You may have seen news reports that 2023 was the warmest year on record. The same thing is said every few years, so there's a risk that we just become numb to it. As I thought about this new record, it occured to me that a whole generation has grown up almost in the amount of time since I have been paying attention to the issue. They may not realize how little the political debate has changed in comparision to what has developed in the data. Even for those of us who have been around for a while, it's easy to lose track. I think it's worth taking a brief look back. The graphic above is the lat ..read more

Ever since COVID-19 burst upon the world in early 2020, there have been people who really want to blame its origin on a Chinese research lab--either as an intentional weapon or an inadvertent leak. For some it's a sincere inquiry into what happened. For others it's an opportunity to score political points or to monetize the issue. And some people are just conspiracy/contrarian-minded or want someone to blame for their frustrations. Even just a few days ago the staff of the Republican minority of the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions released an interim report asserting t ..read more

The price of gasoline has grabbed the nation's attention, and the political fighting over it has begun. I do not have any expertise on the oil industry, but I don't think you need to be an expert to appreciate the high-level picture. Let's go through some data together, and then you can pretend to be the POTUS or the CEO of an oil company. First, let's get a picture of crude oil production world-wide. There has been pretty steady increase since about 1985. Back in 2018 the world reached a peak of 84.5 million barrels per day (Mb/d). The pandemic resulted in a significant drop, and now we're b ..read more

Dave Bateman, founder and (now former) chairman of a Utah tech company, made a splash this week when he sent out an email to Utah tech and political leaders blaiming Jews for the pandemic and accusing them of trying to kill the American people (apparently with both the virus and the vaccine). I haven't been able to find the full text of the email, but various reports quote the following excerpts. I write this email knowing that many of you will think I'm crazy after reading it. I believe there is a sadistic effort underway to euthanize the American people. It's obvious now. It's undeniable, ye ..read more

This is a slightly updated version of something I posted four years ago. The focus of Come, Follow Me this year is the Old Testament. The second lesson covers the Creation in a very cursory way, but asks what is similar and what is different between the various scriptural accounts. Good question! There are lots of subtleties that escape even a careful reading. We miss them, in part, because we have been conditioned by familiarity to not see things staring us right in the face. We also lack contextual understanding about their composition. I thought I would lay out the differences I have colle ..read more

In July of 1868, the Saints in Utah were struggling with grasshoppers destroying their crops. Twenty years prior had been the miracle of the seagulls, but it wasn't a permanent solution. Brigham Young spoke and noted that the Saints had been counseled for years to store up grain and hay, but had instead sold it to ouside markets for cheap. Below are some extracts from his lengthy speech [1]. I believe the Latter-day Saints are the best people on the earth of whom we have any knowledge. Still, I believe that we are, in many things, very negligent, slothful and slow to obey the words of the Lord ..read more

You've no doubt seen discussion in the news and social media about the emerging coronavirus variant called Omicron. It was first detected in South Africa, but is now in many countries including the U.S. Because it is fairly new, it's hard to say much definitive about it. I recommend keeping an eye on knowledgable commentators (a few links below). Initial data from South Africa suggest that it is spreading very fast, and that prior infection with COVID does not give protection (at least robust protection) against Omicron. How well the vaccines protect remains to be seen, but we will likely see ..read more

I have to admit that I got a bit of a chuckle from an NBC News article about people giving in and getting vaccinated, and then "undoing" it. In a TikTok video that has garnered hundreds of thousands of views, Dr. Carrie Madej outlined the ingredients for a bath she said will “detox the vaxx” for people who have given into Covid-19 vaccine mandates. The ingredients in the bath are mostly not harmful, although the supposed benefits attached to them are entirely fictional. Baking soda and epsom salts, she falsely claims, will provide a “radiation detox” to remove radiation Madej falsely believes ..read more

Following my last post on anti-vaccine lies told by a chiropractor, I came across two news articles (one new, the other from last May) that highlight that chiropractors seem to be a concentrated source of vaccine mis-information, something that existed before COVID but that has become more prominent in the wake of COVID. AP News: Anti-vaccine chiropractors rising force of misinformation The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Some Ga. chiropractors are stoking fears of COVID vaccines Both articles state that anti-vaccine sentiment comes from a minority of chiropractors, but they seem to have outsi ..read more

Apparently there is a movement on Facebook by anti-vaccine groups to discourage sick people from going to the hospital. Via NBC News: Anti-vaccine Facebook groups have a new message for their community members: Don’t go to the emergency room, and get your loved ones out of intensive care units. Consumed by conspiracy theories claiming that doctors are preventing unvaccinated patients from receiving miracle cures or are even killing them on purpose, some people in anti-vaccine and pro-ivermectin Facebook groups are telling those with Covid-19 to stay away from hospitals and instead try increas ..read more