"THE WAR ON ERROR"
"During these days that follow the liturgical commemoration of the dead, many parishes celebrate the octave of the dead, an appropriate occasion to remember our loved ones in prayer and to meditate on the reality of death, which the "civilization of comfort" often tries to remove from people's conscientiousness, immersed in the concerns of daily life."
(Pravda: 20 unique facts about death)
Here is a translation of the message sent in Benedict XVI's name by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, to the 12th international conference organized by the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships.
Benedict XVI appealed to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and to the international community as a whole, to put an end to the bloodshed in the Holy Land. After praying the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered today in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that he follows "with profound concern the news on the serious deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip."
The Church has a public value though it is not a political agent, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. "In Christ's message, the human community can find the strength to love one's neighbor, to combat all that is contrary to life, to accept the fundamental equality of all, to struggle against all forms of discrimination, to surmount a purely individualist ethic in view of civil friendship and fraternity."
St. Peter's Basilica itself presents a splendid example of the gentle guidance of Divine Providence toward greatness. The (relatively) new St. Peter's took 120 years and about 10 architects to build, while vicious rivalries and disastrous setbacks colored the history of the construction. All this is recounted in the recently opened exhibition in the Charlemagne wing of St. Peter's Square.
What were Hitler's religious beliefs? It is sometimes said that Hitler was a believer in God and specifically that he was a Christian or at least was brought up as a Catholic. In Mein Kampf (1925) Hitler criticized the Catholic Church in its political form, which he said failed to recognize Germany’s and Europe’s “racial problem”. Hitler’s references to providence and God and the ritualistic pageantry of Nazism were more than likely pagan than Christian.
[WAR: I forgot to write the source down, but here's a quote from Hitler at a dinner party: "As a pan-German, and as a supporter of Schonerer, I was accordingly an enemy of the Christian-Socials."]
German electricity company E.ON has confirmed it was to blame for the blackout that left swathes of western Europe without power at the weekend.
Reviving the constitution, solving energy problems, tackling global warming and improving African relations: Germany has big plans for its EU presidency in 2007. In addition, it now faces a growing dispute with Turkey.
Poland has proposed the creation of 100,000-strong European Union army tied to NATO for use in global trouble spots or for European defence.
A Russian deputy prime minister said here Monday that Russia and China would sign 17 agreements to build nuclear power plants and explore for oil and gas.
A senior Syrian government minister said on Sunday that if Israel does not enter negotiations over the surrender of the Golan Heights, his nation may resort to armed conflict against the Jewish state.
Israel's army command expects Hezbollah and Syria to wage war against the Jewish state next summer and seeks to ensure maximum preparedness. Daily Ha'aretz reported Monday that the war projection was part of assessments made by the army's General Staff during a series of meetings in recent weeks.
Professors at Haifa University discuss extremist leaders in Persian Gulf who believe in increasing chaos to facilitate judgement day.
Over the past few months talk about the division of Iraq has gained currency amongst America’s political establishment. Former secretary of State James Baker who is currently the Republican co-chairman of a bipartisan panel that is reassessing Iraq strategy for President George W. Bush is open to the prospect of dividing Iraq between Syria and Iran.
Richard Haass, one of America’s leading foreign policy specialists, has pronounced that “the American era in the Middle East… has ended”. His wrote the controversial judgment which President Bush would certainly not agree with in the November-December issue of Foreign Affairs, the prestigious journal of the New York-based Council of Foreign Relations, of which Haass is president.
HANGING HUSSEIN
The death sentences handed down yesterday against Saddam Hussein and three other prominent figures in his regime are the outcome of show trial concocted for political purposes. And even as Hussein is sentenced to hang, the US political establishment is discussing putting many of the Baathist killers and thugs that underpinned his regime back in power, in exchange for ending their guerilla war against American forces and agreeing to an arrangement for the US corporate plunder of Iraq’s oil resources.
Moscow warned of "catastrophic consequences" in Iraq if former president Saddam Hussein is hanged, but expressed scepticism on Sunday that the death penalty would be carried out. If the execution took place "there would be catastrophic consequences for Iraq , which is already on the verge of breaking up", said Konstantin Kosachev, president of the parliamentary commission for foreign affairs, AFP reports.
Vatican and Roman Catholic officials said on Sunday that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein should not be put to death even if he has committed crimes against humanity because every life is sacred. Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace, said that carrying out the death sentence by hanging would be an unjustifiably vindictive action.
The European Union urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence passed on Saddam Hussein. "The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and it should not be carried out in this case either."
While political leaders across Europe said Saddam Hussein should be held accountable for his actions, they also expressed their opposition to the death penalty the former Iraqi dictator received.
In the absence of official an reaction, the death sentence issued against Saddam Hussein drew mixed comments by the Arab media.
Saddam Hussein's death sentence was celebrated by some as justice deserved or even divine, but denounced by others as a political ploy before critical U.S. midterm congressional elections. Worldwide, the range of reactions reflected new geopolitical fault lines drawn after the U.S. decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and depose its dictator.
The Jordanian prime minister, referring to Iran's position in the region, said, "Iran is the strategic depth for all regional countries." He added, Jordan desires to expand ties and exchange delegation in all fields with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The 4th day of the ongoing wargames code-named "The Great Prophet" continued by launching air operations including troop deployment and interception, said a military official.
The chaos and bloodshed in Iraq have not swayed the president's most ardent supporters. For millions of Americans, support for Bush runs deeper than the debate over the direction of the war on terrorism and can be summed up by what his backers view as old-fashioned conservative values.
Now that the Bush administration has adopted the torture and detention practices of Saddam’s regime, one wonders what would be the fate of Americans accused of an assassination plot against a US president? What did Saddam do that Bush, and Cheney, and Rumsfeld, and Blair have not done?
A one-time Pentagon adviser, staunch neoconservative and one of the original architects of the war on Iraq, admitted that the Bush administration has turned the situation in the war-ravaged country and U.S. policy on Iraq into a disaster.
It had to happen – the faithless neocons, who value loyalty only to their own ambitions, have taken to denouncing the president for carrying out their wishes, albeit "incompetently." As predicted here, here, and here years ago, they're turning on George W. Bush with a vengeance.
The American academic Noam Chomsky who has been the foremost critic of America's imperial adventures for more than three decades here tackles the roots of terrorism and the role of the U.S. and the British governments in fighting or spreading it.
Kremlin sources are reporting today that Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov has filed an ‘urgent request’ with the International Committee of the Red Cross, in Geneva, Switzerland, to classify the Political Party of the American War Leaders, called the Republicans, as a National Socialistic Movement that cannot be distinguished from the National Socialist German Workers Party of last century. These reports further detail an alarming connection between the current American President, and his family, with the dreaded Nazi Regime led by Adolph Hitler, and as many European newspapers have reported on these past few years.
Men, like street dogs, are both territorial and creatures of the pack. It starts early because it is instinctive. A boy of eleven showing up at a new school will be eyed by the other boys, tested, regarded with initial suspicion – but only by the boys.
What happened to the Royal Library of Alexandria? Stories about its demise have been circulating for centuries and date back to at least the first century AD. These stories continue to be told and embellished today by those who wish to make a moral attack against the alleged vandals.
Chocolate has more health-promoting plant flavonoids than broccoli or Brussels sprouts. In fact, in a recent study, dark chocolate also beat green tea, red wine and blueberries in antioxidant levels.
Pecan pie with coffee. Sounds good. How about pecan pie and cognac? Hmmm, even better. Well, what about pecan pie and beer? Hey, don't turn up your nose. The folks at Anheuser-Busch Cos. have a new product for you. Chocolate beer. That's right. Chocolate beer.
After years of sometimes unorthodox research, Wansink argues that a good way to lose weight is not by obsessing over carbs or banning trans fats, but by addressing dietary "hidden persuaders." He lays out the case in his new book, "Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More than We Think We Eat."
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