"The WAR on error"
Pope Benedict, who has completed writing the first volume of a life of Jesus, says that the soon to be published volume outlines his own "interpretation of the figure of Jesus" and "therefore, everyone is free to contradict me". He says he started writing the book during his summer holidays in 2003 and has been dedicating "every spare minute" to the project since his election. In the preface he says the first volume of the book will cover the life of Christ from his baptism in the Jordan River as a young man to the Transfiguration, when the gospel says 3 of his apostles saw his divine nature and had visions of Moses and Elijah.
[WAR: Oh yeh, I'll be at the front-of-the-line to contradict this Bavarian Antichrist and his book on Xianity's false messiah. The 3 apostles did NOT see Yahshua's divine nature, because he didn't have one - he was a 100% human being, just like you and me (but with a full-measure of the Father's spirit). What they saw was Yahshua in his past/future glorified state.]
"We complete today our encounters with the Apostle Paul, dedicating a last reflection to him. We cannot take leave of him, in fact, without taking into consideration one of the decisive components of his activity and one of the most important themes of his thought: the reality of the Church."
Benedict XVI condemned the assassination of Lebanon's industry minister, and warned its citizens of "the dark forces who are trying to destroy the country."
When Pope Benedict XVI comes to Turkey next week, he will be protected by a heavy security operation amid fears the visit may set off a renewed wave of anger over his recent comments linking Islam to violence.
The bearded Welshman and the elderly Bavarian hold more in common than meets the eye. Both are highly respected theologians in their respective churches. Both are gifted linguists: The archbishop is fluent in German and the pope speaks excellent English. Both are accomplished musicians.
Over the course of his long and controversial career, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has had many titles. Now he reportedly has one more — adviser to the Pope. According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Pope Benedict XVI has invited the 83-year-old former adviser to Richard Nixon to be a political consultant, and Kissinger has accepted. Quoting an “authoritative” diplomatic source at the Holy See, the paper reported that the Nobel laureate was asked at a recent private audience with the Holy Father to form part of a papal “advisory board” on foreign and political affairs.
The leader of the Catholic Archdiocese in Moscow said he is hopeful about relations with the Orthodox.
Less than a week before the NATO summit in Riga, Chancellor Merkel has restated her opposition to sending German troops to Afghanistan's volatile south.
UPI analysis
Chancellor Merkel's first year in office has been marred by a series of threats to domestic and international security, and the coming months are unlikely to change. According to a terrorism expert, the Germany of Chancellor Merkel is most endangered when it comes to terror attacks.
French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post yesterday, several days after meeting with an IDF general in Paris to discuss what he said was a "blatant violation of the cease-fire."
Q: In your book, you argue that ‘because of powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the United States, Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned.’ Can you explain that more fully?
A: I’ve been all over the Holy Land, I’ll call it, just for a kind of a shorthand description, since the 1970s — the last 30 or 40 years — from Lebanon down to the Sinai. And I’ve been up into the Golan Heights three times, and I’ve conducted three elections there — and I’ve seen the coverage given to Israel’s activities in Europe and in Israel itself — a highly contentious debate over [Israel]. There is no such debate in the United States. There’s not any debate in the Congress. There’s not any debate in the White House.
Network news here is self-absorbed and simplistic. If it's not happening in the United States or doesn't relate to the collective colonic, it doesn't rate attention. There are exceptions. But they're islets of glitter in oceans of sludge. Consciously directed at a Western audience, al-Jazeera's focus is on what the American eye ignores, or prefers not to see, especially in that Arab-Islamic world that keeps reshaping our own even as we profess not to understand why. It's flawlessly produced, unassuming and the most blessed no-fluff zone on the air.
Al-Jazeera full analysis
Lebanon, one of the smallest countries of the Middle East, was set up by France after WW1 as a predominantly Christian state. Today Muslims form 60% of the country’s population, while Christians form only 40%. Lebanon, which is historically defined from the mountains that have provided for protection for the local population, includes 18 officially recognised religious sects which played a key role in the conflict over sharing power.
IHT analysis
On Tuesday, when Pierre Gemayel was assassinated, it was a reminder just how much this small country is affected by - and can effect - events and powers far beyond its own shores.
Lebanese press review
Tensions between the Lebanese government and the opposition were bad enough before Tuesday's assassination of Pierre Gemayel. Now, a country that is already suffering from a political vacuum is falling into another crisis.
The Bush administration and its allies in the American media follow no such procedure. Before any evidence had been collected, almost before the body was cold, the US government and its media servants began declaring that the killing was a Syrian plot. The ferocity of this response should in and of itself raise eyebrows. Another agenda is at work. Or, worse, the clamor to blame Syria, without evidence or any attempt at substantiation, represents a premeditated course of action, prepared ahead of time, suggesting foreknowledge of the event.
Iran yesterday touted its weekend summit with the Iraqi and Syrian presidents, scheduled only days before President Bush holds a summit of his own with Iraq's prime minister. With the U.S. looking for a way out of Iraq, Tehran is aiming to secure a larger role in the region.
By the time it was over 6 Ethiopian soldiers were dead, and as many as 20 injured, in a battle that many predict will be the opening salvo in a devastating regional war.
Arab and African leaders held a mini-summit on Darfur in Libya, where they agreed to work together to resolve the conflict “without foreign intervention.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the high-profile president of Iran who has previously said President Bush is inspired by Satan, believes the world is rapidly becoming "Ahmadinejadized," with global leaders following in his footsteps.
President Bush does not have sufficient credit to initiate a military strike on Iran, a senior researcher for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs told a forum. "If Bush does something physical to Iran, he will be impeached."
A congressional hearing into an alleged foreign connection to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing has been canceled because key witnesses are unwilling to testify or cannot be tracked down, says the California Republican leading the investigation. "We are continuing to investigate for the next 30 days and are tracking down witnesses," he said. "So I wouldn't rule out that there will be some breakthrough information that is explosive in nature." Rohrabacher also has followed the leads of investigators who believe McVeigh was connected to a German national in the U.S. illegally in 1995, Andreas Carl Strassmeier. Terry Nichols, in fact, claimed this month he has information about the complicity of white supremacists, issuing an affidavit from his cell at the super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colo. In the 10-page handwritten document, he boasts of "substantial evidence and information that clearly reveals" the involvement of others beside himself and McVeigh and of a "federal government coverup."
Today in the United States, we celebrate a holiday known as "Thanksgiving." In a word, the reason for Thanksgiving Day is government. It is on this day that the government – specifically the President of the United States – orders us to be thankful. Since our government is secular in form and content, we really are supposed to be thankful to government for our bounty.
Do WHAT?!!...
Though it's a uniquely American tradition, the roots of Thanksgiving go back to ancient Israel. In a real sense, the Jews invented Thanksgiving. I count 28 references to the word "thanksgiving" in the King James Bible – all but six in the Old Testament. For the ancient children of Israel, thanksgiving was a time of feasting and fasting, of praising God, of singing songs. It was a rich celebration – and still is for observant Jews today.
Give me 5 minutes and I’ll convince you that you should sell your house immediately and invest your life-savings in gold or a Swiss bank account.
As Senator Christopher Dodd prepares to take over the leadership of the Senate Banking Committee while also considering a run for the presidency, lobbyists and lawmakers are all asking the same question. "Does he become a populist champion on issues that broadly affect the middle class, or does he shrink from controversial issues that offend huge donors?"
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. has enlisted Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to join an unusual high-profile delegation of cabinet members to China next month to press for changes in Chinese economic policies long criticized by the administration and Congress.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest and most difficult cancers to treat. Once diagnosed most patients are not alive in three months. Do you really want to increase your risk of getting it? Well, stop drinking soda.
The number of Americans who get free food by pulling it intentionally out of the trash has been on the increase over the last several years. Those fellows are not homeless or mentally ill. They are freegans.
Scientists have discovered a dramatic variation in the genetic make-up of humans that could lead to a greater understanding of mankind. The discovery has astonished scientists studying the human genome - the genetic recipe of man. Until now it was believed the variation between people was due largely to differences in the sequences of the individual " letters" of the genome. It now appears much of the variation is explained instead by people having multiple copies of some key genes that make up the human genome.
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