http://www.ibtimes.com/muharram-2016-4-key-facts-about-islamic-new-year-muslim-celebration-begins-2425448     Read more

    For some breathtaking photographs of the Horsehead Nebula, take a look here.   And even better things should be coming after the launch of NASA James Webb Space Telescope in 2018.  It’s a great time to care about such things.     Read more

    Critics and disaffected members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the extent that they’ve responded to the recently leaked videos, have found various reasons for outrage and lament.   One negative reaction that I’ve encountered from several of them goes along these general lines:   These videos demonstrate that the Church isn’t run by revelation.  The Church lied to us, telling us that the prophets take regular dictation from Jesus.  Instead, though, these videos show... Read more

    “He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool.” Brigham Young     Read more

    This is a historic presidential election.  We’ll either choose the first female president of the United States — which would be a landmark, despite my strong and deep conviction that, for manifold reasons, she’s absolutely the wrong woman for the job — or we’ll choose a man whose attitude toward women is . . . well, if you have a strong stomach and can handle somewhat strong language, judge for yourself:   See this and this and this.     Read more

    In this article, a writer for the New York Times discovers that Salt Lake City is actually a pretty decent place.   I confess, though, to some bemusement at the fact that many travel writers, as well as others, seem to really believe that brain-modifying chemical assistance is necessary in order to have a good night life.   To me, good food, good company, good music, and good theater — with the occasional film thrown in — are quite enough.... Read more

    An intriguing short article by Ryan Larsen:   http://mormonpuzzlepieces.blogspot.com/2016/10/abraham-human-sacrifice-and-conspiracy.html     Read more

    A nice blog entry from the estimable Dr. Jeff Lindsay (who happens, also, to be the Interpreter Foundation’s man in Shanghai):   http://mormanity.blogspot.com/2016/10/robert-f-smith-and-preposterous-book-of.html     Read more

    Wow.   The avalanche of bad news about peer review and replicability in the sciences (particularly, thus far, in medical research and psychology) continues.  This time — in stunning proportions — from China:   http://www.sciencealert.com/80-of-the-data-in-chinese-clinical-trial-is-fabricated     Read more

    “E-mail has some magical ability to turn off the politeness gene in a human being.”  Jeff Bezos     Read more