April 2014 Archives

April 07, 2014

Liberals Acting Illiberally

“Liberal: not bound by traditional ways or beliefs.” A “liberal” then, would be a person who is open-minded, ready to listen to another point of view. “I’m not bound to any traditions; I’m open-minded. Continue Reading...

April 07, 2014

7 Figures: Wages and Employment in America

[Note: This is the first post in ‘7 Figures’, a new, occasional series highlighting data and information from a variety of surveys and reports.] The U.S. Department of Labor recently released data from the Occupational Employment Statistics program, which provides employment and wage estimates by area and by industry for wage and salary workers in hundreds of occupation groups in America. Continue Reading...

April 04, 2014

Mozilla’s Brendan Eich and Progressive Bullies

Last week was one of mixed blessings for those engaged in the U.S. political process. On the positive side, the U.S. Supreme Court – by a 5-4 margin – struck down overall limits on campaign contributions. Continue Reading...

April 04, 2014

Mozilla’s Statement of Faith and the Altars of Conformity

Brendan Eich, Mozilla co-founder and creator of the JavaScript programming language, was recently appointed as Mozilla’s chief executive. Just one week later, however, he was pressured to resign. His iniquity? Donating $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, a measure whose basic aim was entirely consistent with the beliefs of Barack Obama at the time. Continue Reading...

April 04, 2014

Mozilla: Mounting The Heads Of Conservatives On Their Walls

Mitchell Baker, executive chair of Mozilla, announced on the company’s blog that Brendan Eich, former Mozilla CEO has stepped down “for Mozilla and our community.” His sin: contributing $1000 in 2008 in support of California’s Prop 8, which upheld traditional marriage. Continue Reading...

April 04, 2014

No, the Pope doesn’t need distributism (because nobody does)

Pope Francis needs distributism, argues Arthur W. Hunt III in the latest issue of The American Conservative. Hunt says that Americans and popes alike can embrace a humane alternative to modern capitalism: In the midst of their scramble to claim the new Pope, many on the left missed what the Pontiff said was a nonsolution. Continue Reading...

April 04, 2014

Todd Huizinga to Discuss Ukraine on WGVU

Acton’s Director of International Outreach, Todd Huizinga, recently discussed the situation in Ukraine with WGVU’s Patrick Center and Calvin College’s assistant professors of political science, Becca McBride. For West Michigan residents, the interview will be airing tonight at 8:30 PM on the WGVU Life Channel and then again Sunday morning at 10:30 AM on WGVU-HD. Continue Reading...

April 03, 2014

Christ’s Preferential Option for Tax Collectors

During the 20th century, the option for the poor or the preferential option for the poor was articulated as one of the basic principles of Catholic social teaching. For example, in Octogesima Adveniens (1971), Pope Paul VI writes: In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the most fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods generously at the service of others. Continue Reading...

April 03, 2014

The Hegemonic Misandry Continues: ADHD

Cultural progressives often talk about something called “hegemonic masculinity.” By this progressives and feminists mean the standards we use to determine what an ideal man is in a particular culture. Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson, in The Gendered Society Reader, describe American hegemonic masculinity this way: In an important sense there is only one complete unblushing male in America: a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, father, of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent record in sports . Continue Reading...