A Mormon's Lament: Church Is On the Wrong Side of History Again With Proposition 8

Dear Brother Vogel,

As a woman who was born into the Church and has lost her faith, I commend you for your words. It is highly unusual to hear this kind of open and inclusive voice from members of the Mormon faith. This is a very courageous act you have undertaken. Well done!
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

TV Shows and Films May or May Not Be in Jeopardy: Nonetheless, Studios Won't Have it So Easy Screwing the Talent

About Movies
Interesting. There is a lot of talent in the industry that these strikes affect, yet, they do not receive any of the benefits. They do not have a union. Yet, when the unions go on strike, they do not have work, because there isn't any production going on. These people do not receive residuals or medical benefits or loans. Production has already slowed down because of the threat of an impending strike. I hope SAG and the producers can hammer out a deal soon, or many people will be out of work, not to mention the ancillary businesses that will also be affected. It seems to me that there are a few people who make most of the money (like most other industries) and then there are everyone else. If these extremely overpaid actors/producers/writers/directors made a little less, then everyone else could make more, and all could be paid fairly.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal

I saw a very inspirational documentary last night on Simon Wiesenthal at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. I had known that he was a famous Nazi hunter, but he did so much more. What perhaps struck me the most was that Simon spent his whole life researching and bringing these people to justice, yet, he did not think of himself as a hero. He felt that it was his duty as a survivor to never forget those who had perished. He brought attention to the fact that the Nazis also killed millions of gypsies, homosexuals, Catholics, and mentally or physically disabled people, and others. Mr. Wiesnthal received numerous death threats and his home was fire-bombed, yet he stayed in Vienna. He had a single-minded determination to continue no matter what. You might remember that Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria, and Wiesenthal did not denounce him as a war criminal, even though he had been a Nazi. Wiesenthal said that Waldheim's actions did not rise to that level. Many Jewish organizations were angry with Wiesenthal for this. But the fact that there wasn't enough evidence to bring Waldheim up on charges only gave more credibility to Wiesenthal and his work. Even though he lived with the Holocaust everyday, he was able to separate himself from it. There were many pictures of Simon smiling and laughing, and the people interviewed said he was a very jolly man who would sometimes tell dirty jokes. :) I love watching movies about people like Mr. Wiesenthal who inspire and teach by their example. Kudos to Director Richard Trank for creating a beautiful film. You can see a movie that was adapted from Wiesenthal's memoirs starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Simon Wiesenthal called "Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story". The miniseries was nominated for two Emmy's and won one for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or Special, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Special.

The Pursuit of Happyness

My husband and I had the good fortune to be able to go to the premier of The Pursuit of Happyness in Westwood last night. What an amazing movie. The film is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a single parent who goes from being homeless to a multi-millionaire stockbroker. It was nice to see a cameo of the real Chris Gardner at the end of the movie, and many in the audience recognized him, probably from the story on 60 Minutes. While I want to give accolades to Will Smith and his adorable son, Jaden, for their acting, I also want to touch on some of the themes which are so important to many us struggling to find our place in life. Caution, spoilers following.

NEVER GIVE UP
Chris persevered through situations that most of us have never encountered, he just never gave up. The man had to sleep in a subway bathroom with his 5 year old, and didn't have enough money to buy dinner for himself. His car was impounded, his wife left him. Still, Chris kept going.

HAVE A PLAN/DREAM
Chris happened upon a stockbroker parking his red Ferrari and asked the man, "What do you do and how do you do it?" After learning the man was a stockbroker, Chris did all he could to land an internship at Dean Witter. This also goes under the NEVER GIVE UP category.

TAKE RISKS
Chris took a huge risk in accepting one of twenty UNPAID six month internships with Dean Witter. There was no guarantee of a job at the end of the internship! His only source of income was when he was able to sell a very expensive piece of medical equipment. Really, this film illustrates that one can only get ahead in this life by taking risks.

In my own life, the risk is: do we continue working for a JOB or do we pursue our dream of working together for our own business, which may or may not succeed? As we have had businesses before, which did fail, we know from experience how it feels to be living without a steady paycheck. Can we try again? Can we rely on our wits to bring in income? Do we purchase a package to become educated, thus cutting the learning curve? Will this business be the one to succeed? Well, from Chris' story, and those of Colonel Sanders and Ron Popeil, the theme of never ever giving up helps to motivate me. I do believe there is something better out there, and it is very close. I don't see many people working for others and becoming wealthy and having real freedom.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
As Chris says in the movie, "Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something." Even with his wife gone and his income down to $0 (the internship was unpaid) Chris believed that he had the talent and drive to become a stockbroker, and take himself and his son out of poverty.

My short piece does not do this movie justice. Everyone will find something they can relate to in this film. Chris Gardner, is such an inspiration, and I will think of him when I have doubts about my own abilities or future. I hope to see Will Smith nominated for an Oscar for his performance. He was able to make this character and all the emotions the situations threw at him completely believable. I highly recommend this film to everyone!

Career/Work Part 1

I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I've worked in many different fields (interior design, law, entertainment, financial services, education) just to name a few. Currently I work at a major research university, and while the benefits are good, I don't see anyone becoming rich here. The people are very nice, even the faculty in my department, which is in the business school. My prior department, which was one of the largest on campus, had alot of egos and drama. It would just be so amazing to know what my purpose is. I was born the oldest of three and only girl, so what I know quite well is taking care of people's needs. (It also makes me a good wife) What this doesn't do is make me alot of money. As I mentioned in the previous post on abundance, I see alot of systems on the internet. Today I received an email that promised truckloads of money if I bought their dvd which illustrated how to use the internet to make money without any experience, marketing or even a product! How does one make passive income without a product or experience? I guess it would be the third way - have a teleseminar with someone who DOES have a product or experience (service) and you make a percentage of each sale. However, the teleseminar host would have to have a large email list of people to have on the call. Maybe the dvd gives information on list building.

My husband and I went to a convention last month that included celebrity key-note speakers. The weekend-long event included many professionals who would give hour to hour and a half long presentations, where one would learn how to money investing in small apartment houses, commercial real estate, tax liens, options, etc. At the end of each lecture, the presenter had a package which would give "all the secrets to making it rich". These packages ranged from $500 to almost $2000. I have to admit we were sucked into purchasing the tax lien package, which included several audio cd's, notebooks (with type on one side of the page only) and a dvd. We purchased the package under the stipulation that we could return it for a full refund within 3 business days, which we did. We are still interested in investing in tax liens, however, this is not a way to become wealthy or create a business in a short (5 years) period of time - however, tax liens look like a great way to invest for retirement. The investor is able to make 12% or more on his/her money, but the money is tied up for up to 3 years. What makes this attractive is that there is little risk - the lien is backed up by property, and sometimes the investor is able to foreclose, thus acquiring property for very little money.

I guess it's discouraging that the only way to make money is to take on risk. Currently my freelancing husband is in between projects. He is taking this time to discover his passion, as he is burned out from doing visual effects for the last 15 years. This is a good time for that, as the industry kind of hibernates during the month of December. And it gives him the opportunity to get a few things done around the house. Currently the only passion either of us feels is for each other, which is great, but neither of us has a clue about our life's calling. The only thing I can come up with is to create our own business, so that we can be together all the time. We love to travel, so that would be something we would want to incorporate into our business, or have a business that is successful enough that we could take frequent vacations. So far, I think that pre-foreclosures would be a good option for us. I did a search and there are pre-foreclosures on our very own street! Of course, this means doing lots of research, reading, possibly buying a package or going to a class - foreclosures.com looks like a very reputable company.

Pearl Harbor Day

Today is 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. I read in the news that the remaining survivors met today for what may be their last time.

I just received a call from my Mom, who is vacationing in Kauai. As you might imagine, Pearl Harbor Day is recognized in the Hawaiian Islands. Almost 500 survivors attended the commemoration of the surprise attack, including several Japanese aviators and navigators who placed wreaths on the USS Arizona Memorial. One Japanese pilot apologized for the surprise attack, and was ashamed that his government had not given the United States a declaration of war.

The day is still fresh for the victims, the few who are left after all these years. It is hopeful that many have reconciled with their Japanese attackers. Seen through the lens of the Iraq War, where will we stand in 62 years? How will Baghdad look? Will there be a democracy, theocracy, or dictatorship in power? The U.S. issued a declaration that we would attack, so this was not a surprise. However, it was an unecessary war, and perhaps 100,000 or more Iraqis have died, and we still do not know the reason for the war. I believe this war was for both oil and military industrial complex contracts, i.e. Halliburton and its subsidiaries.

What did the military do before Halliburton? Well, they cooked their own food and set up their own latrines. How did we fight World War II and rebuild Europe and Japan? We had contracts, however, it was considered treason to profit from the war. Senator Truman, before he became President, conducted an investigation into war profiteering that saved the government millions of dollars. No doubt, with the Democrats taking over Congress next month, investigations will be undertaken. Who pays the bill to these companies who are making BILLIONS from the war? U.S. citizens, their children, and perhaps grandchildren who will be paying for the war for decades to come.

Holiday Eating Tips

From my friend, Anthony.


1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.


2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly! It's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than gold. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who caresthat it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!


3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes!. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.


4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.


5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?


6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound platter of food and that vat of eggnog.


7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.


8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?


9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.


10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry. January is just around the corner.