The BP oil spill catastrophe did not have to be this bad. It’s one thing to gush millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s quite another to disrupt the lives of millions of Americans – needlessly.

Obama Gaffe

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines gaffe as a social or diplomatic blunder. At freedictionary.com, gaffe is defined as a clumsy social error.

Many news organizations and web sites have concentrated on gaffes made by BP such as lying about the amount of oil blasting into the gulf or BP CEO Tony Hayward wanting his life back, etc. You’ve read and seen many such faux pas. (Note to students: the spelling of faux pas does not change between singular and plural usage but the pronunciation does. "Fo Pa" is singular; "Fo Pas" is plural. Synonyms would be blunder, foul-up or whatever slang you choose to describe it.)

The Obama Administration made the supreme gaffe, and it could very well change the outcome of the 2010 elections if something is not done fast. It may be too late, already. (continued below)

Compare the photo at left to the one above. This is what Americans want…and expect. We want a clean beach, not a closed sign. You see, the Washington elite have no idea about what Main Street Americans do when planning a vacation.

We’re not rich. We don’t have the luxury of taking off on a moment’s whim. We, the small people, work for a living and must plan our vacations precisely. A friend of mine must put his name on the vacation list each October for the following year. That requires advance planning. Do you have any idea what it’s like to plan a Florida beach vacation nine or ten months in advance, cut discretionary spending to save for that vacation, and show up to see a Beach Closed sign?

Vacations mean something to us "small people" who have been working with little or no increases in our salaries because the inflation rate is good, if you don’t count gasoline and groceries. That’s exactly what we spend a great deal of our money on – gasoline and groceries. We’re not paid enough to have brokerage accounts so we invest what we can in 401K plans; and that went to hell-in-a-handbasket in 2008. Many of us have seen our retirement goals delayed or destroyed. At least we can take a few days away from it all and take a nice vacation. Oh, wait!!!

The biggest gaffe, Mr. President, occurred when our beaches were not protected at all costs. Yes, hotels and restaurants on the Gulf Coast have been affected. Fishermen have been affected. Many have lost, are losing or will lose income. Yes, BP has pledged to help these people out by helping them recover lost income. But, Mr. President, you cannot help us "other" Americans recover a lost vacation.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

The Platinum Award for having one’s head planted firmly up one’s ass goes to Republican Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri. He does a DIS-service to his party and his nation by insisting the taxpayers of the United States spend $485 million dollars for an unwanted piece of equipment for the military.

For four years, the Pentagon has been trying to get rid of this program. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would urge President Obama to veto any bill that extends the competitive engine program.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said this piece of equiment "is an unnecessary luxury we simply cannot afford, especially in our current fiscal condition."

The Problem for Everyone Else

Congressman Akin and his cohorts in crime on the House Armed Services Committee added this $485 million boondoggle to the Defense Spending Bill. Now, exactly how many members of Congress do you suppose will vote against defense spending? I can see it now: Republicans bash Democrats and President Obama for being soft on defending our nation. (more below)

The committee also decided to give a no-bid contract to Pratt and Whitney, a United Technologies Corporation unit, providing them with a ten-year monopoly on the airplane engine market. Being the good guys and gals that they truly must be, they also decided to give the Pentagon thirty F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter plans, eight more than they wanted.

In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if I got enough awards to go around ’cause there seems to be a whole lot of folks in the House of Not-Really-Representing-Citizens who have their heads firmly stuffed deep. So, with that said, here are YOUR Congressmen and Congresswomen:

House Armed Services Committee Members

Sixty-one members of the House of Representatives on one committee? Reckon there’s any back scratching going on there? With Republican Akin and the Democratic committee chairman both from the Show Me state of Missouri, should it be any wonder this would be the Show Me the Money Committee?

I mean, in other action taken by the committee, they made plans to spend $10.3 BILLION for ballistic missile defenses, which is $361.6 million more than requested by President Obama. But Rhode Island Congressman Langevin explained that the extra funds would strengthen our defenses against "the most immediate threats from nations such as Iran and North Korea." What immediate threat is he talking about? Can either of those countries launch a missile capable of reaching the United States? I think he just read the headlines in the newspaper and found a couple of countries he could throw in as a justification for overfunding the President’s request. Boy, it’s a good thing Australia didn’t invade Antartica!

Oh, the committee did come up with one money-saving idea. Rather than funding the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System with the requested $352 million, they cut out $300 million. One of the functions of the NPOESS is to provide information to the military about weather conditions so they’ll know whether or not to fly those planes they don’t want.

The NPOESS website says, "The NPOESS will circle the Earth approximately once every 100 minutes. [It] will be able to monitor the entire planet and provide data for long-range weather and climate forecasts. The data gathered by the NPOESS will aid in reducing the potential loss of human life and property by allowing more efficient disaster planning and response to severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and floods. Military users will benefit from the NPOESS as well, tactically and strategically. The NPOESS will permit the military to capitalize on favorable weather conditions or avoid harsh weather conditions that could hinder maneuverability."

Then, again, I guess ocean-monitoring is not on anyone’s agenda. After all, what could possibly happen out in the ocean that could affect the citizens of the United States?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas. Keep up with Arkansas Elections 2010.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Washington, Wonkheads and Willy-Nilly politicians simply don’t get it. Americans are tired of do-nothing political parties. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party have failed to produce a government of the people, by the people and, especially, FOR THE PEOPLE.

The latest example: Americans are tired of deficits. We tried it using credit cards and got our ass burned by big banks. Now, we don’t really appreciate Washingtonians running around building higher and higher deficits by spending money we don’t have or cutting taxes for the richest among us.

Republican Jon Kyl and Democrat (DINO) Blanche Lincoln want to cut about $250 million in estate taxes for the richest Americans. This is $250 million more than what was done during the Bush Years. Now is not the time to cut these taxes.

It’s Time to Pay the Bills

We know that America has long had a deficit that must be paid sometime. We know that the Clinton Administration left office with a budget surplus (taking in more than was being spent). We know the Bush Administration ran wild by cutting taxes and spending billions of unfunded dollars. (continued below)

An unfunded dollar is like using a credit card when you don’t have the money and really don’t know how you’re going to pay the bill when it comes due. Perhaps it’s time to do something none of us really wants to do – Pay the Bill. It will help when the tax cut for the rich comes to an end later this year, but we don’t need Senators Kyl and Lincoln giving them another cut.

People quickly talk about cutting Social Security and Medicare. It would not be morally right to do that with so many people having made plans based on those programs being available. More importantly, there are a great number of people who have been forced into factoring those programs into their future because of personal tragedies in the financial industry.

As bad as it hurts our feelings, Congress needs to increase the Medicare withholding tax by at least one percent (1%). While they’re at it, they need to increase the FICA tax by one percent (1%) as well. For those of you making $500 per week, those taxes would cost you $10. Ten bucks to help stabilize Social Security and Medicare is not a bad deal, and it would reduce the burden on our children in the future.

It’s Time to Pay for the Unfunded War

Yes, it’s important to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to stem the flow of dollars, but we need to pay for what has already been spent. Let’s increase the severance tax on oil being taken from our reserves by corporations not incorporated in the United States. This would include all three of the ones involved in the Gulf Oil Spill: BP, Halliburton and Transocean. Oh, you thought only American companies were drilling in the Gulf?

Part Two of this would be termination of Halliburton contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They can’t, or won’t, tell us where the money is going, so stop giving it to them!!!

It’s time to end the tax benefits for companies sending American jobs overseas. This should be a no-brainer. After all, why is the government subsidizing the reduction of our tax base? Let me put this a bit more plainly. We are currently spending money to lower our income. Is there a school in America that teaches the value of increased expenses and reduced income? Those of you who are Capitalism Hawks ought to be jumping on this with both feet.

Hey Washington -

We’re tired of listening to you blame one another for getting nothing done. Either get it done, or come home. Oh, wait a minute – we’re going to take care of that for you, I hope. I took part in early voting the other day and, though I really did not plan it this way, I walked away not having voted for a single incumbent.

I do not belong to the Tea Party movement. I’m just a pissed off American citizen.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

If you have been counting signs at Tea Party rallies, you know that socialism is very much on their minds. At a Tea Party rally in Minnesota one lady said, "I want Medicare. I just don’t want the government involved in it." Sorry, lady, but Medicare is a government program and, yes, it is an example of socialism. In other words, it is a government program designed to provide a benefit to the people paid for by taxes, just like the Interstate Highway System…and your local police and fire departments.

Another lady interviewed by the New York Times at the Washington Tax Day Rally was Jodine White of Rocklin, California. Jodine finally said, "I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security. I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind."

What I find extremely intriguing, though, is that Karl Marx could easily have been a modern-day Tea Party leader, you know, if you look at it from the perspective of losing things you need. Of course, one major difference is that Marx blamed corporate capitalism rather than government for the problems of the masses.

Known as the Marxian Laws of Capitalism, Marx mentioned the following issues:

1. a reserve army of the unemployed
2. a falling rate of profit
3. business crises
4. increasing concentration of industry into fewer firms, and
5. and increasing misery among the people (continued below)

Reserve Army of the Unemployed

What is the purpose of having a large number of unemployed persons? It simply allows the corporation to hold down wages "because there are a large number of people willing to do the job at this wage." Today, not only does America have a sizable army of unemployed, but many of the jobs have been sent beyond our national borders or workers have been brought to America from low-wage areas of the world.

The basic rule still holds: it allows corporations to hold down wages.

Falling Rate of Profit

Corporations use falling rate of profit, especially in today’s stock market world, to justify just about anything and everything. Stock analysts are wooed and feted as though the corporation is seeking a lifelong mate, and, perhaps they are! Assuming you haven’t had your head in a hole for the past two decades, how many times have you heard that employees are being laid off? Why? To guard against a falling rate of profit.

Perhaps there has been a change or two in employee benefits to guard against a falling rate of profit. Corporations are changing health insurance plans to lower their costs. Corporations have stopped making contributions to a retirement plan (if they have one at all) or have reduced or stopped their 401K match.

Why don’t employees just pack up and go somewhere else? See Reserve Army of the Unemployed above.

Business Crises

The Global Economy is the buzzword for business crisis. Corporations "must" layoff employees in order to compete. Corporations "must" send jobs overseas in order to compete. Corporations must hire low-wage workers from other countries in order to compete. Corporations "must" scale back employee pay and benefits in order to compete. Maintain a Reserve Army of Unemployed and protecting the Rate of Profit are seen as business crises.

Increasing Concentration of Industry into Fewer Firms

Karl Marx was truly a prophet if he envisioned the world of corporate mergers we live in today. Even Ross Perot’s old mega-company, Electronic Data Systems, has been swallowed by Hewlett Packard. And you’d need a scorecard to keep up with bank mergers. A lack of serious government oversight led to "too big to fail" and we have seen firsthand how that has impacted the American and world economy.

How many jobs have been lost due to corporate mergers? And why are mergers the "big" thing? To protect the rate of profit, maintain an army of unemployed and be able to compete in the global economy, of course.

Increasing Misery Among the People

Now we have a link to the American Tea Party Movement. The signs they carry and the talks they give seek light above the darkness of misery they perceive. But they’re not the truly miserable. Look to the millions of Americans without health insurance. Look to the millions of Americans who are unemployed or underemployed.

Many of these were riding the same economic bubble that permeated American society. Lured by easy credit and adjustable rate mortgages they became part of the boom that went bust. Ronald Reagan’s trickle down economic theory has never been more evident as scandals of Bernie Madoff, Wall Street and others trickled down to wipe out the life savings of many Americans.

The Goldman Sachs scandal may very well prove to be the tip of the iceberg as Wall Street firms created investment instruments to rob the poor and give to the rich.

Misery has visited and is visiting the people, and it’s doing it in so many places.

Misplaced Frustration

The American Tea Party Movement places blame at the door of government, and I will agree that goverment failed to protect its citizens. The lion’s share of that failure, though, lies in government not providing adequate oversight of corporate wheelings and dealings.

How do you get government to protect the citizens from corporations? By doing the very things Tea Partiers don’t want done: government oversight.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

The Tea Party Express Tour motored into Little Rock April 3, 2010 to the excitement of a few hundred people gathered at the Arkansas State Capitol.

A number of those gathered were Tea Party regulars, having been in Washington on September 12, 2009 and also in Searchlight, Nevada a few days earlier. I talked to one man who was joining the caravan in Little Rock and planned to continue his travels through the rally in St. Louis on Monday, April 5.

I circled the crowd and weaved through those gathered numerous times and am quite happy to report that I saw no display of weapons. These people had peaceably gathered to express their displeasure with the way things were going in Washington D. C. That’s the way it should be.

A few political candidates were in attendance: Trevor Drown is running as an independent for U. S. Senate; Conrad Reynolds is running for the same position on the Republican ticket, as is State Senator Kim Hendren. I did not see any other candidates I recognized. If there was a theme, it’s that Blanche Lincoln needs to be voted out of office. The banner pictured here stood above a table where attendees could sign a petition to get Trevor Drown’s name on the ballot. He needs to gather 10,000 signatures. You can learn more about these candidates at Arkansas Senate Election 2010.

Singer Songwriter Diana Nagy led the crowd in singing the National Anthem, even though her voice had almost disappeared due to the several months of traveling and singing in all sorts of weather conditions. I am including a video of Diana leading this song at another rally where her voice was much better than when she visited Little Rock.

Diana was followed by Singer songwriter Lloyd Marcus, who performed his Tea Party Anthem, in almost the exact way as shown in this video taped in San Antonio in September, 2009.

I’ll be adding a few more thoughts about the Tea Party movement over the next few weeks and months. After attending the Little Rock rally, it doesn’t appear as bad as portrayed by some media outlets, nor is it as good as portrayed by others. Certainly, I saw a few things at the rally I could not support, but, honestly, I could say that about any political rally. Please support our supporters.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Health Care Reform in 2010 has corrected a few things that, I’m guessing, most Americans did not know existed. Let’s take a look at one item put into law in 2003. At that time, the Bush administration and Republican-led Congress prepared to expand Medicare to include prescription drug coverage.

Nevermind the fact that the legislation did not provide for competitive pricing. A few large corporations that provided prescription drug benefits for their retirees threatened to cut off that benefit since those retirees could take advantage of the proposed Medicare benefit.

So, Congress said, "We’ll give you a subsidy to help you pay for that benefit. Not only will we give you the money, but we’ll allow you to use it as a deduction and get a tax benefit as well."

Think about that. The federal government was giving money to the corporations. When those same corporations spent the money, they could then claim it as a deduction on their taxes just like they had spent their own money.

The recently passed Health Care Reform legislation eliminates that deduction. Corporations will now be paying more taxes since they can no longer "double dip" the subsidy money. Recents announcements about write-downs provide a little insight into how much this ill-advised program was hurting government revenue.

A T & T announced they would be taking a $1 BILLION write off. Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, expects to record a charge of about $100 million in the first quarter of 2010, due to new tax liabilities. John Deere is also expecting to write off $85 – $90 million. Verizon is taking a look at how they’ll be affected but hasn’t released any figures yet.

The fact is that the government will receive more tax revenue because of this one correction.

I’m quite sure unemployed workers wish unemployment benefits had worked like that. Yes, they were receiving a subsidy from the government from unemployment insurance that their employers had paid for. But, quite a bit of that income had to be paid for COBRA coverage to continue their health insurance. However, not only did the unemployed have to pay taxes on the amount of their unemployment checks, they could NOT DEDUCT the cost of COBRA coverage unless it exceeded 7.5% of their adjusted gross income and they were able to file itemized deductions on the tax return.

Let me put it this way. I know one person who received an unemployment benefit of $400 per week after losing a $1,000 per week job. (continued below)

Out of that $400 per week, that person had to pay $750 each month for COBRA continuation of health insurance benefits. That didn’t leave very much income for paying bills, eating and things that are a part of everyday life.

Now, that was back in 2008 before President Obama led Congress in providing better relief for unemployed workers. America seems to be taking from the corporations and giving to the people. Is that a bad thing?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter is running for the United States Senate. His primary challenger is Blanche Lincoln, the current Senator who has become highly unpopular in her home state because of consistently waffling or not favoring issues of importance to her constituents.

Bill Halter can win. He was instrumental in helping set up a free health clinic for Arkansans in association with the initiative begun by Keith Olbermann. He led the fight for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery which is the only lottery in the United States that provides 100% of its funds to college scholarships.

Arkansas students with a 2.5 GPA who attend an Arkansas college can apply for $5,000 per year in scholarship funds.

Since his announcement on March 1, support has flowed to him from many directions, not the least of which are Arkansas supporters who have given an average $30 contribution. The number of these contributions generated over $1 million dollars in a short amount of time. The national media has taken notice (see below).

The Ed Show Interview

The Rachel Maddow Interview

Arkansas Free Health Care Clinic

Bill Halter Announcement

Learn More About Bill Halter

Bill Halter on Facebook

Bill Halter on Twitter

Bill Halter on MySpace

See more about the Arkansas Senate Election in 2010

Willard Mitt Romney is a Mormon who may very well be the Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in 2012. What does it mean to be a Mormon, and what does Mitt Romney believe?

Former President George W. Bush is but one example of how a political official’s religious beliefs influence how he or she acts to carry out reponsibilities. Can there be anything more revealing about a person than his or her religion? It is, perhaps, the most personal decision a person will make during this life.

A vast majority of Americans say they are religious, and the greatest number of that majority profess to be Christians, a religion based on what is commonly called The Holy Bible. There are several versions of that Bible, the most common being the Catholic version and the King James Version. The Mormons seem to make use of the King James Version (based on scripture quotations found on their website) in addition to their own Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon – Introduction

(Source: The Official Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © 2006 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/introduction)

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah around the year 421 A.D. About 1,400 years later, on September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language. Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

The Story of Jesus Christ Continued

Basically, the Book of Mormon continues the story of Jesus Christ, and it’s a story that was not known by the Apostles and Writers of the New Testament. Nor was it known by Writers of the Old Testament even though the major events occurred during that time. You may remember the Tower of Babel account in the Bible. According to the Book of Mormon, a group of people known as the Jaredites came to America at that time. Then, about six hundred years before Jesus was born another civilization came to America comprised of the Nephites and Lamanites. Only one group remained after thousands of years, the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

According to the Third Book of Nephi, chapters 11 through 26, Jesus Christ visited the Nephites in America. He chose twelve of the Nephites and gave them authority. (And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, [now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve] and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am. – Chapter 12, Verse 1).

The chosen twelve were Nephi, Timothy, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Kumen, Kumenonhi, Jeremiah, Shemnon, Jonas, Zedekiah, and Isaiah.

A New Priesthood

On May 15, 1829 John the Baptist visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said "that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second."

How the Book of Mormon was Interpreted

Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith’s wife told her son, Joseph Smith III, how his father translated the Book of Mormon, "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us."

David Whitmer was one of the Three Witnesses, and much of the translating happened in his home. He said, "I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man."

Conclusions

It is not for me to claim whether or not there was a spiritual guide from heaven who came to America to establish a new church. I wasn’t there. I have no more firsthand knowledge of how the Book of Mormon came into existence as I do how the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible were written. I’m talking about the first five books as approved by the Council of Laodicea in 364 A. D. There were many other scriptures but the Council approved five: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The question to be answered is this: Is Mitt Romney too far out of the mainstream in his religious belief? Does it matter?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Health care insurance premiums are rising again, and the health insurance gurus are blaming it on rising health care costs. Well, it’s true. Health care costs in America. It really, really costs.

Regular readers of this blog may remember my wife’s $2,500 sprained, and possibly broken, ankle. That was just the visit to the emergency room and did not include the followup visit to our primary care physician and the $143 boot for her foot.

2009 is behind us now, and I can report to you that our health insurance paid absolutely nothing for our medical care last year. Nothing. Nada. Not one cent. Why? Our deductible was $2,300, and our $2,000 in bills didn’t quite make it. But we got close. This year our deductible is $100 more. And, yes, our premium went up, too. Now, our premium didn’t go up because of our health care costs to the insurance company – they didn’t pay anything last year!

Health insurance costs in California almost made me feel ashamed of complaining about my personal situation. The Los Angeles Times published a story, "Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies" that told of exhorbitant increases of up to 39%. One couple reported their new premium will be $27,336, up from $20,184. The new amount exceeds the poverty level in California for a family of five.

Now, let’s just assume this family of two earned $4,000 per month, prior to getting laid off. They would qualify for California’s maximum unemployment benefit of $450 per week, or about $1,800 per month. To keep their health insurance would cost $2,278 per month. You don’t even need Jethro Bodine to tell you that you can’t pay $2,278 with $1,800. You could come close if you moved out of your house and ate out of garbage cans.

Is this the health care we want in America?

Health Insurance Profits

The situation with Anthem Blue Cross in California is being investigated to make certain at least 70% of the premium is being paid out in benefits. In other words, 27.3% of that 39% increase must be paid out in benefits. That leaves 11.7% for employee pay raises and profit. And exactly how much do you expect the employees are getting in pay raises? 1%, 2% if they’re good?

But that’s not all. Anthem Blue Cross of California was fined $1 million by the state. Anthem was rejecting 20% of claims and canceling policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients. Only in California? Not on your life. In Nevada, Anthem was able to negotiate a settlement with the state for about $1 million. In Kentucky, Anthem was ordered to refund $23.7 million to seniors and disabled patients because of inaccurately processed Medicare claims. And Colorado got a $5.7 million refund for its Anthem customers.

Is this what Republicans are trying to protect?

Health care is not okay in America. Health insurance is not okay in America. The ONLY way to fix the problem is with Medicare for All, but we are running from it as hard as we can. Well, at least the politicians are running from it, and those who are blindly following the lies being paid for by the health care and health insurance industry.

Think about it. Get the facts, and tell your friends. America must do something! Oh, and you might want to read about our new American Beer Party.

Sites We Like

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Senator Blanche Lincoln is currently the only candidate from the Democratic Party (and probably will stay that way) for the United States Senate in the 2010 Election, but she has drawn opponents from across the wide spectrum of the Natural State’s Wannabe Population.

It sorta reminds me of roadkill on a hot Texas highway with an entire army of buzzards circling. This feast appears that it will also feature a fruitcake or two. One of her opponents has a history of two statewide races, but he lost both of them. One of those races featured him as the Republican nominee against the good Senator Lincoln the last time she ran.

Apparently, this is the year of the soldier. There are two colonels and a Green Beret that served in Afghanistan in the race. There is a Green Party candidate who favors Medicare for All. There are two guys calling themselves Independents, though one of them spoke at a Tea Party rally where the other person on the stage was Michelle Malkin, a Fox News contributor.

Those of you who have followed my opinions about Senator Lincoln know that I think she really let America down on the health care issue, sort of like might near every other dude and dudette in the United States Senate. You know that rather than 1,700 or 17,000 pages of junk, I’d have preferred just a few short words, "Medicare is available to everyone who wants it." That way, the folks who think their current health insurance is the bee knees could have continued on like nobody’s business. And those who don’t live amidst delusion could have chosen Medicare. The Medicaid program could have been blended in like folding eggs into a cake recipe, and all those administrative costs eliminated. And ol’ Ben Nelson would not be guilty of extortion. But, alas and alack…

Arkansas Political Retirements

United States Congressmen from Arkansas, Vic Snyder and Marion Berry, have announced their retirement. I’ve been a long time supporter of Vic, ever since he ran the first time and walked up to me while I was mowing the yard and asked for my vote. For those who don’t know, Vic’s wife surprised him with triplets not too long ago. And I’m kinda thinking she told him to come home and help take care of ‘em. My wife woulda shot me if she’d had triplets, so I’m thinking Vic is making the right move.

I also applaud Mr. Berry for his decision. Now, I know a lot of folks might think a 67-year old is a young man when it comes to Washington. That, of course, is one of the problems. But Congressman Berry is a 67-year old lifelong farmer. Farmer’s ain’t like other people. They work their butts off. Well, maybe not those corporate farmers drawing huge subsidies from the government. If you ain’t never been up in northeast Arkansas where Mr. Berry hails from, you ain’t seen what farming can do to a body. There was a time in my life when my backyard was a soybean field and just across the road from my front yard was a cotton field that stretched as far as the eye could see. Now, while a lot of things might be modernized, I’ve seen a lot of folks walking that cotton field with a hoe (the tool with a cutting edge) chopping cotton.

I wouldn’t make too much of the fact the McCain carried Berry’s district in 2008. It wasn’t because people liked his politics. And I fully expect the Democrats to come up with somebody that will keep the Republicans out. They been a might testy in that area of Arkansas since 1861. Y’all remember how Arkansas voted to NOT join the Confederacy. A few weeks later, President Abe Lincoln told the Arkansas governmor to send 700 troops to fight against the folks in South Carolina and Georgia – you know, where the Arkansans had moved from and still had tons of kinfolks there. A few weeks after that Arkansas took a vote to rethink their allegiance to Abe. For you historical-buff types, the army of Mr. Lincoln never captured the Arkansas government and folks up in northeast Arkansas know full well in their hearts that Arkansas never surrendered. Add on the reconstructionists and those called carpetbaggers that came after the war, and there just ain’t much taste for Republicans in Berry’s district.

Anyway, things ought to be sizzlin’ in Arkansas during this political season. The folks at Online Little Rock have an Arkansas Elections 2010 section that grows and grows as more folks throw their hats into more rings. You might also be interested in the American Beer Party Movement – don’t be messin’ with Sweet Tea in Arkansas.

Other Websites that Support Uncle Brice

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.