We spent much of today flying over the eastern portion of the Gulf of Australia (formerly known as the Pacific Ocean). Happily, the flight was boring and uneventful. Happily, too, the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce even while I’m strapped in at 37,000 feet. Actually, as a matter of fact, it performs better when I’m away from the controls. Today being Friday, a new article went up early this afternoon: ““When Ye Shall Rend That Veil of Unbelief”: A... Read more
This essay went up today for the first time online, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord’s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton: Joseph Smith at the Veil: Significant Ritual, Symbolism, and Temple Influence at Latter-day Saint Beginnings,” written by George L. Mitton: Abstract: The prophet Joseph Smith was paced through a life steeped in ritual and symbolism. Notable things Joseph did or experienced under angelic guidance may be seen... Read more
I’m very excited about the planned medical school at Brigham Young University. I have high hopes for it: “Interest, support surge for BYU medical school: ‘It’s as if we have 40 first-round draft picks’: Intermountain Health collaboration with new school begins to take shape amid doctor shortage crisis.” This is a cause, if I had anything of value to offer, that I could happily get behind. I have no insider information whatever, but I’ve always assumed that the medical school... Read more
The local whale-watching people are very concerned. Apparently there are still reports on the internet that the August 2023 fire that destroyed most of Lahaina has put an end to whale watching here, in one of the best places in the entire world for observing whales. But it’s not true. And they’ve asked us to get the word out. False reports are hurting them, economically. So here I am, trying to get the word out. We spent a substantial... Read more
Lacking the benefits of today’s powerful microscopes, Charles Darwin evidently thought of biological cells as simple — bounded but otherwise internally undifferentiated — blobs of organic matter. Even when I was first learning about them, typical illustrations of the cell suggested (to my mind, at least) something resembling, say, an egg with a yolk. Plain white matter, with something different inside. Quite simple, really. Today, we know plant and animal cells to be almost incredibly complex, in both form... Read more
I published the article below in the Deseret News for 18 February 2016. I think it appropriate to share the column again today. It should be noted that, since it appeared, the construction of a temple has been announced for Maui. George Q. Cannon would be delighted. In fact, I’m confident that he is delighted: In September 1850, Charles C. Rich of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called 10... Read more
I first came to Hawaii when I was five years old. Because of his construction business, my father belonged to an organization that was known in those days as the Southern California Paving and Grading Association. I think that he once served as its president, and I think that it was the group that once sponsored a seminar on construction-site safety in Honolulu. The headliner on that junket was Dr. George M. Uhl, the chief health officer for Los... Read more
Along with her sister, my wife and I drove the famous “Road to Hana” along the northeastern coast of Maui on Friday, taking time to walk out to waterfalls and sample local cuisine and gaze at spectacular vistas. The road is very winding and slow, the landscape and its flora are wild, and I was many rugged and mountainous miles away from my computer. So I’m very late in calling attention to the new review article that appeared in... Read more
Here’s my latest column for Meridian Magazine. I used it to report on a book that I recently read and that I really liked. Perhaps somebody out there will enjoy the column, or profit from it, or at least find it uproariously funny: “Did Jesus Really Claim to Be Divine?” Newly posted on the never-changing and pretty-much-moribund website of the Interpreter Foundation: Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord’s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton: “Joseph Smith... Read more
Two propositions: Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine did not start the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is neither an admirable man nor a good one, and he is not our friend. Both propositions are eminently defensible, though neither of them should really require any defense. With my late and much lamented colleague and friend William J. Hamblin, I published the column below in the Deseret News on 22 February 2014 — which is now almost exactly eleven... Read more
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