Year: 2010

January 14, 2010

How to Help Haiti

I have to admit that my first few reactions to the news of an earthquake in the Caribbean weren’t especially charitable. I thought first that the scale of the reports had to be exaggerated, that things couldn’t be as bad as the media was breathlessly reporting. Continue Reading...
January 13, 2010

Getting the Lead Out

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “From the Lead Frying Pan into the Toxic Fire,” I examine some of the fallout from the lead paint fiasco of 2007. Last month RC2 Corp. Continue Reading...
January 13, 2010

Promises and perils of globalization

Thomas P.M. Barnett has written a good, concise, piece on the consolidation and deepening of globalization, specifically Wal-Mart’s tapping into local producers in developing countries. (HT: Real Clear World) As far as I can tell, there are no Wal-Mart’s in Italy, but having spent the last three weeks at my parents’ home in Flint, Michigan and shopping at places like Wal-Mart and Target, I can clearly see how far behind the curve Italy is. Continue Reading...
January 11, 2010

Acton University: Register Today!

A friendly reminder that registration is currently open for the 2010 Acton University (AU), which will take place on June 15-18 in Grand Rapids, Mich. This year’s distinguished international faculty will once again guide participants through an expanded curriculum, offering even greater depth of exploration into the intellectual foundations of a free society. Continue Reading...
January 08, 2010

Rev. Robert A. Sirico on Accountability in Leadership

In the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit and the ensuing controversy over the Obama Administration’s handling both of the pre-attack intelligence and the post-attack response, Neil Cavuto invited Acton President Rev. Continue Reading...
January 07, 2010

Wikipedia: Freedom in Community

In this week’s Acton Commentary, I reflect on a decade of Wikipedia, a remarkable experiment in human interaction: Ten years ago this month, Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales hired Larry Sanger to develop an online encyclopedia. Continue Reading...
January 06, 2010

Secularism and Brit Hume

The Big Hollywood blogger and actor Adam Baldwin, recently of the television series Chuck and Firefly, has taken up his virtual pen to defend Brit Hume from those who have criticized him for suggesting that Tiger Woods should consider Christianity in his time of crisis. Continue Reading...
January 05, 2010

Not so separate after all

The New York Times is not known to be the most reliable or informed commentator on matters religious, but a recent Times article (marred, unfortunately, by a couple of inaccuracies) highlighted that France’s claim to have separated religion from the state is only true in parts. Continue Reading...