Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 285
December 5, 2014
Cops kill a man for violating the cigarette tax
We’ve talked a great deal about the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, at the hands of a police officer, whom a grand jury refused to indict after discovering facts not included in the earlier media reports. Now in New York City, a grand jury has refused to indict a police officer for killing [Read More...]
China passes USA as largest economy
The United States no longer has the world’s largest economy. China just passed us. Ever since Ulysses S. Grant was president, the American economy has been number one. Now we are number two. From Brett Arends, It’s official: America is now No. 2 – MarketWatch. Hang on to your hats, America. And throw away that [Read More...]
North Korea hacks Hollywood
Sony Pictures will soon release a comedy about two reporters who are enlisted to assassinate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. The movie, entitled The Interview, combines fiction with non-fiction, bringing the venerated “dear leader” of the notoriously touchy Communist country into a silly comedy plot. But North Korea is outraged and breathing threats. So [Read More...]
December 4, 2014
My new book on the imagination
I have published a new book, one that I collaborated on with Matt Ristuccia, an evangelical pastor in Princeton. It’s called Imagination Redeemed: Glorifying God with a Neglected Part of Your Mind. The imagination often gets mystified these days with its association with the arts and creativity. We get into those areas in the book, [Read More...]
In Defense of Looting
Willie Osterweil (a white punk rocker) has written a defense of the looting in Ferguson, Missouri. Read it, excerpted and linked to after the jump. You might also take a look at Time‘s article “In Defense of Rioting.” How would you answer these arguments? From Willie Osterweil, In Defense of Looting – The New Inquiry: [Read More...]
The corruption index
An agency has compiled a list that ranks the world’s nations according to how corrupt they are. Read this for the story and see the list of the top and bottom 20 after the jump. (Guess where the USA is.) The 20 ‘least corrupt’ countries in the world 1 Denmark 92 2 New Zealand [Read More...]
December 3, 2014
Bringing God back to Veggie Tales
Broadcast television is facing stiff competition from services such as Netflix, which is now streaming original programming. The traditional networks are complaining that Netflix, like HBO, can present taboo content and language that they can’t. Now Netflix is presenting uncut, uncensored material that NBC found too shocking: Letting Veggie Tales talk about God. Netflix is [Read More...]
Abortion as a moral good?
Most arguments for abortion have treated it as a tragic but sometimes necessary choice, something regrettable. The goal should be to make abortion “safe, legal,” but also “rare.” But tolerating a morally questionable practice is no longer enough; now that practice must also be affirmed as good. A new book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by [Read More...]
Royal blood without royal DNA
We’ve blogged about the discovery of a skeleton with a deformed back found where Richard III was supposed to have been buried. Studies have confirmed that the skeleton is that of Richard III, the Plantagenet king and Shakespearean villain, who was overthrown by Henry Tudor (father of Henry VIII and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I). [Read More...]
December 2, 2014
Advent do’s and don’t’s
More from Mollie Hemingway, Forget The War On Christmas, The War On Advent Is Worse in The Federalist: 1) Advent is for preparation. Christmas is for partying. So that means Christmas parties should take place during Christmas. Christmas parties should not take place during Advent. You get 12 full days when hardly anyone is working [Read More...]
