News and Events

August 04, 2005

Aces high or low?

If this isn’t a great example of power corrupting, I don’t know what is: see this Reuters report on an encomium to leader Kim Jong-Il on a North Korean website. Among Kim’s remarkable talents is his accomplishment of a “feat unmatched in the annals of professional golf by shooting 11 holes-in-one on the first round he ever played.” Continue Reading...

August 03, 2005

Target: St. Peters?

Radical islamist terrorists have struck at the heart of New York City, Washington, London and Madrid (among other places). Could the Vatican be next? Kishore Jayabalan, director of Acton’s Rome office, appeared on Fox News yesterday as part of a report asking that question. Continue Reading...

August 02, 2005

France urges actions against Iran

France’s foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said that Iran’s move to resume its nuclear activities could spark a “major international crisis,” increasing the pressure on Tehran to return to the negotiating table or risk facing sanctions. Continue Reading...

August 01, 2005

Al Gore launches network

Al Gore’s new Current TV network seeks to be “the television home page for the Internet generation,” the former vice-president said. With its debut today, Current TV seeks to be a more hip and cutting-edge form of presenting the news. Continue Reading...

July 29, 2005

Antiochian orthodox to quit NCC

The terminal politicization of the National Council of Churches has led a major Orthodox jurisdiction to throw in the towel. The Antiochian Orthodox Church, meeting for its bi-annual convention in Dearborn, Mich., Continue Reading...

July 29, 2005

Dying by the sword

Two recent news items of interest, the timing of which seems serendipitous: “U.S. Muslim Scholars Issue Edict Against Terrorism” “IRA Ending Longtime ‘Armed Campaign'” Continue Reading...

July 29, 2005

Tocqueville turns 200

Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America, was born on this date in 1805. Charles Colson, in his introduction to Carl F.H. Henry’s “Has Democracy Had Its Day?” writes that Tocqueville was a realist and recognized how fragile democracy is. Continue Reading...

July 28, 2005

You catch more bees with honey

Following months of Zimbabwe’s brutal “Drive Out Trash” campaign, pleasantries exchanged between Mugabe and a UN delegation may have made some headway. The UN report on the situation, according to Claudia Rosett, began “with a delicacy over-zealously inappropriate in itself to dealings with the tyrant whose regime has been responsible for wreck of Zimbabwe” by describing Mugabe’s reception of the UN officials with a “warm welcome.” Continue Reading...

July 27, 2005

Seeing the trees, missing the forest

The United Nations has released a report on the ongoing upheavals in Zimbabwe, where tyrant Robert Mugabe has been punishing his political opponents under the guise of “cleaning up” the country’s cities. Continue Reading...

July 27, 2005

Labor unions and free association

The Service Employees International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have broken away from the AFL-CIO, complaining that the federation has focused too much on political activism in the face of declining union membership and influence. Continue Reading...