1 "Many a truth is spoke in jest"

It's an off-year for electing presidents or members of Congress, but many communities have municipal elections in November. Perhaps it's timely to share some homespun wisdom (both past and present) about politicians and this messy form of governance we call a democracy.

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. [John Adams]

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. [Mark Twain]

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. [Mark Twain]

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.  [Winston Churchill]

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.  [George Bernard Shaw]

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.  [G. Gordon Liddy]

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. [James Bovard, Civil Libertarian, 1994]

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. [Douglas Casey, classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University]

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.  [P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian]

10. Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. [Frederic Bastiat, French economist (1801-1850)]

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.  [Ronald Reagan (1986)]

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.  [Will Rogers]

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!  [P.J. O'Rourke]

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.  [Voltaire (1764)]

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!  [Pericles (430 B.C.)]

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.  [Mark Twain (1866)]

17. Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.  [Anonymous]

18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.  [Ronald Reagan]

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.  [Winston Churchill]

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.  [Mark Twain]

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.  [Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (1820-1903)]

22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class . . . save Congress.  [Mark Twain]

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.  [Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)]

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.  [Thomas Jefferson]

25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.  [Aesop]


And in conclusion

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for . . . another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

2 Quote of the month

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

--Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

3 This month in our family

Lyle's family
Thurs, Nov 3: Stan & Patty married 1978
Mon, Nov 7: Dayvis's birthday
Thurs, Nov 10: Nevaeh Jennavieve Peterston's birthday

Gail's family
Sat, Nov 5: Liz's birthday
Sat, Nov 5: Angie's birthday
Tues, Nov 8: Michael Duay's birthday
Mon, Nov 21: Clifford Rankin's birthday

Kay's family
Fri, Nov 11: Kay & Karen married 2006
Tues, Nov 15: Kay's birthday
Mon, Nov 28: Melissa's birthday [Chad's wife]

Ray's family
Wed, Nov 9: Garrett Reher's birthday

Dean's family
Fri, Nov 4: Andrew's birthday
Fri, Nov 4: Vince & Mary married 2006
Wed, Nov 9: Paul Challis's birthday
Tues, Nov 22: Dean & Claudia married 1972
Sat, Nov 26: Cade & Rebecca Hoff married 1994

Dale's family
Tues, Nov 1: Dylan Rager's birthday
Tues, Nov 22: Keisha's birthday

Everyone
Tues, Nov 1: Anniversary of Dorothy's death in 1982
Sun, Nov 6: Fast Sunday
Sun, Nov 6: Daylight saving time ends (fall back one hour)
Tues, Nov 8: Election Day
Thurs, Nov 10: Full moon (Frosty Moon or Beaver Moon)
Fri, Nov 11: Veterans Day
Sun, Nov 20: Anniversary of Ivard's death in 1988
Thurs, Nov 24: Thanksgiving Day

November is also Aviation Month, Good Nutrition Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.

4 Bits and tidbits

Elder Austin Cleverly
Austin (as in Kay's grandson, Kyle and Melissa's son), serving a mission in Paraguay, was transferred during October, his mother reports. Austin is now in Villa Elisa, which is in Asuncion and near the Argentine border. He left an area and people he truly loved. He learned a lot and touched many lives, as well as having his touched.

Cool runnings
Nicolle Higley (as in Kay's daughter) ran the Layton half marathon on Saturday, October 8. She wrote, "I have ran a lot of 5Ks and a few 10Ks so the whole race thing really wasn't new. I actually really enjoy that feeling of people you don't know cheering you on along the route. When we were getting close to the finish line I saw my kids holding their signs and of course my eyes teared up and I got a serious boost of energy. Chad, my kids, Andrea and Kendall were there to cheer me on. It was great when I crossed the finish line they said my name on the loud speaker and I felt awesome. I am so glad that I did it and am seriously considering doing a marathon in May."

Talmage Cleverly and Eliza Challis (as in our son and daughter) ran the South Jordan half marathon on Saturday, October 15. After their race, Eliza (who was visiting in Utah from Atlanta) posted on Facebook: "13.1 miles ~ 2:08:10 with my awesome brother Talmage Cleverly at the SoJo Half Marathon this morning!"

Published!
Our son Talmage has published two electronic books: A Clouded Skye and Children of a Clouded Skye. Both are available on the three big ebook sites: Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, and Barnesandnoble.com.

Concerning his first book, published in August, Talmage wrote, "If you like lighthearted comedic romantic fantasy adventure tales, you'll enjoy A Clouded Skye."

Concerning the second book, published in October, he wrote, "For those of you who loved the first book, you'll like the sequel as well. It takes place twenty years after the first book. Skye and company have begun raising families of their own, growing the population of the faerie kingdom of Ellana. But Skye's old enemy, King Cardeness of Retti, has plans to upset their peaceful lives. There is more humor, romance, and adventure to enjoy in this sequel. If you thought Skye was crazy as a vagabond faerie princess, imagine her as a mother of a teenager too."

A lot of family togetherness
Claudia and I had all eight of our children, their spouses, and our 19 living grandchildren (that all adds up to 37 people, by the way) together the last weekend of October. Paul and Eliza Challis and their three children (five-year-old Peter, two-year-old Aaron, and nine-month-old Claire) have been visiting from Atlanta for four weeks, starting in mid-October. Robert and Rachael Hodson have been visiting from Harrisburg, Illinois, for four days.

On Saturday, October 29, we documented the family once again with all 37 of us in the same picture. It will be out of date again in March, when Pete and Anna Halverson have their second child, a daughter, and our 22nd grandchild.