Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 354
February 12, 2014
“Rewilding” the USA with lions & elephants
An article about what knocked off the mammoths–not man as previously thought, but climate change–got even more interesting when it told about a current proposal that environmentalists are making: “Rewild” America by bringing back into the countryside elephants, camels, lions, and other ancestors of animals that have gone extinct. From What killed the great beasts [Read More...]
February 11, 2014
Superiority + insecurity + discipline = success?
Amy Chua, the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, has written with Jed Rubenfeld another controversial book about ethnic drive: The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America. Members of certain cultural groups do really well in terms of economic and social success. Others [Read More...]
Ugliness and Civilization
Have you noticed how ugly most of our communities are, all the strip malls, concrete boxes, offices, and even churches, void of aesthetic touches? There is certainly “art,” but it tends to be walled away in museums, rather than being part of a living community (as many of the pieces in museums once were). Have [Read More...]
Employer mandate postponed yet another year
President Obama postponed yet again the Employer Mandate part of Obamacare, which will require employers of 50 or more workers to provide them health insurance. The measure was supposed to go into effect in 2014, but he had earlier postponed it until 2015. Now it will not go into effect until 2016. Never mind that [Read More...]
February 10, 2014
Pro-American vs. Anti-American conservatives
Political theorist Patrick J. Deneen notes two different and conflict schools among Roman Catholic conservatives: one believes that Catholic Christianity is compatible with American democracy, with its ideals of freedom, individual rights, free markets, etc. The other faction believes that all of these American ideals grow out of a philosophical liberalism that is incompatible with [Read More...]
Does having kids make you less happy?
Raising kids is hard, stressful, and exhausting. A new book goes so far as to say that having kids actually makes people less happy than people without them. The author does say, however, that having kids gives something different than happiness: joy. After the jump, a review of Jennifer Senior’s book, All Joy and No [Read More...]
February 7, 2014
Why heroin
Thanks to Kirk and to the recommendations from Al, Elizabeth, and Todd at yesterday’s post for alerting me to this touching and illuminating account from British comedian Russell Brand about why he used heroin, how he got clean and has been for 10 years, and how he is still tempted. from Russell Brand: my life [Read More...]
The Russian Olympics
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, get started today. So far, much of the buzz about the Olympics has been about terrorism fears and complaints about the lack of creature comforts for visitors (undrinkable water, unfinished construction, public toilets without privacy, insects in food, pillows appropriated from hotels for the athletes). With its legacy of [Read More...]
Leno kicked out while he’s ahead
Jay Leno is off the Tonight Show as of last night. NBC wants to hand off the iconic gig to someone of the younger generation, namely, Jimmy Fallon. Never mind that Leno is going out at #1 in his time slot. Never mind that Leno is #1 with the younger generation (the 18-49 demographic) that [Read More...]
George Clooney after “Batman & Robin”
George Clooney is a successful actor, director, and producer. But the turning point in his career, he says, was appearing as Batman in the worst and most critically-panned movie in the franchise, Batman and Robin. From Ann Hornaday, George Clooney uses his star power to keep part of old Hollywood alive – The Washington Post [Read More...]
