Bloomington Lake - Bloomington, Idaho - Bear Lake Valley

On our family vacation this year, we went to a little lake called Bloomington Lake.   This lake is only a short hike from the trail head (but it has some steep grades, and was some of the trail was covered with snow).

Minnetonka Cave

I have always had a love for Caves.  I guess it started when my older sister took me to a cave when I was in Junior High (I even did a science fair project on water in caves when I was in 9th grade).   I have not been able to visit them as often as I would like.   During a recent vacation we had the opportunity to visit Minnetonka Cave in Idaho, in the Bear Lake valley.   Here are some pictures of that cave that I took.  I hope you enjoy them, there are some pretty cool formations.  See if you can see the different formations.

NOTICE: There are a lot of pictures on this page, and they may take some time to download.  If you would like a higher resolution picture of any of these, let me know.  I am not the best at taking cave photos, but some of them turned out pretty good.

The first picture is for the grandparents so they can see their grand kids.  :)

Obama - stretches his arms

From an address made by the President of the United States in regards to the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party. [Whitehorse.gov]

First some facts. BP Oil is not a US company, it is a UK based company.  The oil rig is 50 miles off of the US coast, which puts it outside of US territorial or Contiguous zones.[*] 

Having said that, what RIGHT does the President have to inform a NON US company that it has to spend its money a certain way? 

What RIGHT does the President have to give that money to a third party for control?

Turn the table.  How would the US President and a US company respond to another country informing us what we must and will do.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Oil Spill in the Gulf is a bad thing, and needs to be cleaned up.  But I don't think that the US President has any right to tell BP Oil how to handle the cleanup, and force them to pay individuals.   Heck, why not just make them give the money to Fanny Mae or Freddie Mac, we know how well they keep track of money.

I guess one way to make sure the US stays competitive, is to force a competitor out of business.

The Overton Window - Not the book Glenn Wrote.

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Everyone has probably heard that this week Glenn Beck will be releasing his new book "The Overton Window".    This is a work of fiction that Glenn has written.  This post is not about the book, that Glenn wrote, but about the concept of the Overton Window and what it is.

First off, the Overton Window concept is named after Joseph P. Overton (4 Jan 1960 - 30 June 2003).  In short, it is about a window in the political world.  This windows applies to most political idea or concept.  Basically, if an idea falls inside of this window, then the politician that votes for it will hold the support of the population.  But if a politician votes for something that is outside of the Overton Window, then he will be considered unpopular and removed during the next election.

Wikipedia says this about it: 

At any given moment the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, with “acceptable” defined as something a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. Overton arranged the spectrum on a vertical axis with policies defined as “more free” at the top and “less free” at the bottom, where “free” is defined as less subject to government intervention. When the window moves or expands, it means that ideas previously not considered politically acceptable have become so, and possibly that ideas previously considered acceptable are no longer.


The degrees of acceptance of public ideas can be described roughly as:

• Unthinkable
• Radical
• Acceptable
• Sensible
• Popular
• Policy

The Overton Window is a means of visualizing which ideas define that range of acceptance by where they fall in it. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public so that the window either “moves” or expands to encompass them. Opponents of current policies, or similar ones currently within the window, likewise seek to convince people that these should be considered unacceptable. [ Source: Overton Window - Wikipedia]

You can read more bio information about Joseph P. Orton, and view some of the articles, etc that he has written by going to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy - Joseph P. Orton.

There is another good article about the Overton Window written by Joseph Lehman, President of the Mackinac Center.   In this article, I want to point out a couple of comments he makes about the Overton Window.

"He [Joe Overton] observed that any collection of public policies within a policy area, such as education, can be arranged in order from more free to less free (or from less government intervention to more). To avoid comparison with the left-right political spectrum, he arranged the policies from bottom (less free) to top (more free)."

Note, that items are arranged in a top-down fashion, instead of a left right fashion.  This is to eliminate the terms of right and left wings, and makes everything a basis of free and less free.

Many believe that politicians move the window, but that's actually rare. In our understanding, politicians typically don't determine what is politically acceptable; more often they react to it and validate it. Generally speaking, policy change follows political change, which itself follows social change. The most durable policy changes are those that are undergirded by strong social movements.

I have always felt that this is true.  That it is not really the politicians that can make the changes, but the flow of people under those politicians.  If you want something to change, you have to get the Overton Window to either expand, contract, or shift.  By doing this, you make it acceptable for the current politicians to vote in favor or the item you want policy for.  Most politicians will not vote for something outside of the Overton Window, because it will risk their ability to be re-elected, or may even get them kicked out of office.

Joseph then goes on to explain:

Lawmakers who support policies outside the window are one of two kinds — true leaders who have the rare ability to shift the window by themselves, or politicians who risk electoral defeat because they are perceived as out of touch. This explains why key lawmakers in 2009 and 2010 were reluctant to support a massive federal health care bill seen as unpopular with the people. Officeholders knew a vote outside the window would subject them to the political Furies, as in fact it has. 

One thing that needs to be addressed as well, is that the Overton Window can be different on a national level then it is on a local level.  A perfect example is with recent US Senate race in Utah.   Even though TARP may of been considered in the national Overton Window, it was not in the Overton Window in Utah.  So when Bob Bennett voted for the first TARP, he voted outside the window, and in turn was labeled as "out of touch", and lost the US Senate GOP primary nomination.  (At least in my mind that is what happened, as a State GOP Delegate, that is why I voted to block his primary party nomination.)

If you really want to have a say in the political process, you need to move the Overton Window.  And to do that, you need to have people accept the policy you want, then the Overton Window will shift, and the politicians will be able to vote for it.

I think what we are seeing in our country, with the tea party movement and other movements, is that the Overton Window has shifted under the politicians, and that the politicians are looking at a different Overton Window than the population.   This in turn is making them look Out of Touch with us.  This is why we are seeing policies being passed that the majority of the US does not agree with.  The politicians are passing policies based on their Overton Windows, not the Overton Windows of their election base.

My take on the current Overton Window is that over the years it has shifted from what our founding father's Overton Window was.  Because of this, we are seeing a huge shift in the public Overton Window to move it back to the original founding fathers views.  And in the process, the politicians are either ignoring that shift, or are trying to fight the sift.   This will eventually lead to the politicians being labeled as "Out of Tough" and they will be removed from office.   My hope is that the politicians view of the Overton Window and the publics view of the Overton Window will align again, and we will start seeing policies and changes that the majority can believe in.

Thoughs...  Comments....

If you want more info on the book that Glenn wrote, you can find it here:



For more resources on the concept of the Overton Window, see these links:
Overton Window - Wikipedia
Why the Right-Wing Gets it--and Why Dems Don't
The Overton Window - A Model of Policy Change
Craxy Like a Fox?
The Overton Window, Illustrated - I dont agree with the left right diagram.

Our national Athem - The Star-Spangeld Banner - Verse Four (The Forgotten Verse)

The second verse of The Star-Spangeld banner

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must,

When our cause it is just,

And this be our motto, "In God is our trust."

And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(Francis Scott Key, 1779-1843)

Generational Pattern, what pattern are you building?

Husbands, fathers, and grandfathers, how consistently do we show our love and respect for our mothers, wives, daughters, and for all women? There is no real manhood without real respect for womanhood! No man can be exalted who demeans women. Surely no man who is brutal or disrespectful to a wife or mother or any woman is worthy of his priesthood! A lack of sufficient love for our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters constitutes a major failure for which no other successes can ever fully compensate! Since our sons and grandsons will treat women much as we do, what kind of generational pattern are we building? [Neal A Maxwell "I will Arise and Go to My Father - Ensign Sept, 1993]

"Since our sons and grandsons will treat women much as we do, what kind of generational pattern are we building?"   I would even take it another step.  Since our daughters, and granddaughters will see how we treat women, how will they expect their husbands to treat them?   If we can't show respect to our wives and mothers, how can we raise daughters that will seek to have respect from their husbands?  Imagine if you heard your daughter say, "It is ok for him to treat me that way, that is how my father treated my mother.  Don't all men treat women that way?"

If we don't show respect to the women in our lives, how can we expect others to show them respect?  Not only does it damage the views of our sons, but it also damages the views our daughters will have.  It truly does create a generational pattern that is destructive to society.

Piano Recital and Dinner afterwards