Dear Britain,
Sometimes I look at my country, and I think it is the most ludicrous and uniquely degenerate place on earth. And then you go and do something … like … this.
I know our break up 2 centuries ago wasn’t really very amiable, but something in me appreciates your company, while we are both rotting and crumbling from the inside.
thanks,
Uncle Sam
His Majesty likes seeing it put this way.
-Thus American rabbi Jonathan Cahn.
… like Israel turning to Russia for military coooperation.
It’s nearly as discouraging as the ascendancy of Trump.
September 22, 2015. The Deseret News.
The same criticisms apply, of course, to The Hillary and The Bernie.
Dr. Frank Bruno, who ran the Mormon blog aggregator at mormonblogosphere.blogspot.com passed away earlier this year at age 59. www.lindquistmortuary.com/notices/Frank-Bruno
He was a prolific blogger; profile at: www.blogger.com/profile/18061544604584544836
I lost count, but I think all 8 of their children (he was married to the blogger known as Bored in Vernal) went on missions.
He authored at least one book that is online: http://mormonmission.blogspot.com/2007/10/foreword.html
And I found a dozen of his papers at: http://byu.academia.edu/FrankBruno
It was he who brought my blog to the attention of Elder Ballard.
Given that a small number of federal expenditures — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, national security, and interest on the debt — typically constitute about 80 percent of all federal spending, and given that we are not going to cut non-defense discretionary spending to zero, there is no mathematically plausible way to balance the budget without: 1) cutting spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and/or national security; and/or 2) raising taxes. So, what’s it going to be: spending cuts in popular programs, higher taxes, or deficits forever? And before you give your answer, I’d like you all to know that standing behind each of you is a man with a Taser and instructions to use it on the first person whose answer relies on the Growth Fairy — lookin’ at you, Jeb — or the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Fairy. Go.
I recently watched an episode of “The Jim Gaffigan Show” with a bit of dialogue that perfectly encapsulated a thought that’s been bouncing around my head for a while. For those who aren’t familiar with Jim Gaffigan, he’s a “clean” but still very famous comedian who is basically a stereotypical Irish-American Catholic dad from the post-War era; his wife is more devout than he is, but he still is fully supportive of raising his kids as Catholics, with all that entails. He plays himself on the show, which is based on his real life.
In this episode, Jim’s wife invites their local parish priest, a gregarious young man from Africa named Father Nicholas, to go to Jim’s next stand-up, without asking Jim first. Jim hates the idea because he’s convinced that having a priest in the audience will kill the mood, but he gives in and takes Father Nicholas anyway. Right before they walk into the comedy club, they have the following exchange: (more…)