Politics and Such

Leo's love for avation started young apparently.

I don't often venture far into politics; I try to be an informed voter and I do have opinions (albeit it's debatable whether they're well informed or not) on some issues. A few nights ago I stumbled upon this article: http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=148

and I thought it was excellent, whether you're interested in politics or not. It's a forum, well, I'll just use their intro, "Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University and author of several books about Mormon history, discussed the relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and American politics over the past two centuries. He addressed Mormonism's shift from 19th-century radicalism to 20th-century conservatism and the significance of this religious heritage for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. A lively question-and-answer session with journalists followed his presentation." It was indeed, "lively." I really enjoyed it, and I agreed with Bushman's answers on every point. He actually tackled questions from Joseph Smith's attempt to create a physical Zion city and Brigham Young as the theocratic Governor of Utah, to polygamy, temple worship, garments, and John F. Kennedy and Mitt Romney's father's presidential candidacy. As I said, it was fascinating.

And just for the record, please don't think I'm whole-heartedly supporting Romney either. I have serious reservations in regard to his stance on immigration reform (I'm rather biased there considering both myself and my husband are immigrants). But as I said before, it's an interesting read whether you're into politics or not. Since I am on the topic though, here's a great link to check out for a concise introduction to the main candidates see this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5006788.stm#others and see this link for a good overview of their policies: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6690135.stm. And yes, I know these are both BBC sites, but I've yet to find a better way to me to get an outside look on American politics, (ok granted, BBC might not be completely unbiased in their reports, but are certainly less biased than most the major news networks here in the US). Besides, I like the BBC. In fact, here's some prime BBC coverage for your viewing pleasure about one candidate's view on Socioeconomic classes, also a statement concerning politicians in general, and just to round out this highly educational posting a short clip on International Philosophy.

Since I have no new photos to add aesthetical value to this post, here are some old photos I dug out.

So who does Elena look like??? Not her mom, I'll tell you that. And just for fun I tag anyone who reads this to post a baby picture of themselves.