Russell E. Saltzman

Quoting the Times , “In a down payment on riches to come, scientists from NASA’s Kepler satellite announced Monday that they had discovered the smallest planet yet found outside our solar system and the first that was unquestionably rocky, like the Earth.” It’s the “like . . . . Continue Reading »

An NPR article on the prospect of creating a part-time Congress (unlikely) begins by describing “hordes of conservative Republican lawmakers” descending on Washington. Hordes? Yes, hordes of Republicans, all conservative, are about to fracture the previous hold that “hordes of . . . . Continue Reading »

I finally have applied to become a member of the clergy roll of the  North American Lutheran Church , which means leaving the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (Here is the NALC’s site .) About time, too, inasmuch as the NALC made me a dean back in early . . . . Continue Reading »

William McGurn has a piece at the online  Wall Street Journal asking exactly why Republicans have a hard time providing moral argumentation for tax reductions affecting billionaires. The other side, he points out, have their contentions well in place. In [Senator Bernie Sandners, Vermont] . . . . Continue Reading »

A Norwegian reality show,  The Great Norway Adventure , takes American-Norwegians, some generations beyond their ancestral homeland, and initiates them by various contests to the true rites of passage real Norwegians are said to put up with in becoming authentically Norski. One of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Along with his other dilemmas, Pope Benedict is also said to have a “genetically modified crop dilemma.” As New Scientist explained editorially: In a statement condemning opposition to GM [genetically modified] crops in rich countries as unjustified, a group of scientists including . . . . Continue Reading »

November is a strange time to reflect on the American Revolution, something more suited for July, but that is what I found myself doing touring Lexington and Concord with family over Thanksgiving while enduring a cold, uncomfortable wind. We visited many graves: Hawthorne, Alcott, Thoreau, among . . . . Continue Reading »

There are about 4,000 Lutherans living in the Republic of Chile, mostly of German descent found in two church bodies. One of those Lutherans, Pastor Martin Junge , will become the eighth general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation November 25. The LWF is a communion of 145 churches in 79 . . . . Continue Reading »

Lutherans celebrate Reformation Day, that day back in 1517 when Martin Luther stomped up to the Wittenberg church door and nailed up his  95 Theses . It’s a big day for us; used to be, at any rate. I don’t suppose Roman Catholics pay much attention to it, but then I wouldn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at Cranach , Gene Edward Veith (provost and professor of literature at Patrick Henry College) ponders the state of argumentation in a world of blogging, and for good reason. His . . . innocent little post has now chalked up a record 422 comments at last count. What happened is that a very . . . . Continue Reading »