http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/older-beats-younger-when-it-comes-to-correcting-mistakes.html   This isn’t only a heartening victory for us geezers — though it is that.   It also suggests that the self-congratulatory narrative that some young (theological and political) leftists tell themselves, about their greater flexibility and openness, may not be entirely true.   Of course, having never myself made a mistake, I can only read at second-hand about the experiences of others in this regard.     Read more

    This is scandalous:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426419/christian-refugees-syria-religious-minorities-united-states-resettlement-policy     Read more

    The article is a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s interesting:   http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-mormons-make-great-fbi-recruits   Incidentally, I knew J. Martell Bird, who is mentioned in the article at a couple of places.  He was a member of my stake presidency when I was a kid in southern California, up to and including my mission call.     Read more

    Virtually all of us know personally of cases where drug addiction has seriously damaged or destroyed lives.  For some, such stories hit horribly close to home.   I don’t support Chris Christie for the Republican presidential nomination, but there’s good reason why these remarks have gone viral:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-christie-drug-addiction-treatment_56327ee9e4b0c66bae5bc0f3?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013   And it’s easy to see why Governor Christie is so effective in town hall meetings.     Read more

    “Big government inevitably drives an upward distribution of wealth to those whose wealth, confidence and sophistication enable them to manipulate government.” George F. Will   An absolute truth that those who care about the poor, and about the just distribution of wealth, should understand and . . .  well, care about.     Read more

    Anybody inclined to belief in white supremacy should be obliged to spend some time with the thought and works of Quentin Tarantino.   I can’t think of anything more certain to cure the disease.   I would like to boycott his films.  But I don’t go to them.   (And I’m not even mentioning the problem of his serial . . . um, borrowing from other people’s films.)     Read more

    This article was kindly brought to my attention by my Australian friend Ray Agostini:   http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/11/05/rise-religious-intolerance-alarming     Read more

    Here’s a cheery thought:   http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/05/isis-inc-goods-trickling-out-caliphate-prove-difficult-to-trace/?intcmp=hpbt1   In related news, “Britain says Islamic State likely brought down Russian plane.”     Read more

    Today’s Deseret News column is merely another (typically) vicious and dishonest specimen from my literary oeuvre.  Quite redundant, really:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865640708/Mormonism-in-recent-book-Becoming-Divine.html     Read more

    This post, by the invaluable Irish Latter-day Saint Robert Boylan, makes what I judge to be a vitally important point:   http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-importance-of-ones-assumptions-and.html     Read more