President

This is just a random thought that I have before I jump into my topic: I have written more this term than I ever did during my seventh and eighth grade years combined. Even weirder than that is that I don't really mind. Before I had always thought writing was stupid, but now I enjoy it!

Warning: I would recommend not reading this if you have the wrong opinions and are emotionally unstable. Also, if you think But I agree with what you're saying then I would like to congratulate you on your right opinion and advise you not to take anything said here personally.

Anyway, back to my topic, for the past year or two I have been told by various, anonymous people at Fairfield that President Bush and his administration are dumb. First I'd like to point out that the members of the Bush administration probably have more formal (and informal) education than the average ninth grader and most of the teachers. Second, do you seriously think that you could do any better? Are you an all powerful, omniscient person who can stop wars and better the economy with the wave of your hand? If you are, then I admit defeat, but seeing as magicians aren't around anymore (if they ever were) I really don't see how you can insult someone who is more qualified and doing their best.

Personally, I'm for Bush. I have supported most of Bush's world changing decisions and most of his not so world changing decisions. Granted, sometimes I don't agree with what he does but who doesn't disagree with someone at some point? I mean, COME ON people, grow up a little bit. Nobody's perfect but does that mean they are bad? No. It means they are human, like you, me, and the rest of the past presidents and presidential candidates. Anyway, would the other candidates have been any better? Probably not. Al Gore, one of Bush's major opponents in 2000, said publicly that he wouldn't have known what to do any better than Bush about 9-11 and that Bush was handling the whole thing pretty well.

So is Bush really doing all that bad for a next to impossible situation? I think he's doing great. And now for one of my favorite quotes from Albus Dumbledore. "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice, between what is right, and what is easy." Well, we're in those dark and difficult times now and Bush is leading the war against terror. The road we should follow may not alway's be easy, but what the heck? Let's do what's right and go down it anyway.

Mobile Phones

Hopefully, by Christmas, I'll get a cell phone! All of ninth grade and most of my eighth grade year I wanted the luxury of having one of them. (In seventh grade I had different priorities.) So yesterday, my mom and dad got a bunch of pamphlets. We all liked one of the plans, looked and debated, debated some more, looked some more, took about four hours looking and debating, and decided we still liked the same plan best. What a great use of time? Okay, so some of you rich thugs are going to think that this is a completely stupid thing (by the way, I don't care) but we are going to do the whole pay as you go thing. We aren't a poor family just somewhat conservative which means that after buying the phone and the first chunk of minutes, I'm on my own to pay for the rest. I don't have anywhere near the amount of money required for a plan, so my only option would be this pay as you go thing because they're cheapest. Anyway, the plan I'll probably have is a Tracfone. I haven't really heard anything negative about them and they seem to have a pretty great, cheap and usable cell phone plan.

Another thing I learned about cell phones is that if you go with a certain company, you have to get one of their phones. Maybe I live a sheltered, untechnologicaly cultured, miserably sad life but in any case, I didn't know this. That's one of the main reasons to why we did so much debating and leafing through pamphlets. It's because I wanted a particular kind of look to my phone. Was that too picky of me? Anyway, I found a phone that I liked with Tracfone and, since they already had the cheapest plan, I was extremely overjoyed. And so ends my amazing mobile phone adventure. I only have to wait till Christmas now!

Randomness About a Specific Topic

While reading through the discussion board (yes, I actually read all those), on Question #9, I realized that I left out my personal opinion on the topic of school work. My personal opinion on this subject is that I don't really have one. I am one of those people who, if they have an freakishly unusual amount of homework they complain, and if they have a regular amount they don't complain. I guess I would look at myself as someone who would give in easily to any minor opinion on a whim. But no, that can't be right because that would mean that I wouldn't really have opinions on other things, like the who's better Layton or Davis thing. Which, of course, Davis is (not arguing). In fact, I know several people who have told me that some of my voiced opinions are going to get me mugged, has that stopped me? No. So that can't be it, which leaves me thinking. What kind of person am I? Honestly, I don't think they have my category. I guess I'm just one of a kind, alone with all the others like me, but at the same time not like me, who don't always fit in with "normal" society but are a long ways off from being outcasts. But, maybe that's a good thing because if you haven't noticed already, it's the different people who do the important things in life because they are different. They know when to fight, when to give in and how to use their head. George Washington was this way, as was Abe Lincoln. Now the Question is: Are you different?

P.S. I do enjoy being vague and random. (sometimes)

Nutcracker

My little sister who is eight is in The Nutcracker. For those of you who don't know what The Nutcracker is, it is a ballet dance story, made a long time ago in the days of Tchaikovsky. This production was done by Clytie Adams School of Ballet. So yesterday, Friday, I went and saw her in it. She was one of the little cupcakes that go out, do a little dance and then go off stage. If you were there, you would only see her once and for only about five minutes. I didn't actually think that The Nutcracker performance was going to be all that great, but the more that I sat there and watched the dancers dance and all the little kids doing their parts, the more I proved myself wrong. The amount of work that they put into The Nutcracker astounded me and the skill of some of those dancers was really awesome. They brought in professional dancers for the lead parts who they got from Ballet West. I had originally gone to the performance to support my sister and not because I had cared about it, but I am now really glad that I went. The other reason that I went was because my parents told me I had to be more cultured.

My sister was in the second half of the show. She has been going to the rehearsal for two months now so it was really great to see all that hard work pay off. Every parent of a dancer was required to participate in some way to help prepare for the show. There were several committees of parents: props, communication, costumes, hair and make-up (my mom did this one), boutique, and more. All in all, I thought that the second half of the show was kinda boring compared tho the first. All that they had in the second half was a bunch of dances with, in my opinion very little story line. In the first half though, they had a great story line and overall better dancing. So now I think I will go through the highlights of the show.

The Top 3 Highlights of the show:

1. First scene- At the very beginning they show Uncle Drosselmeyer packaging up a bunch of toys for the party. The Nephew comes in and is trying to peak at what he is doing but at the same time trying to remain inconspicuous. (This is one of those moments where it just isn't the same when retold.)
2. Fight scene- When the soldiers come and do a dance reenactment of a big battle. To all you blood thirsty maniacs, who are becoming more and more common in the world today, you would be very disappointed by this scene. But to anyone else, this was a great scene.
3. The Dance of the Cupcakes-This was the particular scene that my sister was in. She was dressed up in a costume that didn't look remotely like a cupcake but it was still okay. It was shiny pink and purple. She was one of the highlights of The Nutcracker because she is my sister. She did a great job. And I'm a great brother (I think).
   

A noble cause

I recently had a poll on here entitled "Is it right to do the wrong thing for a noble cause?" The answers were "depends on the cause", "right", "wrong", and "I don't know" and I have had some pretty interesting results. So my goal for this blog is to expound on all the answers and give supporting arguments for each one. If you want to add to a section please feel free to do so!

Depends on the cause: These people tend to classify the terms "right" and " justifiable" as the same thing. There are several definitions of the word "noble". Someone similar to myself would classify the fate of the universe or maybe even just the fate of the state as a noble cause. Was it a noble cause for the U.S. to bomb Hiroshima with nuclear devices in order to bring an end to the carnage of WWII? I believe that this was the right thing to do even though it was wrong to kill and injure all those innocent Japanese people. Another example is (and this is a Mormon reference) when Nephi kills Laban to get the records because the Lord tells him to. The Lord says it is better for one man to die than " ...for an enitre nation to dwindle in unbelief." This is the choice that I would choose.
Then, there are other individuals who would classify their own problem as noble but the problems of others as not noble. They still fall into this category but I don't agree with them. These kinds of people would have no problem cheating on a test because it is right to get 100 percent.
People with both of these opinions tend to fall under this mixed category. They represent a combination of the "right", "wrong", and "I don't know" categories. These are good thinkers because they tend to be independent and able to see all the sides to a moral choice such as this.

Wrong: There are some people who believe that it is always wrong to sacrifice one's values. They believe that no matter what is going to happen, even if the world goes up in flames, you should always do what is right. They believe that there is a difference between right and justifiable. They think that there are cases were one can justify what they do, but it doesn't make it right. These are the type of people who take time in their decisions. These kinds of people tend to have high morals. These are people who will think things through and can always find a supporting argument for themselves. People like this are typically very determined and always good to have in a debate.

Right: This is the answer that means "If I classify it as noble than it is. And if it is noble, than it is right to do the wrong thing." In my opinion this is the choice that self-absorbed people would choose. However, many leaders both good and bad fall in this category. For example, Napoleon had his dream of manifest destiny and wanted to conquer all of Europe. In the process he killed many people for what he believed was a noble cause. These are the kind of people who become leaders, and aren't afraid of what others think.

I don't know: This is the only choice that I had no one choose in the week I had the poll. This is the choice for non-thinkers. It is the choice for people who are not leaders but the people who do what they are told when they are told. An example of this type of person could be a lowly enlisted soldier in the military. They are told to do the wrong things and the right things and do them by following orders. Sometimes, like in Nazi Germany, this was a bad thing but it can be a good thing, too. For example, if everyone was a leader then it would be complete chaos; there would be billions of different one acre countries and nobody would make any progress in life.

I thought that this poll was great because it made me realize how many different types of people there are. We need all of them because without these people America would not be America, Britain would not be Britain and the other major powers of the world would not be major powers.

Halloween (again)

Well, Halloween is officially over. I went to a party for Halloween with both of my brothers. It was complete and utter chaos but it was all good fun. So, I've been wondering, what were all you guys(and girls) for Halloween? Did you even go trick-or-treating? And do you plan on going trick or treating next year?

The Action

How do you feel when you hurt someone? Do you feel remorse, pain... antagonistic happiness?(I hope not.) I feel remorse. I always feel terrible if I am mean to someone. Trust me though, I try to be nice to everyone and everything. Usually, the only time I am mean to anyone is if I have a lost all patience. My other question is how do you know if you have hurt someone. Like, I've been arguing before and I have accidentally said something mean. I always have tried to attune myself to the expression of others when arguing in case I insult someone. If I find I insult someone though, I usually don't do anything to comfort them until I'm ready to say sorry. It's a weakness in my character, I know.

BYU

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a very outgoing supporter of BYU. By the way, I only insult U of U when people insult BYU. I have never started an argument about colleges. When most people think of the whole BYU versus University of Utah thing, they are referring to football. I play soccer and don't care a bit about football. I like BYU for its acedemics. In my opinion, the only thing U of U is better at smarts wise is paleontology, but I don't want to be a paleontologist so that's fine.