In Poland, a nation-wide grassroots effort has lead to the proposal of bold, new legislation aimed at removing all exceptions to the country’s abortion laws thus protecting children from the moment of conception. The proposed bill is the product of an effort led by Warsaw’s PRO Foundation. Under Poland’s political system, organizers needed to collect […]
[Part 1, Part 2] Political subsidiarity would mean little if the industrial system remained concentrated; it does no good to collect taxes locally if the production of goods, and therefore the production of taxable values, is not also widespread. We’ve noted the problems and inefficiencies of the current system, a system that is highly dependent […]
Cardinal Justin Rigali announced at a news conference this morning [July 19, 2011,] that Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Charles J. Chaput O.F.M. Cap. as the 13th Bishop and 9th Archbishop of Philadelphia. Archbishop Chaput [currently of the Archdiocese of Denver] will be Installed on Thursday, September 8, 2011, the feast of the birth […]
In 2010, there was a “tax gap”—i.e., the difference between federal taxes owed and those actually paid—of $410–$500 billion. Some of the gap stems from the complexity of the tax code. Much of it, though, is deliberate: self-employed individuals working for cash, table-servers under-reporting tips, taxpayers claiming unauthorized credits and deductions. And don’t forget the […]
From the Irish Catholic comes news that confirms just how far Ireland has fallen from its tradition of being the “land of saints and scholars”: The Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Children are all indicating that a proposed new law will require priests to break the seal of confession if someone confesses […]
Religious progressives are often quick to condemn those who extol the virtues of market economies for focusing too much on material concerns. This charge of materialism is, in fact, a core and valid insight contained in most critiques of consumerism, a phenomenon in which people tend to equate their own value and meaning with the […]
Pardon my exasperation, but there are times when the elitist views of the mandarins who set rules for the rest of us from the federal bench and other similarly exalted vantage points are indeed upsetting. As an example, consider the Supreme Court and its decision last month on selling and renting violent video games to […]
Mark Twain is usually credited with the quip that “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” The same is certainly true of our dependence on foreign, and often unfriendly, sources of energy – particularly when gas prices soar and every American feels the pinch. The difference, of course, is that we […]
I wonder how many people who criticize the Casey Anthony jury have tried to get out of jury duty when they were called. There was a time, before I served on a jury, when I was one of those whose life was so busy there was no way I wanted the inconvenience of it. I […]
[Part 1] Conservatives express great frustration with the egregious violations of the Constitution by the legislatures and the courts, violations which ensure that power gravitates to the federal government, while the states become mere bureaucratic subdivisions of the federal apparatus rather than partners in a political union. In response, they call for a devolution, a […]
During the dark days of Republican profligacy, when earmarks were the rule and GOP House and Senate members routinely voted for massive discretionary spending bills (many loaded with pork and earmarks) there was one man who bucked the tide of red ink: Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). “I believed the earmarks game was robbing us as […]
Casey Anthony’s acquittal of the killing of her precious child, Caylee, has shocked the nation. Many who watched the trial on TV – and who were not constrained from taking into account inadmissible evidence, the punditry of various talking heads, or the overwhelming public sentiment against Ms. Anthony – have been critical of the jury’s […]
As chairman of our country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve Board, Ben Bernanke is expected to put the economy on a sound footing and foster strong economic growth. Unfortunately, Bernanke faces “mission impossible”—partly because the policies implemented by Congress, the president, and bureaucrats account for much of what happens to the economy, and partly because […]
With liberal activists emboldened by their recent legislative victory in New York (where a same-sex “marriage” bill was passed into law on June 24th) one can reasonably expect to see efforts redoubled to further promote the “gay rights” agenda nationally. With this in mind I’d like to offer some observations. Victory for Freedom? In […]
In the political battle that ended last week with New York’s legalization of gay marriage, Catholic defenders of man-woman marriage found themselves pitted against an unlikely batch of adversaries: fellow Catholics. Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who, like his father, has spent his career touting his Catholic credentials while ignoring church teachings that clash with his […]
The troubled academic study of the Middle East and Islam by Americans is changing in fundamental ways. I offer some thoughts based on 42 years of personal observation: From Western offence to Islamic offence: Muslim relations with Christians divide into four long periods: from Muhammad’s hijra to the First Crusade, 622-1099, during which time Muslims […]
For some time, the outlines of an Obama Doctrine have been apparent. It can be summarized in nine damning words: Embolden our enemies. Undermine our friends. Diminish our country. These days, it is hard to avoid proof that these outcomes are not inadvertent, or attributable to sheer and sustained incompetence. Rather, they are a product […]
Summer is a time when many things slow down, including politics and governmental activities. Yet, at the same time, it is also a patriotic season when we remember with gratitude the great legacy of a democratic republic given to us by our Founding Fathers. In this time of relative calm, I would like to address […]
The European Court of Human Rights just emphasised unanimously that “no one should show total, blind obedience to orders which so flagrantly infringed not only the principles of national legislation but also internationally recognised human rights, in particular the right to life.” (from the Court press release) This is the fundamental basement of the right, […]
A 1961 Reader’s Digest piece called it “America’s shame on the South Seas.” American Samoa remains relatively impoverished compared to the rest of the United States to which it is attached. Recent efforts to invigorate its economy offer a lesson in government planning and unintended consequences that those who seek to help the poor would […]
The news has an element of sadness, but also of hope. The element of sadness is that Otto von Hapsburg, a good and courageous man whom I had the privilege to meet more than once, died Monday at the age of 98. Otto’s father, the Blessed Karl (also sometimes called Charles), the last emperor of Austro-Hungary (he died 1922, […]
Discussions of what to do about the current crisis commonly take the form of an argument between “socialism” and “capitalism.” However, such a discussion is flawed in both of its terms. Real socialism collapsed in 1989, and few would want to return to that horrific system. What is less well understood is that pure capitalism […]
Each time President Obama addresses America’s inalienable rights, I get emails. “Did you see Obama left out ‘Creator’ again?” began the latest. The most recent occasion was a June 17 presidential statement responding to a U.N. resolution on sexual orientation. Obama stated that “LGBT persons are endowed with the same inalienable rights—and entitled to the […]
1. Muslim slave trade in Africa has lasted 14 centuries and continues to this day in places like Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. 2. Over 17 million slaves (mostly black women and children) were transported out of Africa by Islamic traders. Another 85 million are believed to have died en route. 3. The Prophet Muhammad practiced and approved of […]
