News Article About President Hinckley

SALT LAKE CITY 29 January 2008 With arrangements for the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley under way, tri butes from the Church leadership to President Hinckley’s life and service were issued today.

Tributes came from President Thomas S. Monson, who served as the First Counselor in the First Presidency, and also President Henry B. Eyring, former Second Counselor. A tribute was also issued from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Thomas S. Monson:

“It was my privilege to know and love President Hinckley long before either of us was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency. Through the years I have sat next to him, have served with him and have learned from him. I am a witness to his prophetic calling.

“President Hinckley was prodigious in his work ethic and was totally dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a friend to one and all and a leader who inspired spirituality. His outreach on an international scale was unprecedented. He was truly a prophet for our time. Like the Master, he devoted his life to doing good, and God was surely with him. His life was a gift to the world.”

President Henry B. Eyring:

“President Hinckley had the gift to make people want to do better and to feel that they could. Last Tuesday I sat in a meeting with him as he considered and then decided matters of great importance, some about individuals and some affecting the entire Church. He was pleasant, incisive, and clearly inspired. For me, he raised the standard of what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, giving all.”

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles express our heartfelt love and admiration for President Gordon B. Hinckley and the singular life of service he lived. He was our prophet, our leader, our brother and our friend. We feel a deep, personal loss at his passing. He unfailingly demonstrated his devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, whose witness he was at home and abroad.

“We will miss his wit and his wisdom, his leadership and his love. However, we cannot but rejoice in his reunion with his beloved Marjorie, with his parents and other family members who have gone before, and with the prophets of God, both ancient and modern, among whose eternal ranks he now stands. As the Quorum of the Twelve

Apostles we echo the voiceof the Master, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant. … Enter into the joy of thy Lord.’ ”

This was one of the saddest things that I have experienced in my life. I know that President Hinckley is in paradise with his wife now and that he is very happy, but I'm going to miss him.

An Awesome Site

Check out this website. Its really cool it teaches the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. By the way, I am a member of this church and I know that it is true and I cannot deny its truthfulness because the Spirit of God has witnessed the truthfulness of it to me.

Quote:

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Punk is a Call to Change

The political aspect and the lack of concern for humanity are why I am so enraged with society. Maybe now you can comprehend why the punk genre soothes my mental stress and understand why I believe in the message. These two musical tracks are true to the punk genre and provide key elements about society's issues. We create societies and implicate components in it such as welfare, false ideals of success and propaganda by media. The punk scene understands these implications and tries to stop the corruption and make the world a better place. Oh yeah, and if we cannot change civilization for the better we will destroy it! Let's change social order and create utopia.

Rise Against

The second song on my sound track of life is Rise Against's "Swing Life Away". The group is a hardcore punk band that originated out of Chicago and is fairly well known because of the Van's Warp Tour. The band has received accolades. For example, it was in the "Lords of Dogtown" movie, on the "Nervous Break Down" soundtrack and the band's fourth album, "The Sufferer & Witness," was on the Billboard top 200, which is immense for an underground punk band. The band has released four records.


"Swing Life Away" is a song that is slow moving with low guitar pitches, subtle drum/bass beat and soft vocals that are relaxing and harmonious. It sounds like Eric Clapton's unplugged record. It is short, but to the point and with masterful lyrics. It begins with questions, not detail or emotion like most songs in this era. "Am I loud and clear or am I Breaking up?" This band has something to say, and this relates to the narcissistic position I elaborated on before. The emotion starts to rise with "Am I still your charm or am I just bad luck? "Are we getting closer or are we just getting more lost?" This gives the listener and me a feeling of a love song, but you were fooled! It really is about political policy and how it prevents people changing their lives. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours first" is humorous because the first thing that comes to my mind is sexual; however, it really means lifestyles.


"Let's compare scares I'll tell whose is worse" gives great meaning to me because I was in a horrible automobile accident that I almost did not survive. I have many scares to prove it both physically and mentally, but this lyric really means scars of upbringing and lifestyle. Although the lyric may not speak directly to me in those terms, I connected to it by my interpretation. So "lets unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words"! Now the song goes into chorus and brings the deep meaning of the song alive.


"We live on front porches and swing life away, we get by just fine here on minimum wage" speaks to the lower class unemployed person who has dreams, but they are shattered by the political system's favoritism for the higher-class. This makes me react to all the political propaganda imposed by our politicians such as the No Child Left Behind act, for which politicians then cut funding! Give me a break. President George Bush does not care for the masses. In fact, the financial element emerges once again. Now the direction turns off the political message to the love emotion, "If love is a labor I'll slave to the end, I won't cross these streets to you hold my hand". This lyric informs the politicians and listeners that you can bring down almost all aspects of my life, but my love for another.


Then reality sinks in and the vocalists realizes that he can make a change if he is strong enough. "I've been here so long I think its time to move." Then he offers a thought of why he is miserable, "Winters so cold, summers over too soon". Why leave a depopulated area when you have friends? "I've got some friends some that I hardly know, we had some times I wouldn't trade for the world ". This message proclaims that friends are there and then nowhere so, "We chased these days down with talks of places that we will go. Aw, it was just a conversation with his loved one about leaving a ghetto and forming a pop culture lifestyle with warm air and money in our pockets." This is relevant to me because I often have the same conversation with the same dream of leaving my hometown and living the American dream, but my future job of financial success now resides in China!

Brand New

Brand New is an underground punk/emo band that transpired out of Long Island, New York and had a slow and steady stream of devoted fans. In fact, it is not that well known outside today's the punk scene. The band has three records and all the lyrics are the finest I have ever heard! The song titled "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" describes many aspects that can be easily related to in everyday life. It begins with lyrics that mock narcissistic personalities. "I am heaven sent don't you dare forget, I am all you ever wanted, what all the other boys all promised." The narcissistic attitude can be traced to the reason why people ignore the punk genre. In my short grasp at life I encountered this problem numerous times, but enough about that: Let's move on.


If you follow current popular culture or trends you probably realized that the almighty dollar is the key to success. Well, "I think in decimals and dollars, I am cause to all your problems" informs the listener and myself that Donald Trump's television show "The Apprentice" has taken affect. The American society has thrown out the idea of "working hard" for success and traded it for how much a person is worth. What a pointless tragedy. The line "then ask what it's like to have myself so figured out, I wish I knew" mocks the way my parents demand that I follow the right path and convert into society.


"I hope this song (paper) starts a craze, the kind of song that ignites the airwaves" describes all the hopes and goals I can have such as becoming a doctor of psychology with radical therapeutic approaches; however, this is just my dream and we as a society knows it takes more than that. The song speaks to the anger that can build up inside a person and how our unconscious thoughts broadcast in our head such as, "I hope you come down with something they can't diagnose, nor have the cure for'. I often have extremely evil thoughts about people I dislike, but keep them to myself in order to save face to the general public.


The key element to mankind's existence arises in "Oh it's so hard to have someone to love, and keeping quiet is hard, cause you can't keep a secret if never was a secret to start or at least you don't want to get caught". This lyric describes those hardships that emotional feelings can have on a person. I too have been frustrated because of supposed love for another. After that the emotion level rises in the song, still proclaiming that love emotion "we're concentrating on falling apart, we were contenders we're throwing the fight, I just want to believe, I want to believe in us." The lyrics describe what many feel love actually is and describe it in a way that can take hold on your own thoughts. If I love I may fall and fail, but I did stay in the ring to give my feeling a fighting chance to contend for my love for another. This reminds me of fighting for my current girlfriend. With lyrics like that they may not be so in their terms "controversial" at all and like they said "they are entirely smooth".

Punks Against Materialism

The lyrics are of enormous value to me, and they offer serenity to my thoughts. For example, I am against the new American standard that money equals success or relates to what kind of a person you are by how much you are worth. It is horrifying that somone's personality is not recognized society, but his or her bank account is. Also people are ignorant to the critical flaws of society such as, war, famine and racism. Punk music opens up my eyes and helps me understand our world. In fact, music is an immense facet of my life that enables me to survive in an arrogant and ignorant world. Without it the world would give the impression of a desolate wasteland that lost all hope and creativity.

Say What You Want

Yes, it is because of progression that we are where we are today but I think we've gone a little too far this time. It is because of progression that the whites, most of them at least, realized that they are not superior beings and made womens suffrage possible, and, yes, all of those things are good and we should continue to progress but there are some things that no amount of 'progression' should change: Men should be men, women should be women, and if someone wants to be different they should have the guts to be different even if they are made fun of, and if they can't handle it they should act like everyone else. The people who stand out should be the people who are tough enough to stand out regardless of public opinion.

Now onto the problems with progressive society, our society has become one of self-centeredness, and although the individual is important, more important is what that individual does for others. We have gone too far with what was originally an admiration for the rugged individual from the frontier in the early days of our nation. This has now become an idea that we should let people be how they are and that you can't say anything about them because that is how they are. Things should be how they used to be, people got made fun of if they where weird, it may sound unkind but it is true, the people who stand out should be the ones who can take it not the weird people who are simply ignored because no body wants to 'hurt their feelings' or 'offend' them.

I believe that people should be able to express themselves completely, without worrying about 'political correctness' or about who what they are saying may offend or how to say it in a less offensive way. Saying "I hate you" and "I really don't like you" both mean the same thing but the first way you would think of saying it would be the first, the most direct way, I believe that this is how you should say something like this, not indirectly and in the way that sounds the least offensive, but in the way you want to say it. Regardless of its lack of 'political correctness'.

Progression is good but too much of anything is not good. Remember: moderation in all things. Because too much of an extreme in any direction can lead to trouble.

Punk: The Soundtrack of My Life

By, Daniel Babskie

Issue date: 4/3/07

Original Article

Why are some "rebel" youth so disgruntled? Well, let me tell you about the punk genre or the ignorance of society. The rebellious punk genre/scene is regarded by many as vicious, anarchical noise with lyrics that demand change and speak out against irregularities in society. In some cases "punks,"or other stereotypes of this genre, are categorized by the clothes they wear, the spikes in their hair, and the studs they declare on their, well, wherever.


The main point is that many outside of punk are oblivious to the messages that this type of music and clothing style proclaims. I have compiled a sound track of my existence, and I choose two songs from my mix tape to spread the word of what the punk message really proclaims. The two most important are Brand New's "Okay I believe you, but my Tommy Gun Don't" and Rise Against's "Swing Life Away".

News Story

Star of Anti-Smoking Campaign Still Puffs

Skip Legault, After Two Heart Attacks and an Amputated Leg, Just Can't Quit

By MARCUS BARAM

Jan. 11, 2008 —

The ads are shocking in their graphic depiction of the effects of smoking.

Skip Legault, with his tale of two heart attacks, strokes and an amputated right leg, has become the star of anti-smoking posters and commercials blanketing New York since December.

But the 48-year-old former repairman isn't getting the message -- Legault said he still smokes up to a full pack of Marlboros every day.

"I can't stop smoking," Legault told ABCNEWS.com. "I've been smoking since I was 8, and I'm afraid to quit."

Legault insisted that his appearance in the ads is not hypocritical, because he never claims he quit smoking. "I don't feel like a hypocrite, because I'm not telling people what to do. I'm not telling them not to smoke. I'm just showing them what happens."

What's happened to Legault since he started smoking at the age of 8 has been a long decline in health. After suffering two heart attacks in his late 20s, he had a stroke in 1993, which forced him to stop working, and at least seven blood clots that led doctors to amputate his lower leg due to gangrene.

"I'd love to walk again, and I'll never be able to do that. Just walk down the street holding hands with someone."

In addition, he's had difficulty engaging in some of his favorite pastimes, like hunting and fishing. "I fell out of my boat once. I put a stick in my eye while I was deer hunting, and a I hit a beaver hole in my four-wheeler and flipped over and was pinned in the creek for an hour until someone came along."

He's seen his commercial many times, which has been airing since December, and it makes him depressed about his condition. "It's been affecting me because it makes me realize how sick I am," he said. "Watching my commercial, I'm reliving it all the time. It's on all the time."

Although they're painful to watch, Legault is proud of the ads. He was prompted to volunteer for the New York Department of Health's anti-smoking campaign by his sister's work with teen smokers and by the death of his 16-year-old daughter, Sabrina, in a 2000 traffic accident.

He started speaking to kids who want to quit smoking through the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative. "I've been going to the schools and doing seminars," said Legault. "I've got hundreds of letters from kids who have written me."

Out of hundred volunteers, Legault and three others were picked as part of a new anti-smoking ad campaign. The next ads will feature people talking about someone in their family who died from the effects of smoking.

The fact that Legault can't quit smoking makes the ads even more effective, said Clyde W. Yancy, the national spokesman for the American Heart Association.

"My own sense is that it enhances the effectiveness of the ads," said Yancy. "When you see someone with two heart attacks like that and they're still smoking, it becomes compelling."

The revelation that Legault still smokes makes the ads comparable to the infamous anti-smoking ads in California, which showed a woman smoking through a hole in her throat, said Stanton A. Glantz, the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California at San Francisco.

Glantz criticized those ads at first but realized they were extremely effective. "It doesn't make sense to have someone who's still smoking ask you to call the quit line, but it was very effective and generated lots of traffic to the quit line."

The fact that Legault was a persistent smoker was known to the Department of Health before it used him in its ads, according to a spokeswoman.

"He's very open about his smoking," said the spokeswoman . "The message here that we're trying to get across with the ad is that he's an extreme example of what smoking can do to somebody."

The department, which spent $1.8 million on TV ads, and more than a million on print and Internet ads, has already seen an increase in callers to its quit line.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Music Post

Hello,

This is my first music post ever and I'm very excited. In this post I have included a song by James Blackshaw called Running to the Ghost. Its a very good song, it gets a little repetitive at times, but the amount of ability that it takes to play what he plays is amazing. Although the same rhythm patterns are repeated throughout the song it never gets boring.

James Blackshaw is an indie folk artist from England who plays the twelve-string guitar, and he handles it perfectly.

Click on the Odeo to check out James Blackshaws profile on Last.fm

Here's the link to the song

Ten Philosophical Questions

Top Ten Philosophical Questions

Driving back from spring break I got to thinking about the eminent philosophical questions. Here’s a top-ten list I came up with (it’s lemming focused, of course).

1. Why is there something rather than nothing at all?

Needless to say if there was nothing at all we would not exist. But besides this it is necessary for there to be something in order for reality to exist. Also, if there where no reality we would not be asking this question because doing so would require something (e.g. us) to exist.

Although I feel I have answered this question you may not believe the same. Personally this question seems like it could not be adequately answered because one cannot know what 'nothing' is like because everything is something. In reality we lack the experience to fully grasp the answer to this question, if any exists.

2. If two persons who have all the same experiences disagree about some matter of fact has at least one of them violated some rule of good reasoning?

Although experiences do shape people they do not necessarily define them. If two people have the same experience one may use it to make them stronger and the other may be weakened or hurt by the experience. This being said neither of the two persons described in the question would be violating any rule of good reasoning. A more valid question would be 'If two persons who have had all the same experinces and taken them the same way disagree about some matter of fact has at least one of them violated some rule of good reasoning?'. I do believe that one would be violating a rule of good reasoning, although this scenario is neigh impossible.

3. If two distinct objects have something in common then in what ways are they the same and different?

If two distinct objects have something in common then in what ways are they the same and different?
The fact that two things are similar, or in other words have something in common, does not make them identical. Therefore the differences between two similar objects would be everything about them that is not the same. For example, two similar triangles may look like one another but they are not the same size, ergo they are not the same, but they are proportional to each other.

4. Since my acts are caused by my choices and my choices caused by my beliefs and desires and my beliefs and desires are not in my direct control, how can it be that my acts are free?

What you believe in is your choice, what you want is your choice also. Your desires, however, are more difficult to choose but most of them exist because of some choice of yours. An act is is the result of a choice and a choice is a result of thought. You can do whatever you want but that does not mean you will. You beliefs and desires affect what you do because you want to be inline with what you believe and you want to get closer to what you want but your acts are still your own, although they are being affected by other forces.

5. When we say ‘Pegasus does not exist’ what subject are we talking about?

Talking about something does not cause it to exist, the idea of that thing may exist but that does not cause it to spontaneously come into existence. For example, I could talk to someone about Norse mythology, or any other fictional work, but that doesn't mean that I believe that any of it is true or that it exists I am simply discussing an idea that someone thought of. Therefore, the answer to your question would be that we would be talking about Pegasus, not as a material being, but as a thought that was created by the ancient Greek people.

6. Is what is good good because the gods commanded it or did the gods command it because it was good? (Alt: Are the things that are valuable, valuable because we value them or do we value them because they are valuable?)

The answer to this question is both, what is good is good not only good because the gods commanded it but because it is good. The gods commanded it so it it good, but they commanded it because it is good. The answer to the second question is both. The things we value are valuable not only because we value them but because they are valuable, otherwise we wouldn't value them.

7. Must there be some basic element of reality from which everything else is composed?

Everything has to be made of something, and because of this, yes, there must be a basic element of reality of which everything else is composed. Suppose you wanted to build a chair. What would you use to build that chair? Legs, a seat, perhaps some additional cross pieces for additional strength. But what are those made of? Wood or metal? Then what is that material composed of? Everything is built upon something so there must be some basic element of reality that cannot be split apart, because a chair a a combination of parts and the parts of that chair can be split apart and changed and are therefore a combination of particles.

8. Does time have a beginning?

No.

9. If I think of a being greater than which none can be conceived must this being exist?

No, just because you think of something it does not bring it into existence. The ability to do that is reserved for God and even he must say something for it to become reality.

10. Since minds have properties natural objects lack, how can minds be a part of nature?

The mind exists, scientifically speaking, because of the brain. The brain's function causes your mind to exist. In other words, your brain and your mind are the same thing. Minds are part of nature because they are a part of every living thing in nature. In any case the mind had no effect on nature unless the body it resides in decides to act. Furthermore, the mind is not an object, it is a process that allows living things to process information and make decisions.

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Links to Original Posts
First Post
Response to #1
Response to #2
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Response to #5
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Response to #8
Response to #9
Response to #10

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 10)

Since minds have properties natural objects lack, how can minds be a part of nature?

The mind exists, scientifically speaking, because of the brain. The brain's function causes your mind to exist. In other words, your brain and your mind are the same thing. Minds are part of nature because they are a part of every living thing in nature. In any case the mind had no effect on nature unless the body it resides in decides to act. Furthermore, the mind is not an object, it is a process that allows living things to process information and make decisions.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 9)

If I think of a being greater than which none can be conceived must this being exist?

No, just because you think of something it does not bring it into existence. The ability to do that is reserved for God and even he must say something for it to become reality.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

Ten Philosphical Questions (Response 8)

Does time have a beginning?

No.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year Everyone! May you have a fresh start and find a way to improve yourself, because your ultimate goal in life is to become the best person you can be by exploring your talents and expanding them to their fullest potential.

Cheers,
Carlos Killpack

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 7)

Must there be some basic element of reality from which everything else is composed?

Everything has to be made of something, and because of this, yes, there must be a basic element of reality of which everything else is composed. Suppose you wanted to build a chair. What would you use to build that chair? Legs, a seat, perhaps some additional cross pieces for additional strength. But what are those made of? Wood or metal? Then what is that material composed of? Everything is built upon something so there must be some basic element of reality that cannot be split apart, because a chair a a combination of parts and the parts of that chair can be split apart and changed and are therefore a combination of particles.
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Ten Philosophical Questions