SPOTD #141

This edition comes to you on a beautiful day in sunny Marco Island, Florida. Related news relates to the potential danger of wearing flip-flops too much.

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Today's Phrase:
From Thomas Jefferson:

Actual:
El Dios que nos dio la vida nos dio la libertad al mismo tiempo.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Ell Dyose kay nose dyo lah vee-dah nose dyo lah lee-bare-tahd all meese-moe tyem-poe.

Translation:
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

Wall-E
We saw this movie last weekend, taking Joseph for his second time at the movies. It was great fun and a great film. My friend Jake (who works at Pixar) sent me this great article about the director Andrew Stanton. Stanton talks about how his beliefs influence his filmmaking, and about how what really matters is making a great story.

Graveyards
This is a cool set of pictures of airplanes that have been mothballed or decommissioned. King of haunting.

McKay
Jim McKay was a great, old-school broadcaster. He came from a time when broadcast journalism, especially sports broadcasting was still somewhat new and a sort of insurgent element. Now it is the fat cat, relatively lazy by comparison. This article is a view of a better time.

Delfín
This is old news by now, but the Dolphins have been in a bit of a kerfuffle over the status of All-Pro defensive end Jason Taylor. This is Dave Barry's take on the situation

'08 & Taxes
This is what President Obama would mean for taxes.

Dharma
You have a special opportunity to join the Dharma Initiative. Sign up at Octagon Recruiting for more information.

Link of the Day
Today in Baghdad more than 1,000 servicemen and women participated in the biggest reelistment ceremony in history, Follow the link for more, including video.

Farewell President Hinckley

In yet another example of new technology trumping traditional media, we were just made aware via text message of the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He died of causes incident to age, no surprise at his 97 years. He served as Church president for almost 13 years, but it felt like longer, considering his many years of service as a counselor to earlier Church presidents. We who belong to the Church have been richly blessed by his service and example. I'm sure that others not of our faith will also mourn his passing.

I have asked myself about his legacy for me. He was a prophet and a man of God. A good man. I would like to be like him in the way I conduct my life and lead my family. I believe that he was called of God, and that he carried God's word. He served far longer than many people expect to live, and did so with vitality and enthusiasm.

I have no doubt that our next prophet will continue to build on the legacy of President Hinckley and those that came before. It is God's will. President Hinckley knew it. He gave his life to it. I will always be grateful.

Those darn Mormons!

I direct you to In Rare Form, where I highlight an excellent article about one person's understanding and experience with Mormons, as it relates to Mitt Romney's candidacy.

Walk this way.

Romney's Religion

Powerline blog has the video and complete prepared text of the speech given by Mitt Romney this morning. This was a strong move, well publicized and hopefully it will give him a boost. Some of my favorite parts (my emphasis):

Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone...
As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's 'political religion' – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.
There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers – I will be true to them and to my beliefs.
Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world...
Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty. The lives of hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world. America took nothing from that Century's terrible wars – no land from Germany or Japan or Korea; no treasure; no oath of fealty. America's resolve in the defense of liberty has been tested time and again. It has not been found wanting, nor must it ever be. America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom...
I'm not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I have visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired … so grand … so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe's churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away...

It is a great speech. I hope you will read/watch the whole thing. I couldn't watch, but the text is pretty good.