Aid to Africa

With the G8 countries preparing to cancel $40 billion in debt owed by several African countries, a fresh start is promised. But what has really changed? Check out Acton commentary related to African aid and debt forgiveness at blog.acton.org. Continue Reading...

‘Civil Society…is Never Enough’

A quote from a speaker at the CRC’s Synod 2005, endorsing the Micah Challenge and the ONE Campaign. He also intimated that churches could never hope to match the $40 billion pledged recently to cut aid debt for African nations. Continue Reading...

The new space capitalists

After SpaceShipOne was awarded the Ansari X Prize last year, Paul G. Allen became “the best-known member of a growing club of high-tech thrillionaires, including the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who find themselves with money enough to fulfill their childhood fascination with space,” reports John Schwartz in today’s New York Times. Continue Reading...

Energy bill heads to Senate

A contentious energy bill passed by the House is scheduled to be taken up by the Senate today. House Republicans are calling for swift passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but some Senators are threatening to put off a vote until their concerns about offshore oil drilling are met. Continue Reading...

A lot of hot air

“Wind Farms Costly for Kansans, New Study Finds: Consumers would pay higher bills, reap few green benefits,” by James M. Taylor, Environment News, May 1, 2005, The Heartland Institute. Via the highly recommended Evangelical Ecologist. Continue Reading...

The precondition for aid – civil society

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today on the latest thuggish brutality from one of Africa’s saddest stories – Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe (subscription required): One of Africa’s poorest countries, Zimbabwe, is suffering through a brutal forced relocation reminiscent of the Khmer Rouge’s “ruralization.” Continue Reading...

‘Wealth Isn’t Earned by the Hour’

In an informative interview via Christianity Today’s Money&Faith.net, Dan Miller gives good guidance for people to become entrepreneurs. He’s a big proponent of the side business, which could take as little as 5 hours per week. Continue Reading...

‘When we act we create our own reality.’

This post at Davids Medienkritik, “Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung: One-Sided Attack Journalism as News,” gives us a perfect example of what can happen when the media becomes unmoored. And I’ll take it as a piece of concrete evidence supporting the conclusions of my earlier post today. Continue Reading...

Harming head start

Two years ago the Head Start battle focused on effectiveness: Were low income kids truly better prepared for starting school because they had participated in the program? No solid answers emerged, but like so many other Beltway debates, the substance issues abate once the funding crisis is passed. Continue Reading...