There is a 1 in 15 trillion chance that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. That number comes from a rigorous statistical analysis of the text. Watch the breakdown. You can reject the conclusion. But you have to reckon with the math.

VOLKER: Trump looks at Russia's war against Ukraine as a matter of who's bigger, who has power. Russia's bigger country, so Russia's going to win. Ukraine should give something up and make peace. Trump can't understand why they're not doing this. And he is making a huge mistake. Russia is not as powerful as Trump thinks. They are completely corrupt and disorganized, poorly led, poorly equipped, poorly trained, and they're not making progress on the battlefield. Moreover, this is a war of choice for Putin that even his own military and population are ambivalent about. Whereas for Ukraine, this is existential. They have got to defend their lives, country, territory, families, and so on. And they've been remarkably determined and ingenious in how they have done that. Trump is getting it wrong when he looks at the conflict as one that Ukraine is destined to lose. Conversely, I think Ukraine is destined to win.

Ben Shapiro today on his podcast: “There is no category of humans that are entirely good and honest… …maybe the Mormons come close.”

Why is there suddenly such an aggressive push against American data centers and AI infrastructure? After seeing a major spike in coordinated opposition campaigns around our Utah projects, we conducted a digital audit and traced a large amount of the activity back to an organization called Alliance for a Better Utah, which has been pushing misinformation throughout Box Elder County about our data center developments. What’s even more concerning is where the funding appears to originate. After reviewing IRS Form 990 filings and tracing the network behind it, the money appears tied to Chinese linked funding channels connected through an organization called Arabella. Think about the incentive, if China is racing to dominate AI and compute capacity, why wouldn’t they want to slow American infrastructure down?

.@GeorgeWill: Don Bacon is going home to Omaha. His departure illustrates a conundrum inside a paradox: Those you wish would leave Congress linger. And those you wish would stay depart because of traits that make them worthy legislators: seriousness and spines. washingtonpost.com/opinions/…

I was raised a Methodist and at times was very active in the Methodist church. I taught Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and at one time was the Superintendent of Sunday School at one of the Methodist Churches in Vallejo, California. The Methodist church is not a World Church in the sense that the LDS Church is. When you move from town to town, you have to go church hunting to find a branch of the Methodist church that you feel comfortable with. Then you join that branch. In some cases you have to take lessons from the Minister before you can become a full member of that particular Methodist Church. I also found that the doctrines taught in any particular Methodist Church depend a large part on the views of the local Minister. When I got out of the Navy in 1977, we moved to Santa Clara, Ca. After we had been there a couple months, we started to feel that we should get involved with a church so the kids could be raised in a better way. The church hunting began. At first we went to a couple of Methodist churches, but were either turned off by their immediate pleas for money, or their ability to totally ignore our existence. So we started to look at other denominations. I don't remember all of the different ones we looked at, but there were several. My job took me to Salt Lake City about one week out of very four. The first couple times there I was able to ignore the LDS existence. Finally on one trip I was walking past the visitors center, on my way to dinner, and noticed a sign that read 'visitors welcome'. I'm not sure why, but I went in to see what it was all about. I remember purposely avoiding the tour groups because I didn't want to hear all of their propaganda. I just wandered around for a while looking at all of the plaques and pictures. I was finding it all quite interesting, and amazed that I had not heard more about this church. Eventually I went down to the lower level where they had the thirteen Articles of Faith displayed on thirteen separate plaques. As I stood there reading these plaques, a feeling of amazement came over me. I couldn't believe that someone had finally written down, in such plain English, the beliefs that I had. I said to myself "I really believe this stuff". While I was reading the last plaque, a man walked up to me and introduced himself as Ray Johnson. He was a tour guide and wanted to know if I had any questions. I introduced myself and told him that I was a non-religious Christian. I believed in Christ, but I could not believe in any of the churches I had looked at so far. These words must have sounded golden to Ray. Ray took me aside and one-on-one showed me the displays and exhibits in the visitors center. It was as if he knew I did not want to get involved in any of the canned tours that were taking place. I remember a great feeling of rightness as we sat through the one on Family Home Evenings. I left that night with a copy of the Book of Mormon and several Missionary tracts. I also had filled out a postcard asking the missionaries in the Santa Clara area to come and teach me more about the church. I never did get any dinner. I remember being so excited when I got back to the motel room that I couldn't sleep. I started reading the Book of Mormon that very night. It was as if I had always known that this was right but had forgotten about it. I have reflected on this experience in later life, and am amazed at the timing of Ray's approach. It was almost as if it were on cue. It supports my theory that there are Angels surrounding us and prompting us to do things at exactly the right moment. All we have to do is be listening to them. When I arrived home my wife had a little less enthusiasm for having missionaries in the house. She had the impression that becoming a Mormon would mean she would have to start wearing long black dresses and I would need to grow a beard. I told her that Mormons were normal people and to just read the missionary tracts and underline anything that she felt was not right. I was actually surprised when I found that she had read the tracts and had actually underlined some things to ask the missionaries. A few weeks later the missionaries came to our door. The timing was perfect. Cindy was gone shopping and the missionaries and I were able to talk openly. Then when they were about ready to leave and wanted to set up an appointment for a time to come back, Cindy came home. We visited for a few moments and then set up an appoint for the next week to have them teach us the first discussion. Cindy was still not real sure she wanted to do this. What an experience that first discussion was. Tears were in our eyes as the two young Elders (Elder Bill Jenkins and Elder Scot Cima) sat across from us and taught us the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt I knew a lot about Christianity but these guys made me feel like I was a little child. I was even more amazed when I learned later that Elder Cima had only got off the plane from the Mission Training Center that very afternoon. We were his very first field contacts. Now I understand why he was so nervous. I remember sitting on the couch one night and was pondering over how good it felt when the Elders were in our house. While I was sitting there, my wife asked me "Have you ever noticed how different it feels when the missionaries are here?" I told her that I had. About an hour later I told her that I thought the missionaries were here. I could feel that feeling that we were talking about. I got up and went to the door. The Elders were just walking up the front sidewalk. It was an awesome experience. After two months of lessons and study we decided that it was time to get baptized. I remember the night well that we made the commitment. It was April 12, 1978. The Elders had just taught us the Word of Wisdom and challenged us to Baptism. When we agreed, the Elders decided that our house needed to be purged of all items contrary to the Word of Wisdom. It was really fun. We went through all the cupboards and the refrigerator. We stacked everything on the counter by the garbage disposal and then started pouring it all out. Down went coffee, cokes, beer, tea etc. Then one of the Elders looked at me and asked for my cigarettes. I handed them over and the Elder asked if I would like a blessing to help me quit smoking. I said yes. I haven't had a cigarette since that time. I had been struggling with smoking for some time and this time it was so easy. The blessing was a miracle. The Elders called me at work three or four times the next day to check up on my progress. I thought it was really thoughtful of them to do this. They showed true love and concern for me. Now that we had made the commitment some interesting things happened. I was at work one day and got a phone call from my wife. She was crying and said that maybe we were making a mistake. I went home to find we had gotten some magazine articles about Mormons in the mail from some friends. I called the missionaries and told them to come over and to bring the Mormon Doctrine. The amazing part is that we seldom ever heard from these friends, but they had somehow found out that we were investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.. We went through the articles one at a time and found the truth on all points. It didn't take long to see the author of the article was either lying or very uninformed. The Elders were really great about it all. They took as much time as we needed and answered every one of our questions. We were baptized on April 22, 1978. At our baptism the Elders gave me my pack of cigarettes back. They had mounted it on a plaque and wrote a short verse about the strength it takes to give up the pleasures of today for greater blessing in the future.

As a kid I herded cattle with my grandpa in the same valley where this data center is planned. Clearly the vast majority of protesters at that hearing aren’t from that area.

Having been in similar situations where as a Council member I had to cast controversial votes in front of angry residents, I have a lot of respect for these County Commissioners for doing what they felt was right despite tremendous opposition.

I was very excited when the Outdoor Adventure Commission I chaired at the time, granted the funding for this trail extension . Now I’m ecstatic to see the project underway! I can’t wait to ride this trail in the future!

NEW RELEASE: What Do Mormons Believe? Did Jesus visit the Americas after the Resurrection? In this episode of Theological, host @ShabbosK sits down with Santa Clarita stake president Michael Stanley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to discuss the Book of Mormon’s most surprising claims—and answers the biggest misconceptions about Mormonism.

On this ResurrectionSunday, I’m filled with gratitude for our Savior and Redeemer. We are lost but because of Him we are saved.

No interest in reading the Book of Mormon, but curious if it actually does talk about Jesus? 10 verses you can read in less than a minute: #bookofmormon Art: Leon Devenice

Hell yes it matters.

🚨 JUST IN: Liberal women are holding up PORTRAITS of fallen Ayatollah Ali Khamenei walking past Trump Tower in NYC Are you serious? Is THIS the liberals' 2026 campaign platform? Khamenei? Someone is paying for all of these signs. It's NOT organic.

He had a worse record at SCOTUS during his first term than any modern president. This term, he's not just lost on tariffs, he's lost on deploying the National Guard and on trying to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport people to a torture prison without due process. The judiciary is a functioning, independent branch of government.

Today is the four year anniversary of the barbaric full scale invasion against the peaceful people of Ukraine. Peaceful, until roused to defend themselves…. Slava Ukrainii

The Supreme Court just rejected Trump's stupid tariffs! Good. Tariffs kill jobs, reduce our choices, and raise prices. I interviewed one of the business owners who sued:

There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks. Not one. But we still generate electricity. Thanks to our people. We have kept our system running thanks to physical protection of the facilities – and thanks to everyone who helps us with air defense. Just as important, Ukraine still has power because of our people – thousands of workers who serve millions. When I see our energy workers, our repair crews, rescue teams – I see something that is often missing in politics: true dedication – the ability to work at one hundred percent, to act immediately – in a real emergency. Not in a month, not in a year or two, but they save lives here, they save lives now. All these years. Many politicians could learn – and must learn – from ordinary rescuers, from ordinary repair crews, from ordinary electricians – how to act immediately.

I grew up Republican. Still am in many ways. But MAGA pushed the party so far right that I get called a liberal now. Let me explain the difference: Traditional Republicans believe in: • Fiscal responsibility (balanced budgets, not exploding deficits for tax cuts) • Limited government (actual small government, not big government that punishes your enemies) • Strong institutions (courts, elections, constitutional norms matter) • Personal responsibility (your actions have consequences) • Free markets (not tariffs and trade wars) • Strong alliances (NATO, international partnerships) • Rule of law (no one is above it, including the president) MAGA Republicans believe in: • Whatever Trump says today (even if it contradicts yesterday) • Loyalty tests (agree 100% or you're a traitor/RINO) • Conspiracy theories over facts (stolen election, deep state, QAnon adjacent stuff) • Grievance politics (owning the libs > actual policy) • Personality cult (Trump loyalty above party, above country, above truth) • Performative outrage (culture war theater instead of governance) • Ends justify means (storm the Capitol, ignore election results, whatever it takes) I didn't move left. The party moved off a cliff. I still believe in conservative principles. But when you say "maybe we should respect election results" or "fiscal responsibility matters" or "rule of law applies to everyone," you get called a liberal. That's not conservatism. That's a cult.

Mike Lee got elected as a libertarian leaning conservative on the premise that he would put principle and law above power and the inside game. He now claps like a trained seal to flatter the powerful. Utah can do better