David Koyzis has opened a discussion about this essay from the Action Institute regarding the economic validity of fair trade practices as they apply to the coffee industry. I’ve already added my two pence to the discussion on Dr. Koyzis’ site, and I need to do more homework to write anything further. I do, however, […]

Posted on November 18th, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on The Economics of Fair Trade

Friend and all around smart guy Moon has a rather good post about why Democrats need to at least give Judge Roberts a fair shake during his confirmation hearings and base their decision on that instead of the source of his nomination.

Posted on July 21st, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on The Roberts Confirmation

I’ve been working my way through David Koyzis‘ book Political Visions and Illusions, and it’s quite good (I’ll probably post a full review when I actually finish it). This past weekend, I finished his analysis of Liberalism and found it thought provoking and thorough. One point he makes that while the Liberal state wishes to […]

Posted on July 13th, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Suddenly, I Seem Sorta Old

Note: I’m entering a domain better left to experts, but I think the ramifications of this Supreme Court decision will be felt here in Pittsburgh. Awhile back, I mentioned a case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding eminent domain — they power of a government to take private property for “public use” development. Today, […]

Posted on June 23rd, 2005 by admin
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Howard Zinn, in the latest issue of the Boston Review, examines the long history of American exceptionalism. Critics of the neo-conservative foreign policy agenda of the current administration often forget (or are ignorant of) the rich tradition of exceptionalism that the United States has. This is hardly the first time in our history that a […]

Posted on June 14th, 2005 by admin
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There has been an interesting news story flying under the national radar: recently divorced parents in Indiana cannot teach their Wiccan beliefs to their son, according to a local judge. Apparently, Wiccan is not a “mainstream” religion, and because the child is enrolled in a local parochial school, the judge has decided that the disparity […]

Posted on June 1st, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Religious Liberty

Crooked Timber’s Henry gets the discussion started by examining where the current crop of Neo-Conservatives stand in relation to their political forebearers, Burkean and/or traditionalist conservatives. Related to this, I started writing a response to this essay by Mark Henrie in the lastest New Pantagruel tracing the political, philosophical, cultural, and religious foundations of Traditionalist […]

Posted on May 13th, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Burkeans, Traditionalists, and Neo-Cons

Gelf Magazine has an interesting interview with outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on the current Grokster case before the Supreme Court. I think I saw a lot of his views on this issue: GM: You say that software doesn’t steal content, people steal content. So what do you think of the RIAA’s strategy of […]

Posted on March 31st, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Mark Cuban

Hat tip to Derek Richard Mouw has a modest proposal: let’s really talk about “moral values” in the Public Square by using Jesus’ call to action — the Beatitudes. But what intrigued me most was Mouw’s source: Actually the idea is not original with me. I got it from an unlikely source when it comes […]

Posted on March 9th, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Walking the Walk

This post by Dignan nicely illustrates the moral, umm, complexity of Christian conservatives (though I wouldn’t classify Dignan as one of those folks, because, while I don’t agree with his politics, I think they are fairly developed from a Christian perspective). The subject of his discussion is the much-maligned corporate whipping boy, Wal-Mart. It’s much […]

Posted on March 8th, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Politics | Comments Off on Moral Ambiquity and Economics