I mentioned in an earlier blog that I may have some crystallized thoughts regarding the constitution by Thanksgiving. I have listed below the documents that have caused me to ponder the most. The firs is a commencement address given last May. I have included a link to the site since it is to long to list here.

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/documents/SNHUCommencementtalk-DemocracyCapitalismandReligion.pdf

The day after I read the above article, I heard the following story on the radio as I drove to work. I have copied the last section of that article.

'A Culture Of Illegality'

In recent years, Italy has recorded among the highest levels of tax evasion among Western countries and the largest number of serving members of Parliament found guilty of criminal offenses.

In a recent report, the state accounts court said corruption in the public administration is so vast that it is preventing the country's economic development and eroding the public's faith in government.

Rolando Patarca, a fisherman who is also a part-time chef and political activist, is demoralized by the society he sees around him.

"A culture of illegality has taken hold. We no longer have an ethical role model. We no longer want to follow the rules and respect the law and the constitution. We are in disarray, and we have given up. We have lost sight of our basic civil rights," Patarca says.

Berlusconi is fond of saying, "Italians like me the way I am."

Through two decades of TV dominance, many analysts say he has, in fact, reshaped Italian culture and values into his own image.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111513125

Finally I ran across this paragraph which is the final paragraph of an article in the encyclopedia of Mormonism onabout the constitution. I think these three documents seem to illustrate an important point.

To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency.

http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America

Lessons from playing croquet

For unknown reasons, this week I have recalled playing croquet in the back yard while growing up. If you have played croquet, you are aware what happens when your ball strikes another player's ball. You place the two balls together, put your foot on your ball, and with a great swing of the mallet can hit your ball which stays in place because of your foot but the energy is transferred to the other players ball which can go sailing far away and out of the way, to a 10 year old, it was great fun to send the other ball sailing.

Whenever my dad would hit another players ball, something quite different would happen. He would still strike his ball and send the other ball on it's way, but he would send it in the direction the other player was trying to go, he would help them out. Especially he would help out my mom. But in spite of helping us out, my dad still always won.

And the lesson from that is...? Well, I'm not sure. I don't play croquet anymore so I guess I won't ever be in a position to help others out when I could instead act like anyone else would and sidetrack them.

Constitution 1

Way back in January, when I was planning on things I wanted to do this year, one of them was to learn more about the constitution. By the 4th of July I wanted to have crystallized my thoughts and put them together in a PowerPoint presentation. I'm running a little behind. I have developed a bibliography that I am working my way through. I am about half finished with the list at the end of this blog. However, if you are aware of any very good books on the constitution (that are available without spending over $40 (the cost on Amazon of 'The Constitutionalist' by George Anastaplo.))let me know. Maybe by Thanksgiving I will have it put together.
I have tried to include a wide spectrum of political ideas

The words we live by, Your annotated guide to the constitution by Linda R. Monk (this was handed out to all students at BYU a few years ago)
Liberty’s Blueprint, How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World. By Michael I. Meyerson
Just and Holy Principles, Latter day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution, Ralph C. Hancock Editor
A lawyer Looks at the Constitution by Rex E. Lee
Latter day Prophets and the United States Constitution edited by Donald Q. Cannon
The Summer of 1787, The Men who invented the constitution. By David O. Stewart
The Genius of America, How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why it can Again, by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes
Original Meanings, Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack N. Rakove (won Pulitzer prize)
Remnants of Belief, Contemporary constitutional Issues, by Louis Michael Seidman and Mark V. Tushnet
A More Perfect Constitution, 23 proposals to Revitalize our constitution and make America a fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato.
Federalist Papers
Anti Federalist Papers

Curious

i'm curious to know if anyone actually reads this blog so I have a proposition. If you read the prior blog you know that I have a goal to lose 10 pounds in the next 8 weeks. If any of my friends (see definition of friend below) comments on this blog anytime in the next two weeks (by June 28, 2009) I will pay you a dollar for every pound that I miss making an A grade (see definition of A grade below) by August 10th.

an a Grade = 90% of goal. (in this case 9 pounds)

a friend is anyone listed as one of my friends on facebook by June 22, 2009

If you are a frient and are not on facebook, comment anyway and I will add you.

Anyone living in the same household as I will not be my friend (for purposes of this challenge) if they make or bring home cakes, pies, cookies, or anything like unto it and offer me some during this period.

If I do nothing about my weight and all of my friends comment it could cost me more then just a little. Comment now and give me motivation.

wake up call

I am a regular blood donor. I would guess (guessing is required because the blood bank lost the records for a few years) I've donated about 18 gallons. First I went for the cookies. Now I go because it is a cheap mini physical every few weeks. I can get get cholesterol, blood pressure, pulse, iron, and temperature checked every few weeks. Plus they feed me cookies.

Friday I got a wake up call when I was told my blood pressure numbers. I wasn't sure what was considered high, but I thought I was probably close. A little research showed that I was very very very close. A little more research and I have my plan of action. Since I will be fixing my meals anyway, I found a useful web site that provides shopping lists, menus, and recipes for the belly off diet. http://www.menshealth.com/bellyoff/program.php My goal is to lose 10 pounds before I give blood again in 8 weeks and see what that does to the numbers. Losing 10 pounds would just get me back to where I was before tax season started. My real very ambitious goal (don't tell anyone) is to loose 10 pounds every 8 weeks from now till the end of the year. That would get me to where I really want to be.

Yesterday I wandered the grocery store for two hours (to be honest, part of the time was visiting with my cousin when I ran into her) Searching for things on the list. For some items I had no idea where they were or even what they were. I noticed that the items I would normally have dropped into the cart had zero appeal as I walked past them in my search for the produce department. If that attitude is maintained, that in itself will bring postive results.

Now it can be told: What tax season is really like

With 25 years of tax under my belt, I have learned some things are consistant year after year. I no longer try to describe what tax season is like. It is hard to convey without having been there, but here goes.


1. When I say under my belt, that is literally true. Work is awash in food. Dinner is provided when you work overtime, treats are all around. They try to make it comfortable. Just like that warren in Watership Down

2. Every year I consider growing a beard because I resent the time it takes to shave as I am tying to get ready and out the door in the mornings. (Beginning mid March, I am at work about 5:00 a.m. (some people have been there for hours when I arrive) and work till about 8:00 p.m (some people will be there hours after I leave, but not the same people who are there before me) During the last week there will be a few days with about 4 hours from the time I leave work unti I get back.

2. Tax time simplifies life. My focus for a few months is on only one thing. After tax season is over and I have recovered from the pneumonia I contract the week after the 15th (I shouldn't exaggerate, it has only turned into pneumonia 3 times, other times it has been some other ailment, but the last 3 or 4 years I haven't been sick at all)

3. It's necessary to plan things like haircuts early in tax season, there will be no time later and a haircut to early means things may get pretty shaggy by April 15th. April 16th is the day for getting a haircut and other things that have been put off for just a bit too long.

4. After two and a half months of having pizza at work every Saturday, pizza loses it's appeal.

5. The stress from tax season does not come from the work that arrives. That always gets done. The stress comes from:

a. those who think that they are getting close to the deadline and won't have their return when the deadline is still 72 hours or more away. A LOT can get done in the last weekend. The question "Is my return done yet?" feels a lot like the question when i was 10, "is the book report done yet?"

b. all co-workers are sleep deprived and are feeling a little stress themselves. Working around everyone who is stressed is a unique atmosphere,

c. I recall comments by former co-workers during tax season. "I don't need an alarm clock. The thought of what I have waiting at work fills me with terror and gets me out of bed and gets me going". Another comment from a co-worker. " I feel like I'm a prisoner, I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything. I am confined here except for sleeping." My first tax season I thought I was working long hours when I would catch the last bus out of down town at 7:20 p.m. Boy was I ignorant

6. During tax season I tend to measure my sleep in how many sleep cycles I can fit in (a sleep cycle is about 90 minutes) I try to always get at least three cycles, but for a few days it will drop to two. Probably a half dozen times in the last 25 years I have worked all through the night

7. One of the pleasures of tax season is listening to the rebroadcast of general conference which starts at midnight on KSL. Generally I can only last for the first session but occasionally I have heard part of the 2nd session.

8. Sometime during tax season I will recall with amusement a time when I was going to school full time working on my masters degree, working full time (nights) with a janitorial service and serving as a counselor in a bishopric at church. I recall looking up at the sky one Monday morning about 4 a.m. as I was emptying trash and thinking I would be glad when I was though school and could have a regular job with normal hours. Things actually are more normal now. It used to be that every Sunday-Monday was a 20 hour marathon

9. I have learned that I can't work long hours every day. Now I try to alternate working 13 hours with working 12 hours. On Saturdays I like to not set the alarm, get to work a little later (7:30-8:00) work about 5 or 6 hours, go home for a few hours in the day light and then go back in the evening for about 3 hours. this will get me close to 70 hours a week.

10. There are typically two people each year that Julie will meet at work that are having problems with taxes. She will volunteer me to help them out.

11. People are generally understanding of the non essential things that can be put off till after April 15th. Unfortunately It's hard for them to understand that there are enough things put off till after the 15th that it takes 3-4 weeks to get it all done. It doesn't all happen in the first week

11. I LOVE the work I do outside of work helping people with their taxes. (In February) I don't get the stress (see point 5) from them and it is the appreciation and kind words that help me deal with the stress. Several years ago, I had LASIK surgery. During the procedure a nurse just took my hand and held it. I was amazed at the comfort that provided to help get through a stressful time. Likewise the kind, encouraging, thoughtful expressions from others help me survive the stressful last few weeks of tax season. They are like water in the desert.

12 Just as tax time simplifies life for me, it also simplifies what I expect from others. All that anyone around me needs to do is to anticipate and deal with every need or wish that I have, without my saying anything, make no demands of me, and be perfect in every way.

13. People think that April 15 is a busy day. Actually it is not. Things better not be too busy after April 13.

Easy and Hard

When I was in junior high, I wanted to expand my participation on the track team from the half mile to the long jump. I approached my mom about allowing me to dig a landing pit so I could practice at home. She agreed and recommended a location to put it. I dug out the grass, removed any rocks, and made a nice soft place to land. The next year my landing pit was converted to a garden. It is much easier to dig a landing pit than it is to dig a garden.

When the new Duty to God award was introduced, I was working with young men and decided to fulfill all of the requirements myself. My son also filled all the requirements for the one year of he had remaining in Young Men. He did not know he was filling requirements and might well have provided static had he been doing only that. Instead, as a family we filled the scripture reading requirements, to prepare for life after high school we filled other requirements, to help me out when I was busy I would ask him to do things and still more requirements were filled. He did not even know he was working on a program and the years requirements were completed in the natural course of day to day and without complaint or fussing. It was easy.

How many more things are harder or easier then they need to be because of the purpose we think is being accomplished by our actions?

My Interests exceed the time I have to pursue them. That means I have several half finished, or would that be half started projects. It also means many of the things I thought were oh so very important at one time, I now have an interest in but no longer consider them the most important thing ever. For instance, while   on the campus improvement team for my children's school and on the board of directors for the school districts educating foundation, I was passionate about schools. When I was a scout leader, I was passionate about the purposes and role of a well run (and I have my own definition of well run) scouting program.

I am a CPA but didn't plan to be an accountant. In fact I was miffed when a vocational interest test taken  in college spiked high in accounting and owning my own accounting firm (and rehabilitation counseling.)  Not that these areas were high, but that the areas I was planning to pursue were low. Since it did not sow what I wanted it to, I  paid no attention to that test. I graduated with a degree in Sociology having taken only one sit down in the classroom class in the field, but that story will have to be another blog  I considered myself first a political science then an economics major.  I have a Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

I am a regular blood donor (I expect to hit 15 gallons this year) I noted the power of example when my daughter, on her 17th birthday (the earliest one can donate) wanted to go donate blood. My son also donated when he was seventeen

I know more then I apply. I have an amateur radio license (ham radio.) I have studied and upgraded my license twice to enable me to have more on-air privileges. The last time I upgraded, after passing the first test, I opted to take the next upgrade, which would have put me at the top to the amateur radio food chain. I missed a passing score by one question. However, I do not own a ham radio nor ever been on the air.

I completed a course from the county extension office to be a master gardener for the county, but have not had a garden in years. Work is busy when its time to plant

In addition to being a CPA, I have been a Certified Financial Planner and currently have an accreditation as a Personal Finance Specialist. (CPA/PFS) I am working towards getting my own personal finances in line with what I know, but have a way to go.

I participate (not to be confused with compete) in 5Ks and triathlons, I have a shelf of books on training for these events.  If I had known in high school the things I know now about training, who knows what could have been. But no one else knew then what is known now either.

Speaking of my bookshelf, it occurs to me that to know my book shelf is to know me, or something about me. I have a shelf of books on the constitution. I started studying this a few years ago and have about 10 books from a variety of viewpoints. Another shelf has several religious dummies guide to books on: Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, and Mormonism I also have a few books on major world religions. A shelf on personal finance topics, A shelf (or 2) on church history, both LDS history as well as early Christian history. A shelf of political and religious biographies, plus the Story of Civilization volumes by Will Durant, The Great Books of the Western World, (how many times have I restarted the 10 year reading program, I began in college and might be 2/3 of the way through the 2nd year now). Several books (any I can find) from Arbinger Institute and a shelf on marriage and family, (weighted towards John Gottman's books.) Those are topics that fill a shelf, I've not mentioned individual books, nor novels (Grisham, Ludlum, Card)

With so many books why do I watch TV? (24; House; Psych; Bones ;) especially when the garden is only 1/2 started

This is a test

This is only a test.  If this were an actual blog:

1.  I would have something to say

2.  I would pick a time when I had more time to put some thought into what I said

3.  Future blogs will have more substance.  If nothing is written in the future, then....