Thanksgiving

I would suppose that being the day before Thanksgiving it would be appropriate to write a post expanding on the things that I am thankful for. Maybe by so doing I can avoid falling under the condemnation of D&C 59:21 which states:

And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

I am so very thankful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I am thankful for the Church organization and those who teach me more about the Gospel. The Gospel gives me direction in my life, shows me the value and importance of my family relationships, and, perhaps most importantly, teaches me who I really am and who I can become.

I am grateful for the selfless sacrifice of my eldest brother. Without Him, and His willingness to do everything for me, I would have no chance to return to my Heavenly Parents and partake of Salvation and Exaltation.

I am grateful for a wife, companion, and sweetheart who loves me and is constantly doing things to make things better for me. Her efforts often go on without any comments or spoken thanks, but they are never unnoticed. Next month marks 30 years that we have spent together, which is a long time for her to put up with me! I am thankful she has done so, and hope she continues to do so!

I am grateful for four wonderful sons and the joy they have brought into my life for the past 21-28 years.

I am grateful for three wonderful daughters (I hate the word combination daughters-in-law) who by choice joined this family and in so doing improved our family in ways that cannot be measured. They have improved my sons and shown them their potentials. They have also helped me see things from a kinder, gentler side or point of view.

I am grateful for four grandchildren. They really are the light of my life. As a grandfather, I understand better the meaning of Psalms 127:5 than I ever did as a father, and I hope that my quiver continues to grow. :) There is a saying that you are always happy to see your grandkids, and sometimes you are happy to see them go home. While that is true, it is always awesome to hold them and give them loves.

I am grateful for parents who are the epitome of the phrase from "I am a Child of God" that states "has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear". To this day they still inspire me and provide an example for me that I am unable to replicate. When I consider the tireless service that I see my dad offer to the Lord as he serves in his 7th Bishopric at the age of 74 (almost 75) or the immense love that my mother has for my father, proven by her actions that she left the country of her birth and her family and immigrated to America to raise a family, I get very emotional. I am in awe of my parents and feel that I have the best parents on earth.

I am grateful for my employment with Wavelink. I am grateful for the opportunity to earn a wage to provide for our needs.

I am grateful for friends, and the support they are. Sometimes friends are able to fill a need that nobody else can meet.

I am grateful to each of you.

God bless you.

Dave

Economic Recovery and President-Elect Obama

Well, as I stated in the Blog title, this blog is about things that interest me. Right now I am very concerned about the economy, so I decided to put some of my feelings into a blog entry. I probably wont get any comments because it is such a boring subject, but it's my blog and I can write about the economy if I want to!

As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at just over 8000 points. The only reason it is that high is that on Friday of this week it rallied for almost 500 points, meaning that Thursday the DJIA closed at about 7550. While the DJIA is not the economy, I believe that is a gauge of the people's belief in their economic futures, and I believe that the relatively low level of the DJIA is telling America that we are concerned about the future. But what worries me even more is that I don't see things changing for a while. Let me explain.

Just under a year ago, on December 6, 2007, the DJIA closed at 13,727. Since that time we have had bailouts of the Insurance companies, of Mortgage companies, of Banks and now the Automobile industry. All of these have contributed, along with concerns for our financial future, to drive the DJIA to the area it is at today. In my opinion, the way to get the market moving again (and thus, to get the DJIA back to where it was a year ago) is to encourage people to invest. But, with the change of administration, I don't see that happening. Here are my reasons that this is not going to happen.

1. President-Elect Obama has expressed his opinion that business needs to pay their fair share of the taxes, and feels that taxes on business need to be raised. He has specifically mentioned small businesses and big businesses as being subject to tax increases. There are, in my opinion, at least 2 reasons that his opinion is incorrect: First of all, businesses don't really pay taxes, customers of businesses pay taxes. Secondly, raising taxes on small businesses, where most of America's new jobs are created, will make the small business owner think twice about expanding payroll, so that the additional taxes can be paid. This will cause fewer jobs to be created which pushes the economy in the exact direction we do not want it to go. Also, that small business owner is less likely to invest in the small market as he is looking for sources of funds for the additional taxes he has to pay.
2. President-Elect Obama would like to raise the capital gains tax from 15% to 20% for those who are in the highest tax bracket. In my opinion, during financially troubled times, a tax increase rates as an impediment to encouraging investment, while a tax decrease rates as an incentive for encouraging investment. People who are in the highest tax bracket are the very people that should be encouraged to be investing in America. With the uncertainty of a possible capital gains tax increase, I believe that many will adopt a "wait and see" attitude, thus affecting our economic recovery.
3. President-Elect Obama has expressed the opinion that business needs to have tighter regulations and oversight. By so doing, he has again struck at the very segment of society, those who are in the highest tax bracket, who we need to be "betting on America" by invtesting in America. If he is successful, businesses will move more jobs overseas to locations where the regulations will not be as harsh, and we will suffer through additional loss of "American Jobs", and its corresponding tax revenue shortfalls.

Because of these reasons, I believe that many people are going to sit on the sidelines, waiting to get into the game, before returning to the financial markets. I think it will probably take at lease 3 months after being sworn into office, and maybe longer, for people to believe that President-Elect Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid will not screw up the country.

So, in my opinion, don't expect an economic recovery to begin before about May 1, 2009. And it may be later, depending on the decisions that this Democratic White House and Congress make in the meantime.

Dave

Not much point in having a Blog if you don't have readers.....

Meg asked:

Wow... am I legal to see this?

And the answer is: Yes

This is a closed blog (i.e. only those who I invite can read it). However, after making my first post, I added each of you 7 (Jason, Meg, Dan, Janelle, Matt, Kathie and Andy). You should have received an e-mail inviting you to read the blog.

Now I have a question for you (and everyone else who reads this blog):

Can you read the blog without undue hardship?

As you have noticed, I have gone for a very "clean" look. My blog will never be as professional looking or as decorated as the rest of you (Meg, Janelle, Kathie, Sue), but I want it to have a personality of its own. And it is important that it be legible.

Please leave a note letting me know if you can or cannot read the blog easily.

Thanks!

Dave

P.S.

While it is a closed blog right now, there are no guarantees that it will remain that way forever. Please make sure to not post identifying information as you leave comments.

:)

First Post!

Wow! I am finally getting it started.

This blog, believe it or not, is about 3 or 4 years in the making. About a year or 2 after Google acquired Blogger (in 2003), I looked into setting up my own blog. I doubted that I would ever have anything important to say, and so it fell by the wayside. Then, when Meg started her blog about Janie, I revisited the idea, but didn't get anywhere. And, as Janelle and Kathie have entered the blogsphere I have looked at it again, but I was too lazy (or, more likely, spending too much time playing WoW) to get a blog going. BUT......when my technology challenged sweetheart, Sue, had the audacity to get one started, I decided I had to jump in.

I guess I never really liked the layouts that were offered. I looked at probably hundreds of templates but was never able to find the "one" that I wanted for my blog. So, I did what I do when I am programming......I stole ideas! I found a template that I liked, and I stripped it of a lot of "fluff". Then I changed colors and positions and widths and layouts and made it my own. So, I am open for suggestions if you have trouble reading my blog. However, one point that is not likely to change is the "width" of the blog. I tried to make my blog readable in 1024x768 screen resolution, and if you are at that resolution and cannot read my blog, or if there are "slider bars", please let me know and I will try to make some adjustments. However, if your screen resolution is less than 1024x768 and so you cannot see the entire blog (side-to-side) on your monitor, I don't think there will be much that I will be willing to change to make it better for you. (If you have questions, let me know, and I will look at it).

Anyway, thanks for reading!