Fraudulent science has been recognized, recently, as a global problem, affecting many fields.  But China is one of its epicenters:   http://www.nature.com/news/china-cracks-down-on-fake-peer-reviews-1.22176   Posted from Civitavecchia, Italy     Read more

    Since I’m a young-Earth creationist who believes that our planet is only about 6,000 years old — so certain critics insist, anyway — I’m not exactly sure why I find articles like this both interesting and plausible:   http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40333902   But there you have it.  I do.   Evidently, I’m a young-Earth creationist who believes that the Earth is approximately 4.543 billion years old — thereby compounding my absurdly anti-scientific attitudes with utterly shameful dishonesty, since I refuse... Read more

    Religion, the late Christopher Hitchens declared over and over and over and over again, poisons everything.   He didn’t really bother to cite actual evidence for his claim, which was, I suspect, tactically wise.   Here’s another piece of evidence demonstrating that Mr. Hitchens was wrong:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/religion-and-gambling-studies-find-the-wages-of-faith_us_5943de2ae4b0d188d027fd7d   Posted from the Ligurian Sea     Read more

    “Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.” Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)   Posted from the Ligurian Sea     Read more

    Some of you will find this remarkable story of interest:   http://www.ldsliving.com/The-Questions-President-Nelson-s-Grandfather-Asked-a-Visitor-from-the-Spirit-World-the-Surprising-Answers/s/85664?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email   Yesterday, a member of our tour group shared an equally remarkable personal story with me while we were seated on a shaded bench in Monaco.  I don’t feel authorized to share it, but I observe that such accounts are far from rare.   Posted from the Ligurian Sea     Read more

    I find the subject treated in this article absolutely fascinating.   This is a field that has changed spectacularly, fundamentally, since I was in high school or even an undergraduate.  At least, from what I can see and what I recall.   Posted from the Ligurian Sea     Read more

    The formidable Neil Rappleye responds (not quite preemptively, I’m afraid) to criticisms of Stephen Smoot’s new video on the Book of Mormon’s Nahom in its ancient Arabian context:   http://www.studioetquoquefide.com/2017/06/responding-to-new-video-on-nahom-as.html   By doing so, he’s saved me a fair amount of time.  Not that his effort will do any good in some circles, any more than mine would have.   Posted from off the coast of Italy     Read more

    Up early this morning and off the ship by tender.  We spent some time walking in the older part of Nice, and then climbed to the spectacular town of Eze.   From there, we drove to Monaco, where we had lunch and visited the palace of the Grimaldi “sovereign family” that has reigned here since the thirteenth century.   I’ve always been amused by disdain that “old money” British aristocrats in the nineteenth century often expressed for the... Read more

    “The greatest height of heroism to which an individual, like a people, can attain is to know how to face ridicule.” Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936)   Posted from off the French Riviera     Read more

    I might quibble with one point in this 2011 article but, otherwise, I quite like it.  For those whose minds aren’t completely closed to actually understanding this topic, I believe that it will be helpful:   https://theawl.com/what-is-sharia-law-5f61019fbf0   Posted from somewhere off the coast of France     Read more