Author: D. J. Moore

The Book of Joseph

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

In 1835, Egyptian papyri came into Joseph Smith’s possession. He translated one of them into the Book of Abraham. He identified another as the Book of Joseph, but died before he could translate it.

A text called The Book of Joseph appeared on the internet at some point. I haven’t been able to track down when it first appeared or who might have written it. My internet searching indicates it first appeared around the year 2000, although I have a dim recollection of it appearing earlier than this on Usenet. There’s endnotes provided by an Elder Todd J. Jumper, but I can’t find anything about him either.

Continue reading →

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • The global homicide rate has fallen by around a quarter in this century. WDI.
  • Thirty-five years ago, polio paralysed around 350,000 children per year. Following a UN-led international push, that number is now less than 50. UN News.
  • Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. WHO.
  • How Brazil reversed its teenage pregnancy epidemic. The Telegraph.
  • Analysis of 150 U.S. Cities shows one of the greatest drops in gun violence ever. The Trace.
  • The rate of peanut allergies in children ages 0 to 3 in the US fell by more than 40% after 2017 due to new recommendations. AP.
  • Renewables overtake coal for first time on monthly basis in Australia’s main grid. Renew Economy.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Europe and Central Asia saw an almost 50 per cent decline in the child poverty rate between 2014-2024. unicef.
  • Fiji becomes the 26th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. WHO.
  • The US is on track for the fewest shooting deaths of any year since 2015. The Trace.
  • North Carolina wipes out $6.5B in medical debt for 2.5M people. AP.
  • Incarcerated firefighters in California, previously paid only 5 to 10 dollars a day, will now get minimum wage. KTLA5.
  • More than 100 countries have cut their dependence on fossil-fuel imports and saved hundreds of billions of dollars by continuing to invest in renewables. CarbonBrief.
  • Green turtle bounces back from brink of extinction. BBC.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • The 21 Pacific island countries and areas have collectively been verified as having eliminated measles and rubella. WHO.
  • Three years ago, 33 million Brazilians went to bed hungry. Today, Brazil is off the United Nations Hunger Map. iPES.
  • A decade after the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions are barely rising, up just 0.3% a year since 2015, compared with 1.7% the decade before. ECIU.
  • India added 20.1 GW of renewable energy capacity between April–August 2025, more than double the same period last year. PV Magazine.
  • New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule. Canary Media.
  • Southern right whales awe admirers in Patagonia after coming back from brink of extinction. Phys.org.
  • Scientists in China have developed a tough new bamboo-based plastic that biodegrades in 50 days. New Scientist.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • In 2024, Gavi-supported vaccines saved a record-breaking 1.7 million lives – 400,000 more than in 2023. Gavi.
  • Traffic deaths in New York City reached near-record lows through the first three quarters of 2025, with traffic fatalities down 18 percent compared to the first nine months of last year due to street redesigns. NYC DOT.
  • Since 2010, the number of people using tobacco has dropped by 120 million. WHO.
  • Burkina Faso bans child marriage. Girls Not Brides.
  • Time on social media peaked in 2022, with young people cutting back first. Financial Times.
  • Renewables overtake coal as world’s biggest source of electricity. BBC.
  • Sales of fully electric or hybrid vehicles made up more than half of all new car registrations in the UK last month. BBC.
  • Self-driving cars are 80% less likely to get into a serious crash than human drivers. The Argument.
  • Student invents self-sanitizing door handle for hospitals. Good Good Good.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Since its inception in 2002, health programs supported by the Global Fund partnership have saved 70 million lives. The Global Fund.
  • Since 2016, Uzbekistan’s consistent reforms have lifted 7.5 million people out of poverty. Islamic Development Bank.
  • Huntington’s disease successfully treated for first time. BBC.
  • How America cut deadly city fires in half. Vox.
  • Immigration detention ends in provincial jails across Canada. Amnesty.
  • Bolivia bans child marriage following campaign by children and civil society organizations. Save the Children.
  • The number of child marriages in the US has decreased every year between 2001 and 2020, although it rose slightly in 2021. Unchained at Last.
  • Charitable giving in 2024 was up, according to new Giving USA report. AP.
  • Uruguay decarbonized its grid in just five years, with 98 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources. The Washington Post.
  • Per capita energy-related CO2 emissions decreased in every US state between 2005 & 2023. Clean Technica.
  • Renewables have turned Spain into one of Europe’s cheapest electricity markets. The Progress Playbook.
  • Critically endangered shark, called the ‘labrador of the sea,’ rebounds in Australia. Good Good Good.
  • Scientists create clear coating to invisibly turn windows into solar panels. Science Alert.
  • AI brain scans can triple stroke recovery rates, NHS analysis finds. BMJ.
  • Commercial-scale carbon-capture systems for cement plants are now being deployed, raising hopes that one of the trickiest industrial sectors to decarbonise could finally be on the path towards net-zero emissions. New Scientist.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

The Simpsons Season 7

~ D. J. Moore ~ 1 Comment

The season opener, “Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two” (S7, E1) gets us off to a great start. We’re told Mr. Burns was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. However, he’s then taken to a better hospital where his condition is upgraded to living. Chief Wiggum investigates several suspects. Guest star Tito Puente vowed revenge on Mr. Burns, but he didn’t intend to shoot him, just write a slanderous mambo titled “Señor Burns”. A great musical number. Principle Skinner has an alibi in the form of Superintendent Chalmers, however, he accidentally put on his mother’s make-up when Chalmers saw him, so he tells the chief that Chalmers is his alibi, but anything else he says is a lie. Wiggum hooks the bartender Moe up to a lie detector. Moe says he doesn’t deserve this shabby treatment, but the machine goes off, so he’s apparently lying about that. Great stuff.

Continue reading →