Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 88
March 27, 2017
All mammals can swim, except for two
Contrary to what used to be thought, virtually all mammals can swim. Cats? Yes, though they hate it. Camels? Yes, despite seldom seeing water. Pigs? Yes. Elephants? They are excellent swimmers. Throw a bat into the water and it will use its little wings like oars. From what we know now, apparently there are only two mammals–one [Read More...]
March 24, 2017
The myth of learning styles
You know how some people are “right brained” and other people are “left brained”? And how children are either auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners? And how they learn best if they are taught according to their particular learning style? Well, none of that is true! That educational fad of a few years ago has been [Read More...]
Trump will keep Obamacare if his healthcare bill fails–which it did
Republican lawmakers, seeing that they don’t have the votes, postponed voting on President Trump’s healthcare bill, which was supposed to happen on Thursday. But the president is demanding a vote on Friday. Not only that, Trump says that if his “repeal and replace” bill fails, he will just leave Obamacare as the law of the [Read More...]
Democrats will filibuster Gorsuch
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that Democrats will filibuster the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Republicans have said that if this happens, they will launch “the nuclear option” of changing the rules to eliminate the filibuster option for presidential appointments. Schumer says that some Republicans will want to keep the traditional Senate [Read More...]
A new Bob Dylan interview
Bob Dylan has a new album coming out at the end of the month: Triplicate. It’s a triple album–the equivalent of three CDs–and it’s more standards, his third album in a row covering Sinatra-style songs from the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Stardust. Stormy Weather. Sentimental Journey. (Go to the Amazon link above to see [Read More...]
March 23, 2017
Group morality vs. individual morality
In the context of a discussion of the conflict between education secretary Betsy DeVos and the teachers’ unions, S. M. Hutchens cites an interesting point made by the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. In his book Moral Man and Immoral Society, Niebuhr contrasts group morality to individual morality. Groups form a “collective egoism” that resists self-criticism. [Read More...]
Trump and team WERE under government surveillance
President Trump has claimed that the Obama administration bugged his Trump Tower offices. That accusation has been mostly dismissed. But now it turns out that President-elect Trump and his transition team WERE surveilled. House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-California) said that he has seen copies of reports “unmasking” the members of Trump’s transition team and [Read More...]
How Gorsuch’s nomination hearing is going
Neil Gorsuch is reportedly doing well in Senate hearings for his nomination to the Supreme Court. In three days of marathon sessions lasting up to 10 hours, Judge Gorsuch has been handling the hostile Democratic interrogations with aplomb. He distanced himself from comments about him from the president, saying that he made no promises to repeal Roe [Read More...]
Terrorist attacks UK parliament
A terrorist drove through a crowd of pedestrians on London’s Westminster bridge, killing 2 and injuring 20. He then ran into the Parliament building where he stabbed a police officer to death. He was then shot and died in the hospital. Prime Minister Theresa May was just 40 yards from the attacker. The attack came [Read More...]
March 22, 2017
Luther as populist and freedom fighter
Much of Europe, including Catholics, will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting the 95 theses. But Great Britain, not so much. The founder of the Church of England, King Henry VIII, hated Luther (who opposed his multiple marriages) and martyred his followers. Later, when Anglicans became distinctly Protestant, they threw in with [Read More...]
