Paris as been all the news of late, for entirely understandable reasons.   But we should at least glance in the direction of Africa from time to time . . .   http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b2d7a0252dd04676b20697bd39356fcc/7-kids-reunite-parents-lost-nigeria-islamic-uprising   Incidentally, while I take no real pleasure in anybody’s death, it was appropriate, somehow, that the two murderers in Paris who effectively destroyed the editorial leadership of Charlie Hebdo died at a printing plant, and that that third murderer, plainly an anti-Jewish bigot, died in a… Read more

    Consider these two items:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/396031/establishment-vs-establishment-eliana-johnson/page/0/1?splash=   http://www.businessinsider.com/report-mitt-romney-is-considering-another-presidential-run-2015-1#ixzz3OMjNFVCx   For the record:  If he runs, I’m in.   Is he as conservative as I am?  Probably not.   But he’s conservative.  And he was right.  On a host of issues.  He should have won in 2012; the United States and the world would be better off if he had.   He’s honest, extremely bright, breathtakingly competent — I heard an impressive personal illustration of that just the other day… Read more

    Ralph Hancock, still trying to raise the level of discussion to actual issues, weighs in again with a useful piece:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulandcity/2015/01/whos-afraid-of-secularism-2-my-bracketing/   Meanwhile, Bill Hamblin posted five related items yesterday and the day before (7 January and 8 January):   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/   Some critics suspect that we wicked apologists are coordinating these posts, and that it’s all part of some nefarious larger strategy.   I want to confirm this.  We’re all sitting right now in the same… Read more

    You thought that maybe The Interpreter Foundation wouldn’t be publishing a new article today?  Even though it’s Friday?   Seriously?   Think again:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/who-was-sherem/     Read more

    I fall — as I like to fall — in the middle on this particular issue.  I’m an unembarrassed watcher of Fox News, which I support and enjoy.   And I think that Muslims need to speak up more loudly than they are — the condemnation won’t be loud enough until it’s deafening and impossible not to hear — against Islamist violence and extremist/jihadist political Islam.  And I’m concerned at the consistent data from polling showing far too… Read more

    Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3   I think I’ll restrict myself to these four passages today.  It’s a busy day, and there’s a lot of news out of Paris to watch.   These are simple passages.  In Mark, Jesus “came into Galilee.”  In Luke, Jesus “returned . . . into Galilee.”  In John, Jesus “departed . . . to Galilee.”   The language that interests me, though, is in Matthew:  “Now when he heard that… Read more

    https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/01/07/mormons-benghazi-charlie-hebdo/     Read more

    “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”  (Charles Wadsworth)     Read more

    John 3:23-36   Just a few quick notes about this passage.   1.   I’ve already noted the reference to John’s having chosen his baptismal site (“at Aenon near Salim,” almost certainly on the Jordan River) “because there was much water there” (3:23).  This strongly suggests baptism by immersion rather than by sprinkling.   2.   The word Aenon reflects an underlying Aramaic term for a “spring” (similar in Hebrew and Arabic).  The famous Madaba Map in the Hashemite Kingdom… Read more

    And no, you’ll be astonished to discover that this story doesn’t revolve around me.  Another illustration, as if more were needed, that reason and common sense don’t always prevail:   http://www.dose.com/lists/2999/He-Saw-A-Giant-Bear-In-The-Water-What-He-Did-Next-Is-The-Manliest-Thing-In-History?utm_source=FBTraffic&utm_medium=fijifrost&utm_campaign=CMfacebook     Read more