Author: Frank McIntyre

  • Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten

    Frank McIntyre

    Clearly, were there to be a famine, a one year food supply in the basement would look really good. What may be slightly less obvious is that the presence of food storage, even if nobody ever uses any of it for an emergency, can stop a famine from ever actually happening.

  • Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press

    Frank McIntyre

    I see that Slate now puts the odds of Harriet Miers confirmation at 70%. Silly Slate, don’t they know that niche is taken? As I’ve mentioned before, the best bet, literally, is to follow the gamblers. And as of press time, they are betting that Miers has a 3 in 10 chance of making it…

  • Anne comes home

    Frank McIntyre

    I read and enjoyed Orson Scott Card’s book Sarah. In fact, that book sparked an interest in me to find out more about what exactly we knew of ancient times, both New and Old World.

  • Did Nephites ride horses?

    Frank McIntyre

    In our recent tirades about the obvious evils of deer, it was noted , once again, that some scholars think that the horses mentioned in the Book of Mormon may not have been horses, but another hoofed animal. The common one that lives in the right place is similar to a deer. Unfortunately, such comments…

  • Military Fatalities in Iraq

    Frank McIntyre

    Take a look at this state ranking. It ranks states by Iraqi-war casualties per 100,000 residents. The chart was made as part of a rather silly debate about red states and blue states that doesn’t interest me. What interests me is Utah.

  • Kim Clark and the Book of Mormon

    Frank McIntyre

    A couple quick thoughts on recent prophetic moves.

  • I Shall Be Free

    Frank McIntyre

    I got my bill today and it turns out that there really is something cheaper than a Germanist these days.

  • The happiest place on Earth

    Frank McIntyre

    is Ireland.* Really.

  • Think, Brethren, Think!

    Frank McIntyre

    Brigham Young has many wonderful tidbits scattered throughout his years as prophet. A friend pointed out the following snippet:

  • Mormons and Markets, II.A: Information and the Failure of the United Order, an Addendum

    Frank McIntyre

    Consider this an addendum to Nate’s post on the catastrophically large amounts of information needed to plan an economy.

  • Temples: Service, Education, Ward, or Remembrance?

    Frank McIntyre

    Recently I’ve made some effort to go to the temple more often. The goal is to go multiple times a month, either to an endowment or initiatories. Since I live about 7 minutes away, this is actually a do-able goal.

  • Statistics on Missionaries and Baptisms

    Frank McIntyre

    Blake’s post prompts me to share some information I culled while listening to conference last month. First up are the raw numbers of missionaries and converts.

  • Fat Makes a Comeback

    Frank McIntyre

    The CDC is airing its dirty laundry this week, as a new report comes out claiming that last year’s CDC report on obesity is basically hogwash. In the old numbers, obesity was this bomb descending on America that was going to wipe us out. It claimed that obesity caused 400,000 deaths/year, making it the number…

  • 6.6 Billion

    Frank McIntyre

    According to the IRS, the federal tax code uses up 6.6 billion hours of time for people and businesses to fill out their tax forms. Now, to tell the truth, I sort of like doing my taxes. The numbers are easy to deal with, I often get money back, and it convinces my wife that…

  • Reminders to Frank about Teaching

    Frank McIntyre

    We have a lot of teachers around here. I am guessing that at least half of our perma-bloggers are somehow involved in teaching and probably huge chunks of our readership are or will be.

  • Patience with Joseph

    Frank McIntyre

    At the time the Church was organized, Joseph was called as its prophet and the Saints were told : “Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive,…

  • Samuel goes to Charter(?) School

    Frank McIntyre

    Next fall my firstborn will start kindergarten. As such he has the choice between the local elementary (4 blocks from home) and the charter school (Freedom Academy). He has other choices but he isn’t going to exercise them, so we’ll ignore those.

  • How much is it worth?

    Frank McIntyre

    Suppose you think the world would be a better place if there were no Walmarts in your town. Then the next question is, suppose you could live in the world where Walmart was not allowed, but you had less money.

  • “Told you I did…

    Frank McIntyre

    Reckless are [they]. Now… matters are worse.” “That [blog] was our last hope.” “No…. There is another.”

  • Benefiting from the Keys

    Frank McIntyre

    Way back in the dawn of time, we had a rather lengthy discussion about the appropriate role of criticising Church leaders. Apparently this topic is still interesting enough to prompt comments, so I thought I’d put my two cents in. Actually, I thought I’d try to put in Elder Eyring’s two cents.

  • Utah and the Working Mother

    Frank McIntyre

    On a recent post, Kristine was wondering about the number of Mormon women who work*.

  • “Preach My Gospel”– The New Missionary Guide

    Frank McIntyre

    The new missionary manual is out and available for browsing.

  • I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.

    Frank McIntyre

    It has been over a month since we’ve had a post mentioning Bob Dylan. I’ll happily fix that problem.

  • New Report on Abortion Deaths

    Frank McIntyre

    A new report finds that 70,000 women per year die in unsafe abortions. It looks to me like that is a data point that should be easy for both sides to spin. For pro-life advocates, it is further proof of the harm caused by abortion. And for pro-choice advocates, it is further proof that women…

  • And Thanks For All The Fish

    Frank McIntyre

    I enjoyed blogging here. Thanks for reading and the excellent comments. Also, many thanks to those who ignored the drool coming out of the corner of my mouth as I wandered slowly about the blog muttering incoherently. Today ends my stint and I leave shortly to go frolic up at the infamous Bear Lake. I…

  • A Few Facts on Religion in America

    Frank McIntyre

    I have been reading papers that I may use in a Fall class, and one is a survey of the economics of religion. As best I can tell, this field largely consists of sociologists applying rational choice modeling to questions of religion. As subject matter it is very interesting but the modeling is not terribly…

  • The Iowa Electronic Markets

    Frank McIntyre

    As we move through election season, the polls start coming fast and furious; the pundits punditorate, the politicians spin, the news media pretend not to spin, bloggers blog, and everybody offers the inside scoop as to the outcome of the election. How is one to aggregate all this information into the best possible guess as…

  • Illegal Work and the Minimum Wage

    Frank McIntyre

    Last Saturday my advisor informed me that he never wanted to read my dissertation again, which was his way of saying he was ready to sign off. So I thought I would amuse everyone (well, me anyway) with a very brief recap of my findings. Let me assure you that there is no Mormon angle…

  • This Post Is Mostly True, +/- 3%

    Frank McIntyre

    There is a maxim that the man with two watches never knows what time it is. The funny thing about this is that the man with one watch certainly doesn’t know any better than the man with two, he just thinks he knows what he does not. The man with two watches can maintain no…

  • Who We Are and What We Are Judged For

    Frank McIntyre

    In a recent post, there was a bit of a debate about what we are or aren’t allowed to be judged for. For example, suppose I honestly don’t believe the Church to be true. I even pray about it. To what extent can I be punished for my lack of faith? In one sense, this…