Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with your people where they work; make those who carry on the industries merce of this land responsive to your will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and...

The official in charge of governmental relief funds in Indonesia is “shocked” at the lack of reconstruction progress in the Aceh province, fully five months after the Indian Ocean tsunami. BBC News reports that Kuntoro Mangkusubroto primarily blames bureaucratic wrangling for the delays. “There is no sense of urgency,” he said. Meanwhile private funding continues to flow freely as NGOs effectively implement their relief efforts. Visit Acton’s Tsunami Guide to Effective Giving for information about how your money can help...

This BBC Newshour story (RealAudio) following on the first Rolls-Royce automobile purchased in India in fifty years contains some interesting analysis about the state of the Indian economy. Citing the liberalization of the economy beginning in 1991, Indian diplomat Pavan Varma states that “the number of people below the poverty line have been reduced fairly dramatically.” This in spite of the protestations of the interviewer, Claire Bolderson, that the gap between rich and poor illustrates “quite a contradictory picture that’s...

Max Blumenthal over at Arianna Huffington’s overhyped new blog, “The Huffington Post,” concludes that “the struggle for America’s future is not a conflict between political parties, but between two ideologies. One values individual freedom, the other, clerical authoritarianism. True conservatives should choose sides more carefully.” Blumenthal misunderstands the true nature of freedom, ignoring the moral foundation of freedom and lumping it in with “clerical authoritarianism.” As Lord Acton says, “Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but...

Fast Food Tax Redux As I alerted you to more than three weeks ago, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has proposed a 2% tax on fast food restaurants, in a vain attempt to cover the city’s fiscal woes. Here’s a sneak preview to this week’s ANC feature, “The Flawed Fast Food Tax,” in which I conclude: As a rule, governments should not seek quick and temporary fixes to structural budget problems. Sin taxes like the fast food tax are quick fixes...

Iain Murray at Tech Central Station writes that the EU is going to have a lot of trouble meeting its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, and this could have disastrous economic effects. He writes of recent statements from Spanish officials: This is a clear indication that at least one government has realized that Kyoto brings a severe economic cost with it, contrary to the protestations of the European Commission and Kyoto boosters around the world. Murray concludes, “The reality, then,...

Noting the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexis de Tocqueville, Samuel Gregg analyzes the current situation in Europe. “Tocqueville’s vision of ‘soft-despotism’ is thus one of arrangements that mutually corrupt citizens and the democratic state,” and clear signs of this ‘soft-despotism’ are emerging, contends Gregg. Read the full text here. ...

A New York Times editorial today argues that spreading concerns about the ethical validity of chimeras (human-animal hybrids) are unfounded. Here is a summary of the argument: 1) Strange and disturbing possibilities are more like science-fiction than real science. These “should not distract us from ing more mundane experiments with chimeras that will be needed to advance science.” 2) This is just the next logical progression. There’s no real substantive difference between transplanting organs or tissues and splicing genes. 3)...

According to the AP, Molly Akers has filed a lawsuit against the University of Chicago Hospitals, seeking more than $200,000 in damages for the pain, suffering and lost wages she suffered when her healthy right breast was surgically removed. The mistake was the result of a lab mix-up, and in a statement released on NBC’s Today Show, the hospital expressed regret for the mistake. Akers’ lawyer, Bob Clifford, is using the case as an opportunity to speak against proposed tort...

Interested in reading and reviewing various publications for your blog? Head on over to Mind & Media, a blog-based book reviewing service. The Acton Institute has placed three titles from the Lexington Books Studies in Ethics & Economics series, edited by Acton director of research Samuel Gregg. One of the books is Within the Market Strife: American Catholic Economic Thought from Rerum Novarum to Vatican II, by Acton research fellow Kevin Schmiesing. e a reviewer ...

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has found a new way to get the word out about its efforts. Food Force is a free downloadable video game (for the PC and Mac) designed by the WFP, in which the users will “Play the game, learn about food aid, and help WFP work towards a world without hunger.” Within the context of the fictional nation of Sheylan, the player embarks on a series of missions intended to give users a...

Today’s Christian Science Monitor has a story on the increasing use of micro-loans by Christian aid and development groups. According to the story, “Religious organizations are increasingly adopting the Talmudic sentiment that the noblest form of charity is helping others to dispense with it.” Ron Sider, in the twentieth anniversary edition of his book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, strongly endorses the use of micro-loans as a means of getting desperately needed capital to those who need it...