Marc Vander Maas

Posts by Marc Vander Maas

August 08, 2005

Faith and judging

In the weeks that have passed since the announcement of the nomination of John Roberts to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, an old debate has moved into the forefront once again: can a person with deeply held religious beliefs (in Judge Roberts’ case, a devout Catholic) hold a high political or judicial office and still abide by the Constitution? Continue Reading...
August 03, 2005

Target: St. Peters?

Radical islamist terrorists have struck at the heart of New York City, Washington, London and Madrid (among other places). Could the Vatican be next? Kishore Jayabalan, director of Acton’s Rome office, appeared on Fox News yesterday as part of a report asking that question. Continue Reading...
July 29, 2005

The birth of space tourism

This has been a momentous week for manned space exploration. First, NASA returned to flight with Tuesday’s launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, which was almost immediately followed by a return to not flying, as safety concerns will be grounding the shuttle fleet once again. Continue Reading...
July 27, 2005

Seeing the trees, missing the forest

The United Nations has released a report on the ongoing upheavals in Zimbabwe, where tyrant Robert Mugabe has been punishing his political opponents under the guise of “cleaning up” the country’s cities. Continue Reading...
July 27, 2005

Labor unions and free association

The Service Employees International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have broken away from the AFL-CIO, complaining that the federation has focused too much on political activism in the face of declining union membership and influence. Continue Reading...
July 21, 2005

On the passing of an instrument of God’s peace

Hard as it is for me to believe, we are quickly approaching the first anniversary of my father’s death. He had struggled with kidney cancer for a number of years, and had in fact lived a relatively healthy and active life well beyond medical expectations. Continue Reading...
July 20, 2005

‘We choose to go to the moon.’

“a magnificent desolation” On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy spoke these words in a speech at Rice University: There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Continue Reading...
July 19, 2005

For Associate Justice – John G. Roberts, Jr.

President Bush announced tonight that he has chosen federal appeals judge John Roberts to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Roberts is not a well known figure, but has garnered respect from across the political spectrum throughout his career: John G. Continue Reading...
July 14, 2005

Scamming society through the courts

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today (subscription required) on a rare bit of good news from the world of tort law: If the criminal investigation of class-action titan Milberg Weiss is anything to go by, prosecutors may finally be starting to hold the trial bar accountable for its legal abuses. Continue Reading...
July 07, 2005

Monstrous

Another day of tragic news. The thoughts and prayers of all of us here at Acton are with the victims of today’s terrorist attacks in London. Continue Reading...