night a couple of weeks ago.

I went into this movie a little apprehensive, a show that has screaming pre-teen girls can't be all that good for a guy, can it? Horror and thriller movies are not my thing, Kathryn loves them but give me a good Amazing Grace or Dead Poets Society and I am content. I liken this to the Lord of the Rings series when Kathryn went to see them with me. I had read the books several times and knew exactly what was wrong, left out, what should have happened, etc. . . She had never even read The Hobbit (that was corrected this fall as we read it together as a family). So now the shoe is on the other foot. I asked lots of questions during the film and the only time I heard something I really didn't want to know was when she told me why Edward played the piano so well . . .

I liked the movie. I really did. I would go see it again if she wanted to but I don't know how anxious I am to read the books. Here is a list of the things that I liked about the movie -

• The plot kept pace, there were not really a lot of slow mushy parts, but when there was it came at appropriate times. I don't think it dragged at any point.
• There was some subtle and dark humor that I really liked. Loved the use of the word "Chillax" which is a reference to a funny little video I have laughed over for a while. The reference to Bella being dinner when they were at Edward's home and Jasper being a new vegetarian was pretty funny.
• Absolutely stunning scenery and shots, I think that is what made the movie for me. Especially the scene when they are at the very top of the tree after Edward has taken Bella up the mountainside and they were panning across the whole sky and showing the distant river and mountains. Made my bonny feel kind of funny, like when you look over the edge of the building . . .
  
• Loved the baseball game, the visuals and sound were amazing during that scene. Same with the ballet hall at the end and James in all of the mirrors. Very good.
• The anticipation that something was going to happen, and that something has happened before, between Edward and Jacob was nicely done. I guess that will be in the next movie.

OK, now for the stuff I didn't care for -

• Vampires sparkle in the light? What? THAT was cheesy. Sparkle? Come on!
• How is any teenage boy ever going to live up to the Edward Cullen image? The guy has super speed, is dashingly handsome, is an incredible athlete (especially in baseball), plays the piano like Beethoven himself, and constantly has the girl of his dreams on his mind. What pimply-faced sophmore has any chance against an Edward Cullen? Heh, good luck fellas!
• Cedric Diggory, Cedric Diggory. "My boy, my boy is dead!" So, after Cedric dies in Harry Potter he comes back to life as Edward Cullen? :)
• Edward, you have to get a better car than that, especially when you are roaring up to the rescue in Port Angeles to save Bella. That was a wuss car. Get something cooler.

All in all, I liked the movie. I would recommend it and I would go see it again. Two thumbs up.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Happy Birthday to our cute little girl, who today turns 2!

There were a couple of things happening when Savannah was being born - I remember that it was dark and cold that night, she was born later in the evening because Kathryn and I had watched BYU whup Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl earlier and Savannah was kind of enough to wait until the game was done to be born.


I was on call that night for work and I went out of the hospital to get something to eat for Kathryn before she was born. When I got out to the parking lot my pager went off. Somebody was working late and had a problem with an imaging machine that needed to be resolved quickly. I ended up calling a few people and making sure they connected with each other before the problem was fixed. Of all the nights to be paged . . .


Savannah is always happy, she is perhaps the most even-tempered of our children. Her sister Vanessa is an absolute mess-maker while her brother Dallin will sneak food off to his room when nobody is looking and before you know it, a half of a tin of Danish cookies are gone.


Savannah is a girly girl and loves to dress up, have her hair brushed, give big kisses, and cuddle up with her blanket that has fringes on it. She enjoys things that are purple and her hair has stayed blonde since she was born.


Happy Birthday dear little girl!

Awareness Test - Thursday Video

Since I work a 4 10's schedule, Thursday is my Friday. So in honor of the weekend, here is a video that I saw this week that was pretty good. Watch how many passes the white team makes . . .

Light vs. Normal

I was laughed at twice (by my loving wife and then by my loving wife and her friend) in the last week because I apparently don't understand the difference between lightweight and normal vacuums. We have been married for nearly 13 years now and we have had absolutely 0% success with vacuums. We have had many a model, both cheap (during the first years of marriage) and not so cheap (the last few years). About a year ago Kathryn bought a beautiful, as if a vacuum could be anything else, new vacuum and proceeded to let me know who good it was at what it did. I told her it sucked. :) She didn't think that was a very funny joke. Well, after a while of using this new tool it broke. As with most of the things we own that are of value, one of the kids decided that they would take it for a spin and proceeded to break it. I think it was Isaac but there are so many of them running around that I can't keep track.

So we bought a new vacuum. It was yellow now, instead of blue green like the last one which sat in our master bedroom closet and ate up a lot of space (it's not a very big walk-in closet, plus it has lots of Christmas presents), and that is all I really could tell you about it feature-wise. Soon Kathryn said it wasn't working so I unclogged a gigantic mess from one of it's hoses and now it works fine. But she wants a Dyson. Her eyes light up when that guy with the Australian accent comes on the TV and he says profound things about vacuums. So you eagerly look it up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and almost choke on your cheerios when you see that it is $500. For a vacuum with a ball in the middle of it? Come on!

She wanted that vacuum, oh how she wanted that! She dropped several hints this fall about wanting it for Christmas so I decided to check it out and see if I could surprise her with it. She didn't like the one with the ball in the middle. 10 kids and a cat leave lots of stuff on the floor, cream-colored carpet throughout the house doesn't help either so we needed one that really sucked good. (That is so much fun saying, it is like when you are near a dam and you can say "We took the dam road . . . ", etc.) So I looked it up but there was a problem. She wanted this lightweight one but I am thinking to myself "Why does she want a lightweight vacuum when there is heavyweight work to be done in the home?" I puzzled over that and thought that the regular, normal vacuum is what she needed, not some lightweight sissy vacuum that was still going to cost me a small fortune. I hesitated and decided not to get it until I found out why she wanted the lightweight one when it was very obvious that we needed to do some heavy duty work with it. So, I found myself in a situation when she was talking about the vacuum and I suavely mentioned that I didn't see why she needed the lightweight when, duh, it was the regular, normal good vacuum that she needed. She looked at me and then laughed out loud at me for, if I am any good judge of numbers, 5 whole minutes. She had tears in her eyes as she explained that it only related to the weight of the vacuum and not to it's capacity to suck. Dumb man.



She giggled over that for a while and then I found out she told her friends and they both laughed out loud about it too. So feel free to laugh about out loud when you think about it. She is not getting that vacuum either. I don't want her to laugh whenever she sees it or uses it. Ahh, the plight of being an uninformed man . . . :)

Happy Birthday B! Part 2

Happy Birthday to you! (Dah, dah, dah, duh) Happy Birthday to you! (Dah, dah, dah, duh) Happy birthday dear Ludwig van Beethoven! Happy Birthday to you! One of my favorites, especially the Moonlight Sonata, III Presto Agitato. Celebrate responsibly please. :)

Happy Birthday B!

We celebrated Brennan's 11th birthday on Saturday with a huge snowstorm and Mom and Dad being sick from food poisoning! Always so much fun!


We are grateful for Brennan and all of the things he does for our family, we would definitely not be the same without him. He has his own special personality and way of doing things, and those ways are sometimes mysterious to everyone but himself.


He is excited to join Boy Scouts as an 11 year old Scout (Dad is his leader) and to go swimming and camping with them on a regular basis.


He received a backpack for his birthday from his family (the hydration pack part of it made his older brother insanely jealous), Scout supplies from his grandparents, and some Axe body spray and aftershave from his aunts and uncles. Watch out ladies!

Loose vs. Lose

One of my biggest pet peeves - the use of loose vs. lose. If something is lost, we do not say "Did you loose your mind?" but "Did you lose your mind?" If the knot holding the ropes together is coming undone then we can describe it as loose, not lose. I see this mistake frequently on message boards, newsletters, and I even saw it on a sign by the side of the road once. You "lose" the game, not "loose" the game. Here is what happens when you don't understand the difference -


It looks like the 11-year old Scouts applied the tint as well. :)

Crossing the Bar

On Sunday night during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, President Monson told a story about visiting a rest home where a Scottish widow resided. She requested of him that he repeat Tennyson's Crossing the Bar at her funeral, in fact, she wanted to hear it right then. President Monson repeated the first stanza, after which the widow asked him to make sure he practiced! He recited that poem at her funeral later.

I heard that poem many years ago from Elder Haight during a session of General Conference and it now hangs on my wall at work. I have several poems near my laptop, including works by Walt Whitman, John McCrae, Tennyson, Mikhail Lermontov, Aleksandr Pushkin, and William Ernest Hemley. I repeat these daily (silently, of course, no dramatic readings in IT land, we are already wierd enough) and have come to love them and enjoy their beauty. Two of the poems are in Russian (Pushkin and Lermontov), with Death of the Poet by Lermontov as my all-time favoritework. At BYU I had several Russian teachers who required us to memorize poems and short pieces of literature in Russian and for that I will be forever grateful.

For those of you who don't know much about Tennyson, here is a little background. Alfred Lord Tennyson was an English poet, born in 1809 and passing away in 1892. He went to school in Cambridge and met his best friend there, Arthur Hallam. When Hallam died suddenly in 1833 Tennyson wrote perhaps his best work, In Memoriam in honor of his fellow poet. He composed several other works including The Lady of Shalott, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Ulysses. When Tennyson died he was buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey along with Dickens, Chaucer, Browning, Kipling, and others.

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.

One World Under ?

I read an article this morning that talks about the growing possibility of a world government, much like the EU on steroids. That this idea actually has more traction, especially with the incoming Obama administration, is a scary thought and deserves attention from all Americans who love their freedom and liberty. For the last 8 years we have heard about the 'global war on terror', Al Gore and his 'global warming' theories, and lately the state of finances has become an all inclusive 'global financial crisis.' The UN, which thrived under President Clinton but suffered under President Bush, is on the rebound with President-elect Obama's appointment of his close friend, Susan Rice, to be the US ambassador to the UN. Not only that, he has elevated her position to cabinet-level status, thus giving her voice on major decisions coming from the White House.

The UN has shown itself to be corrupt and ineffective in it's mission to promote world peace and solve world problems by getting countries together for effective dialogue. Rogue countries (Iran, North Korea, Iraq at one point, Libya, Russia, China, Venezuala) have ignored UN sanctions and treaties aimed at promoting peace or at weakening dictators. The UN Security Council is a farce with China and Russia having veto power over anything that the US and Britain would like to do, and they use it to prop themselves up, showering themselves with power that is undeserved and used unwisely. Those who run the UN have not shown the ability to resist corruption and can be easily swayed by money or friends of a friend, much like the IOC. Their peacekeepers have been ineffective and are still posted in countries many years after the target conflict has ended even though disengagement has no deadline. Consider this- Bill Clinton was once thought of as the perfect US ambassador to the UN. How appropriate and what a perfect fit.

A one-world government will destroy the sovereignty and freedoms that we now enjoy here in America. If we participate in such a venture then we are goverened by international law, subject to an international court, our representatives are not elected but appointed, the people then have no say, the Constitution is of no more effect, the taxation rate would skyrocket, and we would be like a piece of bark floating upon a storm-tossed sea. No direction, subject to the whims of wind and wave. This is the great and abomanable church that the scriptures speak of - it is not an actual church but world government. The Lord has said to resist this with all that we possess, to weary ourselves by bringing dark things to light, that these things come about through the unrighteousness of those who are goverened. Here is the opportunity. Don't let this happen, do everything you can to stop the advancement, resistance is not futile.

Redemption Song

Redemption songs

We all sat together on the front row of the stake center for the April 2007 Priesthood session of conference. It was myself, my brother-in-law Dave, my nephew Aaron, and my best friend Jess. It had been a good session, like all other sessions, good and something that we would review once the audio downloads came up on the church website and in the Ensign next month. And then it happened. The closing song was a number by the BYU Mens Choir (a choir that I secretly wished I had joined while at BYU), it was an arrangement of Be Still, My Soul with the words taken from Nephi's lament. When it was over and the prayer had been said we looked at each other in amazement, never had we heard a song like that in General Conference. The power was overwhelming and we each felt touched, like we had just witnessed something very special.

Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom?

Dave, Jess, and I served together in the bishopric and we felt like we should get together a priesthood chorus to sing that song. After many months (a year actually) of good intentions, we brought 12 brethren and a wonderful choir director (thank you, Heather!) together and we practiced. And practiced. And practiced. It is an a cappella number that changed keys twice so it was a bit difficult to make sure we were all together, especially on the second key change. We made mistakes and knew triumph, we felt like we were ready. The big day came and we all lined up on the podium. I played the opening chord to get our notes and off we went. It was a disaster. We were off, way off - I think I was most off. I was sick to my stomach, we had practiced so hard and had sounded so good in practice, we had felt the spirit of what we were singing and it was an overwhelming feeling. But if failed that day. I couldn't hide after the song either, I had to sit on the stand with the other members of the bishopric.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery

I couldn't listen to that song for several weeks without being sick, I took it off of my playlist at work and off of my iPod. The song was still beautiful but I couldn't listen to it without thinking that I had done a disservice to the Lord. Like I had polluted something pure and beautiful. Our choir director, Heather, asked me to sing a song in church for a rest hymn. I accepted the music and it was another beautiful song. I practiced with my accompanist, Barbara, but when the day came to sing it I couldn't do it. I had no confidence in my ability to do the song justice. I didn't feel it and I didn't want to do to that song that I had done to I Love the Lord. Among the brethren that sang it, the performance became synonymous with epic failure. I didn't want that, that song did not deserve that label.

None but ourselves can free our minds

I found out that we were going to reperform I Love the Lord at the ward Christmas party on Dec. 6 and I was thrilled to think that we had another shot to do this song justice. Then I realized that I wouldn't be there as we had another obligation arise that night. I was crushed, here was my chance to right a wrong and I would be absent. Then circumstances changed (when you have a lot of kids and one of them get sick, you know that soon the rest will follow) and I had an opportunity, even if it was singing the high first tenor part and it would only be four of us. I was pretty nervous when we got up there to close the meeting but it was sweet. I was relaxed, it felt good, and then I let it go. No more feeling like my effort had been inadequate but that it was accepted. It wasn't grand and glorious, my breath was short in several places, but it was accepted. That was redemption, my redemption song.

Redemption songs: those songs of freedom, redemption songs.

Here is a video of the song we sang and that has touched my life so deeply. I hope that you enjoy it like I do. Again.



Redemption Song lyrics by Bob Marley

A-ha - My Favorite Music Video

Perhaps the greatest music video ever.

Just because it is Thursday.

Emoluments, Hillary, and the President-Elect

Do you know what an emolument is? I thought it was something that proper medication could clear up. It is one of those words your brain automatically skips when you read the Constitution. Apparently President-Elect Barack Obama must have skipped that whole section of the Constitution that contains the part about Emoluments. "Why, that can't be Greg! He is a Constitutional law scholar" Heaven help us if this is the way he will treat the Constitution during his time in office - George Bush fell in love with the Executive Order and now the office of the President will never be the same. Back to emoluments, President-Elect Obama, and Hillary Clinton.

An emolument is compensation, payment if you will, for work done. Here is what the Constitution (Article 1, Section 6, clause 2) says -

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.

What this means is that if a pay increase is authorized by Congress or executive order for an office or position, any of the members of Congress are not eligible to hold that particular office. In January 2008 the office of Secretary of State was given a cost of living increase by executive order. Guess who was serving in the Senate at that time? Yup, the Honorable Senator from the State of New York, Hillary Clinton. She is therefore not eligible to be the Secretary of State. Bill is eligible, knock on wood.

But not Hillary.

This has happened before, with Hillary's husband Bill when he nominated Senator Lloyd Bentsen to be his Secretary of Treasury. Senator Bentsen was confirmed and we know what President Clinton thought about obeying laws and ignoring the Constitution. So did Presidents Carter and Nixon. Just an inconvenience. And now the President-Elect, since he is a Constitutional law scholar so he must know this, is ignoring this minor detail of going against the Constitution. If he chooses to ignore the Constitution and this law, which other ones will he ignore? Change we can believe in - but certainly don't want. Sounds like a lot of continuity to me. Read some other articles about it here and here.

A Tax Plan Worth Looking Into

Have you been pulling your hair out (or rubbing your scalp for those who are follicly challenged) over the past few months about these massive bailouts? I think every major financial company has come to Henry Paulson with his hand out, whining about how if they are not helped then the American, and world, economy will collapse and civilization will end as we know it. Now it is the Big 3 American automakers who feel like they need a hand when what they really need to do is to dropkick the UAW to the curb and restructure to make themselves more competitive against foreign makers. The bailouts have not helped "right" the economy so far although half of the allotted funds have been given out and now Paulsen is saying that he knew that the bailouts would not work. All the while the Federal Reserve is raking in money hand over fist in interest payments on the bailout money. No solution is forthcoming from the Office of the President-Elect either, he is too busy ignoring, or willingly going against, the Constitution in his appointment of Hillary Clinton to the office of Secretary of State. More about that in another post.
Somebody does have a plan though - his name is Louie Gohmert and he is a conservative Congressman from Texas. Rep. Gohmert has been in the House since 2004 so he is not exactly a spring chicken when it comes to how the House works. Last week he proposed that to help the American people by mandating that the Feds give back all of the 2008 income tax that individual taxpayers have payed this year. All of it. Not the little refund (in the case of the Nelson family, a huge refund) some get, but get it ALL back. Not sure how that would fly, he has proposed something else that might gain a bit more traction. He proposes that all individual taxpayers not pay a federal income or FICA tax for January and February 2009. You need an economic boost? Here it is! Not enough you say? Take your monthly gross and multiply it by .66 - that is how much you would get back during the two month period. Not bad, eh? Instead of the government spending my money in the form of a bailout to big corporations, I would spend my money how I need to. I like that idea much better. Read an article about it here.
This won't fly with House Leader Nancy Pelosi, think about all of those wonderful government programs that will suffer! Didn't the Office of the President-Elect promise a middle-class tax cut? Here it is President-Elect Obama, your chance to make good on at least one campaign promise in your first 100 days in office. Too many strings attached to this one and it will never get off the ground but a bold idea nonetheless. Let Rep. Gohmert know that you support him, here is his website. Contact your own Rep and Senators to let them know you support this proposal and let's see if it can gain some momentum.

Perhaps Love

Had a hankering for John Denver today for some reason - perhaps because I love my sweetie so much! Both voices bring so much passion and evoke a lot of emotion. I love this song and will hit replay multiple times when it comes up on my iPod. I hope you like it!

Greg Book Review - The Lizard King / Bryan Christy

There is a story behind this book and I was fortunate to come across this book when I did. Kathryn and I were watching Law and Order:SVU a couple of weeks ago and it centered on the dealings of an animal smuggler. This one dealt in all types of mammals and birds, he had a warehouse full of these animals in cages. That night, all of my dreams were about these smuggled animals instead of the usual unicorns, falling off a cliff, or a snake with a vest rolling a donut up a hill. I was that SL Library the next day and I ran across this book about the reptile smuggling trade. I picked it up, along with a couple of other books, and then read it in 3 days. It was that good.

It is the story of the investigation into the Van Nostrand family - a father/son business that made millions each year smuggling reptiles from all over the word - by a special agent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chip Bepler. The Van Nostrands imported, legally and illegally, thousands of reptiles into the United States each year through Miami and then resold them to pet stores, collectors, and zoos worldwide. The interest in animals was not all natural, sometimes they imported drugs in the bodies of the animals they smuggled in but it was the money that was good. Drugs were much harder to bring as you soon dealt with the FBI and DEA, but nobody cared about animals. The fines were less, jail time was short, and the prosecutor would rather work a drug case than nail somebody for bringing illegal turtles into the country. The reptile trade is a huge business with breeders and hunters laundering their goods through corrupt control agencies in rogue countries and some species being lost due to a high demand from collectors.
Not exactly being a reptile-type guy I was surprised how much I liked the book. The pace was good, the story riveting, and the love of animals by U.S. Fish and Wildlife is evident. These agents are the most underpaid and overworked federal employees - 6 agents assigned to the whole Southeast area alone is not nearly enough to do the job the law requires them to do. My heart went out to the animals, many which died in transit by being stuffed in socks, sewn up in pockets, stacked like sardines in suitcases, or one of the other myriad of ways to hide from the inspectors. Reptiles are cold-blooded so you can safely lower their body temperature and they will stay calm, almost in a trance-like state. I recommend this book highly, two big thumbs up! Here are some pictures of some of the rare species that are regularly smuggled around the world-



A frilled dragon - popular reptile, the inspiration for some of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park.



Indian Star Tortoise - valued for the star pattern



Spix Macaw - world's rarest parrot



Tokay Gecko - the pit bull of reptiles



Tuatara- the living dinosaur

Hail to the REAL Victors!

It is always a glorious fall day when the Buckeyes win and the Wolverines lose but it is especially sweet when they play each other and this is the final result -

Nothing like seeing the hopes of Michigan fans everywhere crushed into pulp. Well, this last Saturday that is exactly what happened as Ohio State walked all over Michigan to the tune of 42-7. One of the more lopsided scores in the rivalry and an unprecedented 5th straight victory for the Buckeyes in the series. Here is a shot of the Horseshoe on gameday-

105,000 of your closest friends all enjoying a Buckeye victory. The star of the game was Beanie Wells, the amazing Ohio State running back. Here is a shot that end zone photographers often see when Beanie gets the ball-

Many thanks to the Ozone.net for the great pictures. At least one of my teams played the entire game on Saturday and didn't let their rival have a sniff of victory. Next year, BYU, next year.

Halloween Pics

Late, I know. We have reached the end of an era as this is Zach's last Halloween to go trick-or-treating (in the Nelson home you go the last time when you are 12) and he hardly dressed up this year (no picture). 9 kids trick or treating for several hours makes for an absolutely incredible Halloween candy haul. Here is the clan!



Brennan as the Prince of Darkness, even though he is wearing his Sunday shirt.



Lauren and Brennan waiting to prey upon neighborhood victims.


Isaac with a terrible green skin fungus, Sabrina Norman in the wagon behind him.


A werewolf (Dallin), Little Red Riding Hood (Vanessa), and a unicorn (Savannah) all trying to co-exist in a wagon pulled by Dad. You can imagine how long the good feelings lasted there . . .


Savannah starting in early with treats that Mom gave to her.


Elias with perhaps the scariest costume in the whole neighborhood, it certainly made the unicorn and Little Red Riding Hood nervous. The glowstick around his neck sort of dampens the horror of it all.


I have no idea what Josh is trying to do with this.


We were well protected that night as both the Hulk (Isaac) and Spiderman (Timmy Norman) accompanied us to each house. Sabrina is in the wagon as a ladybug - the unicorn and the ladybug really hit it off.


Last is the possessed-crawling-fiend-of-the-pit-and-carpet, she who gets into everything and will put anything into her mouth regardless of texture, age, or content. She is seeking out her next meal on the floor.