Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 425

Volcanos are countering global warming

The earth is taking care of itself.  From James Fleure in Science Recorder: Erupting volcanoes offset recent Earth warming, according to a team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after searching for clues about why Earth did not warm as much as climatologists expected between 2000 and 2010. [...]

Pope resigned to purge “the filth”?

John Cornwell, a recognized Catholic journalist, says that the real reason the pope is resigning is because in doing so the whole Curia–the Vatican bureaucracy that is reportedly rife with financial and sexual corruption–must step down when he does.  Thus, the pope is sacrificing himself to clean up the Vatican. From John Cornwell: Resignation isn’t [...]

When the worst case is that nothing bad happens

Charles Krauthammer is another candidate for best sequester commentary: “The worst-case scenario for us,” a leading anti-budget-cuts lobbyist told The Post, “is the sequester hits and nothing bad really happens.” Think about that. Worst case? That a government drowning in debt should cut back by 2.2 percent — and the country survives. That a government now [...]

Writing contest for “Testimonies”

David Aikman, former journalist with Time Magazine and a friend and colleague of mine, has organized a writing contest designed to revitalize the genre of the “Testimony.”  That’s not just a conversion narrative, though it can be, but it can also refer to any true story of faith in a person’s life.  (For example, think [...]

How the pop culture would choose a pope

The latest offering from the inestimable Rev. Hans Fiene with his Lutheran Satire enterprise has actually gotten picked up by Roman Catholics!  See the video after the jump. 

Shaming and exposing gun owners

A number of newspapers across the country have been using open records laws to get the names of people who are registered owners of firearms and then publishing their names and addresses.  Why would they do this?  I guess it’s part of the movement to exert social pressure against gun owners, shaming them as smokers [...]

Watergate journalist vs. Obama

President Obama and his administration have picked a fight with the legendary reporter who broke the Watergate story, Bob Woodward.  The journalist criticized the way the president is handling the “sequester” issue–including pointing out that the automatic spending cuts were the president’s idea in the first place–whereupon all the president’s men put him on the [...]

Best commentary on the sequester issue

From Peter Wehner: In the Great Sequestration Debate, here’s what we know: (a) The president has paternity of an idea he now characterizes as a brutal and senseless assault on America. (b) The president and his then-chief of staff, Jack Lew, misled the public about their role in giving birth to the sequester idea. (c) [...]

Federal money for airports without planes

As the federal government howls over the impending spending cuts that go into effect tomorrow, we learn about some of the appropriations that the sequester will not touch.  That right-wing rag The Washington Post tells about an airport in my native Oklahoma that gets $150,000 of federal money a year even though it has no [...]

There is no pope

Pope Benedict’s resignation goes into effect today.  So, until the cardinals get together to elect a new one, there is no pope in office.  Canon law used to require a conclave to meet within 20 days of a pope’s resignation, but the outgoing pope changed that so that the cardinals can set the date whenever [...]