Big 3 Bailout?

It was a great comfort, when we were dating, to discover Cory and I shared similar patriotism and political views. Although I tend to avoid listening to talk radio (I despise arguing), we do have stimulating discussions about current events and American ideals. Late last night and not-so-early this morning we were having another series, mostly prompted by Prop. 8 whiplash (my art school is based in San Francisco. I have to take some shrapnel when I stand up for family values). After a while we fell to the current event of the Senate considering to give the failing Big Three billions of dollars to "rescue" them.
My thought: In facing a potential bankruptcy for the all-American Detroit carmakers, it is easy to become sentimental. After all, aren't these the cars that were driving down the all-American Route 66 in its days of glory? Why would such a national legacy be on the verge of catastrophe?

It appears that Americans simply didn't want to buy the cars the companies were making in the first place. If the Senate did throw them the billions of dollars in question, it would be forcing American taxpayers to pay for the very cars that they had chosen not to buy.

Perhaps, if the manufacturers are willing to start over again, they can begin by finding out what it is their modern American customers want in a car.

Proposition 8

Even after the votes have been counted, the heat is still on about California's Proposition 8. I have a lot of thoughts on the issue. I only put a few in a letter I sent to an editor. In case the letter doesn't get published, or those interested don't get that newspaper, I'll publish it here as well.

What Rights Do Gays Have?

I noticed that Molly Metz said California’s Proposition 8 "gives the entire country the right to call us second class citizens," and I wondered, had her voting rights been removed? Was her social security reduced? Was her right to bear arms removed? Was she imprisoned? Our nation has a long, proud history of granting people the right to believe what they will believe.

Often gay rights are called a civil right, and compared to the wonderful revolution that ended limiting citizen’s rights based on their genetic history or national origin. Some psychologists suggest that there may be a gene that dictates homosexual inclinations. If this Proposition 8 called for brain scans that would determine which parts of society would have their rights stripped, it would have been a civil rights issue.

Our founding fathers fled from the social trends of Europe to found a country of religious freedom. When a few of these religions supported values traditional to America, and rejected following a modern European and media trend, the majority of the citizens voted to support them. Should gay rights supercede religious freedom or voters’ choices?

Do I hate gays? No. I love the people. I just don’t sanction their actions.

Spotlight on Kaith

Someone caught Cory after Church today to rave about how bright Kaith is. It seems that in Primary they were appreciating people all over the world, and there were guests invited who could speak different languages. Brother K. said "Je suis enfant de Dieu," then asked the junior primary if anyone knew what that meant. Kaith raised his hand (that's the only part of this that surprises me) and said, "I am a child of God."
Last Sunday was the annual Sacrament Meeting program done by the children. Only five of the about fifty children had an individual speaking part at the microphone. Kaith (age 5) was the only one under the age of eight. Since he can barely read, he had to memorize his talk, which we had gone over dozens of times in the prior few weeks. My favorite was when we took turns in the backyard standing on the play tower and reciting it. Even two-year old Miriam took a turn and was able to say part of it.
On the actual day, Kaith was so burned out from memorizing that he had long pauses between sentences, which his teacher needed to prompt him out of. Even so, he was the most memorable part of the program.

Jesus Is My Rescue Hero

(Kaith's Talk)

I love rescue heroes! I love fire fighters, because they rescue us from fire. I love police officers, because they rescue us from villains.
But my favorite rescue hero of all is Jesus Christ.
We call him our Savior, because he saves us from death and the power of Satan.
Jesus saves us from the power of Satan by providing the atonement. He prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and died on the cross, so our spirits can go back to heaven.
Jesus saves us from death by providing the resurrection. That means that after we die, our spirits can go back into our bodies, and we can go to heaven with them.
I bear my testimony that Jesus loves me, and he loves you!
I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Family Art

I'm still plugging away at my art classes. I suppose I'm improving in my personal skill, but it is painful to be classed as entirely unexceptional in my artistic endeavors. Most recently, I attempted a charcoal imitation of a sketch by Raphael for homework (no, I don't know what the picture is about). I thought I had done better than I usually do. My teacher graded it "C" and told me I need to draw with straight and curved lines. Please forgive me, but if I'm not drawing with straight lines, and not drawing with curved lines, what am I possibly drawing?

On a more positive note, I've acquired the inexpensive treasure: Art for the Very Young; Ages 3-6. I think we'll do an art lesson or two from it every Friday. The first section of the book is a study of line. It recommends showing the children black and white line art from Franz Kline. I laughed when I saw it. Think of a preschooler attempting Chinese calligraphy with a thick paintbrush. Well, I showed the children a few images (my favorite has the unlikely title Painting Number 2). Then they took handfuls of pre-cut black lines and dropped them onto construction paper (it was supposed to be white, but I didn't have enough). They needed a bit of help gluing. Miriam was the most focused, and was very proud of her composition, which now hangs above her bed. Kaith named his (the red one) Letter X on a Horse and Letter Z on a Jet.

We all had fun with it, and if people can call what Franz Kline did art, maybe my talent isn't completely a lost cause.

Halloween 2008

Trick-or-Treat! Candy's sweet!

Please may we have some to eat?

Chocolates, candy corn or gum:

our bags have lots of room for some!

Kaith was an alien-astronaut (thanks Grandma W. for the alien mask), Trevor was a turtle, Miriam was a butterfly (I think I tried to encourage color-coordinating pants. Oh well), and Sterling, who had no say in the matter, was Nemo, and didn't know why. It was fun to watch him try to crawl in that costume. Cory was a Jedi again, using his light-saber to herd the children around the block. And, of course, we visited both sets of grandparents, which is where the best candy always is. These pictures were taken at the maternal grandparents'.