Leaders and Followers

This is probably a natural division of mankind in general, but is especially true of religion, where supreme leaders are common.

This morning I want to discuss how this applies to Mormonism, the religion of my family. This has gone thru a great deal of change over the years, especially the last 50 years, or so. 

In America, great change was caused by the Second Great Awakening, that made Americans religious people. And caused Mormonism. 

How Mormonism gut started, how Joseph Smith became a Prophet, Is not clear, but it did happen. And this was important to its many followers, who needed a leader to follow. 

The Catholic church had its Pope, who was very unpopular with the Protestants, which led to the worst wars of all time.  

At the present time, Evangelicalism is important in North, Central, and South America. 

JS III Trusted his Parents

This is normal, but there comes a time in every child's life when he should ask questions. I use the word should here, because many children do not, and this has a big effect on their lives. 

For example, Joseph Smith, JS III's father, spent quite a bit of time in Liberty jail, and most church members left the State. His  son never asked "Why?". He knew he was not supposed to ask that question, so he didn't ask it. And most members of the Mormon churches do not ask it either. 

Joseph Smith and Money

Joseph Smith was such a complicated person, it is impossible to tell what was on his mind. But it seemed to be this: because he had a special relationship with God, he (and his followers) owned everything, and they could take whatever they wanted. 

They opened a bank, the Kirtland Safety Society, that did not last long

The situation peaked out in Missouri, the worst possible place for them to be, where few records were kept.

He died in 1844. 

Mass Insanity

 It's enough to make you poop in your pants (ot panties).

When i looked at a the bottom of my coffee cup this morning, what did I see? A dead cockroach! 

The latest news from Afghanistan, looks like it came from Vietnam - only worse!

You wanna know what's gonna happen next? Think of the worst possible thing, you can't go too far wrong. 

Joseph and Martha

I am reading  The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith III (1832 - 1914), Published by the Herald House in 1960. This is a large book, consisting of copies from the Saints Herald, It starts on page 1413. When young Joseph is visiting Liberry Jail with his mother. Martha. I have copied what follows from page 1934.

I remember that later I visited that Jail at Liberty when my father and others whose names have passed into history were confined when which followed Doniphens  refusal to "march the prisoners the puplic square and there shoot them to death." There were present in that prison Uncle Hyrum Smith, Caleb Baldwin, and a singer whom my memry seems to serve mtmus right was Erstmus Snow. He sang two ditties which made an empresion on me. One was called called "The Massacre at the River Raison," which referred to buthchuring of Americans in the war upon the nothwest borders...I was fond of music, and thus was allowed to spend the nigfht there with my father. 

Why his father was confined in that jail is not mentioned by anyone, including his mother. 

From Many Gods to One

 This was the rise of Christianity - with one elaboration: this god must be crucified, and rise from the dead. 

I was not impressed with JS III

His Memoirs are a strange concoction by a dying church. 

He had a hard start, it was true, but he did a bad job of explaining that start.

Brigham Young did a better job of rescuing Joseph Smith's church. 

His son did not really try.

Why was Joseph Smith in Jail?

I am still reading the Memoirs of Joseph Smith III, and it raises a number of questions. Mostly questions about him and his mother, Emma Smith. 

When they were in Missouri, Joseph Smith was jailed, for quite some time. I could find no details for this. except he escaped and fled to Carthage, Illinois, where they were treated kindly. Emma never said why he was in jail, but it was probably because he tried to use Mormon military forces to combat Missouri military forces and was defeated. 

Why didn't she say so? What else was going on?

Early Mormons were Not Liked

And this resulted in the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at the hands of a mob, in 1844. 

They must not have been aware of their hatred. or actively courted it. The second choice is more likely.

They were surrounded by violent men, and they should have been aware of this. But social awareness they did not have. 

They probably felt they were God's Chosen People, and they could take whatever they wanted - a very dangerous attitude. 

The American Empire

America has no empire, Americans are proud to say. And to some extent this is true. 

We took a good look at the British Empire, and said "No thanks". But our Computer companies (Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft) make Astronomical amounts of money. We also lead the world in Weaponry. 

However, we have overextended ourselves in places like Afghanistan, where we look stupid. 

Joseph Smith III's Parents

We are all strongly affected by our parents, and JS III was no exception.

His father was a religious demagogue, with great appeal but limited ethics. 

His mother had strong ethics, but told her sons nothing about her disagreements with their father, especially over Polygamy. When they joined the RLDS church, they knew nothing about their father, which was a huge handicap, compared to the LDS church. 

She disagreed with her husband when he was alive, but said nothing  after he was dead.

One Zero Digest

Medium 

The one today is especially good. Browse thru them and take your pick. 

Tech, it keeps saying, is not always stupid, just mostly. 

Joseph Smith III and History

 He (like his father) was comfortable with altering the facts to suit the circumstances.  

This has to be taken into account when reading his Memoirs. 

What are We trying To Do?

This an easy question to answer, because the answer is: we want to get rich and stay rich. Any other questions?

Maybe you want to ask who we are, and that is a little harder, but not too hard. because it can be answered in a number of ways, each one describing a limited number of people. 

The word limited is important, because only a limited number of people can be rich. And it is everyone's job to be in that number. And to keep other people out of it. 

Our most important problem is financial. 

The Situation in Nauvoo

After the death of Joseph Smith the Prophet, the situation in Nauvoo was violent and chaotic. It was probably best reported by the book Kindom of Nauvoo, which relies on documents provided by the LDS church. 

But there is another book, the Memoirs of Joseph Smith III, published by the RLDS church. Which gives the history from the RLDS perspective. The difference between the reporting on Emma Smith (Joseph Smith's wife) is striking. 

She stayed in Nauvoo because, she owned most of it, and eventually died there, in poverty. 

Banking App

I just spent most of the day with Ray using my card our bank's ATM. 

Our bank has a problem, that requires it to make a new card for me, that I will get on Friday. 

The UN should issue a standard APP that all banks would have to use. 

Memoirs of President Joseph Smith III

With the approach of the Susquicentenial tear (1980), it occurred to a number of General Officers and members of the Historical Commission Staff, that an appropriate item for widespread dissemination would be a reprint of the Memoirs of Joseph Smith III. In precisely the same format as that of the Saint's Herald of November 1934 and July 1937.

One Idiot Salutes Another

CNN 

The Idiot's being the American Military and the American Public.

War Correspondents

These have changed since the Computer came into power. 

The amount of reporting, and its quality, have declined greatly. 

It is impossible to tell what is going on now in Afghanistan. 

I have the book The Wrong Enemy. that describes the situation in 1973, but that is no help now. 

In fact, people are asking me "Why do you care?" 

People and Computers

 This is the conflict of today when it should be the advantage we have today. 

The Computer has given us great advantages that we do not want. 

We accept readily some of its advantages, the ones that can make money for us now. But are not interested in anything else. 

We do not want to become better ourselves. Instead, we want to become worse. 

One way we do this is by eating junk food. If it is bad for us, we love it. 

We will confess to this weakness, but not a worse one: hating the Computer. 

Why? Because it is making us better. 

Mormonism and violence

This is a Wikipedia article. It was important to me because it unlocked a lot of memories, mostly violent. 

Even the Computer is violent, because it does violence to the simple use of words, and makes them do things they not designed to do. 

All my family wants, is for me to Take Care of Them

I have met a few men and women who could do this. 

But many more who could not.

Who was failing here? 

Fixing the World is Impossible

And we need to recognize this. 

"Not true"  some people are saying. "I can be fixed and we are doing it right now!"

What do you think?

My Father was never very Smart

It hurts me to say this, and for most people, it is impossible to say. 

Our fathers lived in difficult times it is true. but were they that difficult? What right do we have to criticize them? 

Perhaps we can say: we can criticize them, right or wrong, just as our mothers did. 

This shifts the blame to our mothers, where it probably belongs. But I am not entirely comfortable with this.

We can truthfully say we live in fast-changing times, too fast-changing times. And we can put the blame on them.

The Difference between a Rabbit and a Bunny

This shown in the first line of a program: Bunny = 1

The computer knows that Bunny is a number

Rabbit is something else it is not interested in. 

The magic in computers is that is can switch back and forth easily, once it knows the context.

A Rabbit lives in a hole in the ground, a Bunny lives in a Computer, and you have to know the difference. 

The Computer is Not a Person

Nothing could be more obvious. But the implications of this need to be considered carefully. 

I was in Silicon Valley in the Nineties, and I could see most people were not doing this and could see no reason to do it. 

Perhaps this situation has improved some, by programmers paying more attention to the User Interface, but most people are still ignorant of what the Computer is and how it works. And seem determined to continue this ignorance. 

Read that last sentence carefully. It says the human species is doomed. 

The Republicans are Nazis

Eudaimonia

This is a Rant, pure and simple. He is almost as crazy as the people he is writing about.

No Legs, No Brain

 I got up last night, in the middle of the night, to take a pee, and ended up on the floor.

I have been there before, so I didn't panic. I just laid there on that cold floor and tried to figure out where I was.

After quite a while, I managed to get back in bed, and then after quite a while more, I navigated to the bathroom. 

These fall-downs come at random intervals. I am carrying my phone with me now so i can call Ray when they happen. 

Mood Management

I take this seriously, because if I get in a bad mood unnecessarily, I am wasting my time and mental resources. I don't have many of these resources, and I have to take care of them. 

The first step, of course, is to pay attention to them. How am I feeling, right now? Most likely, not very good. OK, what to do about them? 

Breath deeply, and you will feel better. Practice this breathing. And practice noticing your resistance to it. Part of you does want to feel better! 

You have reached the breaking point. You will get better, or you will get worse. What should you do? Pay attention to what is going on, and learn from them. 

Every Computer has its own Personality

And this is the first thing you have to get in touch with when you use it. 

I remember my first computer and what I used it for.

This is the correct order: decide what you want to do first, then how to do it. Pick the thing with the best personality for the job.

This may or may not be a computer. 

Something has to Save the World

I really feel bad about this. We are suffering, and we need to know this. 

I left the US because of this, but this problem has followed me down here, bigger than ever. 

Software cannot cure suffering. And our favorite response (to not be) cannot cure it either. 

My favorite example was my cousin Nita, in my hometown of Ft. Madison, Iowa. Nita was a dyke, and this lifestyle suited her perfectly. Her lesbian partner was her schoolteacher, who lived in the family garage, she had fixed up as an apartment. 

This relationship worked until her partner died. Nita took this badly, and no one could help her. 

She could have been helped, as I was helped when I lived in Silicon Valley.There was an organizarion there that helped me, for free. 

This showed me we can help each other, if we want to. But first we have to acknowledge our suffering. 

Rich Gringo seduces Young Tica Using Chocolate Cake

Yes, I did, and it didn't cost much. 

When they tried to put the cake in my bag, I set them straight. "It goes to her," I said and pointed directly at her. 

CAJA COSTARRINSE DE SEGURO SOCIAL

This is the National Health System of Costa Rica. 

As a Resident of Costa Rica, I can buy my Health Insurance here, at greatly reduced prices (a maximum of $50 a month, often much less). 

But I have to stand in line, and pay for it, in Colones, the first of every month at La Colonial, the local payments office.

Is Religion Crazy?

It certainly was in my family. And anytime I inteact with them, I have to keep this carefully in mind.

This is made more difficult because the Church of my family, the RLDS church, has gone through changes and become the Community of Christ church. 

A small church has became an even smaller church, with church members that are unaware of this. 

A church that was not as crazy was the Unitarian church, whi I attended when I lived in the DC area. It hired a social worker to educate the Black women in the slums that surrounded the church in Bitth Control. 

Amazon Without Jeff

On Tech

Amazon is Jeff Bezos. The company is built on his ideas and ideals, and its strategy reflects his numbers-obsessed brain. Bezos is the oracle behind a set of principles and mechanisms that govern his company. 

I am one of Amazon's best customers,  All my orders go to an address in Miami, and from there they are loaded on a plane, flown to Costa Rica, go through Customs, and end up at a retail address for areropost. in Cartago, with a long list of charges added to it. 

This also has a link to Lincoln on the Verge 

I downloaded the Kindle book and will read it on my Amazon Fire tablet. 

At an Amway Meeting in 1990, I met the Future of Trumpism

 Medium.com

We already did this, every Wednesday night at Prayer Meeting. But we did not get as rowdy in God's presence, 

A Strategy for Warfare in Afghanistan

The US Military must have one of these, but they have kept it hidden. So I have proposed one of my own.

The first thing I would do is define where the enemy is. Make maps and map-viewing software, and make these public properties. 

Next, using these maps, define which areas are friendly and which are hostile. Perhaps a series of maps would helpful, showing which organization controlled which area at which times. Access to these would have to be controlled. 

Next, define which areas are to be conquered, one at a time. And define targets in these areas, This would require close cooperation with observers (spies) on the ground.  

Next, attack each target, using the A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, which are already being used. Each target, and its occupants, would not have to be completely destroyed, but mostly destroyed. The objective would be to make the enemy surrender before they are completely destroyed. Only the targets would be attracted. the rest would be left alone. 

A difficult time

 This was the Fifties, although it could apply to all of the 20th Century, especially to the Depression. 

As survivors of that time, we should give ourselves credit for still being here, altho somewhat battered. 

I can remember the Fifties when it was easy to go to college and easy to get a job. Big business was getting bigger, and this applied to all parts of the economy, including agriculture. 

We were the richest country in the world, while the rest of the world was in ruins. All this went to our heads. And we had no idea it would not last. 

Bur, we were living in a fast-moving time, and everything did change. We changed also, but not fast enough, 

We were soon spending a lot of time watching Television, while it was watching us. 

I could go on and on. I could write a book about this, and maybe I should. But I will stop here, and nurse my scar tisue. 

When Things keep Getting Worse

This should not happen, Things should keep getting better instead. 

But unfortunately, it is happening. 

This has been recognized by Christianity. Which states it simply: How can a good God permit so much evil? 

Some believe the Computer has solved this problem. Bur others (including some computer programmers) are not so sure.  They speak of the problems of Globalization instead. 

Why is DARPA researching 'Explainable' AI?

 techopedia

The Computer is trying to make us smarter, and this is one way it can do it. 

(DARPA is Defense Advanced Research Projects).

This article has many links that can take you to associated articles. 

The Computer is making People Stupid

You can see this every day (smart computers and stupid people) but somehow it doesn't seem right. 

Why are they stupid? Think about this carefully. They are stupid compared to what?

The Computer, of course. 

And this comparison does wonders for their self-esteem.

Lots of very talented people drink themselves to death.