"The WAR on error"
Real history...
An article published in 1944 by a young German Jew in the Palestine Post, the future Jerusalem Post, points up Pope Pius XII's appreciation for the "Chosen People." The writer recounts that in autumn of 1941 he was received in audience along with numerous other people by Pius XII. When the young Jew approached the Pope, he revealed that he was born in Germany but was a Jew. The Pope responded, "What can I do for you? Tell me, my son! ... You are a young Jew. I know what that means and I hope you will always be proud to be a Jew!"
"At the conclusion of my pastoral visit to Turkey, I have the joy of meeting the Catholic community of Istanbul and celebrating the Eucharist in thanksgiving to the Lord for all his gifts."
Benedict XVI, during the farewell ceremony at the close of his historic visit to Turkey, said: "I am leaving part of my heart in Istanbul, in this magnificent city."
Pope John Paul II visited the shrine of Fatima three times, and the rector of the pilgrimage site hopes that Benedict XVI will visit as soon as next year.
"The Gospel speaks of Christ, the son of man, and invites us to prepare our hearts to receive him. May Advent be a time of purification that leads to love, as we look with hope to the dawn of his coming."
Chancellor Merkel hosts a summit with the leaders of France and Poland tomorrow, less than a month before Berlin takes over the EU presidency amid high hopes that it can resolve power struggles in the bloc. Tensions between Germany and Poland are threatening to escalate into an EU crisis.
Germany will use its presidency of the EU to push for a full version of the mothballed European constitution. The treaty has been regarded as dead, or at least in a state of suspended animation. But even German analysts believe that Berlin is pitching its expectations too high. Germany has no significant ally in Europe for a constitutional revival. Attempts to revive it will meet opposition from Britain and other European states. “Look, this treaty was never really a historic compromise. Some leaders put their signature to it only because they knew it would never be ratified.”
German leadership of the EU will be squandered if, as expected, Berlin decides to make the revival of the mothballed European constitution the centrepiece of its presidency. This is a significant mistake, sure to be opposed by Britain and other states who see the constitution now as an irrelevance. If the coalition is distracted by a constitutional chimera, it will leave behind only shadows.
The strained relationship between Europe and Turkey took two steps forward last week and, we fear, at least that many backward. As he left Istanbul, the pope said he hoped his visit would bring "civilizations progressively closer." The European Union should listen.
The German Foreign Minister arrived today in Damascus in the concluding visit of his 4-day Middle East tour and pledged to deliver a strong message to Syria, warning it not to meddle in Lebanon.
Instead of flaunting stronger ties and steadfast American influence, the president's journey found friends both old and new near a state of panic. Mideast leaders expressed soaring concern over upheavals across the region that the United States helped ignite through its invasion of Iraq and push for democracy — and fear that the Bush administration may make things worse.
"Iran welcomes Turkish investment in oil, gas and petrochemicals. Iran and Turkey can also jointly invest in a third country."
The Israeli government has approved the creation of a new ministry for strategic affairs, to be headed by a controversial ultra-nationalist and deal mainly with Iran's nuclear ambitions. During the weekly cabinet meeting, "all the ministers approved the decision to form the ministry for strategic affairs" under Avigdor Lieberman - whose party's main electorate comes from the large ex-Soviet immigrant community.
The president's likely refusal to pursue the diplomatic solutions recommended by the Iraq Study Group is simply senseless. To consider talking with Iran and Syria is to admit that only broad negotiations, rather than further bloodshed, will furnish any hope for Iraq's future. The president's refusal to acknowledge that reality - even as his friends in Baghdad pursue diplomatic solutions - is worse than irrational. It is madness.
Poor Paranoid Protestants...
It's been a rough season for the Christian right. Even for an eschatological movement, these are dark days. But even before all that hit the fundamentalist fan, the movement was contending with a quieter, more systemic crisis: functional Biblical illiteracy among the flock. That's right, religious conservatives aren't so religious, after all.
The slowdown in the US economy, which has sent the dollar into freefall over the past fortnight, will have devastating knock-on effects in markets around the world, analysts warn. 'I think the dollar's going to hell in a handbag,' said David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBC. 'The market is starting to think that the US is going from a soft landing to a hard landing.' Eurozone finance ministers have expressed alarm at the strength of the euro against the dollar, fearing that their exporters will suffer.
This is the first dollar crisis of the new world of the euro, a factor that has profound effects on global markets.
Trading in derivatives has become not merely a huge boom or even a large bubble – but the mother of a whole tribe of bubbles...dripping little big bubbles throughout the entire financial sector. And then, someday – perhaps someday soon – a peak in the credit cycle will come. The mother of all bubbles will finally pop and then the "little big bubbles" in the financial industry will pop. The Dow will come down – the dollar too. Junk bonds will sink.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stormed to a re-election victory in Sunday's vote, handing him an ample mandate to broaden his promised socialist revolution and challenge Washington's influence in Latin America. "Today we gave another lesson in dignity to the imperialists, it is another defeat for the empire of Mr. Danger."
Triclosan, a chemical used in antibacterial soaps and toothpastes, can act as an endocrine disrupter, upsetting the delicate hormone balance of animals.
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