Utah rumors of evacuees debunked

The Utah Attorney General used scare tactics of the worst kind, while not having his facts right. I heard Mark Shurtleff ring the alarm of fear about our evacuees from New Orleans on public radio, making the point over and over that there were dozens of convicted murderers living among the roughly 600 move-ins at Camp Williams. His facts were so wrong that 24 hours later he had to recant. What little political face the AG had remaining, he tried to preserve by saying that there weren't many but insisting there were at least some. Our AG seems particularly wary of a certain kind of stranger. This whole episode reminds me of the story of a senile state senator, who one afternoon saw a toy buffalo set on a platform in front of the state capital. Not understand the perspective he was seeing it from nor noticing the sticker flags on the toy, he thought the 3 inch toy was actually a monstrous two-ton bull. He screamed hysterically during the most solemn part of the congressional meeting to terminate the session immediately because the buffalo in Salt Lake were stampeding right through that same grand room. And what became of that senator? For his lack of perspective and judgement, the unfortunate senator was shortly retired from office. (Photo by Andy McAlister, UK via stock.xchng.com)

Kirby: My advice to all of you is . . . oh, nevermind

"I would really like to find the guy who invented advice and have him beaten senseless. It wouldn't be a real stretch. He was most of the way there when he started giving it." I'm with Kirby on this. I would add that advice is definitely better to give, particularly when it is long-winded, than to receive.

LDS Addicted to Sugar? Nah.

Reporter Peggy Fletcher of Salt Lake Tribune fame writes in this Daily Herald article about how good Mormons have a propensity for all things sugary. She writes, "Kent Christensen doesn't drink beer, wine, coffee or tea. And he certainly doesn't smoke. But he does love cake, cookies, candy and nearly every other form of sugary delight. While partying in New York City several years ago, one of Christensen's friends remarked, "I've figured you out. Sugar is the Mormon heroin."

In all fairness to Ms. Fletcher, I think her article was actually on food art or the sugar plum fairy, I forget which. I truly do understand where the quote above comes from. I've heard most of my adult life that we are the ice cream capital, the jello capital, the donut capital of the country -- at least that is the rumor. But I can't help asking myself where all that sugar we are supposedly eating is going to? I mean, it does seem odd that we LDS think ourselves as having such a propensity for sugary donuts, cakes, candy and so forth compared to the rest of the country, and yet we are some of the thinnest people in this porkulent , er, I mean corpulent country.

Not so, you say? Mormons are sugar loving fatties? Nah uh. I submit two pieces of evidence for your consideration. First, did you know that there are only a few states where the average citizen is thinner than a Utahan? When I visit elsewhere, like home in Hawaii, I see a lot of hefty people that I'm not used to seeing here (see photo). It is true that neighboring states of Montana and Colorado are thinner. We all know about the bitter cold, calorie-burning Winters of Montana and the hard Rocky Mountain climbs of Colorado. But, why are we in Utah roughly in the same league as the thinnest states? We have less harsh physical conditions here and a lot, lot more kids. Talk about conditions for fatness, and yet we aren't.

Want more proof? Well, according to Men's Fitness magazine, my alma matter of BYU has just been voted the buffest campus in America. Students actually get fitter there, while students at universities in say Mississippi actually get fatter during their college years. Utah, the sugar capital of the States? As John Stossel of the television news magazine 20/20 would say, "Give me a break", and while your at it pass some of those donuts this way.

12 Ways to Study the Scriptures

I'm starting to like Sister Woods, a frequent author of About.com's LDS community. She writes a practical guide of 12 ways to study the scriptures. I have perfected a thirteenth way, contemplating the scriptures by keeping my eyes shut. The Buddhist have their "aum" that they resonate to help meditate on the deep things of the universe. I emulate their practice but use a different section of the alpahabet. My LDS way of being one with the deep things of the scriptures is to let out a deep "zzzzzz". It is a very restful experience...

What if the Book of Mormon had been written by Dr. Seuss?

I always like wit and humor, and good 'ol Rachel Woods of about.com's Latter-day Saint community brings the Book of Mormon story into a format that even I can understand...

Here's my take

Alright. This was easy to set up.