Perhaps you noticed the waxing crescent in the evening sky and thought, “Less than two orbits to go!” And perhaps you have given some thought to the eyewear you will favor for observing the annular solar eclipse on the afternoon of Sunday, May 20.

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How much ammunition is ‘enough’?

At last, scientific proof that homework does little good until late in high school.

Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope after all.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO throws her support behind Mitt.

It’s a heavy blow, but I plan to vote for Mitt anyway.

The nature of the relationship btween the Mulekites and the Lamanites became a little clearer to me recently while reading the Book of Mormon this year.

In Omni verses 12 and 13 we read that the 1st King Mosiah led some of the Nephites out of the land of Nephi, took them on a journey and discovered the land and people of Zarahemla. Mosiah and his people then joined up with the Zarahemla-ites, also known as Mulekites. Mulek, son of Zedekiah King of Judah, was the principal of that group of immigrants (Mosiah 25:2, Helaman 6:10).

At that point, the Nephites had already had a long tradition of wars with the Lamanites.

It finally occured to me that since the Nephites were “new” to the Mulekites, so also were the Lamanites.

In Omni 24 we read that by the time the first Mosiah’s son Benjamin is king, the combined Nephites/Mulekites have had a war with the Lamanites.

In this, I see the beginning of the resentment between the Mulekites and the Nephites, in that the Nephites in effect brought the Lamanites upon the Mulekites. In spite of the fact that the Mulekites (Zarahemla-ites) rejoiced over the Nephites bringing the Brass Plates (the Old Testament up through the time of Jeremiah), and a presumed restoration of the Hebrew language, along with a presumed restoration of Hebrew and Egyptian writing, the fact remains that had the Nephites not come to Zarahemla, the Lamanites would likely not have discovered Zarahemla and would have left them alone.

To me, this explains in large part why Mulekite dissenters and King-men were not reluctant to join or make league with the Lamanites later on in the Book of Mormon. The dissenting Mulekites likely saw the Lamanites as the Nephites’ enemy, not their’s.

Another signature Obama accomplishment.

I’m rather fond of the place. The Nullarbor Plain reminds me a lot of my home planet.

I’m sorry to say Ross Perot may be a distant relative.

Not that I have reason to boast. Half my family tree are meddling bugs.

Slow Joe inserts his foot deeply in his mouth again.

And, yeah, I stole that line from the comments. His Majesty: “Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.”

And let loose the snails of war.

His Majesty: “I’ve met your dachshunds. I can see why you wouldn’t want to stick with tradition.”

Judging from its abortion statistics.

From a book review:   (more…)

“Monuments used to be about making a singular statement for people to interpret. They could be simple, or even abstract. Now they’re about hitting people over the head with the obvious while ticking off boxes for different interest groups. It’s a mentality that leaves you with 56 columns around the WWII memorial rather than 50 (lest ye forget Guam!)” (link)

“We shall lose the West unless we can restore the use of reason to pre-eminence in our institutions of what was once learning. It was the age of reason that built the West and made it prosperous and free. The age of reason gave you your great Constitution of liberty. It is the power of reason, the second of the three great powers of the soul in Christian theology, that marks our species out from the rest of the visible creation, and makes us closest to the image and likeness of our Creator. I cannot stand by and let the forces of darkness drive us unprotesting into a new Dark Age.”

I find this lack of faith disturbing.   (more…)