Marc Vander Maas - Acton Institute PowerBlog

Nationalization. Catch the Fever!

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:29:59 -0600

Everyone seems to be going ga-ga over nationalization in the US these days, and why not? Heck, it seems to be working pretty well for Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Blast from the not-so-recent past: Maxine Waters on the domestic oil industry...

Sarah Palin and the Cultural Left

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:53:52 -0600

An interesting post over at First Things from Jonathan V. Last, who discusses why the left not just opposes, but hates Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. He identifies four particular issues, all revolving around her family, that provoke the left. It’s difficult to pull a quote out of the post; it’s all very good. But here’s a small taste to get you interested:

Governor Sarah Palin

...there is the left’s long-standing concern about overpopulation, which has become a staple of modern environmentalism, beginning with Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 best-seller The Population Bomb. Ehrlich preached a Malthusian near-future in which hundreds of millions would perish by famine as the world’s unchecked population growth spiraled to infinity. As it happens, Ehrlich’s predictions were entirely incorrect: Not only has increased food production reduced famine to a weapon of political conflict, but the world’s population growth has slowed to a crawl. Fertility rates around the globe are falling and world population will peak around nine billion by 2050. From there, we will experience population contraction.

But Ehrlich’s prognostications never fell far out of favor, particularly with environmentalists who take it as an article of faith that the planet is already overcrowded. To them, the prodigious Palin family is surely seen as taking more than its fair share.

I’m curious to see what PowerBlog readers think of John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, and to have your thoughts on the Presidential race in general. I can say with certainty that this is shaping up to be one of the most interesting elections of my lifetime; what say you?

More Cultural Differences: Via A Second Hand Conjecture, here’s an interesting bit from the Volokh Conspiracy on the “western vibe” of the GOP ticket:

What is the “western” vibe? This is purely subjective, but to me it is the feeling of no-nonsense, self-reliant, egalitarian, outsiderism, sort of Barry Goldwater-ish. Is it libertarian? Not exactly, but it does have that sort of feeling to it, to me at least. It feels like Goldwaterism. And I think this trickles through to the worldview of the candidates and then to policy. It seems pretty clear to me (especially after last night) that John McCain sees himself as Gary Cooper riding into to town to single-handedly clean-up corruption and gun down the rascals...

...The only caveat to this is that McCain’s westernism is tempered by his military background. And frankly, this is what concerns me most about him–his mind seems like a command-and-control, top-down worldview. To put the matter more elliptically to many but more accurately to my thinking, I think he simply does not understand or trust the idea of spontaneous order. In his worldview, things happen (good or bad) because somebody makes them happen. This is not a worldview that is conducive to understanding spontaneous order. That’s a statist streak in him that offsets some of his westernism.

More fodder for discussion. Carry on.

Acton Media Alert - Dr. Jay Richards on KKLA

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:26:00 -0600

Acton Research Fellow and Director of Media Dr. Jay Richards was on The Frank Pastore Show on KKLA in Los Angeles last night. Frank and Jay discussed the attempt to redefine the term “pro-life” in such a way that a pro-abortion candidate can claim to be “pro-life” in spite of their support for abortion; they also took a look at Barack Obama’s legislation that would commit billions of dollars to the reduction of global poverty.

You can listen to the discussion by clicking here (3 mb mp3 file).

Global Warming Consensus Alert: Flame On!

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:26:00 -0600

It must be tough to be Al Gore sometimes. We all know that the weather has a habit of not cooperating with his “major addresses” on global warming; how many times have his big pronouncements been accompanied by major snowstorms?

Presumably, it would be better to try doing one of these speeches in the middle of summer, when you’re less likely to be iced out by the weather. But wouldn’t you know it - just when Gore gets his sweltering summertime platform to trumpet the need to act on the basis of the Global Warming Consensus, a big fight breaks out in a scientific organization that makes said Consensus look more like a sham than ever.

First things first: In Washington last Thursday, Al “a modern Jeremiah” Gore delivered a “major address” on global warming where he asserted that “The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk... And even more — if more should be required — the future of human civilization is at stake.”

Flame on!

This assertion is based, of course, on the unshakable scientific consensus that human activities - specifically our carbon emissions - are causing potentially catastrophic climate change to occur. On the basis of that solid foundation of science, Gore went on to explain that we must:

...do away with all carbon-emitting forms of electricity production in the United States within 10 years, replacing them with alternatives like solar, wind and geothermal power, conservation and so-called clean-coal technology in which all carbon emissions from the burning of coal are captured and stored.

It’s entirely possible that Al Gore doesn’t believe what he’s saying here. Goodness knows that he’s not shy at all about taking liberties with the truth in order to advance his agenda. But really, the ridiculousness of this particular bit of puffery is breathtaking. Columnist Vincent Carroll took Gore to task in the Rocky Mountain News thusly:

Gore would subject 300 million people to an experiment in which baseload power that is needed 24 hours a day to keep the economy - and our livelihoods - humming is replaced willy nilly by power sources still susceptible to natural disruption (such as lack of wind or lingering cloud cover), that cost more (at least in the case of solar) and are far less plentiful in some regions than others (Colorado is lucky at least in that regard).

He’d inflict monumental utility price hikes on consumers who’d pay for both the shutdown of old plants and construction of the new - with who knows what economic fallout.

With such a short timetable, we’d have to shred this nation’s federal system of utility regulation in favor of national directives, presumably from Congress or a muscle-flexing Environmental Protection Agency charged with regulating greenhouse gases. Not since World War II have we seen anything remotely comparable in terms of central planning.

[Cue Superfriends announcer voice] Meanwhile, back in the real world...
Continue reading "Global Warming Consensus Alert: Flame On!"

The Devil is in the Details II

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:08:16 -0600

Cleaner skies explain surprise rate of warming

The Devil is in the Details

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:31:31 -0600

Research: Wind power pricier, emits more CO2 than thought.

Global Warming Consensus Alert: Crimes Against Humanity!!!

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:11:00 -0600

NASA Scientist and chief global warming “consensus” cheerleader James Hansen testified before Congress yesterday that the chief executives of oil companies should be put on trial for high crimes against humanity for spreading doubt about global warming.

Pardon me while I consult Wikipedia for a moment:

In international law, a crime against humanity is an act of persecution or any large scale atrocities against a body of people, and is the highest level of criminal offense.

The Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum states that crimes against humanity “are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. However, murder, extermination, torture, rape, political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion.”

Once again, here’s the opening sentence of this post: NASA Scientist and chief global warming “consensus” cheerleader James Hansen testified before Congress yesterday that the chief executives of oil companies should be put on trial for high crimes against humanity for spreading doubt about global warming.

I hereby propose that James Hansen be prosecuted for high crimes against reasonableness, perspective, and good sense for making such a ridiculous statement.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that a prominent global warming alarmist has proposed strengthening the global warming “consensus” by throwing those who would dare to question it in prison. The last time I noted such a proposal here on the PowerBlog, it was from Canadian scientist David Suzuki, and was immediately walked back by a spokesman who said that the statement was not meant to be taken literally. I’d guess that the same is true of Hansen in this case, although it should be noted Hansen isn’t known for being overly charitable to his critics, even when it turns out that they’re correct. Nor does he seem very interested in allowing people to check his results. Click here and scroll to get a sense of how difficult it is to figure out exactly how Hansen’s formulas for determining historical temperatures actually work.

One final note - “Satellite measured global temperature trend from the University of Alabama, Huntsville shows that it is cooler now than when he made his testimony in 1988.”

Update: Here’s a worthwhile read that asks some good questions about the accuracy of NASA’s thermometer:

...whatever motivations NASA had for picking the 1951-1980 baseline undoubtedly have some valid scientific basis. Yet, when the data is calibrated in lockstep with a very high-profile and public political philosophy, we should at least be willing to ask some hard questions. Dr. James Hansen at GISS is the person in charge of the NASA temperature data. He is also the world’s leading advocate of the idea of catastrophic global warming, and is Al Gore’s primary climate advisor. The discrepancies between NASA and other data sources can’t help but make us consider Einstein’s advice:

“If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.”

What’s more fun than a web poll? Answer: Lots of stuff. But that doesn’t mean web polls aren’t fun. So head over to NewsBusters and vote in theirs...

Thanks to Web-Genius and Photoshop King Jonathan Spalink for the snazzy new GWCA logo!

Taking a Left Turn at Chavez Boulevard

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:40:00 -0600

First Maxine Waters suggested that she might just want to nationalize the US oil industry; now Maurice Hinchey of New York is jumping on that bandwagon. And why wouldn’t they? It’s all the rage these days. Just look at Venezuela, which is rapidly emerging as a South American ~~hellhole~~ paradise after Hugo Chavez started nationalizing everything. Why should we be left behind?

It turns out that there are a number of very good reasons to avoid that particular bandwagon. Dr. Jay Richards discussed them last night on KKLA in Los Angeles on the Frank Pastore Show. Listen in and decide for yourself whether the US should nationalize the oil industry.

Acton University 2008 Audio

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:06:00 -0600

Update - Tuesday, 5:00 PM: The full menu of lecture recordings is now available. We’ll likely post some video of the evening speakers as well sometime this week. Enjoy!

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It’s hard to believe, but AU 2008 has come to a close. From a staff perspective, it’s a strange feeling after a week of nonstop running (and in my case, sweating) to realize that, by golly, I don’t have any lectures to record tomorrow!

A hearty thanks goes out to all of this year’s participants from around the world, as does a fond farewell. A big part of what makes AU great is the quality of the people who come to Grand Rapids for a week in order to engage the big ideas that are presented in the lectures below. We hope to see many of you back in 2009.

And I’d be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the amazing work of Kara Eagle and her army of staff and interns, without whom the impossible task of planning, organizing, and actually putting on AU would remain impossible.

Tuesday, June 10

Thoughts on Human Dignity - Rev. Robert A. Sirico

Wednesday, June 11

Economic Thought Before the Enlightenment - Dr. Stephen Grabill
Traditionalist Economics: A Critique - Jeffrey Tucker
Wealth and Poverty in Scripture - Dr. Jonathan Witt
Enemies of the Inner City - Ismael Hernandez
The Limits of Markets: Law and Moral Culture - Fr. Peter Laird
Civil Rights and Social Cooperation - Rev. Robert A. Sirico
Tensions in 18th Century Social Thought - Michael Miller
The Economic Way of Thinking - Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse
Christianity and the Idea of Limited Government - Michael Miller
Myths About the Market - Dr. Jay Richards
Why Keynesianism Failed - Dr. Victor Claar
19th Century Christian Political Thought - Dr. Carlos Hoevel

Thursday, June 12

A Theology of Stewardship - Dr. Stephen Grabill
The Catholic Social Encyclical Tradition - Kishore Jayabalan
Market Economics and the Family - Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse
Economics and Human Action - Dr. Carlos Hoevel
A Biblical Approach to the Environment - Dr. Jay Richards
Islam, Markets, and the Free Society - Mustafa Akyol
Beyond Contracts: Marriage and Sustainable Markets - Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse
The Social Teaching of John Paul II - Fr. Roger Landry
The Nature and Function of Money - Jeffrey Tucker
A Theology of Market Capitalism - Lord Brian Griffiths

Friday, June 13

The Ethics of Capital and Interest - Jeffrey Tucker
Europe: The Future of the Social Market - Christof Zellenberg
Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities - Dr. Carlos Hoevel
Liberation Theology - Rev. Robert A. Sirico
Christianity, International Law, International Institutions - Kishore Jayabalan
The Bad News About the Prosperity Gospel - Rev. John Nunes
Poverty in the Developing World - Michael Miller
Business as a Moral Enterprise - John Beckett
Divorce: Social and Economic Consequences - Fr. Paul Hartmann
Healthcare and Markets - Grace Marie Turner
Piety and Technique - Rev. Robert A. Sirico

Did Maxine Waters Just Suggest That She Might Try To Nationalize The US Oil Industry?

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:31:00 -0600

Why yes, yes she did:

Link: sevenload.com

Via Hot Air.

Another Tale of Glory from the World of Socialized Medicine

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:48:00 -0600

From the UK:

I never for a moment thought that a life could be decided by something as arbitrary as one’s address.

The often-maligned US health care system is by no means a free market for health care services; rather, it is more of a hybrid public/private system. It’s imperfect and in need of reform, to be sure. But heaven help us if that reform takes the form of a governmental takeover of the entire system. How such a “reform” would improve our flawed system is beyond me.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse on The Glenn Beck Show

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:27:41 -0600

Acton Senior Fellow in Economics Jennifer Roback Morse made an appearance last night on The Glenn Beck Show on Headline News Network. The topic of conversation was “hookup culture” and the degraded sexual ethics of our culture. Dr. Morse is the author of Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World. If you missed the show, the clip is below:

Utopia!

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:45:00 -0600

Continuing with my posts highlighting just how wonderful things will be here in the United States when the government finally does its job and takes over the healthcare sector of the economy, I’d like to bring your attention once again to the fabulous success story that is the Canadian health care system:

Last year, the Canadian government issued a series of reports to address the outcry over long wait times for critical tests, procedures and surgeries. Over a two year period:
• Wait times for knee replacements dropped from 440 to 307 days.
• Wait times for hip replacements dropped from 351 to 257 days.
• Wait times for cataract surgeries dropped from 311 to 183 days.
• Wait times for MRIs dropped from 120 to 105 days.
• Wait times for CT scans dropped from 81 to 62 days.
• Wait times for bypass surgeries dropped from 49 to 48 days.

Sure, you might have to wait a couple of months for that lifesaving bypass surgery. But remember: it’s free!

Global Warming COOLING Consensus Alert: The Ice Age Cometh?

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:48:45 -0600

This blemish-free sun brought to you by OxyClean!

Submitted for your consideration:

THE scariest photo I have seen on the internet is www.spaceweather.com, where you will find a real-time image of the sun from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, located in deep space at the equilibrium point between solar and terrestrial gravity.

What is scary about the picture is that there is only one tiny sunspot.

Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously.

All four agencies that track Earth’s temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.

The author of this story is Phil Chapman, a geophysicist, astronautical engineer, and the first Australian to become a NASA astronaut, just in case you were wondering. No word on whether he’s picked up his briefcase full of cash from Exxon yet or not. Perhaps our local independent media can do some checking on that...

Rev. Robert A. Sirico on Pope Benedict XVI's US Visit

blog@acton.org (Marc Vander Maas) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:56:00 -0600

Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico appeared on Fox Business Network to discuss Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States this week. If you didn’t catch it live, the video is here:

You’ll also want to tune in this afternoon during the 4:00 hour on Fox News Channel as Rev. Sirico joins Neil Cavuto to comment on Pope Benedict’s arrival.

Update: Here’s the video of this afternoon’s appearance on Fox News Channel: