I would like to remind people out there of this year’s Ruth M. Stephens Article Prize:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-ruth-m-stephens-article-prize/   There’s still time, but the window is closing.     Read more

    The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.  Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. Dwight D. Eisenhower   Read more

    I caught just about sixty seconds, last night, of Bill O’Reilly’s show.  To my dismay, that was enough time for me to hear Mr. O’Reilly suggest that, although (as Mr. O’Reilly himself says) Gonzalo Curiel has done nothing wrong beyond being the son of Mexican immigrants who came legal to the United States where they obtained U.S. citizenship, Judge Curiel should recuse himself from presiding over the trial of a fraud case against the now-defunct Trump University.  (For background on the matter,... Read more

    Diane Larsen, the “Cruise Lady” — for whom I accompany at least one international tour every year — passed a fantastic story on to me the other day, regarding an opportunity that she and her son had to visit with the legendary Muhammad Ali.  It will show him in a very different light, perhaps, than you’ve ever seen:   One of the most memorable experiences of my life was with Muhammad Ali.  The tender and very personal experience I had... Read more

    Four brief notes on our reading today in Alma 21:   1.   It’s not surprising, in 21:1-2, to learn that the Lamanites had built a significant city that they called Jerusalem.  From the start, the founders of the Lamanite tradition, Laman and Lemuel, had objected to leaving Old World Jerusalem.  They missed their familial wealth there and they rejected their father’s prophetic warning that the city was wicked and ripe for destruction (see 1 Nephi 2:11-13); on the... Read more

    Supposedly, I see science as an enemy and, to the limited extent that I don’t fear it, value science only for the occasional “gee-whiz” factoid.   There’s probably little if anything that I can do to nudge rigid ideologues and bitter haters into a richer contact with reality, so . . .  what the heck!  Here’s a gee-whiz factoid:   http://news.byu.edu/news/desert-plant-defies-gravity-collecting-water-upside-down-tiny-leaf-hairs   The adaptability of plants and animals to difficult environments is astonishing, as is the tiny scale... Read more

    Here’s an interesting story with connections to both Utah and Vermont:   Man with a Mormon plan   You may be hearing considerably more about this story in the future; it has the makings of a really good controversy.     Read more

    California’s presidential primary is today, and the San Diego Union-Tribune has made its pick in the Republican contest:   http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jun/02/time-to-send-trump-a-message-gop/     Read more

    I’ve been gratified and proud that, on the whole, Latter-day Saints have been very resistant to the appeal of Trumpism.  (The Economist of London noted this back in March.)  Whereas, to their shame, many Evangelicals and Evangelical leaders — including a number who vocally denounced Mitt Romney as a “non-Christian”–  have fallen all over themselves in their rapturous embrace of Mr. Donald Trump, Mormon voters in Wyoming and Idaho contributed substantially to Mr. Trump’s defeat there, and he suffered perhaps... Read more

    Worthwhile reading from Melissa Dalton-Bradford:   https://melissadaltonbradford.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/my-deceased-sons-answer-to-what-its-all-about/     Read more