One of the challenges unemployed workers are facing in today’s job market is trying to find a new work identity after their old identity was erased. In my former position as Student Success Manager for EWI, I spent four years helping seasoned professionals and novices alike identify, utilize and monetize their transferable skills to create new careers as entrepreneurs.
In this capacity, I was able to help hundreds of people stay positive in the face of adversity, create new dreams and gain the courage to fulfill their dreams. I was also able to help entrepreneurs identify their needs and suggest resources to help them meet their business challenges.
I believe the current economy presents an unprecedented opportunity for both employers and prospective employees alike because of the incredible pool of talented candidates that was unavailable for employers to choose from in older more stable economies. Non-traditional crossover candidates bring with them a wealth of training and a diversity of experiences that can enrich and rejuvenate a stale corporate environment while fulfilling staffing needs.
A title isn’t who you are. A title doesn’t even necessarily tell what you did. You are a valuable person regardless of the titles others might bestow on you or take from you. If you have been downsized and feel like your identity has been erased, make a list of your skills, talents and experiences. Then, as you read job announcements, ask yourself, “How can my skill set fit in with [this] employer’s needs?”
You don’t have to be desperate and settle for a bad employer or a bad job. Remember, you were looking for a job when you found your last one so, don’t forget to make it a two way interview.
It’s not what you have been but what you are becoming that determines your future.
Congressional earmarks are a way for congress to usurp the power of the states to self-direct. One of the most effective ways Americans have to restore some integrity to congress is to eliminate earmark spending.
Basically what is happening currently is:
Congress taxes Americans at a much higher rate than is necessary
Congress gives some of our tax dollars back to the states
Congress tells the states how to spend the money
Political action groups and lobbyist (pay, donate, gift…) congressional representatives then demand federal tax money is spent on their special projects
Don’t you think it would be better if we got to keep more of our hard earned money? And, if we need something at a state level, don’t you think you could better decide how to provide for it on a local level?
Earmarks provide a way for special groups to get the EAR of the (often corrupt) officials who write our government’s checks.
It is amazing to me that congress can be so specific in telling a state how to spend tax dollars, or a public school what to teach but, they can’t be specific in telling private corporations (especially Wall Street and international banks) how to spend hundreds of billions of our tax dollars.
Who are the fools who elected these guys anyway?… Sadly, it is us!
Have you ever considered how we socialize our children? How do children learn values? What kind of influence are you having your children? Here is a father’s short story. It’s worth hearing.
I often get fun emails of an unknown origin. This is one of them. I checked it out on snopes.com and it is true. You can go there for more details.
Violinist in the Metro— Wash, DC
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
I guess one of the reasons I liked this email was I LIKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. Beautiful music to me is any music that causes my spirit to celebrate the wonders of earth, heaven, life or the soul. It doesn’t matter if it is a child who can’t carry a tune or a father who can’t really sing, an orchestra or band full of children who are just learning to play, or the average middle aged person giving music their best efforts – I love music!
Interestingly I was actually evicted from an apartment for singing once upon a time…
An opera singer who lived beneath me used to wake me up very early every morning when she did her vocal warm-ups on the patio. One day I went out on my balcony and joined in her song. I gave it my best operatic effort. Unfortunately it wasn’t appreciated… No Money PLEASE
Anyway, I hope you take the time to appreciate the beauty of music and all the beauty around you.
By Janet Walgren
While reading Anne Bradshaw’s blog, Not Entirely British, I came across this YouTube clip of a speech given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell at Brigham Young University on October 10, 1978. What he said has proven to be a very accurate prophetic warning about the state of our nation today (some 30 years after the fact). This is just one of thousands of reasons that I believe in modern day living prophets.
I would like to share three short videos about important election issues. I hope that you will consider what is at stake before you vote. I believe that the consequences of this election are, or will become, alarming.
This week I took the opportunity to watch the Congressional hearings about the credit rating industry. As the top guns of Moody, Standard & Poor, and others were grilled by members of the United States Congress, I sat in disbelief of what I was hearing. So did the members of Congress who were asking the questions.
With all the hoop-a-la going on with campaigns, debates, news media coverage, finger pointing and the crazies that go with it, I was please to get some common sense emails this week. I would like to share them here in hopes of doing some good for our country. Enjoy!
By Charlie Reese – a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red. If the Army and Marines are in IRAQ, it’s because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way. They vote their own pay-raises for themselves because they want it that way.
There are no unsolvable government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; toregulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like ‘the economy,’ ‘inflation,’ or ‘politics’ that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible. They and they alone, have the power. They and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
There are three kinds of people who will call themselves your friend:
Those who will help you stay where you are,
Those who will help you get to where you want to be,
Those who will help you get to where you ought to be.
If you want to be truly happy in life, and in eternity, it is critical that you learn to discern which type of person is really truly your friend. ~ Janet
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world.”
~ Anne Frank
One of the things that bothers me most about politics and election campaigns is the attitude of the voters. It seems like the only people who are considered capable of changing things for the better are the candidates.
Political debates seem to be an exercise in candidates telling us what they CAN do to fix things and telling us that their opponents ideas WON’T work. After the debate is over we are left at the mercy of political pundits who work us over until we go away thinking that NO one can do anything.
When we take the information that we have garnered into our inner circles to discuss things further, someone invariably says, “Well, (~sigh~) there’s nothing we can do to change things!”
We need a lot more Anne Franks in the world if we want our world to get better. Just think what could happen if we all rolled up our sleeves and went to work to change things. We need to realize that we ALL count. Collectively and individually we CAN make a difference.
“One of the greatest tragedies we witness almost daily is the tragedy of men of high aim and low achievement. Their motives are noble. Their proclaimed ambition is praiseworthy. Their capacity is great. But their discipline is weak. They succumb to indolence. Appetite robs them of will”.
~ Gordon B. Hinckley, 1979
What are you aiming for? Is your goal high? Nobel? Is your target even worth aiming for in the first place? Have you prioritized your targets? Do you even have a target that you are aiming for?
What is indolence? Have you succumbed to indolence?
Do you have an appetite for things that you shouldn’t touch? Perhaps you need to go on a diet and time limit some things that are OK in moderation.
What robs you of will?
I love my job. For quite some time now I have been interviewing multimillionaires, people who have made mega fortunes. Then I get to write their stories for a project. Interestingly, I have found that those with the greatest successes have started from the deepest valleys – places that few would want to go.
One of the women I interviewed this week made an interesting observation and comparison. She told me to imagine that I was lying in a hospital bed staring at the monitor watching it record my vital signs. She asked, “Do you want to see a flat line or peaks and valleys?”
The answer to that was obvious!
And such is life…
She taught me a new gratitude for the challenges, the peaks and valleys of life.
By Janet Walgren
I’ve been compiling some histories, both personal and family, during my down time. Perhaps you would be interested in learning a little about, and seeing, my favorite sport which is Judo.
Yep, that’s me throwing Jim Harrison in a women’s self-defense demonstration
I did lots of demonstrations in front of thousands of people for about ten years. Most of the self-defense routines consisted of karate and jujitsu techniques followed by a judo throw.
I broke my first board in front of thousands of people during a demonstration. Jim sprung it on me; it was a surprise. I had never tried to break a board before. I was so nervous that I missed the boards he was holding on the first try and caught him hard with a back kick in the chest. Man did he ever deserve it. Thankfully, I broke the board on my second try or he would have broken my … when we got back to the dojo.
You don’t really hear much about Judo because judo doesn’t pay big profits like the other martial arts. Jim Harrison promoted my karate tournament wins like crazy because it was good for business.
I was in in TV commercials, newspaper articles, Karate Magazines, home shows, tournament half-time shows, and even featured at the 1968 World Fair because my karate accomplishments were good for everybody’s business.
In 1975 author, Bob Wall, listed me in the very first Who’s Who in the Martial Arts. Well known karate greats like Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee were also listed in that same edition.
When I was going through some of the newspaper clippings last Sunday, I found an interesting clipping detailing the tournament standings for a karate tournament. Check out the name of the winners. Chuck Norris was the lightweight finalist in the men’s black belt division.
Here is a photo of my winning back kick. I won every match with this powerful kick. Note the bend that is still in my leg. By the time my leg was straight, my opponent was out of the ring on her back side.
So why do I prefer judo to karate when I was so good at karate? Well for starters, Judo doesn’t involve knives.
For years when Jim was developing his knife defenses, he would appear suddenly and hand me a big wicked looking knife and say, “Come at me hard with a thrust!” Or, “Try to stab me with an overhand or lunge at me holding the knife like so.”
I knew if I didn’t come full force, I would get beaten up as he demonstrated what he wanted me to do. And, if I did come at him full force, I was still in for a bruising.
When people read his magazine articles about knife defenses, they said wow! They never stopped to ask, “How did he figure that out?” but I could have told them.
I like judo because it is relaxing. It is cool to throw someone and know that you really did it. It is also relaxing to be thrown. It is kind of like a nice relaxing full body massage.
Judo is a sport that requires self-discipline.
It is a great sport for young kids because they have to develop self-discipline to be able to use it. In order to learn the throws, you have to cooperate with your partner. Judo teaches cooperation.
Judo translates “the gentle way” because you use your opponents strength and momentum to throw them, and it is a life sport that doesn’t take a huge toll on your body.
My favorite judo player was a man named Paul. He was an old, tall, skinny, Ichabod Crane type of fellow who would come to our dojo to work out about twice a week.
Paul would just stand there, hardly moving a muscle as the young bucks attacked him furiously. Then there would be a slight move of his hand and a quick sweep of his foot and the young muscle head he had partnered with found himself on the mat. Paul would help the guy to his feet, but that would only last for a second before he found himself on the mat again.
The young guys had a hard workout but Paul seldom broke a sweat. I don’t think I ever saw anyone throw Paul. He was simply marvelous.
Check out this link on youtube to see a quick demonstration of the classic judo throws. This is a great credit card commercial:
I did a lot of women’s self-defense demonstrations in the 60’s and 70’s to promote the martial arts and women’s participation in them. Judo wasn’t introduced into the Olympics until 1964 and women didn’t participate until 1988 as a demonstration sport. The first women’s Olympic Judo medals were awarded in 1992. I guess that makes me a woman pioneer in women’s judo. Those who trained me were Jim Harrison, Jim Lindell, guest resident sensei Kim Jong Woo and guest sensei Dr. Park Sung Jae.
By Janet Walgren
I have spent the last half a year of my working life interviewing people to get their stories for a book my boss is writing. Today I interviewed a delightful highly educated woman who has solved numerous problems with a slogan she used when she was teaching swimming lessons. She told her students, “if you have a problem, just keep your head about you. Think so you won’t sink!” After saying that to students for years, it occurred to her that the slogan not only worked in the pool, it also worked in life.
Are you facing a problem or challenge in your life? Don’t panic and react negatively. Why not think your way out of it? That’s what most famous scientists do for a living.
I heard a story once of a child who asked its parent, “Do you own me?” That’s an interesting question. So often parents do act like they own their child. While it is true that the parents have a stewardship over their children and the responsibility often entails seeing that the child does things that are often to their child’s disliking, the time comes when all children become adults, individuals responsible for thinking and making choices. Somehow, I think that this concept has gotten lost on the individuals and institutions that are primarily responsible for educating our children. Sadly, indoctrination in irrelevant topics has replaced learning how to think about relevant topics. Our children deserve better. They need to be taught foundational basics so they can become self-sufficient, contributors to society.
I think that every mother knows how to count to ten. In fact I heard a frustrated neighbor counting uno, dos, tres… just the other day. And, when I went to the Asian grocery store last week there was a mother counting ichi, ni, san… Some things seem to be universal when a child is misbehaving. One of those things is, mothers count to ten. Ah, the memories, the stories about ten. Tales about ten continue for generations and shape the course of history.
Being the second oldest of ten children, I have done my share of reminiscing with my siblings and I have noticed something very interesting. Everyone tells stories about the number ten differently. I’m not talking about the details of an incident; they are pretty much the same. I’m talking about attitude, the spirit in which the stories are remembered and told. I’ve noticed that attitude makes an amazing difference in the life of the subject of the story, and more interestingly, the teller of the story.
There is an excellent example of what I’m talking about in the book, Love is a Verbby Mary Ellen Edmunds. Mary shared a bedroom with her sister Charlotte. Mary and Charlotte were very different personalities which is not all that uncommon among siblings. Charlotte was a compliant child and Mary was the adventurous one. At bed time, when the sisters didn’t settle in and go to sleep right away, it was not at all uncommon for Mary’s mother to count to ten. And, Mary’s mother instinctively knew whose fault it was so she would march in the bedroom, go straight to Mary Ellen’s bed and give her a spanking.
On one particular night, Mary was trying to talk Charlotte into to jumping out the second story bedroom window.She had a theory that if you bend your knees on impact, it would absorb the shock and your legs wouldn’t break. Charlotte was reluctant and refused to try the experiment. As the conversation progressed, Mary’s mother started to count, one, two, three… When she got to ten Mary knew she had to act fast, what to do… Then she had a brilliant idea.
“Charlotte lets see if we can trick mommy! Lets trade beds and see if she notices.” They exchanged beds in the nick of time. Her mother entered the bedroom, marched over to Mary’s bed and gave Charlotte a sound spanking. Then she marched out of the room saying that she didn’t want to hear another peep and told them to go to sleep.
As Charlotte lay sobbing, Mary exclaimed jubilantly, “Charlotte we did it, we tricked mommy!” Both girls were pleased and excited that they had tricked their mommy.
Imagine yourself as Charlotte. What would you say as you reminisced about that incident? What emotion would you attach to the memory? How would you paint your sibling? Would you be kind, charitable? When you told the story, would it be funny? Or, would you be the victim of a bad sibling who made your life miserable?
Happy adults find the fun and the funny in their memories. They are great story tellers and everybody love to listen to them. They discover the lessons in life and paint their associates in charitable ways as they impart their wisdom and sage advice.People love to be around these happy folks. They make life pleasant. They even make work pleasant- even when the task seems as unpleasant as testing a theory by jumping out a second story window to see if bending your knees on impact will keep your legs from breaking.
I think almost everybody has been a Charlotte who got the undeserved spanking at sometime in their life. And, most people have found it necessary to be a Mary who needed to find a quick solution to an unpleasant problem on occasion. Regardless of the situations that you have faced, or that you are currently facing, your approach, your attitude will make all the difference. And, only you can choose what that attitude will be.
What makes the difference in people’s attitudes? I believe that it is love. As you go about your life, remember Love is a Verb.
By Janet Walgren
“You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.” ~ W. Clement Stone
If this statement is true, and I believe it is, then why do we choose to do what we do? What is our guile, our motivation? Are we choosing to act on greed and self interest or moral principle? Are we willing to make tough choices based on principle regardless of the consequences?
Yesterday was Memorial Day. I don’t know if you are aware of the origin of Memorial Day or the story behind the first Decoration Day. I would like to share it with you because it embodies the choices of many men and women resulting in the liberty and freedom that we enjoy today as a nation.
“According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first Memorial Day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. The freed slaves re-interred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard & built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard; a very daring thing to do in the South shortly after North’s victory. On May 30, 1868 the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they’d picked from the countryside & decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the 1st Decoration Day. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.” ~ Wikipedia
I love this story. I love the gratitude that those people expressed. How many today can say that they have a heart felt appreciation for the sacrifice of life and family that has given us our liberty, our freedom? As I passed the cemetery yesterday, the graves were covered with flowers and flags. But that was yesterday. What about the rest of the year? How do you or I express our gratitude for freedom and all that we enjoy? My first ancestor to stand on American soil came here on the Mayflower. From that time till now, my family has been represented in every war our nation has fought. I have seen first hand the consequences that come to a battle scarred veteran and his family. They are grievous to be born.
As we go about our daily lives conducting our personal and business affairs, I hope that we remember the sacrifices that gave us our privileges. And, as we remember, I hope that we will choose to show our gratitude by the choices we make.
Last week, on the evening news, I heard a “stupid criminal” story about a twenty-one year old man who stole a check from his girlfriend’s mother and tried to cash it at his local bank. The teller alerted police immediately after she was handed the check. The thing that tipped her off that something wasn’t quite right was the dollar amount. the check was filled out for $360 BILLION Dollars. Everyone who knew the perpetrator was in a state of slightly amused shock as they expressed their disbelief noting that if they actually had $360 Billion on hand, “We wouldn’ be sitting here… We would be somewhere sipping margaritas…It must be 5:00 PM somewhere around the world.”
How could he do such a stupid thing? How could he be so dumb? As I pondered these questions, I tried to come up with a logical answer, but each time I thought up a scenario, I started laughing. Not that the situation was funny, it wasn’t in the least, but it was simply beyond my comprehension how anyone old enough to get to a bank teller’s window with a check in hand could have possibly expected to cash a check for such a large amount.
It would have been nice if I had seen the “stupid criminal” news clip on a T.V. sit-com; I could have gone to bed laughing. Unfortunately, the incident was all too real and the more I pondered it, as I watched the evening news, the more I realized that there are three candidates running for president right now who are each trying to cash bigger checks than that at our teller windows. So, why don’t we see them as stupid criminals? After all isn’t voting for a candidate like cashing a check called “Campaign Promises”… And, wouldn’t it be lovely if their checks only cost the tax payers $360 Billion… ~sigh
By Janet Walgren
An old Marine Corp Commandant once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t so.” Well, I half agree and half disagree with his statement especially when it comes to money. What you don’t know about money can hurt you, and what you know about money that just ain’t so only makes matters worse. When politicians and the FED talk about money, their cents don’t add up to sensibility.
Imagine not knowing how to tread water. If you fell into a swimming pool without a life vest, you would probably drown. If you did know how to tread water, and you fell into a swimming pool, your chances for survival would improve significantly…agreed? Well it depends on whether the swimming pool was in your back yard or on the deck of the Titanic. Knowing how to tread water (or even being an Olympic swimmer) wouldn’t help you survive if you were in a pool on a sinking ship.
Knowing how to earn money, even very large amounts of money, will not make you rich if your money boat leaks. You have to stop the leaks. Our [America’s] money boat is taking on water. The bottom of our boat is riddled with holes. If we don’t immediately demand fiscal responsibility and good money management practices from our government, our collective and individual money boats are going to sink just like the Titanic!
The government can change laws, print money, raise taxes and sell bonds. They can issue guarantees backed by a powerful printing press and reduced interest rates on your savings, but all these measures just add more holes in the bottom of our financial boat. We need to stop treading water in the pool on the deck of a sinking ship. We need to begin the hard work of patching the holes in the bottom of our money boat before the hole takes on Titanic proportions. We need to demand fiscal responsibility from our politicians. We need to demand sensibility with our collective cents.
By Janet Walgren
There is a certain responsibility and accountability that comes with knowledge. William Wilberforce (1759-1833), a British statesman and member of Parliament who toiled out his days fighting to abolish the slave trade said, “Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way… but you can never say again that you did not know.”
In the D&C, Section 123: 13-17, the Prophet Joseph Smith instructed the saints on their duty in relation to the persecution that had been heaped upon them:
Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven –
These should then be attended to with great earnestness.
Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.
You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
The Mormons were suffering severe persecution at the time of this proclamation. The prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned in the Liberty, Missouri jail. The jailers had given him human flesh from a slave for a meal (that he didn’t eat) and were boasting of raping the Mormon women. The Mormons had been driven from state to state and Governor Boggs, of the state of Missouri, issued an extermination order against the Mormons. (The political power of a voting block that was against slavery was considered a threat to swing states and others, especially those in the clergy of other churches, didn’t like Joseph Smith’s claim of having a vision where he saw God the father of our spirits and Jesus Christ, his son.)
Today physical slavery still exists in many parts of the world including the United States. Works of darkness and evil still prevail around the globe. Governments are bribed and corrupted. Voters are lied to. Consumers are defrauded. Financial slavery has reached pandemic proportions with no government that dares to check the power of the global financial elite. There is a war of evil against all that is good among men. A secret combination here and silence there enables the enemy of righteousness to conduct this clandestine war which results in carnage and havoc among all the nations of the earth.
By Janet Walgren
One of the top instructors where I work graduated from one of the top universities for architectural engineering. Then, he got a job as an architect at one of the top five architectural firms in North America. The firm has designed some of the tallest skyscrapers in North America. The job didn’t last long because he refused to design substandard buildings that would fail after the warranty expired. His employer told him that they had purchased his time, talents and signature and that he would do what he was told to do and keep his mouth shut, and if he left the firm he would never get another job as an architect again. He had invested years and thousands of dollars to prepare for his lifelong dream, but he quit anyway. And, now he has become a multi-millionaire as a real estate investor.
I find his story refreshing when I consider his personal integrity; I find it alarming in that I know that skyscrapers have been deliberately designed to fail after the warranty expires. I wish I had a list of those buildings and their expiration dates. Lives are at risk.
Well this is an alarming story, but what about the other devices manufactured by man that are designed to fail when the warranty expires? Cars are well know for the trait so those who can afford it trade them in before the warranty runs out. Those who can’t afford it pay the repair bills after buying someone elses problem. Then there are the little things that break almost as soon as you buy them. As consumers, we should be outraged!
We would be outraged if someone watered down the milk or gas or other liquid commodities that we consume every day so why are we so placid and apathetic about addressing the issue of watered down structural designs? My water heater just broke. The two year warranty just expired. The replacement will cost over $500. The manufacturer said it was just one of those fluke things associated with that model. I disagree. When someone deliberately designs something that should last about ten years but will only last two years and a few months, they are robbers, criminals, thieves without integrity.
By Janet Walgren
In the cannon of scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there is a book called The Doctrine and Covenants, commonly referred to as the D&C. It is a book explaining the history and government of the church. The book also gives guidelines on how to live in order to maximize your successes in various aspects of life. In one section, it gives a sequence to use in establishing a home and family:
LEARN:
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.
PREPARE:
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God: D&C 88: 118-119
Lately I have watched the lives of several acquaintances, neighbors and friends unfold and I have come to recognize that a multitude of problems could have been prevented if the individuals had followed not only the counsel above, but also the sequence.
An unlearned, undisciplined or disorganized person be it a spouse, leader, friend or what ever is a very hard act to follow.
Posted by Janet Walgren 
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Reflections 