PopSci follows up with the question I asked awhile back, “Why Not Just Dispose of Nuclear Waste in the Sun?” The piece raises doubts about launch reliability: “It’s a bummer when a satellite ends up underwater, but it’s an entirely different story if that rocket is packing a few hundred pounds of uranium. And if the uranium caught fire, it could stay airborne and circulate for months, dusting the globe with radioactive ash. Still seem like a good idea?” This...

Can you discern a nation’s spirit, even its economic genius, from the literature it produces? That’s long been a pastime of literary critics, including those who frequently see the “original sins” of Puritanism and capitalism in the stony heart of Americans. Writing in Commentary Magazine, Fred Siegel looks at just this problem in a new appreciation of cultural critic and iconoclast Bernard DeVoto’s three-decade campaign to rescue American letters from the perception that European aesthetics were superior to the homegrown...

Heads up to those in the Southern California area: Distinguished scholar, author, and former Ambassador Michael Novak will give an April 15 lecture at Fuller Theological Seminary on “The Moral Foundation of Markets.” Novak will argue for the need to re-establish an informed and well-reasoned understanding of both the value of markets for human well-being and the moral foundation necessary for their continued survival. Among other achievements, Novak is the 1994 winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion,...

Alex ChafuenCongratulations to Acton board member and Senior Fellow Alejandro A. Chafuen who received the Global Leadership Award at Wellington College in the UK on April 2. The award was co-sponsored by The World Congress of Families and The Bow Group. Alex is president of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and has been a great friend and advisor to Acton for many years. The work he and Atlas have done to support “intellectual entrepreneurs” worldwide — those who advance the...

This week, Acton’s research director Samuel Gregg appeared on EWTN’s The Abundant Life for an interview titled, “Socialism: Threat to Freedom.” In the course of an hour, he discusses the philosophical origins of socialism, its various manifestations, and the manner in which its modern expressions are slowly eroding our liberties in America and Western Europe. The interview, conducted by Johnnette Benkovic, may be found at The Abundant Life’s Web site. ...

The new issue of Religion & Liberty, featuring an interview with Nina Shea, is now available online. A February preview of Shea’s interview, which was an exclusive for PowerBlog readers, can be found here. Shea pays tribute to the ten year collapse munism in Eastern Europe, which began in the fall of 1989. The entire issue is dedicated to those who toiled for freedom. Shea is able to make the connection between important events and times in the Cold War...

A reader sends on this fun video. Anyone know where can I get a bottle of this Dr. Utopia’s Ism elixir? Looks tasty. Is one sip enough? ...

Remember when Nancy Pelosi said that the House needed to pass the health care reform legislation so we could find out what was in it? Well, it turns out that she might have done Congress a big favor by slowing things down and allowing her House members to figure out what was in the bill before passing it. I mean, I’m only saying that because it seems that in the process of passing the bill Congress may have accidentally left...

An interesting column from Glenn Reynolds, AKA the Instapundit, at the Washington Examiner noting the failure of the regulators in Congress to anticipate the consequences of their health care takeover, in spite of much effort: …both Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Securities and Exchange Commission regulations panies to account for these changes as soon as they learn about them. As the Atlantic’s Megan McArdle wrote: “What AT&T, Caterpillar, et al did was appropriate. It’s earnings season, and they offered guidance...

A good back-and-forth at in character on health care reform between Karen Davenport and Heather R. Higgins. Question: Will the implementation of the health-care bill passed by Congress improve the character of our country? Davenport says “yes”: While we cede some rights, we also assume new responsibilities. First, we assume the responsibility to obtain and maintain coverage for ourselves, and acknowledge that we cannot wait to purchase health insurance until we are sick. We also take on greater responsibility for...