Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1242

“Salt Lake City hoping to boost tourism by reminding visitors they’re free to leave at any time”

    From The Onion, which is at least as reliable a news source as several major broadcast and cable networks:   http://www.theonion.com/video/salt-la...   Posted from Depoe Bay, Oregon    

A tiny genetic variance, but enormous differences

    Writing in the September 2014 issue of Scientific American, Kate Wong reminds us that “chimps and bonobos . . . take pride of place [I sometimes wonder whether they would or should actually be proud of it!] as our nearest living relatives, sharing approximately 99 percent of our DNA, with gorillas trailing at 98 [Read More...]

“Is Islam a primary cause of international violence?”

    Today’s biweekly Hamblin/Peterson column in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Posted from Depoe Bay, Oregon    

1 Nephi 5

    Of the many things that could be said about 1 Nephi 5, I choose to focus, today at least, on up and down.   In 1 Nephi 5:1, Nephi and his brothers come “down” from Jerusalem to the “wilderness” where his parents, Lehi and Sariah, anxiously await their return.  (Cf. 1 Nephi 5:5.) [Read More...]

“Escaping Death in Northern Iraq”

    A harrowing (and, be warned, slightly graphic) video account of the barbarous cruelty of the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS, or ISIL):   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/wor...   Posted from Depoe Bay, Iraq    

Ten Ways to Help with Missionary Work

    Posted from Depoe Bay, Oregon    

A brief glimpse of some Islamic architecture

    When I was much, much younger, I dreamed of being an architect.  The only thing that kept me from going that direction was an utter and absolute lack of even the slightest visual talent — though, obviously, that hasn’t prevented a lot of people from entering the profession nonetheless.   I’m still completely [Read More...]

Two new articles from “Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture”

    Sorry to be so late with this.  It’s difficult to post blog entries while driving winding coastal roads, walking on a beach, driving further southward on winding coastal roads, crabbing at Nehalem Bay, driving still more winding coastal roads, eating a grilled cheese sandwich along with a chocolate milk shake at the Tillamook Cheese [Read More...]

The man who should be president, on American defense spending

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...   Posted from Seaside, Oregon    

“Even Children Get More Outraged at ‘Them’ Than ‘Us’”

    Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley, writes a wonderful regular column in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Mind & Matter.”   The column she published last weekend offers fascinating but worrisome insights into the difficulties we have in forming fair and even-handed [Read More...]