Marc Vander Maas

Posts by Marc Vander Maas

June 27, 2005

The problem with aid

In a number of previous posts, I have expressed concern over new efforts to increase the amount of government-to-government aid to Africa (see here, here, and here for background). Today brings another bit of news that should give pause to anyone advocating for massive increases in government aid to Africa. Continue Reading...
June 13, 2005

The precondition for aid – civil society

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today on the latest thuggish brutality from one of Africa’s saddest stories – Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe (subscription required): One of Africa’s poorest countries, Zimbabwe, is suffering through a brutal forced relocation reminiscent of the Khmer Rouge’s “ruralization.” Continue Reading...
June 07, 2005

Live 8: Saving Africa?

Much has been written in recent weeks about Live 8, a series of concerts that will take place on July 6 in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia. The name refers not only to the original Live Aid concerts that took place in 1985, but is also a reference to the G8 meetings that will be taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland at the same time as the concerts. Continue Reading...
June 02, 2005

Bono: aid or trade?

Bono: Heart in the right place, head not quite there yet For those PowerBlog readers who don’t follow the world of rock and roll, the man in the photo on the left is Bono (aka Paul Hewson), the lead singer of the biggest rock and roll band in the world – U2. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2005

To the moon and beyond

I was born on the seventh anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic moonwalk, which may or may not have something to do with my lifelong love of aviation. I have fond memories from my childhood of sitting in front of the television completely captivated by network news coverage of the launch of the Space Shuttle. Continue Reading...
May 19, 2005

Coldplay frontman: Buying our new album is evil

From the “biting the hand that feeds you” department: Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin today launched an attack on his record label EMI and the company’s shareholders. It came after EMI, the world’s third-largest music company, warned that profits would be lower because the band took longer than expected to finish their first studio album in three years. Continue Reading...
May 06, 2005

Update on Laura Ingraham

As was noted in an earlier post, talk-radio host and friend of the Acton Institute Laura Ingraham was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her website is now reporting some promising news following her most recent surgery: This afternoon, Laura went back into surgery for a further “cleaning of the margins” around the original breast tumor. Continue Reading...
May 03, 2005

Over the edge with the religious left

Over the course of the past few months, many leaders on the left have been ramping up their rhetoric against the influence of the much-maligned “religious right” in American politics. The most recent high-profile example came from Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, who described James Dobson and his Focus on the Family organization as “…the Antichrist of the world” in response to their strong advocacy against the filibustering of judicial nominees. Continue Reading...
April 26, 2005

Laura Ingraham

All of us here at Acton were saddened to hear the news that Laura Ingraham, radio talk show host and a friend of the Institute, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Continue Reading...