Dr. Michel Casey – Clicking this link will open a new window with a video player. Dr. Michael Casey was in Grand Rapids today to deliver the first address of the 2007 Acton Lecture Series, which was entitled The Religion of Politics. Dr. Casey is a Permanent Fellow at the John Paul II Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and Private Secretary to Cardinal George Pell, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. He is currently serving as a Visiting Fellow at the Ethics and...

I mentioned South Korea in mentary on population a few months ago. New data show that the erstwhile East Asian tiger is now the world’s leader in population contraction. Its fertility rate is 1.08, less than half the replacement rate of 2.1. In other words, if that rate persists, South Korea will halve its population with each generation. As is usual, aggressive government action played a role in the problem. The nation established its population control policy in 1961. Among...

On the same theme as a couple of recent posts (on the inanity of warning labels and signature file disclosure messages), Fast Company links to what they are calling the “Egregiously Legalistic Sig File of the Month.” It’s pretty egregious. Just think of all the wasted electrons. ...

A NYT editorial informs us today that retail prices for coffee products are rising (HT: Icarus Fallen). We are assured, however, that the price rise has been “relatively modest” and that an important factor is “changes in supply and demand in a global economy.” No kidding. The bad news in the editorial, at least for the fair trade crowd, is that these same forces of suppy and demand are raising the price for modity itself. According to the International Coffee...

It has been said that when Jonathan Edwards would roam about the countryside on his horse, he would record his observations and thoughts on little scraps of paper and pin them to his coat. When he returned home, his wife would help him unpin the notes and he would arrange them on his desk and use them as a basis for recording his thoughts in more permanent form. This story has been viewed by some scholars as apocryphal, although Paul...

Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in California, has a new blog, Mouw’s Musings, and has taken notice of Sam Gregg’s recent Acton Commentary, “Self Interest, Rightly Understood.” Giving Gregg credit for making “an important point” with which he largely agrees, Mouw goes on to say: “At the same time this also seems to me to be true. People who are not motivated by an intentional desire to promote mon good often do not in fact promote mon...

Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, started a contest to find the wackiest warning labels on consumer products ten years ago, and they’ve just released this year’s list of winners (HT: Slashdot). Topping the charts is the warning attached to a front-loading washing machine: “Do not put any person in this washer.” Other hits include: “Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level.”“Don’t try to dry your phone in a microwave oven.” The contest is part of...

Where have I seen that salute before? A new possible episode for my proposed : Chavez continues his power grasp in Latin America. My favorite quote: “We are in an existential moment of Venezuelan life … We’re heading toward socialism, and nothing and no-one can prevent it.” Stay tuned, gang. ...

On last week’s Huffington Post blog, Dr. Julianne Malveaux decries the practices of milk “charlatans,” who she claims, bine the concern about pesticides and additives with their own desire to grab hold of the profits available to those who can distinguish the food they produce from ‘ordinary’ food.” Malveaux argues that milk producers who identify their products as “hormone-free” are being dishonest and misrepresenting the truth. She says, “Animals produce hormones. Whether milk production is enhanced by rBST, a synthetic...

The “new thing” in America’s prestigious Ivy League schools is “naked parties.” Supposedly, these parties have e landmark events “among liberal students being primed to e the nation’s elite.” The irony here us that the premise of these parties is designed to shed the arrogance often associated with the Ivy League schools. This would not be a party that you would catch me at. Not only because of the obvious plications, but also because I would not choose to be...