From an interview on Zenit.org with Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the president of the Italian division of Santander Central Hispanic Bank and a professor of the Catholic University of Milan, discussing African debt relief:

Read more on The Late(st) Great G8 Debate…

St. Thomas More sans stubble

The legitimization of so-called same-sex marriage in Spanish law has not surprisingly elicited a strong response from Christians around the world. This particular disagreement is often cast by proponents of change as a matter of Religion trying to encroach on Politics. However, I always flinch when the Church/State dichotmy is used to suggest that we can exist in one of these realms individually and absolutely, as if neither realm influences the other. On this topic, Rocco Buttliglione notes a particular point of unity between State and Religion: the person.

Read more on The Unity of Faith and Politics, More or Less…

London has been awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, beating out Paris, New York, Madrid, and Moscow.

According to a report, “The victory means that London will play host to the world’s premier sporting event in seven years’ time with a specially-built stadium and village rising from what is now an urban wasteland in the east of the city.”

Read more on Summer Olympics in London, 2012…

So says Dr. George Ayittey, a professor of economics at American University and founder of the Free Africa Foundation, in an interview on today’s Morning Edition from NPR.

Ayittey argues in part that after the African nations gained independence, they rejected the market system out of hand as a Western innovation, to the detriment of their societies. He calls for a return to indigenous structures of civil society, which embrace markets and free trade.

Read more on Africa Needs More than Foreign Aid…

A question over at the ONE Campaign blog:

Why don’t these celebrities cough up their own money and stop asking for mine?

Answer: First off, they are. Most of the celebs involved in the campaign give hundreds of thousands, if not millions to charity. They just choose not make it public. But this campaign is not about asking you for YOUR money either, we want your voice. We are also talking about BILLIONS of dollars here. Not millions. If all the celebs in Hollywood banded together it still wouldn’t touch the amount that the G8 countries could give.

Read more on Why Not Give Yourself?…

President Bush, on his way to the G-8 Summit, said that views like abortion or gay marriage will not serve as litmus tests for selecting a Supreme Court nominee. "I’ll pick people who, one, can do the job, and people who are honest, people who are bright and people who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not use the bench to legislate from," Bush said. "I will take my time," Bush said. "I will be thorough in my investigation." The president hopes to see a new justice in place by the time the court begins its new term in October.

Read more on Bush Says Abortion Not A Limtus Test For High Court…

We can send President Bush to the G8 Summit carrying the compassion, justice and generosity of millions of Americans

The Group of Eight (G8) conference this week in Gleneagles, Scotland has been the object of a lot of attention from various charity campaigns. Jordan Ballor writes, “What is similar in all these movements is an emphasis on the role of government in providing assistance to the poor. But it is precisely this aspect of the initiatives that is most problematic from a Christian perspective.”

Read more on Heroes of the Half-Measure: Christian Advocates for Government Charity…

A study released late last month by the Hudson Institute found “$62.1 billion in U.S. private donations to developing countries in 2003, the last year numbers are available.”

The report, cited in an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, goes on to argue that the formula used by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) to judge the generosity of various countries “fails to take into account the primary way in which Americans help others abroad: through the private sector.”

Read more on Private Aid and Investment Abroad…

The worldwide Live 8 shows have come and gone, and are being hailed as perhaps the greatest collection of concerts ever. While moments like the introduction of Birhan Woldu or (to a lesser extent) the reunion of the estranged members of Pink Floyd certainly made for compelling television, only time will tell whether or not they will have a significant impact on Africa’s future.

Read more on Making Subsidies History?…

Three separate studies published by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that too much TV-watching can harm children’s ability to learn. The article says that in one study, involving nearly 400 northern California third-graders, those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs. A second study, looking at nearly 1,000 adults in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood. A third study, based data on gathered from nearly 1,800 U.S. children, found that those who watched more than three hours of television daily before age 3 scored slightly worse on academic and intelligence tests at ages 6 and 7 than youngsters who watched less TV.

Read more on Too Much TV Dumbs Down Kids…