By Page Johnson

On the day the U.S. Senate confirmed Jay S. Bybee’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the largest appellate court in the country, this new judge went home to celebrate in his usual unaffected way-by helping his kids with their homework and washing the dishes.  This ability to balance priorities in his personal life is a reflection of the balance and perspective that Bybee brings to the law, which leads friends, colleagues and law school students to respect him for his fair-mindedness, scholarship, and decency.

Sworn in last March by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Bybee is a legal scholar who is rapidly becoming “one of the finest constitutional lawyers in America,” according to Judge Lloyd D. George of the U.S. District Court of Nevada.  “No matter where you stand politically,” George said, “Jay is universally respected for his intellect, honesty, and

Arnold Friberg will make a rare personal appearance for an art show and lecture. Monday, July 14, 2003, at 2:00 PM in Logan Utah. The event will center on the epic motion picture “The Ten Commandments” original paintings used in the making of that movie will be on display. Also there will be 2 showings of the film. July 14, at 7:00 PM and July 18, at 1:00 PM
Mr. Friberg will personally introduce these showings.

Mr. Friberg (now nearly 90 years old) spent 4 years creating 15 large paintings depicting scenes from the film, with in these paintings, he designing many of the costumes, sets, props, staging, lighting, special effects and more…in short “The Look” for this monumental Cecil B. DeMille motion picture, was created by Arnold Friberg. For this work, he was nominated for an Academy Award.

The film and lecture will be held in the historic Ellen …

Reviews of Two Pioneer-based Films
By Thomas C. Baggaley

It’s July and our thoughts turn once again to our heritage and those who worked so hard to build the foundations of the good life we enjoy. Right on cue, several films focusing on that pioneer heritage have been released or are scheduled to be released in the next month. This week, I’ve chosen to focus on two of these films which were recently released on video/DVD: Kels Goodman’s Handcart and T. C. Christensen’s A Pioneer Miracle.

Handcart

It’s going to take a little bit of the music from Mission: Impossible to get us in the mood for this one. Dum, dum, da-da, dum, dum, da-da… Got it? Okay, here goes:

Hello, Mr. Goodman. I hope you are well. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a film based on the experiences of the ill-fated Martin

By Robb Cundick
Pictures by Debra Gehris

About every two years the Mormon Tabernacle Choir leaves Salt Lake City for a major tour.  Two years ago I wrote about our travels throughout the Southern United States.  It seems such a short time ago, but here we are on the road again – this time balancing things out with a visit to the Northeast.  This tour marks the beginning of the 75^th year since the first broadcast of “Music and the Spoken Word;” and is thus being billed as our 75^th Anniversary Tour.  Just a few weeks ago we were focused on recording an album.  When we finally turned to extra rehearsals for the tour, I wondered if we had allowed enough time to prepare.  But things came together surprisingly quickly, which indicates how much the Choir has progressed: what used to take

By Maurine Jensen Proctor

Last week’s 6-3 Supreme Court decision overturning Texas’ sodomy law has met with nearly deafening silence by Meridian’s readers.  If we run an article on anti-depressants, visiting teaching or whether Coca Cola is against the Word of Wisdom, we are swamped by mail that nearly shuts down our systems.  You have opinions.  You are passionate.

Yet, in a watershed decision that upends the moral underpinnings of society, crafted in law and tradition for centuries, the mailbox is nearly empty.  We hope this doesn’t mean your response in general is flat as well.

Dinner Conversation

It reminds me of a dinner conversation we had some years ago.  We were talking about an earthquake that had left thousands of people homeless.  Our daughter, with a horrified tone in her voice, said, “That is just terrible.  That’s the worst thing I’ve ever

The Nature of Discipline
The Law of the Elephant’s Trunk
By Richard and Linda Eyre

Allegory: There is a zoo less than a mile from our house.  In fact, we tell visitors how to find our house by saying, “Go up past the zoo.”  (When all our kids were still at home, we used to add, “Actually, we’re part of the zoo.”)

The elephants were always a main attraction for our children and their friends, who seemed endlessly entertained not only by their size, but by that remarkable and unique arm/nose/hand/drinking straw/trumpet/radar tower combination called a trunk.

Our own adult fascination with elephants and their trunks didn’t start until we were able to observe African elephants at their home, on the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya. There, instead of the slow and clumsy and sleepy creatures in the zoo, they were fast and agile and alert, holding

ASK DR LAURO

Regarding my article last week, which addressed the recent scare concerning the antidepressant Paxil, I received several comments from readers. Some were very thought provoking and I have chosen two of these to serve as the basis for my article this week.

Letter #1:

Dr. Lauro: This is the type of thinking that pushes the ever increasing use of Ritalin and other medications used to control behavior in children and adults when all many (patients) are missing is self-discipline. John.

Letter #2:
Dr. Lauro: I agree with your article regarding the low suicide risk of Paxil used with depression. But I also think there are other things that contribute to whether a patient should be “afraid” of Paxil. I am under the impression that Paxil, and other serotonin-type antidepressants, have been tested only for temporary usage, and are to be used along with other treatments, such as counseling.

It seems that these meds …