“He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.” John Milton     Read more

    Despite his notable strengths, there are several reasons why I can’t warm up to Chris Christie.  And this episode is certainly one of them:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430792/chris-christie-barack-obama-2012-hurricane-sandy     Read more

    Jabra Ghneim called my attention to this fascinating site, which many interested in family history are likely to find useful:   https://history.lds.org/missionary/   It took me all of about five seconds to locate an entry about my wife’s grandfather, whom I never met.  I learned several things from it.     Read more

    I think that it may be time once again to call attention to Ralph Hancock’s excellent and always thought-provoking blog:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulandcity/     Read more

    I’m not a big Hillary Clinton fan.   (I’m being deliberately gentle here:  I actually think she probably deserves indictment.  And that’s only on the matter of the State Department emails.  Beyond which there are many, many, many more reasons to oppose her bid for the presidency.)   But her victory in six of six Iowa Democratic caucus coin tosses apparently shouldn’t be included in the long list of crimes and scandals associated with Clinton Inc.:   http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/02/02/the-science-of-hillary-clintons-coin-toss-victories/#63a362606606... Read more

    Thanks to Jabra Ghneim for pointing this fascinating book review out to me:   https://newrepublic.com/article/117173/thomas-jeffersons-quran-denise-spellberg-reviewed     Read more

    A lot of good work has been done over the past decades on the Book of Mormon.   But it’s been scattered, and much of it is out of print and difficult to find or access.   Book of Mormon Central is now opening that treasure house up and making it very accessible in quite new ways:   http://www.studioetquoquefide.com/2016/01/do-you-knowhy-book-of-mormon-central.html     Read more

    My latest weekly assault on goodness and reason in the pages of the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865646879/Why-the-question-of-God-matters.html   According to some of the commenters, I appear to be an apologist for theocracy who seeks to persuade poor and suffering people to simply endure their condition rather than to attempt to improve it.  And anyway, they write (as if I hadn’t written), after seven or eight decades of good, comfortable living, they’re satisfied with their lives.  No more is... Read more

    You’ll enjoy these, I think:   http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2016/01/some-earlier-posts-on-1-nephi.html     Read more

    Today’s reading, 2 Nephi 16 (= Isaiah 6), recounts the prophetic call of Isaiah.   His awestruck, even terrified, reaction to his vision is noteworthy.  He fears that he’s going to die, but, having undergone a supernatural purification, he survives.   However, what’s really remarkable about the chapter is the simple but plain fact that Isaiah saw God.   People who insist on denying that God has a form or can be seen are free, of course, to attempt to dance around... Read more