PARADE Magazine has published its annual list of “The World’s Worst Dictators.” Topping the list is the man overseeing the genocide in Darfur, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir. At least three of the top twenty are important friends and allies of the United States in the war on terror: #5 King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia; #9 Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libya; #15 Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan. “See, Lois? I told you we had allies. Slobodan, you made it!” David Wallechinsky, PARADE contributing editor and author of...

One of the latest iterations of the reality TV craze is the show, “Bad Girls Club,” on the Oxygen network. The premise of the show revolves around a group of young women of diverse backgrounds brought together to live in one house: “What happens when you put seven ‘bad’ girls in a house together – the type of girls who lie, cheat and flirt their way out of trouble and have serious trust issues with other women?” It doesn’t take...

One of the stories told in the Acton’s ing documentary, “The Call of the Entrepreneur,” (trailer available here) is that of Brad Morgan, a Michigan dairy farmer, who bucked the odds and the naysayers and turned the problem posed by the disposal of his herd’s manure into a profitable business venture. His innovative solution to manure disposal, turning it into high post for a variety of purposes, led to the formation of Morgan Composting in 1996, and more than ten...

Acton Institute research fellow Dr. Kevin Schmiesing recently received a Templeton Enterprise Award from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. The 2nd place award in the articles category recognized Dr. Schmiesing’s piece, “Another Social Justice Tradition: Catholic Conservatives.” The article was published in the University of St. Thomas Law Journal in 2005. The article outlines the historic differences between progressive and conservative Catholic approaches to social and economic issues. His states that “the conservative approach represents a tradition of thought that is...

I’m not quite sure what to make of this story from Catholic News Service. Its quotations concerning agricultural subsidies from Fr. Andrew Small, a “policy adviser for the U.S. bishops,” while not all perfectly clear without their context, seem to indicate a shift in pared to earlier statements from the USCCB. Small notes, for example, that the current system “incentivizes people to overproduce” and that it “isn’t helping the people it’s supposed to help.” Does this discussion signal a change...

In this week’s Acton Commentary, I examine the most recent buzz-worthy trend in the lottery industry: privatization. While most critics of these moves have pointed to the foolhardiness of selling off a long-term e stream for a lump sum jackpot, I argue that privatization by itself does nothing to address the underlying problems afflicting the lottery business. I conclude, “A government-run monopoly would merely be replaced by a government-enforced monopoly.” And as I’ve claimed previously, government reliance on lotteries as...

Mr. Fred L. Smith, Jr. at the 2007 Acton Lecture Series Mr. Fred L. Smith, Jr. of the Competitive Enterprise Institute was today’s guest speaker as part of the 2007 Acton Lecture Series here in Grand Rapids, speaking on the topic of The Irresponsibility of Corporate Social Responsibility. Smith argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has e the new rationale for old policies of transforming private firms into public utilities—and forcing them to perform whatever duties are politically attractive at...

Over the weekend the Grand Rapids Press published an article by Mary Radigan that examines one booming trend in the travel industry, “Spiritual journeys take off in travel industry.” “The market for religious travel has grown into an $18 billion industry worldwide,” writes Radigan. “In the past decade, it has expanded into cruise lines, bus trips, escorted tours, and conventions and meetings.” This growing interest in religiously-based travel underscores the tensions behind the recent controversy over an archaeological dig near...

Today’s Detroit News ran a brief letter to the editor in response to my Jan. 23 op-ed, “Don’t prevent religion from helping to reform prisoners.” (Joe Knippenberg engaged a previous response on his blog here). David Dery of Central Lake writes, “Jordan Ballor’s article encouraging religious groups in prisons is fine, as far as he goes…. The es when the state attaches some benefit to attending these programs without providing a non-religious alternative.” In response I’ll simply make a few...

Last week, Marc posted audio from the Fred Smith’s presentation at the 2007 Acton Lecture Series. Mr. Smith, president and founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, spoke about Corporate Social Responsibility and the dangers associated with the socialization of the corporation. Video of this event is now available online and for download. You can watch it online, (a new window with a Flash video player will open), you can download the file via Acton’s podcast, or download directly as an...