Sunday, June 20, 2021

What Are You Worried About? Sins and Errors

What Are You Worried About?

Sins and Errors

Began March 10, 2021. Continued early April.

    All of us have fears of committing errors; some of us believe that those mistakes are sins, or sinful.

    Mistakes in the secular world happen by accident or on purpose, and many of those errors or faults cause pain and remorse. A belief in a bigger system...

I fear that I can sin, both in spiritual realms and in the secular ways of life.

However, as a Christian, believing that the Son of God Jesus Christ can erase my sins, that is a good safeguard. However, we cannot take our sins lightly; that is part of the repentance process.

The laws of countries and lands have their ways of rendering justice. There is a process to do these things; some methods and punishments and reform systems work better than others.

All for now.

Happy Father's Day.

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Moralizing on Marriage, Economic Solidity for Growth

Moralizing on Marriage, Economic Solidity for Growth

    Some people think that moralizing is bad, for a few reasons. One, some people think that there is no true good or bad, perfectly just or pernicious evil, nor ultimate right or wrong. Those people think that morals are relatively non-starters because all things are relative. I disagree: there are absolutes in the world that are really good or really wrong. Yes, there are plenty of grey areas, to be debated and further scrutinized, but there are factors that can be measured that can be qualified as good or bad. Jobs and being able to pay for your way (and others') in life? Good. Handling health cares and affording nice vacations and creature comforts? Good. Avoiding harming others and staying away from crimes? Good.
    Some think that moralizing is unproductive because it is not an effective way to communicate or educate, that those that they are meant for do not pick up those lessons. Fair enough, platitudes and pontifications can be rare in their execution and implementation to both those that decree them and the alleged acolytes that should be listening and complying with said injunctions.
   Some are turned off, non-chagrined, by the moralizers themselves because they feel that those that disseminate such knowledge are themselves hypocrites, and that the morals are not meant for them, or anyone, disseminator or receiver, because they are exceptions to the rule. Many question, who are those moralizers to tell me what is wrong or right? How can people know what is good for me? Or anyone? How can any standard be truly true?
    People are not good at listening and internalizing wise counsel. Too often. Or people get the wrong advice and lessons from those that are not the right models or teachers.

    Marriage is an institution that is an inherent stabilizing and wealth solidifying convention that should be practiced and upheld. The 21st century paradigm of marriage is a couple, but there are cases of polygamy where it works, or has worked, for the benefit of society.

    Does everything have to benefit society? Ultimately, yes. Otherwise we will continue to encounter the injustices that millions cry out for and get out on the streets for redress and reform. Anger and hostility are driven by such people that too often do not conform to the morals that we moralizers espouse:

Get married, stay married, do not cheat, do not dally and bring life and souls into the world without those standards. Children need parents, society deserves youth who have married parents. There are exceptions and times when children do not have two parents working for their good. In some cases of abuse, it is better that separation and divorce be the result. Death and widowhood happen, sadly. 

But society and the families involved need marriage. It is a pillar of good economies, it is a signal of stability and prosperity.

Those who lose this institution end up paying in many myriads of ways, which are at times hard to quantify but hard to avoid and negate nonetheless.

I have more thoughts on the good morality of marriage. Even plural marriage is better than casual situations of intimacy and life creations without the anchor of dedicated parenthood.

Get on the bus of marriage, economic responsibility, and stay on the ride, stay the course.

All for now.

I am happy to be married, and I am reticent to moralize.

But I have to share what I know works, and is true.
    

Nigeria, A Land of Many People

 Nigeria, A Land of Many People

If you look at world populations, Nigeria is growing faster than most.

Here are the top ten populous nations in 2021:

TOP TEN COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST POPULATION

#

Country

2000
Population

2021
Population

2050
Expected Pop.

Pop Growth %
2000 - 2021

1

China

1,268,301,605

1,444,216,107

1,329,570,095

13.8 %

2

India

1,006,300,297

1,393,409,038

1,623,588,384

38.5 %

3

United States

282,162,411

332,129,757

388,922,201

17.7 %

4

Indonesia

214,090,575

276,361,783

318,393,046

29.1 %

5

Pakistan

152,429,036

225,199,937

290,847,790

47.7 %

6

Brazil

174,315,386

213,993,437

236,030,311

22.7 %

7

Nigeria

123,945,463

211,400,708

391,296,754

70.5 %

8

Bangladesh

128,734,672

166,303,498

193,092,763

29.2 %

9

Russia

147,053,966

145,912,025

129,908,086

- 0.8 %

10

Mexico

99,775,434

130,262,216

150,567,503

30.5 %


Many points can be derived from the above table, like that Nigeria as projected will outpace the population of the United States in the next generation, by 2050. 

This would be incredible, in my opinion. Would there be enough resources? What will life be like in 29 more years?

China and Russia are both predicted to lose population. Will this be true, or will migratory and other economic factors come into play, beyond the local birthrates? 

Japan has now been surpassed by Mexico as a top ten country for inhabitants. Will more people migrate there because of economic factors?

Will more people migrate out of big population growth centers like India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh?

Could other diseases, disasters, wars, droughts and economic trends and factors change the above projections? We shall see.

Africa as a continent, and in particular Nigeria at its epicenter will be a key hub to much of the future of our planet.

I have written about Nigeria before, stating that based on the opinions of some Nigerian linguists that I have worked with, they believe that the nation will not stay united due to the cleavage between the Muslim north and the Christian south.

What will happen? Will the overall economy grow and prosper enough to sustain its citizens?

Can Nigeria sustain its own growth? Or will the additional millions emigrate to underpopulated places like Russia, Japan, or even Italy and the rest of Europe?

The Western Hemisphere is attractive, too, for many reasons.

At present, there are some 400,000 or so Nigerian naturalized citizens in the U.S.

Will these trends continue?

Perhaps.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Harper is Now at 262 On the All Time List, Tying the Great Clemente

Harper is Now at 262 On the All Time List, Tying the Great Clemente

Despite some health issues the last month, Bryce has made it back on the active roster and hit another long ball. 240 career homers ties him with Jeff Burroughs and Roberto Clemente.

Clemente is notable as an iconic player, who made it to the 3,000 hit club (no small feat), and died doing a humanitarian flight with emergency supplies crossing his native Caribbean Sea. I have associates who consider Clemente their favorite player of all time. He played from 1955 to 1972, all in Pittsburgh, and batted a career .317, with some of his best hitting years near the end of his career. He died at age 37 and was an automatic Hall of Famer.

Burroughs played with many teams between 1970 and 1985, hitting a career high 41 in 1977 with the Atlanta Braves. Although not mentioned a lot to my knowledge, being close to the top 250 major league home run hitters is pretty cool.

The league just announced their 20,000 player; it is pretty elite to be in the top 300 of those lists of they that could put some force on the pitches across the generations.



262.Jeff Burroughs (16)240RHR Log
 Roberto Clemente+ (18)240RHR Log
 Bryce Harper (10, 28)240LHR Log

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Everything and Nothing Too Interesting

 Everything and Nothing Too Interesting

Today was Sunday; I went to church.

That is pretty normal for me. However, there were some extenuating circumstances that made it unique. I had not attended in a while. I was surrounded by people that I had never attended with before. It was nice.

Refreshing. 

I invited someone: he came, which was out of the ordinary. We had some good lessons and it made me feel good, having missed so many Sundays this last part of the end of spring.

Songs were good, testimonies were good, the Spirit was good, sacrament was good, and it was good.


Saturday, June 5, 2021

One More Voice in a Sea of Millions

 One More Voice in a Sea of Millions

Many of us earth inhabitants have our opinions of how things should work, and what does not work.

I am one of them, an observer, if you will. I have been developing my opinions, hypotheses, ideas, and observations for more than 40 years. One bit at a time, brick by brick or pebble by pebble, I gather these things and formulate. Some of those bricks break or erode with time, while the pebbles can get lost by the wayside. What are my opinions? I will make a list.

1. The United Nations has never been united enough. While the major purpose of avoiding another world war has been achieved till now (not bad), the U.N. peacekeepers and other divisions of them have been way too divided, to the detriment of millions of us. It could be much better. Is it the Communist China and former Soviet Union's fault? Or was the problem with the Western capitalist nations? Either way, the U.N. has let millions of innocent people die, starve, re-locate under duress, and lose their lands and livelihoods.

2. Capitalism works; the Adam Smith principle of economic self interest applies to the human condition, but we need magnanimous governments and social programs to look after the unempowered.

3. Some people, through heinous acts, deserve the death penalty, after a trial by their peers and good legal representation and due process and proper evidence and incontrovertible conviction.

4. Police and law enforcement do the right thing most of the time in the United States. There are some police that make mistakes, but we have systems in place to stop the corruption and abuse of power that occurs among those who enforce the law.

5. White collar crime is despicable; those who commit it should pay more to society, in effect they are robbing the honest hard workers of the world and setting us back very far. 

6. Some government and corporate entities take more from the people that support them than they contribute. We need to help change these practices and abuses.

7. It is hard to prove that any God is above in heaven. Many people have reasons to believe in a Supreme Being or other supernatural powers. It is understandable why people do not believe.

8. Most of us are hypocrites, since it is hard to match all our opinions with our actions. Hail to the people that match their expectations and deeds.

9. I believe that racism is one of the worst things in the world. Cultural superiority and ethnocentrism tend to be worse in our day and age.

10. Wars are very unfortunate events, most of the time resulting from greed.

11. There are legitimate reasons to go to war.

12. Religions mean to achieve greater goods. 

13. Many or most religions are exploited and people use them, like any organization, to get away with less than noble things.

14. Some economic plans can ruin many peoples' lives. Other economic plans and processes help a lot of people.

15. I do not like vulgar expressions and words. I understand why some people like them.

16. I do not like drugs and mind altering substances. I understand why some people use them, like them, abuse them, and sell them.

17. Making money is good, and being generous with those funds is the best thing.

18. Standing up for and defending the weak is the best thing anyone can do.

19. Exploring new places and conserving the nature that we already enjoy is hugely important.

20. Good stories and entertainment are key to helping us grow and develop.

21. Non-fiction stories and history, all our human sciences, all add up to really knowing who we are.

22. We all should be free in who and what we each love. Some types of love or likes are not appropriate.

I will stop here.

It is good to sleep, get rest, exercise, eat well, muse good things, and pray and sing, or dance, or however people get close to their higher self.