Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 283

Senate thwarts both left & right to fund government

The Senate passed the $1.1 trillion spending bill, ensuring that the government will not shut down.  Both tea party conservatives AND populist liberals led by Elizabeth Warren opposed the measure.  So did every potential presidential candidate in the Senate of both parties . (Question:  The Republicans have the tea party, who attack the GOP establishment [Read More...]

Cranach Hour of Music airs Sunday

Lori Lewis sent me this update about when the Cranach Hour of Music will be featured at the online radio station Wittenberg Nightingale: The Cranach Hour of Music is a Meditation on Mary’s Magnificat. Many and various Composers have used her words over the centuries to Glorify the Lord in song. Join us for this [Read More...]

The God of multiple infinities

There are an infinite number of numbers.  But there are also an infinite number of numbers between any two numbers!  In fact, there are more numbers between numbers than there are countable numbers, even though both are infinite!  (Mind blown yet?)  George Cantor, the father of Set Theory and a devout Christian, proved that.  Joel [Read More...]

Overcriminalization

It has been estimated that 70% of Americans have inadvertently done something that would send them to prison.  Another estimate is that the average professional commits three felonies a day. The problem is that government, so eager to regulate the populace for its own good, has passed too many laws and issues too many regulations [Read More...]

Where does water come from?

That’s not just a little kid question but a genuine scientific mystery.  In the early days of earth’s existence, according to scientists, the planet was just too hot for there to be water.  After things cooled down, there still would have been no water.  Comets have been discovered that have water vapor, so the leading [Read More...]

Who are the churchless?

The Barna Group has finished a major study of people who do not go to church.  (They used to be called the “unchurched”; this study calls them “churchless.”)  And it has some surprises.  For example, the churchless tend to be less educated than those who go to church, are mostly white, men, unmarried, and young.  [Read More...]

Person of the Year

Time’s Persons of the Year are the Ebola fighters.  I think that’s a pretty good choice.  A good many of them are missionaries, who, in the accompanying story, explain their faith and why they risk their lives to help those who are suffering. Our custom at this blog is for commenters to propose other people [Read More...]

Torture Report

The Senate released a report detailing the way the CIA used brutal interrogation techniques during the War on Terrorism.  The report said that not only was the torture–which included waterboarding and “rectal rehydration”–immoral, but  that it was ineffective in uncovering terrorist threats.  The CIA strongly disputes that last part. From Massimo Calabresi, Senate Torture Report [Read More...]

Round churches vs. linear churches

Much contemporary church architecture features sanctuaries “in the round,” so that the worshippers can see each other.  Traditional churches are linear, with a sequence of spaces facing the altar.  (Actually, the super-traditional churches are also cruciform, with the congregation coming together in the Cross.)  After the jump, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, a Roman Catholic priest, critiques [Read More...]

Humanized mice

Researchers have injected brain cells from human fetuses into baby mice, giving them brains that are half human.  Those “humanized mice” are much more intelligent than regular mice.  Read the report, which is breezily free of moral judgment, and contemplate just how many things are wrong with this. via Andy Coughlan, Mice injected with human [Read More...]