AP: "A doctor who gave abortions to minorities, immigrants and poor women in a "house of horrors" clinic was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday."

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Paul Krugman: "One side of American politics considers the modern welfare state — a private-enterprise economy, but one in which society’s winners are taxed to pay for a social safety net — morally superior to the capitalism red in tooth and claw we had before the New Deal. It’s only right, this side believes, for the … Continue reading A Tale of Two Moralities

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NY Times: "Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York joined other local religious leaders on Thursday in calling for a new effort to reduce the number of abortions in the city. The annual figure has averaged 90,000 in recent years, or about 40 percent of all pregnancies, twice the national rate."

Nicholas Kristof: "So let me guide you to a village in the Haitian interior where I recently saw an aid program making a difference — by helping people help themselves. There are many variants of such programs around the world, but this one is run by Fonkoze, a peasant bank that is one of the … Continue reading Ladders for the Poor

Barack Obama: "Over the next week, millions of southern Sudanese will vote on whether to remain part of Sudan or to form their own independent nation. This process — and the actions of Sudanese leaders — will help determine whether people who have known so much suffering will move toward peace and prosperity, or slide backward … Continue reading In Sudan, an Election and a Beginning

Huffington Post: "Repealing health care reform will add $230 billion to the deficit over the next decade, leave 32 million fewer people with insurance and lead to higher costs for those who are covered, the Congressional Budget Office said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Thursday."

Jesuit.org: "A new website sponsored by Santa Clara University and California Catholic Lawyers Against the Death Penalty (CCLADP), http://www.ccladp.org/, seeks to inform Catholic opinion regarding the death penalty and to actively promote the repeal of California’s death penalty law."

Michael Abramowitz: "Obama's test comes in Sudan, which on Jan. 9 is supposed to hold a referendum on whether the country's southern region will secede from the north. If the south votes for independence - as it is expected to do after decades of marginalization and a north-south civil war - deadly violence could easily erupt. … Continue reading Can Obama keep Sudan from exploding after its referendum?