Jinxed Universe

At the beginning of this last school year my youngest two siblings began high school. One day I came home from work for lunch and my mom and I began to talk about where Ryan was in math. She had a sheet that showed all of the classes and what were the prerequisites. As I began looking over this and what Ryan took last year. We came to the conclusion that Ryan wouldn't even be able to take PreCalc before he graduates from high school.

Now normally I wouldn't worry about this, but being a Jenkins he is very smart and no matter who it was we all have taken at least PreCalc in high school. Why is Ryan different, is he dumb? Absolutely not!! What happened is, when all of us were in school we had Pre-Algebra, Algebra and Algebra 2 w/ Trig. So, with Ryan the school system has changed it so you take Pre-Algebra, Algebra A, Algebra B, then Algebra 2 w/ Trig. So, are kids just dumber today than they have been before? Has Math changed since we were in school? Not even close.

We are living in the age of Self-Esteem, Everyone is a winner, and all that crap. This has lead to a lowering of the standard. Because we cannot make anyone feel like they are different from another, we lower the standard and make it so everyone can pass the classes.

This idea is ruining our future. This isn't just happening in our school system. Our government loves to do this to everyone. One type is Affermative Action, here we are saying that Blacks are lesser people and we can't make them work as hard as the rest of us. No, we have to lower the bar for them and so they can just walk over it. We also see this as we understand why AIG and the likes are in trouble. The government lowered the standard on giving out loans so a person that really shouldn't be buying a home is getting one and defaulting on it. So, now these guys are screwed and our nation is in trouble.

As much as everyone wants to deny it, failure is a good thing. This is where we learn from our mistakes and grow. Who would like a trophy for being last place? Too many times, we come up with excuses of why we can't hold someone to a standard.

"Oh, it isn't my fault, I thought my Winnebago came with an AutoPilot." No you were just stupid.

"My kids just aren't as good at soccer as the other team." Tell them to practice more.

"He's just not as smart as his classmates. But, we can't hold him back he would lose all of his friends." Then push him harder, tell him what is going to happen if he doesn't suck it up.

"I was born this way, I didn't choose to be gay." Bull crap, you just want to justify your behavior.

What happens is everyone takes the responsibility and points it to someone or something else and therefore we have to lower the standard because it isn't our fault. Rather than making ourselves responsible for ourselves, and raising our standards up to what is required, it is always someone else's fault.

By allowing this we are giving up our freedoms to make allowances for these "exceptions". In my eyes this is the seeds of socialism. I'm not responsible for myself, the government is supposed to take care of me, and now we are no longer accountable for anything.

Lately I have heard a bunch of ads on the radio about having parents read and teach math to their kids. They talk about how we as a nation used to be the number one creator of scientists and engineers, but now we have lost that position because we have lowered the standard and we are creating a bunch of fat, lazy, whiners. This all because we have lowered the standard in which we hold our youth.

Was Pres. Hinckley inspired when he raised the bar for the missionaries? Absolutely!! Now we need to do the same in every aspect of our lives.

A year ago I took a class and became a Certified NRA Instructor. While I was there we had to do some shooting and we used the Council's rifles. These rifles were amazing. They were very easy to use and I can see why they have them for the kids to use while up at camp. Anyways, one of the guys teaching us told us he could get us one of these rifles for about $220. At the time I thought about it and decided not to go with it. I checked out a site later on and found the gun for about the same price.

Now, fast forward to today. I have been watching the price of this gun for a year now. I just can't justify the purchase at the moment. But, if you look at the price of the rifle now, it is a $100 more than it has been, ever!! What happened? I'll tell you. So, the day I looked this up was a couple of days after the elections. Well, because Obama has been elected, the price of guns has jumped. Now you have to ask why? Well, he doesn't like guns and wants to get rid of them and everyone knows it.

On Tues. I "had" to stop at Sportsman's Warehouse. I was getting some stuff for my campout this weekend. While I was there, I stopped by the gun section and I was blown away. All the shelves were empty!! I mean there was no bullets, no gun powder, no reloading supplies. There were guns on the racks, but they weren't full like you are used to seeing. Okay, yes, hunting season has been going on. But, all gun powder was gone, all callibers of bullets were gone. Literally all the shelves were empty.

I think that the public are panicked. They know what is in store and are saving up for the worst. They know what is going to happen in the next four years. Do I blame everyone for buying out the store? No, I'm inclided to help them do that. I just don't have the financial freedom at the moment to do so.

Really, I think that we will never outlaw guns. I think the democrats know that. I think these initiative like in California to get rid of lead ammo is how they are going to pass gun control. They are going to slowly make excuses of why certain types of ammo shouldn't be used until that included all types. Then we will have our guns without any ammo. That is why I'm getting involved in reloading my own ammo. It started off just being a way to make shooting cheaper. But, I believe we are going to see restrictions on ammo coming out of this administration.

Being the Scoutmaster for our troop, it is my responsibility to take the Boys out camping and getting comfortable in the outdoors. So, for this weekend I have planned an overnighter up by Causey Reservoir.

Yesterday I handed out equipment lists to the boys. On it I made a statement of no electronics. In my last ward, this was an issue that every boy had an MP3 player they would bring and listen to. They would listen to these all the way up to the campout and during the campout and back from the campout. So, I wanted to nip this is the bud before it became a problem.

Well, apparently these guys want to bring their Nintendo DSs. I told them if they brought them I would confiscate them and would only return them to their parents. Boy, I thought I was going to have an uprising. I have been planning out what we are going to do for quite a while. So, I garantee that if they will just show up, they will have a great time.

Again in my last ward, the YM Pres. kept telling us leaders that all the entertainment of today is to keep the youth individualized or isolated. That these things are creating problems for our youth because when they are face to face with someone, they don't know how to react. Think of it, how many people do you know that are addicted to computer games, their cell phone (namely texting on their phone), MP3 players, etc. These are all getting us used to being self entertained, we don't need others, let alone the need to hold a verbal conversation.

I have seen multiple times first-hand how this game World of Warcraft destroys all social aspects of a person's life. People get into this and begin to live their lives through this fantasy world. Not only that, but they begin to pay real money for virtual belonging. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

These games are so addictive that players don't eat, don't sleep, they lose track of time. They are all consumed into these games that they begin to lose track of their real life. I personally have done this, to a lesser degree. I have stayed up 'till the wee hours of the morning trying to take over the world or something.

It is bad, these electronics are supposed to help us. In my profession as a Computer Tech. I see the addictive nature of computers. That is why I am glad I have my calling. It gives me the chance to get away from technology and relax.

We need to make sure we are not so dependent on technology for our own entertainment that we can't part from it for even an overnigh stay.

On Weds. we had a discussion with the new girl in the office about the school voucher system that got defeated last year. She was under the impression that in addition to what she was paying in taxes for public schools we would also be paying for private schools also. When we understood what she thought, we helped set her straight and now she understands the advantage of having the voucher system.

When I was in college, I did a paper on the benefits of the private schools system and the voucher systems. I cannot believe the lack of understanding on this issue. So, I want to write an article and hopefully help at least a couple of people understand the benefits of these issues. While I was in High School, I worked at West Bountiful Elementary as a janitor. Being in such a job along with being a child of the public school system, I have first hand experience in many of the faults of this system.

First off lets define the difference between "public" and "private" and how they work.

When we talk of "public" this term is usually used when referring to anything that is funded by the government. These can vary, from public schools, public library, to even public services. These divisions all receive their money from taxes from the people. From an economic point of view, these types of institutions aren't as efficient as a "private" institution because they don't have the competition to constantly be improving. This is similar to a communistic society, in that once a type of bike is made. Why improve on it? What do I get for creating something better than the previous one? I can't get paid more than the next guy, and I can't be shown any favoritism. So, we are stuck with the ugly grey bike, even though there are better ways of making it. Think of it, no matter whether you have a better education, or your methods are better, you get paid the same as the next guy that does the bare minimum. These places also are allotted a budget that is not based on performance, but on what the government sees that they need.

Now, "private" means that it is not owned and operated by the government, but by a group or individual that is usually interested in providing a product or service. Now, because these people have to compete with the others trying to provide what they also do, there is a different picture. These companies have to be able to provide the best product they can to attract as many buyers as they can to purchase their product and a reasonable price and still have money enough to pay their employees. This means if an employee finds a better way of making a bike or a new design to attract customers, then the company makes more money and therefore can pay this guy more. While the guy that is just doing the minimum won't last long. When anyone needs to be fired, that guy will be the first to go. But, if a company just stays with a design or a way of doing things and doesn't compete, they will surely fail as a business.

Having said this, these two descriptions apply to the school system. Let me share some personal examples of how our public school system works.

In my brother Jared's 3rd Grade year of Elementary School at Woods Cross Elementary, he had a teacher, Ms. Sebastian, who was going through a divorce and was taking her problems with her to school and taking a lot of her frustrations out on the children. One day my brother came home from school very distraught about the day and come to find out this teacher had yelled at the kids because she was frustrated with her husband who had just had flowers delivered to her room. She began to tell the girls how horrible boys are and just made the kid's lives miserable.

When my mother found this out, she approached the principle about the issue and was hoping there was something they could do. The principal, Mr. Terry, was aware of the issue and said there was nothing he could do. He said that they couldn't move my brother out of the class, he couldn't get rid of the teacher, because she couldn't be fired, that takes years. But he could have gotten her out of that school, but she would just move to another school, and he wasn't going to do that. So, basically, my mom and my brother just had to put up with her.

I have shared a story in a previous post about my English teacher my senior year. Again, many of these teachers are not even doing the bare minimum of giving the children entrusted them the education they require. But, because there is so much red tape to get these teachers fired or even repremanded, these teachers can get away with anything.

Now, on a positive note. Jared and I both worked at West Bountiful Elementary as janitors. There was a teacher while we were there that we know cared about her kids. When school was over and after all the other teachers were gone, here this teacher sat, working away on preparing for the next day. We, the janitors, would leave the school at 7:00 and here she stayed longer that we did. Now I know she has the true meaning of caring for her children, but why should she get paid the same amount as Jared's 3rd Grade teacher? She is doing so much more for her kids than my brother's teacher or even my teacher, I want her making more.

This is where private schools and the voucher system comes in. Here is how we get everyone on equal playing grounds. Right now, I being a property owner, am paying for the public education system, now if I want to send my child to private school, I will pay for their public education and their private education. So, I'm getting hit twice here. What the voucher system does is take that money that would have been spent on my child in public school and allows me to take that to a private school of my choice. This doesn't mean that if I want a $15,000 education for my child everyone is flipping the bill, but what it means is the voucher is good for $5,000 and I will have to pay the difference. Now doesn't that seem fair? But wait, this isn't the only benefit!

In introducing these vouchers, it makes it so the public schools and the private schools play on an even playing field. Now, because parents can make an easier choice on where their child goes to school and its not just the local Elementary school, the public schools have to start to compete for students from the private schools. Now, if there was a movement of students from the public schools to the private schools, the public schools will be able to have smaller classroom sizes like they want. Then if the movement is big enough, the allotment of money to each school will begin to decrease, now this sounds bad, but what this does is force the schools to become more efficient, there is going to be less waste, I can't tell you how much stuff a school throws out and it is perfectly good stuff, from new boxes of chalk and crayons, to new pads of paper to construction paper, to TVs and projectors. All this waste will go away, my family has personally seen all of this waste going on. This includes schools only being able to hire a specific number of teacher and so all the crappy ones as mentioned above would go away and be jobless. This also has an effect on the private schools in that they would have more students and more money to hire new teachers. Causing a demand for good teachers and even raising the salary rates of current and new teachers.

Now I know from my research that many of the teacher and school officials say that vouchers will cause children in public school to get a poor education, because they won't have enough money to keep the public system going, but I beg to differ. As long as the public education system will adapt to the times and not submarine themselves by holding on to the crappy teachers and keeping the loose financial ship they are running, they will do fine. The only people that need be worried by this system would be the lazy teachers that don't know what work means, that shouldn't be teaching our children anyways.

We also hear the argument of seperation of church and state, with kids having the option to go to a Catholic school or a private school being ran by a religious sect. Now, this is bogus, because the government cannot have a national religion, or endorse any one religion. What is going on is, the government is enabling the parents to decide where they want to send their child to school. If the parent wants to have their child learn religion, while at school, that doesn't mean that the government is creating a national religion.

The reason I am for private schooling, is because I have been in a private school. I have seen the children that graduate from this school and they are top notch. These kids are held to a higher standard than in public schools. If these schools don't produce intelligent kids, then they would fail as the free market allows, because the parents then wouldn't take their kids to school there and they wouldn't have enough money to keep their school running. Having been in public schools and seen the large ugly side of it and how it has brought our education down. I just cannot accept letting my children go to a public school. So, if I have the means to get my kids into private school, I will do so.

Next time you see a flyer from your school see how many spelling errors you get? You'll be amazed, and these are the people teaching our kids.

So, the good thing is we won't have to hear about the elections for a while.
Thank You!!! I've had enough of this.

But, I want to make sure that in these two or even four years that democrats run our nation that we hold them accountable for their actions. We cannot let them get away with this. These are a group of liars and will try to get out of it all. But, with them in charge, they can't blame the Republicans for any of the screw ups that they create.

Also, as they screw this nation up, I will actively criticize any and all democrats that voted for Obama or any of the members of Congress. I don't see anything good coming from these times.

I personally believe that anyone that voted for Obama is ignorant to the issues. If you were really actively involved and informed to the issues, you would realize how horrible what Obama is proposing really is. If you disagree lets talk, I would really like to know your logic.

So, a while ago, when Justin had just gotten home from his mission he told our family about a book called, The Millionaire Next Door. Apparently my Mom already had the book, so I went to town on it begin the geek I am. There are some very intriguing ideas in the book and I highly recommend it. But, the reason I bring this book up is to show a similarity that I see with an average company and our nation.

In the Millionaire Next Door, they talk about when someone creates a successful business and then they pass the business on to their children, that the chances of the business's success are pretty good, because the children of the creator saw the struggles their struggles and even felt some of them and so they understand how important the business is and put their hearts into it. But, if the children pass the company on to their children usually this is where the business begins to fail because they weren't around when the company was created. So, the grandkids now are running things and they end up spending money they don't have and running the company into the ground.

So, what does this all have to do with our nation? I believe that our nation is following the same pattern, but on a longer scale. Throughout our nation's history we have had to make sacrifices to maintain our freedom and our country, and at times we have had large wars, and economic struggles that have pulled us back on track. That has brought the cost of freedom back fresh in our minds. What we are experiencing is nothing that has had a great unifying effect on us. The wars we have been apart of aren't enough to bring us together again. We also haven't felt any hard times as some of our parent and grandparents have. So, because the people as a whole haven't felt or really have seen the the struggles of a nation, we take it for granted and we enjoy the freedoms we inherited and in the process screw things up and cause our nation to fail.

That has now brought us here. We have maxed out our credit cards, bought cars we can't afford, mortgaged ourselves to our ears and ruined our nation. With the cherry on the top being a democratic government telling us what we can and cannot do. Hopefully we will wake up before it is too late and we correct ourselves and get ourselves back on track. Otherwise we are going to end up as a communist state.

Yesterday we talked about how Pres. Benson was the Secretary of Agriculture and how he ended up talking to Khruschev who said that Pres. Benson's grandkids would live under communist rule. Then earlier today on Glenn Beck he played Pres. Benson's exact words about the conversation. I couldn't believe it, it made me sick, especially to see so many of our people so blinded and willing to give up their freedoms and to let the government to dictate what they are to do in every aspect of their lives.

When I see this kind of stuff happening it makes me wish the Second Coming would just come. That our nation can't get any worse than it is. But, then I look at it again and say, "Well, Yes it can." Otherwise I wouldn't see a poorer future than the one we currently have.

So, today as I was at my parent's house, we began to have a discussion about politics and what was going on. At some point in the conversation we talked about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and as I was reading these I found some interesting parts of the DoI to be very profound and seem to have a lot of meaning in our times today.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men..."

As I think about these words. I find it interesting that there are those out there that believe that the words "Pursuit of Happiness," means that the government have to provide for them the things that make them happy. But, if you read these words carefully you find that we are given the Right to Pursue Happiness. We are not given the Right to Happiness. We are left to ourselves to gain Happiness in any form that we find it. We also are not to rely on the government to provide this for us. This is an individual freedom that we alone can gain for ourselves.

"...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Saftey and Happiness."

I believe that all of the political parties of today have reached this point. They are now becoming destructive and are not holding up our standards, values or principles. It is to the point where it is not "We the people..." that have a say in what we want. Looking at the two major political parties out there, I feel like both of their standards are slipping downward and they are trying to make us feel like we are moving away from them, when in reality it is them that have moved away from us.

The reason I quoted this section of the DoI is because I feel like we could replace Government in this quote and replace it with Party, and it would tell you exactly how I feel. Both parties are doing nothing for us, so we need to institute a new party that holds to our beliefs and make our message clear of what we want. Show these two parties that they are off in left field and that we are not moving. We need to rally under an new banner that is setup on our beliefs and desires.

Throughout American history there have been many different parties that have come and gone. I think that these parties have served their purposes and it is time to get new blood into the system.