Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 92
March 8, 2017
Wikileaks exposes CIA’s cyberespionage
A huge trove of documents about CIA hacking, surveillance, and cyberespionage operations ha been posted on Wikileaks. This is just the first of a series of revelations, according to Wikileaks head Julian Assange. Here we learn about how the CIA can use smart phones and even television sets to spy on people. Wikileaks says that [Read More...]
President Trump’s new travel ban
President Trump has issued a revised travel and immigration ban. This one is designed to pass legal muster after his first executive order on the issue was struck down by the courts. It is also designed to avoid other problems raised by the first order. The new policy will allow visitors and immigrants from Iraq, responding [Read More...]
March 7, 2017
Will Islam become the world’s largest religion?
A new study says that Islam will pass Christianity as the world’s largest religion by 2070. The report says that in 2050, Muslims will make up 10% of the European population. But they will number only 2.1% in the United States. Interestingly, the study also says that the number of atheists and non-religious affiliated will [Read More...]
The liquid bread fast
In the 17th century, a strict order of monks gave up all solid foods for Lent. So to sustain themselves, they developed a particularly rich version of what they called “liquid bread.” That is to say, beer. This was the origin of the Paulaner brewery, which still makes its acclaimed beer. A few years ago, [Read More...]
Trumpcare vs. Obamacare
The Republicans have finally introduced a bill to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. Let us call it Trumpcare! The new plan would eliminate penalties for not having health insurance and cut Obamacare taxes. People could still get health insurance on state exchanges. And low income Americans would get subsidies in the form of tax credits. Those [Read More...]
March 6, 2017
A new Bible translation from Lutherans
I recently blogged about the new Bible translation, the Christian Standard Bible. I didn’t realize until alerted by commenter MarkB that a new translation led by Lutherans is also in the works, the Evangelical Heritage Version. This comes from an independent venture known as the Wartburg Project. Those doing the work are scholars from the Wisconsin [Read More...]
Did the government wiretap Trump Tower?
President Trump tweeted an accusation that President Obama wire-tapped his Trump Tower headquarters before the election. Obama representatives denied the claim, but left open the possibility that there might have been a legal wiretap in connection with the Russia investigations. See this. Now Trump is demanding an investigation. Everyone is calling for the evidence. The [Read More...]
Did the Attorney General commit perjury?
During his confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked, under oath, if he had had any communications with Russian officials before the election. He was asked this twice, both in oral testimony and in a written deposition. He said “No.” Now we know that he had communications with the Russian ambassador. Twice. One of [Read More...]
March 3, 2017
A new Bible translation
A new Bible translation has been published: The Christian Standard Bible. This is a thorough scholarly revision of the Holman Standard Bible. It’s published by LifeWay, the Southern Baptist publisher, but the new version reportedly has had input from scholars from 17 different denominations, including Lutheran, and the translation was scrutinized for any denominational bias. [Read More...]
“We’re the ones that are going to start contaminating the water.”
Thousands of protesters joined the Standing Rock Sioux to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. They were trying to stop an oil pipeline because it crossed sacred lands and for fear that it would pollute the Missouri River. The protests led President Obama to stop the pipeline, but President Trump has approved it. Now the protesters [Read More...]
