Random Wanderings

We live in a society that believes the government is at fault for all the social evils of the day. “If we would just fix the government, or get rid of it, then all would be well”, is the predominant thought. “Change” is the catchword of the day.

If in our own selfish interests we succeed in destroying the founding principles of our government and the constitution, we are quickly on our way to destroying our own freedom. Instead of blaming all our problems on the “broken” government, we need to understand the principles behind the constitution that has made it such a successful government and changed the world for the better in many ways.

Our children graduate from school with little understanding of history, government or our civic responsibility. Freedom comes with a price, most of our society has lost that understanding.

I have been reading a book that I think should be required reading for every citizen before they are allowed to vote! It is called, The Genius of America; How the Constitution Saved our Country and Why it can Again by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes

They summarise the experience in framing the constitution to these 5 lessons:

1. Everyone is selfish. This is not to say that people cannot act well or perform acts of great nobility. But essentially people act to achieve their own self-interest, particularly at the level at which government operates: regulating con­duct and redistributing wealth. People are, however, will­ing to trade one benefit for another and sometimes even sacrifice a narrow interest for a broader one that they feel will ultimately do them more good. The government’s job is to find those areas of common ground. That is where we can build a common good.

2. Government is the steam valve of society. It funnels and relieves the pressures that build from competing interests.

3. Political process is more important than product. Consen­sus around a flawed plan can still produce great progress. (The Constitution itself is the best example.) But a “per­fect plan” without consensus will only produce conflict and deadlock. (The Clinton health care debacle is one ex­ample.) Respect for the system is thus a vital prerequisite for progress. When respect is in such short supply, it is no surprise that progress is, as well.

4. The strength of consensus is directly related to the breadth of representation and the depth of deliberation. A sound­bite society where civic education has vanished has little basis for forging strong consensus.

5. Every interest is a special one. The founders would no doubt be amazed by the scale and power of modern cor­porations and trade unions. But they would have no diffi­culty at all with the idea that everyone has wants and desires and that these drive their views and their allegiances to groups and factions. To them, the only meaningful def­inition of the common good would be the agreement that emerged from an inclusive political and legislative process to resolve competing (special) interests.

Other quotes from the book:

Freedom flows from compromise, checks & balances, representation, & process.

The purpose of government is to produce results better than the desires of the people as individuals.

Americans, like everyone else, are willing to trample the “democracy” of others thus endangering their own.

Issues that destroy self government: mistrust, breakdown of authority, increase of debt, depravity of manners, decline of virtue

Public virtue is the ability to see the larger, common good and sacrifice some of your own interests to achieve it.

Selfishness, failure to stand together, failure to display public virtue, is a threat to liberty.

That is the name of a book written by Sheri Dew.

It is one of the most inspiring books of my recent reading. I haven’t finished it yet but it is giving me lots of things to think about.

There is an example she shares in the book about her name badge she was issued when she was in the General Relief Society presidency. Though she carried the badge with her she rarely had to show it. It wasn’t until the day that she was released and therefore the power of the badge became null and void that she discovered how much power the badge really had. She had an early morning speaking assignment and came across a locked door. When she called the security guard to let her in, he told her that all she had to do was hold the badge to the door sensor and it would unlock. All along she had the power with her to unlock the doors to the halls where prophets and apostles walk every day and she didn’t know it until the last day that she had that power.

What she also points out in the book and what I am coming to understand for myself is a similar example of under utilized power available to all baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At that time, by laying on of hands, and with priesthood power and authority is given a gift! The gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We are invited to receive that gift. I think many members carry that gift around with them and rarely ever comprehend or begin to utilize the power that is available to them with that gift. In fact I have known good people who are not members of the church that take more advantage of the temporary gifts of the Spirit. Those gifts that are freely given to all people of the world who ask God (or even their own perception of a higher power).

That gift is only given with the commitment of baptism and the requirements and responsibilities that are a part of that commitment. When those requirements are not met the gift gets harder and harder to access. It also takes practice to use and learn how it is manifest in your life. It is not something you just pick up and have full power and control over.

I have a son who writes a blog called God Speaks to Me. It is a total farce and makes a mockery of sacred things. The really tragic thing is that he does have access to God speaking to him. He just chooses at this time to not meet the requirements and not utilize the gift he has been given.

Some of the potential of this gift:

It is like having a mentor walk by your side on a daily basis and prompt you in the choices that will keep you moving in a progressive direction, giving you confidence and helping to accelerate your growth. It can be a voice of warning to protect you from danger. It can accelerate emotional healing and bring comfort in difficult times. It teaches truth and can help you see through the deceptions of others. It can prompt you in what to say to comfort, inspire, or teach others. It can help you retain learning in school and give you guidance in business and other everyday activities. It can teach you what choices to make to heal physically. It can help you overcome addiction. It can give you hope in seemingly hopeless situations. It can teach you of the mysteries of heaven and earth and testify of the existence of God.

It takes practice to be able to tune into the frequency that your individual soul hears. As you tune in and follow the guidance you are able to hear and recognize easier the promptings and guidance.

For me it is a tremendous blessing in my life and one that I am just starting to really understand the power and potential, though it has been available to me for years and I just didn’t understand how to access the power.

Rethinking thin : the new science of weight loss–and the myths and realities of dieting / Gina Kolata.

This book is very enlightening. Gina Kolata is a science writer for the New York Times. The book is clear full of the latest research (the last 20 yrs) and the unexpected results of that research. She pretty much lets you draw your own conclusions about that research.

The messages I got from the book:

Contrary to popular belief we don’t have as much control over our weight as we are led to believe and being fat is not as bad as we are led to believe.

We have about as much long term control over our weight as we do over our height or skin color. It is genetically determined. There is about a 20 to 30 lb range that our bodies will let us maintain over an extended period of time. At the lower end of that range takes diligence, at the higher end you can pretty much let yourself go. There are a few rare exceptions to that rule but those are usually caused by disease. If we go below that point our bodies will go into starvation mode (whether our weight shows us as being fat or thin) with the resulting consequences.

Obsession with food

Out of control bingeing (like trying to keep holding your breath)

Depression and or anxiety

Hording and secreting food

Lethargy

It will stay in that mode until our bodies gain back the weight to within that safe range.

It is also true for trying to gain weight, when we go above that range our metabolism will increase to the point of where it will be impossible to maintain that weight gain. For me that is a relief to know. I can get rid of the long term fear of becoming morbidly obese if I don’t keep extreme control on my weight.

I have lived a lot of my life in that starvation mode with the resulting poor health and insanity consequences. In many ways I feel healthier now than I have in years even though my weight is considered in the obese range.

After reading this book, and understanding the truths that the long term research are telling us, I got really angry when I heard on the news yesterday about companies charging fines per week to those people who are considered over weight. I also fear for the self-esteem consequences to the children who are considered over weight and the emphasis on trying to get them to loose the weight. (there is a whole chapter on long term research done with the children that blows those prejudices out of the water) This information needs to get out into the mainstream media and counteract those prejudices.

I think it is really important to continue to focus on healthy eating and exercise, but it needs to be done with an emphasis on being healthy not on losing weight. As long as the emphasis is on loosing weight there will be many failures and prejudices. If the emphasis switches to health then we can see success.

If you don’t believe this, then read the research. And stop judging fat people!!!!

This book sure opened my eyes!

Help me change those prejudices, pass this information on to everyone you know!

Viruses vs. Superbugs, A Solution to the Antibiotic Crisis?/Thomas Hausler

This was one of those books that I was just going to do a quick skim through to glean what information I could but instead I found myself totally drawn into it and read every page. It talks about the history and challenges of a medical therapy that was just beginning to be used to combat bacteria when penicillin and antibiotics were discovered. It could be the answer to overcoming those superbug bacteria that have become completely resistant to antibiotics. Though the challenges of getting the money for research to get FDA approval for medical use may be more than any company is willing to take on, the application in the acgriculture and meat production areas could be life changing. A way to eliminate the use of antibiotics in our food sources, which will also help with the overuse of antibiotics. It may eliminate the fear of samonella and mad cow disease. Fascinating book, It will be interesting to follow where phage ( viruses that kill bacteria but not us) therapy goes in the future.

Check the recent reading page for several new book reviews.