Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 266
February 24, 2015
What else Turing did
The movie The Imitation Game focused on how mathematician Alan Turing broke the German “Enigma” code, a major contribution to the Allied victory in World War II. Those interested in artificial intelligence talk about the “Turing test,” the goal of making it impossible to tell whether a machine or a human being is responding to [Read More...]
February 23, 2015
Justifying ourselves
I am reading a book that is blowing me away: Living by Faith by Oswald Bayer, the contemporary German theologian who is sort of the Lutheran answer to radical orthodoxy. Instead of reading it all, then writing a formal review, I am so excited by this book that I thought I would write posts about [Read More...]
In Europe, only outlaws have guns
In Europe, owning a firearm is pretty much illegal. But a huge black market has arisen in military-grade weapons, making them easily available to criminals, gang members, and terrorists. Proving the adage that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will own guns. From Getting a gun legally in Europe may be hard, but terrorists have [Read More...]
Twins!
I have two more grandchildren (for a total of 11), as my daughter Mary in Oklahoma had her twins! The complication is that they came 8 weeks early. They are in a neo-natal intensive care unit in Oklahoma City. They are doing fine, considering, and they are big for their extremely young age, weighing 4 [Read More...]
February 20, 2015
Church attendance statistics, state by state
Gallup has done a study of church attendance in each state. See the results after the jump. Is there anything we can do with this? HT: Paul McCain
Magic, science, & religion
Charles Lane discusses the big dietary reversal on cholesterol, in the course of which he recounts a hilarious scene in Woody Allen’s movie Sleeper and cites anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski on the way people tend to confuse science with religion (they put their faith in it) and magic (it can do anything), making it really disorienting [Read More...]
New Dr. Seuss manuscripts discovered
Not only are we getting a new book based on the discovery of a long lost manuscript by Harper Lee. We are also getting a new book based on the discovery of a long lost manuscript by Dr. Seuss! It’s called What Pet Should I Get, will be released on July 28, and features the [Read More...]
ISIS is selling its victims’ organs
One reason ISIS is killing so many people: the terrorists are reportedly harvesting their victim’s organs and selling them on the black market. For the accusations and the grisly details, see this: UN urged to investigate ISIS’ trade in human organs | Daily Mail Online. HT: Jackie
February 19, 2015
The faith of an ISIS captive
Kayla Mueller was a 26-year-old American who worked to help Syrian refugees. She was captured by ISIS, held hostage for 18 months, and then killed. (ISIS claimed she was the victim of an allied airstrike, but military officials deny that this was possible.) At any rate, Kayla was a Christian. Now letters have been [Read More...]
Judge halts Obama’s amnesty order
A federal judge stopped President Obama’s executive order that certain of the nation’s immigration laws not be enforced. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit by 26 states. The stay is temporary, pending the outcome of the case. The White House said that it would appeal. From Federal judge stalls Obama’s executive action on [Read More...]
