Personally, I would have changed the title to “Is Social Psychology Biased against Conservatives?”   I’m only secondarily interested in the Republican Party.  My principal political interest is in conservative principles.  (That’s why I resigned from the Republican Party on the night that Mr. Donald J. Trump accepted its presidential nomination.)   But this is a very important question, and an interesting article (about a significant scholar and thinker):   http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-psychology-biased-republicans   Thanks to Seth Rogers for alerting me to it.... Read more

    While we’re waiting for the inevitable next scandal to come along, the recent controversy regarding General Authority stipends continues to generate considerable heat and, occasionally, a glimmer of light.   Last night, someone challenged me on Facebook about how the “salaries” of Latter-day Saint “clergy” compare to those of the clergy of other faiths.   I replied that I’m confident that the average “salary” of Canadian and American Latter-day Saint “clergy” is quite a bit lower than the average salary of pastors,... Read more

    Yet another installment in my series of Thursday columns for the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671369/Rich-new-resources-for-studies-of-LDS-scripture-and-history.html     As you’ll readily see, it’s just another example of mean-spirited and dishonest slander — precisely the same kind of thing that, some of my critics explain, I always write.     Read more

    “I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.” Booker T. Washington     Read more

    “The different sorts of madness are innumerable.” Ibn Sina (Avicenna)       Read more

    I’m sorry to say that I can’t recall who it was who drew my attention to this interesting essay by Dr. Richard B. Corradi, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio:   http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/17/psychiatry-professor-transgenderism-mass-hysteria-similar-1980s-era-junk-science/   It tallies reasonably well with this piece, written by Drs. Lawrence S. Mayer and Paul R. McHugh, both of whom are psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine:   “Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and... Read more

    I’ve run into a number of people over the past week or so who’ve assured me that, if General Authorities all really receive an annual stipend of $120,000, they are — beyond any reasonable dispute — rich.   Now, there’s little question that $120K per year would seem very rich indeed from the perspective of, say, North Korea or Bangladesh or Yemen or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  But these things are relative.  Even to an American making $50K annually,... Read more

    http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/karaoke-machine-backs-out-of-performing-at-inauguration   On the other hand, rumor has it that Vladimir Putin will make a surprise appearance, shirtlessly flexing his muscles and rippling his chest for the edification of the audience.   While I’m at it, permit me to say that Rep. John Lewis’s claim that Donald Trump “is not a legitimate president” is both unhelpful and constitutionally absurd.  And I say this as someone who was — as a few readers may have noticed — not a Trump supporter... Read more

    “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be.  Be one.” Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome, AD 161-180)     Read more

    I posted an item last night indicating that time is rapidly running out for the chance to do a Mediterranean cruise this summer that would be interrupted at awkward moments by my random blatherings on irrelevant subjects.  Here is the link to that post:   “This is your last chance.”   Some readers evidently missed the link that I embedded in that post in an effort to share specific details of the cruise.  Here it is, more plainly displayed:   “Highlights... Read more