[My first political post in a long, long while.  This is my one statement on the current campaign.  Other than here, I'm going to stay away from political posts because I abhor the lack of charity that permeates them.  The basic idea behind this was borrowed from Ann Althouse].

Yes, I’m conservative (mostly).  Yes, I’m an Alaskan (despite being in Texas at the moment).  If you think you know how I’m going to vote, you’re probably wrong.

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Any, General, In real life

Ever since I converted to the Church, I have been fascinated with the constant drumbeat of advice from leaders on staying out of debt.  During the late 1990s, I would occasionally say to myself, “what are they talking about — the economy is booming!” Did we ever learn that lesson in 1999 and 2000. Well, here we are on the edge of another tough economic period, and I am drawn to the warnings of the prophets.
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A couple times while driving down Interstate 270, passing through Gaithersburg (home of NIST where Latter-day Saint and DNA scientist John Butler works), Rockville (home to dozens of biomedical reseach companies such as Celera Genomics, and historian and scientist Greg Prince’s Virion Systems), and Bethesda (home to NIH), I’ve heard the following radio ad:

They’re the original mavericks. Leaders. Reformers. Fighting for real change. John McCain will lead his Congressional allies to improve America’s health.

STEM CELL RESEARCH to unlock the mystery of cancer, diabetes, heart disease.
STEM CELL RESEARCH to help free families from the fear and devastation of illness.
STEM CELL RESEARCH to help doctors repair spinal cord damage, knee injuries, serious burns.
STEM CELL RESEACH to help stroke victims.

And, John McCain and his Congressional allies will invest millions more in new NIH medical research to prevent disease. Medical breakthroughs to help you get better, faster. Change is coming. McCain-Palin and Congressional allies. The leadership and experience to really change Washington and improve your health. Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee.

It raises a couple of questions: Why are the Republicans running on John Edwards’ platform? And on what are they promising voters in other parts of the country that they’ll spend “millions” (as in thousands of millions, known to non-mavericks as “billions”)?
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I would like to draw the attention of M* readers to a new page on this blog where we are gathering links, stories, videos and statements supporting traditional marriage.  As many readers now know, we support the Church’s position on traditional marriage and support Prop. 8 in California and other measures to stop the official government sanction of same-sex marriage.  Any news or stories that may promote this position are welcome.  Please e-mail them to editor@millennialstar.org.

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Part 4 (Memory) here. Part 3.5 (Using Analogies) here. Part 3 (Style) here. Part 2 (Arrangement) here. Part 1.5 (Sources) here. Part 1 (Invention) here. Part 0 (introduction) here.

Well, it’s been awhile, and despite the title, this is not the last installment.

Delivery is something that can be overdone, and when it is overdone, it ruins the talk.

I’ve seen people with horrid delivery move me to tears and plenty of well-versed orators have left me feeling cold.

The first rule is: The Spirit matters most. The second is: Don’t fake your delivery.

That said, here are some ways you can improve the delivery of your talk without faking it. You don’t have to be trained in public speaking (although that’s always a plus, when not overdone), but there are small things anyone can do to improve the delivery of their talk. And if you have the Spirit in your words, a well-delivered talk can move from very good to great (or even excellent). Read more…

Any, In real life, Sacrament meeting

The headlines are pretty depressing these days, and it’s tough to make sense of all of the apparent economic disasters around us. I have spent a lot of time researching our economic issues, and these are the three best articles I could find to explain what we’re going through.

Please read this article, this article here and this article here.

To sum up: The source of the crisis is debt and a desire for “easy money,” which led to the subprime crisis, which led to the crisis we are in today. With the latest problems, we are most likely entering tough times, even tougher than the last few years. Many economists and observers don’t know what’s really going on and what to expect, because this exact type of crisis has not happened before.

But at the end of the day, a prophet has spoken on the things that are important during these difficult times.

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This is a guest post by Michael R. Conder, a member of the Berthoud ward in Berthoud, CO, where he lives with his wife and four children.  A systems engineer, Michael delivered this as a sacrament talk on Sept. 14, and there were very few dry eyes in the chapel as he discussed his journey of personal discovery.

By Michael R. Conder

Joseph Smith has said, “It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation.”

About a year ago, it had seemed I had completely forgotten that principle as I experienced a major crisis of faith. I didn’t know why at the time, but I felt disconnected from God. There were a number of issues that my family and I needed His help with, but it seemed He was not speaking to me anymore. I began to wonder if He ever had. So, I began to search for Him. Because I felt spiritually separated I turned my search into a purely intellectual pursuit.  Read more…

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A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not Christian enough to belong to a Christian fraternity. I support private groups of people forming associations with whomever they please and calling themselves whatever they want, but this group is not “Christian” and the world should be aware of its true nature.

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This story caught my eye, and I thought the Bloggernaclites might find it interesting to discuss.  I have no idea how this would affect the Church if at all, but it could affect pastors both on the right and left.

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The minute John McCain announced Sarah Palin my take on this presidential campaign completely changed.  And after Palin’s speech Wednesday night, I’m even more excited.

If you want to know why, read this article.
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