Series: 2011A

Joseph Smith’s Handwriting

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 10 of 50 in the series 2011A

John Crane asked me to analyze Joseph smith’s handwriting and gave me this reference to some samples.

Handwritten Documents Here

The first two samples are consistent with Joseph’s handwriting but the third one from Carthage in 1844 looks like a dictated letter – as it doesn’t look like his handwriting. The mystery is who wrote it? It definitely does not match Hyrum or John Taylor’s writing. That leaves Willard Richards who was also in prison. I can only find a small sample of poor resolution handwriting belonging to him and the match is possible but there are differences. The other possibility is that Emma made a copy or had one made after she received it. I do not have a sample of her handwriting handy so I cannot compare it to hers. The back of the page does have the word “copy” on it.

That said I will give a few details from the handwriting that we know belongs to him.

Joseph had an outgoing friendly personality and came across with lots of warmth, empathy and a sense of emotional understanding.

He had very strong feelings, was very passionate and had a magnetism about him. He liked sharing on an emotional level whether it be romantic or strong outward expression. He didn’t like to keep his feelings in and if he was pleased, displeased or angry he usually communicated these feelings quite clearly and honestly.

His consciousness was not centered on any one aspect of living, but all aspects. We know he was interested in the spiritual side but he was equally at home when centered on he social side of life, the material side, or the intellectual side.

Most people as emotionally centered as he was are not that intellectual yet he had a strong desire to explore new knowledge and would leave no stone unturned in discovering it. He was also very perceptive and a quick thinker. He would have been a good debater.
He was one of those people who could come across as all things to all people. He had a good sense of charm and could get people to do things his way when they did not realize they were being influenced. He was very inclusive and would associate with the high and the low. He was very trusting but difficult to fool.

He was more of an extrovert than introvert and loved variety and change. He didn’t have strong feelings of self importance and was fairly humble for such an outgoing personality.

He had secrets but did not like keeping them forever and was always pleased to find someone he thought he could trust to share them with.

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Autism and Teachers

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 9 of 50 in the series 2011A

Thanks for your comments about vaccinations and autism. Since one of the prime directives of this group is to find and recognize truth – this controversy provides an ideal situation to exercise this ability.

Both sides make good arguments, but the question is which side is correct?

The establishment makes the Global Warming defense that the science is settled – there is no further discussion or investigation necessary.  They merely pronounce their version of the truth as fact.

The trouble is that that no good studies are available to prove which side is correct.  All we have so far is anecdotal evidence which is just not accepted by the Powers-That-Be as acceptable.  Perhaps the best study was from the parent in the video where he said he had talked to about 1000 parents with autistic kids who witnessed a correlation between vaccinations and autism in their children.

He then tells us that kids receive an average of 36 vaccinations by the age of five.  I think back to my youth and I had only one vaccination before high school and that was for polio. He points out that one single vaccine may not be the problem so much as the quantity.  After all, the autism rate has increased from one in 10,000 to one in 110 in the past few decades.  Something has to have caused this and nothing else has been identified, even in an anecdotal way.

The parent in the video calls for studies of the effect of numerous vaccines given at once.  Typically a kid may receive 6 vaccines during one single appointment.

It is my gut feeling that he is on to something here.  I would think that a small child receiving six vaccines at one time could be in danger of a number of things.  Such a barrage of poisons could indeed induce a number of ills.

I think the parents of autistic children should do all in their power to encourage some legitimate studies to determine once and for all if there is a connection of some kind.  The trouble is that the medical establishment and the drug companies do not want such studies for if it turns out the parents are correct then medical practitioners will be embarrassed and drug companies will lose money.

On another note John C writes:

A person who possesses such “soul vision” would be intuitively aware of what the soul knows and what the soul sees. And the key of intuition can be used most effectively when consciousness, and therefore attention, has risen above the level of the personality.

I wonder, then, whether such a person would be in constant need of a teacher to explain all things to him, or whether he would be able to look through the eyes of the soul and “just know”, though the oneness principle, that for which he or she seeks.

JJ

As far as students needing “a teacher to explain all things to him…” I do not think this applies to anyone here.  Such thinking applies to some cult members and dumbed down adherents of some tightly controlled religions.

When a person achieves soul contact he does not instantly know all things, but progresses precept by precept and line by line, as the scripture says, until he achieves full enlightenment. That which is seen through the eyes of the soul (not the emotions) is accurate but that does not mean the person sees all things.

Why?

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Creating Sound Money

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 8 of 50 in the series 2011A

Part 2 in this Series

An increasing number of people, including economists, politicians, pundits, bloggers etc are coming to the realization that something needs done to create a sounder dollar and money system.

Here are some of the steps that are put forward.

(1) Put us back on the gold standard. Those who support this are far from being united as there are several camps on this:

(A) A purist gold standard with no fiat money.

This was the standard through parts of ancient history, the Dark Ages and attempts were made toward this goal on and off up to about 100 years ago.

(B) A gold standard with fiat money, but with redemption. This usually consists of fiat money created on a 10:1 basis.  That is for every once of gold on deposit there would be ten ounces worth of money in circulation.  Under this system the consumer can redeem his money for gold, unless there is a run on the system that depletes the gold supply.

(C) A gold standard with fiat money, but with no redemption. This is basically what we had from FDR to Nixon. The value of the dollar was set at an arbitrary value assigned to gold which was $35 an ounce, but a citizen could not possess monetary gold with the exception of rare coins.  Other nations and some banks were allowed to exchange money for gold.

(2) Eliminate the Federal Reserve. These advocates may or may not want a return to the gold standard.

(3) A balanced budget amendment. This sounds like it should be a no-brainer, but is it?  Why hasn’t Congress ever taken this seriously?

(4) If we do not have a balanced budget amendment then something needs put in place where borrowing and spending is kept within reasonable boundaries.

(5) Grow the economy through low taxes and business incentives.  A healthy economy strengthens the dollar.

(6) Reduce the trade deficit. We have had a trade deficit since 1975.  Should we be worried?  Some are more concerned than others.

(7) Secure energy independence.  This is another no-brainer but the problem occurs in execution.  The Left and the Right have conflicting ideas of how to achieve this.

(8) Expand alternative currencies.  These are already in play to a degree.  Examples are Time Dollars and Ithaca Hours which are community currencies.  Then companies are issuing their own form of monetary credits that are used like money. Many want the monetary laws changed to allow for the creation of private currencies that directly compete with the dollar. The belief is this would strengthen our currency as a whole.

(9) Barter. Barter has been sold as an alternative to authorized currency. Some claim barter strengthens the financial position of the individual. Barter companies became popular in the Sixties and Seventies.  One reason for this was that many were under the illusion that they didn’t have to pay taxes on items gained through Barter. However, the IRS had different ideas and went after many of them and now there are few bartering companies left.

Here is the IRS rule on Barter: “Barter dollars or trade dollars are identical to real dollars for tax reporting. If you conduct any direct barter–barter for another’s products or services–you will have to report the fair market value of the products or services you received on your tax return.”

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=187920,00.html

If you have to treat gain through barter as regular income then one might as well deal with cash and get more leverage with currency.

Even so Barter is far from dead thanks to Crag’s list and other internet sources.  Many are now doing barter on a one-to-one basis through classified ads.  Participants must be warned, however, that they are still not beyond the reach of the taxman as they comb through internet sources to find barterers who may be trying to escape taxes and do go after them.

Even though small businesses and individuals are limited today in their use of barter big business and even countries are using it on grand scale.  These two entities exchange goods and services on a scale of which the average person is completely unaware.

(10) Restoring the power to create money to our elected representatives, as specified in the Constitution, instead of farming this out to private enterprise.

Next we’ll expand on some of these points and see if any of them offer hope to take us out of this financial malaise.

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Economy – One Last Chapter

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 7 of 50 in the series 2011A

My friends. I have not yet gotten around to publishing my book – Molecular Politics because it needed one more chapter dealing with our monetary system. After a lot of reflection and study of the subject I am finally ready to write it. Here is the first installment.

An Out of Control Economy

We have to do something about our out-of-control borrowing and spending or this time period will mark the real beginning to our troubles instead of the end of a financial downturn.
There are several things on which the vast majority agrees. The problem is there is major disagreement on how to proceed with these agreed upon problems.

(1) The weakened dollar needs strengthened.

(2) The government spends too much and the federal budget needs some common sense control just as a family budget does.

(3) We do not want to borrow so much that our children and grandchildren will become poor debtors.

(4) It is dangerous to borrow so much money from countries that are potential enemies, let alone from friends.

(5) We pay way too much interest on borrowed money, currently around $450,000,000,000 a year and if interest rates or the debt ceiling changes this could go way up. This is an insane situation.

(6) There is far too much waste and fraud with taxpayer’s money.

(7) There is too much frivolous spending and political paybacks that add to the wasted spending.

Almost every politician gives lip service to these causes of financial problems but few will support any kind of action to solve them

Why?

Because any time there is a cutback in spending some individuals and groups will feel threatened with loss. – then, after that threat occurs, these people will lash out in every conceivable way at the politicians who tried to be fiscally responsible.

We do not see many attempts at fiscal restraint in the federal government because representatives are not limited by a balanced budget amendment. The case is different with many of the states, however, where a balanced budget is required.

Therefore when we had the financial disaster that started in 2008, even though all governments were short of funds, the federal government borrowed and spent more than ever. A shortage of funds provided no incentive to conserve spending for politicians were terrified of voters complaining of cutbacks.

On the other hand, some states were forced to make cuts in spending whether the politicians wanted to or not.

In my home state of Idaho we have a balanced budget amendment. Since we were hit hard by the Great Recession like everyone else action had to be taken. Governor Butch Otter had to look at ways to increase revenue and cut spending.

To increase revenue he proposed a one-penny increase in the gasoline tax. When he did this you’d think he was ordering a pound of flesh from each of us. Both conservatives and liberals cried foul and the proposal was dead in the water.

Then to offset cuts made to parks and recreation Otter increased various fees for camping, registration and services. Again there was a outcry, especially from senior citizens who had to pay more to enjoy Idaho’s beautiful campgrounds.

He then talked of turning some underfunded campgrounds over to private enterprise who would keep them open for a profit.

This time there was great suspicion from the Left who does not trust that business has the public interest as a priority.

Because of the budget shortfall Otter found he had to look at every possible avenue of spending when considering cuts. Finally he had to look at the sacred cow of education. He cut education by about 7.5%. He explained that this was not as bad as it sounded because the percentage of the budget dedicated to education actually increased. The problem was that the budget itself was much less because of shortfalls.

Again, there was a major outcry, especially from those involved in education. Letter after letter appeared in local papers making known their displeasure and painting a very undesirable picture of our governor. Here are a few things they said.

(1) We should have used our reserve account for emergencies to keep education fully funded.

The trouble with this idea is hard times are continuing and the reserve account may soon be gone no matter what we do.

(2) The governor was accused of supporting funding for his pet projects while leaving education out to hang.

The trouble with this argument is that no governor is squeaky clean enough to escape this accusation. Since values are a matter of opinion then those hit by cuts will always think money is not fairly spent or distributed.

(3) The governor was accused of being anti education or hating education.

I don’t think this is true of any governor in the union and is a cheap shot.

(4) Many liberals voiced this cut and dried, yet simple criticism. The governor and legislators lacked guts enough to just raise taxes enough so cuts in education will not be necessary.

Even if the conservative governor was willing to do this he would have been crucified by his own party and may have lost his bid for reelection.

What do we learn from this reflection on state and federal spending?

We see that one of the reasons the federal government overspends so much is they see what happens to State leaders who do support legitimate spending measures and then get attacked for it. It just seems so much easier for them to borrow more money, supply the needed funding and be done with it.

Except this time round we are reaching a critical mass in borrowing. Even the general public, which usually does not pay much attention to financial matters, is waking up to this and demanding action.

The problem is that many will complain no matter what cuts are made.

So far we have presented some ideas of what can be done to restore financial security, but this will not be enough. Sooner or later we will have to apply one more all-important measure – a reform of the monetary system.

Some think that this is wishful thinking, but I submit that it can be done and will present a plan that can turn this country around and head it in the direction of its true destiny – the economic light of the world.
Copyright 2011 By J J Dewey

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

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For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

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Finding the Truth about Vaccinations

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 6 of 50 in the series 2011A

There has been a huge controversy over whether or not vaccination shots have caused autism in children. This presents a good opportunity to use our powers of discernment and judgment to discover the truth.

First, watch the following video
Autism/Vaccination Video

Both sides of the argument were presented.  Which side made the best case and why?

Where do you think the truth lies?

An Ocean of Problems

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 5 of 50 in the series 2011A

Larry W. makes some good points that we must take into consideration concerning gathering on the seas, or Seasteading as it is called today.

(1) Someone must come up with a gigantic INITIAL INVESTMENT and then face constant maintenance far beyond that of land based buildings.

JJ
You are right, the investment would be large. This is why I have taught that we will need to have between 5,000-10,000 people interested before we proceed toward such an enterprise. If we were to start with even a view hundred it would most likely fail as it would lack the resources and funding to create a desirable quality of life and if the quality of life is not good then the project will fail.

I just watched the video Sterling recommended .

Go to Video

It presented the idea of finding a small nation and buying our way into power and turning it into a free nation with no taxes that will gather freedom-loving individuals from around the world.

I have also considered this idea but there are several problems with it.

First one would need billions in capital.
Second – few people who have power are willing to relinquish it at any price. Most are willing to see their country destroyed before yielding it.

On the other hand, if one had the means and did find a country willing to give up it’s identity for a payoff then this could work. I just wouldn’t bet my grandmother’s operation money on this coming to pass.

A more viable alternative would be to purchase an island or large tract of land from a third world nation in need of funds and secure autonomy so the gathered people will have power to govern themselves within a designated land area. Even here the residents would need to be prepared to defend themselves from a possible warlord who may decide he wants to steal the fruit of their labors.

Thus the gathering force needs to be in the thousands and the financing in the billions before a new government can be created.

This is why the first major step will be a gathering under an already established government in areas such as Boise or Sterling’s Safe Haven in Utah. All one has to do to gather around like minded friends is to move until the greater gatherings come.

(2) A crew formed by spiritual development criteria rather than affinity for the sea or knowledge or skill of the sea presents ALL the problems of IGNORANCE. Ignorance on the part of a crew in building framing work, for example, is disastrous.

JJ
Yes this will be a problem but not insurmountable. If we can go to the moon then we can do this also.

(3) The right design and material presents vast problems. One promising plan I’ve seen used concrete boat shells. However, salt water is particularly harsh on concrete.

JJ
There are all kinds of possibilities and when the time of opportunity comes then I believe the technology will be there.

In fact there is some technology that may be feasible that has been around for a long time. A promising one is Pykrete. You can read about it here:
Pykrete

(4) Then you face the very real problems which these various Architectural firms are attempting to resolve. Mainly community planning.

JJ
That is an important point, for bad planning has caused many planned communities to be doomed from the start. However, there have been success stories in the past and it can happen again. I am not drawling up precise details or a new constitution because we are not ready for action yet. But when the time comes, and if I am still here, then I will see to it that the planning is concise enough so everyone will know what they are getting into.
Copyright 2011 By J J Dewey

Predictions 2011, Part 4

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 4 of 50 in the series 2011A

Apple will continue to put out innovative products that will keep it on the cutting edge and its popularity will increase when it markets a 3-D monitor.

Obama will work toward normalizing relations with Cuba whether Congress cooperates or not.

There will be several weather related disasters and flooding will be a problem. Problems will be worse than usual but not cataclysmic.

With the high price of gold staying up there and unemployment high more people will prospect and mine for gold. There will be a gold rush in several parts of the world and gold production will go up.

The danger of China having a monopoly on rare earth elements will finally dawn on the public consciousness and there will develop a push to mine theses elements in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.

Prices of essentials such as food, fuel and power will go up and many non essentials will go down. This will create the illusion that there is not as much inflation as there really is affecting he average household.

Talk of global warming will become a joke except during the summer when it does truly get warm.

The Patriots will win the Superbowl.

Academy Awards
The King’s Speech will win best Picture and Colin Firth who stars in it will receive Best Actor

Natalie Portman will receive best actress for Black Swan.

No direct pipeline to God claimed for these predictions.

Predictions 2011, Part 3

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 3 of 50 in the series 2011A

Now let’s look at the new Republican Congress.

Overall the results of this will be predictable.  The Democrats will find them very frustrating as well as many on the Right who do not see as much reform as they desire.

Obama will try the divide and conquer approach by befriending some who he sees as cooperative to entice them to opposing those who he will label as far right.

On the other hand, there will be Democrats who will side with the Tea Party views in the hope this will secure re-election.  Then there are a handful who see that overspending must be curtailed.

The Left and the mainstream media will attempt to blame all that goes wrong on the new Congress but, even though this will have some effect, it will not take hold as it did in the days of Newt Gingrich.

The Economy
The greatest short term threats to the economy for this year will be from outside influences such as natural or manmade disaster and the threat of new conflict.  Outside of this the economy will actually show some improvement due to business optimism because of the new Republican Congress.  This will not produce a miracle but it will hold a shaky economy together for one more year.  Next year at this time we will have a lot better feel about where the near term economy seems to be going.

Possible Conflicts
North Korea and Iran will both rattle their sabers but we will not go to war this year.  One of the reasons is that China warns us against it and they are becoming so powerful that we are afraid to stir up a possible conflict with them.  There will be growing concern that they could turn aggressive, but on the positive side there is a growing number of Chinese who desire a peaceful Democracy.  We can only hope that this aspect of the people will prevail.

There will be a number of medical advances related to technology such as artificial eyesight, artificial limbs and nano technology.

UFO sightings will be up and one in particular will be difficult to explain away.

New particle discoveries will be made at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern but they will not find the Higgs particle this year.

Lady Gaga will make even stranger attempts to get attention causing some to think she is not stable.

Reality TV will finally begin to lose some of its popularity, thank God.

To be continued…

Copyright 2011 By J J Dewey

Predictions 2011, Part 2

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 2 of 50 in the series 2011A

Many thanks to those who posted predictions. I’m impressed. I’ll bet your accuracy will be better than professional psychics.

The last time I took a stab at this I was about 80% accurate. I’ll be surprised if I can duplicate that again as not even God knows all the details of the future, though the mind of God is aware of how creation will unfold and the ending results of the various cycles.

First, let us take a look at President Obama.

The big democratic defeat has done nothing to change his mind on his basic goals. He wants a single payer, government controlled health care system and as much redistribution of the wealth as possible by 2012.

However, the Republican victory has for the first time caused him to modify his approach. He realizes he must now make some adjustments if he and his party are going to have any power over the next few years.

Here is his strategy.

He plunged ahead with his leftist agenda unapologetically for the first two years thinking this was the time of opportunity which may not come again. Now the backlash has come he will attempt to create the illusion that he is listening to the people and moderating his position. He will present himself as the common sense guy in the middle whereas the Republicans, especially the newly elected tea party supporters, are right wing extremists unwilling to cooperate.

The term “reaching across the aisle” will be stressed many times while doing very little reaching but lots of condemning the other side as being inflexible.

Obama thought that his big spending practices would make him beloved of the many and he would be hailed as greater than FDR. This has backfired on him, but not changed his mind. Some economic advisers are still telling him that the problem is that he has not spent enough. Now he is not personally sure what to do, but is addicted to spending and will continue to spend all that is possible to further his goals and win the next election.

The whole country is shifting toward the conservative view of financial responsibility and even some of the liberal mainstream media will shift and be more supportive in the direction of economic common sense. This will put pressure on Obama to follow and by the end of the year some will think he has gown while in office and is now able to govern more from the center than before.

This shift of perception will make Obama harder to beat even if the economy declines. Mitt Romney and Chris Christie are the only Republicans that are a sure bet to beat him. But Christie will not run and Mitt may or may not get the nomination. Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee have a 50/50 chance of beating him and Ron Paul has a slimmer chance because of the attacks that would come from the media if he gets the nomination.

One of Obama’s advisors has, or shortly will, place an ingenious idea into his head in hope of turning public support in his direction again. The idea is to get Michelle pregnant again and have a new baby in the White House just before the election of 2012 takes place.

Since most view Obama as a great Dad a new cute cuddly baby will be just the ticket to draw attention to Obama in a positive way and take the public’s mind off his shortcomings. The only problem is that Michelle isn’t excited about having another kid right now and may not cooperate, but could give in if the right incentives are given her.

Obama’s health care plan will face serious challenges. It will not be repealed by 2012 but there will be a growing dissatisfaction and the Republicans will slow its implementation through defunding and other means.

The requirement that everyone has to purchase health insurance will continue to be challenged by the courts and go all the way to the Supreme Court where it will be declared unconstitutional. This will not discourage liberal Democrats though who will still attempt to give us universal health care through every back door possible. They correctly believe that once a give-away program is implemented that it will be almost impossible to eliminate.

Rumors of Obama having an affair will circulate and some type of another scandal will surface that he will be linked to but not destroyed by. Wiki and other leakers will embarrass the administration and world leaders and give them an excuse to push for internet regulation. Most of the media will work to smooth over the damage to Obama that could have destroyed a conservative president.
To be continued.