Tractor trailers, in their vain gamble to avoid having to stop and put snow chains on their tires, will inevitably be wiggling all over three or four lanes of traffic like any number of earth worms after a heavy summer rain.  These highway behemoths flail around in slow motion as their drive wheels fail to gain traction. So much for saving time…

And despite the overhead signs warning drivers to only navigate the canyon if they have four wheel drive or chains, many foolish people will make the attempt with front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, and poor tires. Which brings up a huge irony – what good will four wheel drive do for anyone without snow tires? Four wheel drive with out good tires is just four wheel slide.  Is UDOT giving drivers unmerited assurance to climb the canyon in severe weather – is this some of sick joke?

It is hilarious what you see happening to all of these courageous travelers. Cars slid out facing every direction on the compass. Cars fifty feet off in the median trying to muscle their way way back on to the slippery pavement. Cars stopped in every lane. Cars weaving around struggling or abandoned cars. Big cars being towed by little cars. Little cars being towed by big cars. One little car going up. Two little cars going down.   Go cars go.

The most comical thing I’ve seen is a nervous wife white knuckling and bent over the poor steering wheel of a front wheel drive car, wheels spinning, snow spitting, and the husband walking behind pushing the car.  And this happening on the last two mile stretch of the very steep East bound section of the canyon.  And they were somehow making headway.  I couldn’t help but roll my window down as I passed them and holler, “That’s different!”.

The real irony of my most recent treacherous traverse is that I was driving a rented Cadillac Escalade from California for an unnamed company connected with the Sundance Film Festival. I was returning from an airport drop and had no idea whether this expensive, luxury Mormon mover had four wheel drive or the type of tires that could get the job done.  The real irony is that I was one of those intrepid idiots trying to conquer this icy incline.

As it turns out the tires were quite decent and all four wheels were driving.

January – Rio: an animated G-rated movie about a rare blue macaw that is rescued and then introduced to the only known female macaw – humor, adventure, and a musical.

This letter is written to Titus, my true child in the faith that we share. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.

I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. An elder must be well thought of for his good life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who are not wild or rebellious. An elder must live a blameless life because he is God’s minister. He must not be arrogant or a quick tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or greedy for money. He must enjoy having guests in his home; and he must love all that is good. He must live wisely and be faith. He must live a devout and disciplined life. He must have a strong and steadfast belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with right teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

For there are many who rebel against right teaching; they engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true to those who insist on circumcision for salvation. They must be silenced. By their wrong teaching they have already led whole families away from the truth. Such teachers only want your money. One of their own men, a prophet from Crete has said about them, ‘The people of Crete are all liars; they are cruel animals and lazy gluttons.” This is true. So correct them as sternly as necessary to make them strong in faith. They must not listen to Jewish myths or the commands of people who have turned their backs on the truth.

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving; their minds and consciences have been defiled. They claim they know God but they deny him by the way they live. They are despicable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

But as for you, promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have strong faith and be full of love and patience.

Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord. They must not go around speaking evil of others; and they must not be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to take care of their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they won’t bring shame on the Word of God.

In the same way, teach the younger men to live wisely in everything they do. And you yourself must be an example to them in doing good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the seriousness and integrity of your teaching. Let your teaching be so correct that it can’t be criticized. Then those who want to argue will be ashamed because they will have nothing bad to say about us.

Slaves must obey their masters and please them in every way. They must not talk back or steal, but they should show themselves to be completely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way.

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn away from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God while we look forward to that wonderful event when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right. You must teach these things and encourage your people to do them, correcting them when necessary. You have the authority to do this so don’t let anyone ignore you or disregard what you say.

Remind  your people to be submissive to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not speak evil of others; and they must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility towards everyone.

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled by others and became slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy. We hated others and they hated us.

But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out his Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know we will inherit eternal life. These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone.

Do not get involved with foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These kinds of things are useless and a waste of time. If anyone is causing divisions among you, give them a first and second warning. After that have nothing to do with that person. For people like that have turned their backs on the truth. They are sinning, and they condemn themselves.

I am planning on sending Artemas and Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, do your best to meet me in Nicopolis as quickly as you can, because I have decided to stay there for the winter. Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their trip. Make sure they have everything they need. For our people should not live unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by helping others with urgent needs.

Everyone here sends greetings. Please send my greetings to all the believers who love us.

May God’s grace be with you all.

The Palestinian Authority’s recent announcement that it would seek UN recognition as an independent state dominated the news and the political debate in the United States last week, though in truth it should mean very little to us. Only a political class harboring the illusion it can run the world obsesses over the aspirations of a tiny population on a tiny piece of land thousands of miles away. Remember, the UN initiated this persistent conflict with its 1947 Partition Plan.

Unfortunately the debate is dominated by those who either support the Israeli side in the conflict, or those who support the Palestinian desire for statehood. We rarely seem to hear the view of those who support the US side and US interests. I am on that side. I believe that we can no longer police the world. We can no longer bribe the Israelis and Palestinians to continue an endless “peace process” that goes nowhere. It is not in our interest to hector the Palestinians or the Israelis, or to “export” democracy to the region but reject it when people vote the “wrong” way.

I have reservations about the Palestinian drive for UN recognition. Personally I wish the United States would de-recognize the United Nations. As most readers already know, in every Congress I introduce legislation to end our membership in that organization. The UN is a threat to our sovereignty– and as we are the main source of its income, it is a threat to our economic well-being. Increasingly over the past several years, we see the United Nations providing political and legal cover for the military aspirations of interventionists rather than serving as an international forum to preserve peace. Neoconservatives in the US have grown to love the United Nations as they co-opt the organization under the guise of endless “reform.” Under the sovereignty-destroying doctrine of “Responsibility to Protect,” adopted at the 2005 World Summit, the UN takes it upon itself to intervene in internal conflicts of its member states whenever it believes that human rights are being violated. Thus under “Responsibility to Protect,” the UN provides the green light for a kind of global no-knock raid on any sovereign country.

If asked, I would personally counsel the Palestinians to avoid the United Nations. UN membership and participation is no guarantee that sovereignty will be respected. We see what happens to UN members such as Iraq and Libya when those countries’ leaders fall out of favor with US administrations: under US and allied pressure a fig leaf resolution is adopted in the UN to facilitate devastating military intervention. When the UN gave NATO the green light to bomb Libya there was no genocide taking place. It was a purely preventative war. The result? Thousands dead, a destroyed country, and extremely dubious new leaders.

While I do not see UN membership as a particularly productive move for the Palestinian leadership, I do not believe the US should use its position in the UN Security Council to block their membership. I believe in self-determination of peoples and I recognize that peoples may wish to pursue statehood by different means. As we saw after the Cold War, numerous new states were born out of the ruins of the USSR as the various old Soviet Republics decided that smaller states were preferable to an enormous and oppressive multi-national conglomerate.

The real, pro-US solution to the problems in the Middle East is for us to end all foreign aid, stop arming foreign countries, encourage peaceful diplomatic resolutions to conflicts, and disengage militarily. In others words, follow Jefferson’s admonition: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

here is three big ones:

1. the civil war was about slavery (if so, why did the North sell their slaves to the South beforehand and then fail to give equal rights until decades later?)
2. milk is a good source of calcium (milk tastes great, I enjoy it, but it is meant for baby cows – greens have more digestible calcium than milk)
3. children should receive immunization shots (are kids at more risk from getting a small dose of the virus from an immunization?)
4. we have a two party political system (since when? did you know after Ross Perot’s success the Republicrats stopped allowing independents to participate in the presidential debates?)
5. world war II was started by the Nazis’ (instead of a poor handling of the Germans after WW I)
6. the poor economy is only the fault of our government (what about the undeterred Federal Reserve?)
7. we need a federal department of education (really?  since when has anyone in washington helped my local schools better?)
8. and yes, global warming (how come we don’t hear anything about the studies of trees in siberia proving the earth warming being a fraud?)  i do believe micro-climate change and favor the idea of weather cycles.