http://www.realclearscience.com/lists/frightening_tales_from_archaeology/     Read more

    A very insightful little piece:   http://www.sixteensmallstones.org/a-wrested-development-mourning-with-those-that-mourn-as-a-rhetorical-weapon/   I’ve noticed exactly the same thing, but J. Max Wilson does a really good job here of identifying what’s going on.     Read more

    Well, Mr. Donald J. Trump, of New York City, came and gave Iowa a try.   Townspeople:Oh, there’s nothing halfwayAbout the Iowa way to treat you,When we treat youWhich we may not do at all. There’s an Iowa kind of special Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. We’ve never been without.That we recall.We can be coldAs our falling thermometers in December If you ask about our weather in July.And we’re so by God stubbornWe could stand touchin’ nosesFor a week at a timeAnd never see eye-to-eye.But... Read more

    The first verse of today’s reading, 2 Nephi 14 (= Isaiah 4) seems as if it should really have been numbered with the previous chapter.   But the rest of 2 Nephi 14/Isaiah 4 is a refreshing contrast to the preceding chapter, for, whereas the verses immediately before it had condemned the daughters of Jerusalem, this chapter describes their eventual redemption (after a purging and a purification).   One wonders whether Isaiah is talking literally about female residents of the city,... Read more

    By men, of course, he meant people:   “Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” John Steinbeck     Read more

    Bill Maher likes to make fun of religions and religious people.  He absolutely oozes smug superiority.   I seldom think about him and I don’t watch him, but I know that Mormons are a favorite target of his often mean-spirited jibes.  Just within the past few days, for instance, I saw, somewhere, a passing comment from him to the effect that, yes, of course, people believe ridiculous things.  “Have you ever been to Salt Lake City?” he asked.  ... Read more

    “Dear Trump Voters, Your Darling is a Two-Timing Cad”   “Ben Sasse Asks the Donald: Would a President Trump Govern According to the Constitution?”   “A Serious Senator Sasse Challenges Trump’s One-Man View of Governing”   To paraphrase the immortal line from the 2007 fantasy film September Dawn, “Iowans, do your duty!”     Read more

    A Muslim hero of mine:   “Grameen Bank was formed as an institution owned by its borrower members, who are poor women.  Through its unique decision-making process, Grameen Bank has given millions of women the means to emerge from the shadows in a male-dominated society and to make something of themselves.” Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Peace Prize, 2006)     Read more

    You may have seen this claim of late.   It’s evidence, or so we’re told, that the Church is wrong on the matter of homosexuality.  And that the Church’s position is not only mistaken but, to some degree or another, evil.  Callous.  Hateful.   But is the factual claim true in the first place?   Maybe.  Maybe not.   http://www.millennialstar.org/about-that-claim-of-suicides-by-lds-teens-with-same-sex-attraction/   Any suicide is deeply sad, of course.  (Need I say this?  Yes.  I, in particular, need to say... Read more

    If you haven’t had a chance to tour the new Provo City Center Temple during its open house — or even if you have — you will, I think, enjoy and profit from this video tour (“Architectural details of the Provo City Center Temple”).  The visual quality is excellent and the informative commentary is very good:   http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/provocitycenter/video/   It’s not quite ten minutes long.   And there are two other videos at the same site, each about... Read more