Wealthy getting wealthier?

Everyone should read this.

If you didn't think #1 was the right answer from the start, I'd love to hear what your first thought was.

Modern Android

A very good review of the Nexus S Android phone.

Love the last paragraph.

Sure, it comes with a whole host of freedoms that I can exercise, like installing a third-party keyboard component to replace the system keyboard, but I didn’t exercise those freedoms because I don’t care, I’m just not that guy. I never themed my Windows installations, never jailbroke my iPhone, never turbocharged my car. I want a phoneputer that just works and lets me pursue my own goals; goals that don’t include being a sysadmin.

Our grandparents lived through this

Always good to remind ourselves why dictatorships shouldn't have nuclear weapons.

Faith will always remain a matter of choice

Terryl L. Givens on the FAIR podcast:

If we were to ever reach a point in our lives where we felt the evidence -- for, or against, Christ's divinity or the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smith's prophetic calling -- were overwhelming, then there would be a kind of intellectual compulsion involved, and our faith would not be a matter of choice.

I've been trying to put that thought to words for almost 2 years. My experience so far has been that whenever I feel like the evidence weighs more heavily on one side than another, it's only because I haven't looked hard enough for the counterpoints on the other side.

But why faith? Because this life is principally a test of spirit. Sure knowledge eliminates the wrong answers from the test, and it ceases to be a valid test for the spirit, and instead becomes a simple test of will, which is interesting, but insufficient.

Russian soldiers in WWII who ran from the front line were shot by their own men -- how do you award medals of honor when valor is forced on you?

Japanese Earthquake

I had heard it was bad, but I hadn't seen this...

Mountains out of molehills?

Good thing we're all worrying so much.

By their fruits ye shall know them

A new sociological study just came out with much to say about the LDS church.

I can't imagine a better set of metrics for a church to score highly in.