Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1240

“Freedom isn’t free: ‘Sliding’ vs. ‘deciding’”

    Ralph Hancock sounds a warning voice, attempting to remind us of what everybody once actually knew (and what most people probably still do know, even if they try really hard to deny it):   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulandc...    

Dissent isn’t welcome

    I miss William F. Buckley Jr. terribly.  He was a major hero of mine from my youth.  I began subscribing to National Review when I was fourteen, and have subscribed continuously, with only a few exceptions — e.g., when I’ve been living in the Near East, and during (part of) my mission to [Read More...]

An introspective bird?

    A short item by Jason Goldman in the September 2014 issue of Scientific American reports on an experiment conducted by Arii Watanabe of the University of Cambridge.   The question was whether animals — specifically, in this case, western scrub jays — can think about their own thinking.  Whether, that is, they are [Read More...]

They got it all.

    They never suggested that it was likely to be lethal, and I was never particularly worried, but I have to admit that the word cancer does give you a rush when it’s applied to . . . well, you.   Squamous cell carcinoma.   So I had it excised nearly two weeks ago, and have [Read More...]

“Obama’s Untruth, Inc.”

    One of my favorite commentators is Victor Davis Hanson:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...    

Dr. Farouk El-Baz

    I think it important that Americans be aware of Muslims who are quite different from ‘Usama b. Ladin, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and ISIS.   Here’s one:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farouk_E...    

On political jokes

“5 leadership lessons from The Mormon Tabernacle Choir”

    A nice piece from the Forbes Magazine website:   http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdea...    

1 Nephi 8

    Today’s reading, in my daily look at the Book of Mormon, is 1 Nephi 8.   This is among the best known chapters in the Book of Mormon, a chapter that has given us one of Mormonism’s most potent symbols, the Tree of Life.   I have a lot of other things to do today, and [Read More...]

“Katherine Heigl shares home in Utah, love for family and Mormon values”

    Some of you probably missed this.  Many of you probably don’t care.  But I thought that a few might find it interesting:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   I certainly hope that, someday, a Latter-day Saint can make it onto the Hollywood A-list without abandoning his or her faith.  But, alas, Hollywood is a powerful acid bath. [Read More...]