Acton Institute PowerBlog - Entries from May 2007

A Few Notable Quotables

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Jim Wallis: “I’m believing more and more that politics alone cannot overcome poverty and our other great social problems.” (See also: Pentecost 2007, featuring Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama.)

But, since the Sojourners forum isn’t the pulpit, Tony Campolo should have no problem with it: “It is time for us to name the hypocrisy of the Left in complaining about how the Religious Right is violating the first amendment while turning a blind eye to their own candidates’ use of churches as places to campaign.”

And for just how different the social gospel is from the Christian gospel, see Joseph Loconte: “The Christian confession of faith, by itself, offers no guarantee that either individuals or societies will be transformed. But, for believers, not even the smallest steps forward can be taken without it.”

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in Bible and Theology at 13:19 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
campaign reform, faith, jim wallis, joseph loconte, politics, poverty, religion, social gospel, tony campolo

Hugo Chavez Expands the Venezuelan Road To Absolute Serfdom

Thursday, May 31, 2007

CNN reports how Chavez is looking more and more like Lenin.

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- As thousands of students marched in the streets in support, a Venezuelan television channel denied accusations that it was inciting violence against the government.

President Hugo Chavez’s administration shut down one station that was critical of him, and has opened an investigation into the remaining opposition station, Globovision.

Globovision’s director, Alberto Ravell, was unimpressed. “We are not going to change our editorial line that we are not afraid of the threats from this government,” he told CNN.

Chavez’s government is so extreme that it even attacked CNN for showing the world anti-government protests. Minister of Communication Willian Lara said that “CNN lies to Venezuela,” adding that he worries that journalism is being used “to present political propaganda under the guise of news, in a systematic manner.”

What’s even more amazing is the number of other South American nations that are supporting Chavez like Bolivia’s new president, for example. What’s happening?

Will socialism win Latin America?

Posted by Anthony Bradley in News and Events at 09:44 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
socialism

In Praise of Money

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

“Root of all evil” or liberator of mankind? Samuel Gregg examines the role that money plays in a free economy, particularly the way it “allows people to engage in the greater specialization of economic production which produces growth.”

Read the full commentary here.

Posted by Jonathan Spalink in Business and Society at 14:32 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
economy, free market, growth, money, production

Population and Poverty

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The news coming out of the World Bank in recent weeks has largely focused on the departure of Paul Wolfowitz and the nomination of Robert B. Zoellick to head the bank. At the same time, a little noticed power struggle was underway at the World Bank over policies related to “reproductive health” and family planning. Michael Miller takes a closer look at the bank’s Malthusian enthusiasm.

Read the full commentary here.

Posted by Jonathan Spalink in Business and Society at 13:35 | Comments (6) | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
family planning, wolfowitz, world bank, zoellick

Speaking of Milton Friedman...

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Speaking of Milton Friedman, here’s a link to a paper that looks interesting: “Transcendental Commitments of Economists: Friedman, Knight, and Nef” (HT: Organizations and Markets).

Acton president Robert A. Sirico’s reflection on Friedman’s legacy last year noted, “Friedman was a true Enlightenment disciple and feared that truth claims could lead to coercion.”

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in General at 07:11 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
coercion, economics, milton friedman, religion, truth

Environmental Stewardship News Round-Up

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The following items appear in the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation Newsletter, May 29, 2007:

1. Coalition to advocate environmental balance
by Tom Strode, May 8, 2007

2. Silly statement of the month: Nancy Pelosi declares “Climate change is a reality”

Berlin (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday she led a congressional delegation to Greenland, where lawmakers saw “firsthand evidence that climate change is a reality,” and she hoped the Bush administration would consider a new path on the issue. . . .

Continue reading "Environmental Stewardship News Round-Up"

Posted by E. Calvin Beisner in Environmental Stewardship at 23:57 | Comment (1) | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
cornwall alliance for the stewardship of creation, environment, news round-up, stewardship

Vatican Going Green

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Or so reports Catholic News Service today.

In and of itself, the item is not that big a deal: The Vatican will be installing solar panels atop the Pius VI Hall, where the pope holds his general audiences. It does seem, however, to be indicative of greater emphasis being placed on environmental stewardship by the leadership of the Catholic Church (among other eccesial bodies, as has been much remarked on this blog). There was no official comment from the Vatican, but the news writer linked the story to the wider context:

Even though Vatican City State is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a binding international environmental pact to cut greenhouse gases, its inaugural solar project marks a major move in trying to reduce its own so-called carbon footprint, that is, the amount of carbon dioxide released through burning fossil fuels.

Posted by Kevin Schmiesing in Vatican at 14:29 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Defined tags for this entry:
environment

Concourse of Hypocrisy

Friday, May 25, 2007

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Here’s my favorite photo, for reasons our friends at Zombietime completely missed but I’m sure Jordan (our resident anti-misanthropist) will appreciate:

Photo credit: zombietime.com

If it’s hard to see what the little blue sticker to the left says, here’s a better view:

In other words, stop killing our children for oil, but make sure we can kill them for convenience.

“Concourse of hypocrisy” indeed.

Posted by Don Bosch in News and Events at 08:38 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Is there a Bush Doctrine on CO2?

Friday, May 25, 2007

Glenn Reynolds links:

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions dropped slightly last year even as the economy grew, according to an initial estimate released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration.

As Randy would say, “Yo Dog, check it out...” One data point does not a trend make, but it’s obviously possible to comfortably grow the economy and domestic output without increasing CO2.

Sorta like reducing taxes while growing tax revenues, I guess.

This should be a wakeup call to conservatives who contend that any whiff of man-made greenhouse gas management will destroy the most powerful economy on earth. It’s also a poke in the eye to all those Goreons out there driving their SUVs to global warming worship services to commiserate on the evils of America and pray they could be more like the EU (whose gas problem was worse in 2006, by the way).

DOE’s report is linked here. I thought about lifting some key bits from it but there’s so much good info summarized in here that you really should take 5 minutes and read the whole thing.

Don’t get too cocky - 2006 was mild weather-wise, which helped a lot. But as long as our economy keeps seeking more ways to save money on fossil fuels and make alternative energy more profitable, U.S. man-made CO2 emissions have the potential to significantly ease off. And that’s a good thing.

By the way, if you want to see a great example of economic impacts tied to CO2, check out the big down-blip in 2001 on page 3.

[Don’s other habitat is evaneglicalecologist.com]

Posted by Don Bosch in Environmental Stewardship at 07:32 | Leave a comment | Trackback