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?

Cincinnati.com: "I am proud that we prevented a depression. I am proud that we passed Wall Street reform and finally held the Wall Street bankers accountable, those same entities that caused the financial crisis in the first place. I am proud of the health-care bill. I am proud that tens of millions of Americans now … Continue reading Pro-life Democrat Steve Driehaus Discusses His Service

CNN: "Is civil war likely?  As long as the military supports Gbagbo it remains a viable and dangerous option. The concern is a civil war in Ivory Coast will drag in other very vulnerable states in the region -- especially Liberia, whose warlords will likely be courted by Gbagbo to counter official opposition by the Liberian … Continue reading Ivory Coast conflict — what's at stake

Nicholas Kristof: "One of the paradoxes of living in a wealthy country is that we accumulate tremendous purchasing power, yet it’s harder and harder for us to give friends and family presents that are meaningful. In this holiday season, sometimes a scarf from a prostituted Cambodian girl, or a scholarship for a Zambian child, is … Continue reading Humanitarian Gift Guide

Ben Affleck: "Ask many Americans to name the bloodiest war since World War II and chances are that most would not know the answer. If you told them it was in Africa, they might guess Rwanda or the ongoing conflict in Sudan. They'd be wrong.  By far, the deadliest conflict was in eastern Democratic Republic of … Continue reading How the United States can help secure Congo

Morton Abramowitz: "Reports are trickling in of increasing government-supported violence against Darfuris, deteriorating humanitarian conditions and widespread attacks on war-torn Darfur's beleaguered civil society...Most ominous of all, the government of Sudan is reported to be concertedly reaching out to additional Janjaweed forces that have long operated in Darfur for participation in a "final conclusion."

NY Times: "Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was freed from house arrest on Saturday, setting her on the path to a possible new confrontation with the generals who had kept her out of the public eye for 15 of the past 21 years."

Leonard Pitts Jr.: "As a nation, we are stubbornly addicted to the death penalty, strung out on exacting retribution and calling it justice. Even though we know innocent men and women have surely died as a result."