Skip navigation

22 minutes in a war zone

Comments (1)

I am beginning to hate, dread, and even fear New Year’s Eve. This year we rang in the New Year at 10:15 with some of our bestest friends only to come home and have it ruined by our worstest neighbors.

Three years ago we were awoken at midnight by fireworks and a chorus of imbeciles shouting “Happy F—ing New Year” which continued for about 15 minutes or so. Apparently they don’t trust their clocks so they wanted to be sure the New Year was really here. I don’t really know how these people can even yell so loud that it wakes me up inside of my house with all the windows closed, or why they think that is acceptable.

Last year we were awoken by multiple gun shots firing repeatedly from the house across the street. When I looked out the window and saw a group of 6 or 7 minors firing a handgun in the air repeatedly I called the police only to be informed that they had a list about 100 addresses long of people reporting similar incidents and that the would never make it to my complaint. Oh well!

This year we were again awoken by gunshots at midnight. I was unable to see anybody firing a weapon or you can bet I would have called the police to report it again. It blows my mind to think that there are people in my neighborhood who are stupid enough to shoot a gun straight up in the air who own a weapon. I become afraid when I think about the weapons they possess. I don’t know anything about guns but whatever this gun is it can fire off at least a dozen rapid fire rounds so fast I can’t even count them. There were two of these guns firing off so close to our home that it was frightening, especially when we heard something land on our roof. Within earshot, but not loud enough to wake me up, if I haven’t already been awake, there were another six similar weapons being fired. All of this went on for 22 minutes.

So what scares me about all of this: 1. What goes up must come down. Don’t these idiots realize that firing a gun in the air means the bullet comes back down at the same speed it left the barrel of the gun — Killing Speed. Rule 1 of gun safety, know your target. 2. These people are violent. A few months ago there was a shoving match in the street outside of our home which ended with a gun shot. 3. These people have tempers. We hear so much shouting and fighting coming from these houses that it is plain to me that tempers are flaring in these homes. 4. These people are drunks. During the summer months we fall asleep to raucous, drunken, yell fests coming from these homes multiple nights a week. Put it all together and you have New Year’s Eve.

Whatever happened to watching the ball drop on TV, or whatever it is they drop in your town. Kissing the one you love and going home to enjoy the New Year?

When did it become acceptable to make any kind of noise at midnight? — I don’t care if it is New Year’s Eve, Independence Day, or Labor Day fireworks make noise, people have jobs and it is not acceptable to make noise in the middle of the night. Set them off before 10 o’clock, then go inside and have a nice enjoyable evening that doesn’t disturb your neighbors.

Dear neighbors, please consider and respect your neighbors and their property. Perhaps we don’t want to be awake in the middle of the night. Maybe we don’t want you to fire your gun in the air and have the bullets come down on our homes.

La Santa Biblia

Comments (2)

The new LDS edition of the Holy Bible is available today from Church Distribution. I ordered my print copy but I was checking it out online and I am downloading the audio recording for my iPod. The new edition is based on the 1909 Reina Valera translation and the church has put years of work into it. It is fully annotated like the English version with cross references to the full LDS cannon of scriptures.

I just did a quick search online (escrituras.lds.org) and it is impressive. When you search for a verb in the scriptures it will search for all the different conjugations of the verb. Super useful!

For example I just searched for “apacienta” and it produced one of my favorite scriptures in Spanish:

Juan 21: 15-17
15 Y cuando hubieron comido, Jesús le dijo a Simón Pedro: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas más que éstos? Pedro le contestó: Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te amo. Él le dijo: Apacienta mis corderos.
16 Volvió a decirle la segunda vez: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas? Le respondió: Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te amo. Le dijo: Apacienta mis ovejas.
17 Le dijo la tercera vez: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas? Se entristeció Pedro de que le dijese por tercera vez: ¿Me amas?, y le dijo: Señor, tú sabes todas las cosas; tú sabes que te amo. Jesús le dijo: Apacienta mis ovejas.

The search also returned verses with “apacienten.”

I was disappointed to see the new translation of this verse however. In English (KJV) the scripture reads:

John 21: 15-17
15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

This reflects the same idea as the above translation. The old spanish translation (RV69) was:

15 Y cuando hubieron comido, Jesús le dijo a Simón Pedro: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas más que éstos? Le respondió: Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te amo. Él le dijo: Apacienta mis corderos.
16 Volvió a decirle la segunda vez: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas? Pedro le respondió: Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te amo. Le dijo: Pastorea mis ovejas.
17 Le dijo la tercera vez: Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas? Pedro se entristeció de que le dijese la tercera vez: ¿Me amas?, y le respondió: Señor, tú sabes todas las cosas; tú sabes que te amo. Jesús le dijo: Apacienta mis ovejas.

Emphasis added to demonstrate the differences. In the RV69 translation Peter gives three distinct responses. 1. Feed my lambs 2. Take my sheep to pasture 3. Feed my sheep. This is great because it implies that first he should give nourishment to the little ones who may have little knowledge. Second, teach them how to nourish themselves. Third, nourish them still. This middle line (pastorea) is lost in the other two translations, but it is presumed that the Apostles have prayed and fasted over this verse and that the English and new Spanish translations better reflect the original intent of John’s words.

Why do I presume they fasted and prayed over these little tiny words? Story time: While on my mission Elder Oaks shared a story with us. He chaired the translation committee for the Book of Mormon. On one occasion the translators working on a Vietnamese translation of the Book of Mormon approached the leadership of the church and asked them if the Brother of Jared was an older brother or a younger brother. This did not seem important to Elder Oaks, but when the translators explained that in Vietnamese there was one word for younger brother and another for older brother and no generic term for brother he took the problem to the Quorm of the twelve Apostles and they fasted and prayed about it. They received an answer and the correct translation appears in the Vietnamese translation of the Book of Mormon. Every word must be correct.

I’m sure the same effort was put in to this translation of the Bible which is why I am anxious to read it.

John Stossel on Healthcare

Comments (0)

A Green Garden

Comments (0)

For the first time since we moved into this house I would call my garden a real success. So far this year we have been able to harvest pretty much everything we have planted . . . and the future looks good. Here is a peek at one evenings pea harvest, one of my favorite gardeners and a pastoral view.img_3199img_3203img_3205

Thank you, Obama

Comments (0)

So, apparently the federal government is regulating Credit Card businesses more strictly. We used to get 30 days between our cycle date and our payment due date, now we get 25 days as mandated by the federal government. Thank you, Obama, oh and thanks for making my payment late, because I didn’t notice the change in due date since it has been the same for the last 8 years. Oh, a late payment results in a $40 fee and a 8% rate hike, Thank you. Lucky for me I called the credit card company and they reversed the fee and the rate hike, but it took twenty minutes of my time, Thank you for that. You sure are looking out for me, Obama.

How often does this happen?

Comments (0)

Since I don’t have a job that provides me with a car I can take home, allow me to be extremely critical of those who do, especially those whose jobs are funded by tax dollars.

Today while in Albuquerque I was behind a police car from Bosque Farms, whose operator clearly was not paying attention to his driving. For those of you who have no clue where Bosque Farms is, its about 15 miles south of Albuquerque. . . . Anyway, as he drove down the road, he missed the fact that the road split from a two way road to a divided road with a median and hit the median at (we’ll assume he was driving the speed limit) 30 mph. His two left hubcaps shot off into oncoming traffic to be run over and destroyed. Both drivers side tires blew out. His car swerved all over the road, he ran a stop sign, and pulled his vehicle off to the side of the road. He jumped out of his vehicle with a bewildered look on his face.

Now, since he was about 15 miles out of his jurisdiction, heading away from Bosque Farms, I can only assume he was headed home. Most police departments around here allow officers to take their vehicles home, and pay for their gas to and from work. My question is this: who pays for those two new tires, the hubcaps, and for someone to bring him another tire, because I’m sure he only had one spare? If I run my car into the median, I have to buy two new tires, I have to buy hubcaps, I have to find someone to bring me another spare or drive me to the tire shop. If I had a vehicle from work, I would probably still be responsible for something that was clearly my fault. If it happened often I would probably lose the privilege to bring home my car. I was unable to find the policy for any local take home programs, but I would venture to guess the taxpayer pays for this guys new tires.

I would be really curious how often this sort of thing happens, and not just with police cars, but what about city vehicles? federal vehicles? APS vehicles? I bet the taxpayer pays for a lot of bad driving.

You might say, what’s the big deal, you don’t pay taxes in Bosque Farms? But I read on their blog that they purchased most of their vehicles with funds appropriated from the state legislature where I do pay taxes.

Ok, Mo, I’ll draw

Comments (0)

Mo Willems, children’s author and radio cartoonist for NPR’s All Things Considered asked viewers to draw their favorite stuffed animal. Here is the story. I did it. You might also enjoy Mo Willem’s blog.ah

I have a question about water-boarding

Tags: ,

Comments (0)

Today I heard about the report being released regarding the decisions made to use certain types of interrogation techniques by the justice department and other senior civilian officials in the U.S. Government.

I have a question: How did the justice department determine that water-boarding was not torture?

The media simply tells us that they made a recommendation to the President. How did they come about this decision? Were the lawyers subjected to the “interrogation technique” known as water-boarding? Did they hear testimony from people who had endured this type of interrogation? How did they determine the precise limits of this procedure? Did doctors or psychologists testify as to the impact of this tactic on individuals? It seems to me that the media is leaving something out.

I would assume that the idea of water-boarding was “put on trial” and that a decision was reached, but I have no way of knowing.

The one thing I know for certain is that I do not know if water-boarding is torture. I do not know what torture is. I have never endured anything resembling torture. I wonder how these lawyers could make this decision.

The thing I find most disturbing (based solely on the reporting of mainstream media, including NPR) is that military lawyers advised against using water-boarding while the justice department concluded it was acceptable.

GroGood

Comments (0)

The people at MiracleGro are asking you to plant an extra row for the hungry this year. Find a foodbank near you and take your excess produce from your garden and feed the hungry.

Visit www.GroGood.com

Britain’s Talent

Comments (0)

For those of you who missed it. This woman has some incredible talent. She’s down to Earth and knows how to choose the right song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY