Will any of this matter to Obama’s supporters? No, it won’t.

Obama, the Russians, and Missile Defense

by Paul Kengor

President Obama has caused quite a stir with a private comment made to Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In discussing missile defense, Obama suggested he would be prepared to yield to Russian demands after the November election. “This is my last election,” said Obama, not knowing his words were being picked up by an open microphone. “After my election, I have more flexibility.” A pleased Medvedev replied: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir [Putin].” This is a big deal. Obama understands that his longtime stance against U.S. missile defense—while in full accord with Russian leadership—is not popular with Americans. He cannot codify his stance in a formal agreement with Medvedev and Putin until after the November election—assuming he wins. It was a rare moment when Obama was caught on tape expressing his true beliefs.

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/obama-the-russians-and-missile-defense

Is there any hope for Christians in the increasingly Islamist Muslim world?

The Plight of Egypt’s Coptic Christians

Raymond Ibrahim

The Coptic Christians were once the dominant religious group in Egypt. Previously the mainstay of their nation, Copts are now living as an oppressed minority, denied religious freedom and equal status in Egyptian life. The Copts are routinely denied meaningful employment and may not hold positions in the Egyptian Civil Service. Copts are refused permission to build new churches and even a request to renovate a church that is badly in need of repair can lead to an outbreak of severe Muslim violence against the Copts.

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/04/02/the-plight-of-egypt%E2%80%99s-coptic-christians/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4cc7dbe3f8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

If individuals are trapped in a system they do not respect and that offends their values, there are no limits to unintended consequences.

Obama Care's Commissar's Conceit

Paul Roderick Gregory,

As a writer on Soviet planning, I am struck by its parallels with Obama Care.  Both believe their planning is “scientific” and executed by “the best of the best,” who know what is best for ordinary people. Both types of planning commissars suffer Hayek’s “fatal conceit” – the belief that they can plan incredibly complex economic systems. Their “scientific” plans, however, fall apart under the weight of unintended consequences as ordinary people circumvent their genial rules and instructions.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/04/01/obama-cares-commissars-conceit/

A society must have cultural institutions that promote rules and norms that cannot be overturned by autocrats

The Challenge of Achieving a Liberal Order

By Arnold Kling
Two recent books by social scientists raise questions about the ease of the transition to democratic institutions. Both Violence and Social Orders, by Douglass North, Barry Weingast, and John Wallis, and The Origins of Political Order, by Francis Fukuyama, suggest that natural patterns of human organization must be overcome in order to create a modern liberal democracy.
http://american.com/archive/2012/april/the-challenge-of-achieving-a-liberal-order

Progress against poverty requires: rule of law, judicial independence and free speech

How about some world governance goals?

Paul Wolfowitz, Mark Palmer, Patrick Glen

Fortunately, there is an excellent model available in the Millennium development Goals, which the U.N. established in 2000 with the aim of eliminating or reducing poverty dramatically—and also improving health care, for example—by 2015. Even though many countries are still a long way from achieving those goals and are unlikely to do so by 2015, the MDGs are an important innovation. They provide, for the first time, an official measure of progress toward poverty elimination for each country in the world.

http://www.aei.org/article/foreign-and-defense-policy/international-organizations/economic-development/how-about-some-world-governance-goals/

En el terrorífico caso de que se llegara a un conflicto bélico en las Malvinas, ¿se mantendría este consenso sudamericano?

El rompecabezas latinoamericano tras las Malvinas

por Álvaro Vargas Llosa

Treinta años después, la Guerra de las Malvinas se ha vuelto a incrustar en el imaginario latinoamericano. No pasa una semana sin que un hecho -una declaración, una toma de posición, un incidente bilateral- no muestre hasta qué punto Buenos Aires ha logrado instalar su entredicho con el Reino Unido en la agenda sudamericana.

http://www.eldiarioexterior.com/el-rompecabezas-latinoamericano-tras-las-40714.htm

Iniciativas destinadas a favorecer la caridad hacia los hermanos separados y a atraerlos a la unidad de la Iglesia

El Vaticano desempolva un texto del Santo Oficio de gran valor para el diálogo con los lefebvrianos

Todos los documentos del Santo Oficio y de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe están ahora al alcance del ratón.

Desde hace un par de semanas los documentos vaticanos referentes a la doctrina católica son más fácilmente accesibles en todos los principales idiomas del mundo.

En efecto, el 16 de marzo, la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, CDF, manteniendo los documentos en el sito web oficial de la Santa Sede, para facilitar la consulta de los mismos, ha abierto una nueva página.

En ella se pueden leer todos los pronunciamientos postconciliares de la congregación. En práctica todos los emanados después de que cambió de nombre –con el motu proprio del 7 de diciembre de 1965 "Integrae Servandae" de Pablo VI– de Congregación del Santo Oficio, precisamente, a Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe.

http://www.religionenlibertad.com/articulo.asp?idarticulo=21695