What's With Us after the elections?

What's with us? That's a Question I often have to ask myself after the elections, and some of the junk that has been reported to me about how people are already so outraged at Obama winning this election. Frankly, I'm not going to offer my outright and blind support to Obama, and wasn't the best fan of either candidate this election. I was even lucky to be living on a college campus where even though the majority of the campus goes the way of the Republicans, they're the same peaceful majority that politely let Sen. Harry Reid present his own disagreements with what they said in a forum address, and wrote their editorials the following days, without some mass rally against him. The most I heard election night was not a series of Boos, but a light series of cheers when, as I later found, Obama won that night. So the Republican majority here acted in peace, fairly enough, at the dominantly Republican, heavily LDS school known as Brigham Young University, as far as I saw.
But, given the news that I had heard elsewhere around the nation, that wasn't quite the case, as well as the massive bombardment that came across the internet to me from some of my friends, that we are finally in an "Obama Nation" I was absolutely fed up with this crap, being an independent and a non-partisan. The fears annoyed me heavily, but reminded me even more about what has happened four or eight years earlier, with two other presidential elections for another candidate. I remember similar reactions going on when Bush won the White House, once because he won through the electoral college, and another time because he won completely, whilst many in the nation were against the Iraq War, and against the way we were waging the war on terrorism. In both cases, I remember seeing the same bombardment of things claiming how much Bush would screw up the nation for the right-wing. I would ask myself, why predict the end of the world on Bush already, when there's plenty of stories circulating about what he's done? But how many of you have asked him? Or have many of you driven around with the bumper stickers saying No More Bushit! Or predictions reaching back as far as 2000, that he would screw up our nation totally, or that when terrorists attacked us on September 11, 2001, in a number of key places, that we would have some sort of failure, and be cynical about his politics so easily. Or maybe, though you would certainly not admit to this possibly now, thought he would actually amazingly reform America for the Conservative Good, after 8 years of Clinton?
I write this now because I see the same negative attitudes reported about Obama, even though he has not yet taken office, or even performed a presidential action. I ask the same question to you. Have you already hoped cynically for the man with regards to terrorism, or the economy, or him instituting Communism? I certainly don't, and neither should you. Neither should you be part of hoping for stuff when American lives are at stake, or when the world's economy is at stake, and many of our jobs are at stake, all for the sake of getting a guy who believes what you want into office? The truth is you shouldn't. You shouldn't be hoping for a man to make a bad decision, but you should hope that he'll try his best. If he doesn't make your expectations, you don't have to just agree with his decisions, you can be polite about it, and express this through appeals, through peaceful protests, or simply not voting for his re-election in the next 4 years. But it's just as irrational as the anti-Bush antagonists, as cynical and rediculous as they were 4 or 8 years ago, to simply hope for the worst in Obama, just like Bush's, dealings with the economy before he takes office, or is re-innaugurated.
And then again you ask, where's the real "change that we can believe in" this election. It starts with you the people, it starts with you the people learning about what our president's constitutional duties really are, and learning that though the laws and government policies don't favor your views, you can take it, and you can endure it. It begins with you learning to overcome your passion for liberalism and conservativism. Not to abandon your beliefs altogether, but to actually carry some positive hope, or even pray that Bush, in his last days as our president, and Obama, in his first term in office, may be guided to do the right thing. Of course, neither will do "the right thing" all the time, but it's the attitude that we have which counts. American and world lives are on the line, and it's not worth it to hope that Obama or Bush in his last days will totally screw us up, it's our lives on the line, and they're not worth it for the sake of anyone's political gain. Respect the official in office whether you agree with them or not, if you don't agree with what they're doing, you have the right to ask of them, or to not vote for their re-election.
As for expectations of Obama, just as it's not rational or a good expectation to expect failure from him on behalf of terrorism and the economy, it's also important not to expect too much of him. No president is 100% moderate, and no president makes decisions based on what exactly any voter wanted him/her to do. If it was true, why sign any bills, because the president's perfectly open to such a wide variety of beliefs, that conflict one with another. If someone has any beliefs in Obama as being supernaturally better than previous presidents, it's wise to drop them now, because no president ever has reached everyone at any one time, and there are plenty of problems that aren't Obama's or the government's to solve, he's just a human being and prone to error, so start seeing him that way or you're bound to be either seriously disappointed through him not making what you wish, or disappointed through being a supporter of him beyond all reason of what's really going on.
Though I guess, after having written all of this out that the real idea behind all of this is the extreme passion many of us have for politics, the idea that many of us simply just need to vote with loyalty to a particular party, because we stubbornly see that as something that guarantees our cause all the time. That part is what needs to change, generally because either party can have corrupt members, that fail to serve in certain capacities where they're really needed. Mitt Romney, a social and fiscal conservative, managed to find election in the Democratic State of Massachusetts, because they frankly needed to get a balanced budget, a storm of vetos to cut expenses, and ease the case against the corporate sector to encourage more employment from the whole and needed to get a break from the same ol' system. Frankly, the same thing happened when I ended up voting for Obama on election day, the grand old party, or GOP, wasn't truly conservative for the past few years. Their own candidate, despite his neccessity in being a compromising moderate in the Senate, already showed non-fiscal conservativism in his participation in the bailout, of the mortgage firms, which was simply turning loans and backing up the heavy debts taken by others into a taxpayer-funded enterprise, where the tax money from you or I goes into the government, which in turn, has paid for people, citizens of this nation, getting into debts which they cannot pay off, I'll direct you to another essay explaining more of this here, as I am pushing for time right now. We are being asked to pay for the debts of people who took so much through mortgages and could not pay them back, which is a crankshaft to what I, as a conservative profess to believe, when I believe that this government should leave much of our matters, including our debts, into our own personal accountability. I couldn't blindly follow a party ideology when they weren't truly being conservative, but being just as liberal as the other candidate. They needed to lose as a chastening mark to getting a true taste for fiscal conservativism back in play, and truly make the difference and the opposing voice between themselves and the Democrats, which has eroded away over the past decade. I hope the same is true for many of you in that you learn to get over a lot of the political passions that you may have, and learn that sometimes passions for certain values need to be overlooked when the officials or party that you sometimes support can do the wrong thing, and need a chastening through not voting, such as these two cases of promoting an agreeable social value, but not a conservative one, as well as find unity in this nation not just through blind following, but through respectful and constitutional disagreement with the candidates and elected officials in office, all of them are valuable and worth honoring, even when you don't agree with them, and you should always seek to decide what's best for America.

What we should really be thankful for here in America

Now that some things are done and over with, I'm glad that the elections are through. Frankly, to me there's never been worse seasons of the year than the time when people can bring up a more distorted, less optimistic view about how life is in the U.S., or around the world in general. There's also never a more difficult time to make an informed decision about who we should elect into office when often I've found plenty of idiocy and foolishness spoken by both sides, or qualities in the candidates that I wouldn't want sitting in the oval office.
But, when push comes to shove, there's really another season in which I should be preparing for, and should be focusing on the very positive aspects of life which are availible to me. It's when I should be finding reasons to rejoice, and give thanks. Yes, it's none other than thanksgiving. I actually give plenty of thanks now, in my own opinion, rather than that of any other journalists right now, for a number of reasons. I also don't care if other false, or distorted opinion columns have been written similar to my own, because I still feel that there is a point to be had, and a point to be made, about how much there is for us here in America, and how much we often may take for granted.
We have a nation where most of us are employed, in fact, more than 90-95 percent, whereas many other industrial nations throughout Europe have actually have unemployment rates exceeding 10 percent. Isn't that a good situation to be living in? We are leading the world for that matter in how well we are faring economically at the moment.
It's amazing to see how many us have our own cars, enjoy our own computers, our own mp3 players, video game consoles, and so much more. We consider poverty to be in the teens of thousands of dollars per year. But how many people in today's world live on what is less than one dollar per day? Or even live in a home with heating, electricity, or other effective conveniences to keep it clean and comfortable. How many people live in a home without a floor, or without clean water? Or without so much more?
We speak of a war right now that devastates our nation. Considering war, we are doing well for the fact that we don't have a draft in place for both a major conflict and a nation building effort occurring right now. Those who fight in them do so out of their own volunteering. I am thankful that there hasn't been a terrorist attack as devastating on our homeland as that done during September 11, 2001 for a period of nearly a decade. Isn't that worth the thanks that we don't even have to hide or get regularly checked by the military as we travel across the nation's highways, or simply can have a right to say anything from a complaint to cursing about how horrible we feel that our president is doing.
That leads to even greater points when you think about the conditions of the nations that arguably supported or held the terrorists in the first place: theocracies and totalitarian regimes. They wouldn't allow for you to protest the government or to do as many of us freely do about our government without getting some form of penalty or retribution. In some cases, there's even imprisonment, fines, torture, or death, for not falling in line with the beliefs or doctrines that the government deems proper. I am glad that such a right exists here, though I wouldn't bother dropping curse words about even our current lame-duck president, or our president-elect.
It's great to know that we have a personal right to bear arms, and to defend our own property, where as in many nations, this is simply not allowed. We have a right to not have our home or property searched unless the police officer has a warrant. We have a right to remain silent and have a defense attorney, as well as not incriminate ourselves in a court of law, even when charged with a serious crime such as murder. Isn't this worth being thankful for, that we were allowed to live here, in a nation that allows us to have these rights, and had founding fathers recognized them for what they were in their own day. It's great to know that these rights have never fully been undone.
It's great, and worth being thankful that people would defend all of these rights and privileges that we enjoy here in America are fought and died for, and have been fought and died for in the past, through war after war. It's great to know that people wouldn't just give up the rights that make life for us so much better than it was, and still is, for most of the people who live around the world.
It's grateful to know, as I see my roommate applying for citizenship as an immigrant from Russia, that people still come to America, and see it as a greater place than where they once were. They still see it as a place where they can find a greater standard of living, a place where there's more freedom than where they once lived, and a place that's truly a city on a hill to them. I hope that many of you get some thinking in about these facts, and how they truly matter, in the context of what we are celebrating and being thankfuul for this holiday season, because we truly are so blessed.

In my own words,

Benjamin Kemer

Well, once again some sunny skies roll over, and autumn has begun around here. I recently enjoyed a weekend at the fun activities of Fall Fest, and the end of the first month is just about around the corner. The studies are also coming around fairly well, as Doctrine and Covenants now is just passing the testimony of the Three Witnesses and the account of the 116 pages of the manuscript being lost. It also has been a great time around as some work is being done.
Thankfully, despite the controversy and politics of the current election year, I got to enjoy a little humor about it on the web site known as Jib-Jab, which actually does a decent job at satire on this year's election. A GREAT RELIEF for some of the mud that does get thrown around every election year.
Other than that, it's great to look forward to another Sunday, and another round of Ward callings to set things straight, as the Fall Semester is progressing. Despite what angst there may be, another week is beginning today, and I can take time to relax and meditate on this year.

Labor Day, finally here!

Well, here it is, Labor Day. It's quite uneventful now when I think about it. It's a heavy thunderstorm here in Provo, Utah, and I spend my time inside. Reading chapter 1 of my textbooks and enjoying some time indoors is an interesting alternative. I mostly spend my time here with some sunburn, and seeing some comedy sketches to distract myself from how it feels.
However, aside from the sunburn, the trip last Saturday was a great experience for myself to go on. I got to take a fourteen-mile round trip hike to the very top of Mount Timpanogos, Utah, and got to find the thrill of feeling at the top of the world for once. Sitting up there felt great, and the view was unforgettable of the glacier, the rivers, and the canyons from that point at the top, over 11,000 feet above sea level. It felt great above all, just to see the world from atop the mountain as if it were some amazing handiwork, or sketch in the earth.
Despite the sunburn from this trip, however, I really want to interpret this trip as being a sign that over all of this time I have remaining here at college, times are really going to get better, and will progress. I know that after this storm's over, the storms will cease, and the Sun will once again rise. I will resume class again as tommorrow dawns, and today will be the start of yet another great year as I walk into class, beginning another year, and another great period of time, with this time as a landmark to it.

Last week in Delaware

Well, I guess it's hard to say, but the last week of my stay in here in Delaware is finally here. I've had a long time of working and enjoying my time here in the First State, and the summer has been great so far. I've been working here in Delaware since the end of May, and have gotten quite a bit of enjoyment since then, working outdoors, taking a trip or two, and even going to celebrate my Grandfather's 85th Birthday. But all in all, there's going to be some great times when I return to school in the next three weeks. I'll write some more soon.

Another great weekend

I just enjoyed the 4th of July weekend up in New York. I even enjoyed a small fireworks show in upstate New York as the evening passed on, at the home of a family friend. The weather was quite cool, and the wet weather up there almost kept the fireworks from going off that night. However, it was a fun weekend, with a lot to enjoy as it passed on. I also saw a great movie as I spent the weekend there: Secondhand Lions, starring Halley Joel Osment and Michael Cain. A great movie to see.
Following the weekend, I got to attend an Open House for Delaware's Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Charlie Copland. A great first opportunity, and a difficult-to-miss one at that. Whether or not I will vote for him remains to be decided, but it was a great, and worthwhile, experience to meet a political candidate up close, one that may be hard to repeat during my lifetime.
Aside from that, times chug on, taking a run-through on a physics course, doing my work at a grounds facility, and attending events at my local singles branch in Newark. A great summer, and great events to accompany it.

My upcoming week

So far, there's a nice, busy, and eventful week coming up both this Saturday. I am going to be giving my words to the children for Primary Activity Day on my mission, and my testimony about the importance of the Temple, from my experiences of my mission, which I served at the Washington, D.C. Temple from 2005-2007. The events should be pretty nice, and I should have the words, in transcription, up soon.
Other than that, my work here at the facilities building is in full swing, and there's plenty of enjoyment as the grass is cut. Also, bring on the celebrations! I have attended a graduation party and a wedding so far, and they were great to enjoy.
Either way, this is a brief entry, but I hope that you are all hanging on tight, and enjoying your summer.

-Benjamin Kemer

On the job

Well, ever since last Wednesday, the news has been this clear: I have officially begun my Summer job back here in Delaware. I am working as a grounds technician here in Delaware at St. Andrew's School. The work has, luckily, not been all that tough since it began, the weather has, up until now, been fairly cool for this time of year(upper 60s to mid 70s of degrees Fahrenheit), and I have actually been working since May 20th, less than three weeks since I returned from the West. The work has been proceeding great, with grass being cut down in the Kubota tractor, and reinvigorated with a great rest since I left from school for the end of the Winter semester.
The work has been great so far, and I have also helped out at the elementary school and begun a calling to teach primary here at the Smyrna Ward since I returned. It's been a great summer so far, and there's certainly more to come. So folks, my newsletter is sure to continue for a while, now that I've returned to blogging, so stay tuned.

Attending Graduation

Today was great as I attended my sister Laura's graduation. I met a number of old friends, and the events brought up a number of fresh old memories to me, about when I attended and graduated from high school. I guess that's why there is that proper, yet sometimes forgotten, title of "Commencement" that comes with that special day.
As much as those days have passed by for me (It has been four years since that day occurred for me) I have come to truly appreciate the days of high school, and the fun, the enjoyment, or rather, the "Eden" that those days were, before now. Before I served the mission, and before I returned to attend school at the University. That was the beginning of facing the real world, as I have come to know it. Yet the feelings, overall, are actually bittersweet.
As much as it was also the easy, happy-go-lucky time, it was also a time that I remember, a time when many of my foundational principles were offered to me. These principles, and the real people that I've met, have constituted a great portion for my life here, the new people of whom I would meet, the service opportunities I would find, and the great activities I would learn about, and find my own improvement in, as I moved along.
I remember those years, as I have experienced adverse times, remembering those lessons, those very moments, when the words were given to my ears, whether it be from my sports, from my missed opportunities, or from the friends I had made. I had those experiences come to me, offer me insight for those times, and look forward to the future with more optimism, renewed by the lessons once meant for me then, so that they could finally be applied, finally become accepted by me, and I have enjoyed sweeter times, really making better as I moved along, because I learned from the bitter, how to enjoy, and find the good.
The term "commencement" fits quite well now, because ever since then, it truly has been a start, or a beginning, for me, as I have moved along through the new experiences, and applied them to my work as I have moved along. The experiences really have become less bitter, as I can see them as important, critical landmarks in my life. I ended the day with a nice round of desserts at home, with my family, after all, it really was sweet-no bitter about it.

Back to the blog, and loving it

Well, it has been a LONG time since I last added an entry to this blog.  Today begins with some of the regular news.  I am currently serving in the Ward as a Primary Teacher, and I am also pleased to announce an interesting new article on new technology being tested.  Those video gamers of Halo, and those comic book fans of Iron Man, have probably thought of a suit of armor that makes its wearer incredibly tough.  However, tests are being run on a suit that could make this fantasy a reality in the near future.  Check it out!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_hi_te/robotic_soldier_suit_6

Besides that, I hope to return to being an active blogger.  Best of luck to y'all and have a great summer!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's now near the end of the school year. I haven't written much yet. However, my CS Projects are still up and running, so feel free to check them out whenever you wish.

http://students.cs.byu.edu/~bkemer

Even more has been happening, though. As the semester is now drawing to a close, I have recently just completed my project for Biology with a group, and am now busily wishing for the convenience of having a book for a class. That's the one problem I have often found, often a need to start praying for: you have a book that you need to get, and it gets nabbed by countless people who also need to read it.
However, there's probably plenty going on now, as information is being learned on the environment and other matters. The amazing facts about renewable energy are here, and I'll probably bring them up in another block of time though, I have to get moving right now.
So farewell, and I look forward to writing more pretty soon.

A Busy Saturday Morning

Today is a busy Saturday morning, to say the least. Work is being done on a case studies assignment for the Pitcairn Islands. The case is a tragic story of how island nations relied heavily on imported goods to live and sustain their population, so that when the external source failed, so did the islanders, mysteriously disappearing, possibly dying out from extinction. The lesson is pretty true and powerful: not living on sustainability and/or self-reliance can be dangerous. Especially for the future prospects.
However, aside from the subject of this project, I am looking forward to a decent Stake Conference tonight, with a broadcast from the new First Presidency.

Chiau,

Benjamin Kemer

Another year older...

Well, I guess it's time to say good bye to being twenty-one. I recently turned twenty-two last Saturday. Aside from just the birthday paraphenalia, the real question comes when balancing time is concerned. It has been some time since I last posted another article here. My web design has progressed somewhat since the last post, and a few good meetings have occurred with some of my old friends.
Otherwise, the news stands with a number of studies that I am currently undertaking. One of them being the work on the book, "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. The discussion from both is literally how entire civilizations have collapsed from excessive use of the environment, and factually saw decreasing populations and collapse during times of supposed luxury and prosperity, and Diamond also addresses the fact that there have been numerous cases of civilizations that weren't neccessarily all that big in history, yet they have, and are the ones that have managed to sustain themselves across great periods of time, even until the present day. He offers his final argument that the problems present in the past can threaten us now, on the condition that we, as people are not responsible "stewards" of our environment. Two great books that I would recommend in being read.
In addition to collapse, did you ever know that aside from the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin actually did devote quite a bit of his life to understanding the science of soil, observing and experimenting with his own farmland? Or that soil has a slow process of replenishing itself? That's part of the introduction to another book that I am reading, known as "Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations" Which I should have more information on soon.
The Environmental Science Major has been great, and hopefully, it should be a great future for the workl which I am doing.

The Bio150 Blog

I know that I may have not given some of you the right information as to where our group blog is located, so here it is:

http://bio150group10.blogspot.com/

So, for any of you who are in my Group for Bio150, Group 10, working on the Pitcairn Islands, here is the site.

Into the Web...

I guess that the newest piece of news out from me is that now I have an assignment of computer science, and working in the realm of how HTML and BASIC work. I am working on a website for the class as well. It can be found at: http://students.cs.byu.edu/~bkemer

It is working so far as a good novice attempt at web design for me, so if you ever find yourself bored, without much productive, thoughtful, work to do, you might want to check it out!

I often don't find myself liking rock the most, but I did enjoy the music video by 3 Doors Down, "Citizen Soldier", and how it's done. If there is any dislike of war, or the possible pro-war implications that a music video of this kind may have, then don't say I haven't warned you. However, I enjoyed the big message that it has: That though war is absolutely ugly, and costly, the results of wars, and the sacrifices made through them, have meant everything for the preservation of the freedoms that we enjoy so much of in our everyday lives, and for the lives of potentially so many others.

So, getting on to the video, it can be found at:

http://www.1800goguard.com/movie/index2.php

Enjoy!

New Callings

I recieved my new callings today. I probably may not be making any sense to a good number of you who are reading this, but my calling is something that I choose to recieve as a member of the religious organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where the ministry of the church is a lay, or volunteer ministry, consisting of volunteers from among the church membership serving in volunteer positions. I am called to work as a welfare director in my ward , or congregation.
I am not a certifiable scholar outside of the Christian realm, knowing the cases of Stephen, who would die in Acts 7, being called by the apostles to direct service towards the widows and orphans in the church. Another big example I do know of is the welfare system of ancient Israel, in which portions were set aside for the poor, and where Ruth came to gather grain for her mother in law, Naomi.
Aside from just the biblical writing, it is an amazing, beautiful concept to see, on a greater scale, how recent events have drawn people of numerous convictions together to assist others and offer relief in the face of the great disasters that happened recently when terrorism struck New York and Washington, when the Tsunami struck Indonesia, when hurricanes struck New Orleans, and when numerous other natural disasters have occurred, their were the losses, but there was also the unity, unity in abandoning unselfishness and abandoning, even for a brief time, many disagreements that may have occurred, to be the strong person, to exert and give what was neccessary to render the unselfishness that would save and bring relief to the lives of others in these unfortunate circumstances.
Because that is the nature of strength: in being unselfish, in being willing to give and offer what others so desperately need, and losing oneself in one's work.

Life on Sunday

I begin today, starting off my routine, preparing to attend church, and think about what I believe in, and giving it my own measure of devotion. Church going is a regular part of my life, including while I attend school at the higher education level. It also is for many other people, along with their respective beliefs. Finding a balance between this, and many other aspects of life in the higher education, was not the task which I had previously found easy to accomplish. However, it is something that, once found, made my life far more peaceful, and far more enjoyable to me.
The subjective part that I believe, and that you don't have to believe, depending on your own belief, is that I believe that the Lord was part of this, and that I have him to thank for so much of what has transpired up until today. To be thankful that I had faced the tough and peaceful times, up until now, and still continuing, that allow for me to find whatever strength is neccessary, to accomplish whatsoever I can now and continuing. To be tried, and to come from these times, to better realize and understand the compassion that God has for me, that he would allow me to experience what I did for a betterment, and for a better good, learning how to return back here to school, and find life here as a more successfful, more effective student, and a far better multi-tasker.
Finding balance life is tough, but I'm glad that it is a skill that most of us face, in all of the work that we do, whether here in college, as I am, with the growing family, or with whatever multiple responsibilities we may have. It's great to be facing this challenge, and getting the grip on remaining committed to school, religion, and any other aspects in life that I may have.

Winter Semester Begins

Well, the first week of school is through, and work so far is still not quite kicking in yet, sometimes it's just not all that easy to let the holidays go. Whether it's the trip to your home, the occasional meeting with your siblings, or the memorable rediscoveries of your past that just needed that occasional click to come back into the forefront of your mind. It was quite a productive winter break, getting to see the Grandfather that you haven't met in three years, or the encounter with a kid in a youth program needing your assistance at learning the basics of Camping 101, or remembering the words in a pledge? All of those form a tough bond, an experience that can be sometimes tempting to forget, but in those few moments, mean so much.
That's often what makes the holiday pretty impressive...the good choices, and the good experiences that come from helping someone else for those moments, or from getting a long hard second, or minutes to think, ponder, and reconsider the worth of what has happened, to just see things for what they really are... in a far better perspective, and realize their worth.
That's where a great experience, and great journal-writing, come in real handy, and that's where that amazing assurance comes that, regardless of the inevitable imperfections or kinks in the stream of holiday events. Something that really strikes the heart as being good, meaningful, and even great.