Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1132

A bit of scientific background for understanding the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore

    How do you sever a human spine?   It’s apparently rather difficult:   http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/t...   Posted from Victor, New York    

The Joseph Smith Sr. family in Palmyra

    Whenever the neighbors wanted a good days work done they knew where they could get a good hand and they were not particular to take any of the other boys before Joseph either. We cleared sixty acres of the heaviest timber I ever saw. We had a good place, but it required a [Read More...]

I feel so safe!

    For our flight early this morning from JFK to Rochester (or whenever it was!), I was TSA Pre-Approved while my wife wasn’t.  (Usually, for some reason, it’s the other way around.)   That meant that I was going to be able to whiz through Security without the intrusive searches that usually occur in post-‘Usama [Read More...]

“Religion poisons everything!” (11)

    A few days ago, while we were in Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Tracy Hall Jr. and I decided to walk over to see the tomb of the Rambam (Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon, aka Musa b. Maymun and Moses Maimonides), which is located there.   I’ve wanted to [Read More...]

“Why the Oxford English Dictionary (and Not Webster’s 1828)”

    In this week’s article from Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, Stanford Carmack continues the remarkable work that he and Royal Skousen have been doing on the language of the Book of Mormon:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/why-...   Properly understood — and, thus far, the mockers haven’t even tried to properly understand or engage it — their [Read More...]

“Site of deadliest Native American massacre found in Idaho”

    In southeastern Idaho, to be more exact.  Which is to say, within the general area sometimes termed “Mormon country”:   http://westerndigs.org/site-of-deadli...   Sadly, though, for some critics, I think it will be fairly difficult to lay this infamous crime at the feet of Brigham Young or to blame it entirely or even largely [Read More...]

“Going up to Jerusalem”

    I’m a bit tardy in announcing this one; it’s difficult to find much computer time for blogging from the Garden of Gethsemane, the first century steps up to the southern end of the Temple Mount, the Garden Tomb, Israeli airport security, and a Boeing 747 over the North Atlantic:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Posted [Read More...]

On sleep

    “We are such stuff as dreams are made on,” wrote Shakespeare, “and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”   Last night, though?  For me, at least, not so much.   Posted from New York City  

“Skin texture glow distinguishes Mormons from others”

      Add this to your “weird science” file:   http://universe.byu.edu/2015/04/28/sk...   When my wife and I lived in Jerusalem, we would occasionally spot tourists on the street there and, in some cases, guess that they would be in church that weekend.  Even in the absence of obvious tell-tale signals such as BYU tee shirts, [Read More...]

Marriage definition on Supreme Court docket — don’t turn believers into bigots

    The Deseret News weighs in, editorially, on the looming decision from the United States Supreme Court:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/76...   Posted from Tiberias, Israel