Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 224

Why you shouldn’t get disillusioned over Atticus Finch

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most beloved novels in American literature, so its legions of fans were overjoyed to hear that its author, Harper Lee, was going to publish Go Set a Watchman, another novel featuring the same main characters.  But now that the new book has been released, many readers are [Read More...]

ACLU gets Catholic hospital to sterlize a woman

The ACLU threatened to sue a Catholic hospital for refusing to perform a sterilization procedure requested by a woman.  So it gave in, violating Catholic teachings. I suspect the hospital could have won that legal battle.  But now not only lawsuits but the threat of lawsuits–with their huge financial toll even in a winning case–have [Read More...]

Sanctified by marriage and children

Rev. Bruce Timm reflects on how his wife and children have made him a better person.  That is, how they have contributed to his sanctification by acting as “law” in his life.  His thoughts are about the vocations of marriage and parenthood, but they have wider implications for how the Law functions within vocation and [Read More...]

What about Joe Biden?

There are strong indications that Vice-President Joe Biden, in light of Hillary Clinton’s stumbles and legal problems, is seriously considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Democrats, would you rather have Biden than Clinton?  What about if Elizabeth Warren is his running-mate, as is widely speculated. Republicans, would you rather have Biden than Clinton?  [Read More...]

New edition of our book on classical education

The book that I did with Andrew Kern some time ago is back in a new, expanded, updated edition.  Its title and subject: Classical Education. The editorial description on Amazon: Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America examines the decline of American education and offers a solution. It is not more spending or a new and [Read More...]

Sex doesn’t sell after all

“Sex sells,” according to the conventional wisdom on Madison Avenue, a principle that has led advertisers to use sexual imagery to sell everything from automobiles to cleaning supplies.  But a new study shows that sex–or violence–doesn’t sell at all, that advertising with sexual or violent imagery tends to be ineffective.  That’s because the imagery distracts [Read More...]

Sex selection at fertility clinics

Fertility clinics in the U.S. are offering a service beyond just helping infertile couples conceive a child.  They are also providing sex selection, doing in vitro fertilization and implanting only embryos of the preferred sex (nearly always male), throwing the other embryos (usually little girls) away. From Kiley Crossland, Sex-Selection Services in Demand at U.S. [Read More...]

Why Democrats hate you and Republicans are lousy politicians

Conservative satirist P. J. O’Rourke has written a devastating take-down of Democrats, though Republicans do not emerge unscathed.  You have got to read it.  Sample: Democrats are in favor of abortion and against the death penalty. How could anyone possibly arrive at that pair of moral judgments? Republicans can, sometimes, understand the majesty of death—abortion [Read More...]

Retirees following the grandchildren?

As I said, we are retiring and have moved to be close to grandchildren.  The thing is, virtually everyone I know in my generation who has retired or who is planning to retire is doing the same thing. My parents didn’t move to be closer to us when they retired.  They remained the family anchors, [Read More...]

China causes stock market collapse

China’s attempt to combine capitalist growth with Communist controls–”Market Leninism” [get it? for Marxist-Leninism?]– has led that country to an economic crisis, which is pulling down the world’s stock markets and threatens the world’s economies.  The Dow-Jones industrial average fell over a thousand points over the last two days. From China’s market Leninism turns dangerous [Read More...]