A newly published book by a former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims that he was.   I haven’t seen the book yet, but my impression is that it’s not the kind of work that’s likely to draw much attention from serious scholars of Mormon history, whether believers or not.  For what it’s worth, the book was issued by something called “Lyrical Productions,” on which I’ve found no further information thus far.  I’m guessing that the book... Read more

    Using spinach to detect terrorist plots?   Yep.   I’m not making this up.   See here.   I’m unaware, at this point, of any plans to weaponize dandelions or crab grass.     Read more

    “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)       Read more

    Pretty spectacular:   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/science/shipwrecks-black-sea-archaeology.html   Really well preserved old ships — like Stockholm’s Vasa and the Viking ships of Oslo (both of which my wife and I visited this past summer) — are highly instructive but also quite rare.   I would love to see some of these brought to the surface, if that’s at all practical.     Read more

    Much was written before the 2016 presidential election about Mormon resistance to Mr. Donald J. Trump and to Trumpism, and a fair amount has been written afterward — some of it quite critical of the Latter-day Saints, who are said (since Utah eventually went quite solidly for Mr. Trump) to have proven themselves “hypocrites,” to have “sold out,” to have endorsed racism and misogyny and religious bigotry, and so forth.   As some may have noticed, I opposed... Read more

    It’s exciting to imagine what might be accomplished by the mobilization of committed Latter-day Saints worldwide in this effort:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865666890/Light-the-World-2-Church-announces-2016-Christmas-initiative.html?pg=all     Read more

    In a National Review article about anti-Trump demonstrations and riots, Kevin Williamson writes a funny little passage regarding Mormons:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442155/donald-trump-executive-power-left-loves-constitutional-checks-balances-again   Thanks to Ed Snow, a former Maxwell Institute colleague and a friend since Swiss Mission days, for bringing Williamson’s joke to my attention.   (Incidentally, if you want to know what the people in the photo above are probably singing, you can listen to it here.)     Read more

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/the-case-against-cats/505838/     Read more

    “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)     Read more

    I love to hear about activities such as this one, and I love the opening line written by the invaluable Jeff Lindsay:  “When Mormon women party in Shanghai, the world becomes a better place.”   http://mormanity.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-mormon-women-party-in-shanghai.html     Read more