Bio

Farm boy. Attorney. Five children, eight grandchildren (God's gift to grandparents).  Lifelong Mormon.

Heroes:  C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton.

Love golf (much more than it loves me). Avid reader.  Recently e-published a book on Mormon culture.


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tabula rasa
Name:
tabula rasa
Hometown:
Salt Lake City
Joined:
Jun 9, 2010

Recent Comments

tabula rasa
Cornelius Julius Sebastian: Hysterical: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/psst-episcopalians-over-here/  · 3 minutes ago

I followed this link and found this classic Q and A with Reverend Schori:

Q: How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?

A: About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children

I'm a Mormon, and thus not as well educated as our Episcopal friends, but perhaps I can explain.  Yes, we do have more kids than average.

Why?

(1) They're a gift from God.

(2) It's a great compliment that God would give us stewardship over some of his children. Accepting that responsibility carries with it great duties (for which we will be held accountable).

(3) We like them (most of the time).

(4) No children, no grandchildren.

(5) Someone has to help pay the Social Security for those old, childless Episcopalians (think of it as voluntary income redistribution from Mormons to Episcopalians). 

BTW:  Mormons think that Paul was awesome.

Edited 2 hours ago
tabula rasa

Have fun!!  I nominate you and Felicia as Ricochet travel correspondents.

Edited 16 hours ago
tabula rasa

Just when I get completely cynical someone posts something like this. I even have a granddaughter named Tatum.

Way to go, Jon, you've revived some of my faith in human beings.

Edited 20 hours ago
tabula rasa

I spent nearly 25 years working for one of those big, evil corporations. Yes, they're bureaucratic. People occasionally can skate away from  responsibility for their actions.

But more often than not people were held responsible for their failures (including demotions and firings)--they were also awarded for their successes. It was imperfect, but then everything is.

As far as I can tell, IRS higher-ups regularly receive large bonuses, but none of them ever seem to be held responsible for their screw-ups (except for the guy who was going to retire in a week or two).

tabula rasa

Guys like him make me ashamed to be a lawyer.

tabula rasa

Mormon here:  I do believe in the reality of Satan.  Our theology teaches that he is real.  Nothing I've seen in the world gives me any reason to deny his existence.

Was the Pope performing an exorcism?  I have no idea, but unlike Jay Carney, if the Pope says he wasn't, I accept his statement. His credibility is very high.

tabula rasa

Mendel

tabula rasa: 

For a supposedly rational people, it's baffling why 60% of Americans consider it morally OK to have a child out of wedlock.

I think that question was phrased badly.  Having a child out of wedlock does not necessarily mean a child raised by a single parent, and many of the respondents may have assumed the question referred to unmarried parents who nonetheless remain in a committed relationship throughout the lives of their children.

So perhaps not all is lost? · 2 hours ago

I suppose some may have reached that conclusion, but by far the greatest source of single-parent families is women bearing illegitimate children.

I hope all is not lost, but that 60 percent number was 45 percent a little over a decade ago.  This is not a positive trend.

tabula rasa

DocJay

tabula rasa: Eliana Johnson at NRO is reporting that the Issa committee immediately issued a subpoena.  Whether they can get it served in time remains to be seen.

When high government officials plead the fifth, I think we can conclude (1) it's an official scandal and (2) it's time for a special counsel. · 1 minute ago

We need a number of special counsels.   · 1 minute ago

Doc:  If and when you get subpoenaed by Congress, I hope you send a  letter telling them you intend to rely on the Second Amendment.

tabula rasa
DrewInWisconsin: At least now we know which part of the Constitution she believes in. · 8 minutes ago

Isn't she the one who said she's not good at math?  I'm shocked that she didn't decide to rely on the Second Amendment.

tabula rasa

Eliana Johnson at NRO is reporting that the Issa committee immediately issued a subpoena.  Whether they can get it served in time remains to be seen.

When high government officials plead the fifth, I think we can conclude (1) it's an official scandal and (2) it's time for a special counsel.

tabula rasa

It's an excellent story.

tabula rasa

I thought the Democrats were the party of science?  

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse did his own version of this rant on the Senate floor yesterday.

Is there anyone here who can apologize on behalf of Rhode Island?

Edited on May 21, 2013 at 10:13pm
tabula rasa

You can put me in the same camp as Schrodinger's Cat.

For a supposedly rational people, it's baffling why 60% of Americans consider it morally OK to have a child out of wedlock.  Social science hasn't proven many things, but it has shown beyond all doubt that, on average, kids raised in single-parent have have much higher chances of experiencing a broad range of negative life experiences (including much higher poverty rates).

Totally aside from religion, one can only wonder why making a decision so deleterious to another human being is empty of moral implications for sixty percent of us.  I would call it a moral failure of the highest order.

Sigh!

Edited on May 21, 2013 at 10:15pm
tabula rasa

Query:  Would it have been a problem for my 501(c)(4) application if I disclosed that my group prayed that the good Lord would temper the plagues of Egypt and remove other great pestilences from the earth, including the IRS?

tabula rasa

BrentB67: Fun stuff.

Perhaps a less ambitious plan for the short run:

There is a bill in Congress to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico as a state. The thinking goes that if we are going to legalize 11M+ illegal alien criminals why can't we make 4M citizens a state.

The U.S. Flag is very beutiful and symmetric with 50 stars. Texas will bow out of the Union to be replaced by Puerto Rico thus saving the expense of changing the flat. · 5 hours ago

Edited 3 hours ago

If Texas gets to leave, then Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Idaho should be allowed to accompany ya'll.  Obama got 25%, 28%, 33%, and 33% respectively.  I think we've proven our conservative bona fides.  

They can make 46 stars look good, and our five would look good in a circular pattern (maybe we could join Israel and go with a six-pointed star). With Israel, the population of our new country would be about 42-43 million.  I think we'd be able to punch well above our weight.

Edited on May 21, 2013 at 3:17am
tabula rasa

EstoniaKat

tabula rasa: You've not heard to the thousands and thousands of olive oil poisonings all over Europe?  Public health crisis.

Being the devil's advocate here, how old is that olive oil in your jug at the restaurant? Days, weeks, months ... years? · 5 hours ago

If it were my restaurant, it would be fresh:  because I have the greatest incentive to (1) get customers to come back and (2) to not make them sick.  This is not a problem that requires EU regulations to solve.

I also trust that cooks in good restaurants won't spit in the soup.  That too is a "problem" that doesn't require government intervention.

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